Dogs at Lake Dora

Monday, December 26, 2011

Christmas and Updates!


Well there has been so much going on here but I've been too exhausted to share.  Not sure if I had a touch on the flu or what but I was almost not functional!  Geez I'm feeling much better now and catching up on lots of things.  I cancelled on my family and stayed home for Christmas; while it was sad not to go and hang out with everyone, I"m so happy I stayed!
 Jill was here for the Eukanuba with Tigger and they brought Dory and Bolt for a visit.  We had a lot of fun, helped at the breed booth, watched Cardis and stayed for groups and BIS.  Lots of fun, got to visit with people we rarely see down here and see dogs we hardly see:-)  It was a great day but VERY busy!  So Jill left Dory here for us to try and get a herding title on this Spring and Jill took Rosy to try and get some points on for me!  I sure do miss Rosy but Dory is having lots of fun running AMOK!
 Patsy got to attend the Feast of Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve with me at a friends house.  It was awesome food and she got to play with her friend the American Bulldog, Capri!  They had a great time and so did I!
 This is one of my Christmas presents from mom and new slab in front of my dog room!  She was so thoughtful that she even took each one of the dogs to the slab and put their feet in it for me to treasure and remember.
 She added her three in there as well so all the Hill dogs are in the concrete.  Now the step is easier for the big dogs and will be easier for puppies when/if we have them!
Bubbles is the only one that is not represented, we were off having fun elsewhere.
We got lots of great things for Christmas!  A tripod for my new video camera from Dad; now I can shoot lessons and my own dogs without needing a camera person all the time!  The other part of my gift from mom is a sign for me and the Cardis; the hard part is that I have to design it!  I'd better get to work, I've got lots of ideas but I'll need to make a decision on one and thats not easy for me...
The dogs got lots of treats too, from me and my friends!  Bisquits galore, lots and lots of toys and yummy chews (sweet potato and beef puffs)  Yummmm:-))

We are very blessed this year for wonderful presents and great friends and family!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas to All

Here is our official Christmas card this year, not my best but the dogs did ok.  Nobody was really into it with the 80-90 degree weather that day but we did our best:-))  I'm glad to have made it through another year and look forward to the next and what adventures it may hold.  I'm home alone this year, no snow in NC or travel (which is nice) will miss the family though:-))  Looking forward to a relaxing day at home to work dogs and play, but most of all sleeping in and catching up!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Merry Christmas and it is exactly as you wish it to be!  The dogs are curling up with their chewies for a relaxing evening.  Pics and updates tomorrow!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Oliver Update

 I am happy to report that Oliver is fitting in very well at his new home.  Look at that face, pretty happy, huh??

He attended a playdate today with Laura and Abby(a Beli daughter).  Looks like he had lots of fun frapping with the girls!  I'm so happy for Mr. Oli!  Thank you Sheila, Scott and Wendy for having Oliver come live up in the great white north!

*** For some reason I cannot reply to comments on my blog at the moment.  So thank you to those of you that have commented on the last couple posts!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Goodbye Mr Oli

We said goodbye to Mr Oli today.  Very sad to see him go, what a super sweet boy he is!  It sounds like he will fit in really well with his new family.  I'm sure he'll enjoy being the King of the house!  So goodbye Mr Oli, Patsy missed you this evening; actually we all did:-))  I've been promised updates and pictures so will post those when I receive them

Monday, December 5, 2011

Cardi Claus has arrived!!

What a nice suprize after a long day at work.  A plain little brown box, but I know better:-))  Merinda sent some very yummy biscuits, smoked duck feet, marinade, candy and a fun one of a kind Cardi hat (I'll use that in NC) as well as a Raglan Christmas ornament (my first:-)).

A huge thanks to our wonderful Cardi Claus gifts from Merinda and Porter in KY!

The dogs heard the wrapping come off, Duck WHAT????  You mean we CAN eat this duck?  They wholeheartedly agree with Porter, these are the best!!!

Our Cardi package will be leaving FL tomorrow headed north:-)))

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Giving Thanks!

What a beautiful Thanksgiving Day!  The weather is glorious and the dogs are loving it.
Patsy and her fan club (Abby and Oliver), visiting puppy.

More play, Bubbles hunting in the background.
Our beautiful Thanksgiving plates and table setting.  Nothing like turkey day!
Finally our table is set just waiting on the turkey and all the food to be ready.  Giving our thanks for not only the wonderful day, but all of the things we have been blessed with this year.  The dogs are healthy, Beli is here with me still:-)), Sheep have been productive this year and the humans health has been good.  Thank you  for everything and may everyone be blessed this year.

