Just Stuff

I am kind of bored today although there is always plenty to do.  It is getting close to that 95-100 degree mark today and even the wind is hot.  At 6 a.m. it was glorious, cool with a light breeze and I took advantage of that and hung my laundry out.  By 9 a.m. it had turned much warmer and everything was dry.  This is good because with Cruz around you cannot hang out laundry and expect it to stay on the line.  I do believe he "inherited" this trick from his buddy Charlie.  Charlie, Cruz and Ava are the terrible trio.  Toss in a little of the Trace naughty streak and that is just trouble.  Trace is short, I mean he is a corgi, it's not like he is very tall, ya know?  But despite his height challenges he has figured out yet another way to escape the yard.  I fixed all the potential ways to dig under the fence, to unwind chain link gates and to push the front gate apart enough to ooze thru, but I did not count on his ability to take flight and use his nose to push up the side gate latch.  We have now had two night escapes or escapades depending upon your outlook.  After being out in the middle of nowhere for four years I have ceased to panic about open gates anymore as house is so far off of the barely traveled gravel that traffic is not a concern.  Getting lost in the corn-not really a problem as the entire planting area is surrounded by fence so they have to pop out somewhere and really no one truly bothers the cows enough to warrant fear of getting kicked or trampled.  My worse fear is that they encounter a skunk (ugh!) or some bigger wild animal that may cause them harm.  I was worried that Shortcake would wander off and that would be a pain to find her since she is pretty hard of hearing now and gets "lost" in the yard.  Speaking of Shortcake, age is taking it's toll on her and the vet put her on a trial of Rimadyl since she seems rather painful.  I think it is beginning to help some.  Since she still enjoys life-barking at the tractor, mealtime and can still take down a dog that is misbehaving I hope to have her around for a while longer. 
Knee update-still sore, swollen and lacks mobility, but I can at least sleep now without having it elevated and am able to be up on it longer periods of time without terrible pain.  Another doctor visit in two weeks and likely a different brace.  Running a dog around the ring is impossible at this time, which puts a huge damper on continued agility and herding training.  Although I may have to suck it up and get back out to John's a few times this fall, poor Charlie is just dying to herd, or maybe sleep on the bed--it's a toss up. :-)
Next week I will have the pleasure of having a couple of extra dogs for a couple of weeks.  Gus and his lil bro Manning are coming down for some training time.  Ava is doing really fab on her conformation work and is finally finding some sort of focus.  I want to get her started on rally training now as I have no idea when her head, body and mind will all align for the show ring--haha! 
Until next time...

Hobblet News

I am ecstatic to report that the first "Hobblet" has finished his championship!!  Big congrats to "Riggs" who is pending AKC confirmation, Ch. Anstett's Rigmarole--bred by Peppi and Rachel Anstett, Amy Ross and Brian Elwell and owned by his adoring mom, Mary Johnson.
This makes the first Champion for my darling Hobbs (Ch. Anstett Oak Knoll Olympic Grafitti) with 2 more pointed from his first and second litters and puppies waiting in the wings to hit the ring this fall. 
Above are some shots of two of the Hobblets here on the farm, the blue girl is Ava (Allstar Maiwae Glen Clova) and the tri boy is Cruz (Northern Oaks Maiwae Wide Receiver).   As you can see photo ops, ear taping and general play time is exhausting.
Until next time...

My Place In The Universe

So where is my place or what purpose do I serve in this universe?   Such a philosophical topic for an otherwise mundane blog.  I've spent the majority of my life in and out of the "what am doing here?" mode.  At any given time I have had the answer and I usually stay with that answer for long periods of time.  I knew I could train and show dogs, so that was my purpose.  I knew I was good at my job, so that was my purpose and getting to a new level in that "career" was my purpose.  I'm pretty sure given the age-death statistics that I am beyond middle age (or I'm going to live to be into my late 90's--a scary thought!) but there are days I think I may be in a mid-life crisis.  But does a mid-life crisis last for a decade?  Okay, so maybe there are no rules to that. 
I love having dogs in my life, I'm still not sure if I love showing dogs anymore.  I shall reserve decisions on that until I figure it out.  Please do not hold your breath.  Anyone who has known me for longer than 30 seconds should know I can't make a quick decision to save my life.  But I do believe I have found my place or purpose in the universe and it is in fostering Collies in need.  I enjoy it very much, I get a sense of accomplishment from fostering and I know I have completed a task in full when they are adopted.  My own dogs are wonderful with the fosters.  I can work on the foster with geriatric dogs, middle aged dogs, young dogs, small dogs, fast dogs, slow dogs, alpha dogs and soft dogs.  I swear my kidlets know exactly what every foster dog that has been in the house needs in the way of "help" and they give it to the foster dog.  I will say my guys were pretty happy to see the two young puppies leave, but then again I was also exhausted from having them!
My next foster dog will arrive sometime next weekend and I am excited to get this new Collie here!  I'm sure I'll have updates to follow.
Until next time, planted firmly in my place in the universe... 

