peter pandy

FlightPath on the feed to-day and 29 days till pairing up will see me cutting rations back to the Hens ensuring their are no excess fat on them although they are handling well but slightly heavy with loft curtailment and pre treatments will ensue. Visited Blantyre to-day and Tommy still not giving O.A.P. concessions. :emoticon-0179-headbang:

PELLETS in another Post has reminded me that I think about this time last year I was hopper feeding pellets and wee brother was given one from the Hen Section, Now he told me that it was crawling with Mite which had me emptying poste haste my large one and sure enough the dust in the bottom was moving with them so were cremated with my gas burner and the hopper was not used again in the racing loft. I have since returned to adding 5% Spillars Chicken/Bantam Layers Pellets to the mixture which was what Edwin Newcombe fed 365 days per year.

10c in the loft to-day with Cocks roaring their heads off and not eating the rations put down for them. In the Hen Section they appeared to be ignoring the racket next door and consumed the normal feed. What to do in those circumstances had me dropping the windows and letting the South Westerly wind cool their ardour.. Worked a treat. I Would publicly like to thank Brian Donnelly ""Mossgiel"" frae "Bonnie Dundee" for forwarding a copy of an old 1980 Gazzette write up on Edwin Newcombe complete with all the Photographs and pedigrees of his National winning Birds. This brought very fond memories back, as I had virtually handled all of them at one time or another plus had youngsters off them as well. Twas little wonder why "Merrymac Lofts" inmates done so well fullfilling all I ever wanted to achieve and virtually retiring from the sport by accepting a position in Saudi Arabia.

Wee Mary and I wish you many happy returns John, XXX frae Mary.

Best laid plans and all that came to an abrupt halt when I put the petrol mower and petrol strimmer into the Greenhouse with Wee Mary asking what I thought I was doing and to remove them post haste.. no arguing with her who is the boss so its back to the drawing board. Cocks out to-day in sunshine for a change which had them enjoying the sky and clapping about, They must have thought spring had arrived as I watched them with a fur hat on my head, scarf round my neck and a heavy jumper under my loft coat in a bitingly cold wind. Pair up "You Must Be Mad"..

After Wee Mary supping a couple of vodkas last night I broached the subject again regarding making room in the garden and in her inebriated condition she conceded only to the extent that it was my territory as long as she had room for her 4 San Marzano tomatoe plants in the greenhouse / conservatory. The 4 will be 3 after I knock it off, accidentally of course. Hee Hee..

With thoughts of the future and plans made months ago all has been turned upside down with the return of Stock Cocks plus gifts from "Tiger" having to be put into the 14ft Loft with Aviary leaving me in a bit of a quandary, I also have 2 sheds one of which holds feeding, baskets, working tools and electrical equipment so no birds can go in there. The other shed holds Garden equipment which I am now contemplating moving into my Greenhouse / Conservatory at the expense of Wee Mary's future tomato plants and turning the wee shed into a stock loft. The suggestion of purchasing another shed has been met with a scowl and a hasty retreat in my thought saying I am only kidding to who thinks she is the boss.. "Too be continued when I have thought out a cunning plan as Blackadder would say." :wacko:

And wee Tiger was telling me he met an intellect last night !! But that could not have been you.

I did not wish to correct Del at the time however I feel I must.. Their were 2 A Taylor's in Falkirk at that time and one was Abie Taylor and the other was A.G Taylor or Sanny as he was affectionately known and it was the latter who regularly scored in the "Gold Cup".

Returning to my Post #1232 on my ideal pigeon, which was in actual fact what J & A Grieve's Blue Pied ""Jock"" was. I handled him on the Sunday prior to him going back to Nantes for the third time and it was most unfortunate that he never made it home and he was a one off in the Grieve loft. The next pigeon to come to hand was Edwin Newcombe's ""Red Rock"" a fantastic racer and breeder. Then their was Merry Mac Lofts ""The Red"" a great racing Cock. After that was C.J.Williams ""Next Morning" another Red Cock who defied belief Topping 3 Feds and 3rd Combine sold for 1£ at the clearance sale. As I reiterated earlier in all my 60 years a fancier those are the only Birds with that common denominator.

