Whoops, missed one

I missed yesterdays update on Spice. So far, so good. We are all ready and I suspect she is too. Poor baby, she really has no idea what's going on. Sahra and Peppi arrived, there was a trip to the store so we have plenty of human supplies including the required amounts of junk food. :-) Bryce has decided he needs to hold watch over Spice and has been spending alot of time laying in front of the bedroom doorway "guarding" his girl. It's very sweet.

News from the show yesterday too! Rumor was WB/BOW, Best Puppy and a Puppy Group3! Thanks to Mac and Diana for taking her to Lake Minnetonka. No points yesterday because there were no other bitches and only one dog, but more dogs entered today, so fingers crossed for that cross-over point.

Other than the ever present threat of rain and this a.m.'s fog, nothing really new and exciting here, yet.

And we wait...

5 DAYS OF SPICE

We did Spice's xray today and counted 6 puppy heads! Now we just need big, healthy puppies to come out. Nothing new to report other than Maddy is really torked that she's been kicked out of the bedroom.

For anyone that may have attempted to answer the puppy questionnaire, please resend it with the new instructions. There were mechanical difficulties with the one originally on the website. I love technology when it works.

The humidity is back, so the a/c went back on and I left Spice stretched out on the bedroom floor in front of the fan. I wonder if she will actually loose all her hair post pregnancy, because she sure doesn't loose it for very long any other time.

Until next time...

6 DAYS

Hmm...realized last night that perhaps the whelping box project was really, really well built. Insert "heavy" in place of well built. And it's big. Apparently I was thinking Spice needed the cadillac of whelping areas. Oh well, there's room for me to squeeze in and sit there with the puppies too. Of course, it also barely fits into the bedroom. Spice seems to like it, she was in and out and in and out after I put the finishing touches on the xpen and drapes. Gotta keep those drafts off the puppies. At some point I'll have to take pictures of the maternity ward. Thanks to big old farm houses with big old rooms with wood floors or I'm not sure where I would have put her. Sahra and I had a long talk last night about our anxieties of Spice delivering too soon, something I don't anticipate, but of course my worry-button has been activated. Apparently she's pyschic and picked up on that because she's been worrying too. However, Spice looked at me last night and basically gave me the "don't worry mom, I've got it handled" look. She ate like a horse last night too and actually had a short romp in the yard before she gave up and found her favorite spot in the yard. She loves to lay on the lower part of the sidewalk and oversee the other dogs playing and has a good overall look of the farm and that dang road a 1/4 mile away. One never knows when a car might drive by and has to be "chased". Go figure. :-)
So all is well with 6 days to go. Xrays tomorrow a.m. and I can hardly wait. I am revising my previous notion of 8 puppies down to 4-5. But as long as they are big and healthy I don't care if it's 2, oh and there has to be a non-blue GIRL for Sahra. :-)
Until next time...

7 DAYS

I really think I need some kind of catchy theme song for the puppy countdown, but I just cannot come up with anything. Update for the a.m. Spice did not eat really well last night. She picked at her dry food (which is EVO and even I think it smells great), so I mixed in some Evangers canned and she ate about 1/2. I put her bowl in the refrigerator. About 2 hrs later, I got the bowl out, warmed it up and added 2 hamburgers that got a little charred. I had a cooking mishap and they just were a bit, okay more than a bit, overcooked. Oh and a half a cup of shredded cheese. She ate most of that. Put the bowl away. About 10, I put the bowl back out and she ate the rest.
This a.m. I put a can of Evangers in her bowl and she ate that. Then I left her a bowl of dry to pick at during the day. She's drinking alot of water too, so now she has 2 buckets. I've kicked Maddy and Jam out of the bedroom for the duration. Maddy is pretty okay with it, Jam is totally put out. Dora is now on crate duty with the rest of the kidlets. In effect, the bedroom is now Spice's hangout only.
Tick tock, tick tock....and we wait...

8 DAYS....

8 days...xrays on Friday. Poor Spice, she ate most of her breakfast. I think the puppies are crowding her tum-tum. So she'll get dinner and a late night snacklet from now on.
And the wait continues...

9 DAYS AND COUNTING...

Got back from the Fargo shows today. I really enjoyed going, the show site was pretty good. There was tons of grooming and electricity and the club had an awesome idea and put up actual kennels for x-pens. They were HUGE and kept very clean with new sawdust each day. The CWCCA supported entry on Sat. drew a large entry for the weekend and there were majors in dogs and bitches all three days. Rumor did place first in her class all three days (two of which she was the only entry in her class, but hey it's another blue ribbon!) and she "earned" her mom and really great travel mug sponsored by Pro Plan. Mac showed her on Sat and Sun and she's off to MN for a show next weekend with her. Mac and Rue really click and I'm on puppy watch.
Yep! 9 Days and Counting! It was a great trip, but alot of driving for me, so I don't know that I"ll make it a yearly show. However, in 20 years of showing, it was my first trip to North Dakota, so that was cool. We camped across from the show site and the dogs had lots of nice long walks. The weather was off and on with rain, so what else is new? I swear if Jean plans a cook out at a dog show, it rains. :-) Jean had three really great wins with Rue's brother, Flip. And I got to show Danni on Sat. Which I enjoyed so much. Since Danni is both Trace's and Rue's mom, well hey, she's a special girl to me. Thanks to Jean for entering her at the last minute when I had a panic attack about making sure we'd have enough girls for majors. :-)
There was also much time spent with Peppi and Brian and the usual gabfest. Peppi deserves handler of the day award on Friday for basically showing 4 boys, 1 smooth girl and 1 rough girl in Collies. I helped in Winner's Dog, but she did the rest and a big pat on the back for her--when you have all but 2 of the entire Smooth entry, well, you get the picture.
Okay, the TB is unpacked, the dogs and I are fed, everyone is pretty much settled in. I have laundry and of course, as I predicted the damn grass grew while I was gone. I see my future this week, laundry, a bit of housework to make it presentable for my Dog Midwives to arrive on Sat., lots of mowing, a trip to the vet for xrays on Spice and oh yea, I suppose I can find a bit of time for sleep in there somewhere.
Until next time...

COUNTING DOWN

Oh yea, and it's 15 days to Spice babies! The count down begins. Oh boy I am so ready and yet so not ready!

Just Useless Stuff :-)

Off to the north, well okay, North Dakota, but it IS north of Iowa! Hopefully there will be good news to post at the end of the journey along with the usual fun stuff. Peppi, Jean and I will have our hands full with the Collies followed by the Cardigans. I heard rain, so I packed a couple of umbrellas. Whenever I'm not prepared for rain it happens, so I'm hoping that by being prepared this time the rain will run the other way. I took a week of vacation for this show so no matter the outcome I'm looking forward to some relax and veg time. This will be the last dog show until fall for me since Spice is pregnant and I have another week of vacation scheduled around her delivery and a week with the puppies. I've asked for maternity leave but my boss just looked at me and walked away. I think I heard her laughing her head off in her office. Sahra is being so wonderful and taking Spice for the week, of course I had to threaten her to get her to do that for me--haha NOT! I think if I left Spice there too long I'd loose my dog. Bella is going for a trial run at a new home, so we'll see how that works out. The rest of my dogs get to spend the week at Camp Runge in the a/c kennel being spoiled by Don. And yes, I suspect that Don does spoil them. Maybe not with Maddy, I think she annoys him, but then, she annoys the vast majority of those she meets. Oh and Harold might be a bit of a pill. He's such a baby. Jam of course goes with me. I think he might need to get one of those Emotional Support dog vests and become my assistance dog. Somedays I don't know what I'd do without that ugly brown dog. Just being with him makes me happy. Same with Trace-face, I almost can't go a day without him a-roo-rooing to me. Rumor will do her show dog thing and then pout about it. I have got to find her something else to do while we are on "maternity leave". I found a nice conservation park near here, I so wish I still had Murphy's tracking stuff (lost in the flood), cause I think Rue might like tracking.
Uh oh it's after 10 p.m. I gotta get my happy ass to bed, tomorrow is a long day of driving and it's supposed to rain. Ugh.
Until next time...

