Officially Boofy

We took our two remaining kittens, Rastaban and Bianca, to Chester for the Chester and North Wales Cat Club show. Why? Because we want to know if we made the right choice of stud to start our breeding programme, because we might want to enter them for the Supreme Cat Show if they are very good, and because of all the lovely cats and people we meet at cat shows. To qualify for the Supreme Cat Show they would have to win their open class, as we have no other opportunities to qualify them before entries close. This was a lot to ask, particularly for Rastaban who is small for his age, because the boofybabies are only just over four months old and they would be competing against kittens up to nine months old.

Sometimes one gets lucky at a cat show and finds that there are no other entries in the class, in which case any cat or kitten with no obvious faults will win their open class. This is a mixed blessing of course because with no competition one really doesn't find out that much about one's kitten. We have pondered whether some of the less common colour variants are bred purely with this in mind... aren't we naughty? Needless to say, we were not gifted a free pass to the Supreme Cat Show. Both Rastaban and Bianca were up against two other kittens of impeccable breeding.

Rastaban had to compete with a slightly older fairly close cousin, Advibu Gorgeous George, and a much older and more distant relative called Molynmeux Thaisun.

In Bianca's open class were Advibu Blue Angelina (sister to Gorgeous George!) and Fernylaugh Miss Bluebell - a slightly older distant relative out of Janet Wilshaw's beautiful Rossikahn Sonovzar.

The first result to come up was the strongly contested (eight entries) AC Burmese kitten side class. The winner was.... Advibu Gorgeous George. Second was George's litter mate Advibu Serensir Bradley. Third was Boofykatz Blue Bianca. Poor little Rastaban did not feature. I was obviously pleased for the winners and especially for our Binky, but very worried about poor little Rastaban. Not much chance of him winning his open class if Gorgeous George had won best AC Burmese kitten. Still, the open classes were under a different Judge so there was still hope.

Off I trekked to the results board for the second time fearing no good news. And there was no good news - it seemed that the well contested Burmese kitten classes would be amongst the last to be resolved. I sat and waited. As soon as I saw the result tapes being pinned up I rushed... well ambled nonchalantly actually.. to the board. First Bianca's open class: WOOT she has come first and Best of Breed too!!! Then the Rastaban result: WOOT WOOT he has come first too! We have the only two results that really matter. Now they can go to the Supreme Cat Show. Obviously some disagreement amongst the Judges here.

Time to check the other side classes, again under different judges. The C&NWCC AC Burmese kitten class (seven entries) was won by Boofykatz Blue Bianca, second was Janet Wilshaw's Rossikahn Boyzard (!!) and third was Boofykatz Brown Rastaban. Obviously a very discerning judge for this one! The last class contested by the baby Boofies was AC Burmese Debutante Kitten (nine entries). First was Christine Stalker's beautiful chocolate girl out of Gr Ch Artro Chocolate Carysma, Vintarn Whisper A Wish. Second was WOOT Boofykatz Brown Rastaban and third was WOOT WOOT Boofykatz Blue Bianca.

What a day. The kittens were almost cuddled to death all afternoon. As you can probaby imagine we are very pleased. And a final thought. All this we owe largely to the late June Tompkinson.

Theosophy

So, Leslie Francis is a professor of practical theology. He is able to draw a clear distinction between theology and superstition, and tell you how to get the drains unblocked by the power of dynoprayer. I am in awe of this chappie. His faith must be truly awesome if he gets out of bed each morning knowng that his plans for the day may be interrupted by some capricious otherworldly miracle.

The Legend

I note with sadness the death of David Gemmell
His books are the best kind of popular fiction, engaging with gritty morality from an imaginative perspective. I owe him many hours of thoughtful reading. Ave atque vale.