I'm Sorry......and I Need Your Help!!!

I'm sorry for being such a BAD blogger!
I've been busy filling out home mortgage loan applications and trying to get all my financial matters in order. I am REALLY hopeful that I will be able to buy Don out and keep my home. I better, since I'm gonna have TWO dogs again...

Pretty much ever since Buddy died, I have been frantically looking for a puppy. Not so much to "replace" Buddy ~ that can't happen any more than Buddy could ever have replaced "Rocky". But Sadie is already nine years old and I have to get another dog and bond with it before anything happens to HER. Hence, my frantic search for a puppy. I decided that if I was going to get another dog, I may as well get one that can HELP ME OUT around here. So, I researched "Working Farm Collies" and found what I think will be my perfect next dog.

My search is finally coming to an end. The last weekend of June, my Beautiful Baby Girl (aka: Katie ~ my youngest daughter) and I are going to take a road trip and pick up my new English Shepherd Puppy! I am SO excited. I can hardly sleep at night and all I can do when I'm at home is look up more information about English Shepherds and all the pictures I can possibly find of them on the Web. I have searched MANY breeders both in and out of the US before I found my beautiful Tri-colored little girl. And now I've got to pick between TWO of them!
This first little doll is the first pup that I fell in love with. In this picture she's about 4 weeks old. She's a bit scared here because her breeder put her on a SWING to take the picture and she's not used the the ground moving beneath her.OK. Fine. I'm in love. This is the puppy I've been searching for. A beautiful, Tri-color with white legs, a blaze and a white tip on her tail. (sound familiar???)

Then, dear breeder has to go and send me THIS picture:NOW what the heck am I supposed to do??? This is the beautiful sister to the first pup. I love all the white on her front legs and chest. The breeder assures me that there is virtually NO difference between these two pups, personality wise. Both are self confident and fearless around livestock. Great.

Here's my sweetie at 11 weeks. Again, scared on the swing. I love the brown on her legs. I'm hoping to see a picture of her playing so I can a more natural expression.

And here's the gorgeous SISTER! What do I DO??????? I would like to see the two pups together and see if one chooses ME. But that may not be possible as I can't get there to pick mine up until the last weekend in the month and one will probably be sold by then. So I have to chose! :-(

HELP!!!

DREAM says... "I hear that dog's supposed to be some kind of 'herding' and 'guardian' dog. I suppose I'm going to have to TRAIN her....A ewe's work is never done!"

Lamb Update....

The lambs are growing so quickly it's hard to keep up with them as they change! Most are very friendly, although MY "Dilemma" still will not let me pet her. Possibly because I make a point to socialize and tame the lambs that are sold and moving to new homes first?

Although, my beautiful "Tiara" (shown here hiding behind her brother "McDreamy" has managed to avoid my touch. I need to work on that!

Socrates is GORGEOUS!!!! As is "American Idol" (still available!)

Einstein will be staying in Minnesota, so I'll get to watch him grow up and see his babies! He's going to be a beautiful ram.

It's HOT outside today. I better get out and get some mowing done. I'll use the rider....

FANTASY says.... ..."I'm gonna get me a CAT!"

Back in the Saddle Again...

It's that time of year again!
I gave the first halter lessons to lambs today. Zest's son, "Eclipse" was the first one up to me so he got to go first...As you can see, he was thrilled. Actually, Eclipse stood very nicely, while I put the halter on him. The best I've ever had any lamb or sheep stand for getting one on! Of course, then I tried to get him to move...Notice how concerned all the other sheep were for poor, frightened Eclipse. NICE friends! Don't worry, in less than 5 minutes, Eclipse figured out that if he stepped toward me, he got an animal cracker. Needless to say, before long we were marching around the pasture.

Piggish Beautiful miss Polka Dot never even hesitated. She followed me right off the bat. "COOKIES"!!!