WHIRLWINDS

Whirlwinds. Worked all week, finished projects that had to be completed at home, packed the TB on Sat and found out there was no a/c working. Drove to Jean's packed to the rafters and on the rafters of the TB, unpacked, settled dogs. Thanks to Don for putting the a/c in the kennel for my kids. Drove to the show on Sunday, said brief hellos and was handed a Samoyed to walk to the ring. Mostly a blur of activity after that, held Sammy's, chatted with friends, watched someone's van have an under the hood electrical fire (scarey, but no dogs in the van, but boy did my heart go out to the owner--what a way to end their dog show weekend), showed Rumor who was RWB to Elaine's Safari-a very nice young bitch. Loaded dogs back up, came home, now doing all the things that have to be done before I leave again. Work on Tues, hopefully get the lawned mowed before being gone a week (so it's not jungle fever here next week!), pack dogs back up, drive to LaCrosse to drop off two dogs, drive to Jean's, load up and then drive to Fargo. Three days of shows, with probably little sleep--because you know how much socializing goes with dog shows, swapping help to show Collies to get help to show Cardigans (a pre-thanks to Peppi and Brian for that!), of course we all show late on Sunday, so it'll be that, then a pack up, drive to Jean's, stay the night, pack up, drive to LaCrosse, pick up dogs, drive home and then back to work the next Tues. Whirlwinds.
Oh yea, and 16 short days to Spice's due date! Yipppeeee!!! Uh oh, I think that means more Whirlwinds. Sheesh, just writing it all out feels exhausting! :-)

Yup, she's preggers

Great news, all the signs of pregnancy are there for Spice! Her due date is June 16. I'll be getting some picks later this week. I kind of ran of out of oomph today. Yesterday was so busy, I'm working on sprucing up the indoor garage kennel runs. Love my new tools--especially that drill and it only took me about 30 mins to figure out how to make everything work with it. Stop that snickering! Got about 1/2 of the grass mowed, which anyone that's been out here can attest to the fact that there is alot of grass to push mow. Cleaned up the burn barrel area and put in some new metal flashing to expand the area. This worked out great because then I dug around in the garage and pulled out all the corrugated cardboard boxes that have accumulated in the past year and a half and got those burned. Yea, yea, ozone, pollutants, tell it to someone that lives closer to a landfill and has a truck. I burn my garbage, and I won't even begin to discuss what's buried in the big ol' hole out where there was a hog building. It's filled in now and Rick planted corn over it this year. If I start to glow in the dark after eating a few ears of sweet corn you'll know why. ;-)
All of the materials for the whelping box are on site now, this week when it's nice after work I'll finish sealing the wood and putting it together. As usual when I visit the Menard's I went a big over the top and it's going to be one solid, big structure. I think I'm going to have to actually assemble it in the bedroom--it won't fit thru the door all in one and I'm not even sure I could lift it in one piece. What the heck? It should last for puppies until I'm tired of having anymore litters. I'm a bit worried it might not be tall enough for the puppies, but I've already come up with an easy solution that can be added after the puppies get big and active. For now it's made so I can get in and out and over the sides without killing myself or pulling a muscle. These are important for those of us out of shape, getting way to old to crawl on the ground people.
I can't believe it's nearly 7 pm on Sunday--I want another weekend now! The good part is that on Mon, Tues, Thurs now I get to carpool and that means leaving work at 4 instead of 5--and heck the decrease in gas and pollutants from that V8 vehicle I drive should balance out the garbage burning, right?
Until next time...

Rain Rain Go Away and take the Wind with you...

Yesterday was interesting. It's been a rainy and windy May so far and I have now experienced the excitement of mud bogging. Along with a few other items, the gravel road took a real beating from the past winter. Since the last thaw there have been big mounds of black dirt heaved up thru the gravel. Add in the downpours we've had and well it's a little like driving in freshly mixed cement. I realize that my usual rate of speed down said gravel road is just a shade over the recommended limit, but I am now down to a crawl and still getting shifted and shoved all over the place. The driveway isn't a mud bog, it's a water obstacle course. Small, medium, large and pond-like potholes full of water down at the "dip" in the road. All in all a simply fascinating driving experience in and out of the farm. Ha.
Today, again, we have wind. Big time wind. I laughed at Sahra when she asked "is it always windy here?" because yep, it's always windy here. Sometimes a barely there breeze, sometimes gale force drama. Today's it's just below gale force which means I'm going to do inside things today. Trim some dog nails, laundry and vaccum with my new Dyson (thanks to Jean!). Maybe today is the day I get the sewing back out and finish up some more projects. For now it's some computer time while playing tug with Harold--I am the supreme multi-tasker--and humongoid cups of coffee.
Until next time...

HOSTAS

Here is the story of the hostas. They've traveled long and far to make it to the farm. These hostas started out at my grandmother's house on Dalewood, which then became my mom's and after her death, my sister's. I had taken a few clumps of these hostas when I moved into my first house on 17th St. They flourished in the front yard planter for nearly 20 years. I took several clumps when I moved into the A Ave. house. Again, they spread and bloomed for the nearly 2 years I was there, happily living under a huge maple tree in the front yard. In 2008 when Cedar Rapids was flooded I thought they were lost under the 10 feet plus of water the front yard saw that June. During the last day of clean up I was lamenting the loss of all of the potted annuals and the perinneal beds I had put in that spring and was particularly upset about the hostas. The Dalewood and 17th St properties had both passed into the hands of strangers and I thought Grandma's hostas were gone. Diane looked around and found a few stray pots and then dug up what she thought might be survivors. She took them home and popped them into her yard to see what would happen. These are some pretty hardy hostas. They grew in Diane's yard and last summer she dug them up and brought them to me. I had them in the pots under a shade tree but never got them planted. They wintered in the garage and I thought they would be dead by this spring. Let me tell you, these have to be miracle hostas because they survived the winter in those pots. I was looking for pots to put my herbs in today and found them and they are alive. So into the ground under the big shade tree in the front yard they went today, surrounded by x-pens. Here's to the Dalewood-17th-A-Post Flood Hostas-may you grow deep roots, big green leaves and lovely purple flowers.

A CASE for not mowing

My landlord left me the perfect excuse for not finishing my mowing. See below. :-) I really need to encourage him to park more farm equipment in the yard across from the house. Or maybe not, that's my dog training area!

My Little "CHIC" a dee

The OFA website now has Trace's PRA test results listed and today I received his official CERF paperwork. According to the CERF website, that info should appear on the OFA website within 30 days and then...drum roll please...Trace will have his CHIC certification! One more item checked off the "Trace List". Later this month he'll get his first day of herding and after Collie puppies are gone we'll be back to tackle rally and obedience. So many things to do, so little time....
Until next time...

