We Are Okay....

The Old Ones

Just wanted to let folks know that had asked that we are okay, and are about an hour and half from Joplin.

Although we have had rain, and more rain the most severe storms have not hit here. This morning a powerful lightening storm brought me straight out of bed. (Lost my phone to that one--last week it was the modem to the computer). I really haven't ever seen anything like it. I was sure the barn had gotten hit (and therefore all the sheep), but there was no way to check until it was done. For awhile there was a constant flashing of light, and then BOOM a big strike. At one point I stepped out into the breezeway to get the dogs in, and the air was suffocating it was so moisture laden and heavy. It was very frightening. I'm pretty sure something got 'fried' outside because there was a heavy scorched smell in the air. However the sheep were okay, the house was okay, the well house seems okay, so I'm guessing it was a tree. (Although I see the farmer that owns the bordering land checking out his fence charger, so I'm guessing it got it too.)

All I can say is this is one of the most violent seasons I have ever seen.

My heart breaks for those in Joplin that were in the path of this devastating storm. They say it looks like a nuclear blast. Right now they are in rescue and recovery mode and have found several people still alive that were buried in the rubble. This town will need help for many, many weeks to come. There is, in addition to the loss of lives and homes, many that have lost their pets--there are many animals roaming and being found and being searched for.

Words fail when faced with this sort of devastation.

I appreciate the concern of my blogger family. Take care and stay safe.

Family Affair

Momma Ashley

Ashley Jr.

Big Tri

Brown Eyes

And, Uh, Tempe--"Lord knows I tried to raise those pups right"

Other Things...

The Thinker

Despite what it may seem like, I have been doing other things, besides playing with and taking pictures of the collie puppies! Although they are a big distraction and tend to make many chores much more time consuming.
This is an especially 'hard' time of the year for me, when Spring is sprung and suddenly everything is growing like crazy and everything needs to be done right now. I have a tendency to get overwhelmed and a bit discouraged. Usually though by the time June rolls around, things are a little more under control.

My yard is a mess, but I've slowly been whacking it back. Got it mowed last week for the first time, and while it's raggedy looking at least the puppies don't get lost in the jungle. I've also been working on one flower garden at a time. By the time the goose grass, henbit and creeping charlie have their way, you really can't even tell there are flower gardens there. Fortunately goose grass and henbit have a quick growth and equally quick die back (after they've produced eleventy zillion seeds for next year...). However the creeping charlie, it's another story.

I've been rotating the sheep through all the smallish lower pastures, while letting the upper pasture get some good growth on it. I'm re-seeding the pastures as we go, letting the sheep work the seed into the soil. This year I used the lower pasture as the 'sacrifice' spring pasture while giving the upper one a rest. The upper pasture needed this, as it has rarely gotten a good rest and time for a good regrowth over the years. In about a week, I'll put the sheep up there and then hopefully the lower pastures will rebound and I can switch back in a month. Lotta hopefuls there. Blue was switched over to his other pasture last week and was in a grass induced stupor for several days! He is fat as a tick now.

How Does My Garden Grow?

My garden is starting to emerge. Last weekend I spent quite a bit of time planting tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, onions, and some lettuce and spinach seed. Later in the week I put in a few beans and corn. Almost all of it will be container gardening this year. I have about a dozen Cherokee Purple tomato starts growing (slowly) that I will transplant out into the tomato patch and hope for better results than last year. Bedding plants, like everything else are getting more expensive it seems. I hope to get some squash, pumpkins, more beans and corn seed planted, as well as some mint varieties that I also bought. Then I'm calling the garden 'done'.


The weather has been cooler than normal and very, very, very wet. The grass (and weeds) are growing like crazy but the garden plants are just kinda sitting there.

Skirting Station--Blackberry's Fleece on the table

Of course it's also that time of the year, when the fleeces need to be skirted, bagged and tagged in time for the Marshfield Fiber Fair on the 21st of this month. My helpers on shearing day went through and did an initial skirting to remove the yuckiest parts. This time through I'm more picky and remove any of the questionable bits. So far I'm not impressed--five fleeces in (of 21)--it looks like the sheep bathed in the hay. As I get them processed they will be added to my website in the fiber for sale section. With all the wet weather it has been next to impossible to get this skirting started let alone finished! So it goes. Only 15 to go!

