Growing Up

Sibs.

Logan's beginning to leave the goofy stage and closing in on handsome.

Pups being pups.

I still think Emma is truly a wicked lookin' pup! :-) Both Emma and Logan are such well behaved, friendly, fun puppies. I'm blessed to have them both.

Goings On

Well, I made it thru the day at work yesterday. Thankfully I didn't have to be there until 9am. There were still plenty of people and we still had way too much "blitz" merchandise to get to the floor. (we aren't supposed to call it "blitz" anymore because of the death in NY last year- now it's "The Event"...) There was still quite a lot of merchandise on the floor last night and as I mentioned, we didn't even get it all to the floor. People had full buggies though. I think parents have a hard time with the notion of a "light Christmas". I know we have in the years that it should have been. I bought one Christmas present on my lunch- a computer game for Charlie that Ben said was half price at the $25 I paid for it. It was a long day working 9-8. I had an hour to cut- and I was thankful for that! We pulled a lot of pallets of freight yesterday as the blitz stuff goes in the action alleys. This meant the blitz stuff needed to be condensed and the real merchandise for the 3 action alleys needed to be pulled off the trailer and pulled back out to the floor... Stack bases with 200 cans of yams on one side and, 15 cases of welch's sparkling cider etc are damn heavy!! Where are the stack bases of paper towels and foam plates when you really need them! LOL! Oh well, does a body good right? Last night I got caught in a check point on the way home. I once again got by with my 9 year expired WI DL... (but current military ID) He asked me if I thought driving around on a 9 year expired DL was right... I said I knew it wasn't. He asked me why it's been 9 years. I didn't want to tell him because in 9 years I've only been pulled over 3 times and have just been told to get myself a VA DL... I told him I wasn't really sure why. He said "it's not suspended is it?" I told him of course not- I don't even have a ticket on there. He ran it of course, and I got the familiar "Please just go get a VA DL, and if I do stop you again I will give you a ticket- I will have to." I asked him if he knew if I would have to re-take all the driving tests. He said (laughingly) "after nine years, ma'am I really don't know".

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Going to get all the k-nines worked and played with today. It's a little chilly, but it's sunny and will be close to 60 by afternoon. My ram is gone and I have another should-be-bred Dorper ewe. I'm looking forward to working with the young dogs again around the barn and paddock area. It's going to help Kit's lift a lot and it's a wonderful place to work Clare and Ivy. Everything is practical- there is not drilling. Best way for them to learn. If I had a big enough farm they could learn thru simple chore work. I don't, so I just pretend. All the dogs are doing great. For a short amount of time I second-guessed my choice of housing due to Ivy's choice to lie down and stare (like she does the cats) and Clare's choice to leave me a couple times when I was "drilling". My dogs live together (kenneled only when in season), and on the whole property (fenced in). I have never had an issue with this. My dogs love one on one with me and all my dogs have unwaivering work ethic. Work ethic is something a dog has or doesn't. Letting pups grow up in a "pack" is socially correct and it does not produce dogs that would just rather do something else. Poor training (in the sense that you have asked too much of the dog over and over, or have been unfairly hard) is a good way to squash work ethic. I think where people that don't raise their dogs in a "pack" get misguided is when they witness a pack with poor leadership. Poor leadership from both the human owner, and maybe even worse, poor leadership from the canine leaders. I'm lucky I had wonderful dogs for my puppies to grow up with in the very beginning. Each generation is a reflection of those very first dogs. I waivered on the work ethic possibly being compromised by the young dogs having "too much freedom". Being among their pack where they aren't getting into or watching stock, aren't running about mindlessly etc is not too much freedom. I have not and will not raise kennel dogs. Plain and simple. Some feel that in order for a dog to give you his best he must be kept up unless with you. BS. Not with a good dog. Not with proper leadership. Not with good training. A good dog is always going to want to work and try his heart out for you. If he doesn't, than he is a second class dog in my opinion. With the right leadership a dog is not going to leave you. He isn't going to stay with you because of fear, but rather because he views you as his leader- and the leader is respected and trusted. (trust is where most dog-human relationships fail) A good trainer is going to know when a dog is truly not trying/not listening and when there's a break down of communication. If you have a dog that trusts you, & respects you and he's not giving you what you want, then there's a huge (more than most trainers think) possibility that he is not understanding. Not understanding and not doing are not even remotely the same- yet so many, so many handlers treat it the same- with a correction! Keep correcting a mis-understanding and quite quickly you are going to start killing that work ethic you once had- because you're losing the trust the dog once had for you. All dogs are different and some can be squashed over and over, and some cannot. I believe a lot of trainer require a dog that can be squashed. There are various reasons. Sometimes they are not really that great of an owner/trainer, but a lot of times it's because they train dogs for a living and they do not have the time to train at the dog's mental speed. But back to my beginning thought... I will not change the way I raise my dogs, it IS the right way to raise them. As far as Ivy and Clare, I was temporarily impatient and unfair. Neither of them responded to that. Well let me re-phase that, they both responded to it- but it was not a positive response. Clare worked, but not with her heart and Ivy would freeze up. I was drilling them long before they could handle that, and I was not letting them work with their gut- which is where pups their age should be working from!! I'm thankful once again for my friend Carol who told me I was putting too much on them, and I needed to lighten up and make the work exciting... I have not changed their housing, only my training and I have my keen, happy pups back!! :-) My dogs live as a family. The people (myself foremost) are the leaders and then among them they have their own social order. I allow this social order unless I witness unfairness- which I don't very often. My dogs certainly have rules (more than most "pets" in fact) that are expected to be followed each and every day and they need that. My dogs also have a routine- another must. They are fed, turned out, put up, worked, played with etc on a very predictable schedule.

