Long time break

We've had a break from lessons and sheep. It's been raining so hard that Lora's sheep are wading in mud. And, she's had an outbreak of lambing. There will be lots of cuties to see next Wednesday.  Meanwhile, Jill and I continue to walk, play ball, learn respect, and go to daycare.

We had lots of snow last weekend - Jill's first REAL big snow. She was so happy she did laps around the yard in ecstasy.

 Waiting for that perfect ball throw.

The child in David comes out. Snow ball flights of fancy. Jill didn't get it. She's going "but...where's my ball, dang it?"

"And you're going to throw the ball...when??"

Perfect picture from the porch. We got 3" of snow that day. Then the sun came out. I love sunny snow days.

KKnx clinic Feb

Kathy Knx clinic up in Arlington, WA. Feb 23/13. We worked Jill in the round pen, she's too green and so am I to work in the open field yet. There are NO fences out there! Better to be safe in a round pen.

So I started off in the morning and was very nervous.  Jill did her typical lets run straight for the sheep and they got stuck in a corner, where neither she nor I could get them out.  OK, here's what I should have done.  Take her on leash first, walked around the sheep to get them to move off that corner, then let her go. But being nervous, my brain wasn't working.

I let Kathy take over. Issues are:

1. On her first flank she always heads straight towards the sheep
2. She is not listening to me with her brain as we enter the ring.
3. She will pull and tug and almost jerk me on leash trying to get into the arena

First thing was to get control of the brain. Kathy made sure she didn't get her sheep when she didn't get out.  She also showed me how to snap the leash on her to 'wake' her up. Kathy worked her both times Saturday and in the morning Sunday.  I took over Sunday afternoon session.

I always learn better watching someone else work, getting the idea firmly planted in my head, then giving it a go.  I did pretty well, I think. I also think that Jill was responding to my corrections. It helped that we walked in on leash and stayed on leash until her body softened a bit. She was still very tight, but not as much. Great improvement.

Heels

My favorite pair of socks are falling apart at the heels. One has a huge hole. Has anyone mended their own socks?

I still need to figure out how to make socks with replaceable heels and toes. Go read that book again!

Rantings of an Old Lady

So what happens if....

• a crazy lady comes in and paints a mark on the new painting you just finished.
• you mess up the lace pattern you were just knitting and you're passed that row 
• you get a hole in your favorite socks that you knit all by yourself
• you plan for A but B happens

What if we take each day as it comes. Each minute as it happens. Look at the incident with fresh eyes. See the world in a different color.  Dare to do something different. Notice the mountain and enjoy the process of the climb. So you made it to the top....now enjoy the process of the other side. Every step is a new step. Nothing is the same.

New knitting projects. Finishing old.

Resolutions -

• Finish up all my UFO's.  2 baby tanks. Added buttons and crocheted around the edges. Put trim buttons on the little girl dress. DONE!
• Begin again, on Cathy's little T-shirt. I found another design, that has pretty little lace cap sleeves.  Picked a size and I'm sticking with it. It looks a little big, but we'll see how it turns out.
• Try something new - found a new kind of patternwork and will do samples. Start simple!

Pictures to follow.

Training the pup

A couple of weeks ago [I am so bad at journaling] Lora and I put Jill on sheep in the round pen. I really didn't have a clue what I was doing and was so enamored of watching my dog, that I forgot about the sheep part.  Thank Goodness for Lora, who stepped in and showed me what I was supposed to be doing.

Jill was keen and interested. When she came in, we'd correct her with the flag stick. She takes corrections very well, at least so far. Now this is only her second time on sheep, so we will just take it easy. The goal of this lesson was to teach me how to train a pup - right Lora? I felt like I had 3 left feet and no brain.

Every week, after Beau has his lesson, Jill and I go for a walk-about, check stock tanks, sweep up old hay or just whatever I can do to just hang around the farm and get Jill used to being there. The idea being that it's no big deal, we're not working sheep, just hanging out and we can just chill while we do our chores.  It seems to be working. Last week was perfect. She had interest, but not a desire to go rush at the sheep, which she did the first few times.

We go on vacation next week. Jill will be with her sis Gyp and Mom, Nell. It will be good for her to get some time with Border Collies. I think she's got an identity crisis living with 2 very vocal Cardigan Corgis. ;-)

Herding 101

Ok, the rule of thumb in the herding world is Never, never, herd just one sheep. Always bring the many to the few.   Well....except when you're sheering and there's only one and you have to get it to the many...who are way off in a field as far away from the sheering clippers as they can get. Way far away! Down in the bottom of Lora's field, far away.

Yes a shearing we did go. Lora [Rocking Dog Ranch] had about 15 or so sheep to clip, so friend Traci and her dog Kant, Lora and Tattoo Jennie, with clippers in hand went to work. Beau's and my job was to take the shorn sheep and take it - nicely - into the back field. So you say...piece of cake, easy as pie. NOT! One sheep all shook up from being unceremoniously plopped on it's back, de-nuded of it's fine fleece is not a happy camper. We had our work cut out for us.

To move a nervous sheep to the back field where she couldn't even see her buddies, was a challenge. I had to keep Beau on task, keep him steady, not rush and make sure that Ms ewe made it through the gate calmly and in one piece.  We had only one rush, but after that Mr. Beau did a mighty fine job. I was very proud of my boy.

That evening, both of us were exhausted. Not from physical stress, but mental stress. I do have a good little Corgi herding dog. He's so good at chores and loves it. He may be limited in trial work, but he's a good little chore dog.

It was a fun day, I learned a ton - as I always do at Lora's Ranch.

Now if Jill would just hurry and grow up so we can get her started...patience. Time will come and then I'll have my hands full. And we will begin at the beginning...again.  Oh the joys of a journey and the paths that open up to us. Life is good.