Tails From The Dark Side

If the Sweater(?) fits?

2012-02-02T18:02:00.000-08:00

Travis found Flint literally "wearing" his sweater... Travis then ran and got him his slippers. A sweater I might point out, that may, or may not have been left on the on the bedroom floor. The interested parties have pleaded The Fifth, which is extra funny because we live in Canada...I'm pretty sure The Fifth doesn't apply here. Anyone want to tell me what we're supposed to plead in this country?

At any rate, if the pup is wearing the sweater, do you think there's a good chance that the pup stole the sweater? At least I can brag that my baby can dress himself!

For Heather

2012-01-31T20:51:00.000-08:00

I was trying to hold back. Trying not to turn into the "look at pictures of my baby!" parent. But then Heather implied on Facebook that I was disappointing. Who am I to mess with the power of Facebook?

Seems Flint has a natural gather, and is a team player...

Kate is also a team player...obviously.

Sick of adorable pictures of Flint (but really, who could be?)? Seek Heather out on Facebook, friend her and then let your opinions be known - publicly.

Otherwise, hope that Sam slips up, because frankly when it comes to the VERY BORING months of January and February I hope for local wildlife to "kick it up a little". There's been none of that. No moose on the deck, no coyotes in the yard, no wolves building straw, or brick,or whatever houses. Nothing to break up the "watering the sheep, feeding the animals" monotony.

Of course I'm particularly thrilled that Sam has stepped up and none of the above has occurred, but it may not be good for blog material.

In the meantime, be prepared for a continued barrage of "OMG my pup is so cute!!" blogs!

Boundaries

2012-01-23T07:15:00.000-08:00

Tolerance

2012-01-22T06:44:00.000-08:00

Brother from another mother

2012-01-21T08:35:00.001-08:00

A normal person would have taken them away

2012-01-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

but I'm a blogger, so when I saw Flint playing with the fencing pliers I grabbed the camera and started thinking about captions. That's how bloggers roll.

Flint shows an early interest in work.

If only I had thumbs.

Desperate for something...anything to play with, Flint starts making friends with inanimate objects.

I'm just sayin...you're probably going to need these when you start me.

Looks like the Christmas holidays

2012-01-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

were hard on all our waist lines...

Ear today. Gone tomorrow?

2012-01-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

A good blogger always follows the paper trail

2012-01-03T15:44:00.000-08:00

to its source.

and baby is home

2012-01-02T19:01:00.000-08:00

Winter project

2011-12-30T15:36:00.000-08:00

I accidentally got hit with the "Crafty" bug this week. Louanne got me hooked on snooping through Etsy. After looking at umpteen different barn board projects I said "I can make that" and into the woods I went. In these parts, that's where barn wood grows.

Lucky for me, Travis is home so I really could "make that". I'm more of an "artistic inspiration" kind of person than a "measure once, cut twice" kind. It's why Travis and I were made for each other.

Louanne said like all good DIY projects I should have before and after pictures.

Before.

After.

There's an ugly knob on that wall that can't be moved. The rusty hinge does a nice job of hiding it, which was the inspiration for the whole project.

Unconventional Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T20:29:00.000-08:00

It's Tradition.

On Christmas day a bunch of us get together to wander in the woods,

looking for "punches",

watching out for wild life...

and refreshment stations.

Of course all that walking outside hunting for punches, drinking Baileys and hot chocolate, and snacking on Christmas oranges in the elements is really hungry work!

Back at Eve and Bud's, folks load up.

Some grab mighty big plates...

or big bowls

and the young and skinny STILL go back for more!

Most importantly, we spend an exceptional day with great friends.

which makes

for a perfect "Unconventional" Christmas day.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

From us to you.

Waiting for a special delivery

2011-12-17T12:29:00.000-08:00

2 weeks and counting till Wendy delivers my pup Flint to Louanne's (and Randy's and Louanne's and Scott and Jenny's) for a much anticipated New Year's and Puppy party!

Today

2011-12-16T20:16:00.000-08:00

It was plus three, the sun was shining, there's no snow to speak of, and the dogs and I worked until we'd all had enough. The forecast is suggesting that there's a couple more weeks of this to come.

This could be the BEST Christmas EVER!

Pictures next time I promise. We just got caught up in the sunshine today!

I guess you had to be there.

2011-12-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

I was bringing the girls in with Ben this afternoon (for a variety of reasons) and actually had the camera in my pocket (poor thing had to share the pocket with straw, shavings, binder twine, electrical tape, kleenex, a piece of wire, and some old list. The leatherman and the rest of my "stuff" was in the other pocket. But I digress...as usual.

At any rate, I looked up from the task at hand for a change (because it's so easy to get caught up in what needs to get done that sometimes it's easy to miss the "Wow, you're so lucky" moments)...and the sky was just glowing.

and even though I took pictures, and then cropped them and cleaned them up, they just couldn't do justice to the "wow, I love this little valley, these sheep, this dog, these sunsets, and my lifestyle.