Persia--Staple length photo

Other things on the 'back burner' are plans for a large outdoor kitty run (attached to the house) and if I've the money a patio door to replace the large window in back. This will access onto a deck (I hope) and the kitty run. More about all this later, as I have to wait until I get things ready for the fiber event before I can tackle another large project! There has been some trouble in paradise with the kitties as they mature into their second year, so more space is needed and hopefully this will help.

We'd appreciate a kitty pen addition allot--says Trinity!(she also probably says we could put all her rotten brothers out there and let 'em freeze and bake...)

Anyway...like everyone it's a busy time of the year, but I sure hope to get back to blogging a little more oftener!

Have a great week.

Weeks Seven & Eight--Collie Puppies

Golden Girl (Brown Eyes)

Whew... this should catch me up for a brief day or two with the collie pups. It was a busy two weeks and my little pups are turning into little dogs!

Three Sisters--AJ, Brown Eyes, Big Tri

During this time the puppies got their second worming, eye checks and first shots. Tuesday April 26 was an especially big day for them--that was the day they were packed in crates, and rode an hour to Springfield, where they got their eye checks.

Before I took off with the puppies we walked and played and generally got (them) worn out. They were very good all the way up, with a minimum of yapping at the beginning. Little Tri vomited once on the way and then spent the rest of the trip up slime-ing her sister.

I took the day off work to go with them. We (the breeder and I) met at the Vet clinic where the vet that does the eye checks comes about twice a month. The procedure involved putting drops in their eyes (I'm assuming to dilate them) and after about fifteen minutes the vet then used a special scope to look at their eyes. Many purebred dogs have an 'affliction' within their breed, and conscientious breeders will have their dogs tested for those problems so as not to perpetuate them. With Collies it is CEA (Collie Eye Anomaly) and PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy), in a nutshell either can cause dogs to become partially or completely blind. No blind puppies here as all four checked okay, three with excellent reports.

Little Hot Shot Tri 'herding' sheep

After the eye checks we headed out to Helen's vet to have a small wart removed from the little tri. From what I've read this probably occurred because her system became stressed when she started losing ground, before I started tube feeding her. The vet was very busy so we had to wait quite a while. A local was given, wart was removed and cauterized. In the meantime we had moved the other puppies to Helen's van and bigger crates, so they had a comfortable place to wait. Little Tri was quite good, but she did get restless with being held.

On the way back we stopped at Helen's house and I got to see Frank, the sire of the pups --he is a lovely big blue merle. When I first got Ashley I 'met' him, but he was quite young then. Afterward we went out and had a nice late lunch, then off for home. The pups never missed a beat. They played in the vet's office, they played in the grass at Helen's and they cried very little during the entire trip.

Once home, I fed them (they were starved by then!), and a little later that evening gave them their first shots. The next day they were official 'weaners'. It seems they should have been weaned about a week earlier (I'm sure Ashley would have appreciated this!). The whole weaning process went very smoothly, with none of the drama that the sheep generally participate in. Ashley had been gradually cutting them back anyway.

When Friday rolled around it was time for the two little Tri colors to be picked up and taken to Helen's. A pet buyer was coming Saturday and would pick between the two. They had a collie from Helen that died at age 13, then got another puppy a year or two ago (not from Helen, since she didn't have any available). They wanted another one from Helen's lines and prefer tri-colors which is--everyone usually wants sables. I wasn't there, but from what was said, they brought their male collie with them to 'meet' the little girls, and they went back and forth, but in the end took the little Tri. She is such a little pistol and full of personality--she will keep her 'big brother' and new family on their toes. I think they will have fun with her. A few days later Helen talked to them and they said she was doing great, had settled in and was eating well, and that they love her already.

It was hard to see her go, but knowing that she is going to collie lovers and that she will be loved is very comforting.

First thing in the morning--you can't even imagine the decibel level--... L-R Little Tri, AJ, Brown Eyes, Big Tri

When the tris left on Friday, I tore down the big whelping pen in the house, and thoroughly cleaned the area. It was so nice to get that huge thing out of the house! Once it was out and everything was clean and dry, I brought the tarp back in, folded it in half and lay it on the floor. Then the ex-pen was put on it, in a much smaller oval shape. A few newspapers over that (but no shredded paper!) and it was ready to be the puppies night pen only--since this was also the weekend they graduated to being outside dogs during the day! By making a smaller space for them to sleep in, I'm hoping that it will make transitioning to being in a crate at night will be easier.

Mealtime is intense

The two sable merles were pretty unhappy the first night, but when their tri sister rejoined them the next day, they all settled into the new 'night pen' routine pretty quickly.