Chain Link and other building thoughts

Well not really, I'm very happy about all the chain link stuff out by the garage right now. I started taking down the kennel runs that we put in, July 08. They've served their purpose but it's time to upgrade. 2 winters including all the snow and wind we had this past winter really took it's toll on the welded wire and t-posts. And of course there are major upgrades being put in place for inside the "kennel" aka garage.
I've been spending some time thinking about the best usage of what I have now in order to keep what I need to get down to the bare minimum. I think 4 - 10 foot sections and 2 - 6 ft gates will be enough to give me what I need. What I have currently is going to become the cardigan kennels which I'll set up inside the existing dog yard. They won't have indoor/outdoor runs, only covered tops and dog houses, but it's not like they are out in inclement weather anyway. :-) I might have to purchase one more 6x6 panel to finish it all off, not sure yet. It's kind of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.
Along with that I have a really cool idea for the front porch that only needs 2 more sections of lattice, a few 2 x 4's and a bucket of white exterior paint. And I'm off to Menard's on my Friday lunch break to pick up the lumber, etc for the whelping box.
I can see it now.. power tools and wood, and the cell phone hotline to Jean so she can talk me thru all these projects. Good thing she understands it when I say "the whatchajigit doesn't fit into the thingamajig." Gotta love great friends!
Until next time...

Gates and such

I picked up several different sized gates and a 6 x 6 kennel panel today thanks to Robin! The gates are all in the back of the TB and the panel's on the top. Fingers crossed that it makes it all the way to Manchester without blowing off. I am optomistic, after all it's either going to stay on or fall off. :-)
Robin also has quite a bit of chain link fence that I will attempt to get this weekend. That could be an adventure, I'm not sure how much rolled up chain link I can lift by myself. Perhaps I'd better buy a large tube of Ben Gay. Except I'll probably be too sore to use it. Hahahaha
Jean and Don put together several kennel panels for inside the garage and also 2 - 6x6 panels, so now with the gates I just need to figure out configuration goes together in the garage and what I'll have left to work with. Still pondering getting that 10x10x6 kennel from Norby's. I need to find out if they deliver, because I think I might have problems strapping THOSE to the top of the TB! ;-)
Until next time...

THE LATEST AND GREATEST FROM WATERLOO

This day did not start off well at all. First of all at 4:30 am it was raining, ugh, more wet dogs. And a cold wind. I dug out my winter coat and gloves again. Sahra and I headed out a bit before 6 a.m. and got oh about 100 feet from the end of my driveway. The serpentine belt on her van came off, thankfully it didn't break, just came off. We were back in the house at 6:10 a.m. I have simply the greatest landlords in the world and after waiting until a reasonable and respectful 8:30 a.m. time, I called and Rick came out and put it back on. Between 6:30 and 8:30 Jean, Sahra and I took a quick run into Manchester and had a hugely yummy breakfast at the local eatery.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to get back on the road until after 9:30 and by then it was too late for Sahra and Camille in Open, Sahra and Bryce in Rally Advanced and Sahra and Calvin in Smooth Collies. Basically, her day would have tanked totally if the belt had actually broken, but it was salvagable even without the chance at some more Q's and points. While we were all in transit, getting there and transitioning dogs, alot happened. Mary and Beyla earned her first Open leg, Mac got a 3rd in Open Juniors, Mary and Lucy missed a Q in utility by a glove retrieval (ooohhh so close!) and Amy and Lyra had WB in Rough Collies! Big congrats to Amy, Mary, Beyla and Lyra, as well as Mac for getting the MOJO going this a.m.!
Cardigans showed early this afternoon. Diana and Mac's Jenna was a bit naked so Amy and I tried to "add" coat. Well it must have worked because Jenna was BOB today over 2 other specials. We had 2 great judges this weekend and it was so gratifying to have a judge today that would overlook some missing hair and recognize the true quality of this dog.
More great news in Cardi-land today too, Diana showed Bode to WD, Jean and Flip were RWD. I asked Mac to show Rumor today and she was gracious enough to do so and went WB/BOW for another point. Bode was also best Bred-By today. I stayed for groups since I'm so close to the show site and watched a very professional looking pair of Mac and Jenna in group, followed by Diana and Bode in bred-by group where they had a Group 4.
Such an absolutely fabulous show weekend for all of us. No, they are not all like this, but it's been a very long time since I haven't had a hugely great time at a dog show, even without doing any winning. Winning is the icing on the cake!
So thanks to all my friends for making this weekend so much fun--I'm looking forward to the next go-round!
Until next time...

WATERLOO SATURDAY UPDATE

News from the front lines--Waterloo show today. Despite the monsoon and ensuing flooding into the building the day went well. Mary and Beyla, Sahra and Camille both had NQ's in Open but both came back and had excellent results later in the morning. Sahra and Bryce Q'd with a 94 and 3rd place in Rally Adv. and Mary and Lucy debuted in Utility and came so close to qualifying and had some absolutely brillant moments including the scent articles and directed jumping that left everyone pretty speechless.
Onto the breed ring, I got to show a smoothie again and was in heaven showing Calvin. Calvin was RWD. Mac got a 4th in a large juniors class and the mojo in our area was in full gear. Jean debuted Flip today and was WD for his first point, Flip's sister, my Rumor was WB/BOW/BOS and Best Puppy for the crossover point, giving her 3 total points in 2 weekends so far. Diana and Bode were RWD. The mojo continued into roughs with Amy taking firsts in her classes with Gibbs, Lyra and Jordie.
We are all exhausted, but it's a good tired. Looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully more ribbons and points. The fun is guaranteed!
Until next time...

Be afraid...be very afraid....

SPICE AND BRYCE

Hoorah! Got a breeding with Bryce and Spice tonight! Calculations put a tentative first whelping date of 06/16/10. This means I'll be missing shows for a while but oh it is so worth it. It'll be a long wait, even tho 63 days isn't long at all. More updates to follow.

Hard to believe

I thought it had been 5 years since I last had some puppies. I was wrong. The flood wiped out all my past dog records but I looked it up on the AKC website and it's been 7 years since I've had a litter. In fact, they were born in April 2003. Holy cow time truly does fly.
Seven years seems like forever ago. Life has sped by in a scarily rapid fire flash. Now I know what grandma meant when she said the older she got the faster time moved. I'm also pretty sure that weekend-time and weekday-time are on different cycles. Weekend-time moves at twice the speed as weekday-time. And we all know that Mondays move at half the speed of UGH. Nope, I'm not a morning person, not a Monday person and definitely not a Monday Morning person. On Mondays I cannot ingest enough caffeine orally to make it any better, and to my knowledge a quick intravenous infusion of the stuff has not been tested. :-)
One thing puppies initiate in my office is the recycle mode. I'll put up a sign tomorrow and by the time puppies arrive I should have enough newspapers to fill the back of the Chevy. And I have a good source of discount items for puppies too. I can order those wonderful absorbent pads and any assorted medical type supplies too. I still need to replace my stethoscope, maybe I'll get lucky and we'll have an extra floating around that isn't in use anymore. Time to scrounge!
No doubt in the coming weeks this blog will become puppy watch central. Right now I'm so excited I almost can't sit still.
Until next time...

