Well April turned out to be an exciting month, we had a trip planned, just after Easter, to go and visit our friend's at Woodwynd Dalmatians, just over the 'pond' in Florida.

So after consuming LOADS of lovely Easter eggs, Luca went to his holiday home and we headed off to the airport, and despite a flight delay of over 2 hrs because of computer failure, we finally arrived safely in Orlando International Airport,

After a good night's sleep our first mission was to buy a 'Prom' dress for Jen and Mary-Lynn came up trumps, THANK YOU!!!  Jen does not 'do' dresses but.........

  Jen the Model!!!

Then next on the agenda was a trip to 'Gatorland' where Jen and Tom were able to get up close and feed the Alligators, what an experience!!!!!

And in the evening a meal at 'Gators' restaurant where we all ate GATOR!!!!!!!!!!

The scene of the 'Gator' eating  (it tastes like chicken!)

So after a brilliant week it was time to say goodbye to our wonderful hosts (or so we thought!!) and head to the airport to fly home, however when we arrived it was chaos!!!!! A volcano had erupted in Iceland and a cloud of volcanic ash meant no flights could go to Europe so all flights to England were cancelled!!!!!!

As a result we spent another two weeks with our very generous hosts and were able to visit many more places such as Disney, Seaworld and Universal Studios.

We also had great fun with the dogs, Tom even got to try his hand at agility with Paul's lovely German Short Haired Pointer Emmie aka Ch Inverness Not In Kansas Anymore, and what a team they made!

And Tom even found a new career,

Tom the dog groomer! (or as a friend put it 'Detailing') 

Jen went training at Mary-Lynn's ringcraft class with both Cheddar and Amber,

In action with Ch Woodwynd Glendale The Big Cheese RA RD aka Cheddar (so named because of his huge 'cheesy GRIN!!!)

And was lucky enough to end up in the show ring with the very 'sweet' Woodwynd Sweet Tea aka Sweet Tea,

GREAT JOB!!!!

But where was Tim ????

You've been 'spotted',  no use trying to hide, that's NO Dalmatian!!!!!!

There was even excitement at Daytona beach where Jen and Tom found themselves sharing the water with a baby 'Bonnethead' shark,

 Jaws?????

Then on our final night while Paul cooked us his very special 'Ribs' (fantastic), Jen and Tom found a very 'special' guest in Paul and Mary-Lynn's stream,

Meet 'Albert' the Gator!!!!!!!

All too soon it was time to say goodbye, special hugs to Jen from sweet Mouse,

And a final extra special chew on Tom's ears from Amber (aka Ch Woodwynd Dappled Tyrodal),

A HUGE THANK YOU, to Mary-Lynn and Paul for their generous hospitality and their lovely dogs for putting up with all the 'cuddles' we just HAD to give them and for fantastic welcome we received from the many people we met during our 'extended' time in Florida.

Fantastic news today from Michelle at Shulune Dalmatians her long awaited puppies have arrived,

5 Boys and 3 Girls

The very proud parents are the handsome Perditas Right as Rain at Caldecacre (aka Blinken) & the lovely CH Lady of Light from Shulune (aka Rahn) for more information please contact Michelle at Shulune Dalmatians e-mail SHULUNE@aol.com

 A HUGE congratulations from us all

Tim's Uncle John has been poorly recently and last Saturday got rushed into hospital with a blockage near his heart. Scary stuff at the best of time's but when you are 90 this year, VERY scary!!! 

However after some very talented doctors operated and cleared not one but four blockages, he is out of hospital and ready for visitors  a week later!!!

So we headed to Swansea to see how he was doing and to catch up with family news,

Not too sure Granny Mary is impressed with her brothers joke

left to right - Tim, Aunty Betty, Uncle John, Tom, Jen.

Cousin Linda and Tim

Thank you kids for my lovely Mothers Day pressies,

And a HUGE congratulations to Tom's football team once again for a stunning 11-1 win today, fantastic guys

A great goal from Tom added to the score but just HOW did he do that when he was playing in defence??????

We had a lovely day out today at Crufts, catching up with friends, watching some super Dalmatian's and having lots of Dalmatian kisses!!!

Even though Luca couldn't be there this year he didn't miss out on all the fun because he received lot's of fantastic gifts!!

 A HUGE congratulations to all the Crufts qualifiers and winners!!!!

Great news today from sunny Florida, our friend Mary-Lynn had been taking part in the 2010 Dalmatian Road Trials at the weekend with her lovely Liver boy Ch Woodwynd Glendale The Big Cheese (aka Cheddar) and sweet pony 'Ned'.

Cheddar now has his 'Road Dog' title, fantastic result  .

These fantastic photo's are by 'Brown Dog Photography'

Road trials are a Dalmatian specific event which allow Dalmatians to demonstrate that they still have the coaching instinct for which they were originally bred, you can read all about the 'Road Trials' and see Mary-Lynn's stunning dogs at her web site www.woodwynd.com   

Sunday dawned frosty but bright and sunny, and the first flowers of spring were greeting the world,

How lovely to at last see some colour in the garden.

Tom was out playing football and arrived home with another brilliant win under his belt, well done once again Portishead United!!!!

Jenny was busy up the Brecon Beacons on a 20k training walk for the 'Ten Tors' Challenge which will take place later this year, great fun but she was exhausted!

Tom headed off to play football with his team Portishead United, this morning, despite the grey clouds and rain!

A couple of hours later he returned muddy but victorious after their 5-1 win against Backwell Wonderers

Great job guys!!!! But Tom you could have left a little mud on the pitch!!!!!

Today we had to say goodbye to Sue, Murphy and baby Rory, thank you for a fun visit  

Luca was quite exhausted from his weekend of play!

You CAN NOT be comfortable like that!!!!!!

How do you do that with your legs??!!!! 

Baby Rory finally has his posh Kennel Club name, Trimere A Touch Of Luck.

Here is Rory looking very smart and  living up to his super 'posh' name.

Haha, with Tim looking VERY serious!!!!!

And we even managed to get rid of ALL the mud from his coat!!!

Also a bit of great news, the lovely CH Lady of Light from Shulune (aka Rahn) has been confirmed in whelp to the very handsome Perditas Right as Rain at Caldecacre (aka Blinken). Puppies are due early March so if you are interested in one of these special babies please contact Michelle at Shulune@aol.com,