Not sure how I got on that.... but I better get going to the feedstore and then enjoy this beautiful day!! Maybe I will take some pictures. Emma and Logan are really growing up. Emma is full of ticking now and is such a stunning girl! She is my kind of girl. She's rough and tumble and is going to move right on up the pack order, but yet she's very biddable and loving. Perfect! :-) She's dead serious about sheep- but will not be on them again for many months- except I may take her to Carol's and let her go around sheep a few times just for her to see. Logan is getting his adult coat and looking handsome. He's a pup with a good amount of bone. He is the lone dog in the house right now. Ben has claimed him, and that's fine. Logan will make a wonderful pet for Ben. What would be nice is if Logan is one of those "easy" dogs on stock and I can help Ben train Logan to just do simple chores at home. That way in a few years when I have more stock and I leave more often (and longer) for stockdog trials Ben will have not only a buddy- but a reliable chore dog. :-))

Border Collie Day

Well it was far from what I would call a "nice" day, but I spent a good part of it outside with my dogs anyway. I went across the road with the trained dogs and it felt so good to send them further and have them do some distance driving without all the pressure of the yard and barn. They all did a very nice job. Toss got a little confused a few times with the additional distance on the drive. (under only whistle direction) He is SO forward and for some reason was taking the stop as being wrong and would look back at me with confusion. He just needs distance and whistle work. I was proud of his outruns and how he held the long fetch line on his own. All the others went out nicely as well. Gwen tested my nerves on her outrun. She is such a big outrunner. When I sent her, she went way out to the far side of the uncut soybeans.... I wasn't surprised by her path, but it was still a little unsettling waiting for her- given that's it woods beyond the soybeans and if she had continued to just run the back side of the soybeans she'd a mile away before they ended... I waited confidently though, and sure enough she popped out of the uncut soybeans in just the right place. Her drive work was the best she's done yet. :-) Cruz has never made a better outrun, and I think he is finally understanding that last piece of the puzzle. Today I actually saw him looking ahead at his sheep on the way out- that is not the norm for him. Deal and Gwen do it every time. It was a delight to see to Cruz relaxed and thinking during a send of that distance. His form was much more confident- vs. just plain fast.

I had a good time with the young girls in the paddock and barn. Ivy was fantastic. She's very strong and fearless, but has a wonderful head on her shoulders. She never clapped down, not once. I even took them out of the paddock and around the yard for a few loops, and she hung with it. :-) It was fun to do so much work with her and never have to say a word. :-) That's such a nice thing for them as well- they can just learn. If I'm not saying anything, the pup can soak in so much more stock sense. Young dogs need to just do to learn. Learning the verbal commands comes later. Right now Ivy and Clare need to learn stock- not commands. Right now it's my job to make that happen for them. It's when you put too many things on a young dog at one time that you run in to trouble and as handlers we don't always remember what all a young dog is taking in each time she's on stock. And quite frankly, if I can't just shut up and just let my young dog do it's job, then it's probably not a dog worth spending a whole of time on! Young dogs need to learn via simple "jobs/chores". I knew this a long time ago, and had gotten away from that.... I kind of started just working on sends and fetch lines... it was boring. I was bored, my girls were bored and we all got a little frustrated... The last two sessions of going back to working them like they are doing something practical has made a world of difference. :-)) Kit did a lovely job in the barn. That was good work for her. She was quiet and settled the whole time and can now flank completely relaxed in the 12x24' barn. I sent her a couple times in the yard and had to stand (myself) closer to the sheep. She's like her father. She is going to take some time to put an outrun on. But the rest is already there- even close at hand inside flanks during a drive. The back-to-basics work has been a huge plus for Kit too. I'm very, very happy with all of my dogs right now.

Well, apparently a billion dollar aircraft carrier cannot pull into a pier because of fog. What a bunch of bullshit. Ben was supposed to be home yesterday, but probably won't even be home tonight. I miss my husband.... (and now after 2 days off I work till the weekend.)

