Snow-Flakes

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Out of the bosom of the Air,

Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,

Over the woodlands brown and bare,

Over the harvest-fields forsaken,

Silent, and soft, and slow

Descends the snow.

Even as our cloudy fancies take

Suddenly shape in some divine expression,

Even as the troubled heart doth make

In the white countenance confession,

The troubled sky reveals

The grief it feels.

This is the poem of the air,

Slowly in silent syllables recorded;

This is the secret of despair,

Long in its cloudy bosom hoarded,

Now whispered and revealed

To wood and field. 

Snow Happy

Ranger is so happy he can hardly stand it!

It is snowing again!   While many of you shudder and moan at the sight of snow...we dance with joy!   Because in the Pacific Northwest it doesnt stick around for very long.  And of course I dont have to drive in it unless I absolutely must.  Like over the mountains to Idaho for Thanksgiving - that was a MUST! 

"We will drive through anything for SHEEP!"

Did you say SNOW?  

 

Sheep and snow, not such a good combination...but it is very pretty to photograph.  The snow is supposed to stick around all week - the worst coming on Wednesday, according to the ever reliable weather service.   We are running in a trial next weekend in Roy.  I wonder if it will look like this again?  

Beazer loves the snow too!

Awww lets be honest here...she loves being outside stalking her sisters. 

She watches...her little butt in the air.

"Are you seriously talking 'bout my butt?"

At least I am not talking about the little fat pouches you have on your tummy, Miss Beatle. 

Actually, Bea is not fat.  She is at a perfect weight, according to the vet.  Last week she went in for her third set of shots and she weight 16.8 lbs.  A healthy, sturdy puppy...whose ears are a wee bit confused. 

Will they both be up?   One is already up to stay...the other cant seem to make up its mind. 

Maybe I should use duct tape and bend the prick ear down?  Better yet I can get a staple gun and use that?  Or how about I just use mole skin and string, or something else equally asinine.  I can't understand why people do that to their 'show' dogs.  Please forgive me if you find a reason to mold your puppy's body in some particular fashion to adhere to a 'breed standard' - because I am sure you have a very good reason to cause suffering and pain.   Personally I feel any changes to a dog's body is ... well icky.  Cropping (ears or tails), tape, surgery, breeding for appearance....WTF? 

I have one boob larger than the other.  Should I have it surgically altered just so I will look better in a dress?  Actually, that is not a good analogy.  I would need to lose the weight of a small wildebeest in order to look good in a dress.  

Wait...I need to shut up now, lest I start a hornets nest.  Please ignore the previous paragraph - I know nutting!  Nutting, I tell you!  Nutting! 

I love my puppy just the way she is. 

Floppy ears...

Prick ears...

My mouth runs amok...like happy little puppies. 

"Oh hiya!  I have missed you for so LONG!"  It has been a while since I had a good shot of Bonnie to share.  She has been adjusting to the puppy quite well and has even taken to playing with her.

 

"Camera Face...please shut up and throw the damn ball?"

What was the point of this post anyway? 

I dunno.  I rarely have a point I try to make.  I like pictures.  I prefer to keep the text simple and something that will make me smile when I look back at it.  I hope when you visit our blog you smile too. 

Anything else makes my head hurt.

What was I saying? 

Over the fence he goes!  Like a gazelle on crack! 

I have to tell you, since I have switched the dogs to total raw, added liquid glucosamine, fish oil, sardines & made sure I peel the inside skin/film off the inside of each egg (among other things) & give it to Ranger I have seen NO MORE LIMPING!  It appears his leg is not bothering him as much anymore and he JUMPS again! 

See I have proof!

Weeeeeee!  SNOW! 

Time for me to shuddup now....before I put my finger in my mouth again.  Or is that foot?  If you are typing....wouldnt it be finger?  Unless of course you type with your feet - then it could be construed to 'foot in your mouth'. 

I should not drink wine and blog. 

Snow Daze

Winter is here before Fall ended.

The dogs are none to pleased.

Ranger wants to know, "Where are the Reindeer?"

Bonnie says "Bring it on!  I LOVE SNOW!"

"Snow, Snow, Snow!  Wait...why it is stuck to my Jolly Squirrel?"

Brynn, serious as always says, "Unless there are sheep out here, I see no other purpose to freeze my ass off."

"Forget this...I am going in the house."

 Uhhhh, Brynn.  Hang in there.  We are going to go work sheep right now.  Judy is having a training trial today and it isn't snowing in Roy like it is here - lets go!

Hi Judy! 

"You LIED!  You said it wasn't snowing in Roy.  Why are we here?"

We are here to work sheep!