Tradition

2011-12-03T21:29:00.000-08:00

The lights are up and as always, they are traditional. Global warming and power bills be-damned, the glow is just plain better from real light bulbs!

Help end the misery

2011-11-29T19:05:00.000-08:00

Unwanted facial hair. One of those things often noticed, but rarely talked about...openly. To be clear, this is Travis's facial hair we're talking about. Thankfully we BOTH agree that it needs to go. YOU can help. Go to mobro.co/tburwash and donate to prostate cancer research so Travis can remove the creepy crawly from his lip. I thank you in advance - REALLY I do.

Lazy Sunday

2011-11-20T09:51:00.000-08:00

Height seeking - a sure sign of dominance.

2011-11-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

Note the "submissive grin" on the subordinate animal.

A change in the weather

2011-11-12T07:34:00.000-08:00

We've had the longest, nicest, fall I can remember. All that gorgeous weather came to a screeching halt last night with four inches of fresh snow. Time to settle in for a long winter's nap...

Full House

2011-11-07T06:54:00.000-08:00

Seems like the Tawatinaw valley was the place to be this weekend! Not one, not two, not three, but a whole flock of friends came out for fun, food, and a bit of fun with sheep.

The driveway got so full neighbours probably thought they were missing out on an auction.

The peanut gallery.

Cowboys

World travellers.

New toys.

Mine?

2011-11-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T16:09:00.000-07:00

That's right Ben....they're coming!

Did you know?

2011-10-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

That today is Hug A Sheep Day?

I kid you not.

Travis and I hugged a number of sheep this morning when we did feet.

This is Ferdinand, our new Dorper ram.

We put him in with the ewes today and he certainly embraced "Hug a Sheep Day"...

Hey Babe, you look like you could use a "hug"....

Thanks Louanne and Kyle - looks like he's settling in just fine.

Dumb Cluck.

2011-10-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

I found one of these in the yard this morning.

Hey, I'm just trying to blend in.

She was sitting under a tree - cause that's what chickens do.

And everything was fine - nice fall day, sunny morning, entertaining non sheep eating wildlife in the yard - until she decided to fly away.

She took off in this direction. North. Please note that other than the house, which seems pretty obvious, there's really nothing in her way. Also please note that the house is about 250 feet away. Can you guess where this is heading?

That's right, she could have chosen "Wide Open Spaces" (in case you didn't catch it, that's a Dixie Chicks song. Get it? Dixie CHICKS. It's a chicken joke. I know, I spend too much time by myself.), but instead she flew into the fence (which among other things, is there to keep my dogs from roaming the yard eating dumb wild life) and wound up here.

Huh. How'd you find me again - what with all my stealth and camouflage and all.

She probably thought this was some fancy city single chicken coop. As in, "I have found myself some PRIME real estate here."

Ben used his strong working dog talents to help her out of her predicament,

and then I convinced her to fly off in a new direction. "Go west young chicken" I said - because there's nothing but trees to the west, and that's what she did.

What's wrong with this picture?

2011-10-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

Buster has obviously forgotten that his main purpose in life is to keep...the house...mouse...free. Or maybe he does remember, but thought he'd build a little job security - by bringing live mice into the house.

Of course my first reaction (actually my second, the first was more along the lines of #$@!) was to grab...my camera. This is blog material after material after all.

VERY shortly after this picture was taken, Buster chased the mouse towards me, I screamed like a girl, tried to throw a dog dish over top of the rodent (unsuccessfully) and then did some more of this $#@!.

The mouse ran into the kitchen...and disappeared under the stove. No sign of him this morning. No sprung traps. What if he's alive in the stove? What if he's DEAD in the stove?

What did the cats have to say about things this morning?

Not much, not much at all...

She must have had a long day...or something.

2011-10-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

Surrounded

2011-10-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

Ausfest 2012

2011-09-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

We couldn't have picked a better weekend for what is now officially an "Annual" event.

The Aussies and Border Collies hung out.

The humans dined "al fresco" - although in this picture it looks a lot more like "drank outside".

Catherine brought out her "little" telescope for some late night planet viewing.

and the stars must have aligned because it was a perfect fire pit night. No wind, no rain, no mosquitoes.

The dogs worked the crowd.

caught some air

and had a great weekend in the country.

Fall sun rise

2011-09-23T18:14:00.000-07:00

Kudo's to Travis for getting this great shot. Your normal journalist - me - may have been in bed...sleeping at the time. Looks like the blog has a new roving reporter!

And then there were two.

2011-09-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a couple of entries ago that I had made some decisions this summer. Decisions that I felt were in the best interests of everyone involved. Decisions I hoped I wouldn't regret.

Jake and Jack have both been sold. I thought I might like trying my hand at raising, training, and selling stock dogs. Nope, not for me. Both dogs are in great working homes and I'll see them on a regular basis when they're ready for training.

