Dog Shows

Laaaahhteedaahhh....
we went off to the dog show yesterday with our single entry, Flyer. Flyer had a good time. He's completed his AKC Puppy STAR program and had a good time at puppy classes. Almost 7 months old, he thought the show scene was ok... a few new things had him wondering about things now and then, but overall he had a great experience. There was only 1 other entered, a girl, so there weren't any points, but we took Best of Winners and Best of Breed and hung around for the experience of going into the Group competition too. A good day. We'll post his photo when it comes back, and hope it was a good one.

Here's a photo of Flyer with Rick as a puppy...

yes, he's gotten much bigger since then! LOL!

Roisin

Our lovely Roisin... she's our Irish girl and a blast in the house! Here's her favorite 'outsider'....our family friend Cliff who often comes over to help Rick with the bigger farm projects here. Roisin loves her Uncle Cliff. Here she's getting a lift and hug.

YAY! Snow!

Worth noting this morning........we've had one of the longest falls in many years up here with the ground finally freezing solid for the winter a few weeks ago. But, right here anyways, we haven't had any snow at all.

Now, to some people that might be wonderful, but we know the snow has many benefits and it's necessary. The longer it's below freezing without the snow's insulating properties, the deeper the frost goes. The deeper the frost goes, the more likely water lines freeze and break, and the longer it will take in the spring for the ground to thaw for planting. In this area, the frost line has gone as deep as 16 feet in some years! Yes, no shallow water lines here!

So the snow is a welcomed cover. The latest snowfall in Anchorage nearby was November 13th - we came close to breaking that record. Bare ground can create a dustbowl too. We've had several high wind events with gusts up to 70mph this fall in some areas, and the dust and silt blew everywhere. Last Wednesday we had some good gusts and we were pelted with thick dust several times while herding down at the arena. Humans and livestock alike had gunk in the corner of their eyes from all the junk in the winds.

Now, we finally hav a good 3 inches of snow. The sheep are very very happy....they love eating snow. I can put a warm bucket of water out for them when there's fresh snow and they walk away, going back to the snow. Evidently the snow tastes better to them than the fresh warm water. The snow is good for the house too......no more tracks of dust or mud coming in the door, only clean fresh snow. THAT I can live with for house maintenance! HA! The goats won't mind the snow as they all have solid cover over their pens so no snow on the ground for them to plod through during their daytime out in the sun and fresh air.

Yay! Snow! And just enough of it too.

Schipperkes?????? Cattledog puppies??? WHEEEEE!!!

I took the boys over to a friend's house that breeds Schipps......they are 7 weeks old now and this is their first trip off the farm. They thought the Schipperkes were marvelous to play with and the Schipps thought they were a blast too. Here's pics of their socialization trip........what a blast they had!!

Pics of the puppy boys

Above is the plain faced boy.......

Below is the full mask boy.

And here is the plain faced boy experiencing ducks for the first time below...

Yes, it's been a busy summer, and on August 31st my girl Martha had a pair of red puppy boys. They are 7 weeks old now so I took them out to the yard and took a few pics! Both boys are still looking for the right forever homes.

breeding sheep

Isn't it amazing what we go through to arrange our breeding pens! Well, this year I decided to heck with it. I'm breeding one ram to my main girls and Peyton to another group, and that's that. Topple gets the main group this year, last year it was Captain. Peyton, the Gulmoget, better do well this year for his 4 girls - here's crossing fingers! So Garrett, so make sure Snowie goes in with the Shetlands in case Peyton needs go to a petting zoo next spring! :-)

Beautiful sunny day here, how's everyone else doing down there??

Poultry! Fall!

First, the fall colors.......crabapple leaves dropping now from our pretty tree....

A lovely brood of Muscovy ducklings with their mom - Whites, Chocolates, and blues....so far......

One of my lovely Blue Standard Cochins, this one a Blue Splash.....isn't she gorgeous??

And last but not least, what I believe to be a Blue Wheaton hen that we hatched here this year. What a pretty Frizzle! See, I do take pics once in a while...

Hope everyone is enjoying fall!