There is a nice big pen and nice big house in the backyard, which Boone used for the first couple of years he was with me. I did a puppy inspection to make sure it was safe, and Sunday morning they spent their first few hours 'in the pen'. Of course the pen and house were great fun to play in and around and they spent loads of time back there----until I shut the gate. Then you would have thought the world had ended--much wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued. Now a week later they are more resigned to it, but refuse to use the house, choosing instead to sit out in the rain and look pitiful. Ashley is in the main yard and she can visit the pups through the wire, but I seriously doubt she does much of that!

Lots and lots of this sort of playing and growling

In the evening when I get home they get out into the yard and they and Ashley have a big (noisy) rowdy playfest. At first Ashley would scare the pups to death by her 'puppy-ish' antics, but it wasn't long before they started chasing her and having a great time. Before dark we take a good long stroll across the field so they can all get tired out good and proper! Then it's inside for the night (right now, just in the ex-pen--eventually they will get more exploring time in the house). Ashley is in the back room with me and the pups in the front room.

Me & My Shadow(s)

Family Trip

Next weekend, blue-eyed sable merle girl will go to her new (pet) home.

Did I mention that I will have three dogs? I didn't? Huh...well..... ;-)

Week Eight!

Little Tri

AJ (Blue Eyed Sable Merle)

Big Tri--She is staying

Brown Eyed Sable Merle--She will be staying and is considered the "pick" puppy-meaning she closest resembles the collie ideal at this point

To answer the question several have asked-no, I didn't get to pick who I got to keep. This litter was whelped as a part of the deal of getting Ashley (for free) a couple years ago. I got to keep one puppy from the litter as well. The other three were either to be sold or kept by Helen to be shown. None of work of placing them was done by me. I did have a 'favorite' and no I didn't get to keep her, but in reality I'm okay with it, as I have a bond with all the puppies and they each have a special character. Indeed it would have been very hard for me to choose. Through a series of events and the breeder's graciousness I ended up keeping the pick puppy and will also be getting the tri color.

It's been a long time since I've had a little puppy around--let alone two to train and help become 'good canine citizens'. Ashley needs some more socialization work as well, so I doubt I'll be going too many places by myself for awhile! I need to brush up on puppy care and will work on taking them out (individually at first) so they can be properly socialized. The big tri is very reserved and shy, so extra out and about time will be needed for her.

Oh...and I have to come up with names for them. And we all know how long that could take!

Ash & her Pups L-R--Ashley, Big Tri, Little Tri, AJ (in back) and Brown eyed Sable Merle in front

Week Six--Collie Puppies

Blue Eyed Sable Merle -- Ashley Junior

Week six the fun really started. The puppies personalities started emerging big time, as well as their voices. Those lovely (read shrill) collie voices!

Short walks in front of the house were introduced, to the delight of all. It didn't take long to figure out a tired puppy is a good puppy! The girls learned what 'going outside' meant and we all made a mad dash to the front door when I opened their puppy pen, each morning. Ninety nine percent of the time we made it fine, without any 'accidents'.

They also began to understand what 'back' meant--an important word to keep them safe around doors and gates.

This was the week too, that they became very independent, and would explore the outer reaches of the yard by themselves.

Hopefully one more post and I'll be caught up with pictures and what the puppies are up to these days! There have been several big changes and adventures!

Little Tri and Friend

Mastering the back steps

Brown Eyed Sable Merle "helping" me weed, by pulling my scarf

Hanging out with Mom

Week Six!

Little Tri-- (check out that awesome cowlick on her forehead!)

AJ--Blue Eyed Sable Merle

Big Tri

Brown Eyed Sable Merle

That's all for now.....we're off on more Collie adventures!

Week Five--Collie Puppies

Ashley and Ashley Junior (AJ)--first two pictures

Since I'm such a blog poster loser here lately, I'm going to go ahead an post the long overdue weeks five and six for the puppies. Heavy on pictures, and light on words! Enjoy! Weeks seven and eight have come and gone and it's been fun, but has passed way too quickly.

Ashley and Big Tri

AJ

Little Tri (Little Hot Stuff)

Big Tri

Learning Steps!

Little Tri--Big Steps

AJ

Solid Brown Eyes Sable Merle

Little Tri

Ashley, AJ & Little Tri

The whole family

Week Five!

Little Tri

AJ--Blue Eye Sable Merle

Big Tri

Brown Eyes Sable Merle

Hope you enjoyed the picture tour!