Bruce moved into a fantastic new home a couple of months ago. He's in agility classes, sleeps on the bed, and has Heather's (and Didi's!) undivided attention.

Hope has returned whence he came. He's a terrific dog and I want him in a place where he can be used to his fullest potential.

It's a lot quieter around here, but I think all of the decisions were made with everyone's best interests in mind. So far, it's proving to be true.

Bring 'em.

2011-09-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

Kate watches her stories

2011-09-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

You can watch them with her right here. 2011 National Sheepdog Finals

That's a wrap!

2011-09-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

I believe we've lost this year's "keep the garden going at all costs" battle.

With temperatures dropping to minus 5 last night, even covering the heat loving plants won't have been enough.

However, the cold loving plants will do just fine and taste just that much sweeter.

Latest tool on the farm

2011-09-13T18:13:00.000-07:00

is this handy dandy thing.

The Gallagher Smart Fence

It can easily be put out or put away by one person.

includes 4 strands and 10 posts (5 of which also include guy wires for corners) and is 328 feet long.

It is less expensive per foot than nets and is much less bulky to store. It also does a great job of weaned lambs on the right side of their fence.

It's easy to join one smart fence to another and so far i'd call it a WIN. We'll see how it holds up, but if it does well over then next year or so I think we'll be replacing the nets with Smart Fence's as they wear out.

Blogger's slump

2011-09-09T07:43:00.000-07:00

Cripes, it's been almost two weeks since I last blogged. That's not supposed to happen! I think I'm suffering from "blogger's slump". It's not like nothing's happening. I could blog about the adventures Suzie had and the friends she made this summer.

Don't worry - he's friendly!

I could go on about how pleased I've been with Kate this year (and how she got us both "way ahead of schedule" - I know what we'll be working on this fall)

Look Back Kate!

or how well Ben is coming along.

Must get good pictures of handsome Ben on sheep.

I could mention some changes made this summer(.hopefully all for the better an none regretted), or even about the zucchini relish I made today, because it's thirty degrees in the shade so I wisely decided to crank up the heat in the kitchen...

That takes care of TWO zucchini...

I could, but then I'd have to actually sit down and do it, and so far I haven't that hasn't happened. Right now I'm thinking it will just turn into a "what I did this summer" kind of blog...if and when I get around to it.

Before I forget, thanks to Kristi and Amanda for all of the recent great shots of Kate and I.

12

2011-08-27T20:02:00.001-07:00

Three years ago I watched my first field trial.Kate is the first dog I've trained start to finish. Tomorrow we run twelth in the double lift at the Canadian championships...I am hooked.

Having a great time

2011-08-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

wish you were here...

Will write more soon

when I get the chance.

Picking low hanging fruit

2011-08-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

Great Livestock Guardian Dog Toys.

2011-08-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

Sam's just shy of a year now and sporting his summer "do". I have to say, I love how he sheds out without matting.

Here's an extra picture of him, just because he's so darn cute.

Raising a guardian dog can be a bit of a challenge, especially the first year. I figured I'd show you some of the toys we've used to help keep Sam out of trouble.

Sam gets plenty of bones, and this is the remnants of one of them - a big elk leg I think.

The "Jolly Roller". It's Sam's favourite toy by far.

The "Holy Roller" - I don't make these names up folks, that's honestly what they're called.

And apparently, the electrical on the stock trailer...could be worse,

he could be "playing" with these.

Wonowon

2011-07-25T16:42:00.001-07:00

Indian name for "whole lot of trees"?

Nope, sort of english for a "town"at mile 101.

Such imagination, but it is easy to remember where you live...

The truck dog.

2011-07-25T11:04:00.001-07:00

Mile zero

2011-07-24T16:54:00.001-07:00

The Dawson Creek trial is over.congratulations to lee lumb for her double lift win today. As usual at this trial we had great sheep, great views, a great supper,and great fun.hope and kate both ran well, with hope placing top half both days and kate bringing home a second and third place cheque.
Tomorrow we're off to pink mountain for more adventures and trials. Today I dragged travis and suzie to mile zero to have their tourist shot taken.

Chapter Three - Stampede

2011-07-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

This year marked Hope's third and Kate's first Calgary Stampede.

Day one Hope was a good boy and penned.

Maybe the excitement got to her, or maybe she thought she'd go for a different kind of buckle (Bareback), because near the end of a really good run Kate decided to grip off in dramatic fashion, attaching herself to a ewe who had the nerve to look at her funny and then riding her for a full 8 seconds down the length of the arena. The set out crew voted her Best....Grip...Ever. Atta girl Kate - go big or go home.

Both Hope and Kate ran in the morning so I had the pleasure of watching stress free that evening during the second go of the first round. The watching became even more stress free when Chris Jobe whispered in my ear "if you trust me you'll follow me" and I wound up here.