With a carpet of snow covering the gardens recently it was that perfect occasion to see if any vermin was prowling about but all to be seen was a fox track in the neighbour's garden as it made its way from the Avenue through to the road avoiding my garden like the plague. Perhaps it had been zapped previously. I had just started feeding the birds when a visitor called and entered the loft, Well everything came to a standstill and the colony were not happy campers at a stranger being amongst them refusing to eat another Bean and ready for flight, so as politely as possible without actually throwing him bodily from the loft I put the light out and locked up. When he departed after two coffee's I re-entered the loft and the feeder was as when I left.. The moral being ""Never Let A Stranger In Your Loft At Feeding Time"".

"Yes" I named the loft such, as it was full of Macmerry pigeons from Eddy.

What a lovely letter you have just wrote and I am sure like others on Basics will not think it foolish but will read over it many times, Their is an old saying "There but for the grace of God go I" which sums up many of us Pigeon Fanciers.

40th Open with my wee Cheq Hen in 1982. :emoticon-0140-rofl:

The Dk Cheq Late breed nest pair who laid 1st Jan and sat the eggs, hatched a single youngster with the other egg empty. Now it must be all of 60 years since I had a youngster in January so it will be rung to-morrow and will see how it transpires. Aye Stevie I might be racing a young bird this year after all !!!. If you say Black then I will say White as I am the kind of person who likes to get a reaction through conversation of a subject. The Pigeon game is one where opposites can quantify results, For instance "The large team" V "The Small team" or "Widowhood V Natural" or the "Cock V Hen".. They are all opposites and yet both can be successful. Their just ain't no hard and fast rules in this sport which is why I will feed a rich diet other than a Barley one which is cheap crap.

Hi Roland, If you type in "Alabama Racing Pigeon Clubs" you will find 5 clubs one of which may be near at hand.

Clooty Dumplings with silver threepennies in them, brought back memories of another time when my Mum made meals folk would turn their nose up at nowadays, Scotch Broth for starters followed by Tripe, Liver, Rabbit, Tongue or Kidney, were all on the weekly menu along with a pudding of home made Rice or Custard with a dollop of home made Jam. Aye and mostly just a memory unless I make it myself says Wee Mary.

A farmer can lawfully shoot a dog worrying his sheep and we have no recourse to protect our property from being eaten alive..Aye right.

Only when wrapped in a cloot..

Winners !!! Crivens I cannae even spot the Dumplings LOL.

Aw Steve, I thought you would have understood that an overcrowded loft was a disaster in the making {self}. Plus the aulder you get the harder it becomes in identifying your birds without looking at ring colours especially when they mostly look like peas in a pod LOL.

Looking over my posts !! I have came to the conclusion that an earlier will have to be abandoned as a re-think has taken place within the old brainbox, I can only put the remarks made down to how I was feeling at the time but now we have both recovered and full of beans the future certainly looks a lot rosier. I cannot make my mind up regarding breeding in Spring as I have definitely lost all interest in Y/B racing or the slaughter of the innocents as I am want to calling it and am more than content to take Late Breeds from all that have survived the rigours of racing out to the distance I have planned for them that way I will be breeding from birds with a proven Homing ability and give the youngsters the opportunity to develop over the Winter. Another thought is that I have 60 old birds in a 20 X 8 Loft and will be overcrowded with the introduction of an extra 50/60 youngsters into the colony.

YES, AND THE QUICKER THE BETTER..

Lets hope all the raptors get it.

With all the gardens looking the same in a carpet of snow Winter wonderland is with us. Recently Mary and I were in our study reading the morning papers when their was an almighty bang on the window as a young Hen flew into it leaving a beautiful impression of wings and head on the glass which wee Mary says I can clean off, responding that it was a piece of nova art which could be termed as a master piece and worth a bob or two brought no truck with her as she returned with cleaning materials for me to get cracking, My disability proved its worth as I reminded her I was known to falling off ladders could see me hospitalised but I would do the gentlemanly thing and hold the steps for her to complete the operation !! This she duly done and I put the kettle on for a cuppa. It was brought to my attention by a local fancier friend that he had watched a hawk in amongst them that morning and they were scattered all over the sky regrouping and circling it at a great height but thankfully none were lost and all are accounted for.