Since Zodiak's daughters are so friendly (and Gemini is still for SALE), I decided to do Gemini next. She was not quite as willing as her sister Polka Dot was. It took a little longer than the other two, but Gemini DID finally get the idea. We ended on a good note ~ with her stepping toward me and getting a cookie.

Three down and 17 to go..... (OMG!!)

Things are going pretty well, here in the Bluff Country. I'm checking into financing so that I can buy out Don's share of our home. So far so good. I'm missing my big black puppy but Sadie and I have been going for walks and doing lots of snuggling. And ~ I have a secret! But I can't tell you. Yet. I'm hoping to get permission to post some pictures of what I've been up to for the past couple of days...

DREAM says.... ..."Don't ask ME! I've hardly seen Mom at all until she came out to work with the babies this afternoon..."

Rest In Peace, my Big Black Puppy...

I must say, Buddy's passing was very peaceful. The last thing he did was to lick the face of "Doc Gray", as he administered the shot. It was as if he was thanking him. My beautiful, Big Black Puppy Dog relaxed into my arms and was gone in seconds. No stress. No fear. No pain. At least not for him. ;-)
I burried him with his ball and my socks.

I'm going to miss Buddy but I know that he is in a better place. One day, we will be together again, as I walk over that Rainbow Bridge with my Big Black Dog on one side of me and my Big Black Puppy on the other...

I'm grateful for the love and the years that I had with these magnificent animals.

As for now, I will fight. I will fight to stay in my home and stay near the two friends that are watching over me and my flock. Buddy and Rocky are buried side-by-side in the 'Nursery Paddock'. I will not leave them. Things are looking hopeful on the home front. I'm actually beginning to believe that this is really going to happen. If WHEN it does, there's going to be one HECK of a party in the Bluff Country. You're invited!

DREAM says......."Bring Cookies!"

This is going to be a SAD Day...

In November of 2000, my "Big Black Dog" (Rocky) was struck by a car and killed. I was devastated. The pain was so unbearable that after a couple of weeks, I drove to Madison, Wisconsin, (in a Blizzard ~ which really ticked off Don) and adopted a 2 year old, male Rottweiler from Wisconsin Rottweiler Rescue. I had no choice. I felt like I was dying. On the long, drive home, I named my new friend "Buddy". He filled a void in my heart and eased the pain that was gripping my soul. Although he would never "replace" my Big Black Dog, Buddy will forever be my Big Black PUPPY.

He has the personality of a puppy. Always happy. Usually silly. His nickname is "Mr Wiggle Butt".

Today, Buddy is dying. He's been slowly, going down hill for the past couple of months. Don & I have talked about having him "put down". But I wanted to give him as much time as possible as long as he wasn't suffering. The past couple of days, Buddy is having difficulty moving around. I've been bribing him to eat for a week now, by pouring chicken soup over his dog food ~ which I serve to him on my bed. He drinks water when I bring it to him in a bowl on my bed. He only gets off my bed when I urge him to come outside or once, yesterday, when he heard one of his favorite commercials, on T.V. (Buddy LOVES to watch TV and recognizes the sound of all his favorite shows and commercials) He goes outside once or twice a day, with great difficulty.

I called the vet this morning. He will be coming out shortly.

Buddy has picked a spot, under a tree, in the ewe's pasture. For the past few days, he has laid there all day and only moved when I make him come in at night. He loves to lay there and look over "his" valley. I sat out with him for a while this morning. He's so funny! He's lying there, barely moving. But he loves to be petted and have his tummy rubbed. I brought him his favorite ball and a pair of my socks. He LOVES to carry around my socks (and SHOES) and enjoys shaking apart the paired up ball I roll my socks into.