The Ewe Box - strike "hang out in a luxury box" off my bucket list.

Day Two Kate slept on it and penned and was in the money. Good girl - you can come back to Stampede.

Hope had a set that just wouldn't pen, but his chute time was good enough...to make it into finals. When the guy serving at the lunch buffet asked me how my day was - the answer was "Fan Freakin Tastic!" - not the answer most servers are used to apparently, but he seemed to like my response.

We spent the afternoon hunting cowboys at the rodeo.

The rodeo was the perfect blend of sun and mud and most of the bull riders stayed on for 8 seconds. They must have taken Kate's "hang on for dear life" clinic the day before.

That night Hope and I lead the pack out into the saddle dome

and ran under the jumbo tron.

As I mentioned a few days ago, I DID see the pot of gold and almost got to touch it. Good times! Congratulations to Dale Montgomery the 2011 World Stock Dog Champion and to Dave Claypool the Reserve Champion.

Thanks to Kristi Oikawa, Sarah Novak, Chris Jobe and Len the security guy for the great pictures!

Chapter Two - The field trial.

2011-07-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

The Wild Rose Stock Dog Trial is a new trial hosted by Don Grant and Randy Dye. The trial runs on a nice big hill with a private camp ground behind for the handlers.

Day one I decided to get as much bang for my buck by managing to get not one, but two reruns - one each with both Kate and Hope.

As luck would have it, in each case, hindsight being 20/20 and all, I'd have rather had the first set. Having said that, Hope did give the crowd a good show holding on to his second set. Too bad they don't give out points for heart.

We were a little luckier day two. We were running to a standard and Hope and I got called off at the pen after a good run. I was pleased with him.

Kate also had a good run and finished the day in second, behind some guy named Scott Glen. I hear he's good.

These pictures? All of Kate showing that she is more than a pretty face. All taken by Kristi Oikawa. I love them - Thanks Kristi!

A huge Thank You to Don, Randy, Jocelyn, and everyone else who made the Wild Rose trial a success this year. I really appreciate the amount of effort it took and am looking forward to next year's trial.

This the blog that never ends...it just goes on and on my friends.

2011-07-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

Chapter One - The Weather.

Funny how you can go from "nothing to report" to "so much to tell you about" in a heart beat. Maybe it wasn't a single heart beat but this past week has been full of heart pounding adventures.

Trial season is now into full swing. Last Wednesday I packed up the dogs and took them south to Olds Alberta for the Wildrose Stock Dog Trial. Louanne and I spent Wednesday night grazing sheep in style...

with cocktails.

No worries though,

we let the dogs do the driving.

With promises of great weather and good times, Travis decided to join me and drove down on Thursday.

Thursday night the weather changed....good times.

What do you do when you're told to batten down the hatches and take cover?

If you're camping you stand outside and have family portraits taken,

take a few landscape shots

and collect souvenirs.

As an added bonus (not mentioned on the Wildrose entry form) we were all able to celebrate Christmas in July together,

AND have fun on the midway rides.

See Travis? Exactly as promised. Great weather and good times! I can't understand why more spouses don't come to stock dog trials...

Home from our latest adventures.

2011-07-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

The dogs and I got home last night from a very fun and eventful week of trialling. We're going to take today to rest up (and do laundry), and then I'll get right down to writing the "post game" blog.

By the way, that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? I saw it - and almost got to touch it.

Christmas in July.

2011-07-07T19:59:00.001-07:00

I've found the end of the rainbow

2011-07-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

A little storm blew through tonight. A bit of noise...

More rain...and not much of a light show.

until this...

sure enough, we found the end of the rainbow.

I never did find the pot of gold, so I can only assume It's waiting for me (and Hope or Kate) at Calgary Stampede next week.

Poppy - bottom side up

2011-06-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

They grow up so fast.

2011-06-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

It doesn't seem that long ago that I was posting these pictures.

Now the lambs can look their moms straight in the eye,

Ben has started earning his kibble,

and Sam, who's now a tall drink of water...

is working full time.

He's in there - look hard. (or blow the picture up by clicking on it)

Of course it's not all about "child labour" around here...

No good deed goes unpunished.

2011-06-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

I gave all the dogs, every last one of them, a bath this week. I'm such a conscientious owner - and I like it when they smell nice once in while.

Two days later....

meet Full of SH*T

I'd love to say this is a look of guilt, but really it's just his usual "you're stealing my soul" look. Every time Hope rolls in SH*T we remind him he comes from royalty.

and SH*T for brains.

Trust me, this is her better side. Her other side (specifically her left ear, inside and out) isn't fit for human consumption.

Two days, then it's back to "normal" around here.

A road less traveled...in the future

2011-06-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

Our trip home was about as adventurous as our trip down. We were a few hours in before things got so silly that we figured we should start "documenting" things. Cue theme music for classic "pictures taken from inside a truck" music!