Fix It

I am pretty proud of my fix it abilities.  My repairs are not always pretty but they get the job done for the most part.  The inventors of duct tape and those plastic zip ties are my heroes and I would be lost without my pair of wire snips.  The lawnmower has been my major project this past year.  I knew the ignition wire thingy (technical term ya know!) that runs from the mower engine to the handle bar was worn out and last year had handily fixed it with some plastic zip ties and half a roll of duct tape.  This spring I realized the need for a new wire thingy.  I ordered it online from Sears and voila! it was the right part--I feel the need to say that was probably a little help from above--I'm not sure I would have picked the right part on my own.  I was able to replace the wire thingy, do the usual spark plug and oil change thing and yep the mower has been working fine.  Until this weekend.  I guess sitting for 8 weeks unused didn't sit well with the mower and it would not start.  In my defense I haven't had to mow in 8 weeks because of the lack of rain and I just don't feel one should mow something that hasn't grown more than three millimeters and is brown with yellow splotches.  In defense of the mower it has spent four years of summers mowing nearly an acre at least once a week.  That is a lot of work for a push mower. 
The first problem was the blade would not move.  This brought out the handy dandy WD40 and a good soaking of that.  A few dozen easy pulls and it loosed up.  But it still would not start.  What does a woman do?  Yep, digs in the grooming box and pulls out the next can of miracle spray--starter fluid!  Not only good for gunky up tape for the dogs ears, it really can be used as intended!  To end the story, after many tries I did get the mower started, but now need a new can of starter fluid.  The mower and I finished 95% of the house yard and then we ran into another snag.  Out of gas and none in the gas can, duct tape and zip strips can't fix that one...

Until next time...

Another Try

After much thought I decided to revive the blog.  A new website will follow as soon as I can get myself more organized.  So it may be a while for the new website. :-)
This is a very self-centered view but I deserve to give myself another chance.  It is much easier to say to myself "to hell with it all" and exile myself to the farm.  That isn't a negative by the way, I truly love living out here and more days than not I wish I didn't have to leave even to go to town.  It's my little piece of peace. 
I've made so many mistakes in life, no doubt more than the average person and will continue to make more before I die.  This is something I have to accept, that I make mistakes, life goes on and I can quit beating myself up over those mistakes.  The biggest mistake I don't want to make is giving up the dogs that give me so much pleasure.  Life is short.  I don't know how to really get it thru to people just how short it really is.  One day you are here, the next you are gone.   At that point it's too late to say "shoot, wish I would or wouldn't have done that".
So I'm going to start again with the dogs.  Taya and Declan will be having babies sometime in mid to late October if everything goes well.  If it doesn't, I will try again.  The dogs will go out one by one and get finished Championships. I'll get them ring ready and with the help of a couple of dear friends and however else I can throw a dog at :-) they will get shown.  My knee may or may not come back to be able to show them, but they will get shown.  It'll be a slow process and I am going to enjoy it and not worry so much about getting things done.  What is the saying, "it's not the destination, it's the journey"?
Since there is little running to rally I'll work with the kids on that here and there.  Ava would love agility, we'll see if that is in our future or not.  I don't think Ava will give a hoot if she plays agility or not as long as I can play tug with her for fun.  There will still be some dogs going to new homes for their happiness. 
I'm going to start once again over in life.  But I do that about every week or so anyway.  My job is easy, as stress free as I want it to be (ie don't try to make the office run better, just do your job and collect your check), the hours are good (friday afternoons off) and I don't mind the one or two Sat a.m.s a month.  That's just more money to keep the dogs in food, right? 
So, join me again for more posts, some odd, some funny, some pathetic, but always being done Maiwae...