We’re very impressed and yes, also disappointed about what happened the last time. The last national race of 2011 from Gueret (571 km), the finish of the season 2011, didn’t bring BLUE HEAVEN LOFT what we expected. All our devotion and hard work concerning the care-taking and the guidance, didn’t make us win.  When you aim for perfection, you have to know that not all roads are smooth. The stunt we expected to finish 2011, didn’t come. Regrettable to us and our pigeons, which were ready to close the season in a fabulous way.  Also regrettable for my readers because now it makes no sense to tell you about all things we did two weeks before the last race. The experiment we aimed at, didn’t came true because of a abnormal flight. We’re not looking for excuses because that would be too easy. But pigeons that come home very tired, with filthy paws and keep on drinking prove that the care-taking on the place of releasement wasn’t that well. You don’t have to believe me but it’s not only me who has some critics. Other things are already being published, like the comment of a colleague: To many fanciers, Gueret has become a nightmare. This wasn’t sport anymore. It was a disaster.  A four hours race, is that still normal? The lottery has done it’s job.  Of courset hat don’t put it on the result that it was a disaster. It seems that many baskets didn’t get enough water to drink. When many pigeons arrive back home with filthy paws, it means that they didn’t get the perfect care-taking!!!  Thi is written by somebody who knows what he’s talking about. We heard many complains but the race did finish. And so, BLUE HEAVEN LOFT didn’t make the stunt. We put in everything on our loft; 67 old birds (yearlings included because they raced together), among these 35 test-pilots, youngsters of  2010, which weren’t learned.  Also 70 youngsters, among these 45 (3rd and 4th round), which only did Momignies (110 km) and Soissons (210 km).  Although they always trained together with the old birds; two hours a day till basketing. To be honest, I must mention that on Saturday before the final race, all pigeons were taken away till 100 km and they were released at 7 in the morning. Gueret made suffer our pigeons, even when they announced a Southern wind till 4 Beaufort. But at this moment (September 18th) about 10 pigeons didn’t get back home. This is the result of a risky experiment, which many of you don’t like. But when somebody calls you, in the middle of the race, a bit after 2 o’clock to tell you he found a pigeons (which couldn’t fly) at a pond, you start to ask some questions.  I asked the man, who wasn’t a fancier, about the ringnumber of the bird but he had already put the pigeon in his car and he would send me the ringnumber by phone. Indeed, 5 minutes later, I received the message.  It was a yearling bird that was put in for Gueret and it seemed that he was at the end of his strength. I called the man again and asked him if he would give some water and food to the bird and to release him on Sunday morning. The man did exactly what I asked him too and around 13.00 hours, the pigeon arrived back home.  Not totally broken, still good strong muscles and full of life. Isn’t this the prove that our birds didn’t get enough water to drink? Nobody can make believe something, when you already play with the pigeons and the women for over 60 years, then you know exactly what has been going wrong. So now you can understand that our experiment partially failed and not because of us. Luckily we never shouted too loud but still we’re disappointed. So you must understand that I don’t want to explain this any further and I’m sorry. It’s best that we will talk about everything that happens on “BLUE HEAVEN LOFT”…from day to day on the loft. I’m sure some of you start to ask questions when they read this and to those I give the benefit of the doubt that may be this last race was one too much. As you all know: “The last mile is the longest one.”  But don’t be afraid, our experiment will continue. Next season, we will try again. We won’t sit still, even when we normally won’t have that much time left.  When you will be 76 at the end of September and 20 years in Taiwan, where I always lived austerely and pure, yes you read well, this might be an advantage.  Nothing stands in our way to continue. And I can tell you that this has nothing to do with drugs, on the contrary it has everything to do with the scientific approach of sports pigeons. In winter of 2010 we followed two basic courses about ORTHOMOLECULARE  FOOD LEARNING.  It seems difficult but it’s an education which describes the relation between food, illness and health, approached by the Orthomolecular science. More about this at the right time. 

In the mean time, a lot has happened on  “BLUE HEAVEN LOFT”.  We made an inventory and we moved many pigeons before the big moulting starts. The 4 year old racers are taken away from the loft and replaced by the young ones (test pilots of 2010) and youngsters of 2011. I prefer this mutation to happen as fast as possible. So our racers aren’t allowed to make a nest. It has been enough and now they can enjoy their rest… And to those that start to laugh quietly and who enjoy themselves about what happened to us, I tell you this…don’t let anything over to coincidence because we will be back in 2012, not as a walk-on but to get back at the top of the pigeon sport. Now shortly: at the moment our pigeons are cured for at least 10 days (may be three weeks) with EMDOTRIM 10% SOL, 3 ml per litre water, refresh every day and you can get it with my vet Raf Herbots. It purifies the pigeons and it helps very well in a perfect moulting, which is very important. And when you also get METHIO-FORTE (Herbots Animal Products), which takes care of soft feathers, then you’re settled for several weeks…That’s how we do it…Because good things remain good. We do this for many years now…So now it’s up to you to get the advantage of it.               

As always, my wife won’t be glad that I told you all about this. But women are like that…they’re just like an envelope; you put something inside, lick it and send it on.  As long as you know that in love and war everything is allowed! See you soon…

THE LOST SON