Time To Suck It Up

Well, day 2 of ugly weather. I worked in the house yesterday and got caught up on some much needed rest, so I need to get outside today. I'll need to pull on the Gor-Tex and head out to work and play with the dogs. It's not pouring, but drizzling like all day yesterday. I think it's a little warmer today and not windy like yesterday. I'm anxious to work the young girls in the barnyard and barn again today. I think I'll do some gate work with them as well. In and out of the paddock etc. I'm looking forward to my ewes lambing so I have at least double what I have now. I may even go ahead and buy a few more lambs off someone over the summer. I have some really talented dogs and I need to get back to working like I did 2 years ago. It's been an emotional 18 months for me, but I've come around and I've decided these dogs, and training them for stockwork is my passion and I am not going to let anything get in the way of that! I don't think everyone finds their real passion, and fewer yet get to live it. Admittedly, my "picture" is not completely painted, but it will be and I have an awful lot right now I need to remember I'm blessed to have...

This payday I need to look in the trading post paper and see if I can't find some local horse-quality hay. Ben and I had talked about it and I really need to go get 20 bales of good hay and put it on the atv trailer to store it. Right now I'm paying almost $9/bale for alfalfa hay at the feed store. I prefer to feed alfalfa and little to no grain, vs lower quality hay and more grain. I miss the mid-west and it's abundant alfalfa fields! Hay here is pretty low quality. I know some people have bought really nice hay from people that run up to PA to bring a huge trailer load back. I hadn't fed any corn to the birds or sheep until this week. I try to hold off until I think they need that "heat" during the night. I bought a bag of corn and a bag of sheep feed and bird feed and mixed the one bag of corn into the 2 bags of other feed. So it's not a lot of corn. Now that the ewes are looking bred I'm going to feed the some grain-corn mix once a day.

My mama-to-be is getting pretty big. (she slept with me again last night) I'm really getting excited as I have thought long and hard and worked so many different "kinds" of dogs, and for better or worse these 2 dogs are the "type" I love to live and work with. These 2 dogs will no doubt be the foundation of many generations of dogs for me. Better dogs, more notable bred dogs, dogs with more trialing proven ability? Of course. But these are the 2 dogs for me. In my short amount of time training Border Collies, I have worked with so many personalities and styles. More than most people will ever have the opportunity to work and own. Even among the dogs I currently work with there is a huge range, but I have my favorites. Even out of these 2 dogs there will certainly be individuals, but I do believe there will be an "Ali dog" stamp on all of them. So far the pups I have raised have not fallen far from the tree at all. There is no doubt who's out of and who's by who out there! What is my type? Heart. Without heart the most talented dog on the planet is useless. Work Ethic. Talent means nothing if a dog won't work "till the cows come home". Biddability. Talent means nothing if a dog is in it for himself. Those are the big things, the things that matter to me. Of course ability should have been written first, but that was a given. And not that looks matter beyond being functionally built- but I love a pretty face with an intelligent expression.

Gloomy

It's icky outside. Cool, wet, and drizzly... What really stinks is that yesterday they almost completely picked up the beans across the road. Darn! Had it been nice today I'm sure they would have finished it. There's plenty of room to go out there and work dogs, and I might- or I might not. Ben is supposed to be home this afternoon. I've done a little cleaning and need to run to the feedstore. I'm looking forward to finishing my little "pig lot" this winter. I'm going to use the last available side of the barn. That way, just like the geese will have, the pig will have a lean-to built off the side of the barn. I will need to buy 3 more cattle panels. I don't think I'll need to buy a pipe gate. The chicken pen has two. It has a 4' gate as well as an 8' gate. The 8' one isn't necessary. I've been reading what I can find about pig care, and none of it seems complicated. The most important thing seems to be to get it butchered before it reaches more than 200-225#. I'm hoping the guy that said he would take my ram tomorrow will get here tomorrow. I don't want him around when the ewes lamb. I might need to find another male goose because this summer one of them died, and I have a feeling it was the male. I would like to have another half a dozen or so geese to better keep up with the dog training. I'm starting to get excited because my last new bundles of joy for a very, very long time will be here in just a couple weeks. Last night their mama didn't eat so I let her inside to sleep with me since I don't have her spot in the kitchen set up yet. She took to that like a duck to water! She got on the bed and never moved all night! She even went back to bed with me after the boys got on the bus this morning. :-) Well, time to get on with my afternoon. I'm anxious for them to finish the field so I can put some cones out there and do some course-type work with some decent distance! :-))

Almost My Weekend

I work tomorrow and then it's my "weekend". I'll be glad to have two days in a row again. I've been really tired this past week. Friday the boys missed the bus because I turned off my alarm at 5:30 (it was my day off) and fell dead asleep until 7:02!! Bus arrival? 7:06... And last night I was in bed by 8:00. I work 11-8 tomorrow, but I'm about to ready for bed so I can get up and do a few things before work. Ben will be home Monday afternoon! :-)