We ran into a little bit of water...

Hmm...there's traffic coming from the other direction, so I guess the highway's still open.

but not open by much.

Montana has very liberal speed limits.

This little single lane, no shoulder to speak of, goat trail posted a legal speed limit of 112Kms per hour. Wow. I like to get to where I'm going as fast as the next guy, but I like to get there alive. Judging by the MANY white crosses along this highway, locals seem to be willing to take their chances.

Of course when they do finally slow the speed limit down to 45 miles (72 kilometers) you know things are going to get ugly...

and so ends today's driver's ed class. Lesson learned? Stick to the interstate.

And the fun continues

2011-06-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

I know you've all been waiting on pins and needles, wondering what Hope's score was for his run at the Big One. Sorry to have left you hanging. We got a whopping 26 for that run, which put us in good company - as in - exactly in the middle of the pack.

Kate had a decent run in Open Ranch. She still had issues with horses at set out, but I managed to whistle her around them. I managed to screw up our chance to pen - these sheep are a lot more concerned about humans than what I'm used to - my bad. She wound up finishing a respectable 9th. Not a bad start to her season.

After watching Louanne run Meg (as well as a few others) in the infernal wind at Slash J, any hopes that the new field would be easier were dashed. If anything, it seemed a little tougher - hard to imagine.

Hope ran the next morning and did a good job of picking up his sheep and marching them down the field. Unfortunately just past the drive panels the hearing was quite bad and I decided to retire while Hope chose to drive the sheep far far away. After watching the rest of the day's runs, maybe I should have stuck it out as it turned out that getting your sheep to your feet and around the post without taking out the spectators usually meant you were in the top half.

Today we woke up bright and early so that I could run Kate at 6:00 am - first dog up. Kate chose to lose her sheep back to set out - sure glad I got up early... She runs again this afternoon. Hope she learned something this morning.

The infernal wind has died down. Looks like it will be replaced by infernal heat. God I love this sport.

News from North Dakota

2011-06-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

As usual, our trip turned into a bit of an adventure on the way down to the trials. To say that Montana and North Dakota have had a bit of rain lately would be an understatement to say the lest. We soon figured out that whenever we saw a sign for "Bump" in Montana it meant that the highway had started to wash away - tread carefully. This eventually led to a complete washout at Roundup. Luckily we flagged down some locals who told us to "drive about a hundred miles that way, then turn right and drive about a hundred miles the other way and you should be good. We don't THINK that any of those roads are washed out." We drove till dark then found a small, not quite washed out town and parked the rig in the post office parking lot for the night. Got some gas in the morning and away we went again. The locals turned out to be right and other than some REALLY rough roads the rest of the trip was uneventful.

We stopped at rest stop and dragged the dogs up a hill for the obligatory "group shot".

Classic "your stealing our souls" dog shot.

Yesterday Hope did not find his sheep at all - not even close. I pointed out to him afterwards that it was a two day drive home and he might want to start making alternative plans. It seems he listened because this morning at the crack of 6 am he went out and got them.

Big One trial field. The sheep are set at the flat crest to the left of the hill hidden in the mist, about 900 yards away.

Cold, windy, wet and freakin early - but a great way to start the day. I don't know what our score is yet (we went back to the trailer as soon as we were done to get out of the weather) but I am really happy to have actually managed to get my sheep around the course. With the wind the dogs are unable to hear at all until about 300 yards so the first 600 is on their own. The course is very challenging, which means very fun! Yesterday just over 50 percent of the dogs got a score. We'll see what today brings.

Anyway, back to the trial field we go. Nursery and Open Ranch dogs run tomorrow so it's an afternoon of visiting for us.

And...we're out of here!

2011-05-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

Border Collies: Check Barbecue: Check

We are good to go.

The dogs and I are off the The Big One and Slash J trials down in North Dakota. We'll be travelling with our usual Partner in Crime - Louanne Twa and her crew. Should be lots of fun. This year I'll be taking some nifty geek toys with me so hopefully I'll actually be able to blog from the middle of nowhere...and I'll remember to pack batteries...and put the memory card in my camera.

Ok what I've learned so far...

2011-05-27T19:26:00.001-07:00

I need to work on the picture part of things.

Testing 123

2011-05-27T19:22:00.001-07:00

Testing my new phone to see if I can blog from it easily

All work and no play

2011-05-25T17:53:00.000-07:00

Makes Sam a dull boy.

Sam would have you think that the life of a guardian dog is all work and no play. It's guard, guard, guard - 24/7.

However, if you're REALLY stealthy...

and use your zoom

you can catch this

and this

and this. But if he catches on to you...

you get this.

The sheep have checked out the object of his affection.

but so far

just don't get it.

My Lisa,

2011-05-22T17:57:00.000-07:00

Jake and Jack are so calm and well behaved...how is that?

I've got no idea why - really.

