triple H weather

Hasy, hot, humid. It has been very warm the past few days. Still, I managed to trim Nuggets feet on Tuesday and China's yesterday. Made it to the last stroke with the Rasp on China's foot and managed to rasp across my knuckle. I know I cursed myself as I just had thought " WOW, you did both ponies and managed not to mangle yourself". It was not too bad of a gash and I sure have done way more damage to myself on past trims!
Got all of the matted hair off Nugget. She has Cushings and her coat is so wooly and thick. She still has so much coat on her but at least I was finally able to peel off the matted coat on her belly and flank area. She had a bout with Laminitis over the winter and was laying down so much it got matted to her sides. I tried to see if it would let loose yesterday and it was finally ready so I am sure she feels better. I'll have to think about clipping her down next spring as this also happened last spring too. I may even just bite the bullet and shave her down soon if she does not shed out over the next week or so. It's too hot for her to have so much coat.
 Worked the dogs some yesterday and day before. Not much because I don't like hot weather and the sheep are not shorn yet. Finally have pinned the shearer down to a day so in the next few weeks they will be free of heat trapping wool.
Went down to the creek with the dogs yesterday and took my shoes off and we played around down there for and hour or two. They just love it, so do I.
Al and Randy were over yesterday to work on the driveway in front of the garage. Al moved the truck load of stone to grade with his big 'ol backhoe excavater and Randy and I moved it arround with metal rakes close up to the garage. A few more loads when the bank account allows and it will be looking pretty.
Today I am cleaning the house.
It has been a few weeks since I have done much in here and it is looking it.
Thankfully the town came by yesterday evening and put black oil down on the road.Should help with the dust that always seems to be blowing in the direction of my house instead of away from it.
Later I'll get to Nola's to settle up with Erin and Kerry for taking care of the animals while I was away for a few days.. My back is sore from trimming those two ponies . Getting old is a ....

" The sun'll come out tomorrow"

I keep hearing this song from "Annie" over and over in my head.

I miss Deigh so very much and it's not the same around here with out her happy, bubbling ways. She was such a positive , upbeat dog. As we all do sometimes , I took this endearing quality for granted.

Her pups are depressed at her passing. I know the " experts " will tell me other wise, but I know what I am seeing.

Dream has not been eating and both are more quiet than usual.

I don't want to dwell on this sadness that comes with the passing of an animal.

I do want to touch lightly on the wonderful , wonderful treatment that was administerd that final day at Bunker Hill Veterinary Hospital.

All staff came out to our car and was present while we let Deigh go. Dr Michele Zajac went above and beyond duty and also helped arrange for us to have Deigh cremated that day.

There is so much more to this story but it is personal and I am sure uncomfortable to hear as well as tell. When Deigh was ready to come back home Dr. Michele picked her up and Terri Florentino brought her home. What I was not ready for was what Bunker Hill had done for my girl.

It is hard for me to even write through the tears of grief but also enormous gratitude for such wonderful people. When Terri got out of her car , she had in her hands the most beautiful wooden box.

Seems everyone got together and picked out a beautiful resting place for a beautiful dog. They made me feel as though Deigh was the most important patient to ever have walked through their doors. I could never thank them enough for what they have done for her over the past five months.

Thank you, just the same.

Sad to say , it looks like we will be sending our cat Splotchity off at the end of the week. She is failing fast . Just hurts to have them leave so close to each other.

On another level I had the wonderful chance to work with Scott Glenn. It was a great distraction from Deigh's passing and gave my heart a little rest from the hurt. He got a chance to see both pups and seemed to like them both. Flint I think a little more than Rush .

Helped me with Dream and Spirit and once again back to the drawing board. Seems I have screwed Spirit down too much and made her a bit tentative in coming on her sheep. Anyone who knows Spirit , knows this is " my bad ".

Dream needs a bit more of firming her stops as she cheats through them is a quiet sneaky way. Same for some of her flanks. So will clean them up a bit and stop micro handling Spirit to free her up.

While at Heather and Rodger Millens I got to see my first Beaver! I had never seen one before, and it was thinking of maybe setting up home base at their swimming hole in the creek .

I don't think it knows how lucky it was to have settled into that deeper water just as there was sheep camp going on. Too much activity caused it to find a quieter location. Lucky, because there was talk of removing it...in a not so  " have a heart " way.

