The Joe Murphy Column

[Ian McKay]

The Joe Murphy Column

 

Firstly, may I wish everyone who reads the column ‘A Happy St Patrick’s Day’ and I hope all my Irish friends have a ‘good day’. This past week has been quite frantic as our daughter phoned saying she had a nail in her car tyre and as it is a new car there is no jack. She arranged for a friend who owns a garage to come and take the wheel away to be repaired. However as she was working in Cupar (about 12 miles from her home) she therefore required a loan of my car to get to work. We also had to keep her son off nursery as we had no way of collecting him (no transport) so he spent the whole day with Margaret and I. Once the mechanic had repaired the car he was going to bring it down to me however he was also having a bad day and could not carry out this task. So I had to take a bus to my daughters and leave Conner with his dad then collect their car and head back to Thornton. We had previously made arrangements with Kevin to take the stock birds eggs up to him for rearing. As time was getting on Margaret came and assisted me wrap up the eggs and carefully place them in containers for transportation. Margaret placed then at her feet in the car and the heater put on. We managed to get these eggs under the race birds before retiring to the house for our evening meal. Kevin had also obtained 4 bags of pigeon feeding and some pic-stones for me so these were transferred to the car prior to our leaving. We arrived home about 22-30 having missed the Arsenal game on TV and when I heard the result on the news was quite shocked at the result, however I have to say Bayern Munich are a very good team and listening to the report they, deserved to go through. As I write this column I’m looking forward to the Barcelona verses PSG game tonight but Barca have a lot of work to do to rescue this tie. What a game!!!! We were on the edge of our seats right to the very end of the match and could not believe Barcelona scored with the last kick of the ball. Anyone who follows football will remember this game for the remainder of their lives, I know I will.

 

New Zealand Visitor

 

Last Friday we had brothers Godfrey and Ian Schmidt visit us. Ian comes from Te Awamutu in New Zealand while his brother Godfrey lives in Scotland. Ian emigrated in 1971 and is a pigeon fancier however Godfrey is has no knowledge of the birds but did inform me he visited New Zealand in 2012. Along with his 2 sons, they stayed in a hostel in Christchurch before touring the country prior to meeting up with Ian. Godfrey and the boys had taken in most of the sights within Christchurch and had pictures of some of the wonderful architecture. On the day they were leaving Christchurch the weather was not too good but they went on the cable car to view the scenery but could not see very much. On return they got in the car and heady north, as they were driving along the road they thought they had a puncture as the car moved from side to side. On getting out they checked and everything was ok so they returned to the car and continued on their journey. However when they arrived at their destination they discovered that Christchurch had been hit by an earthquake and the cable car they had been on earlier was severely damaged. One of the cathedrals that they had photographed a few days earlier was demolished and they could not get back to the hostel as the roads had large craters in them. All their belongings were forwarded to them in Scotland 6 months later including their passports. What an experience and Godfrey said, ‘We will never be as lucky again and will NEVER forget our trip to New Zealand. Back to pigeons now; Ian flies his pigeons from the south of the northern island and informed me that as soon as they cross into the south island the increase in costs is quite horrendous. He was a distance man and liked a few of my stock birds and complemented me on the condition my birds were in, which was very nice of him. Margaret made coffee and we enjoyed chatting away about pigeons and Ian told me that they had been to the lofts at the ‘Raploch’ area in Stirling and also visited Rab Hamilton in Cambus. Unfortunately Ian was returning home today Wednesday 8th March and I hope he had a safe journey. I have included a picture of us both for the column. He said his mates in New Zealand who get the BHW or RP would not believe his picture was in my column. It was very nice to meet Ian & Godfrey and may I wish them all the best for the future.

 

Ian Schmidt and Joe Murphy

 

Good SNFC Birds

 

This week I report on 2 Fife pigeons with the first of these being Jock Brockie of Lochgelly club chequer white flight cock SU13F 5175. As a yearling in 2014 he won twice from inland old bird nationals with the first being from Buckingham a distance of 303 miles were he won 9th section C 49th open he was then set up for the Maidstone race a distance of 378 miles and he was again to the fore being 6th section C 27th open. I don’t see his number in the 2015 season results but he was on the Buckingham result in 2016 were he won 93rd section C 347th open.

 

Our second pigeon belongs to Jimmy Mackie of Leven with chequer pied cock SU13F 4072 as a 2 year old in 2015 he won 9th section C 37th open from Billericay a distance of 347 miles, he then went to Portsmouth a distance of 378 miles and won 18th section C 85th open and then last year he won from Littlehampton a distance of 386 miles being 65th section C 230th open.

 

We now move to section D near Stirling to the loft of Rab W Hamilton of Cambus whose blue bar cock SU14NW 1121 won twice in 2016 he excelled as a yearling winning 1st section D 21st open from the Portsmouth race flying 383 miles, then in 2016 he won 24th section D 200th open from Littlehampton a distance of 392 miles. He was then set up for the Ypres race a distance of 458 miles to his loft and he won 12th section D 111th open. Three very good pigeons that their owners will be very proud of and they will be looking to improve on the above performances in 2017. We wish them all the very best for the new season.

 

Scottish sayings

 

My grandson Liam had some homework to do and asked his Gran if she would help him as he was to get old Scottish Sayings. Margaret and I had a good laugh as we grew up hearing these said on a daily basis but poor Liam did not have a clue to what we were talking about. I thought these might be a bit of fun for the column, see what you think????

 

"Whit's fur ye'll no go past ye"

This one basically means 'whatever is meant to happen to you, will happen to you"! It's the Scottish phrase of whenever you moan or complain about not getting something (or someone!).

 

Cambusnethan & Morningside members

 

Members with 'Scottish Champ' Billy Bilsland

 

Sign Says it All

 

Joe’s Joke

 

Doug Smith is on his deathbed and knows the end is near. His nurse, his wife, his daughter and 2 sons are with him. He asks for 2 witnesses to be present and a camcorder to be in place to record his last wishes. When all is ready he begins to speak: "My son, Bernie, I want you to take the Mayfair houses. "My daughter Sybil, you take the apartments over in the east end." "My son, Jamie, I want you to take the offices over in the City Centre. "Sarah, my dear wife, please take all the residential buildings on the banks of the river." The nurse and witnesses are blown away as they did not realize his extensive holdings, and as Doug slips away, the nurse says, "Mrs. Smith, your husband must have been such a hard-working man to have accumulated all this property". The wife replies, "The old fool had a paper round."

 

Please continue to keep the news flowing; to Joe Murphy Mystical Rose Cottage 2 Flutorum Avenue Thornton by Kirkcaldy KY1 4BD or phone 01592 770331 or Email to joejmurphy1@gmail.com REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE or log onto www.elimarpigeons.com www.fancierchat.co.uk and www.pigeon-chat.co.uk also www.pigeonbasics.com who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland.

 

© Compiled by Joe Murphy