"I don't see no stinkin' sheep"

They are out there!  I promise!  You will just have to trust me and I will get you to your sheep!

"I think you are smoking Ranger's pot". 

And trust me they did...they found their sheep.  Brynn has been stretching her outrun.  Last week at Ronnie's during Dianne's lessons Brynn was perfectly nailing 500 - 600 yard blind outruns.  Dianne always told me that Brynn is a hill dog - now I believe her.  Sunday at Judy's training trial Brynn ran gorgeous wide & deep  outruns, she went a little wide on her away side and got lost in the brush, but came back and checked in for a direction & finally spotted her sheep and brought them to me perfectly on line. 

Beth did equally as well.  I feel like I should knock on wood while I type this, but she is finally starting to listen to me.  I have cut her back drastically in working/training.  She only gets to work when she listens.  The minute she stops listening, she is put away.  If I work her too much she turns into Gumby and it goes down hill fast.  On Sunday she ran a gorgeous outrun, lifted beautifully, gave plenty of space on the fetch, which was dead perfect online - circled around me nicely and even continuted to listen to me on the drive. 

No more novice for either dog - we are movin' on up.  Ranch for Beth and Ranch & eventually Nursery for Brynn. 

We stopped working when we couldn't see the sheep anymore. 

Bob called it on account of blizzard.

Jeanne's Moses was sad

"No more woolies?"

Sorry dude, the sheep are being put away before the white out hits. 

The sheep were relived.

They must think we are all nuts

Wait, do sheep think?  I mean really think, like we do?  

Or it is more like "See Dog, RUN!", "See Food, EAT!", "See Stupid Human, smash them up against the fence, step on feet, kick in head",   "Run across field, giggle and laugh, then do it again."

Okay, Ladies...time to go home.  

Say Goodbye to Judy and Cindy.  Thank you for a wonderful day working sheep!  

Stay warm and dry! 

Puppy Road Trip

Tuesday morning we piled into the car for a Road Trip to Moses Lake, WA to pick up two 8 wk old BC puppies and a 8 month old BC needing transport to our side of the mountains.

Being a good Dog lady I give the dogs the requisite potty break & chance to expore. We stopped at one of our favorite trails just before Snoqualmie Pass.

SNOW TIME! YEAH! We are FREE!



Snow, snow, snow, we love the snow!



Whoops, that's a bit deeper than we thought!


Okay enough with the camera Crazy Lady - just throw the ball already.



After having to drag Ranger out of a tree-well that was over his head, we all piled back into the car to dry off and head across the mountain pass.

Next stop, one of our favorites right above the Columbia River - Wild Horse Monument.

Beth didn't care where she was, she had her ball.



Bonnie always feels wonderful about herself after some good ball throwing. She is an aspiring stock dog you know. It is her job to bring anything that is escaping back to mom. Every time mom throws the ball, Beth leaves. Bonnie's job is to chase her and bring her errant butt back to the fold. Amazingly she is successful every single time!



To exercise Crazy Dog Lady's car seat weary backside we decided to hike the trail up to the top of the monument.



Ranger was game



Beth was into it



Dog Lady was too, until we got half way up the hill and realized I left the cell phone in the car. We had to turn back, because without the cell phone, when I had a heart attack and collapsed at the top - there was no way to call for help. Besides, who needs to hike when you have a 24x zoom lens.

Yep, sweet...



Back into the car for the short jaunt to Moses Lake where we had plans to meet with Pat, one of the PNW Border Collie Rescue foster mothers. Pat is an amazing woman. She specializes in litters of puppies. Bonnie came from Pat (more on that story later).

The current puppies are a litter of two working border collies from a ranch in Klamath Falls, OR. Many ranchers treat their dogs like livestock & do not spay or neuter them. We are thankful they give them to rescue, because so many of them are put down the old fashioned way, via a bucket of water or a bullet. This particular rancher, while he loved his dog, he needed get her back to work. Thus he contacted rescue to take the litter. The puppies were just weaned & were to young too adopt out - so Pat has been fostering them for a few weeks and most importantly socializing them. She does a wonderful job with the puppies - they come from her home happy, well adjusted, affectionate & used to the sounds of family life.

Pat also had Susie. A purebred 8 month old pup that was surrendered into rescue because she was chasing the neighbors horses. Susie is being fostered by one of our friends, Vicki. Jazzmine, one if the litter of puppies, needed transport to her adoptive family on this side of the mountains too.

The other puppy needing transport was adopted too ...

Meet Little Miss Puppy-Butt. Also known as Lyndi of KF-5.











It was a long day, full of new smells, new adventures and new friends. Everyone was plumb tuckered out






Welcome to our family Miss Puppy.