Frost

Fall

This is still my favorite time of year, sparkling blue sky, cool mornings, brilliant color all around....

BB seems to like it too.

This is Luverboy diving for a stuffed toy on the drive. It just seemed to me that this was like a little parfait of greens and greys with a Puli at the bottom of the glass....

drive to Denver

Last Friday I drove to Denver. The scrub oak has already turned and the leaves are starting to turn on the Aspens; but above tree line it was snow.

A good 4 inches or more of snow.

rain

The seasons are changing what started as rain ended as snow on the mountain.

Meeker 3 - heartbreak

Five days of sheepdog trails at Meeker- they're all top dogs.


This uploaded backwards- so if you want to start from the beginning go 2 posts down to "Meeker"


Ian and Peg got all the non-collared sheep out of the ring with about 10 minutes still on the clock- that's really fantastic.


Now the only thing left to do is get the 5 sheep with the orange collars into the pen.


...and heartbreak one of the little lambchops gets away and rejoins the herd. Which means Ian and Peg have to start the shed again and bring the whole group into the ring and shed down to the final 5 once more.

The really tragic part is that this happened to Ian and Peg *three* times in the last 10 minutes. They got the final 5 shee up to the pen and then one little mutton breaks off and rejoins the flock. Once was bad luck, twice was really bad luck, three times- heartbreak.

Meeker 2 the shed

Let that one go...

This is an amazing time for Ian- he and Peg have almost shed all the sheep without collars...



There go the last two! Now only the collared sheep are in the ring


Ian waves his crook to move the non- collared sheep farther away...


While Peg holds the 5 collared sheep in the ring.

Meeker

The Meeker sheepdog trails the biggest cash purse in the sheepdog world. This is Ian Zoerb and his dog Peg (they finished 4rth) in the double lift finals on Sunday


Bring 'em in Peg

Right into the shedding ring... with a good amount of time left on the clock (Peg did one of the nicest "look back"s I've ever seen. This is a double lift so there are two groups of sheep to bring into the ring- She brings one group in and then waits for the "look back" command and brings in the second group and then herds all of the sheep into the shedding ring.


Almost half the 30 minutes left for the "shed"


Hold 'em Peg. Ian works one side of the sheep and Peg works the other. Only the sheep with the orange collars are to be penned all the rest have to be "shed" or moved out of the shedding ring.



Oops- not those- that one has a collar on- that one stays..

Junipers

We're in the pinion juniper woodlands

Which means they're not so good for eating...

coming in for a landing

Hummies

This is the time of year for little birds to leave the nest and fend for themselves....


We have mostly black chinned , broad tailed and rufus hummies here.

Sweet Gin

Sweet Gin is gone. She was only here on the ranch a short while.



Here she is when she arrived from rescue (from a puppy mill). Her eyes have that wary look.



It didn't take long for her to settle in. Soon she and Jinks were running up and down the drive and digging for prairie dogs. She was a good hunter- not as good as Jinksy but she got three prairie dogs her first day here. It was wonderful seeing her become a dog after having lived in a cage for so long.



Last summer- such a short while ago - both Jinks and Gin doing a perfect recall and sit. Of course, this had nothing to do with the treats in my pocket.

In the snow this spring with that great big corgi grin.



Just a few days ago- still sweetness on four paws.

In March I took her to the Vet since she was lethargic. They found the signs of mild kidney failure. Off I went to yahoo groups to find a support group K9kidneydiet. The diet was switched to home made meat loaf in broth twice a day. Her numbers got a little better. That was until last week. At first it looked like the kidney disease had progressed and started that dreadful downward spiral. Unfortunately it wasn't just that, she started showing signs of a brain disorder of some kind, tilted head, circling , falling down and seizures. It just kept getting worse.

Yesterday, she left.

Dear sweet Gin. I hope you're playing with Jinksy and having a blast.

Hugs and Kisses

Hugs
More hugs

Kisses
and a bit of a Goose


Funs' over- dinnertime.....

keep away

BB and Duff spinning in circles



The object of such ferver?



A stick.

spring blooms

Sego Lily, Utah's State flower. The bulbs are edible but not what I'd call scrumptious.


Yarrow which makes a nice tea. You have to remember that it's a laxative however.... Actually on the list of medicinal plants Yarrow is quite impressive. The leaves can be used as first aid on cuts and abrasions to help clot the blood, the tea can stimulate sweating if you have a dry fever, and some claim it shrinks polyps.



Salsify aka Oyster plant. Now, these roots are edible and I would recommend them.



Larkspur- for that green soap tincture which kills lice. Not loved by cattlemen- it will poison the livestock.


False Dandelion. The petals have that little tooth at the tip- that's what makes them a "false" dandelion.

Dasies- oxeyes I think...

Blue Flax - how pretty they are and they close up at night open up for dawn and follow the sun all day long. What can't you use flax for? Linseed oil, rope, linen and linoleum it's all flax.


Allium. Hookers Onion edible bulb and onion smell. Onions are blood thinners and toxic to dogs.