THE WAIT IS OVER

Yep, Spice finally came into season yesterday. It's been a year this month that she was in season last and I've been stewing about it for several months now. Imagine me, worrying about something like that. Hard to believe-not! Yes I'm a worrier. See the first step is admitting it. Although I'm not sure there is a 12 step program for worriers. :-)
Anyway this means potential puppies the first part of June and I am so excited. Spice's beau is UKC/INT Ch. Anstett's Allstar is Bryce, CD, RN. Bryce is an amazing dog who has trained in search and rescue, agility and doggie dancing along with competing in obedience and rally. He is currently working on his CDX and RA. I'm pretty sure he could rule the world IF he had opposable thumbs.
Making the huge assumption that she will get pregnant, this will put a bit of a crimp in the show schedule for the summer so I'll be digging deep to make as many shows before her due date as possible.
Puppies, puppies, puppies.....finally!

DUBUQUE PICTURES

Here are some candid shots from the Sunday Dubuque show taken by Amy Ross of Oak Knolls Collies in MN. When you see Amy at a show, talk to her about her photography work--she is awesome!

QWAYNT'S SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT

We definately had Something To Talk About this weekend. It was Rumor's first weekend out in the show world. On Sat. she just was not too sure this was such a great idea that mom had. I'm sure she was thinking something along the line of..."Oh terrific, I get to sit in a crate, it's noisy so I can't really nap, there is NOTHING to do in here, I get dropped onto a table and sprayed with various smelly items, walked around in this really odd world, asked to potty in a pen with sawdust (puhleeze, like I'm gonna do that!) and then mom thinks I'm going to stand and look pretty???"
At any rate Rumor performed like a puppy in her first show. She did okay. She moved around most of the ring, there was the brief appearance of the "mule" act, folded like a cheap suit on the table before I got her stacked up and won her class of one. :-)
Today was a much better story. By this time she is still bitchy about the whole boring crate thing, and still not happy about the smelly spraying stuff but she became her true self after a few walks around. Puppy class was pretty good, much better than the day before and she didn't fold on the table. She even had ears for the judge. Okay, by this time I'm feeling like I have a show dog and hey we will get some kind of ribbon again today. Then we won the class and I was happy-I met my goal of winning the class. At this point I'm so nonchalant about the whole thing I almost forget about Winners. The next time in the ring Rumor really has it figured out and gets some more speed up on the go arounds. This makes me really happy because I see a few tail wags and she's taking bait and using her ears. Success! I'm then made supremely happy by going WB! Woo Hoo--Go Rumor! At this point all I can think is great, we get another shot at having a good ring experience during BOB. By now Rue has found her inner show dog and I'm having to pick up the pace with a few running steps, she's giving ears and stacking herself up pretty well. We need to work on back feet, but hey I'm not going to complain at all. In the end she goes BOS and that makes it a 2 point win. Holy Cats Batman! I am tickled beyond belief.
Thank you thank you thank you to Sahra, Amy, Diana and Mac for your support this weekend. Special thanks to Diana and Mac for today's encouragement and show lead loan. And of course a big CONGRATULATIONS and HUGS for Rue's breeder and co-owner Jean! Thanks Jean for placing two of your best with me. First Trace and now Rumor...how can I say thank you enough? Perhaps a lifetime supply of chocolate??
Until next time...

WHY DO WE DO THIS?

What is the number one question on every dog show person's mind? "Why do we do this?" This question is inevitably asked at 5 a.m., after a 5 hour drive and the exhausting task of setting up at the show site. This weekend the question was asked, hey I asked it myself. (And yes, it was at 6 a.m.)
On Friday, Sahra came from LaCrosse and we loaded up the TB and headed to Dubuque where we got to stand in line with a dolley loaded with equipment just to get grooming space. Amy met us there shortly after the line started moving. Good timing on her part :-). I pushed a Golden Retriever friend of mine that was in line ahead of us, down one row to get her spaces and Sahra and I scoped out a whole row. Basically you have to imagine the three of us unstrapping crates and tables and throwing them out to save the space. Although I'm sure everyone around me heard my perfectly sane (at least to me) statement "I want this whole row". Which translates into--try and cross over into this space and I will pitch a hissy fit. :-)
After a quick unload we headed back to the farm where Jean had arrived with supper made, yummy sloppy joes! The time passes too quickly when we all get together and before you know it it's 5 a.m. on Sat and time to schlep to the show.
Sat. was a good day--Sahra and Calvin were WD,BOW,BOV in Smooth Collies for his first point! Amy and Bejing were RWD in Smooths. Then Amy and Sahra did a reverse in Rough Collies with Fletcher going WD and Bryce RWD. Diana and Mac arrived at the show on Sat and Mac earned a 2nd in Open Senior Jrs. The fun continued into Cardigans with Jean going RWB with Ebbie and Rumor making her debut. Mac and her new special Jenna were BOS. Sahra and Calvin had a blast in the group ring and had a nice cheering section, along of course with cheering for the Cardigan. Back to the farm for dog exercising, holy cow what an absolutely amazing experience. We did the dogs in large groups and Amy took some really great shots. Diana took puppy pics. And oh did the puppies play--Jean brought her three, with my one and Amy brought a Smoothie baby. Then onto a tasty crock pot roast dinner. See, I CAN cook, you almost always cannot screw up with a crock pot meal. Diana brought homemade bread to share and I pretty much begged her to leave the rest of it. She obliged. :-)
Today came bright and early again, although I think we had it more organzied. If we had a week to do this all it would run even more smoothly but then if we all had to spend a week together....just kidding guys! Unfortunately we lost a member of the "gang" this a.m.--Jean had an emergency call from home and had to pack up and leave instead of spending the day at the show. This was a huge bummer for all of us, we missed her terribly and I didn't get to highjack Flip. ;-)
It did turn out to be a stellar day for the bunch of us. Amy and Bejing were WD/BOW/BOV to finish his Championship!! Congratulations to Peppi--we missed her this weekend too and I'm so happy for her that Bejing finished this weekend! Woo Hoo!! Sahra and Calvin were RWD. Just a flip flop from yesterday. The trend continued with Amy and Fletcher going Rough Collies WD and Sahra and Bryce going RWD, Amy and Lyra going WB for her first point, and following up with Amy's Jordie going RWB. Big congratulation HUGS to Mary for Lyra's first point! Mac was 2nd again in Open Senior Jrs. After a pretty long break it was time for Cardigans. Rumor was much better today than yesterday and was WB/BOS for her first 2 points! More on Rumor in the following post.
So now I can answer the question--"Why do we do this?" For the good times like this weekend! Oh yea and those point things. ;-)
Until next time...

OFFICIAL FIRST DAY OF SPRING!

Mother Nature has an interesting sense of humor. Today is the first day of Spring and last night we had snow. It wasn't alot of snow, maybe pushing an inch and as of 1:41 p.m. today it's all but gone. Now I have muddy spots again. I'm hoping for a day of sun and wind tomorrow so it dries up again and I can finish covering the remaining mud spots with mulch until the grass really takes hold. Of course with all the pounding of four feet some of those really shady spots are never going to see grass again, but I have a couple of ideas for later on. I am chomping at the proverbial bit to put up more fence and make more running room. If that wasn't subject to funding sources it would have been started already. Money is such an elusive creature.

