Ina drove there, and we arrived at about 8:30, got Flash vetted in and all set up in his cage, then went to fetch the SCC stuff from the car, only to find that there had been a certain neglect in table booking, and there was a scramble to find somewhere to set up. During this phase I found myself standing around like Clem guarding a bag and a couple of boxes of merchandise, and fending off boredom in conversation with a lovely seal point Siamese boy kitten who was determined to escape/snag a passing person with his paw/liberate his cage number/commit any mayhem he could. I would have gladly taken him home.
However, things were finally sorted out, well after ten (when judging is supposed to start) and Ina and I headed off into the village. The pubs showed no sign of life, but we went to have a look at the church, St Leonards.

The red sandstone nave is the oldest part, though the lower part of the tower is plainly late Norman just merging into early English.

And you have never seen so many yew trees are there are in the churchyard! Here are a few.

Then we were lucky enough to be spotted by the church wardens and invited in to look at the church which is normally locked against thieves. The Norman nave is super.

The Malt Shovel wasn't open yet and didn't appear to serve food, so we went to the Blacksmith's Arms, where we drank an acceptable pint of cider. Unfortunately, their kitchen was undergoing reconstruction, but the landlady insisted that she could make us some chips to go with the cider, and very good they were too.
Back at the show(s), Flash had picked up the SCC Grand Premier certificate, his third, which means he gets his Grand Premier title. (Done in two visits to these shows.) He'd won the Shorthair GP class too, but for some reason the judge had withheld.

While I was in love with that Siamese kitten, for Ina it was this Oriental Bicolour kitten

Not that the one Singa kitten there wasn't a charmer too...

We didn't get out until 5 o'clock but at least this year the judge had signed the Grand Certificate! Another drive home in the dark, braving some very odd Saturday drivers on the M1 with pizza waiting for us.
Dogs retrieved this morning and walked in Roding Valley. Phew!
We've bred Orientals (we bred the two we still own), and have thoughts about a new girl Siamese or Oriental kitten at some stage. We've also owned a Russian Blue. Siamese and Burmese are wicked (and loud!) while Russian Blues (and Blacks and Whites) are normally long-lived and and gentle, while being playful all their lives. All are personality plus.
Thanks!
This is their website
http://www.russianblue.org.uk/ass.html
and this is the breeder's page
http://www.russianblue.org.uk/blist.htm
The advice at the top is damn good. As you can see, this is divided by area. (The RBBA is a large enough club that it also divides up its welfare officers by region.)
This page gives good advice about finding a kitten
http://www.russianblue.org.uk/kitts.html
If and when you are serious, ringing Catherine Moore would be a great idea. When we bought our Russian Blue we also visited a number of shows and talked to the breeders - we ended up with a kitten from the then well-known and successful breeder Margery Draper (Adram) who is now, unfortunately, no longer with us. It is a while since we were closely involved with the RBBA but if you want to ring me and go over the list of breeders I can tell you which people and prefixes are familiar from that time. In that case message me on LJ and I will let you have our phone number.
I should be working from home again in a few months, and I'm postponing *getting* a kitten until then, but that means a future kitten could be in planning stage already.
And happy birthday!
We are staying with a friend in Keighley who has two Russian girls who are veterans (one an ex breeding queen, one 'rescued' by stealth), both obtained from Jennifer, who lives and breeds in Durham. Pamela is still a member of the RBBA - I'm sure she'd be happy to introduce you to the girls, if that could be arranged.