I also wanted to share a few photographs I took of a Tom Turkey strutting his stuff on our farm.The two ladies he was hoping to impress are just out of range in the pictures.

Deigh 2/27/1999- 5/14/2010

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called the Rainbow Bridge

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor, those who were hurt and maimed are made strong and again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing, they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one stops and looks into the distance. Their bright eyes are intent. Their eager body quivers. Suddenly they begin to run from the group, flying over green grass, their legs carrying them faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your friend (s)  finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face, your hands once again caress the beloved head (s) and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet (s), so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together.

Author unknown ...

Deigh by day...

As you know if you follow my Blog, Deigh had a tumor removed in December that was found to be a highly aggressive form of Cancer. Over the past few weeks she has been having more and more trouble with weakness in her back legs. Back in December the prognosis was anywhere from six months to a year before it came back and most likely there would be nothing we could do for Deigh when it did.
The past few days Deigh has had trouble getting her back legs under her to stand. When helped she is still able to motor along, most likely because she has a strong will and the rest of her is fit enough to compensate.

I brought her over to Bunker Hill Veterinary Hospital today. I was hoping she had a compressed  lumbar vertibra or something arthritic in her spine. Ultrasound and several X - Rays were done and confirmed what I was dreading. Her lymphnodes in her lumbar region are acutley enlarged to where they are pushing her lower bowels down and pressing up along her backbone. There also were shadows in her lungs and spleen. We have but a few weeks at best or days at worse left to enjoy her and before I will be faced with performing the " ultimate act of kindness" to her. We did not even make it to the  < six month prognosis.

I can not sing enough praise for Dr. Michele Zajac and Bunker Hill Animal Hospital. Dr.Michele waived all fees today. I can't say how much this means to me to see a Doctor who still has such sympathy and compassion for her clients. A rare thing in this day and age.
Thank you ,Thank you ,Terri Florentino for bringing me to such a wonderful Animal Hospital.
So it is now a day by day evaluation for her quality of life .

It is the burden of animal care that I just never get used to . The pain and loss are insufferable to me , yet I could not imagine my life without their company . Our cat Splotchity is also nearing the end of her illness and with facing the imminent loss of  both animals the heartache is almost too much .

Over the next weeks I hope to spend good quality time with my dog (and cat), love her even more that I do (if that is possible) and start my grieving process for our good bye.
I don't want to say it, do it .
I am not ready, would I ever be? No, I doubt it.

Still, I would like to have a dog live past twelve and not die from Cancer. I have said good by to too many good dogs taken from me by Cancer. ALL my dogs, as a matter of fact.

If you are reading this, do me a favor....LOVE your dogs .
Go and hug them and tell them they are good. Because they are .

Happy Mothers Day

As I sit here adding to the blog this morning , snow is blowing outside the window. Such crazy weather. Today I will tell you about the greatest woman I know. My Mother. There is not a finer woman in my life. A caring , loving woman. Supportive. Someone I can talk to about anything. At 87 while she has age related issues she never complains much and takes each day as it comes. She is still sharp in mind and fairing well in body for her age.She still cleans her own home, cooks , bakes from scratch ( I have NEVER tasted better pie crust than my Mother's ) and ALWAYS is positive . Something I admire and envy at the same time. She has showed me the importance of loyalty , listening to someone when they talk to you...really listening. Little things like making sure someone knows you appreciated and act of kindness or checking on someone who has had difficulty in life.
She is a remarkable woman who has had much pain and loss in her life yet she has rose above it each time and remained true to her faith and positive that each lesson though painfull at times has meaning and purpose . I am blessed to have her for my Mother and am painfully aware that our time together is very precious . I wish I could be more like her. I love you Mom.