Next weekend is the Dubuque show and I'm looking forward to debuting Rumor. It's going to be Motel Judy here with people and dogs all over the place. Collies and Cardigans Rule! Now to stand in line and get grooming space on Friday afternoon. Trace will get his CERF done with the beloved Dr. Betts. When he retires completely I will be crushed. I am hoping to get one last litter of Collie puppies born and checked with him before that happens. Spice is entered for what will likely be her last show for a while, although she might do rally in Waterloo depending on a myriad of what if's.

I suppose I should mosey along and at least vaccum the spare bedrooms. Those dang orange ladybug like creatures have created a few dead bug cemetaries. Time to suck 'em up.

Until next time...

YIPPEE!

I had Trace's hips and elbows done and called OFA today for results. You know me, I'm not patient enough to wait on the paperwork. Well to my complete delight he is OFA Good hips and OFA Elbows normal! I have his PRA test back and he is a non-carrier. He'll get CERF'ed in Dubuque and then be eligible for his CHIC number. The only other tests I'd like to complete this year on Trace are DM and Fluff.

Thank you Jean Runge for Trace! And thanks to his dam, Danni and his sire, Flash for passing down some awesome genetics and personality plus. Fingers crossed that time and money hold out this year so he can start accumulating those back end titles.

I just love my tri guy--Aroo Woo Woo as Trace would say!

SIGNS OF SPRING

Spring is in the air. Yes, I know it is only March 7th, but the signs are there.

Dogs are molting.
Mud.
The temps are in the upper 30's.
Mud.
Melting snow.
Mud.
Removal of cow manure, etc being spread on the fields.
Mud.
Floors that need to be mopped, again.
Mud.
Dogs confined to crates until dry enough to brush out the mud.
Mud.

So I have come to a hypothesis, SPRING=MUD. Apparently that college education is really paying off.

SPICE AND HAROLD AT CC of MN

WEEKEND UPDATE

I love a good dog show weekend, okay so I love any dog show weekend. This one was just particularly good. The weather cooperated, the "girls", Maddy, Dora and Bella stayed at my vet's boarding kennel and got spoiled by the techs, Rumor and Trace headed to Auntie Jean's for cardigan play time and the ugly brown Collies and I motored north. Despite my attempts to locate the Arctic Circle we made it to New Hope, MN thanks to multiple cell phone calls to Peppi. Supposedly there is a collection being started to donate a Garmin GPS to the "Judy Is Lost Again" fund. Friday night was rally and Sahra and her dog Bryce earned their first RA leg--Go Bryce! Sat. started with obedience, Sahra had Bryce and Deb's dog Camille entered in Open along with Mary and her dog Beyla. Beyla missed qualifying by one itty bitty return over the high jump, Bryce missed the same exercise and Camille worked beautifully but went down on the long sit with about 3 seconds to go. Sigh...
Sweeps and class placements were shared amongst the group of us. In his first conformation show Harold earned a 3rd place. Spice earned 1st in her class and won a dog bowl filled with goodies. Jerry Sulewski and his dog Ch. Lisara's Smooth Operator was BOV and BOB! Peppi and her best buddy Bejing won Smooth RWD and got a beautiful rosette. We all had a fun filled, yummy pot roast dinner at Peppi's and then moved the party to Amy's for puppy playtime. She has 4 week old babies and they are adorable. Sahra tried to sneak one out in her coat but Amy's pretty fast and "rescued" it. Heehee.
Sunday started out with gorgeous weather and another great day. Beyla did the retrieve over the high jump but didn't go all the way down on the drop on recall. Bryce was spot on until the dreaded broad jump. But how can you not love a dog with his enthusiasm for working? Camille had an outstanding run and qualified for her 2nd CDX leg--huge congrats and hugs to Deb and double circle snaps for Sahra's handling! More sweeps and class placements for the group. Harold took a 2nd on Sunday and Spice another 1st to earn another rosette-YEA I love rosettes!
Unfortunately, the weather in southwestern MN turned ugly and Trace and Rumor are at Camp Runge for a few more days until I can retrieve them. Yea, they have it tough. The weather coming home was good and the new powersteering repairs held. Really, what more could I ask for?
Oh and Amy took pics of Harold and Spice which I will post later. And she got some portrait shots of Jam to send to me that made me get teary-eyed. I love that dog so much.
I'm pooped out of course as usual after a show weekend, but am signing off now to watch Westminster.
Until next time...

NORTHBOUND

The car is packed to the top and on the top. I am getting too old for the schlepping around of crates to the top of the trailblazer, but the money I had put aside for the hitch carrier went into the power steering problem this week. Sigh...
We are heading up north for the Collie Club of MN shows this weekend. Spice and Harold are bathed, blown out, brushed and fluffed. I'm exhausted. Jam is going along because he's Jam and I need him. I am so excited, Sahra and I are both staying at Peppi's and Amy is having a puppy party on Sat.
I'll check in again next week and give the show results--fingers crossed--it's Harold's first conformation show and I have a feeling he will be doing his automatic sit instead of standing. Oh well, he's so darn cute it makes up for it. :-)
Until next time...

Spice and Bryce Pics from Oshkosh

This is Spice's boyfriend, Bryce. Yea we know Spice and Bryce--it's a little "matchy, matchy" isn't it? This is Anstett's Allstar Is Bryce, CD, RN, etc, etc. owned by Sahra Jola. Fingers crossed that this weekend he outdoes himself and comes home with his CDX. He is also OFA hips excellent and normal eyed. Gorgeous, correct, sound and smart--can I be cliche and say "the total package"?


And here is Spice, Oak Knolls Pumpkin Spice, who we now know is extremely trainable. Thanks to Sahra who had her doing sit, down, stand, heel, sit pretty, nose poke and bow in 20 mins. The miracle of the clicker and an experienced trainer. By the way, Sahra's blue pants set Spice off beautifully don't they? :-)

As promised in a past post, here are a couple of pictures from Oshkosh. My thanks to Amy Ross for her superb photography skills!