I worked most of the dogs on Friday. Some on geese, some on sheep. The young dogs I worked in the paddock and barn. I used to do that all the time when my now trained dogs were young, and I need to get to back to that with this new group of young dogs. Ivy did much better in this situation. She did a fine job bringing them to the barn, scooping them out of the barn, etc... Yes, I let her "yee-ha" a little, but my only goal (and by yee-ha I don't mean take a hold and not let go etc... but letting her get up in there some? Yes indeed.) was to get her heart in the game and keep her on her feet as much as possible. This seemed to be a lot more exciting for her than just simply fetching them about the yard- and I have to agree. Kit needs this type of work because she tends to be a little hot and heavy in the tight spots. She's more mature now and more confident, so I was able to fuss at her a bit when she was a tad bit too much. After just a couple to-the-barn-in-the-barn-out-the-barn, repeat, she settled right in. I'm a firm believer that if a dog can't do stall/small barn/trailer loading etc, then you probably shouldn't send him 200 yards on an outrun. Even if he can do the outrun. If they don't have the skills and stock sense to work close and tight and do it with quiet authority, then you're setting your dog up for failure somewhere on the course. I think it usually shows up in the lift and the drive.

I did not play with Emma on sheep or geese and plan to keep her from them until the 1st part of the year. She is incredibly keen and confident, and that is not going to just go away. There's nothing she needs to be doing on stock at 5 months old...

Well, it's 9:07 and I'm draggin', so it's time to let the dogs out for their last drink and pee before bed. I ordered Dylan's new frames today and they should be in around Weds. $106. Not too bad I suppose. The exam was covered via insurance and I get 20% off the frames at work, so I guess I shouldn't complain. One in glasses and one in braces... Even WITH insurance Charlie's mouth is $200/mo!! Oh well, what's the option? There isn't one!

Gloomy

Well today's my day off and it's pretty darn gloomy out there. If we were in the midwest I'd say snow is in the forecast, but since we're in the southeast it'll just be a cold, windy rain. Poop. Hopefully it'll just stay gloomy and not rain until Sunday like they say. I want to work a few dogs today. I'd like to put Ivy on the geese and see if I get more action out of her. My best friend/mentor/trainer said I just need to keep it fun with her and don't ask for much. I didn't think I was, but I've yet to be told something by Carol that ended up wrong. She has always been spot on. Since she has a decade or two more experience than I do she can usually spare me a lot of the live and learns- since she has already done it... I really, really like Ivy and being that she is my Cruz X Gwen pup, how could she possibly turn out a complete flop. It's genetically not possible. Not when she is so much like them both. As I posted before, at her current age is when her mother went thru the worst of her "don't poke that bubble"- it's just that Gwen was so much further along in her training, so it showed up in her driving more than it did her wearing/fetch work.

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I did find someone to take the ram, so that's good. He trading me a most-likely-bred hair ewe, which is perfect. I'm sure mine are bred as well. I need to get back up to about a dozen. It's not good to not have any variety. Last year I was so down that I just about quit everything so now I'm having to build everything back up, and being that I don't have money to buy sheep, I just have to do it via reproduction. ;-) From the group of lambs this winter/spring I'll band all the rams except one. During the summer I'll build him his OWN paddock. That's where I failed with Rambo. Now, after being with "his girls" all his 3 years of life he is frantic when I separate him off from them. And a frantic ram is dangerous... Cruz can handle him, but I see some hesitation and I get concerned that at Cruz's age if Rambo really nailed him it wouldn't be good. It's no lie, when you get older you heal slower. And Rambo can really get a lick in sometimes. Deal can move him, but it's not worth the frustration every single time I want to use the ewes. If I had kept him alone from the get go he would not be so stressed about being away from them. And no fence holds him when he's stressed. The last time I tried (without chaining him up like I do now) he broke off the 4x4 post at the pipe gate. Yup, broke the 4x4! I could lock him in the barn, but he'd just tear it up. So now I have a tow chain around an oak tree. Having a ram get loose while you're working a young dog is NOT a good thing! The last time that happened I was pretty dang sure he was going to slam me good! I had a pup with no real stop and only knew to fetch stock to me. So over and over, at a full run he came flying towards me!! Playing matador with big, horned, ram with a full head of steam is NOT *AT ALL* fun!! Especially when the young dog thinks she's doing the right thing by continue to drive him into your lap!! Not cool!

Well, it's 9:30, so I best get outside. It does look slightly brighter and the breeze has quit.

