Musings from Fairlight Farm

What Noah Does

2012-01-31T17:23:00.000-08:00

This is Noah. He loves to eat and he loves to nap. Sometimes he loves to get up and chase one of his sisters (and make her scream if he can catch her). Mostly though he just loves to find a nice warm spot to nap, and he is very good at napping.

Here he takes a nap with the wood pile as his pillow--this was right after he staggered out from under the wood stove, maybe a little too toasted.

One of his favorite nap spots is under the wood stove. You can't get much warmer and toastier than that.

Here Carly is in front of the wood stove, just hanging out.....

..and in case you missed the attachment to her back, here is a different view. Here Noah has the best of both worlds--warm toasty fire on his belly and overgrown furry heating pad on his back.

However snuggling with your siblings is even better (unless they bite your ears).

The best place to nap? With his favorite snuggle buddy, Meshach. It's a win-win for these two. Noah gets a pillow and the Old Man Meshach gets his very own heating pad.

Noah is a professional napper!

What Happened??

2011-12-04T09:07:00.000-08:00

Or where did time go might be the more appropriate question...

Here are my girls back in May (That's Ashley in back, with just her nose showing)....and here they are in a picture taken just a few days ago. The puppies are now nine months old!

As you can see momma Ashley(Left) is now the smallest of the bunch. Carly is in the middle and Minty on the right. We are working hard on 'our' manners and teaching group lessons has it's special challenges. Here they are practicing their sit.

From back in May, a (slightly blurry) picture of the girls--Minty on the left, Numy (who now lives in Oklahoma), Ashley behind and Carly on the right...

And a more recent picture of the girls waiting for me at the gate while I do chores.

Carly, Ashley & Minty

They are smart goobers, but that doesn't always translate into easy lessons. Rarely does it take more than two or three times for a new command before it 'clicks', but once they learn, they don't necessarily think they need to keep repeating it! Minty often sasses me about it, and Carly has very selective hearing. Ashley is very 'passive aggressive' --the sweetest thing but stubborn to the core. Fortunately they are very food orientated, so treats go a long way towards mass cooperation.

So far 'we' know how to sit, down, 'touch', 'cookie' (basically posing like a show dog), Come (most of the time), and are working on 'wait'. They know basic day to day commands too, of course--like get back, wait (at the gate), drop it, sometimes they will do 'leave it'--the horrible incident with the rat's tail was a huge 'fail' on this command--, Minty also knows how to do a dramatic 'play dead' after being 'shot' three times.

The girls are pretty hard on each other, I'm not sure how they survive 'play time'. They do allot of running, knocking each other down, and play fighting. Minty has a quick temper and blames Carly for everything. Eventually they'll have to work out their order in the pack but for the moment it's pretty even and they play hard, have spats and play hard some more. They have lots of room to run and I try to take them for a run across the (fenced) pastures every evening. A tired collie is a good collie!

Ashley isn't sitting on the sidelines either, she doesn't play all out all the time like the pups, but several times a day she'll let loose and run around like a maniac. Carly seems to be her 'favored' child, but she will take either of them down if they push her too far. Over all though she loves her 'puppies' and will still give them a good bath if needed.

It has been a little overwhelming at times, but now we are evening out and it's kinda fun living with a pile of collies. They spend most of the evening in the house and at least we've gotten to where they don't even hardly pay attention to the inside cats. The outside kitties still get chased on occasion, but we continue to work on that! The puppies are still crated at bedtime.

Carly, Minty and Ashley practice their 'down'

Hope everyone has a great week!

Breeding Group 2011

2011-10-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

Yes...I did decide to go ahead and put a few ewes in a breeding group--five total. I tried to get some decent pictures of them the other day. Obviously some of them need a re-shoot! Something about me crawling around on my knees making clicking noises made them nervous. Huh...

The night before I made elaborate plans in my head on how to separate five ewes from the flock--four Shetlands and one Dorset/Merino crossbred--two being confirmed mamma's girls and hard to detach from their mommies. Finally I came up with a rather brilliant (I thought) plan where I moved the entire flock into the breeding pen and then sorted them there--releasing the others back into the adjoining main field as I sorted them off. This way there was no trying to 'herd' or drag resistant sheep away from the main flock. It all went very calmly and after ten years 'in sheep' I've learned that slow, calm and steady wins the race when you are dealing with sheep. There was only one small incident when a cattle panel imploded and flipped up and while a rather nasty bruise for me, nobody escaped.

Jasper came calling later that day and will be here for a few weeks. Jama and Jim were kind enough to bring him over for me. He has matured into a rather nice ram, with a lovely wide horn set and a very dense soft fleece.

So without further delay here are the members of the 2011 breeding group.

Fairlight Jasper

(Fairlight Jeffrey x Fairlight Lark)
Jasper was one of Jeff's last lamb's before he died later that summer.
Jasper is a 2010 grey flecket ram with a wonderful temperament, beautiful horn-set, soft, dense fleece, and good conformation. I am hoping that he carries spots, but only time will tell. His dam was sired by a moorit smirlset sokket and his sire was a grey flecket. Because he still retains quite a bit of white on his face, I'm encouraged he might carry spots. He comes from a line of grey fleckets that when crossed with solid fleckets will often produce spots.
One horn was broken off as a lamb at the tip--he also was on a runabout through the woods before his trip over here so his wool has picked up some nasties.

And the ewes:

Fairlight Luna

(Minwawe Redford x Locksfield Willow)

Luna is the mature lady of the bunch, and has produced some lovely lambs. She is a 2006 musket flecket and is one of my nicest ewes. She is sired by a moorit smirslet sokket and has produced yuglet fleckets. She is a nice compact ewe, with a level topline, small fluke tail, set four square, pretty head with poll and cheek wool, and a lovely soft wavy fleece. She is the kind of ewe that I want in my flock.

Fairlight Stella
(Fairlight Jackdaw x Locksfield Willow)
Stella is a 2010 musket flecket ewe who will be lambing for the first time. Her sire is the colorful black and white Flecket, Jackdaw. Her dam has produced wildly spotted grey fleckets. She is one of the mama's girls I mentioned above. I retired Willow after she lambed Stella and let her 'keep' her. She still stays right with her mom all the time. Funny sheep--some family lines form very strong bonds. Stella is a chunky little thing, dense bone, good topline, tail and leg placement. Her head is a little more cobby and she doesn't quite have that alert 'deer-like' Shetland expression that I like. Her fleece is very nice--dense, soft and wavy.

Fairlight Persia (Three Ring Just Jack x Fairlight Blackberry)
Persia is a 2009 Fawn ewe, who was born with a large krunet. She should carry spots as her sire was a moorit/white flecket. She is one of my bigger ewes and is very much a primitive sheep in attitude! She is watchful, careful, snorts and whistles like a deer (and stomps her foot) when alarmed and will always make sure that there are other sheep between her and me. She is not a crazy wild child though and will work calmly when being confined. While she is not one of my pocket sheep I have to admire her defiant attitude. She has good conformation, lots of bone, a little more leggy, nice tail and a lovely, fawn colored fleece that is crimpy and soft.

Fairlight Rosetta (Three Ring Just Jack x Fairlight Rosemary)
Rosetta is a 2009 Fawn ewe who should carry spots as her sire was a moorit/white flecket. Her solid dam produced two fleckets in 2010 (Ford & Ranger) and was sired by a moorit smirslet sokket. Lovely little ewe with a sweet, expressive face (really--she is just giving me the stink eye here), nice conformation and a lovely fawn colored crimpy, soft fleece.

Fairlight Teresa Hope (Blue X Gracie)
Hope is a 2006 white Merino x Dorset cross. Her wool is soft, crimpy and has a shorter staple. She has lambed once before in 2009. The Shetland/Merino/Dorset cross has produced some really lovely fleeced sheep in the past. I'm hoping for twins, since I would like to keep one of these crossbreds and Jama wants one for her fiber flock. Hope is a sweetheart, sometimes not the brightest bulb, but always cheerful and easy to work around. She is definitely still her mamma's baby girl even after five years!

There will be lots of Ag (Greying) with this bunch, but the lambs should be very nice with lovely fleeces!

Tortie Tuesday--The Big Secret Revealed...

2011-10-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

Tempe says...hold on to your whiskers!

Well...it's finally happened. After saving every spare dime for the past two years and after almost 25 years of wishing and wanting it--I now have a deck off my back room!

If you ask the cats, of course it is phase one of their 'catio'.

Blank Slate

Earlier this summer, I sketched and planned and stewed about having a deck--at first I thought I could build it myself, but quickly became in over my head, just in the planning stages. So I contacted a Mennonite that someone had recommended and he came by, looked it over, measured and called me later in the week with an estimate--for labor and materials. It was within what I had saved so I was ready to go forward. However he couldn't begin work until September!

In the end, I waited fairly patiently and in about mid September the deck project was commenced. If it were me doing it it would have taken weeks and weeks --so I was a little surprised about how quickly the man and his son created the deck for me. It took them exactly one and half days to build a lovely 10 x 12 covered deck!

The first day I came home from work to this----the floor in and the roof rafters on. The next day they put in the cross pieces and ties for the roof, and added the roofing (a light filtering white). I was amazed. I hardly ever hire out for anyone to do anything so I guess my experience is small with how quickly people can accomplish such projects! :-)

The collies were quite amazed too, and did a little happy dance to test it out.

The kitties were not amazed and were considerably stressed out and exhausted from hiding in small spaces all day--next to sworn enemies at that. (from left is Meshach, Gabe, Noah & Sage)

So everything went so wonderfully well, and I had enough in the saved fund to buy a patio door... I had to do some scraping to come up with the labor to install it..but we were on a roll and couldn't stop without a door. Here Minty (and Sage in the window) test the new deck and you can see the new door under the blue tarp, waiting for the guys to come back.

The dismantling and removing of the windows was quite loud and not so easy. Once they got them out it was (much to all our dismay) easy to see that it wouldn't have been as big a deal, if we'd known the 'key' to removing them. (It seems they are actually two windows, and the center metal piece once removed would allow them to be easily dismantled.) Still and all they got them out in two pieces with only the center strip being damaged. Once the windows were out, then they had to remove the monstrously heavy cement sills, dismantle brick and cement blocks and bring it down to the deck level.

This photo shows the old windows removed, the new door tacked in place, with a temporary board across the top (to keep the cats in)--you can also see the open area that goes into the dropped ceiling. This was the first day of operation door installation! They had left for the day to go and pick up supplies to finish installing the door, sills and inside steps. We were able to re-purpose quite a bit of the free shelving wood I got from work a year or so ago--it was used for sills and inside trim.

Here the kitties check it out after the guys left.

Another view of it before sills and steps (and door knobs!) were added.

Sage wasn't handling it very well, and lay with teddy bear and eyes squinched most of the night.

And here we have the finished product! Stairs installed--we could only have a half stair since the dryer blocked it from going all the way across. You can also see the new sills, around the door and over the top, with an unexpected and nice bonus of a shelf over the door! I will need to do some finish work--staining and painting to make it all match. I installed the locks myself, since when picking out the door I got a little overwhelmed and couldn't decide on locks. So upshot was they were boughten after my construction guys left or they would have installed them.

And here it is from the outside. They finished off the gap over the door with vinyl siding (insulated on the inside) and I think it looks pretty nice! In one of those odd coincidences my Adirondack chair was also made by James, the Mennonite builder of the deck! When he came to figure an estimate for the job, he walked into the yard and said 'you have one of my chairs!' in a tone much like a mother seeing one of her long lost children. I was pretty sure from that point that he would be doing the deck! It just seemed to providential and I knew he did nice work from the chair.

And here Sage relaxes in his chair enjoying the view...

I love it too. It's a lovely place to sit and read or just relax. Haven't gotten to do allot of that, but still, over my vacation I made good use of it.

I'm working on enclosing the deck with wire. It's a lightweight green wire that should blend in nicely with the scenery. Once that is done, the kitties can sit out there with me.

The final phase of Operation Catio, will be to construct a large pen alongside the house (see photo one) from the deck to nearly the front of the house. It will extend to just to the outside of the sidewalk. It will be enclosed wire and the cats will have access to it via the house windows (I'll install a couple of kitty doors). The deck will be included in their new outdoor area. It will be a happy thing for us all I believe. Eventually the pen will have lots of shelves and places to play and hide.

Oh. But this will take longer since I'll be doing this work myself...and we know that I'm not going to get 'er all done in two days!

Exciting stuff all the same.

Catching Up

2011-10-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

Summer's Last Hurrah--Sheep on new pasture

It's been way to long since I posted, and there has been lots happening on the little farm. I hope to do several posts that are a bit outdated, so I'll probably work my way backward and see how it goes.

Part of the issue with posting is that my computer is on it's last half leg. So far I can still post on the blog but it's slowly eliminating my options--for instance I can't access hotmail at all. Yahoo mail can be accessed and sometimes replied to (although often it takes about three or four tries of copying and pasting the message...). Turning on the computer is its own special challenge. To get the monitor to engage I have to plug in the power strip, rush to the computer and push a button to achieve 'takeoff'. Then sometimes it comes right on or sometimes it does a bunch of ominous beeping before it will do it's stuff. It goes on and on, but the upshot is, that sometimes it just isn't worth the hassle..... As finances permit I hope to get a laptop in the maybe not so near future.

On to other things. This past week I was on much needed vacation. I didn't get nearly enough done, and am feeling a bit flustered because I have so many 'projects' going at the moment that I can't seem to accomplish much of anything. However it was nice being able to set my own schedule and work around the place for a week.

Autumn colors and lots of dust from the road!

The first day of official vacation, I did manage to tear up my washer. The third day of vacation I spent way too much money getting a new one. Just for the record that makes it for the year (so far) --a new washer, dryer and hot water heater. Would have been a new air conditioner too, if the hot weather hadn't been on it's downward slide. I do now have a matching set washer and dryer and that was totally unexpected (since I got them six months apart from separate dealers), but nice.

The weather was perfect all week. We got some rain, but it was needed and so I enjoyed the cloudiness and rain. Most of the time it was really very lovely--cool, but not too cool, sunny and sparkly.

Fairlight Rosetta--she will be part of the group. Sweet little ewe with a gorgeous and very soft intermediate fleece.

I'm thinking of putting together a small breeding group with the Shetlands this year. Really it's been hard decision to make. It will most likely be the last 'hurrah' for raising sheep, and if I do carry on with putting them together, it will be only a select few. I'll be using Fairlight Jasper, the little grey Jeff lamb that went to Southard Farm last spring. Should get some lovely little lambs out of these pairings--much of it line bred. Individual pictures and information will be posted if I decide to go ahead and set up a breeding group.

