Mt. Redoubt and ashfall

Well, if anyone was hoping for competition from the lower-48 this coming weekend at the dog show, you might end up disappointed. As usual, they are canceling flights into and out of Anchorage all over the place right now. I wonder how long Redoubt is going to sprinkle ash into the air tho. Perhaps a few hours, a few days, or a few weeks - no one knows. Yep, it finally went poof last night! MaryEllen, if Augustine has a ewe lamb we'll have to name her Redoubt...

Along those lines, I know that some people 'plan' on using the water from their hot water heater tanks, or else their pressure tanks, if the power goes out for a while as emergency water. If that might be you, then do consider flushing it out while things are good (the power is on, there's no emergency as of yet, and you're not stuck at home already). Sediment at the bottom can build up. It's yucky, beside being bad for your hot water tank. Also get a short piece of hose so that the drain at the bottom of the tank is actually useful, since it's so close to the floor, as filling pots and buckets can be difficult without a little hose piece to attach to it.

I remember the last time we had a significant ash plume float over Anchorage and the Valley. The power plant in Cook Inlet had trouble with their generators and several of them were shut down so that if anything happened to the ones running, there was backup. I don't recall if we had power outages - does anyone else?

It's good to be prepared in case of an ashfall that lasts more than a day or two. It could be done with now, or it could do this for months. Adequate animal supplies such as food and water are important to have on hand. We have generators here to pump water from our well so that the more than 100 head of sheep and goats won't go thirsty. Buckets and barrels can be filled with water and you can even put a Saran Wrap type product over the top to keep them clean from dust and ash. When power companies shut down to save their tubines, you might not have electricity. And no heat. And of course, no water. Thinking ahead and being prepared can be a comforting feeling. Maybe today's a good day to go shopping - yay, and excuse to shop!! HAHA!

Congratulations to Lance Mackey! Iditarod 2009!

Wow! Winning the Iditarod race 3 times in a row now. Congratulations to Lance and to all of the dogs that were determined to cross that finish line first in Nome, Alaska. And of course, his new young lead dog is a girl.........hehehehe.......

Extreme Sheep LED Art

Well, ok, we know some of it may be a bit 'stretched'....but it's fun to watch anyways! Now, isn't that a horned Shetland in the one shot? Maybe? Maybe not?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw

Enjoy!

There!

My goodness! Some people's kids! Demanding, aren't they? I suppose they don't know that I just got done birthing our first Nubian doeling this year! Harumpf! So Zia gets to have her picture posted first! Looooook at those looooooong ears - she's beautiful!

And how about this beautiful girl? This is a Captain daughter, my Princess. Gotta love that soft fleece!

And here's Garrett's dude, Peyton. Nice scurs on this Gulmoget boy. :-)

And HERE is someone's Blanche that she's been begging for photos of for ages now.....ok, I want YOUR butt up here at 20 below to take pictures next time young lady! Just because your flowers are blooming there doesn't mean we've recovered from more than 24 inches of snow in the last 2 weeks! See, she's fluffy, but she is having a bad hair day at the moment with those funky tufts sticking out.....

ya'all feel a little better now?????

hehehehehehe..............

Dog Brags

Above is Rocky, still a puppy here in Alaska, taking a Group 4 in the show ring against some very strong competition!

I have a dog brag worthy of a little blogspace!

Crufts 2009 held in Birmingham, England, is now over with. It has an even bigger entry than the US's Westminster dog show and is considered the top show of the year. A few years back now, one of my cattledog boys was exported to the UK and now lives with his owner in Northern Ireland, working cattle and sheep occasionally like a good Australian Cattle Dog should (be able to do as needed). Rocky is happy there with Daryl, this I know first hand because I went over there last fall and saw for myself. Well, Rocky sired a litter a few years ago now and one of his daughters, Taz, won Best of Breed at Crufts 2008. Well I got news that she won it again this year! WOW! More often a Best of Breed in the dogs goes to a boy rather than a girl. But even harder is winning it all, 2 years in a row! Rocky's mom and dad are here, his mom Spice is 11 years old now and still healthy and sound for her age. His dad Chuckles hopes to sire a litter for us this year too. I'm glad that Taz won again. I'm even more happy that her sire was one of my boys from a long line of working, herding dogs too. Congratulations Lesley for doing a wonderful job of showing your lovely girl!

Still Waiting

It's that time of year. For some, the crocus are popping up. For others, the grasses are green. And still for some of us in the northern tier, the snow is deep and still falling out of the sky on occasion. But, for all Shetland breeders, it's time for lambs to start appearing. Do you have lambs already? I don't. My girls are tucked in nightly, in the morning it's like holding your breath - the gate opens and they slowly head on out to their hay. As the numbers thin out, I look in their shed to see if anyone is staying behind, or if there's a new little body or two back in the corners. Nope, nothing yet. I find myself wandering out there more often now. I'll pick up the binoculars in the house and peer out there carefully in between my wanderings. Usually I don't have lambs until late March, but one year they appeared in February so I've learned to turn on the watch mode earlier now. I'm not pacing, but I'm certainly more alert!

How about you???

A snowy winter

It's been a snowy winter here this year! And I've been bad about blogging, haven't I?!

How have you been? I'll bet you're looking forward to spring and lambs and everything that comes to life in the spring - me too! But I am indeed enjoying the sunny days in between our snows this winter. My time for blogging kinda wentdown the tubes when 6 Nubian kids arrived in January since I spend a good amount of time in the mornings and evenings bottle feeding them. You know, the bottle feeding itself is VERY enjoyable, it's the washing out and filling of the bottles that gets to be a pain time-wise - LOL!

And just look at that handsome Peyton, my scurred Gulmoget! Imagine polled rams sired by this boy - wow, I can't wait but I guess I'll have to, his 3 girls are taking their time and I don't expect to see their lambs for a few months yet. Come on Peyton, we'd LOVE to have more Gulmogets here!

Good to be back.......