HAROLD

HAROLD AND HIS DADDY FLETCHER

POO AND OTHER FUN STUFF

Yep, it's a post about poo. Apparently this is my tribute to Mike Rowe and "Dirty Jobs". It's now February in Iowa and we had warm (I use this term loosely) temps yesterday. This of course means one thing to multiple dog owners, poo patrol. I did about half of the house yard which may seem like very little until you consider the size of the yard, 8 dogs and the amount of poo they create. I finished it up today when it was not as warm, mainly due to going out at 8:30 a.m. fortified by 1/2 a pot of coffee. Having heard we were to get another 5 inches of snow I decided to chip away one of the many layers of frozen poo that have accumulated during this very long, cold winter. In defense of myself it does get difficult to keep the yard completely clear when you leave home in the dark and return in the dark 5 days a week. Flood lites for next year may be an option but I think that may be a job for Don Runge. I don't fool with electricity or plumbing. But I digress. I got out the hard core garden shovel and began chipping away at the frozen, half buried poo, filled my poo hauler (an old beat up rubbermaid tote--hmm...that would make an interesting commercial) and dumped it in the winter poo spot, otherwise known as the bean or corn field. I shall never have to worry about poo disposal as long as they keep farming around the property. Chalk another mark on the pro side of living in the middle of no where. I had alot of assistance this weekend in my poo patrol. Harold barked at me the whole time, dropping the odd toy into my hand every few minutes so I would throw it for him. He must love me because he never gives me the "geez mom you throw like a girl" look. Spice dive bombed my feet, Trace and Jam followed me every step of the way and Dora and Maddy looked bored and Bella and Rumor were horrified that I was taking away their fun of eating and playing with frozen poo. Well too bad baby girls.
We have had a good amount of snow but really not nearly as much as quite a few places this winter. It's the wind that I have problems with. It causes major drifting out here. After the last wind/snow storm my 5 foot yard fence disappeared in one corner and became an 18 inch fence. It was comical to see Collies and even Cardigans that climbed up the drift and just sat there looking out, watching me take trash out to the burn pile and take food to the garage for the farm cats. Not once have any of them even attempted to go over the fence. People are amazed when I tell them I have dogs that won't test fences, but it's true. I think that some of it came from our time on A Ave. in Cedar Rapids. Clara had helped me put up a 6 ft fence on the one side, but the front and back of the property I used 36 inch and 30inch ex-pens for fence. Maddy, Dora, Jam, Spice and Trace all lived there and I never had an issue with them. The funny thing was I had a Brussels Griffon at the time that would constantly climb the fence and be out visiting the neighborhood. You would think that a small dog wouldn't be a problem, but of course it's always the ones you don't think will cause an issue that do. Unfortunately the neighborhood was full of big dogs including pit bulls next door and siberian huskys on the other and I ended up sending him back to his breeder. I had nightmares of him being eaten alive. Especially since he didn't know he was a small dog and would literally challenge any other male dog. I miss the little dude, especially now that I'm out where he would be safe, but I felt better about sending him back than having him dead.
At least one of the good things about A Ave. was teaching my dogs to really know that a fence, no matter how high must not be breached. They have even made a ledge to lay on 1/2 way up. We have more snow 3-6 inch and wind so I have a feeling that ledge may be getting higher. A casualty of the winter has been the kennels. I shoveled them out once after a big windy snow storm and then gave up trying to keep them cleared out. And as all my friends knew anyway I wouldn't have used them. My babies just are not acclimated to the really cold stuff. I think the cats have taken up residence in the dog houses in the garage. If I was able to enclose the outdoor part of the runs more so that the snow wouldn't accumulate and keep more wind out than the tarps, I might, MIGHT consider leaving them outside during the day. Maybe next winter. Maybe not. :-)
Time to at least read this week's chapter and make some notes. I actually love my Statistics class but this instructor is a little heavy on exams and I have to make alot of notes for the formulas to keep them all straight. After this class I'll take a break until late summer. Still hoping for Spice puppies and I have shows planned starting in April, oh and more fence to put up and power tools to play with.
Until next time...

QUICK UPDATE

I asked myself today, what happened to January? The month is almost over and I think all I have accomplished is pushing snow around. Spring, spring, I long for spring. Except for mud, mud I can live without. Hmm...seems like I am never happy with the weather.
My statistics class started and I am finding it very interesting. All these years in medical billing and reporting and I had no idea just how much of statistics I've used. Mind you, I haven't known how to calculate things properly but somehow I have managed to use statistical calculations without knowing it. Another of life's amazing oddities.
Bella came into season a week ago. Oh joy. She is totally oblivious to the chaos she is causing. As predicted Trace now LOVES Bella heeheehee...Too bad, so sad Trace, not this time. Give her another year to grow up.
I spent the past weekend in Oshkosh WI. Yep, only true dog show people would travel in the winter to Oshkosh, b'gosh. Had a great time with Sahra and Amy and all the other Collie people. Met some facebook friends and put faces to names. Saw Michelle Tennis who still has my Riley's litter sister, Stormy. It was nice to chat with her. Long ago we bred her blue rough boy Isaac to a bitch. I also loved Isaac, a very sweet boy.
I owe a bucket full of thanks to Deb and Scott for watching my precious Jam and baby Rumor. Let's just say that the Spa Deb offers full service luxury for the doggies. They came home bathed, spoiled and in the case of Rumor, just a little more full of herself. Big hugs to them!
As usual when it comes to Amy there were loads of laughs! I think she is a bad influence, but she probably thinks the same about me. And I was happy to see that Jordie behaved for her on Sunday. I always get a mental picture of Amy flying out behind Jordie like a flag in the wind--apparently Jordie doesn't realize she is not a GSD. :-)
And lastly, Sahra and I have discovered that we both like at least 3 things too much. Collies, Mexican food and Gabbing. Yes, we are now looking for a 12 step program for Excessive Gabbers. Although Amy's suggestion was duct tape. So there was basically no sleep all weekend, except for my siesta in the chair at the show on Sun. a.m. Apparently I did NOT snore, but I was a little concerned I may have drooled. Amy took pics of Harold and his daddy Fletcher, I hope to post those later this week and I have at least one good shot of Spice and Sahra's Bryce.
So now it's on to working on grooming and training for Feb. MN Collie Club show. Winter had better be tucking itself away soon. Let us pray. :-)

Until next time...

WINTER DAY FUN

What does a bored Iowan do on a winter day when the high temp is 4? Bundles up, plays with the dogs and takes pictures. Enjoy!

The Gangs All Here!

Harold is the left background, Jam, Maddy, Bella, Spice,

Trace, Dora and Rumor in the right background.

Yep, the sign pretty much says it all.

Dora


Dora The Diva
aka Ch. Windy Hills Midnight Dream
Soon to be on her way to warmer days



Jam addresses the troops, as usual they
ignore him, poor baby

Spice-look she has hair!

What a gorgeous blonde, or so Spice thinks

The Cardigan Gals

Bella and Rumor

The chase is on

Rumor, Bella, Trace, Spice with Maddy bringing up the rear.

For a nearly 13 yr old dog, she sure keeps up with the kids.

Trace

Rumor hoping to catch up with the big guys

Bella finds Piglet in the snow

Harold and Trace race for ???

Bella, Spice and Trace

COWS ON THE MOVE

Apparently last night was only the prep work for the "cattle drive". This morning was the real loading time and it came dang early. 6 a.m. I hear Rick, Roni, Grandma Mary and Josh pull up and Rick get out the skid loader to move more snow and put some gravel down for traction. Of course once I am awake the dogs are all awake (with the exception of Jam who could sleep thru a force 5 hurricane unless someone said the word "cookie") and I had to let them outside. By the way, it's FRIGID here and at 8 a.m. it was -20 air temp. Yes, I cursed. Brought the dogs in, fed Rumor, gave everyone else a bribery cookie and put them in crates. Hence the need for bribery cookies. Maddy, Dora, Jam and I headed back to the cozy, now lukewarm bed and tried to catch another hour of snoozetime. Big ol' semi shows up at 7 a.m. and then we start to have off and then on, off and then on electricity. I am convinced the semi did it, but after a call to the REC find out they are working on a problem in the area. Finally give up and put on another pair of socks followed by a pot of coffee. Yes, I cursed, again. Yelled at the dogs to quiet down in the crates, cause they are not going out to bark at 7 a.m. at the semi, cows and company. The cow exodus was complete by 8 a.m. which at this point it is a balmy -16 degrees out.
After all the morning excitement I went to Independence to shop for something different to do. Picked up dog food and cookies, a few groceries and a couple of new books. Looks like a nice afternoon to cuddle up with a good book, a hot beverage and a warm dog on my feet.

UH-OH, COWS DEPARTING....