A few weeks ago I went to a library book store sale. I think I ended up with somewhere around 17 books or so....Usually this sale happens when I'm gone on vacation and I don't want to travel back into the town I work at just to go to the sale. Because of that I had never actually been to it before, but had heard it was a 'must go'. This year they had it a week early, so I worked through my half day and planned to attend an early bird special part of the sale. For this you had to pay $5 plus the .50 or 1.00 for each book you bought. Since it's a good cause and I thought it would still be well worth the cost I forked over my $5--after standing in a long line for 20 minutes! I arrived well before the event, and kept seeing people dash around the side of the building where the entrance to the sale was. Although I knew it was way too early, I finally decided I better head on around too. Going around the corner revealed a line already formed--with hardcore book buyers clutching large tote bags, or pulling little carts on wheels...or dragging large plastic storage containers! Yikes...I didn't even bring a bag.

Ahem...I think this speaks for itself...

After waiting the twenty minutes and getting the scoop from a book sale pro, I was getting pretty antsy. Once the doors opened everyone moved in an orderly and polite fashion into a very large room with bookshelves and tables. The books were quite nicely displayed, most by topic or type and in alpha order by author. I was very impressed. The quiet intentness of the book buyers was a little creepy in a nice sort of way. Finding a section I was interested in, the best thing to do was just start pulling out anything that seemed to interest. I ended up with a few surprise buys when I got home, but for the most part was very pleased with what I got. Yes, I know I really did need more books.

Gracie--one of my first four Dorset sheep--I picked her out because she had such a cute face....she'll be 11 in 2012

The puppies have grown like mad and are now bigger than their mom. I hope to do a couple of catch up posts on them. It has been an interesting experience and I am glad I ended up keeping two puppies instead of one. Keeping two has had it's own special challenges, but the benefits outweigh the negatives--most particularly that they have the same energy level and tend to keep themselves entertained. More about puppies in a future post--including another puppy play day and the Celtic Festival!

Tempe says to check back on Tortie Tuesday! She has a very exciting secret to share.... (if her bad blogger 'bean will get in gear and get the post ready...)

Trailer-- Before and After Project

2011-09-07T05:11:00.000-07:00

Do you all remember back almost a couple years ago, when I purchased a small ratty travel trailer, that was going to be the kittens winter home (before they went outside the next spring which never happened and we all know how that ended up which pretty much means I somehow became the crazy cat lady overnight with way too many cats in the house not the travel trailer...cough)?

Well, plan B was that it would be a wool room after the kittens got done with it. Since the kittens never used it, it became not really a wool room per se, but a giant junk drawer with a small area to store the fresh sheared wool when Spring rolled around.

Are you still with me? Okay, so now almost two years later, Plan B is actually taking shape. Only sorta different. Now it's Plan C and the travel trailer is going to be my wool room/arts/crafts/storage of materials area. At least that is the plan.

There is one sorta hitch to it though--it leaks--really bad. So, that has to be taken care of before I get too carried away with things. In the meantime I have plastic drop clothes to cover stuff when rainy days come along.

So, I don't know about you, but I always enjoy a set of before/after pictures when someone takes on a real messy project. It sometimes inspires me to tackle ugly projects. With that said, I hope you 'enjoy' my befores and afters of the little trailer.

Before we get going though, there are some things to know. I got the trailer cheap. It was full of nasty junk, and even nastier rodent droppings and debris. Lots and lots of it. I wore a mask while cleaning. It stunk to high heaven of mouse. Before it was purchased (and not used or cleaned) by the people I got it from, a gentleman was living in it full time. I don't think he was an excessive pig, but well, he was a man, and he lived in this tiny area. That being said, the kitchen area was covered--and I mean covered---with built up grease. There are still some areas that are sticky, and I had to completely remove the overhead cabinets because of the grease buildup. Don't forget those rodents either---leaving their droppings in the sticky goo. Enough said?? Not quite--there was also a small fire at one point that scorched the kitchen area. Anyway, I think you get the picture--it was a stinky awful mess.

At this point I still don't want to put much money into it, until I'm sure the leaks can be fixed. So mostly all that I have done is lots and lots of elbow grease cleaning and scrubbing, dismantling and removing non-essential things and so on. My Dad removed the stove for me (which was an awful greasy stinky mess--do I sound like a broken record yet??)

The initial cleaning all took place within a few weeks of getting the trailer. So it's been mice and droppings free for almost a year and a half and smells pretty darn good for an old travel trailer. Unfortunately it had become a catch all for everything that needing 'temporary' storage. Last weekend I spent an entire day taking everything out, scrubbing it down again, working on removing the glue from the flooring (still have a few spots to scrape up) and then organizing and putting back those things that belonged in there. I love it now. It needs paint and paneling and some repairs, but who cares!

Okay, with all that being said, are you ready for a before and after tour?

Come on in...if you dare...

This is right after I got the trailer....

And here is Cat (Ballou)--she'll be your tour guide. She's the newest member of the staff and will be primarily modeling scarves and other wool products in the future. For the most part she is pretty quiet, a bit mysterious, and sometimes just plain creepy when I forget she is there.....

Here we are at the door looking in....can you say...icky?

Still at the door glancing to the right...

And now an after shot, also taken from the door. Check out that cool retro 70s floor covering that was revealed after I tore up that nasty (shudder) carpeting! The cabinet now holds small storage bins for my wool crafts.

Before picture of the very nasty table, but it was solidly attached and cleaned up well. The curtains came down the first day (and they didn't survive washing...)

Here we have what was the 'bedroom'--which was basically a pile of boards and paneling. I think they had tried to make the bed bigger. Once I carried all this stuff out there was a small bench area, which at one time had a fold out bed.

In this shot, Cat points out the 'new' bench, wool storage to the left, and the cleaned up table. She also wants you to note all the lovely west light that comes in, so that this area doubles as a 'greenhouse' in the Spring. (and in case you are wondering Cat is fingerless..but we don't like to talk about it).

Next is the totally gross out before picture of the 'kitchen'. It was bad, real bad, and I'll not tell you all the gory details. This is also where the fire was, up the back wall.

And here you have an after shot--stove removed (thanks Dad), a few pretties on the wall to cover some of the mess, wool storage where the 'frig was, and wool craft supplies on the counter.

Alright...we are almost done, I promise. Here we are standing by the table looking back towards the door (door is to the left) we came in.... The chemical toilet (surprisingly clean when I got it) is to the right, and a small wash area straight ahead. There is the cutest tiniest little sink in this nook.

And..an after of basically the same area, slightly different angle--you can see the door in this one. That is a tiny closet there next to the door.

And that is the tour. It is a quiet, rather peaceful area now. I'm looking forward to using it to draw and craft in. If the leaks can be fixed, I can leave projects out, instead of having to bundle everything away (remember the whole reason for the trailer, again? Cats--cats that are in the house instead of the trailer...)

Oh...and here is the mess that waits for me when I step out of the trailer.

Can we come in too, please??
(sorry girls, this is a no fur zone...)

Wordless (Sheep Edition) Wednesday...

2011-08-10T11:32:00.001-07:00

Just a few 'sheep shots'. Not sure why they turned out a bit fuzzy......

Fairlight Luna
(Minwawe Redford x Locksfield Willow)
Musket Flecket Ewe

Shandrew Rouen
Eleven years old and still sassy.

Callum the dignified

Rotten Ford

Fairlight Stella
(Fairlight Jackdaw x Locksfield Willow)
My 'keeper' Jackdaw (Black/white flecket ram) daughter--she is a musket flecket

Willow (on the right) with her daughter Luna
Willow is ten this year.

Luna, Willow, Stella
Mother (middle) and two daughters--they are a tight family

The Hopester (Hope)
Merino/Dorset ewe

Ford again
He is a wether and is another Jackdaw lamb

Ford Fleece

It's Already Been Two Years??

2011-08-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

August 5th, 2009 we had a population explosion here at Fairlight Farm. Six rotten little kittens were born by their desperate formerly homeless mother, Butterfly. The original plan was to keep a couple and rehome the other four. Well, if you've been with me that long, you know that didn't happen, and all six are still here.

Here is a post about their first birthday and some of their individuality if you want to catch up. The kittens have calmed down allot over the past two years, but they can still cause a ruckus. As they mature, we have gotten into other issues, but so far no all out wars. Each one is a character unto themselves and I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite.

Big happy things are ahead for my kitties---a huge late birthday present for the kittens, myself and their two older brothers, should start happening in September. Tentatively we are talking a roofed 'catio' with attached pen and French doors into the house. I've been saving money for a few years and have someone lined up to do it, just waiting til they are available. I'm excited. I've always wanted a deck off my back room and by enclosing extra space with wire and posts I know it will make my rotten little kitties happy to have the extra room--and get to go outside!

Happy birthday Six-Pack of Cheetos! Pictures of the gang--girls first, with brothers to follow:

Tempe--the nosy, the clown, the busy, the lover of cheez balls.

Sweet, rotten Verity. Loves cuddles, talks in question marks, likes high places.

Shy Trinity, who has an ornery streak a mile wide, no matter what
her sweet face says.

Gabe--The Dorkster--The epicenter of trouble if it's happening.

Noah--Regal and Clueless, and bring on the eats please!

Chaco the clown and night stalker.

Happy, happy furry ones!

And in case you are wondering, their mother, Butterfly, finally made it to the big house at my Mom's, where she works hard at 'motivating' Misty, the resident house cat.

Butterfly--former homeless, pregnant street cat--the start of it all......Looks pretty smug, doesn't she?

And, as it that wasn't enough excitement and population explosion for one week, the day after I got the kittens, I went and picked up Ashley! Wow...just thinking about that week gives me the hives.

Happy Gotcha Day tomorrow Ashley! You are a goober who wrote the book on passive-aggressive, but I love you and your sweet spirit. Still think you should discipline your daughters more though... ;-)

Ashley a few days ago--she is finally re-growing her coat after the big bald out.

Have a great week!

Almost Wordless Wednesday...Again...

2011-07-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

It's stupefying hot here. And dry--crunchy brown grass dry. It's depressing.

Most of these pictures were taken about two weeks ago when we had a nice inch of rain fall. I was in the middle of mowing a small paddock, and after a mad dash to the garage, I waited it out and took a few pictures.

Even sun worshiper Trinity is getting a little worn down with the hot weather

Taken last night on the way home.

Hot puppies (& mom) waiting to get in the house for the night (note all the smudge prints on the glass....)

Holly Hocks in the Rain
These are two of my favorite photos--love how the rain arcs off the side

Beautiful rain, we need you again

Couple of cloud 'action' shots

Holly Hocks again

Sheep just before the rain came--their pasture doesn't look like this anymore...sadly...

Gabe running quality and comfort control on a new rug I made.
(This one is merino/dorset wool, with a few dyed bits of roving for accent)

Almost Wordless Wednesday...

2011-07-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

Volunteer Sunflower

Echo prepares for the day with a good toe scrubbing..

Old Rouen (11 this year) gets her special eats before heading out to pasture

Sheep heading out for a morning of hard work (eating). Can't you just see the heat and humidity in this picture?

Hostas & Ferns in the new shade garden

Quiet nook---herbs, tomatoes (and corn), & geraniums

Old Rooster--still rules the roost

Collie Life....

2011-07-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

Mo-om! They were makin' fun of my nose again at school today!

Kitties On A Hot Summer Day

2011-07-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

How some kitties pass a hot summer day......

Sage Grass Cat prefers the sink...with a drip of water to cool his back... "Move along please...I'm busy napping"

A comfy 'well fitting' box for Gabe...Missouri does Produce some mighty nice (and sometimes rotten) kitties...

Verity soaks in a sunbeam....

As does her sister Trinity--the warmer the better for these two..

Noah opinions that these hot days are a bit much for a nice 'robust' kitty like himself.

Chaco cools his belly furs...

What? Doesn't everykitty have their own fan?

p.s. Human Bean here---since it's so hot and I continue to have blogger's block, there will be more 'picture posts' for awhile. Hope you enjoy....and I hope it's not steamy hot where you are!

Saturday Musings

2011-07-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

Trinity melts into a fur puddle

July is here! In all it's hot glory. It's been pretty warm this summer, but we've had a few breaks from it, here and there. I took a few extra days vacation off to tack onto the July 4th holiday, so have enjoyed being home part of this week.

I've gotten a few things 'marked off the list', which makes me glad. Not much new going on, but here are a few of the 'big events' of the last week or so.

Picked 16 tomato horn worms off one tomato plant in the course of three days. I know it's hard to handle that kind of news....

The new generation of greeters....

The puppies are growing like bad weeds and are becoming (sometimes) more reasonable. Having two creates it's own special challenges but they do keep each other occupied. Most small 'life teaching moments' end in a brawl on the puppies part, because they are each so busy trying to be the center of the universe until one of the other gets ticked off. Despite this they are learning many things and do not lack for intelligence. How they choose to use that intelligence can be another matter. Can you say stubborn?

The sable merle is pretty independent and tries to negotiate many things --for instance she won't go into the crate willingly unless I toss her treat in first. Yes she gets pushed in anyway, but still sticks to her guns. The tri on the other hand runs right in the minute the crate door is opened. Sable merle also will occasionally not come in the yard. "No thanks, I don't want to right now." Last time she got locked out on her own while the rest of us did fun stuff for a few minutes. That seems to have worked. However she is very good on her sits, cookie command (i.e. standing with ears up, intensely staring at cookie), and puppy recall. She also has a bladder the size of a basketball, just like her mom, Ashley, and can go hours and hours without needing to urinate.

The tri still has her hangups, and her favorite response to anything is to bark. However she is turning into a bit of my shadow and doesn't like to share. I'm working on eliminating the sisterly body slams when she gets jealous, but it's slow going! I really didn't think she would be the one to turn out so affectionate since as little puppies it was pretty much reversed. Back to the barking---she can do this for hours, unfortunately. A carpenter bee burrowing into a fence post at puppy level can become hours of bark-y puppy fun. She is very good about most commands--especially coming when called and going into the yard and/or crate. She can be a bit stubborn on the sit. I'm also teaching her to fall over 'dead' when I point my finger like a pistol and say 'bang-bang'. This is a very useful Lassie skill. Unlike her sister her bladder is the size of a peanut so she lives on the side of desperate by morning.

Ashley continues to grow hair. Finally. She got down to about bald. She is looking better, but that isn't saying much. Her tail is still ratty and she has long coarse hairs hanging around her neck. Otherwise she has a very short very thick coat of fur coming in. She stunk to high heaven though, so this morning she got a much despised bath. I hope it takes care of the stink, as collies usually don't smell (unless wet).

The kitties are 'enduring' the heat too. It really doesn't seem to bother them, except Meshach seems a little bit slower moving. They will actually lay out in the front room where it is sunny and hot and slowly melt into fur puddles. They insist on snuggling close at night and having four or five kitties lined up and down ones person is not very comfortable in this hot weather.

