9 Gradually the owners and dogs lined up, facing          Josephine, and  carrying blue balloons.   Josephine welcomed everyone, in     Flemish, and spoke about the great work done by GIN and by GRB. Clear evidence of this was the sight of 250 happy, fit dogs, enjoying the sunshine. After Josephine, a blessing of the greyhounds by a local priest, then the mass of  balloons was let loose, to drift with the wind over the river aiming slowly at Holland.   Now the march past-the GIN people were             introduced and praised (in Flemish) and joined the receiving committee.   Each owner walked his or her dogs down the line-first a priest who anointed each dog with Holy Water, then Josephine and Nadine, then Martin, Carolyn and myself. We learned a little of how the Queen must feel as 200 plus people slowly walked past, shaking hands with us and talking about their dogs. Some spoke Flemish but most had some         English, all thanking GIN for its rescue of so many beautiful dogs, and the three of us struggled to find something new to say after the first 100 had shaken hands. HM would have done better and she probably speaks Flemish….. Still, we admired and patted all the dogs as the sun beat down, and     finally about 3.30pm the line came to an end. We were given a drink as the crowds dispersed and much later were taken to Josephine’s home for a sandwich.   A fascinating day for us all -to see so many rescued   galgos and greyhounds together at one time, all happy, healthy and     well-loved, was an inspiring sight. It made the long journey to Antwerp and back well worthwhile and helped cement the close ties GIN has with GRB.                                                          Geoffrey