It must just be the way they're bred.

Hic...

Come down off your ledge Suzie!

2011-05-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

You're heading back to Gramma tomorrow!

If I had wanted this

2011-05-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

I'd have moved to Lethbridge!

The jug for the previously mentioned "teenage mothers". Thankfully no one was in it at the time.

I was going to blog about the shelter's new coat of paint but apparently I've been preempted.

I started a new stock dog today,

2011-05-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

And then quickly picked her up before the ewes finished her.

Lambing - round two.

2011-05-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

Remember Patch?

She's the girl that missed. I moved her out with the training sheep a couple of weeks ago. The unpregnant sheep.

This morning when I got up, I thought it odd that there was one sheep out front who wasn't heading out to graze with the others...

Well that would certainly explain why she wasn't heading out with the others.

Many thanks to midwife Sam who spent the night boiling water etc., while I slept soundly.

I took a closer look at the rest of the "training" sheep and now see that I'll have a number teenage moms as well.

Immaculate conception? I think not. Let's just say that I know that I am WAY better and banding ram lambs this year. When I checked the calendar this morning everything matches up to very day I put these two withers in with these girls. Seems the boys had a fun winter.

Looks like it's going to be an interesting spring...

Jack...Dragon Slayer

2011-05-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

Hey. Dragon slayer...not basket weaver!

Well what do you know? It actually works!

2011-05-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

Back this winter, while I was buying lambing supplies, I spotted this interesting device on the Premier 1 site.

Given that I don't have the best back to say the least, and most importantly that the "Gambrel" was less than $20, I figured I'd give on a shot. At the very least, it would be a great conversation piece.

Today I had to go check a bag on one of my ewes, and given that my "stronger, better backed half" is out of town I figured now was as good a time as any to try it out.

Now, the Gambrel won't help you catch a ewe - but Kate was more than willing in that department. The Gambrel won't help you flip a ewe - but I've gotten better at this over the last few years. What the Gambrel will let you do is let go of the ewe with both hands - to the point of being able to take a picture of her - amazing!

I don't know if would go as far as package info which states "keeps them so calm they will even feed", but she certainly figured out lickety split that there was no point in struggling. So i would say that the Gambrel is a "WIN".

Oh, and the ewe's bag is just fine too, so it's win's all around today.

"Just grab your credit card and the dogs and start driving."

2011-05-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

This excellent bit of advice from Louanne, led to a spur of the moment "weekend away", loads of fun and the opportunity to work dogs on four fields over four days.

Day one we worked dogs at Louanne's. Day two we drove up to Beiseker and spent a fun day with Wendy Schmaltz. Day three we drove down to Scott and Jenny's, worked dogs and loaded up their sheep and guardian dogs for their spring break visit to Louanne's. Day 4 after a delicious breakfast prepared by Jerry, we drove over to the 2010 Canadian Finals field and day worked dogs with Doug and Judy Finseth.

As usual, you'll note the lack of pictures. Thankfully, I did remember to drag the camera out yesterday. This is the rough view we had to look at on this beautiful sunny, plus 20 degree day.

After 4 days of solid work I'm happy to report that everyone - dogs and human - had a great time and the prospect of trial season starting in less than 3 weeks is far less daunting.

Thanks for the great advice Louanne!

Dirt Buster

2011-04-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

Why cleaning the house in April is fruitless.

Thank you Buster for "letting the outdoors in".

Jake's new BFF

2011-04-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

Jake can't help but think about his new best friend.

He'll hang out with his other friends, but he's really wishing he was hanging with his BEST friend.

He's hate to be labelled a stalker,

so he's subtle - "Nope, I wasn't staring at you at all..."

but at the end of the day,

he just can't get enough

of his BFF Ben.

Shearing Day.

2011-04-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

Not for our sheep of course, they're hair sheep.

Nope, today was the annual spring "Give Bruce A Haircut Day."

Jack was happy to assist with the photo shoot. Frankly, he's about as hairy as Bruce was as a pup.

He really wanted to demonstrate what a good stand stay Bruce has...

by trying to nurse off him.

And because Bruce is so good with pups, all he got for his efforts was,

the "are you kidding me kid" look.

Careful what you wish for.

2011-04-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

I believe we're done lambing this year. Except for this one.

I think Patch figures she's clever by choosing to eat great all winter AND avoid maternal duties. What she didn't figure is that while ewes with lambs at their side spend the summer doing this...

footloose and fancy free ewes, spend a lot more time with these...

A picture is worth a thousand words

2011-04-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a second picture in case you're old like me and can't read the fine print.

You don't know Jack!

2011-04-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

Which is why I'm introducing him. He's the latest addition to the farm, not to be confused with Jake - the other new kid in town.

Jack is a tough stock dog, so this morning he helped out with chores - moving ewes and lambs.

Good job Jack, that'll do.