I managed to bushwhack back the old fashioned roses around my front gate posts. There was allot of dead wood in them and some branches that just needed to be snipped back. It was painful all around, but it looks better down there, if a bit bare. Also got another small shade 'garden' started, as I try to reclaim some of the barren grass less areas under the trees. Hostas and ferns were the first ones in, with a temporary fence to keep them safe from marauding puppies. It's a good time to buy plants since most places are offering them half off. They tend to be pot bound and a little sickly looking, but seem to revive quickly.

Next weekend, on Saturday July 9th, I'll be going to the Fiber U event in Lebanon. I'm just going to be there one day, and am going in with two other Shetland breeders to share booth costs. It's an indoor event, which will be so nice--no worries about the hot weather, rain, flies etc. I've been working to produce more rugs (five so far) and scarves (five as well...), and have all the roving packed up and ready to go. Should be interesting as this is our first year with a booth. Last year we scoped it out to see what it was about.

The sheep and chickens are as usual not comfortable in this extreme heat. They have deep shade and water, but the flies are beastly. It's hard on the old ones especially. I'll soon be turning the sheep onto the lower pasture, which is full of clover and lespedeza, they'll have to be introduced gradually so as not to bloat.

That about covers the small farm doings of the week. Not much goes on when it's hot like this. I get up and do what I need to in the morning, or late in the evening. Midday finds me inside working on house projects, crafts, or just wasting time on the computer!

Hope you all have a great Fourth of July!

My First No-Kill 'Sheep Skin' Rug

2011-06-20T06:07:00.000-07:00

Rug Designed But Not Yet Felted

After shearing, the fleeces are skirted two times. The first time what comes off is pretty much garbage--good for mulch and that is about it. When I skirt them later for the second time, there is often some really nice stuff that gets pulled for a variety of reasons like excess veggie matter or mats for instance. It can be a bit heart breaking to throw some of it away.

Enter the 'no kill sheep skin' rug! These things are way fun to do and so far I've made two out of the bag full of skirtings. Combining some roving for the base and the individual locks from a variety of fleeces and felting it together is the basic concept. Keeping the lock structure intact is important to give it the 'fresh off the sheep' look. They are lovely soft to step on, even though they do still have some veggie matter in them (hey, just like my real on the hoof fleeces-ha..).

Care of them should be minimal--a good shake out weekly or on occasion a soapy soak in the tub, a rinse and a flat surface to dry on.

They are fun to make and because they are fairly small in size, I can easily 'roll' them in the bathtub. I'm looking forward to making many more--I'm even eyeballing a couple of trashy lambs fleeces for future NK Rugs!

Here are a few pictures of the unfinished and finished rug:

Another view of the rug after assembly but before felting

Rug has been wet-felted and is in the drying process

Finished NK Rug
Rug has dried and been 'picked' to bring locks back up and also some needle felting was done to reinforce thin areas.

This little rug is already in it's new home, where it will help keep a spinner's toes warm this winter.

Collie Puppies At 14 Weeks!

2011-06-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

Wow...how quickly time flies.... here are the girls at 14--not so little anymore.

Double Trouble!!

Fourteen Weeks:

Sable Merle

Tri-Color

We gots your back Mom...but we'll stay way back here.......

Do You Hear What I Hear?

2011-06-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

In addition to tornadoes and wild and dangerous lightening storms we have also been blessed this year with swarms of Locust. Makes you wonder.

Technically these little buggers aren't locust, but are often called that around here. They are in fact Cicadas, and these seem to be from the '13 year' family. I'm not sure how 'they' figure these things out. Do 'they' band the eggs? Do 'they' wait around to see how long it takes them to hatch? Evidently someone goes to the trouble of keeping track of this.

This particular hatch is very, very loud and could easily drive a person stark raving mad, if you weakened. Thankfully most of them do shut up at night. This variety is a bit smaller than the 'normal' cicada that hatches, and has a more orange cast to them. From what I read it takes about a month of this incessant noise for them to complete their life cycle.

I see allot of holes in the yard (from the larvae) and gobs of these brown husks left around.

So how about the rest of you? Have the '13 Year Cicadas' hatched out your way?

And really, you know this vine is just doing what the rest of us wanted to do....

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

Meshach at 14.. My heart kitty...

Lanny Wilson

Ashley & Echo--Friends Furever

The Domino Effect...

Tempe, Gabe & Meshach

The Horrible No Good Very Bad Cats...

2011-06-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, act natural she is looking at us....(still looking....)

Well, I guess that is a little extreme, but let's just say they are on a roll right now, and leave it at that.

Over the course of the last year and half I have thinned down my herd of knickknacks. Well, I haven't really thinned them down but the cats have. What hasn't gotten terminally injured has been packed away for another day of older cats.

Is she still looking, because I can't act natural much longer...

There are very few breakables available for kitties to damage or destroy. In fact right now, my house is looking a little barren and sounding a bit echo-ey. Part of that is due to the cats, but part of it is because my sister is planning to paint some of it for me as an early birthday present.

So back to the breakables...there are few...very few..and yet the other morning at 4 a.m. I heard the unmistakable sound of something crashing to the floor and shattering. At one time I would have thought--oh no what did they break!---but now my conditioned response is to jump (a term I use loosely) out of bed and hurry to the scene of the crime, with only one thought running through my mind. Hurry before some-cat cuts their paws off!

The sight that greeted me at that early, early hour was glass shattered across the floor with gobs and drips and splashes of blood strewn throughout. I did not even know what could have broken, or who or how many were injured. There was an obvious lack of cats in the vicinity, except for Chaco, who was attempting to wade through the glass, until I went into my screaming get-out-of-here-before-you-cut-your-foot-off-what-have-you-cats-done-now rant.

There was so much blood.

Only there wasn't.

The only victim of this crime was my big glass Pyrex two cup measuring cup, which used to have red lettering on it. Red lettering that looks like blood when shattered into a thousand pieces.

Wow! Look at that cobweb on the ceiling..... Yeah, and what about this invisible spot on the wall ?

I can't even imagine how they knocked it off the cabinet. As I knelt there and swept and muttered, I happened to look up, only to see the three most innocent kitties in the world on the bookcase, gazing down at me. Two were sitting in their donut bed--together and the third was next to them.

It was staged, I'm pretty sure. They know how to do cute and innocent, but I believe with all my heart that those three were the culprits. Next time, kitties, don't smear the innocent on as thick as peanut butter and I might believe you. Maybe.

Collie Play Day

2011-06-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, before I even get started...no I haven't named the puppies yet..really. This naming business is hard for me. (as in they have to have just the right name) I have lists and I try them out randomly, but so far nothing fits. And I'm pretty sure they aren't always going to be called Puppy 1 and Puppy 2, or Sable Pearl and Tri-Trops.

So a few weeks ago, I got an invite to Helen's to bring the pups for a collie get-together, which would involve evaluating Helen's eight week old litter. My girls were going for manicures and spa treatments...not really, but they would be getting their ears taped. From these first two pictures you can see how their ears are starting to run amok. Up and down, off to the side....everyday is a new day.

So this was the puppies first big outing, well, second if you count the day they got their eyes tested. A little background on the two puppies I am keeping. Sable Pearl, er, Merle is typical collie--lalala, I love everybody, life is a lark and made just to please a little puppy. Tri girl is the opposite. Very reserved, thinks too much about new situations, worries about new situations, has reservations about new people and going new places. (I can relate...) Both puppies are brilliant, of course, and already know lots of things. Right now I'm concentrating on getting both puppies out and about for extreme socializing--especially little Ms. Worrywart. She is already doing better, and she does love people once she gets past her shyness.

Well, with all that being said, puppies were loaded up for their big journey. We made it about 20 miles before the drooling and vomiting started. Nice. Fortunately I brought lots of towels, and plastic sacks to bundle up the messy stuff.

As expected both pups were glad to get out of the truck at our destination, and their reactions were also pretty expected. The Sable Merle jumped in and loved every minute of it (except the ear taping), whereas the Tri was prone to hang back and be hesitant. She finally started pal-ing around with the little pups and her Uncle Jeff.

Uncle Jeff & Sable Merle
This is Ashley's litter brother

A couple of other breeders/dog showers brought their collies too, and it was a giant collie free-for-all in the fenced yard. Great opportunity for dog socializing! The youngest were the six eight week old puppies, then my girls at 11 weeks. The oldest was Gwyneth at ten. I think there were 14 collies although a couple had to be rotated back and forth. Quite a sight.

While the dogs were playing, the puppies were evaluated and then my puppies had their ears taped. (This isn't a painful procedure--but does take a bit of time and consists of layers of tape, with the ear tips taped over.)

Three stages of puppy

My girl was the only Tri in a sea of Sable

After a bit we humans went inside and had lunch and visited. I enjoyed hearing some of the 'war' stories of shows past, and whelping puppies.

Gwyneth on the left, Sable Merle middle....Bella (also a Sable Merle)
on the right in front & I think Jeff behind.

All said and done a good time was had by all (well almost all...)

Meeting at the water cooler

I loaded up the tired puppies and headed home. No one got sick, but the Tri drooled some. The little Sable Merle lasted about a mile down the road before she keeled over sound asleep. Tri girl stubbornly refused to give in and stood rigidly for the first ten miles, then finally sat. She never did lay down, but she was so tired that she was nodding off.

Look Ma...no ears and all nose!

Ashley was pretty glad to see us when we got home and the puppies ate and crashed for awhile and were then 'good to go'. They did sleep awfully sound that night!

So...tired....Must not sleep....

They have now graduated to individual crates at night and there has been only one 'accident' in a week and half.

Lots of anxiety issues with this one.....

If you wonder why Ashley isn't traveling with us at this time it is because she has some 'anxiety' issues of her own about new experiences which I'd rather her not transmit to the puppies. Handling two newbie clueless puppies is about as much as I can do right now anyway! Ashley loves people, but traveling and going new places is not something she readily jumps into. During these next two months, I'll be taking the puppies as often as possible until they develop confidence in new experiences and ease with riding in the truck. Once they are confident then I'll add Ashley to the mix, as she definitely needs some socializing of her own. Hopefully by then she will look less like a wire-fox collie too. (She has shed out all her fur until all that is left is the longer, coarser outer coat..and well the kindest way to say it is she looks, a bit, uh, odd.)

Hopefully I'll some more pictures taken of the puppies. It's amazing how fast they are growing. They'll soon be entering a rather homely stage of all legs, nose and will lose that lovely plush baby fur. But I can still pick 'em up for a big squishy hug for a few weeks longer!

Almost Wordless Wednesday....

2011-06-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

Puppy Meets Terrapin
No one was injured in the making of this photo...

As I lag farther and farther behind on posting, here are a few pictures to show we are still a kicking. It's hotter than, well you can imagine, here and am hoping this isn't going to be an all summer pattern. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Nature Reclaims

Sheep Going Home For The Night

Grateful (?) Butterfly Saved From The Water Trough

Lots of Terrapins This Year--This One 'Rescued' From The Yard & Pups

Innocent Kitties (Gabe & Tempe)
There is so much, much more to this story, and none of it involves innocent kitties....

The End
(Who is that big old puppy??)

We Are Okay....

2011-05-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

Momma Ashley

Ashley Jr.

Big Tri

Brown Eyes

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

Other Things...

2011-05-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

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

Little Tri (Little Hot Stuff)

Big Tri

Learning Steps!

Little Tri--Big Steps

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!

Weeks Three & Four-Collie Puppies

2011-04-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

Four Mostly Sweet Little Puppies

My how time do fly! The puppies are growing by leaps and bounds now. It's been crazy around here, with first one thing and then the other.

Shearing was last Saturday, and I hope to get a post about that up soon. I was pretty sick the weekend/week of shearing and so there were many things that I wasn't able to get done (in preparation). Finally went to the doctor and got medicines to help clear the bronchitis up. Still have some coughing and raspy voice, but feel much, much better. I hadn't been sick like that in a long time. I am rejoicing that shearing was able to be done, with cooperation from the weather and many fine folks helping me out.

The Kitties grimly keep trying to 'cat socialize' the puppies... (Tempe & Verity)

Now...on to the puppies! The third and fourth week there was dramatic changes after the first two weeks of them pretty much just laying around. Once their eyes were opened, they started moving around more, sitting up, and then feeble attempts to play.

Week three found them playing and wobbling all over the whelping box, and discovering their voices. Boy, did they discover their voices! Week four the obstacle of the whelping box was overcome---with the tiny tri-color being the first to shimmy up and over. After one night of two in the box and two out of the box...and mommy going back and forth, and the left behind ones screaming, I decided it was time to 'graduate' them out.

Little Tri Girl

Walls are made to be climbed...Just before the big escape.

The puppies got to stay outside for an hour or so while I removed their box, lay down a tarp, fifty layers (or so) of newspaper, and shredded paper. When I put them back in they were sure the shredded paper was going to eat them alive. It didn't take long though for them to start having fun with the paper. It was a big day for them. Ashley was less than thrilled though, since she had lost her advantage of getting away from them out of the whelping box.

Sisters!

During their fourth week we started outside excursions. While it was pretty scary for them, and they had to learn things like not run off the steps (ouch) it didn't take long for them to start having a blast. Now when I get home at night, me and four little puppies make a mad dash to the door and they spend the evening til dark playing outside. I keep an eye on them and go out and play with them off and on, but mostly they are on their own. Their mommy is out with them, but sometimes she gives them the slip. She is pretty tired of puppies! Ashley stays with them at night and part of the day. The other half of the day she stays outside and she gets to stay out in the house til bedtime.

The best way to learn to eat food is to wear it.

The puppies went on 'solid' food along about the fourth week--at first just a handful of kibble, soaked until it was mush. Now they are eating kibble with a bit of canned food and yogurt twice a day, plus a 'snack' of dry food. I couldn't believe they would be ready for dry food already, but their little teeth are quite sharp and capable! They still nurse off Ashley several times a day, but it's getting briefer and less often.

Learning how to be big puppies.

They are a pretty good little bunch, most of the time. I was very unprepared for the decibel level four puppies could produce, though. I almost hate to get up in the morning, because the minute they see me, the barking, howling, screaming begins. I rush around and get their food ready, let Ashley out and feed them, just to keep myself and the kitties sane.

They are a hoot to watch and they have big adventures outside all the time. The sheep are very interesting, but scary, so they tend to just come as far as the back step for now. They will line up there and watch. I call them the peanut gallery. Their personalities are developing, and they are all four very different. The two sable merles are the most laid back and friendly. One of them (puppy A) I call Ashley Junior because she looks and acts just like her mom. She tends to hang out with Ashley allot as well. Both of the sable merles love to be picked up and fussed over. The smallest tri is very busy and adventurous. If someone is going to get hurt it will be her, but she tends to take it in stride. She is quite shy, but loves to be held (I think). Sometimes she gets a little scared when I hold her too long and whimpers. However she is quite the bold, busy little girl. The big tri is the shyest and probably the most timid. She tends to go the other direction if something worries her too much. Right now we are working on getting her to come through the doorway with the others. She loves pets and being held, but you have to really encourage her. I think all four will be very well adjusted collies in the end, but right now they are growing and learning so much everyday that I'm sure it is a bit overwhelming at times.