Dang it. Rick brought over the cow loading chute thingy about an hour ago and started moving snow drifts around. Looks like we can expect a cow exodus this evening. Dang it. The first time they moved cattle last year the semi-driver couldn't make the swing around the driveway curve and Rick had to push down about 60 feet of fence so he could get in. Dang it. But that was in late March and it wasn't nearly as frigid as tonight. I have the best landlords and Rick replaced posts and put the fence back up but of course moved it in to prevent future problems. What absolutely floors me is that the semi-driver that brings the big equipment in and out (ie, backhoes and that thing they use to dig trenchs for drainage tiles) never had a problem making the swing. The second set of cows left about 6 weeks after the first last year and that driver made it with tons of room to spare. I'm saying a prayer for a really talented driver. And why is it that they have to do this in the dark?? Dang it.
The dogs have been fed and are confined to quarters in the dog room until it's over. That means they will be all out of sorts later in the evening. Dang it. A group of herding dogs barking at the fence does not make it easier to load cattle.
Updates as the cow exodus continues...

HAPPY 2010!

Happy New Year! The dogs and I did not make it to midnight, I think we got to 11:20 CST, well I made it to 11:20, the dogs were all passed out on the floor and furniture well before that. They sure put on a good act of working hard to validate the obvious exhaustion. Heehee...
2009 was still a big transition year for me and held some personal and family challenges. Those issues have turned around and life on the farm has become a pleasant habit. The dogs had another terrific year and held up their mom in and out of the show ring.
I don't do resolutions because they are too easily dismissed within the first month of the new year. I have a short list of goals with the dogs but they are so dependant on outside forces, the weather, when Spice has puppies and the biggest of all, the money to spend on a few classes and show entries.
I have decided that 2010 WILL be a good year. Sometimes we have to keep up a positive attitude, look for all the good things that life brings and push away the negative to really hit that good year mark. So maybe I do have a resolution after all...

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Yea, he has it rough...

Light at the end of the tunnel, frigid air and other unrelated material

I'm in my last week of Finite Mathematics. I can see the light at the end of this particular tunnel. I'd be elated if I wasn't exhausted. The final to take by Sunday and I'm done. Once again I will be thankful to pass the class even it ends up as a C. Now, do I take Statistics or give myself a break? It's not as if there is alot going on in the next 8 weeks, I could probably work through that and then be done with classes related to MATH. I equate the word MATH to the other 4 letter words of SNOW and COLD. Put them in the same category as all other nasty words. We had a foot plus of snow, which led to drifts up to my hips in all sorts of places on the farm. Including the dog runs, which probably won't see the dogs until spring. Now it's turned really really cold and I believe that COLD is worse than SNOW. It will get warmer again but then of course I'll complain because there will be more SNOW.
Let's see, in the unrelated material category I'm still waiting on Spice to come in season. Typical of Spice she is probably waiting until the worst winter weather day known to Iowans in a century to come in. I just keep repeating, "it will be worth it, it will be worth it". Jam is totally into his sabbatical from training. It's so cute to have him "ask" me to work. He'll throw random obedience stuff at me just to get a reaction from me. It's actually making him focus on me more now that I've stopped training.
On another note I have to mention the cows. This years cows seem brighter than the last bunch. The last ones were very sweet and docile and with the exception of the two "jailbreaks" were very good. This batch has something up their collective hooves. First they watch all the time and are very interested in the gates. The back gate was replaced/repaired and I think they gave up on that one. The front gate has been beat to death and back again. They managed to push and bump and rub enough to break two of the four gate bars. They didn't try to escape, but I think it's because they could not figure out how to step over the bottom bar and duck at the same time. Rick fixed the gate but I swear they are still plotting a winter adventure.
Driving to and from work has been dicey more times than I would like this winter and I am grateful beyond words for the Trailblazer, and it's heated seats. Now if only it had a remote starter.
I asked "Santa" (aka, my bank account) for tools this year. A circular saw and drill. I suspect that both Jean and Kim think I'm out of my mind again and worried I'll end up in the ER again. I promise guys, safety goggles and I will actually read the directions on how to use them before I start. Which as a side note, I did not do today while trying to get the postage machine to lick the envelopes for me and no I did not get it to work. Sometimes the old fashioned way is the best. I had visions of building something along the lines of a mini-loafing shed to use as with more kennels, but I'm not sure my methods of duct tape and zip-strips to fix things will hold up an entire building.
And of course the usual feeling of being cooped up is already settling in and my mind is wandering to dog shows and trials. I probably need to get off my rear end and start training again huh? Hmm...maybe after a cup of hot something...

DORA SEEKS ELVIS

Dora is getting a new home! She will be going to live in the Memphis TN area and will no doubt be wanting a tour of Graceland hoping to catch a glimpse of Elvis. Seriously, she will be heading out to live with my sister, her husband and my nephew, Ben. Ben is 5 now and is so excited to be getting a dog. When he was a baby they had a very old Rough Collie that had been a rescue I got from NE. Sam was such a great babysitter and Ben would lay on him and crawl all over him. Ben was asking mom tonight if he was going to be able to give Dora her food and water and if she could sleep in his room. In his room? Try in his bed. I wonder if Ben will share his trains with her? I'll miss her but I have to be practical when it comes to the dogs, that's part of showing and breeding dogs. Otherwise you end up with 25+ dogs of various breeds, alot of them not part of your breeding program and spending their days crated doing nothing. So I've made a committment to keeping only one or two dogs (okay maybe 3) that aren't a part of my breeding program. Of course Dora would stay here forever if I hadn't found such a great home, but I'm tickled that Kim,Scott and Ben will be welcoming her into theirs. As Elvis would say "Thank you, thank you very much".

AN AHHH MOMENT

Here are Trace and his 1/2 sister, Rumor. When I first brought Rumor home Trace was disgusted. He had just decided to tolerate Bella and in walked Rumor. Bella and Rumor bonded immediately and I believe they plot to annoy Trace. Trace and his Collie buddy Spice are only about 6 weeks apart in age and were raised together so he is a Collie. So these new Cardigan girls are, well, you know, beneath him. (There's a small ha-ha in there somewhere!)

After a long morning playing outside here is what I found in the living room. Trace and Rumor cuddled up together. Please note Rumor also likes to sleep on top of a pile of toys (I think that's a Nemo fish under her). And yes, the living room rug always looks like this, dogs, dog toys, dog bowls (because Maddy brings them all out to the living room after a meal--and no I have no idea why) and of course, dog hair. :-)

So this is my ahhh moment for today, Trace's acceptance Rumor, if he only knew how much fun she will someday be!

WHY COLLIES AND CARDIS ARE "MEANT TO BE"

I was hauling stuff upstairs and happened to look out the stairway window today and saw this. I ran quickly downstairs to grab the camera and got a couple of halfway decent shots thru the window. That's why the quality is rough. But these pics of Harold and Rumor are the epitome of why Collies and Cardigans go so well together.

BELLA

I was taking pics today and there was Bella standing there just begging to have her pic taken. She's growing up and looking good right now. She's been doing that puppy thing, one day level, one day high in rear, then level. I just quit looking after a while. She did great at her first show weekend in Sioux Falls and came home with a RWB. Right now she's into growing up, bugging Jam, annoying Trace and perfecting her cardigan wiggle butt maneuver.