Monday, November 21, 2011

TDI Olivia

I got news from Peggy, O'baby's mommy, that she passed her TDI test with flying colors. She was impressive to the testers with her work through all the distraction. Peggy has done a fabulous job with our miracle Olivia! I'm so proud, this is the 3rd Raglan puppy working towards a career in therapy work. O'baby is the puppy I almost lost to a very rare affliction almost exactly 4yrs ago this week. She had a lobe of her liver torse, making her extremely septic. The "what if's" are almost too much to bear! If I had not worked that Friday, if I had not chosen to do an exploratory, if I had decided to put her down when she was seizuring uncontrolably, if the vet hadn't taken one more look further into her abdomen... She was meant to be THIS! And she was meant to be WITH Peggy. I love the O'baby for all of this but I love that she was meant to be with Peggy:-)) Thank you Peggy and Olivia, you go girls!!!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Hanging out

Got to hang out in the big field with the dogs for a bit today. Dogs had a blast, running and playing. Finally was able to get some pics and post them.

Abby and Patsy playing. Abby had a good workout and was feeling pretty good about herself; she even decided to do the scoot! What fun those two have together.


Sally got busted eating snacks, here she is moping back to me.




Oliver stalking Patsy:-))




Beli even found a stick. He has blown almost all of his coat and is quite naked at the moment.




Cute little Bubbles, always wants some attention.


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Too long...

Well, this is the longest I've been between posts since I started this blog almost 2 yrs ago! Life has gotten away from me. I'm working more than ever it feels like, though thankfully lessons are part of that. Travel and busy weekends for the next 6wks are surely going to keep posts at a minimum. I've been pretty depressed about Rosy as well. All looked and was to my knowledge normal in her pregnancy UNTIL 4-5 wks and then POOF! No puppies anymore, I'm not sure what happened but it is what it is...
Thankfully I do have things to look forward to... we have trials this weekend and 2 wks from now. Judging in between, which means a change of scenery from home but also a weekend with no training too. We will be watching the Eukanuba since its close to home this year and having Jill visit as well. So we have a busy Fall to take our minds off things that haven't gone as planned.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Farm work day

It has been a great morning to work outside after our rainy last three days. I got limbs trimmed in the training area out back. Oak limbs got hauled to the goats who just adore cleaning tree limbs and the palm fronds that were knocked down in the storm as well as those I pruned got hauled to the burn pile. The dogs hung out with me while I worked, they had a great time!

Sitting area in the herding field, still shady but now you can walk under it without getting your head removed!


Our new patio! We got a new grill over the weekend and a fire pit. The pavers were laid a couple of weeks ago, its amazing how much work it takes to get a property just the way you want it!



Palm tree all trimmed up. Now you can actually get the sheep out of the roundpen without getting your head taken off by the limbs or the sheep drawing the dog in:-))



The Big news last week... Rosy is pregnant, she is just starting to show now 4 wks along. Only a month to go now!



Our eggplant this Fall has just gone crazy, great eggplant and isn't getting much up keep either!



Rest of the veggie garden is getting planted for Winter/Fall too. Collards, Carrots, Herbs... I better get some of my Lemon Grass before it gets killed by frost though.



Our visitor for the week is Rufus (f.k.a. Crush!). He is here until the end of the week, for a visit. He is enjoying all the other dogs and even has gotten used to playing with Patsy the crazy Aussie:-))



Pretty boy that he is.



Bubbles trying to stop herself from going after the gopher turtle. It is a hard job!



And her favorite pose! She is a natural just like her daddy:-))


Nice to get some work done today, I'll have dogs to be washed tomorrow. Trial this weekend to work, and my birthday too. This will be a good week!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Ahhhh...

I feel much better having had the time to take pics of the dogs today! Lots going on since I got home from the ASCA Nationals, most bad but there is always some good amongst the bad:-)) First though the Nationals were fun to watch; lots of dogs and stuff going on the whole time. Quite a bit of rain so no pics, my jacket pockets were full!


Rosy update... still not sure though some positive prego signs, she's not talking. Only a couple more weeks til we can be sure or not.


Sally my co-pilot, dirty from an early walk roll in the dirt:-))



This is the second go at a roll, everyone was happy to be on a walk even though it was really hot!



Patsy Loves her sticks, almost as she loves the Cardis...


As evidenced by the Cardis all on top of her in the pileup!



My sentry girls, keeping the goats at bay.



Bubbles back for only a split second between squirrel hunts (1 down, thousands to go!)



My Mr Oli, always doing something goofy for attention!




Finally the foster puppies. They are here for a week or so to get better "new home" manners. They are learning to play with people and other dogs, sleep in crates, leash walking... Big stuff for babies to learn. They will resume the home search next week.