By the time bedtime rolls around they are usually very tuckered out and ready to collapse for the evening. Week five pictures soon!

Ashley Junior, all tuckered out.

Puppy A--Little Tri

Puppy B--Sable Merle (blue eye)--Ashley Junior

Big Tri

Sable Merle--Solid eyes

Tempe and trainees

Verity--Excuse me? You do remember me, don't you???

Week Two-Collie Puppies

2011-03-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

Tiny Tri and Big Tri

Week two puppies continue as week one--mostly eating and sleeping. Towards the end of the week, though there is a dramatic difference. Suddenly they are walking --although a bit shakily! They sit up like 'real' dogs for a short time before they keel over on their sides.

Cute, Cute Puppy Toes!

Eyes are starting to open in the corners and ears should be opening as well. Once the ears are open there will be no escaping their notice! They can tell when Ashley is close by. It's quite hysterical as sometimes when they are sleeping, she will tiptoe into the whelping box and quietly lay on the opposite side from the pups. It doesn't take long until they wake up and turn into little heat seeking missiles.

And Equally Cute Puppy Noses!

The biggest of the pups (the big tri girl) is up to about 2 lbs 11 ounces. The smallest tri girl is steadily gaining each day and is now up to about 2 lbs.

It's funny to see them turning into dogs right before my eyes. Later this next week, I'll be introducing them to regular food. At first they won't each much, but will smear it everywhere I'm sure. Soon though they'll be digging in. Six short weeks to weaning.

Growing Is An Exhausting Business...

Helen is coming for first evaluation this next weekend. Eye checks will be April 26 and will finalize decisions. A couple of the puppies are spoken for, if it all works out that way. Helen will get first pick of the puppies.

And here are week two puppy pictures!

Puppy A--Tri Girl

Puppy B--Sable Merle Girl

Puppy C--Tri Girl

Puppy D--Sable Merle Girl

I struggle on with the hard business of loving on these little scraps of fur and attitude!

(Coming soon--week three and suddenly we have walking, 'talking' little collies!)

Tortie Tuesday & Puppy Training....

2011-03-22T06:36:00.000-07:00

Well, it has fallen to me, Tempe, to get these puppies off on the right paw. They may be young, but the sooner you start teaching them that Cats rule, the better.

So.....here goes....

Hello there, cute little smelly puppy. I'm a Cat. We rule, but we like dogs, so you are okay.

Hey Verity (seen in back) watch how I learn these cute smelly puppies about Cats..... First you make yourself small and non threatening....then...

...Verity? Hey, where'd you go??

Anyway..then you twist around and act really sweet, maybe tap them on the head a little (but we don't use our claws!).....

Whoa! Dude, that smelly little puppy can move fast! Okay...lesson over for today, I'm outta here...

Ahem..well you don't want to rush these things.....

The Cookie Monster

2011-03-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

This is the Cookie Monster. It started innocently enough--I needed a way to tell if Rouen was feeling spry and well each day. She is eleven this year and a few extra handfuls of grain and a few cookies are going to be put to good use.

Who knew though that sheep can count? Rouen gets two cookies in the morning and four at night (they are very small cookies) and gets quite upset if she is shorted. In fact she will ransack my pockets and demandingly paw at my leg if her cookie quota isn't met. She also prefers iced oatmeal cookies, thank you very much.

The other sheep are just furious about the whole situation. They can't believe she gets cookies and they don't. I tell them when they reach the age of 11 they will get cookies too. Gracie is counting the days, which is probably something like 342.

Rouen makes a huge production of getting her cookies, so even those sheep that are a little on the slow side know exactly what is happening. First she follows me closely while I do chores, then she paws my leg. Once I pull out the cookies, she backs up about ten paces and then comes in for the cookie. She has a wonderful straight back up by the way, even if that isn't a terribly useful skill for a sheep. She takes a cookie, then CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH, turning her head this way and that so no one can mistake that she is getting a cookie. Then repeat the whole process for each cookie.
Sometimes old sheep (and old people) get shuffled off to the side so I enjoy letting her feel special --- because it's not all about the cookies, but the power of the cookies!Here's to many more cookies for you, Ro-bear.

Gracie says it's more like 330 days til the big 1-1! (and cookies!)

Week One--Collie Puppies

2011-03-19T10:02:00.001-07:00

The puppies are two weeks old today, so I thought I better get busy and do some catching up! Week one was tense and busy. The littlest tri girl required tube feeding for the entire week. The morning of their third day she was slowly spiraling away. After a night of her temps dropping and losing weight, it was decided as a last ditch effort to tube. The first part of the week it was about every two hours, but she almost immediately and rapidly gained ground so within a few days I was able to extend the time between feedings. By Sunday she was down to every six to eight hours. I gave her last feeding on Sunday of last week. While she is much smaller than her siblings she continues to gain about two ounces a day and is one tough little cookie.

The puppies were restless and vocal a good part of that first week--especially those first few days. As time progressed they actually started sleeping (quietly) for longer periods and were less dramatic when they did wake up. The noises that can come out of a pound puppy are amazing. Grunts, yips, yaps, wails, an occasional scream--momma don't clean my bottom so hard! --to the more contented humming and suckling sounds.

Apparently puppies can neither see nor hear for about the first fourteen days. They use their little noses and do allot of loud sniffing. When one was separated from the others, at first they would wobble and bobble as they crawled around (mostly in a circle those first few days), squalling at the top of their lungs. After a few days they got better at finding each other (and momma).

This is a puppy corral--at first when I let Ashley out they would flop and roll everywhere, screaming the whole time. I finally rolled up a little blanket and would place them in there when momma was away.

Ashley has done a good job so far, in spite of all my 'advice' to her. My big fear is that she will lay or step on one of them, so especially for the first week, I was constantly on the alert. I didn't get much sleep.

Into that first week their personalities started emerging (can you say DIVA??) but I'll talk more about that in Week Two).

Holding and cuddling them has been a real chore, let me tell ya. The kitties are becoming more used to the sudden invasion, although they still get concerned when one of the pups starts squawking.

Without further ado, here they are..in order of birth. No they aren't named--I daren't get too attached to the little buggers (yeah, right) because three of them will go to new homes. I will not get first pick either.

Puppy A--Tri Female (this is the one that had to be tubed)

Puppy B--Sable Merle Female

Puppy C--Tri Female (and largest of the bunch)

Puppy D (for DIVA???)--Sable Merle Female

Puppy E--Oh, wait, that's not a puppy, but Chaco surveying puppies from on high.

Cob Web Felted Scarves.....

2011-03-14T07:44:00.000-07:00

As usual I didn't get as many crafty things done this winter as hoped, but I did manage to do some 'cob-web' felted scarves. At least my version of cob-web felt. These were fun and much easier to do than the nuno felted wool scarves with the silk base.
Awhile back I sent off a bunch of white merino/dorset raw fleece to be processed into batts. Well, when they came back the batts were huge and there were two bags full. I haven't even touched the second bag, but the first one, I cut up into smaller felt blocks to sell and/or made longer pieces for scarves.

The process is simple---cut or gently pull apart the approximate length and width of the scarf that you want from the batting. Then separate the layers, until you are left with a very fine layer of batting. Start pulling length and width ways and work your way down to the end. When you are done, you will have a thin piece of batting, with some holes in it....looking very much like a tired old cob-web. The real beauty of this process is that you can't 'do it wrong' as each piece is unique. Some have scalloped looking edges, all edges tend to be uneven etc. etc. If you are a perfectionist this might not be the project for you....

Once that is done, you use the same process as nuno-felting (again my version...) and lay out a long piece of rubber shelf liner that is longer and wider than the scarf. Place a short piece of pool noodle at the end and start rolling the whole thing up around the 'noodle'. When you are done pop a couple of rubber bands around the ends and head for the nearest sink or bathtub. Because you want to shock the wool and cause felting, it doesn't much matter the soap you use--just something that lathers well. I usually use whatever dish soap I have on hand and hot hot water from the tap. Submerge the roll and start kneading it, and rolling it--gently at first so the fibers catch. Again you are wanting to shock the fiber and cause it to felt. It really is kinda fun, although your arms can get tired! Depending on the piece, I usually roll and thump and knead it for about 15 minutes. Then I take it out, remove it from the shelf backing, turn it over, lay it back on the shelf backing, re-roll it and return to another 10-15 minutes of hot soapy water and thrashing.

When that is done, I rinse in cold water, and remove from the roll (you have to be careful as it will often stick a little to the backing, and the cobweb at this point is fragile).

Now is one of the fun parts! Lay a thick towel on a solid surface, wad up your scarf (after wringing out excess water), and start throwing it down on the towel as hard as you can. Thunk, thunk, thunk. Turn it often and do all sides. I think this is what is termed 'fulling'. About five to ten minutes of this and you are done.

Then comes the really fun part! Dyeing! I use Koolaid, because for now I don't really have the time or inclination to research and use more powerful dyes. Someday I would like to use more natural dye materials, picked from the sunny meadows and cool forests of my own tiny little farm. (lalalala)

For now though Koolaid is fun, and it smells pretty good too. There are lots of good internet articles that detail how to do this, if you Google it. Basically you take a large bowl (microwave) or pot (stove), add the Koolaid color of your choice (the less water the darker the dye), enough water that the scarf will be covered and your wet (or pre-soaked) scarf. For different effects you can sprinkle some Koolaid powder straight onto the scarf, or knot string around pieces of the scarf for a more tie-dye look. Heat until very hot, let set and cool, heat again and so forth until the water is clear and your scarf has absorbed all the dye. I then fill the sink with cold water and vinegar and put the scarf in there to set the dye. Koolaid is very acidic so you probably really don't need to do this part, but what the heck, and it rinses it of any remaining soap scum.

Let dry and you have a nice felted and very unique scarf!

Note: It's very important that resident cats are basking in front of a wood stove or other heat source before attempting this project. Trust me.

Gabe & Noah Basking....

Puppy Feet

2011-03-12T19:17:00.000-08:00

Puppies are one week old today! Phew. What a week. The littlest tri girl (that is her second from left) is down to being tubed about every six to eight hours and still continues to gain. She is up to 1 lb .2 Ounces (from 9.9 ounces). The others are like little ticks and the biggest one (the other tri) is about 1 lb 9 ounces.

There still remains the danger of Ashley accidentally stepping on or laying on them, but praying that doesn't happen.

They are much stronger now and are like heat seeking missiles when Ash steps into the whelping box. One of the Sable Merles is actually trying to walk already which is a hoot.

Anyway....I will try and get some individual pictures up, but they are so bobbley and will not hold still for anything. In the meantime, hope you enjoy this picture of sweet little puppy feet (and puppy bums too....)

Announcing....

2011-03-09T12:47:00.000-08:00

Milen's Merrehope Mesmerize
"Frank"
(pictured at nine months)

Milen's High Steppin
"Ashley"

Well, as you know, puppies are here. Since Ashley didn't take last time it didn't seem prudent to get hopes up until it was obvious she was pregnant. Then 'everything' happened and blogging went by the wayside.

If you remember the first time, Ashley was bred to Kurt, a lovely sable/white. However this time around it didn't work out because of holiday and work schedules, so instead she was bred to 'Frank' a most lovely blue merle that Helen has. I was ecstatic, because blue merles are my favorites in the collie colors. Although any color looks good on a collie, in my very prejudiced opinion.
In order to produce blue merles though Ashley would have to carry the 'tri-factor' (which is the black/white/tan color). It was possible she did, but something you can't know until they whelp.

So the big day arrived last Saturday, after a long sleepless night for Ashley and me, as she became more restless by the hour. Morning brought only more restlessness and attempts to get her settled in her whelping box were futile. Around noon I decided to put her outside and walk around with her, hoping it would help things move along. After a bit I brought her back into the house, and she immediately ran to her doggie bed in the back room, lay down and started pushing. Since she was finally doing her thing, I just ran and got the 'ob' kit, and a stack of towels and came back to where she was.

Within a few minutes she was finally pushing a puppy out. Unfortunately it was breech (which is fairly common in dogs, but the puppy needs to come out quickly so it won't aspirate fluids) and rather large. It took a bit to help Ashley work the pup out and by the time it was born, at 1:10 p.m.the puppy was non responsive and wouldn't breathe. Fortunately Helen had given me 'pep talks' and told me to work on puppies even when it seemed hopeless. Within a few minutes of vigorously working with the pup, she gasped and squealed. And squealed and squealed. Did you know that new born pup squealing sounds like a cat on crack? (Not that I know by experience what that sounds like, but can only imagine....). I cannot even tell you what this did to the emotional level of the resident multiple cats!

Fortunately Ashley was agreeable at this point to move to her whelping box, so, with puppy in hand and coaxing Ashley and being swarmed by, uh, multiple cats we made it to the whelping cage.

The cats were going nuts. Meowing and running around. Meshach demanded--loudly-- to be let in so he could take care of the squalling baby. Both he and Sage tried to pull me through the fence when I had my back near it.

There was no time to counsel kitties though, beyond a few distracted 'it's okay kitties' which they obviously didn't believe.

In case I didn't mention it, the first puppy was a she and tri-color--but the possibility of blue merles never crossed my mind again, as things went rapidly downhill from an already rocky start.

The next puppy was even larger and also breech. All the puppies were over a pound each---which is abnormally large for a collie pup. This one took forever to work out even though I tried everything. I knew it was taking too long and when he was finally born, he never came out of it, despite working on him for a long time. It was a large perfectly marked sable male and he was born around 1:45 p.m.

At that point I was feeling pretty upset and overwhelmed. Ashley was content to lay around and lick on her puppy, with no sign of further contractions. Finally a little before 3 p.m. she started pushing again and another large puppy presented, this time head first, but with one tiny paw out as well. The sac broke and the puppy was moving around, gasping for air but she was wedged tight...and I do mean tight. I worked and worked and Ashley pushed and pushed and nothing..except the puppy became quieter and quieter. Finally I made Ashley stand up and after a bit that seemed to help resolve the impasse and finally the puppy popped out. It was 3:10 and she also was not breathing or responsive. I couldn't even believe it, but doggedly kept working on her and finally she gasped and squeaked. Yes! This one was a pretty sable merle with a full white collar.

Then it seemed we were done. Ashley had some chicken noodle soup and the babies eventually figured out how to nurse with a little guidance.

Helping puppies being born is terrifying---nothing like the lambs that is for sure--and that can be nerve wracking enough! While working with the sheep helped me know 'the basics' of what needed to be done, the puppies are so tiny and there is really nothing you can grab on and pull in fear that you will injure them.