Buddy enjoyed being petted and scratched for a while. He used the ball as a pillow. His breathing is so slow and shallow, that several times I thought he had passed. But as soon as I'd stop rubbing his belly, he'd gently paw at me to ask me not to stop...
Then, the most amazing thing happen. Buddy noticed the socks that I had brought him.
He started 'mouthing' the rolled up socks. Then he rolled on his back and played with them!
My silly Puppy!
I would pretend that I was going to take 'his' sock away, and Buddy would GROWL at me ~ the vicious beast! (this is a game he loves to play)
Buddy uses his paws to unroll the socks. He prefers to have one at a time so that it flops around when he shakes it.
Although Buddy has never much liked Lilly (the white & orange kitten)~ in fact, I think he wants to EAT her! ~ he adores Daisy and here she decides to keep him company while he's playing.

Naturally, watching my Big Black Puppy having so much fun is making me think that maybe I should wait. Give him a little more time. But I can't. I don't want to wait until he CAN'T enjoy life. CAN'T have fun. I want it to end while he's still able to feel joy. And love.

I better go. The vet's on his way...

SOLD...

My favorite ram lamb, of the season, is sold. "BLUFF COUNTRY MC DREAMY" will be making his home in Illinois, later this summer. I have very mixed feelings about selling this ram lamb.It's always nice to place a nice quality ram lamb in a good breeding home, but I was half hoping that he wouldn't sell and I'd use him on a couple of my girls this fall! His fleece is incredible!

On the other hand, I am supposed to be cutting my flock back, and trying to scrape together the money to buy my home, so I am very grateful for each sheep or lamb that I have sold. Here are some of my friends who are contributing to the "Save Bluff Country Shetlands Fund"....

"BLUFF COUNTRY DREAM WEAVER"

"BLUFF COUNTRY CALYPSO"and her twin sister...

"BLUFF COUNTRY GYPSY"

Calypso and Gypsy are both out of "SHELTERING PINES SAVANNAH". Savannah is also moving on to a new flock. I'm going to MISS my "Little Savannah Banana" but I have her daughter and I had to sell two adult ewes in order to keep two ewe lambs.

I'm sure I'll cry when "BLUFF COUNTRY FANTASY" leaves for her new home...

"BLUFF COUNTRY TIARRA", sister to McDREAMY & McSTEAMY, is also sold. As is her beautiful dam:

"LOST LAKE FARMS PHOEBE" Shown here with McDreamy and Tiara. Phoebe has given me the most exquisite lambs and I will miss her sweet face terribly! But I have her daughter FLASH FLOOD who passes on Phoebe's beautiful fleece to her lambs, so the legacy continues.

"BLUFF COUNTRY CROWN JEWEL"

Jewel's handsome twin brother:"BLUFF COUNTRY SOCRATES". Socrates hasn't posed for many pictures lately. He's too busy EATING! His horns are much larger now and he is an awesome looking ram lamb.

If I HAD to pick a favorite from the ewe lambs that I've sold, it would have to be:"BLUFF COUNTRY POLKA DOT". She is SO beautiful and reminds me very much of DREAM as a lamb. Fortunately, I know Polka Dot's going to a wonderful home.

Speaking of moving on to a new home, both of my boys "WINDSWEPT BRAVO" and BLUFF COUNTRY BLACK DIAMOND" are also sold. Things are going to get mighty quiet around here...

DREAM says......"I'm staying right here with Mom!"

That you are Dreamer. We've still got three lovely ewe lambs and several VERY nice ram lambs left for sale. Next week we'll start...HALTER LESSONS!

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!

FRESH PASTURE...

I love this time of the year. Everything is so green and lush. I moved the girls over to fresh pasture yesterday. One would think they were starving!

As you can see, the paddock they were in is not exactly all used up. But their favorite areas are all chewed down so it's time to move them and rest the field they
were in.
After I move the ewes & lambs, I go in and mow the paddock that they were just in. This evens up the growth (I like it to look pretty) and keeps the stuff they don't eat from taking over. Plus, it gives me something to do! Outside. With. The. Sheep.
;-)

DREAM (and her son, Dream Weaver) says......"MMMmmmm! Good stuff..."