Wet N Windy

Jim with his big smile says "HI MOM!" :-)) (this was almost a really good shot of him- but I still think it really captures his personality. Handsome boy Jim. He is the last puppy I will ever give a 5-7 way vaccination too. There is little question in my mind that what happened to him was caused by his vaccination. There are no diseases that have similar enough symptoms. I have found references to other people having the same thing happen to their vaccination-aged puppies. Heck, my oldest son was in ICU for 2 days after getting his 18 month old MMR shot. His body basically would not quit killing his blood cells. If you touched him, he bruised... Had he fallen in that state I'm sure he would have died. We were "lucky", because with blood transfusions he recovered. Some need heavy and repeated steroid treatment and some never recover. (ITP) I sure was scared to death when Dylan had to have his. Yup the school can make you. Unless it's your religion, you have no say- it's get the shots or don't send them to school.... Just like now every 6th grade girl has to have that HPV vaccination. Yes, has to in the state of Virginia. But I'm not going to go down that path tonight, it's too late and since I worked a 12 hour shift today, I'm ready for my bed. I got home and let the puppers out for their last pee break. The kids fed them for me at dinner time and put them up. This routine ensures that at 8-9pm everyone has just done what they need to- we all sleep better that way. Emma and Logan stayed out loose in the house when they can came back inside. They roamed for a brief while, then they each pulled up a section of rug and are *crashed*! Out all day/play all day makes for good babies at night! :-) Routines are good. I fussed at Emma earlier because she had my shoe. She quickly changed her mind and while walking around found one of her toys- smart pup she is looked at her toy, then threw a glance my way and I smiled. She smiled back and pranced off with her toy. LOL! I love bright pups. Some of them just "get it".

It's gonna be wet and windy the next 3-4 days.... A good 'ol Nor'easter. For us an hour or so inland, the Nor'easters usually get use worse than the Hurricanes. I don't think it will amount to a great deal where we're at- maybe some swollen rivers and over flowing ditches and whatever decides to come down/off/over in 30-40 mph wind (sustained). I'm glad Ben's Mom is here for a visit, that way the dogs can be let out a few times during the day, rather than me having to make an all-day choice of either out, or put up before I leave for work. Tomorrow I have to run Charlie into Newport News for his braces appt. I need to take Dylan along so we can maybe find a walk-in eye exam somewhere. Last week a student knocked his glasses off and stepped on them. Yup. Dylan says he didn't step on them on purpose, but he did knock them off on purpose. The one and only good thing is that he was a couple months from needing a new script and glasses. But it wasn't something I was planning on now. Not to mention he now has the ever so famous taped up glasses look! Ugh!! He too close to needing a new script for me to just order new frames, that would be foolish.

Off to bed I go!

Hooray For Great Weekends!

The babies are right about 5 months now. They're both quite a lot of fun and very friendly, outgoing, smart, and personable pups. Ben has claimed Logan as his own, and that's just fine. Emma is my girl! She's going to be character and is not always going to be easy, and that's just my type! :-) I have some more pictures of them just having fun, but it's getting late and I'm working 8-8 tomorrow... time to turn dogs out one last time and then hit the hay!
Good Gosh, I think even an elephant would move for that ice-cold stare!!

Sisters, Clare and Kit. (different litters) Clare is Emma and Logan's Aunt.

Below is Kit, Ivy, and Clare

Ivy and Clare are quite close. They pretty much hang together.

It dawned on me that I have never published any pictures of our house. Too bad I didn't think of that while the Crape Myrtle trees were full of color!

It's an1880's (documented babies being born in the upstairs bedroom in 1901) farmhouse. This corner right here is where the bathroom was built on. Between the bathroom roof and the ceiling is part of an old porch... yeah, it was never taken off, just built over. The bathroom is serious project #2 on "the list"- kitchen is currently #1.

The top photo is the side that faces south. I counted one time and I think we have TWENTY NINE windows... might have been 31, but I think it was 29.

This is the side that faces west. Someday this will be a big beautiful southern porch again! It's probably serious project #3, unless something else like a new roof bumps it out of the #3 slot while projects #1 and #2 are being completed!! LOL!

This is the north side.

This was one of Ben's big projects over the summer! (east side- under a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE Sycamore tree- actually it's 3 trees planted together) Whata cool deck huh? The deck around the pool is probably 3' wide or so and the rectangle deck off from it is very generous in size. You could easily fit about 4 picnic tables on it. Ben is so talented. He never does anything half-ass and all of his work looks like you hired the job out to someone with 20 years experience! :-)

The building next to the pool is the 2 car garage (insulated and on it's own power) and the "apartment". The apartment is serious project #52... It's not finished, but all studded for a nice little apartment. It would really be a cute little set up. It'd be great for a home office for someone. The garage has a small septic that is separate from the house. You couldn't run laundry, etc... but you could have a bathroom.

This was one of the first things Ben built for me for the animals. This coop is probably going on 5 years old now. It's a perfect little coop, complete with nesting boxes inside.