Two hours after her last pup, I gave her a shot of oxytocin, certain she was done. At 6 p.m. she had contractions and very quickly popped out a pup with no assistance from me! In fact I had just hung up the phone after talking to Helen, when I realized that Ash had another pup. Unfortunately she was more interested in the afterbirth and the sac was still firmly encasing the pup. Quickly tearing the sac and cleaning the nose, I took the pup up and rubbed it briskly and just as quickly got that satisfying gasp and squeak. This was a nice big tri-color with a 'broken' white collar (white on the back of her neck and chest but not all the way around her neck). Yes, it was another girl born at 6:10 p.m.

A little later as Ashley lay stretched out with the babies nursing I noticed a very large 'lump' still in her belly. Shortly thereafter she started having light contractions which went on for quite some time.

Finally at 8:03 p.m. in another quick whoosh the last puppy was born, unassisted. Repeat of the sac as above but also quickly responsive. The final puppy was another large sable merle girl.

Let's just say it was a long day. Yes, all four surviving puppies are girls!

There was very little sleep that night either, as apparently newborn puppies can be very noisy. Who knew that four pounds of little puppies can sound like a whole pack of coyotes? At each yelp or scream or yodel I would stagger in there to make sure they were okay.

I think they may have been a little too cool, despite the heating pad in the whelping box. Or maybe this is just normal, I don't know. They have settled down a little, but being a puppy ain't for sissies. I've never seen such dramatics at the 'milk bar' let alone all the yodeling and yelping and humming. Yes, they hum. Apparently this is normal and a good sign.

So not much sleep Friday night, little to none Saturday night, marginally more on Sunday night, interspersed between the yelping and crying. By Monday I was zonked. Then I realized that the first born Tri girl was losing ground. I knew she wasn't thriving as well as the others by Sunday, and she progressively was looking thinner and her coat was duller not to mention that her body temp was cooler than the others.

Monday morning I called Helen to ask her what she thought I needed to do. As I feared it was 'tube feed her'. Yikes. I had boughten a can of goat's milk to have on hand for something like this and was instructed to half it with water. Helen had given me a puppy sized feeding tube 'just in case' so with no excuses left, I went to work.

First I had to dig around in the sheep supplies and find a larger syringe, then heat up four ccs of the milk. Attached the tube, removed the air bubbles and went and got the unsuspecting puppy. Laying her on her belly on a towel, I proceeded to measure and mark the tube to the length of her tummy and then thread it down her throat praying it wouldn't end up in a lung. It actually went fairly easily, and every two hours after that I tubed her. Helen called back and we increased the formula to six ccs (she had consulted with her vet on the complicated figuring of needed ccs compared to her body weight (which by then was down to 9.9 ounces).

Through that day and night she was on two hour feedings. By the next morning she was much stronger and starting to hold her own at the milk bar. By noon I was able to start increasing the time to three hours and now a day later up to four hours. She has gained two ounces over the last two days. I hope she continues to gain and thrive. She is now much more vocal and physically fights the tube. (Puppies have no gag reflex at first so it is 'easy' to thread the tube down their throats).

So that has been the first five days. A few catnaps here and there and I'm doing a little better. We aren't out of the woods by any means, as there is always the danger of Ashley laying on the pups and accidentally killing them as well as continuing to tube the little tri. But I've got to settle down and quit my constant hovering and worrying. I've done what I can--and can only pray for a positive outcome.

I'll be glad when they are a few weeks old and able to move about better. Right now they are so helpless--but definitely fighters! They are blind and deaf at this stage, but they sure do allot of sniffing!

I hope to get pictures posted later this week of each of them. And yes, the deal is that I get to keep one of them--although I won't be sure who until after Helen does her assessments and decides who her keepers will be. We have someone anxiously awaiting a tri-color girl as well. (A 'repeat' customer whose older collie died etc.) Keeping myself from getting attached will be hard...you know how I am!

And to clarify, a sable merle is a sable that also carries the merle gene, which explains why the sable looking pups have little brown dots on them. It's more noticeable in their faces and tails which almost carry a 'blue' cast. As the puppy ages most of the merling will fade and blend so that they will look like a regular sable for the most part. However sable merles like the blue merles can have partial to all blue eyes or the more typical brown eyes.

Prayers for their safety are much appreciated.

The kitties were so exhausted and traumatized after their long day on Saturday that they resorted to 'pile sleeping' behind the stove....(there are four of them)

Torti Tuesday -- Secrets

2011-03-08T11:15:00.000-08:00

Tempe here.......

We've got some noisy new secrets, but the 'bean is too overwhelmed and 'xhausted to blog about it yet. She promises there will be updates soon.

In the meantime, us cats are really overworking the 'cute look at me card', says the 'bean. But I says we don't have to work no card cause I, especially, am always cute.

And So It Goes....

2011-02-19T18:57:00.000-08:00

Meshach enjoying some sun and oatgrass

It's been a very difficult two weeks around here but life does go on. Boone has left an enormous hole in my heart and in the life of the little farm. I try not and dwell on it, but the loss does catch me unawares often.

Winter hit with a vengeance during those weeks, and many days it was a battle to cope and try to keep everyone else alive and well. We had several snows and the coldest temps in ten years for a few nights.

Last week it began to warm up and soon all the awful snow was gone, and the ground unfroze enough for me to get my big dog buried. It was a slow process and was finally completed this week. I was very glad for that.

With the warmer weather and the days staying lighter longer, I've slowly been putting things to right around here. When you are in the middle of cold, snow, and aren't home except in the very early a.m. or late p.m. things tend to get thrown here and there and become messy.

I re-worked my wood pile and got the wood boxes in the breezeways refilled (while I'd like to believe winter is over, I'm pretty sure it isn't), dumped and refilled every one's water tubs, gave Ashley a bathe and a good brushing and other odds and ends. I even had my windows open to the house a couple of days.

Today it rained pretty hard for awhile, but the ground needed settling and some of the ick from the snow washed off anyway. Once it warms up the grass should really take off. I worked in the house, cleaning and moving some things around. There might be a special 'arrival' happening here in a few weeks so I have to make room just in case.

I'll be glad for Spring, and I'll be glad that when I think about Boone I can smile instead of cry. He was a great dog and his memories should be looked on with joy in the time we had.

Thank you to everyone who came by to comment and grieve with me in Boone's passing. Many were friends and familiar names, but others were first time commenters, and I appreciate that you all were moved to leave a comment for Boone. You are all special to me, and it helped to know that you care. I plan to print out the comments and add them into Boone's little record book.

It's been hard to compose the 'next' post after losing Boone, but, well, here it is, for what it's worth. I've switched out the header and added this post, so I hope it will be easier for myself to 'visit' my own blog now.

Take care and hope your week is a good one.

Boone

2011-02-12T05:13:00.000-08:00

Boone

2005(?)--February 7, 2011
Gotcha Day--January 14, 2006

Big beautiful Boone passed away around 4 a.m. on February 7. His leaving was not peaceful, but he died in his home, with those he loved around him.

After a very good day, filled with chewy treats, special meals, a short stroll and hanging out and sleeping restfully in front of the fire, he suddenly took a turn for the worse around midnight.

At first I thought he was experiencing an upset tummy, but as time went on, the seriousness of what was happening became obvious. As the initial symptoms came into play, they were mild and not too worrisome. By the time I realized that he was not having some sort of upset from the meds, it was too late to load him in the truck and make the 50 mile trip to the emergency clinic. Instead I sat with him and tried to comfort him. I know in my heart that this would have been his choice, rather than to end his days away from his home. The very end was easier for him, and Ashley and I held him folded up in a blanket of love.

A little over five years ago, my life changed dramatically on a simple trip to town. I encountered a very desperate Boone standing in the road on my way home, and once our eyes locked, there was no other choice but to welcome this new creature into my heart.Life with Boone was a bit like getting swept away in an avalanche. After the initial early weeks of getting 'back on his feet' he never looked back and had enough energy for five or six dogs.

Never having had to deal with a 'bully' breed, I took it to heart that if I didn't make sure he had lots of exercise and interaction he would turn out to be a very bad dog. To that end I nearly ran myself ragged that first year or so.Boone was never a very bad dog, and didn't have the makings in his soul to be that way. Boone was always a very good dog, or at least he cared enough to try. After I calmed down and started to understand him we had a much more mellow time.

Boone had one goal in life--to be with me. His intensity was a bit overwhelming at times. If I didn't want to go out and walk or stay outside and play, then he would just sulk. Nope, it's no fun without my person.

His biggest fault those first years was cat chasing. As a home that already had several established cats both inside and out, this was distressing on all levels. I was told by breed advocates that he could never be trusted with cats and would likely kill them even if he became used to them. So for the first several years he had to stay in a large pen with a large shed in the backyard when I was gone. He gradually graduated step by step to supervised yard time and then the full run of the yard. He never caught a cat and he never harmed a cat.

He chased lots of cats, and I usually was chasing right behind him screaming my head off. As the years passed one day it finally clicked for him that certain cats were 'his' cats and he stopped chasing them. They even got bold enough to walk near him and around him, but never were really relaxed in his presence. The six-pack kitties never had any sense about anything and adopted Boone as their big brother. He was very tolerant of them. When they were still outside and Noah was going through his initial seizure activity, the dogs were very kind to him. Because Noah couldn't keep up with his sibs during that time, he would follow Boone and Ashley around.

Over the years I had Boone he killed two skunks. He tried to take out two 'possums, but their 'playing dead' only got them a mauling.

Boone never, ever, ever had a mean bone in his body towards humans. He was gentle and kind and always open to new friendships. Everyone was a potential friend in his eyes. 99 percent of everyone that met him in person or online loved the big slob. Despite all that he went through before he came to live here, he still trusted people to be kind. That didn't mean he was stupid and he was very watchful of things that looked fishy in his eyes. With Boone 'watching' the place I have felt very safe over the past five years. It feels very strange not to have my backup boy taking care of things.

Like many dogs of his breed, he was potentially dog aggressive. I never gave him a chance to interact with other male dogs, and the few girl dogs he met, he would try and dominate at first, but became quickly accepting of them. When I got him I had two collies--Jody and Ariel. Jody was very quick to welcome him into the pack, but she passed only five or six months after he joined us. In his exuberance as a youngster, he managed to bowl Ariel (and well, me too) over a few times and so she had a bit of fear of him. They forged a friendship over the years they were together, but Ariel was older and fragile and couldn't play with him.
When Ariel passed, Boone was very sad. Boone loved his 'pack' and mourned heavily. Another dog was needed even though I didn't feel quite ready. When I got Ashley a year and half ago, at first he was going to take her down and tear her little furry heart out. That lasted about two minutes and with many laps around the property with both on short lead, and then later visiting through a barrier Boone was ready to welcome his new buddy within hours. Ashley and Boone became very fast friends.

What a silly pair they looked, but they depended on each other and enjoyed having each other as a buddy. With Ashley he could play and run and steal each others bones and toys.

The other day Boone was in the house and I had put Ashley out because she was restless and needed some 'air'. Boone became very concerned after a time and insisted that he had to go out or she had to come in. How could I refuse? Ashley is very sad now, and was laying on the front step when I came home, whining and depressed. At first I couldn't figure out what the noise I was hearing was from, but it was from Boone's sad little girlie.

If you have read my blog very long, you might remember Boone's addiction to stuffed toys. He rarely pulled the stuffing out, but he would drag them around and maim them in other ways. At times my yard looked like a stuffed toy graveyard. When it came time for periodic cleanup of the various toys, he would get very upset when he saw his bits and pieces of stuffed animals disappearing into the trash sack. If I didn't watch him he would go and pull them back out! I always refreshed his stash with new bears, monkeys, balls etc, but he still mourned those thrown away.

Boone's favorite thing in the world was to come in the house in the evenings and crash on his bed and snore his heart out. Not great aspirations but very important to him! He was in the middle of his little pack and happy as a clam. It's very quiet here tonight.When he was younger that first year we played lots of fetch. He loved to have me throw his monkey toy or one of his many many other stuffed toys. He quickly learned manners, like drop it, wait, sit, down and shake, and never jumped on people--although getting dog slobbered was always a huge risk. He was always easy to work with and it was fun to play toss the toy with him. It was pretty scary though when he would run full bore at you--only twice did he miscalculate and send me flying, but that was enough. I don't think he ever understood how massive and strong he was. His tolerance for pain was amazing.

And of course we can't forget his love of his swimming pool! My how that boy enjoyed cooling his toes on a hot summer day, even if he did look rather comical. If I was slow in changing the water or putting the pool up, he could really pull out all the stops on 'abused dog face'.

Perhaps his very, very favorite thing though was micro-managing me. He was constantly trying to run the show, especially when it came to me going out in the pasture with the sheep. Up and down the fence, up and down the fence he would run. Sometimes he would bark obnoxiously (he rarely barked!) because he was left behind. Anything to get my attention off those dratted sheep and back on him. Lambing season, especially the first one for him, was very depressing, as my attention was focused on those stupid lambs, instead of him. We had lots of 'discussions' back and forth while I was doing chores, because he knew I couldn't do much about him hysterically barking and running the fence when I was in with the sheep.

As he got a little older and especially after Ashley joined us, he got a little less possessive and watchful of my every move.

But he was always glued to the back gate keeping an eye on me while I did chores...even when he wasn't feeling well last week. Even the day before he died. I will really, really miss his watchful eye and intent expression. His face was so very expressive and it was easy to see what he was thinking. He was almost human at times.

To be honest, I can't even think of him not being here, as he was such a powerful and constant presence. Somehow five years ago he inserted himself squarely into my heart and has made darn sure he kept himself front and center ever since.

I remember when we had the big ice storm in 2007---I was out in the night after the first round, trying to get the rams gate shut, so they would be safe, wading under downed branches and listening to more cracking overhead. But I wasn't out there alone, as big Boone was right on my heels trying to help. Sometimes in the evening or early morning, when it was still dark, if I felt creepy doing chores I'd send him out ahead to check the garage. He was a good guard.

Last week when I was snowed in and Boone had his first episode I was besides myself because I couldn't get him to the vet sooner. Then Friday I finally got him out and he seemed to improve a little each day on the meds, and I grew hopeful. In my heart though, I have sensed this day approaching for months. I'm not sure why, but I always knew the time with Boone would be shorter than I would ever want.

Now as I look back on that last week, it seems to me that it was a blessing in disguise. Boone was not well, and he had managed to hide most of his distress from me, so that it seems he was much sicker than he appeared. Why a blessing? Because I was snowed in, and couldn't go to work for four days, Boone got to stay in the house all day and all night....right where he wanted to be--with me. Church was canceled on Sunday so in all Boone got to spend six very good days with those he loved near, stretched out in front of the fire, instead of having to stay outside and wait and wait for me to get home from work. I am very glad that his last week was spent in this way that was special for him.

When he passed Monday morning, it was so incredibly hard, but I'm very glad I could be with him and not have come home and found him gone alone. It still doesn't seem real.