The goats, always in to stuff they shouldn't be... They have to come poking around while I'm walking the dogs, drives the dogs crazy! Damn goats!!!!:-))

Thursday, September 15, 2011

More travel and some catch up

Well I'm looking forward to heading out tomorrow morning for West Bend, WI. I am attending the ASCA Nationals with my friend Debby; although I was supposed to drive with her I had to shorten my trip. I'll be there for 5 days to watch the Finals and the Pre-trial classes. I am looking forward to watching and meeting new folks:-))
Also Rosy is bred so we wait 4 wks until we can hope for signs to show up. All fingers and toes crossed; tried to talk the dogs into it too but they refused. Another load of sheep is ready for market since the grass is so poor here this year... More baby chicks hatched yesterday though the hens are fighting over them so I don't know about that!:-/
Bubbles is fitting in just fine with everyone. She and Evy were cut from the same cloth, like peas in a pod! All the girls are getting along pretty well considering the hormones that have been flying around here.
Hopefully I'll be able to take some pics on the trip and post here or there.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Remembering...

I can't believe its been 10years since the terrible attack on our country. I still remember the feeling of panic and fear I felt on that day. I also remember exactly where I was and what I was doing as I watched the first plane fly into the first tower. So much has happened since then
I am still proud to be an American and I am proud of our country! Most of all though my heart goes out to those that were lost both in the towers as well as those first responders lost as the towers fell. There are so many wonderful stories of courage and faith as we were under such duress.
So on this 10th anniversary of these terrible attacks, I will only say GOD BLESS AMERICAN-UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Nugget

Introducing Ch Coedwig's Alchemist (OFA prelim Good, DM normal and PRA clear) This pretty tan pointed boy is a son of Carbon and Lilac, from the first frozen litter. I'm really looking forward to this litter and how this outcross will work! So keeping our fingers crossed for November babies! Check out Nancy's blog for more on Nugget (www.galenacardigans.blogspot.com) He has two litters on the ground now with several puppies showing promise.




He is quite the model on the beach in the NW:-))



Monday, September 5, 2011

Catch up

First I'm a very bad mom, I didn't post about Evy's Bday! Evy is 8 this year and enjoying every moment of her retirement. She still loves to share my bed, hunt lizards and rats and just be a general pest:-)) She is from my very first litter and I love her so much. Poor Weed, I'll try and be better next year!

Resting on one of our NC hikes.


Hanging with her pop Beli after doing chores this summer.


Second. Rosy is finally in season and will be bred in the next 2 wks. Plans change all the time for me, this is no different:-)) Nugget, Jett's brother is the lucky guy:-)) I will post pics and info on Nugget later! I'm excited about this litter and will continue to post updates as they come along.

We have a very busy Fall coming up with trials, judging and puppies I hope!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Last hike of the summer:-(

Today was our last day up here so Carol and I went down to the Mars Hill Farmers Market. We wandered around there and bought a couple small treats then went down to Asheville. We shopped for a bit then got lost (always happens there...) but it turned out really great. We found an awesome little taco shack, The White Duck Taco Shack. I had a great Bahn Mi taco and a JerkChicken taco; what fun different flavors!

Once back at the cabin, I took the dogs(except Beli) and went on a nice long hike. The pics didn't come out real well; its been overcast all day and the woods I walked in were really dark and well shaded. I don't know how far we went but it was 2.5-3hrs of slow hiking. The Appalachian trail piece we walked was narrow but beautiful. Lots of cool mushrooms, pretty shade loving flowers and best of all no other people. All 6 of the dogs had a blast running along then waiting for the rest of us!:-))


Rosy was usually in the lead, as you can see (maybe) Bubbles joined right in and really had a great time hunting the chipmunks with Evy.



The three blue Beli girls. Evy almost gave me a heart attack walking along the edge of this rock. It was a long drop off on the other side of the rock...



Rosy and Patsy waiting for me on the trail.

We have the long drive home tomorrow and then back to work on Monday. This has been such a wonderful relaxing trip, well needed, I just wish it was longer!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Hiking

The younger dogs, Carol and I all took a nice long hike today. What fun we all had! We took the trail up the smaller mountain and to the top but they were taggin birds so we turned around and went back down to the lower trail.


Trail dogs:-))


Patsy and Rosy leading the way




Pretty wildflowers, like bluebells.




Bubbles and Patsy with pretty flowers




Purple Aster




Evy, Rosy and Sally taking a trail break.




We found this pretty log while we were driving out, so we took a photo op.




Sally




The Weed!




Carols boy Tag (Beli X Abby)




Tag front