My geese have the newest spot. It was either move them and build them a shelter, or let them go. I decided to move them. The now have a very nice size pen and when Ben returns home, they'll have a very nice enclosure, similar to the drawing above. I want to build a lean-to off the barn, starting about that window height and slant it just enough for run off. Then enclose at least the 2 short sides. I don't think in our climate they would need the front made into doors- especially when the open side will face east. So that will be very nice for them. I'd like the lean-to to come out as far as that post- that's why I left it there. So that's quite generous, given that the barn is 12' deep. Their enclosure will be approx. 12x8. Pretty darn cozy. :-)

It's hard to see in the picture, but below is the rest of their pen. It looks very, very nice done up with the cattle panel (or hog panels, whatever...) I had for the round pen I never need. I only had to use 3 panels because of the already existing fence on 2 sides.

It felt good to get that little goose project done this weekend. (and work all my dogs) My next project is making a serious enclosure for 2 pigs. ;-) Oh, I saw the best news tonight on my way home (in the dark)... A farmer harvesting his soybeans!! Yaahoo! That means it can't be long and the farmer that rents the field across the road will be doing his and the dogs and I can once again work on the big field over the winter. I'm sooo looking forward to that, as even my young dogs are in need of more space and less pressure everything single time I work them! (probably what Ivy needs tremendously) I may head over to David's one day this winter and ask him with some real seriousness about renting some land from him. Even if it's not the 30+ acres across from us, I know he has lots and lots more! Truth be told, if I found somewhere close to home to rent or buy (speaking just a big field) we would probably make this our forever home... don't know... might not be a reason to up root and start all over if I can buy enough land for a small farm close to our house.... It's a real serious possibility. Only time will tell. Ben has decided to finish his Bachelors Degree while in the Navy and then do his Masters in Math in relation to teaching.... He has 6 years left if he wants out at 20....

Well.... off to bed!

What Happens When

... you realize who you were at 20 suddenly isn't so different from who you are at 37? When I was 19 I was what most people would call a "hippie". I wanted nothing materialistic, only my car. I owned no more than a suitcase's worth of clothing (and for living in WI, that says a lot), thought the government sucked, and just wanted to live peacefully and not be bothered by the "real" world. My serious other half was the same, maybe even more so. A a very talented artist (still one of the best I've seen to date) who only wanted to smoke his pot and live every day with a smile on his face. When I was 21 something in me switched my gears and I felt like in order to "make it" I had to be main stream. I ended the relationship, moved back in with my parents and got a job. (I had a very good job at 18, but took the lay off pay out) That's when I met Ben and the rest is Apple Pie history. A very normal life, and still a very normal life, which is perfectly lovely. But for some time (a few years) I've been funky. I wouldn't go as far as to say unhappy, just funky... like I'm craving something, but I don't know what it is. Everyday I feel like there's just a little something that is missing. I am NOT unhappy with my life, I just feel a little "lost" in my life. Today I think I have figured it out. Simple and satisfied, that's what I want. I want to grow what we eat, I want to raise what we eat, I want to cook what we eat, and I want to be so busy doing that, that I am not worried about what I don't have that I think I want. Although I don't think I will need busify myself into contentment, since I think simplicity and contentment is what I've been craving. I want to have gardens and flowers and birds, and a few meat animals to tend to daily- hourly. Working hard and caring for animals is what I need to be content I'm now believing. When I think back a few years, the happiest I was was when we had a hobby farm. A little bit of everything. Not a big number of anything, but a small number of a lot. (chickens, geese, rabbits, goats, sheep, and even horses) Problem was, I didn't utilize the animals that could have benefited us, and they were only money pits and eventually had to go. Now I wish for that back, and to use it wisely. My own biggest flaw is that what I want, I want now... I'm going to really figure this out and make it my 5 year plan. Not a weekend project, not something I get depressed about because I can't do it all right now, but a 5 year "phase-in" if you will. Will I become obsessed about it? Most likely, that's what I do, but I am going to promise myself that I will only let that drive work in my favor during this endeavor. Dylan has 6 years left of school, so that's good timing. Ben (hubby) is much more materialistic than I am, but I think he'd go along. He is about easy and convenient, but is also very good about getting the projects too big for me, done. My oldest son is also all about making it easier. He will be an inventor someday, I have no doubt! He is SO smart. He has this amazing ability to imagine something and then make it. It's really mind blowing what he comes up with sometimes! My youngest is the type that at 19 will take nothing but a back pack and $500 and heads off to some long lost country in the hopes of finding proof that dragons or some other legend did indeed exist. They are SO different. In respects to them being happy I can see Charlie being one of those people you see in movies that have gadgets that make their toast and shave their face and robots that mow their lawn etc... LOL! And Dylan I see exploring the world with his back pack and notebook. But anyway.... not sure how I got off on that subject. Back to the previous subject. I do really want to make this happen. I hope that by the time the kids are done in school I can either quit my job or step down to a part time floor associate position. Maintaining a self sustaining type farm (or any farm really) is not something I'll be able to do while working away from home 40 hours a week. If this is my serious plan then I need to also have a serious money plan, as we have considerable debt. (which is the only reason I have to work) If I want to work more on debt am I going to have to cut back else where. Elsewhere meaning animals that are not "giving back" and purchases of material things I don't really need. I may also have to look into trialing. Although I don't really trial all that much anyway. But... my hope was to start to be able to trial more in a year or so, but maybe that is the wrong direction. I can't do it all. Just like at work, I can't let myself get spread so thin that I am no longer doing a good job anywhere. What is the saying? Jack of trades, master of none? Something like that.