I know this is long, and I might add to it, because it's important to me to capture the spirit of that mighty dog with the big, big heart. I can say with all truth and in all respect for my dear friend--He Was A Good Dog. And I can also say he was a dear friend and a fun buddy and my heart will always have a special memory of Boone-dog.

Boone and I would be honored for his existence and his story to inspire others to open their hearts to a new furry friend. Maybe one that challenges you and one you might not pick on your first thought. I would say take a chance because you never know the friendship and devotion that will come your way, by a mere act of kindness.

For now it's at times unbearable that he isn't here, snoring obnoxiously and stretched out in front of the fire. With time I hope to be able to remember silly, goofy, intense and loyal Boone without this deep sadness.

Farewell, my big friend. Thanks to God for seeing fit to place you in my life. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Love you, big goof.

I have tried all week to get this post together, but it has been a struggle. I know that many of you will be very sad to hear of Boone's passing, but your love and sweetness towards a big dog you have known only from afar, has always touched my heart.

Boone Update

2011-02-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

Ashley & Boone out on a walk two weeks ago.

Just wanted to give a quick update on how Boone is doing. Yesterday I was finally able to get him out to the vet. The truck got stuck pretty good twice getting out of the driveway, but we made it out anyway.

I had talked to the vet the day before, and was told to just bring him in when I could get out, since the vet was the only staff there at the time.

So around noon we headed into town. The diagnoses was about what I figured. When you are snowed in and have Internet access you can do lots of research. I also want to think Michelle and her vet husband for their words as well.

Boone has been diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy (short version--DCM occurs most often in middle-aged, male, large and giant breed dogs, such as the Doberman Pinscher, Great Dane, and Irish Wolfhound, but DCM can affect dogs of any age and many other than these breeds. Often males are predisposed or more likely to be affected at a young age. In addition to the large-breed dog, DCM is recognized regularly in a variety of spaniel breeds, and the condition occurs sporadically in small canine breeds. The precise genetic basis for DCM has not been demonstrated. The four most common clinical presentations of DCM are 1) occult DCM; 2) cardiac arrhythmia (see above); 3) sudden cardiac death; and 4) congestive heart failure (CHF). Or you can click on the link above and it tells a more detailed version.

This is a relatively common disease in this breed of dog who in my opinion have a way too short life span and way too many health issues as it is.

Boone hasn't been 'up to par' for awhile now, but I attributed it to a number of things, not picking up on the whole picture. The cold weather affected him badly and I laid the blame for his symptoms squarely on the feet of winter.

He has been rather depressed, his appetite has decreased and other more subtle can't put my finger on it things. Some of this also coincided with Ashley going into heat as well, and that is always a hard time around here, as all normal routines and actions go out the window. (And yes, Ash may be bred, and puppies soon if she took. Good grief...)

Boone is, by my reckoning around six now. I have had him five years (how that went by fast) and he was probably close to a year old when I found him. Six years for this breed puts them into the 'slowing down, getting older' bracket.

So, for now we have him on medications--three to be exact. Sixteen pills a day. This will decrease once we get the proper dosage for his size. (Not many dogs around here that need heart meds that weigh 130 lbs.) Should have the correct pills by next weekend. These will work in the meantime, just means more to poke down his throat. He hates pills and you can't 'hide' them in anything, so the only choice is to open that big slobbery mouth and throw them in...) He is on Furosemide (diuretic) Digoxin (directly increases the contracting of the heart) and Enalapril (ACE Inhibitor). There are all kinds of possible side affects, so time will tell how it goes. If they work they should have a dramatic impact on his quality of life. It will likely take some time to figure out the correct dosage on a couple of them.

Prognosis, providing he responds to the drugs is 6 months to 24 months of decent quality life. If he makes it to the upper figure then that puts him at about a typical lifespan for a DDB.

Right now, I think the best thing is to take it a day at time, and enjoy what we have. He is resting very comfortably and loves being a 'house dog'. Once I go back to work, he will have to be an 'outside' dog again at least during the day. Being on the diuretics he will have to urinate allot, so being in the house ten hours is not an option. I asked if his activity needs to be restricted, but the vet said that it's recommended that the dogs are allowed to do as they normally would. I'll probably not let him do as much of that silly running the fence after the neighbors dogs, but other than that, I'm going to let him have his life as long as he can.

I'm just very relieved that I finally got him out to the vet. It has been a long week. I'm exhausted and feel like I haven't accomplished anything, other than beating back one crisis at a time.

Hopefully I'll get another 'snow post' up soon, and relate the whole driveway debacle (which was plowed by a a kind neighbor last night at about five p.m.!)

I do have to tell you though a little story about my Mom and an old school friend. My Mom called the guy who ended up blading our driveway after we finally figured out who it was that had such a nice little tractor outfit. She talked to his wife, (who is the gal I went to school with), and evidently told her about how I was trying to get out and get Boone to the vet. The gal and Mom hatched up a plan whereby she would drive over here and get me and Boone and take us to the vet...in the end though they couldn't scheme their way into how to get close enough (as Boone couldn't walk too terribly far in the snow) and still turn around. Fortunately I was able to get out myself later that day.

When her husband came that night to plow the drive, my truck was just barely in off the road, and blocking the drive. That is as far as I could get in before getting stuck (I could still back out). I had no idea the guy was anywhere around, because my watchdogs were both snoozing in the house, until he knocked on the door!

I opened the door and of course Boone and Ashley tried to push me out of the way to see who it was. Boone had a pink blankie draped over his back, and stuck his massive head out the door. "Come in, come in" they seemed to say.

Never mind me, of course, the guy reaches out and scratches Boone's head and asks, 'are you feeling better, big guy?'

Just goes to show you, there are still some awful good people out there, and animal people are some of the best.

11 Inches or So....

2011-02-02T08:58:00.000-08:00

Well, the storm is done and we ended up with about 11 inches of snow. We got more after I took this picture, but not allot. Thankfully we didn't get it as bad as was feared, but 11 inches is still too much and basically I'm 'snowbound' for a few days. I parked my truck in the garage because they were also calling for freezing rain, sleet, and high winds and I was afraid that trees might come down on it. My driveway is pretty long, and I normally park near the road when I know the big snows are coming.

I've been digging out gates and little paths to get the chores done. I'm hoping by Friday to be able to get out to work, but we shall see. Right now they haven't even plowed our state road (no money, dontcha know), but the county has had road graders out on the gravel road. The state road is so bad that four wheel drive people are having trouble making it up the hill (and some didn't).

Big Boone

The really bad part is that Boone had some sort of episode yesterday morning. He was running around in the snow and the next thing I know he is down and won't get up. He didn't pass out, but he wasn't in good shape. I finally got him up and walking so I could get him in the house. He has been in (except for potty breaks) ever since. Yesterday he wasn't real good, but today he seems a little better. I've kept him warm and quiet since then. His appetite finally picked back up and 'bodily functions' are now working as normal. Yesterday his gum color wasn't good at all, but today his gums are pinker. His breathing is harder than normal and his energy level is very low. Otherwise he is really enjoying being in the house, and he and Ashley think they will pack their bags and move in, thank-you-very-much.

As soon as I can get out and find a vet that is open I'll take him in, in the meantime I'm thanking God that he is comfortable and doesn't seem to be suffering any. Until then we just keep on keeping on, I reckon.

Enjoy the pictures and be thankful my camera froze up or there would be more....

Ashley reluctantly 'helping' me shovel snow.

Hungry sheep with laser eyes on the shepherd.

Close up of the sheep--who would have thought Cal's legs were that short?

Front gate

Front gate today, with one of my miserly paths shoveled out.

A patient reminder of warmer days ahead...

Birdbath or Mushroom?

Hungry birds---the black ones are red-winged black birds, not normal visitors to my feeders.

This used to be my back stairs. Yes all those foot prints are from the birds--they are frantic and everywhere.

Woodpile number one....

Woodpile number two--somewhere under the tarp and snow....

Sage's Worst Nightmare

2011-01-15T18:46:00.000-08:00

Dear rotten Sage. It has probably been the hardest on him to suddenly have six younger 'siblings' added to the household. The first year has gone by and we've all had to adjust, and adjust some more. He has done much better than I expected, but I know that we aren't out of the woods yet. My chief troublemakers (in the scheme of cat relationships) tend to be the three 'red-headed' boys--Sage, Gabe & Noah-- and they are continually pushing when they find any little opening. Some days there is allot of policing by the water bottle totin' human-bean. They do not care for that much.

So, back to Sage. He has always been a Conflicted Soul. He tried to pretend when he was a kitten that he was 'normal' but it soon became apparent that normalcy was wearing him down. Sage doesn't like to be touched--he has a 'my space' circle a mile wide--...only sometimes he does like to be petted. But then he gets aggravated if he thinks I'm 'making fun' or laughing at him, which I rarely am. He can and does bite and scratch, although of course it's discouraged. But he can also be very loving. He yells at me if I'm getting on to him. I have to be careful how he is handled in 'discipline' situations because they can quickly get out of control, and I'll have a huffy puffy swearing stalking caterwauling cat on my hands. One time he was playing under the blankets(pre-kitten invasion) and something happened--still not sure what--and Sage had a total and complete meltdown and wailed and hissed and carried on from under the nightstand for quite some time. It can be disconcerting to all involved.

He and Meshach have carved out a relationship over the years, mostly of aggravating each other, but occasionally a sweet lick on the head or such. However Sage is not a snuggler, and really is quite sensitive about being touched as I mentioned above.

About six months into the kitten invasion, Sage began to 'play' with the kittens. By this I mean he would run really fast and they would chase him. It was very exciting. If anyone got to close they got smacked and/or sworn at--but it was okay to chase him. Then Tempe decided that she loved Sage and he must love her too. Really, it reminded me of one of these books or movies, where you have the little girl who befriends the gruff old town hermit (who of course is a hermit because something terrible has happened in his life), and changes his life in a positive way forever.

The first not so subtle tactic Tempe used was to launch herself at Sage and grab him around the neck and wrestle him. Sage looked horrified to say the least---one of them.....touched him! However he was remarkably tolerant and just stalked away. Well, of course to Tempe this meant a green light. She was careful though for awhile and didn't over do it--she also didn't take 'bug off' for an answer.

Then suddenly a month or so ago, she latched on to Sage and became his best bud--whether he needed one or not. I thought it rather hilarious, myself. Everywhere Sage was, there was Tempe too. Sage on the computer cabinet? So was Tempe. Sage laying in the recliner? So was Tempe. Sage on the bed? You get the picture. The amazing part was and is that Sage seems to not only tolerate the little micro-managing furball, but he also seems to enjoy having her around. Now he even plays with her--chases, tackles and all. I'm not sure how she managed to win him over, when he would do the smack down on any of the others that dared to be so in his face, but her persistence has paid off.

Me and my Sage

Seriously who could resist me?

Time For Shots!

2011-01-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

(This post actually should have been before the kitty shots drama!)

What? We get to go for a ride??

A few weeks back it was time to haul the dogs in to get their shots. For quite a few years I've been only having them vaccinated for everything every three years (when their rabies is due).

Coincidentally both dogs were due within the same month. Since I've only had Ashley a little over a year, it was nice to have this work out. On one hand this is great because it means one trip to the vet. On the other hand, it's not so great because it falls right around the holidays and means more money to spend when there isn't a lot of extra to spend.

Since I (finally) figured out that Boone would happily load in the truck as long as he got to ride in the back 'jumpseat' area of the truck, it's been much easier to haul him to the vet. He can easily step up into the truck. If he gets wedged, I just open the other door for him to step out! He can turn around, but it is quite an ordeal--even with the one seat pushed all the way up. Putting two rather large dogs into the cab of a small pickup truck makes for a full load.

Ashley takes up the front seat...

Boone sits in the middle behind the seats. Ashley gets boosted up into the passenger front seat. Boone is afraid he will miss something, so he pretty much sits the whole time looking very sad or panting loudly. The day I took them in was pretty cold, but I had to turn off the heat, because both dogs got 'too hot'. Jeez.

At the vet's we lucked out and were the only ones there. The dogs went in happily enough and were pretty cheerful through the entire thing. While one tech petted them, the other stuck them. They never even flinched. One thing I definitely wanted to do was weigh them while we were there. One of the tech's tried to pull Boone up on on the scale. I knew that wasn't going to work, so I asked her to let me in front and then told Boone to get up on the scale. He was very cooperative once he understood what I needed. I never try to pull or push him anywhere. Because you just can't, and that is that.

Boone sticks his head between the seats, so he won't miss anything.

Boone weighed in at a whopping 130 pounds, although only up 3 pounds from his last visit three years ago. I was happy to see that he is maintaining a moderate weight gain. (Anymore than that would just cause even more stress on his already stressed joints). Then it was Ashley's turn on the scale. Oh my. The little porker came in at 60 lbs which is not good for her size and frame. That is about the same as Jody my first sable collie weighed and she was taller and bigger boned. Dieting was in her future for sure. (note I said was...I'll let you know more about that later!)

The dogs were excellent little patients and a stop at Mickey-D's for some french fries was in order (diet could start the next day!). Happily no one had any reactions to the shots and it's over now for a good while.

Can we go home now?

Sheep One, Shepherd Zero

2011-01-11T11:59:00.000-08:00

When it comes to feeding the sheep hay, things have been a little different this year. The whole hay buying deal hasn't been normal this either. Firstly my regular hay guy that I get square bales from didn't put up any squares this year. So I was referred to his brother. The price was nice and they were delivered as usual. However...the bales are nasty, the size of the bales all over the map and so on. Since the sheep aren't bred this year though, there is some leeway with the hay. They are grained daily.

On to the round bales, which is how I primarily feed them over the winter. I've arranged this deal with a local Mennonite that lives just down the road. I buy a bale as needed and his son drives it up and puts it in the sheep paddock. It works great...unless his truck is broken down! I finally got the first bale a few weeks ago, (delivered by a very cold boy on a tractor). Their truck is now fixed, thankfully. The biggest bonus to this system is that my Dad doesn't have to fire up his tractor, and we don't have to wrestle those overly large bales onto the bale buggy. (Last year they wouldn't even fit!)

I expected this bale to last at least three weeks, closer to three and half. As I mentioned though things are different with the hay feeding this year. When I added Callum (horned whether) to the flock and kept two wethered lambs (silly little horns), it made it a bit more complicated. Normally I use a 16 foot cattle panel wrapped around the bale to keep the sheep somewhat contained from the bale. Especially with Callum, this couldn't be done. The sheep have to reach in quite a ways to get the hay, and with his big horns he wouldn't be able to. Not to mention the risk of getting caught up.

See--this should last three weeks!

These bales are huge. You can see that from the picture of the newly delivered second bale. There are twenty sheep eating off it---15 of those shrimp sized Shetlands. It should have lasted beyond three weeks.

