Drizzle

It's chilly and drizzly again, but it's not going to phase me today. Hopefully it won't ruin the day of working dogs. I'm really looking forward to letting the pups work some nicely dog broke sheep in a good size round pen. Right now at home I don't have ideal sheep or the ideal "starter pen". I have quite heavy sheep, (and only semi-human drawn) and the only enclosed areas I have are two small paddocks off the barn. (it's a great place to work gates, do practical shedding and sorting, 'sweep' stalls, and do other barn work!) Being on only 3 acres I kind of have one of 2 choices, 2-3 small areas to work, or one open area. I used to have a round pen and 2, 100x100' areas, (that couldn't be 1- 200x200') but that left me with nothing larger. So all that came down so I would have one larger area. The puppies won't need a round pen for long. In fact if the field continues to be available, I'd rather take the pup, the sheep, and Cruz out to the middle of the 20 acre field and work. None of these puppies appear to be the 'stick em, chase 'em' types.

I got home at 3:30 this morning and stayed up till 4:15. Then got up at 6:15. Hopefully that will get me thru the day. Our youngest has a baseball scrimmage in a near-by town at 5:30, we need to be at the homefield by 5:15 so the coach can finally get the kids their socks, caps, and shirts. I'm going to decide at 5:00 if I'll be sending him with one of his friend's to the other field, or driving there. Ben plans to stop and pick him up, as it's on his way home. I'd like to go, but it depends on how tired I am... They play their first game on Friday and I'll miss it... Their next game though I'll be able to see a little bit of because it starts 30 minutes before my shift, and is only about 5 minutes from work. Speaking of work, I was 3 minutes late yesterday. Seems I have really (um... Feb...) forgotten about my truck's inspection and got pulled over by a State Tropper last night. That's right, Mr. State Tropper on the back roads of Southampton Co. He must live out there. It's almost comical because it's so back roads, that by the time he found a place to turn around and "caught" me, I'd gone probably 5 miles! Thankfully he was not on a power trip, because my DL is not, let's say, quite right. Being military and a resident of a different state, Ben does not need to have a current DL, as long as his Military ID is valid. (until back in the state of residence for 30 days) For a few years, we assumed it was the same for me, but it's not. I should have a current VA (or WI) DL, but I don't. I keep putting it off, because now it's so expired that I will have to take both the written and the driving test! I've been pulled over twice now, and nicely been told I best get myself a VA DL.... So I suppose tomorrow's agenda will include going to Wakefield to get an inspection done. It's $15, my ticket is about $30 and Ben said the added court stuff will be about $50. Poop!

Poor Cruz he is not convinced that me being gone for 10 hours 4 days a week is a great idea. Ben says he lays by the door. Last night (well this morning) he was so happy when I got home that he 'talked' to me- which is something he only does when he's really excited about something. He is never more than a glance away, and he's been that dog to me all his life. He'll adjust and he'll figure out that I'm always coming back. It's just something completely new to him- especially during that part of the day. It's pretty interesting coming home on the back roads at 3AM. I bet I go within 100' of 75 deer every morning. They seem to be very sensible though, and stay where they are. I guess they're behavior along the road is very different during that time of day. They're pretty much eating, vs seeing them during the day when they're most likely traveling from one place to another. The morning before I had to slow way down in order to not hit a skunk. They sure move funny and are really close to the ground.

So I guess I'll get ready to head to Carolina for the day. I only gave the pups half their morning food, hopefully that will be okay. I'll let them have the whole backseat to themselves, as Deal and Gwen can ride on the front seat and Cruz on the floor. That's all I'm taking today. I'll know we'll be doing a lot of lip flapping, because it's been probably a month since I've been down there, and it will take awhile to rotate thru the pups, especially if someone takes some pictures or videos.