After hard morning's work, Jack was more than happy to head back to his hacienda for a well earned nap. A tired puppy is a good puppy.

All they need is leather jackets

2011-04-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

Every morning when I head out to check the girls I'm greeted with this.

They look innocent enough...

but trust me, there's a whole lot of attitude going on.

raising sheep - only the brave may apply.

Puppies are SO entertaining

2011-04-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

Right Kate?

Having fun yet?

You're thinking puppies are something else?

What's the word?

Go on, say it...

Annoying!

Puparazzi

2011-04-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

Now days, we're all used to paparazzi chasing the stars, ala TMZ. Who knew that little Jake has already attracted their attention.

Of course with his good looks, it's easy to see why they'd be chasing after him.

They caught us at the airport - puparazzi are like that.

and followed our every move.

I explained that he was a big tough stock dog.

No really!

Many thanks to long time friend Jen, who was more than happy to hang out with Jake and I AND his brother Kayak

who flew on from Edmonton to Whitehorse after a 3 hour layover. Being seasoned pros the brothers took it all in stride and are settling into their new homes nicely - let the adventures begin!

Look at that pro giving the cameras what they want - wave to the cameras buddy!

Newest member of the flock - part two

2011-04-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

The newest member of the flock

2011-03-31T14:54:00.000-07:00

Toes

2011-03-29T10:51:00.001-07:00

The most wonderful time of the year

2011-03-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

Lambing time!

Stompy Sue, decided that there was no point in waiting for a change in the weather and presented us with two boys today. Mom (a first timer) and boys are doing well. Looking forward to more lambs - and WARMER WEATHER.

Every picture tells a story.

2011-03-25T10:44:00.000-07:00

I took the following picture March 20th of last year.

And here's a picture taken today.

Same dog, same deck, note the lack of bicycle in the background as well as the lack of deck and grass.

The view from said deck.

A picture really is worth a thousand words. A thousand, unmentionable "this is a family show" words.

Wide Load

2011-03-23T13:44:00.001-07:00

I said "Too bad we can't use the quad"

2011-03-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

Which Travis - being a man - took as a challenge. "Of course we can use the quad."

And he was right. Apparently you CAN strap several bales of straw to a quad and drive it through god awful tractor trails to the other side of the property.

If you're a guy...

not only is it possible,

it's FUN!

Of course it's nice to have help.

and even better when the help is happy to pitch in.

Finally, light at the end of the tunnel.

2011-03-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

It looks like this god awfully long winter is finally on its way out. That's what one day of warm, sunny weather will do to a person - hope springs eternal!

It's a good thing the weather's getting better because I'm running out of make work projects. Here's my latest.

Landing Trail Stock Dogs

With lambs and a new pup (or two) on the way, a garden to put in and trials to get ready for, soon I'll be complaining about how I never have a minute to spare. Right now I'm looking forward to it.

They say sheep have great memories

2011-03-11T16:18:00.000-08:00

but no one has ever said that they're good at problem solving. This one got lost on her way back to the bales this afternoon.

I guess she's used to getting by with her good looks or something, because she had decided she couldn't go forward and it never occurred to her to go back.

So close, and yet so far...

Once stuck, she did what all sheep do...sat there and waited to die. Lucky for her she is pretty so I went out and saved her - by walking around to her head. Exhausting stuff. And now all's well in the world and we can sleep soundly tonight knowing that #8 found her way home.

Mind the moose

2011-03-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

I'm helping take care of the neighbour's horses while she's in Hawaii. Yes, I am bitter with jealousy.
Any way, she gave me my list of chores before taking off; give each of the horses a flake, check their mineral, feed the stray cats, and mind the moose.

She wasn't kidding.

He's been there every day (yes, I'm fairly sure he's a He. Moose shed their antlers in the fall - and I know that because I googled it this afternoon to make sure).

He's not terribly shy.

Is actually quite comfortable.

show's a little attitude on occasion.

but mostly just knows that he's found a great meal ticket.

Cabin fever part deux.

2011-03-01T19:04:00.000-08:00

You may be wondering about the rest of us...

Ben has taken to hoarding, while Bruce needs to be repeatedly talked down off his ledge.

Kate is hooked on reality TV.

and Travis and I are dreaming of warmer places.

The cabin fever's getting to everyone

2011-02-28T18:27:00.000-08:00

and as can happen after months spent locked up inside a small space together, it's starting to effect relationships.

Behold Hope and Buster. Hope has decided that he is very much in LOVE with Buster.

Does cute and flirty work for you?

How about tall dark and handsome?

No eyes have been lost...so far.

Spring can 't come soon enough.

17 hours of driving for blog material and nothing to show for it.

2011-02-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

In what seems to have become and annual tradition, I got a bad case of February Cabin Fever. The only cure is a trip south to hang out with Louanne, Scott and Jenny to work dogs down in the tropics where they have no snow.