But it got even more complicated. The sheep decided to tunnel under and eat off only one side. The bale became progressively more unstable and dangerous, so I had to tip it on it's side. That is when the fun really began (for the sheep) and they proceeded to pound it to the ground. All the while, I'm telling them through gritted teeth--it will last you for three weeks! I mean it.

I held out to two weeks and three days. They really did eat most of it up and were digging through the wreckage daily. If you look at the photo again where the new bale is, off to the left where most of the sheep are standing was the old bale. Not even a hump left. But I couldn't take the squalls and reproachful looks any longer. And there was that snowstorm that was suppose to move into the area.....

The biggest piggies of the bunch are four out of five of the big white sheep. Gracie (the matriarch) does have some decorum about it all. The other four just eat...and eat...and eat.

Rouen (11 years old) begs for her nightly cookie

But we aren't paying 27.00 every two weeks for a new bale. Three weeks, maybe. So I have a plan. If they continue to abuse the situation, I will have the next bale put in another smaller paddock. They will have access to it during the day, but will be shut out at night. I'll switch their grain feeding from a.m. to p.m. to facilitate getting them away from the hay. That way no more 24/7 gorging. Sounds like a good plan, huh? That is until the sheep stomp all over it.

Sure hope she doesn't expect our bowl of food to last three weeks.....

(Noah, Gabe, Chaco--and if you look closely you'll see more cat legs behind the stove)

Off To The Vet!

2011-01-08T10:48:00.000-08:00

Unsuspecting...

The 'kittens', now nearly a year and half old were due for their first year booster shot(s). Technically I could give them their combination shot here at home, but not their rabies. Well, I could also give the rabies shot, but you have no 'official' documentation from a vet in the event they bite someone. I plan to put them on a three year cycle of vaccinations after this booster. I haven't decided on rabies shots, since they are 100 percent house cats. Yearly vaccination of my pets concerns me, and I have done it both ways over the years (yearly and every three years). In any event 'we' needed to get our shots.

In all my brilliance, I decided that it would be 'easier' to take them all at once. In my defense, it is a 72 mile round trip and it's rather difficult to schedule in multiple appointments around work.

Otherwise, what was I thinking.

My 'main concern' was Noah. I was sure he would freak out completely and shred the carrier in his efforts to get out. He does has some issues with being confined (and as all good pet parents, I blame it on his 'seizure disabilities', instead of thinking he might just be a brat). In light of this I found my biggest carrier and designated it for him and Gabe. The medium size carrier would hold Chaco and Verity, and the soft sided stylish carrier would be crammed with Tempe and Trinity. Newspapers and towels went down in the bottoms, and I packed a roll of paper towels, more newspapers, little plastic bags, trash bags,the cats in carriers and myself in the truck. I also had their record book, that while for the cats says 'sales--sheep/wool' on the side.

The kitties were very unsuspecting. They haven't learned about the equation "cat carrier = trip to vet" yet, so they were easy to stuff in the crates.

Once on the road all went well--at first. Gabe took it the hardest, he wailed and yelled and cried and sobbed (okay maybe not sobbed, but it was close). Pleasepleaseplease don't take me away from my home again...... Between his wailing and someone yelling in the back the noise level was high and consistent. But hey, 'we' can cope with that. Noah and Gabe were on the front seat so I could try and intervene if Noah went crazy. Noah didn't go crazy. He laid very quietly....and then very neatly threw up.

Great. I stopped, scooped out the worst and bagged it, put some paper towels over the spot and went on.

Okay. 'We' can cope with that.

A few more miles down the road, and an 'odor' started to permeate the truck. Oh please, please let that just be some one's sewer gas, or perhaps a kitten's gas. By this point I was running very close to being late. There was no way to safely get to the kittens in the carriers in the back floorboard of the truck...so I just kept driving, and gagging. By this time Gabe was catatonic (sorry, couldn't resist)--and lay as he had fallen. Head extended, eyes wide and desperate.

Meshach, Sage & Gabe-the old boys don't have clue either as they usually go to the vet in the soft sided carrier.

When I got to the vet, I carried the three loads in, and was able to pinpoint where the stink was coming from....Chaco and Verity's crate.

Luckily I was the only one in the office, so was able to at least pull out stinky and smeared papers so they sat on a 'clean layer'.

In the exam room, we started with Trinity and Tempe. My good girls--no throw up, no poop, no urine. Then it was Verity and Chaco. Poor little poop smeared kitties. I especially felt sorry for Verity, because she is such a little priss. As I pulled them out, I wiped them down with one of the towels I brought. It helped, but not much.

Lastly were Gabe and Noah, and Gabe's nice little surprise. Seems he had pooped too, but he was so overcome with the futility of it all that he just pooped and lay there so it wasn't smeared anywhere. Thankfully I had brought my roll of paper towels and extra newspapers!

The kitties all seemed to check out fine--their weights still range from 13 lbs (Noah) down through Tempe at an even 7 lbs. This vet doesn't usually talk allot, but he asked more questions than he ever had. Were they all out of the same litter? Yes, even though there is a such a difference in size, shape and color. He asked if they all had different personalities. (Yes!) If they all got along (Most of the time). If they were indoor cats. (Yes) Were they all spayed and neutered. (Most definitely--I may be a CCL--but I'm not that crazy!) Then we discussed how many litter boxes I had and what type of litter I used. I was beginning to think he was trying to see if I was indeed a crazy cat lady....

I refused to bring up that I also have two other cats in the house...although, I'm afraid they made the connection themselves....

Then came the moment of truth--paying the bill. That was a big chunk, but we've been putting by for it for awhile. The receptionist (who also happens to be the vet's wife) told me I kept better records of my cats than she had of her kids. I told her I had to, with so many it would be easy to forget or not notice something vital.

So. That was done and the trip home was a little tense (on my part) but uneventful. As each kitty came out of their carrier in the house they were checked over to see if they needed to be de-toxed. Verity and Chaco both got a scrubbing over with a warm washcloth. Fortunately cats are very quick to clean up and by later in the evening, little sewer cat (Verity) was back to her normal squeaky clean self.

Everyone was very glad to be home. I was drained. Gabe was like a big sack of happy glue all night. Wherever I was there he was. Every time I woke up in the night he was plastered to my side, and would squinch his eyes and grin (I swear it looked like a grin to me) at me and purr so loud I couldn't hear anything else. He was home and he was happy.

Next time, I'm taking them in shifts.

Gabe's Promises of Desperation

I won't beat up my sisfurs very much
I won't beat up by brofurs unless they make me
I won't follow Sage and look at him much
I won't jump out at Sage --only a little
I will love my brofur Noah and not steal his treats (unless I have to)
I won't unmake the bed by:
tunneling under the covers and jumping straight up in the air...
repeatedly...until the bed is a Big Mess
I won't get trappeds behind the china cabinet no more
I won't scream sixty zillion times a day every time my 'bean goes near
the treat cabinet
I won't hog the bed at night or bite my 'bean if she tries to move her legs
I will be good even if it kills me.
I will be the bestest cat EVFUR!
The end.

(For those of you who don't remember, Gabe and Noah were given away for a brief six weeks, before their 'new' owner decided she couldn't handle them. I brought them back home then. The adjustment at both places was very hard for Gabe, and I think he was truly happy to be back in his own little world that evening!)

1.1.11--Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T10:31:00.001-08:00

It's a cold one here today on the little farm, but the sun is shinning. The birds are mobbing the feeders and the cats are worn out with watching. I've got black eyed peas with ham simmering on the wood stove (as well as a piece of chocolate chip bread warming for a snack) and plan to enjoy them later with some cornbread. It's just a quiet day here and am doing a few things I enjoy along with the regular chores. I hope to make a felted scarf here in a bit--that will be my creative project to start the year off right. Hopefully I can get a few posts worked up--I've got lots of stories!;-) From Christmas treats for all the critters to the trauma of taking six cats to the vet at once for shots.

Hope you have a blessed New Year, filled with kindnesses to you and from you, joy in the simplest of things and peace for you and all of yours!

Noah & Chaco

For I Was Hungry --- Revisited

2010-12-23T11:09:00.000-08:00

As Christmas rushes towards us and we scramble to get everything 'done', it's easy to get caught up in the stress and the hustle and bustle. Sometimes we just need to take a deep breath and refocus on what is truly important during this time of the year.

Over the past few Christmases I've had requests to re-post Boone's story.

For those of you who are new to the blog, Boone, my big French Mastiff was truly in a sorry mess and close to his end when I stumbled upon him. Since I can't figure out how to re-post short of changing the date, I decided to link to that post instead.

If you love dogs, if you need a moment to just sit back and rest and be reminded that miracles can happen, I would encourage you to read Boone's story...in part told from what I imagined his view point would be. I do want to warn you that there are some graphic pictures taken the day I first got him. I will also warn you that the story does have a happy ending! Click on the following links to read his story.

The Year Christmas Came Late--Boone's Story and for a short follow up to answer some questions generated by that post read here.

A few updates from the 'update'--Boone now weighs 130 lbs and gets to stay loose in the yard all the time. They (the dogs) still get to come in at night when I get home from work until bedtime. They rush in and.....sleep. I got Boone in January 2006---so it'll be five years here shortly since 'gotcha' day. I find this hard to believe. As Boone ages he struggles with arthritis and old injury issues, but on the whole he is still active and seems happy enough. He'd still be happier if he could be with me every second of the day.

Now off to finish wrapping presents and a little last minute baking!

New Beds!

2010-12-11T14:23:00.000-08:00

Several weeks ago, I got new 'inside' beds for the dogs. Their old ones were nice enough, but just not big enough for Boone. After doing some looking on the Internet I still hadn't found any that looked suitable for the price. I wanted to make sure they were orthopedic for Boone's sake, since he has joint issues.

One weekend I was at PetsMart stocking up on critter food, when I happened to walk by a display of dog beds. Dog beds that were marked 10 % off! They were nice and they were huge! The percentage off was icing on the cake.

So I made a spectacle of myself, by not only pushing an overloaded cart up to the checkout, but also by scooting along two huge beds. It was grueling. There might have also been the problem about 'thinking things through' when I got out to the truck and had to be extremely creative to get everything to fit inside!

The dogs love them. Ashley seems especially impressed. It's her first just for her bed (she inherited the old one). The old beds were moved outside into their large house (it's in the breezeway). I reworked the old house to be more weather tight and warmer and bumped out the back just enough to fit the old beds in exactly. The old beds are also orthopedic.

Although it's a tight fit the new beds still slide under the bed out of the way during the day. At night it's wall to wall beds, between the dogs and cats.

Boone still doesn't fit on his though--because he insists on laying sideways on it, with both ends dangling off.

I wanted to post pictures of them both on enjoying their new beds... Boone loved his new bed so much, but unfortunately the first night with the new beds the fire was a little hotter than needed so he got too hot, and had to move. "But I still love my bed, and I'll just leave my butt here on the edge of it so no one else gets on it...."

It doesn't take much to amuse me!

Who Turned Off the Bird Channel?

2010-12-09T14:15:00.000-08:00

L-R--Tempe, Trinity, Verity & Noah

..That would be me, and you would think the world ended.

Here's what happened. Over the summer the volunteer millet patch really exploded and took over. Normally I let a dozen or so plants mature for the 'free' self harvested birdseed in the fall. This summer after my tomato starts failed to thrive the garden spot went to seed as it were. The end result was that there was virtually a field of millet beside the house--some of it right outside the windows.
This was a bird paradise. Hence also a birdwatcher's paradise.

It had to be dealt with eventually as it really was messy looking. I let it go as long as I could, but it was time a few weeks ago. First I went through and cut off the seed tops. Some of them I wired up on the fence for the birds to help themselves. The rest went into a bucket to dry. I then chopped down most of the larger stalks. Finally I went over it all with the rider mower. My yard has been reclaimed!

The sheep enjoyed picking through the stalks, first eating off any missed seed heads, then eating the dry leaves.

While I was on that side of the house working, I went ahead and cut off a some Virginia creeper vines that had twined up the side of the house. This was a double whammy on the bird front as they were using those to hang off of while preparing to land in the millet patch.
As you might 'glean' from the title it was the cats that were most disappointed. They were used to the bird channel from sun up to sun down. Sometimes it was quite wild out there. There is still lots of seed out there on the ground that the birds will eventually start working on. And I'll soon be feeding the birds again, so the show is only on hiatus.

There were a bunch of these odd looking sacks on the millet stalks and the house. Not sure what made them. Any ideas? I hadn't seen any of these before. Hopefully they aren't Alien Seedpods.

This little project was done a few weeks ago when the weather was sunnier and very mild. It is not that way anymore, although so far we've missed the snow. The bitter cold though has found us. I spent this morning doing last minute winterizing, trying to get the critters set before the temperatures dropped this afternoon. The wind is suppose to get really gusty tonight so wind chills will be terrible.

Now, just for a minute let's revisit that first picture...this time with commentary:

1. Windows smeared and smudged by kitty noses and paws.
2. Current tied up out of the way, so it won't get in their 'way'. (i.e. I would rather them not tear the curtains down in their bird watching impatience)
3. Old tattered comforter covering the couch to keep it from getting hair covered and nail sharpened.
4. Screen on cockeyed because certain kitties keep hanging from it.

The world of a multi cat household! Have a great weekend.

"Now I'll have to entertain those brats!" says Sage

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T08:19:00.000-08:00

Tabitha

Hope your day is blessed with family, good friends (two and four legged) and lots of good food! (Tabitha votes for Pumpkin Pie!)

Boone & Gabe (I've got your back)

A little "Sage" for Thanksgiving?

Have a great and blessed day, my friends!

Too Much Orange?

2010-11-12T08:50:00.001-08:00

Noah--this cat is so photogenic. And he holds still for pictures.

Can one ever have too much orange? Ask me on a day that the orange cats are on the rampage! Fall colors are rapidly fading here, with a few oaks, and this marvelous hard maple in my yard still holding out. Finding color in the landscape will become harder as winter moves in, but there is always that orange wall and orange cats in the house to give me a little eye shock.

We've had some lovely weather the last week. Warm and sunny. Today we are getting some much needed rain, so it's rather gloomy and dark. A cold front is suppose to move in over the weekend and that will be a bit of a shock.

I still have a few critical things to get done before it gets cold but I am getting many things marked off the list. With the time change I have about twenty extra 'daylight' minutes when I get home from work. By the time I feed the sheep and other chores it doesn't leave much time to accomplish projects. I've been setting myself to do one 'small' thing each evening and it helps---for instance just carrying and putting away one thing that needs to be sheltered during the winter.

This weekend I'll have to head for the big city for critter food, so not much will be done outside. Should have some time over the Thanksgiving holiday to finish things up. There is now more time for the inside projects to commence. (Or there will be once I finish sulking about being trapped in the house at night, and get adjusted to the 'new' time). I still need to paint walls, finish up my linen shelf and give the house some serious attention.