Well, I just felt like I need to write this down. I'm off to clean out the chicken coop and get them some fresh straw. I have to figure out what to do with the geese. I either have to let them go, or make them a winter shelter...

Musings...

It's been so nice to have 2 days in row off. I worked 11-8 on Monday, and got a lot of house work done before I left for work. I'm trying very hard to just buckle down on stuff, rather than fretting about it. I'm also getting drop dead serious with the boys about their treatment of this house! I think my new position at work is actually helping me here at home. My position requires me to find hands to get the jobs done, I am no longer a one-woman-show; I'd never get it done. This was hard for me (still is sometimes) and it's hard for me at home. I tend to either do it all myself, or just let it go undone. I felt guilty giving them chores, or even keeping up with their own room, and just like so many of the associates at work, my kids knew it and took full advantage of that. But no more. I can't and shouldn't have to do it all alone! Today I need to get the kitchen and the bathroom picked up. I hate the kitchen, I really do. It never stays right and to be honest by the time I get home at 6:30, make dinner and eat dinner, I sure don't want to clean up dinner! We've gotten better though and the most I let get left anymore are the pots and pans I used. But somehow the kitchen is still a disaster.... :-(

Yesterday I picked up outside and worked all the dogs. I had to fix the fence (again) because the ram busted it while I was letting Emma go around the sheep. He's becoming a real serious pain in the ass because I just don't have the funds to build him a shelter so he can have his own area. So I resorted to taking one of my dog chains (that I use to tether dogs when I'm training at someone's place) and chaining him to a tree in the paddock.

All the dogs worked pretty well. Toss is really coming along on his whistles. He wasn't wanting to give much ground on his "away" side when given as an inside flank to hold a cross-drive type line, but did eventually understand what I wasn't pleased with.

Gwen worked nice and didn't stall out. She was a little wild, but she gets that way if she is not worked a lot. She's a dog you could work hard everyday and she would not burn out.

Deal was very nice and if we can just get this shed thing figured out between us, she'll be ready for Open. She gets really intense and will often use her teeth. I need to consult with Carol on what I should do, because I hate to keep fussing at her. I don't want to make hesitant to come thru. I want to make sure she knows it's the grip I'm displeased with, not the coming thru. So for now the shed work is on the back burner with her.

Mary worked nicely for awhile and then started to slide. I worked on insisting she stop immediately on the first whistle. She doesn't like to stop- especially on the drive. What's interesting is that she has wonderful pace, but to get her honest about her stops is something else! I worked on driving sort of in a square, close at hand. She started out doing pretty well, but I could see I was losing her after not a lot of time. She went from walking thru the stops, to giving me 95% honest, and back to walking thru the stops. So I let her put them thru the chute and quit with her. Mary's such a nice dog, and she really is very talented, but there is just something about the 2 of us... She thinks I'm too demanding, and I think she's a bit of quitter...

Cruz seemed a little odd. I'm not sure if he was having trouble hearing me in all the leaves or just what. I think his body is finally getting a little older and he knows it. I ended up working on stopping and tight inside flanks. He's so funny because as soon as he knows I'm going to "drill" him on a task he goes into textbook mode. He knows where I stand and how I act when we have to step back and drill some tight flanks (his hole in the beginning) and he just pops right out there and doesn't really even watch the sheep- he goes mechanical, so I don't do that with him very much, but he needed to be reminded yesterday. It's not often I have to "train" him, I just have to work him and expose him- he just gets it. He was also not stopping sharply, which is why I think he couldn't hear me very well. Given his age and his honesty, I no longer ask him to lie down. If he wants to stand on a lie down whistle, he has earned that privilege.

Clare was very nice, she is maturing and I think she'll be very much like Deal- just not as much to handle. I've been very light with her as I could see I had a huge influence over her. It was me she was somewhat hesitant about, not the sheep. We did some short fetch work and short send work. She sends and goes around very nicely at a short distance. She likes to stay on her feet, and that is OK with me. In fact I don't think I've seen her lie down now that I think about it, but she has a very solid stand for such a youngster. She'll either be a dog that can stand honestly, or later, when she is more confident I will ask her to lie down, but for right now there is no reason at all to put that kind of handler pressure on her.