As to the dog trial I wish I could report wonderful news . I ran Bracken both days and she ran too wide and I never was able to get handle on the sheep or her. I ran Spirit on Friday and she ran well but I turned the sheep just in front of the first drive gate (I really thought I was through them, sigh) and mis read the sheep from the second drive gate to the pen and had a bobble there costing us points to a clean pen. In the shedding ring I was able to get the sheep stopped but each time I tried to line them out with either dog or myself they would run. We did manage a sloppy 5 point shed in the end. Had I not made handler error we would have gained a few USBCHA points but manage to  finish in the high 20's out of 80 dogs.
I ran Dream on Sunday and the weather was very windy. I don't really know why but at the top just as she was starting  her lift, a sheep broke off and she did not cover it. It ran back to the setout pen. I don't know if she could not hear my flank whistle . Still no excuse for not covering that sheep. I don't know if she was on the rise of the hill and did not even see it had escaped as she came down and was set on bringing the two . I tried to redirect her but she looked very confused and so I retired. 
I did see some very nice runs. Barbara Armata had a smooth clean run on Friday and got the win for the day. It was well deserved and a perfect picture of teamwork.
A littermate to Dream and Spirit had two very nice goes as well and it made me proud to see her looking good.
I got to see Lori Cunninghams Mat who I had not seen work since last spring. He is just two and was competitive in the Open class. A very nice young dog and I am happy for Lori to have such a nice dog in her string.

So that is about it . Feeling exaused from the weekend as it never is easy to drive home from a trial with not much positive to think about.

It was nice to see friends though  .

heading down the highway

well, I'm leaving in a short while for our first trial this year.
 Bracken is running both days and since there is a two dog limit I am running Spirit one day and Dream the other.
We will need some luck on good draws of sheep as there will be many of the " Big Hats" running this week. Each having two great dogs to steer around the course. The sheep can make or break someone like me and this trial has some cranky ewes. Good dogs have had to walk in years past because even the most valliant effort proved futal in convincing the sheep to behave . Yet to see these handlers who are so very very good at this, manage a group of sheep that would have me beat short into my run. How to keep them flowing , or at the very least either not running for the hills or turning and facing the dogs is an education in it's self. Each Open trial I get to is a handling clinic for me. I make sure to sit and watch the cream of the crop run the course, handle through difficulty or try to figure out how the make it look SOOOO easy.
Wish me lucks friends.

can I catch my breath ?

phew, lots going on as of late. We now have a beautiful blue holding tank for the water from our well, a new matching cap for the well and several new parts leading to the well water and pump.
I changed my mind and let Al out of the little holding space that keeps our tank and well.We need him for other things around here!
 After three days of thinking all was um.. (cough) well, we came to find out that while we did need a new holding tank there were other parts that needed to be replaced. Lots of air and fluctuating water pressure let us know this was fact. So after taking apart and putting together a total of three times, the last leading to Al , Paul and I pulling the pipe up to get the pump out to fix a valve on the pump. The well is about 200 feet deep so it took some arm strength to pull it up and out. A good note is that while the pump was up we could hear the water flowing into the well and while it is drilled to that depth the actual water level is at about twenty five feet. I think we are safe from running dry.

The other thing going on at the same time was a modular two car garage. The first half was delivered Friday.

The other half came today and was put together.
Again it is wonderful to have such good neighbors and friends. Al came up with his backhoe on Sunday and he, Randy and Paul were able to move the first half to where it needed to be.  Al and Randy again came up today and helped get the two parts lined up with the use of Al's backhoe and chains. Also the truck driver had gotten stuck on the wet grass while trying to get the second part down to the pad and that backhoe again was worth it's weight in gold.

We also got the Camper out over the weekend and ready for the season. It was not too big a deal other than dewinterizing and sanitizing the water system, getting the air pressure in tires right. Pulling out the generator and getting it going. Checking the hot water. All is good.
I plan to see if I can get the heat to work. Last year I could not get it going and while I don't think I'll need it this weekend I would like to figure out why it will not light the propane.
I hope to work the dogs a little tomorrow and Wednesday. I don't have high expectations but the dogs are working well enough and at least for that I don't have any worries looming to what the may or may not do.I am looking forward to getting out to a trial and of course see some friends. I hardly went to any trials last year and I did kind of miss it. I hope to get to a few this year, but I know I will have limit when hay season comes around.

If I have enough time and energy I'll try to get the pups out. It has been a few weeks for them since they have been on sheep. What I love about both pups is that they are enjoying the traing and look better each time even with some large training gaps in between. That is about it. Going out to feed the critters .

oh, I wanted to share this photograph of the full moon the other night. I took this just as it rose up over the hay field. It was so beautiful and this photo does not really show it. Still it is not too bad a photo , here it is enjoy.