So I packed up the dogs and kissed Travis goodbye on Valentines Day - I'm such a romantic girl. No chocolates or flowers needed for me, I'm more of a "gas money" kind of wife apparently.

I stopped off at Randy's on the way down for coffee, and being desperate to work dogs went down to his arena for a bit. I put Ben on sheep but didn't take any pictures because I figured there would be plenty of opportunities for "glory shots" down at the Glen's.

Louanne and I took off to New Dayton the next day and after another round of coffee, the southerners took pity on me and we went out and worked dogs. We worked dogs in a muddy field - BLISS! I didn't take any pictures because...I forgot. Not to worry because we were going to do more of the same the next day.

The next day we woke up to weather as god awful as at home. Lots of cold, blowing snow - so we drank a bunch of coffee.

I think I'm cursed. The weather chased us back to Louanne's and now that I'm back home it's freakin cold.

I never did get any pictures of anything, so you'll just have to use your imagination and picture us all having a great visit in spite of the weather. Hope and Kate both worked like dogs that haven't had any work for months, and Ben looked like a pup on sheep - in a good way. Now I just have to sit for another 6 weeks or so until I start lambing and there's something to do around here.

In the meantime I guess I'll have another cup of coffee.

Never let your Border Collie play with tennis balls, it will ruin them as a stock dog.

2011-02-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

Good thing it's a glow-in-the-dark ball.

Bruce likes the new furntiture but...

2011-02-08T07:57:00.000-08:00

He's pointed out that we need cushions.

The wonders of Swedish technology

2011-02-06T13:34:00.000-08:00

Incredible. You can fit an entire living room - couch, love seat, armchair and coffee table

into one of these.

Nothing says "Canadian winter country living" like a filthy pickup

Let me point out just how geeky we are. There is a laptop and a keyboard on the coffee table and Travis has another laptop on his lap, while he checks out something on his iPod Touch.

Amazing what you can build with a bit of Velcro and an Allan key! Of course we had to enjoy the FULL IKEA experience, which meant driving back the next day (a mere 5 hour round trip) to pick up these...

The missing parts.

Now we actually have seating for company, and the animals have new perches.

Hope would like to point out that he is NOT an Australian Shepherd, never mind what the blanket might say.

While Bruce would like to point that he IS.

As much as we're all enjoying the extra space, it seems that Bruce and Antonio actually ENJOY each other's company.

Powerful stockdog in the making

2011-01-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

Ben works on "releasing tension"

I think we need a bigger couch.

2011-01-29T06:31:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday morning. We're all on the couch drinking coffee and catching up on our email/newspapers.

It's a small couch, and two average size humans take up a fair chunk of it's space.

That doesn't stop anyone else in the family from joining the two humans. Their idea of "there's lots of space left" is a little different than mine I think.

Bruce finds that Antonio makes a fine couch cushion, and Antonio suffers through Bruce's company because he's a good heat source.

I think I've started a soup kitchen

2011-01-27T19:09:00.000-08:00

None of the official residents, both 2 and 4 legged ever miss a meal around here if they can help it.
Looks like word has gotten out, because we have a couple more regulars.

I missed getting a good shot of the ravens stealing bones out of the yard. Ravens serve two purposes around here - clean up, and entertainment...as in I find it really entertaining to watch the dogs losing their marbles over losing their bones to bird brains.

Remember Stranger? He showed up last year...

He used to be a "seldom sighted" creature. Now he's an "always around" kind of mooch.

The newest mouth to feed is a big one.

Unfortunately she finds my rose bushes and birches really tasty. She also figured out very quickly where the dogs could and could not get to, and totally ignores any attempts at "protection".
Given that she really isn't a safe addition to the family I chase her off using the time honoured method - banging pots and pans together.

Snowball fight!

2011-01-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

It warmed up to a crazy windy plus 6 today. This is what happens to Bruce when you pair lots of snow with lots of warm with lots of crazy Aussie.

Incredibly, these pictures were taken after Travis had already removed several pounds of snow from his coat out on the trail because it had got to the point that he was having difficulty running (hmm, note to self - a slow Aussie is a good Aussie).

The Border Collies? They look the same as ever - I'll take their coats any day.

It's supposed to stay warm for the rest of the week. I think we'll be snowshoeing in the morning for a while.

The sun came out this morning

2011-01-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

and it stopped snowing for about five minutes. I must have gotten a bit of spring fever because I decided to take Hope out to the sheep for kicks.

He would now like to demonstrate various methods used to move sheep in winter.

Begin demonstration.

The "Snow plow" method

The "My what big ears you have Mr. Wolf" method.

The "Stealth" method.

Proof that sheep actually participated.

So ends our "winter work" demonstration.

My neck just got a little redder

2011-01-16T08:41:00.000-08:00

Time to start shopping!

Do YOU smell something?

2011-01-14T08:25:00.000-08:00

Because I'm pretty sure

I smell

a little

jam

between these toes...