Ivy. She is my bummer story of the day. I can't get her off her belly. She'll send and fetch, but once everything is going nicely she plops down and I cannot get her up. I've tried various things. I've tried lots of cheerleading, no voice at all, I've tried just continuing to walk, I've tried to wait her out and stay put (she'll get bored right? Wrong.) The only way to get her back on her feet is step over enough that she has flank. But again, once she has them nicely going she stops and will not get back up. My sheep work nice and when she stops, they stop (and don't run off). If I keep walking the sheep stay put- so she should go ahead and get up and get them to me. If they were knee huggers and didn't even need a dog to stay with me, I would give her the benefit of the doubt. But that isn't the case. I'm concerned this is going to be a forever hole. That even if I get her through this part, it'll show up later when sheep stall out on cross drives and tough pens. I don't want that. I don't at all enjoy telling a dog to get up. I'm much better at reining a dog in. I feel like at her age this shouldn't be an issue. I feel like at her age I should have "yee ha" issues, not "get up" issues... I really like her as a dog, but if she isn't going to come on, then I'm going to have to make a really hard decision...

Emma was fun. She's really going to be a fun pup to bring on! She's so full of herself, yet she is a sweetheart. She's very smart and very stable minded. Her and Logan are both in here with me curled up taking their late-morning puppy nap. Logan is Ben's pup, so he has a forever home. In fact Ben told me if I could find Maddie (the Lab) a home, he was okay with that... Logan is an on/off pup and will melt into snoring sleep in your lap in about 5 minutes! Logan wants nothing to do with stock yet, but oh well.

Kit worked very well. I can now send her from my feet and she does an outrun instead of a bowling ball. LOL! I knew it would come, only because her father was the same way. I just kept it close at hand and did a lot of standing between her and the sheep until she understood. She understands now, so it will be great for her to get to work in the soybean field over the winter. By spring her outrun should be solid enough for ProNovice. She already has flanks and a stop and can do pens and chute work. She has a short drive and will even take an inside flank. So stretching out the drive work and outrun will be her winter work in the big field. :-) She is a very straight forward, hard pushing driver like her father, so I don't forecast stretching out the drive to be any trouble. Probably about time to start putting some basic whistles on her.

Well, time to get some stuff done inside so I can go outside for the afternoon. Maybe today I can just quick play with each dog and take some new photos of the dogs I don't have many of. I didn't take any yesterday because I wanted to really work them. It's hard to train and photograph. When I take their pictures I pretty much send them and then walk around.

My Kids are really growing up!

Dylan 11, Charlie 13

Better Late Then Never...

These are from our trip in late June to West Virginia. The above photo is an example of some of the trails we rode. The picture really doesn't does show the steepness of the trail- add in the ruts and you have quite a ride ahead of you! The trails were beautiful all through the mountains. Many trails ran you right along the edge of ridges- ridges that if you did go over the edge I'm not sure what kind of shape you'd be in! Some of those rides were pretty intense. I was fairly panicky a few times thinking about the kids...
This is the little cabin we stayed in. It was just perfect. It had a bunk bed and full size bed, two windows, and a little window a/c. West Virginia in June was perfect. It would get pretty hot during the day, but cool off in the evening and didn't seem to have the SE humidity. The bathhouse was about 75 yards away. It was very well kept and clean and included a laundromat. It was only luck, but next year I'll make sure we have the same cabin, or at least on that side. Our porch faced East, which was perfect. I'm sure the cabins facing the South West got pretty darn hot. Kudos to my good ol girl F150!! That's QUITE the haul up and down the mountains between Virginia and West Virginia! She ran pretty hot on the way up, but adding octane boost and using the best gas helped. What make the biggest difference though was that Ben bought a timing kit and fixed the timing. It was like we left home with a 150 and drove back home with a 250!

Yup I'm a redneck woman!

This was a fun spot. We were having a contest to see who could get through without getting stuck and have to be towed out. Note the the 2 racing bikes aren't anywhere in sight! Off to the right of the photos was a loop without quite as much wet cement. The 2 Raptors will be replaced with 2 more 4x4's before we go on this trip next year!

I made it... Charlie did not...

...neither did Dylan! ;-)

This was one of the prettiest pull off spots on the trip. One thing I was admittedly a little disappointed in was that there weren't any "look out" spots. It was beautiful yes, but all we could ever see were the tops of more trees. No views to speak of.

Too bad the boys can't ever go on vacation and do "boy" things- like get dirty!! Good Lord!!

My goofballs! The cabin site had a picnic table and a hand pump for water. It was really the perfect little set up. It also had a fire pit. We bought a handy little gas grill/griddle/stove- it was fantastic. I could make beans and hamburgers, and even boil the water for my coffee. :-)

The poor Raptors were really out of their element on a lot of the trails. Thank goodness for the other 2 4x4's and a tow strap! LOL! Most of the time there was a way around the terrain they couldn't get through, but sometimes there was no good way. The 4x4's were awesome!! :-)

I guess this photo pretty much screams "Redneck Vacation"- all Ben and I need is a Lucky Strike and a Budweiser! LOL! I guess rednecks are what we are because we all had a blast.

Got dirt?

View of another trail.