Fire Sale

Remember when we got evacuated this summer/fall because of the fires? The sheep were all seperated in nice pens at their "foster home" but the ram lambs had to figure out that the opening in the waterer between pens was just big enough to fit their bodies through so they joined the "girls". Luckily Len and I came out in the yard just after it happened but now we have 9 lambs from 5 ewes. The boys were busy. So here are some pictures of a few of the bandit boys offspring:






Three hour old lambs.



Here are the lamb watchers...can be sung to the tune of "I'm a girl watcher", just substitute lamb for girl.

Merry Christmas to all

And so it is Christmas, words in a song but it is Christmas Day! Started out having to work 3 hours but was home at 9:30 to have coffee and open our gifts, then a big breakfast. We both did very well in the gift department but the hit was Len's Wii! So far we have been boxing..yes I was a knock out but I kicked his butt at the shooting range Ha! It certainly is an addictive thing to have around me thinks.
So now you have to endure the doggie present pictures since we don't have kids opening presents pictures. After they entertained us with some antics, we all went for a big walk out to the back field. I should have taken the camera. What a gorgeous sunny day!
So notice in the pictures the livingroom flooring that we ordered did NOT get here in time for Christmas but we can live with plywood for another week.

Mirk wonders why the girls are hogging all the toys...



Rosie likes the sheep that honks and has a really long neck...



Jen says "Indestructible my foot!"



Lyn says "Look at my new bed and toys"

The Weekend and Mom's Visit

Here it is the weekend..yahoo! Len's Mom came out to visit and we went out to string Christmas lights and then I worked dogs but Mom was getting chilly so no working dog pictures. Here we go....

Millie's car..she has arrived!



Sonny likes to see what is happening in the yard.




There, just rip the screen or stand up higher.



And the sheep wonder what the big white dog is doing...



Millie and I in our finest outfits.






Here are Rosie and Kip waiting to go work.



O Christmas lights, O Christmas lights...squint...then you can see them.

Fire in the Night

It was a snowy but warm Saturday so Len decided to burn the "burn pile" since it was safe. It was a roaring blaze most of the day but had died down for the night. Took these pictures in the dark and snow.




Look in the middle toward the back of the picture. There are the gremlins in the dark...waiting for the "let's go" command to race up the driveway.

Bits and Pieces

Well it is snowing here today, not much but enough to cover the ground. I am still "flu-bound" and a big haha to friends who phone and oink their hello-s. Three more days and I'll be good to go!

We had a sad week when we lost Will (2005-2009)to medical problems. He was my buddy and was the dog that stuck with me when doing chores even if the others were off playing, just in case I needed him. Was a little different walking alone those first few days. The pack setting has changed too, nothing I can describe in words but Rosie is missing him the most.

Here are some pictures of the whiskey jacks that came in to help clean up where we had butchered. They love the fat scraps and I save the fat trimmings for the winter and put it in suet boxes and hang it in the trees for them.





So I have sent Len to town to do grocery shopping. This could be really good or really bad. I will report about this later.

Carrot Eatin' Dog

This is what I woke up to this morning when I looked out. I wondered if squirrels or various beasts have been visiting in the night. I wandered off to do the day's chores and then watched the guys take the range cow and calf home that had wandered onto our property on the other side of the road.
Let the dogs out for their afternoon run and when I looked out I saw this..the culprit. Kip must really like her veggies. She pulled out the carrots, chomped them off to the root and left the green...wonder if she knew how well carrots go with chicken backs?

Maple Creek Open

Maple Creek Saskatchewan...a fun place to go for a sheepdog trial but we had one little glitch this time. Where the heck did winter come from? We arrived there on Friday night..yes proud as punch with the camper and the dogs. As Bev Sommer (who had arrived just before we did) and I stood at the trial field Friday night in the very cold windy snowy weather, we looked at Len and Norm the husbands and said...Wagons ho..the motel is 5 mintues away and that is where we are staying. No camping in this weather!
The field is a great field to work in, dips and hills and carragana bushes. On Sunday they do the Open outrun straight up the side of a hill (ok big dune)and Mirk did an awesome job of it. Alas, we didn’t pen so no shed either. Saturday wasn’t great for us. They just put the sheep out, no setting dog so Mirk went out, the sheep were behind a small hill and he was looking where he thought they were supposed to be, he started to cross at the top and Honestly! When I tried to whistle him back, my whistle was frozen! Not the only handler with that problem that day. Then I had the ewe that didn’t wanna stay with the others, made it all the way through to the pen and she broke and went to the exhaust. Dog trialling huh?

Will came in 7th place both days..good runs, didn’t pen. They just stood there and won’t move or moved darn fast. Kit was the 1st one up in ProNov on Saturday and it was her very first trial and she couldn’t find her sheep..white sheep, white snow you know the problem. They suggested that I run her in non compete on Sat. Worked great, she found her sheep and the next day no problem in ProNovice. She did a great outrun and when we started to drive, they wanted to break badly to exhaust so I walked from the post and we drove them there. No use trying to frustrate a dog that has just started driving. Put Rosie in non compete class as well….she did her outrun, lift and gripped both days on the fetch but took her lie downs and was steady. We leave it that she was a little stressed…we’ll put it down to know what to work on and her first trial. Len says she had the fastest grip time...what a cheering section!
It was a great weekend though and no one can control the weather so you make the best of it and have a good time!

Check here for pictures of the trial.

2009_1012MapleCreek