I've been trying to bake more bread instead of buying it. Anyone have a good 'tall rising' wheat bread recipe for a bread machine? I'm just using the dough cycle and then baking it in the oven.

Saw this lovely rainbow this morning. It was actually a double rainbow but the second, fainter one didn't show up in the picture. Rainbow on one side then turned around and took the above leaf picture as the sun was peeking over the horizon. Beauty all around.

Have a good weekend and here is hoping there is too much orange in your life today!

Home Security System

2010-11-08T11:23:00.000-08:00

What can bring one person and eight cats straight up out of a sound sleep in the middle of the night?

The answer--Boone's 'there is someone out there bark'. Thankfully he doesn't use it often. His 'there is a varmint' out there bark is entirely different. For human varmints he gives a huge booming bark. Just one. Then if they don't go away he will wait a few minutes and give another. By then, it's up to me to take over, he seems to think. Trust me though, when I hear that bark I'm halfway out of the bed before I'm even awake. The four legged varmint bark is loud and offensive, and repeated, but not nearly so serious sounding.

Mostly the two legged varmints mess around down in the road, screeching out their car windows or hoping to prowl the empty house down there. Usually they don't linger long. I've not had anyone actually come up on the property that I know of.

While Boone is a big sweet heart, and has never, ever offered to bite, I sure wouldn't want to be creeping around in the dark up to no good. I think the big boy might get serious about his job if he had to. I know that he can look pretty serious.

I do trust him to sound the alarm if anyone dare get close to the house. Ashley on the other hand, I unfortunately don't pay much attention to. She is busy alerting to all kinds of things--like birds and squirrels and cats and leaves blowing.

They make a good team though, since Boone does have one serious Home Security System flaw. He sleeps very sound. I mean really, really sound. And he snores loud, really, really loud. This was quite the problem before Ashley came. Back then his co-watch dog was old Ariel, the blue merle collie, and she was almost deaf. So they would both sleep through all kinds of things. While Ashley may be considered a little on the flippant hysterical side, she does her duty by waking up the big boy. Although it isn't because she barks at two legged strangers. You'll not hear one collie word out of her if there is a person out there. But she does run and look, and that usually wakes up the big Boone. In fact if Boone barks once, and Ashley is eerily silent, then you can bet your bottom dollar that somebody is out there!

What? You expect me to work 24/7?

It's That Time of the Year....

2010-11-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

....just not here at Fairlight Farm! Elsewhere though, folks are rearranging fencing, moving sheep, and setting up breeding groups--and trying to stay one step ahead of their rams. It seems very odd not to be doing that this year. However, I did take a little trip over to see Jama and her small flock on Friday. Over the last several years they have bought several sheep from me--four wethers (Angus, Aberdeen, Kirby & Kelly), followed the next year by Selena (ewe) and Jackdaw (ram). This Spring they also purchased Lark (ewe) and Jasper (ram lamb). To round out their small Shetland breeding/fiber flock they purchased two more ewes (and three wethers) from another gal just a few weeks ago.

So we've been planning to 'get together' for probably a year or so. Finally it worked out and I went. Probably stayed too long, but we had a nice long visit and talked non-stop about sheep and fiber and well, everything else too! Touring the farm was fun--I got to see the sheep, and goats, along with the chickens, peacocks, cats and dogs.

Inside we looked at fiber, played with the drum carder and of course talked. Hopefully it will work out that we can visit more often and put some of our ideas into products.

While I was there I got some good pictures of the rams. Of course they didn't really want to cooperate, but despite that I got a few 'on the fly'. Even though I don't often brag about my sheep, I was really pleased with both of these boys. Jackdaw literally took my breath away. Maybe it was the glorious fall setting, but that black and white pattern and regal bearing really made him stand out. I used Jackie here before I sold him and have one daughter from him. The rest of the ewes that I plan to breed next year are his half sisters, so his use here would be very limited, hence why I sold him. So here is he is at his second breeding season:

Fairlight Jackdaw

(Three Ring Just Jack x Fairlight Duckie)

I also got to see young Jasper in his native setting, with his new harem of ladies. Jasper originally was intended to be a wether but through a 'series of events' he remained a ram. I'm glad he did. The week after he left the farm, his sire, Jeff, died. Jasper is the only remaining offspring I have access to from Jeff. He is turning out to be a really nice little ram. His horns are very nice, and wider spaced than his sires. Nice sturdy little frame and his face is very much like Jeff's. Jasper has already been sheared once, so he isn't pictured 'in fleece'. His fleece was super soft and a very pretty black and white mottled (as he is an Ag grey the next fleece will likely be more uniform grey in color). There is a good possibility he will carry spots. I hope to be able to use this young ram next year at breeding season. He will be line bred on most of the ewes and I hope to retain the type I like to see in my flock. Nice bright Shetland character, sturdy, but smaller framed, level top lines etc, all topped off with a longish intermediate soft fleece. The sun and shadow made getting a picture of Jasper a bit difficult (not to mention his sudden interest in his lady friends), but I was able to get a couple.

And so, while no breeding season here this year or lambs next Spring, I will get to enjoy it all from afar, with lots less work!

Have a great week.

National Hug A Sheep Day!

2010-10-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

Today is Hug A Sheep Day! In honor of this special day, here are a few sheep who might enjoy a hug in case you don't have any of your own.

Duckie would definitely enjoy a good hug and a scratch on those itchy spots.

Ranger was born to hug!

Gracie loves hugs and scratches and cookies--not necessarily in that order.

Luna says you might hug her, if you can catch her!

Enjoy your HAS day!!

The Colors of Fall....

2010-10-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

...around the farm.

Maples & Oak

Boone

Red Maple at Dusk

Ashley

Last fling of the Marigolds

Trinity

Autumn Hued Sheep on Fresh Pasture

Maple

Boone at Sunset

Torti Tuesday

2010-10-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well, it's me, Tempe, again, squeezing in a few words, cause my 'bean doesn't think she has time to let me get in my Torti Tuesdays.

The 'bean was excited when she managed to get five out of six of 'us kittens' in one photo! This hasn't happened for a long time. Since we was bitty last winter. That's me the second from the right. From the left is Chaco, Trinity, Gabe, (Me!) & Verity. We was doing some very serious bird watching from up on our cat tree, until we got distracted by the 'bean.

Our brother Noah, was off catnapping some-wheres, but the 'bean said I could put this picture on here so he wouldn't feel bad. Although I don't think he will feel bad, 'cause he is probably off sleeping again, anyway.
As you probably know the 'bean went on vacation and left us for two whole nights, and two and half whole days. We had some help come in and feed us and stuff, but we sure had allot of time on our paws. We didn't do nothing bad, as far as the 'bean can tell--which really surprised her--'cept there are two cassettes missing out of a book on tape, that sorta fell off the shelf. The 'bean is still scratching her head over that one.

So the 'bean, she was feeling pretty guilty bought 'scaping from us, so when she was gone she bought treats and toys for us kitties and for the doggies. I don't think none of us was impressed.

So anyways, this is the new 'toy' she bought us. (The 'bean says please excuse the floor, we know we need new vinyls for it). Here Me, Verity and Chaco all check it out. Noah is just thinking real hard about when the next treats is coming. The 'bean said she paid big bucks for this toy and it's the last big bucks she is going to spend on us rotten kittens! It has this little thing in it that spins around when you tap it and 'tached to that is this little mousie thing that squeaks when you pat it. Please, it took us about two minutes to get tired of it. The mousie never goes no-wheres, and Chaco he tried to free it, by pulling it out one of the little holes, but it was stuck too tight. He really worked it hard too, with the mousie squeaking and squeaking encouragement. So after the first five minutes of us all looking it over, and the next ten minutes of Chaco trying to take it apart, we haven't touched it since. The mouse sits silent in it's little round prison, 'cept when the 'bean gives it a spin when she walks by. "I guess somebody has to play with it", she says.

Anyways, even though we tried to act all indifferent we was glad the 'bean was home. Our big brother, Sage, he had a nervous breakdown for two days after she got home. He wouldn't leave her alone and followed her all over meowing. He always acts all cool, like he don't care about nothin', so it was pretty funny--'cept the 'bean didn't think so, because she was 'bout to have a nervous breakdown of her own! We had a good week with the 'bean, helping her get things crossed off her list. We was especially helpful when she would take a break to read or rest. Our record so far is six cats and one 'bean all fitted on the sofa! She had to go back to the salt mines though Monday, so we are back on our own.

We all look sorta sad when she leaves, and Sage tried to follow her out the door, but we is adjusting back to the normal routine. Which means we just play real hard in the morning and evening and sleep all day.

Vacation

2010-10-11T18:36:00.001-07:00

It's finally vacation time! I've already been and done the vacating part of it and am now back home, settled in to work the rest of the week away. I have high hopes to get things at least winterized around here before the week is done. The weather is wonderful. A little rain, but we need more of it--and there are always indoor projects if necessary.

For the vacation part, I was able to go to the Lake for two nights. This is less than an hour away so if something goes awry on the little farm I can be home fairly quickly. My Mom, armed with 'lists' did the chores for me. Everyone behaved and by eliminating the sheep grain-ing, it simplified their care into turning them in and out on pasture (and they have plenty of it). Even the kitties behaved. Boone and Ashley managed to bust the gate out of the breezeway on the second night, but since the yard is fenced they didn't go anywhere. I'm guessing it was a varmint of some sort. Probably a very scared varmint by the time they came out of that gate!

On Friday when I got off work at noon I left from there and drove down to the Lake. I planned to do some shopping on the way. I did find a nifty little used book shop in Camdenton. After that I headed off for Lake Ozark. The first part of the trip was smooth and relaxing as I tried to get into vacation mode and listened to a book on CD. Then somewhere along the way I lost the entire town of Osage Beach/Lake Ozark. It was just....gone. It's a big town, and you don't just lose a town. Suddenly I was on unfamiliar roads--I didn't recognize anything. This took a few miles to sink in. Almost to Eldon, I realized Something Wasn't Right. Somehow I was on the other side of OB/LO without ever seeing the town!

So, I turned around, and hit more construction. (Oh I didn't mention all the construction??) I had to make two loop-de-loos before I figured that one out. I really don't care if the construction workers were staring. Really.

Finally there was the town, and I started to relax a little. But wait--more construction? This was an awful little piece that turned into three lanes, and after making abortive attempts to stay in the left and/or right lanes (which kept exiting off to ??) I got in the middle lane and hung on grimly. At this point the book on CD had been rattling on for 10 or 11 tracts and I have no idea what was said. Then, that suddenly, there was the outlet mall and the town was there, spread out in front of me--like nothing ever happened. I'm still not over this. (Amusingly enough my sister and niece also passed through the town over the weekend and had almost the same experience.....I think we are going to have to start a support group.)

Ahem. Back to the vacation. I had a nice little cabin on the lake again. I unloaded seventy two tons of stuff from the truck (books, projects, food) and settled in. This is the only time of the year that....I do not have any chores. None. It really takes some getting used to. I find myself doing unnecessary cleaning and things like that in the cabin, just because I can't stop. And the livestock. Squirrels and ducks were the best I could come up with, but I managed to feed them. Although that squirrel was a little scary. I think it was the jumping over my head to the roof of the cabin that was unsettling...that and the way it just watched me. I also accidentally watched part of a movie (on cable) about rats in a woolen mill (which is why I kept watching it to start with, because of the wool and the wool processing...)--there seemed to be a giant mutant rat there somewhere too--this might have made me biased towards the squirrel. I also accidentally watched part of Cujo. It wasn't very scary though. I just felt sorry for the dog.....and was admiring what a good actor he (the dog) was.

Here are the ducks. They were pretty nice and entertaining.

Look! A dog on a boat! I missed my dogs. That dog on the boat sure was interested in the ducks.

But he was a good dog and stayed put. You could tell he thought he was pretty important though.

So, between accidentally watching scary movies (it was a Stephen King marathon, and most of the cable channels weren't working, so I couldn't watch Animal Planet, which is my favorite I swear), I did other things. I read allot, I had quiet time, I ate and I started a new project! Here it is below--it doesn't look like much in this photo, but what it will be (eventually) is a crocheted rug. The catch is, it is crocheted with....roving instead of yarn! As you can imagine the crochet hook is very large. It's done with a simple single stitch and is very easy. I really made it too big, but I hadn't really a clue what I was doing at first. In the end it will be washed/felted. It's pretty neat, and I can use up some of my bits and pieces of roving.

Unfortunately going to the Lake for 'quiet and reflection' is a joke. The boats are awful--it's like living next to a motor freeway. Constant and very loud. The only peaceful and beautiful moments were before 6:30 a.m.---but that didn't last long as the fishermen desperately roared out to find a spot to fish before the big boats started. The big boat traffic picked up around 8:30 and went on steadily all day and way into the night. Those few hours early in the morning though were so lovely. The big boats also cause so much wave action through out the day that the water actually white caps when it hits the shoreline. I enjoyed watching the fishermen though as they were quiet and intense. Here is a photo showing the size difference in the boats.

I had to throw in the picture showing all the condos across the lake. At first glance those look like cliffs, don't they, but nope--it's wall to wall condos!

Here is a sampling of the 'boat traffic'--all those little white caps are boats, and this is just a small section of the lake.

Don't get me wrong--I really enjoyed myself! When the noise level got too loud, I simply shut the door/windows, turned on the air so it was really cool and then--turned on the electric fireplace! :-) I could still see the lovely lake, but didn't have to hear the noise. I think if I do this again, I will find a quieter section of the lake or perhaps a different lake. I feel blessed to live on my (mostly) quiet little farm and can truly enjoy peace and quiet. I feel a bit sorry for those coming out of the cities to 'get away from it all' only to be wall to wall with everyone else doing the same.

Me, I just 'get away' so I don't have to do chores! By Sunday I was ready to head back. I was missing my critters and my messy little house. (Which does not have cable (working or not), electric fireplaces or central air). Or a leather couch. I really do want a leather couch. And maybe one of those electric fireplaces--without the bill.

When I got home, I had some 'splaining to do and some sad faces to wade through! Of course I planned ahead and brought treats and bribes for everyone and was (eventually) forgiven. I think.

What do you think after seeing this face? Looks heartbroken to me. (Although there was no refusal of a plain hamburger and fries and later a rawhide bone....)

And now it's back to 'the list' and getting things done around here! More to follow.

Chaco & The Big White Rat

2010-10-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

Here's What Happened....(as told and recreated by Chaco)

There I was, just hangin' out doing important cat stuff, when this huge White Rat came out of nowheres and 'tacked me!

Naturally since I'm a cat I have really good reflexes so, wham, I caughts it with two paws. See?

I wrestled it here and I wrestled it there and it almost got the best of me and I was skeered for my life.

I was gettin' winded, but finally I gots it all controlled.

But you knew I would didn't you, since I am a cat? The End.