"My muzzle is gray"

My muzzle is gray
I am past my prime
I knew there would come this time.

I find I am slower to rise
and there is a slight cloud to my eyes.
I knew it would not last
that some day I would be a mirror of my past.

Yet, your eyes settled on me
my heart filled with glee
You need not ask
instinct and mileage guide me through the task.

The cold air nips my breath
my muscles struggle as I run
I know I am slower than when I was young.

You gave this to me
this Christmas day
your gift to me
our special way.

Pupdate

Hard to believe Opal is three months old. Where does the time fly?

She has been a pleasure as a pup. Quite easy all around.

She is showing some interest in the sheep during walk abouts, but not really ready to have at them.Opal is looking to be quite a stylish worker, as is her Mom.

The 12 Pains of Christmas (Music Video)

"Now why the hell are they blinking" ??
"One light goes out, they ALL go out"!
Oh how I can relate!

Giving Thanks

For the hay and corn and wheat that is reaped
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
for the sun the dew and the sweet honeycomb,

For the rose and the song, and the harvest brought home-

Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the working man's hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought-
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well deserved rest,
For our country, extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the "Land of the Free"-
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!
Author unknown

While there is much for me to be thankful for, I would like to share with you photo's of our farm through out the year.
It is such a beautiful place and one I give thanks to each day for it's gift of beauty.

Flint out in hayfield

S

Another video. I have dropped the HD setting to see if video is cleaner to watch. I really wish I could figure this camcorder or the upload/download . Fooled with the zoom on this go. Wanted to get a better look at Flint at the top end . Sheep were set on the crest of the far hill. As best I can tell HD has no difference in quality of video, looks just as sloppy to me : (
Tripod is on the "wish list" . Hard to record and concentrate on working the dog. I see my timing is off and am handling the dog a bit different than I would if I were not messing at looking at camcorder to see if I even have dog and sheep in the viewfinder.

Flint

I

I used Flint to collect the sheep off the hay field that had escaped through that little gap I had told you about in a recent blog. I then had him take the sheep back to the west pastures. It was quite windy , but he did a pretty good job. Flint is a litter mate to Rush and will be 2 1/2 at end of November. Sorry about the poor quality, I really can't figure out how to transfer video in HD without it being shortened to a minutes time. To capture the whole video I seem to have to sacrifice quality. I seem to have misplaced my owners manual to my camcorder and that does not help me either!

Rush

thought I would share a video of Rush. Using about 85 sheep and having her push them through woods, brush and some of the lower pastures. She will be 2 1/2 at the end of November. Sorry for the poor quality, I can't seem to figure this transfer of video to computer correctly. Also I was walking over a few low stone walls so may have lost track of where dog and sheep were to save myself from falling down!

blogged down

It has been some time since the last installment to this blog.
Partially because I have been busy here on the farm and partly due to our computer (who I call "Dino" ) that is close to becoming antique status in the world of computers along with connection issues from our server South Canaan Telephone.

Anyway , let's "Ketchup" on what's been going on.

Managed to get some second cut hay off the field the first few weeks of October.

That will be great to have for the very cold weeks ahead. Really nice looking hay.

We have had a bumper crop of Apples this year. More than we could ever eat. Sheep and horses along with the "wild things" have really been enjoying this windfall crop. I also found when out walking the back fields that are a bit overgrown a Sickle Pear tree. LOADED with pears. I picked a bunch , though not yet ripened. Can't wait to taste them.

We have finished fencing in that small pasture we were working on. It looks really good. It will be a really nice place to start dogs and work on "issues" of dogs further along. I had been using it , though it was fenced with barbed wire, had no gates and if the sheep really wanted to they could leave at any time. So, wire was removed, posts pulled and re sunk, H Braces to corners, gates added and on one side we changed the line so to straighten it out. We finished the weekend before this past one. None too soon as Saturday we had an early taste of what is to be the norm for the next five months or so. A very early Nor' Easter blew in.

At first it looked like we might not get hit too hard and snow started later than predicted.

But as the day went on the snow picked up and really started to accumulate.

Incidentally Saturday the day of this storm was my Birthday. The "big one" the 5-0 , "Book 'em Danno" kind of Birthday.

We had planned on going out to Coopers Seafood Restaurant in Scranton but waited until the storm blew out and went on Sunday instead. My Mom made a yummy pot roast dinner Saturday. Paul picked up an Ice cream Cake .

All in all by the next morning we had about 10 inches of snow fall. A winter wonderland in October/Snowtober.

Thankfully we were lucky to have had most all the leaves off the trees and never lost power. It has been mild since so snow is melting off fast and there is just a small amount left.

 Mother Nature, up to her old tricks as she has been messing with us here in the North East all this year.


Trick or Treat ?



Flooding rains, earthquakes, Hurricane's , Nor'Easters in October. They had mentioned on the News that this year 2011 has been the wettest on record, EVER. I believe it!

There were a few here in our household who enjoyed the early snow. The dogs loved it, the pups got a taste of snow in a big way. At first they were not too sure about this cold wet stuff, but quickly changed their minds and found it quite fun.

That Saturday night when I let them out to potty and the snow was way over their heads they just had a ball. Plowing through it like little porpoise, or running down tamped trails like lab rats in a maze.

I have also found a new weapon to battle my White Whale (Multi Floral Rose) , A chainsaw on a pole. While I am having some issues with it, it has allowed me access to the old growth woody rose that has a formidable canopy of prickers that has kept me at bay till now .  I am able to get in there to the base of the plants and cut it back, saving flesh and fabric from the ripping thorns .

The sheep will be able to keep it managed next spring if it makes attempt at life.

I have made really good progress with this little 8 inch saw blade. It will make it so much easier to clean up other barbwire fence lines that we are planning to replace with field fence.

  Also had a visit from my friend Maggie the day before my birthday. Great conversation, good dog work . You know your friend knows you well and shares your interests when she gets you a marking harness for your Rams for your birthday present! I needed one and just have never thought to get one until after the fact. Now I'll have one before the fact and can keep better records of my lambing timetable.Maggie has a pup from Bracken's last litter, named Strike . We did some good works and Strike is really a nice little dog , a good teammate to Maggie. She is taking the little boy pup in a few weeks. I hope he is as nice a dog for her as Strike.

Strike, Maggie and Mose

 

I am sure there are other things I have forgotten to mention but for now I hope this will do.

perseverance

"Things are not always what they may seem, the first appearance deceives many"....

PERSEVERANCE: steady persistent course of action, a purpose, a state. Especially in spite of difficulties,obstacles or discouragement.

continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation.

A limit on what you will do, puts a limit on what you can do.