SPREADING RUMORS

Introducing "Rumor", Qwaynt's Something To Talk About. Nope, she is not named after the movie with Julia Roberts, she is named after a song by Bonnie Rait. Just a bit of trivia for you all! I have my brindle again-yippee! She is out of Jean's, Danni (Kennebec Qwaynts Miss Danielle) and Webster (Am/Fin Ch. Yardican Cardiridge Weli Welho). This makes her a 1/2 sister to Trace (Ch Qwaynt's Mystery Man) as they share the same mom. Now this should make my Cardigans complete, okay well I could get a red and complete the color palate, but maybe someday Trace and Rumor will produce a red.

With half-bro Trace and "Auntie Maddy" Dang it--this place has a fence!

SIGNS OF THE SEASON

Just a few pictures of the signs of the season. Let's call this one, pre-winter.

KENNELS READY FOR WINTER

These runs go into the garage runs, note new motion detector light

on the corner of the garage--Thanks Don!!

BARE WALNUT TREES IN THE SOUTH YARD

Most of the agility equipment is put away-you can see one

of the weave poles in the bottom right corner, those will be

the last to come in for the year.

BALES OF CORN HUSKS DOT THE LANDSCAPE

THE COWS PLANNING THEIR NEXT WINTER ESCAPE

Grandma Mary and Josh were over yesterday a.m. to rig up

this temporary solution. These are some smart cows, they

have managed to dismantle parts of the gate. Note that the

black cow with the backwards "7" on his head and the one

next to him are 2 that I made friends with this year--I hope they

aren't thinking that if they escape they get to some in the house...

MANURE SPREAD ON A HARVESTED FIELD

HARVESTED BEAN FIELDS

PLAYING THE WAITING GAME, AGAIN

Let's just say I am not always a patient person. I do try and have been told that there are times I do show more patience than I should. But there are times that I just am not and get antsy. Spice is supposed to be in season soon and I am antsy. Apparently the old saying, "a watched pot never boils" is true about dogs and heat cycles. A watched Collie never comes in season...sigh. I do feel sorry for Spice. It must be heck having your owner plop you on the grooming table each and every night and look at your backside. And of course, because I want it so badly I'm doing the same to Dora. Spice takes it in stride and couldn't care less. On the other hand Dora always looks offended. And I don't really expect Dora to come in, that's just wishful thinking at this point. But ohhhh...Spice puppies, I really want Spice puppies badly. Of course I did my usual "name the litter" thing and that has been a curse in the past. I was bored at work on day and came up with an entire list of names. It's the "R" litter. Why? Who knows, it just came to me. My first and favorite is Maiwae Rendezvous with a call name of Tryst. That kind of got the ball rolling, reverberate, revolution, resonance, you get the picture. So I have a list of 8 top names and call names to go with them to choose from. I have to confess, if she has a small litter of really, really nice puppies it's going to be hard not to keep them all to show. Of course that would mean more kennels and fencing. I was recruited to answer the phones one day last week and had time to map out additional kennel runs and fencing ideas, what a mistake that was! Now I know with a little work on layout and some free labor (any volunteers??) next spring I could eventually have 7 to 9 indoor/outdoor runs and an additional 8-10 outdoor only runs. Now if can talk the landlord into letting me have the small outbuilding....
And yes, I know, I don't need nor will I ever be able to have as many dogs as I could actually house. Unless Prince Charming arrives with a full size van, a full time job and has some type of wholesale dog food connection! LOL! (Oh and let's not forget he has to have a riding lawn mower too!)
Until next time...

A Long Week and Announcement

It's been one of those long weeks. I've been putting in extra hours on the math class. I will say it is easier than Algebra, but there is alot of work. I'm down to needing to take this weeks test and I'm done for this week. Work has been crazier than usual. This is a bad time of year for our patients on Medicare. Many of them have accumulated the maximum for prescription drug coverage and are now required to pay the full cost for their meds. So I have had a flood of patients looking for assistance. Not to mention we have had more than our usual amount of patients that have insurance but either have huge out of pocket costs for treatment or their insurance won't cover their treatment. The paperwork on my desk quadrupled this week, my phone was nearly constantly busy and Iwas about ready to put up CAUTION tape across my cubicle to keep the nursing staff out. The best part of my week was being able to get a patient with no Medicare prescription drug coverage a very expensive ($1400 for 10 pills) drug for free and turn it around from getting the problem on Monday to delivering the medicine to her door on Wed. It made my week!
The weekend is supposed to be lovely and I can't wait to spend time outside with the kids. I still need to clear out the one side of the garage and move some more stuff around upstairs. Rick is in the bean fields, he was out there most of the evening. It has finally dried up enough around here to get the farmers in the fields. So I expect continual combining this weekend since the farm is surrounded by fields of bean and corn. With harvest season comes the NO OFF LEASH rule. Same as during planting season. But I'm hoping that the weather holds for a few more weekends, because those harvested bean fields make great tracking areas. I've been wanting to work Trace more in tracking if only just for fun.
We have a new arrival coming soon to the gang at Maiwae. Going to try a bit different dog than we have now. Oh and I finalized plans for Spice's breeding to Trigger. Fingers crossed, I'm thinking gorgeous puppies--let's all think Smooooth versus the hairy ones. 2 of those are enough for now! :-)
Until next time...

Weekend

Had a good productive weekend. Since Sat was pretty blustery around the farm the dogs and I spent most of the day inside. They "helped" me take out the air conditioners, I got those pesky bugs that look like ladybugs but aren't all sucked up in the vaccum, the upstairs rooms have all the windows plasticed (probably not a real word), the airbeds are deflated and everything put away for winter dog workouts. Moved a few empty boxes to the upstairs closets as well as some items sitting in that front hallway. This week I need to go and buy some more window plastic and some of the heavy plastic stuff for to seal up the unfinished rooms upstairs. The farmhouse is awesome, but they only finished up 2 bedrooms and a 1/2 bath upstairs. The other 2 rooms are pretty much the same as the day the house was built, so I put heavy duty plastic up on those windows and the doors that lead into the other rooms. The heat vents have all been removed to those areas so no heat gets lost thru them. Which is good because LP bills will make you gag for the winter.

Today was wonderful, the sun was shining, the dogs and I spent most of the a.m. outside. I worked on the kennels, moved a couple of the dog houses inside around and Harold is getting moved to an outside run with Bella in the middle. I found more signs of her damn digging again and at least if she digs in the middle kennel all she gets is either Harold or Spice and not freedom. Trace will go back in with Spice until she comes in season,since that kennel is the bigger one. Put up more tarps for wind breaks. I think we'll be fine until next spring. Then I'm going to have to decide to either expand another set of indoor/outdoor runs out the back or on the other side of the garage for the additional dogs. Or I'll need to just set up outside runs with really good dog houses. I hate to put up more indoor/outdoor runs because the other sides of the garage fast NW. Oh well, all winter to think about that one!

Laundry, laundry, laundry and I put away all the dog show stuff for the year. I still have some things to do in the garage and get the crates re-arranged in the dog room and of course a few more windows to be done for the year.

I hate the fact that it's 8:00 and I'm about ready for bed. My body doesn't get the time change thing, it will be a long week. Although I do love that I'll be driving in to work in daylight, the driving home at night and then having it be dark when I get home will really stink. Oh yea, still need to work out a light system so I can see to scoop the kennels after work.

Started Finite Math this week and it went well. I actually understood it and didn't panic. Still wondering if my brain was high-jacked for the week and the real brain will kick in on week 2 and I'll be confused, but maybe I'll luck out this sudden understanding of math systems will remain with me for the next 7 weeks.

More later!