Unselfish gifts...

Marie K's lost Blaze to cancer earlier this month after his valiant fight with chemo treatment. (Blaze's sire & dam are well aged dogs with one of them over 15 yrs of age ...there is no rhyme or reason with how cancer shows it's ugly face )
Received a note from Cathy K that she lost her Jypsy...another fighter to the end.
Both able to give their dogs the kindest most unselfish gift when they were faced with that decision we all hate to face.
Feels like the end of an 'era' when people say farewell to their old sidekicks.

...and more rain

Mosquitos are horrid this year...making both animals and humans miserable.
Just nicely got caught up with the grass cutting on the two farms and in town...cycle starts over again as soon as it's dry enough. Purchased a few loads of hay bales so we are stocked up for a grace year of feed
like all the other farmers do in trying to stay ahead of the feed game to tie you through when things are sketchy with a poor year of growing. Alot of areas having problems getting the hay done with excess moisture...glad we finished up with what we did and is hauled all into the hay yard. Think the last load crippled in when the tire on the hay wagon snapped off...ended up unloading bales into the ditch and reloading again. Nothing like extra work when a person is in a time crunch in the first place.
Enjoyed grandson Cohen's visit when he was down. ( The farm such an adventure for him ) Picking peas a novelty and mastering how to pop the end & shell a pea pod bringing a few chuckles.
Makes for another generation finding out first hand what garden fresh really means....or should say tastes like.
A few bags make the freezer. Pea patch almost finished producing. Tomatoes plants heavy with green fruit.Corn coming along nicely. Cherry tree is so loaded with fruit the branches are drooping ( cant keep up to it )
One of the highlights this month was getting in a few hours visit with Lisa and Steve Dahr on their visit to Alberta from Nova Scotia
( both had qualified for the AAC Nationals in Calgary with their dogs Paris & Ziggy )
We've visited via email or on the phone over the past 6 years...nice to finally meet in person.
I havent seriously trained dogs all summer and summer is slipping away quickly. Stella better find her groove again as fall is right around the corner...

Reba

Picking Peas at Grandmother's house

Cohen turning 3 years old this month. Always enjoy that sunny face of his.

Austin...a dog who was all heart

Sincere condolences to Dianne and Don on the loss of
" Austin' aka
WTCH ADCH-S ATCH-SP MACH NATCH Caitland's Hear Me Roar RTDsc RCH-S SCH-G TM-G GCH-G SACH-G JCH-S LAA Bronze 2007-2008 ASCA Merit #8 Advanced Sheep 2007 ASCA Agility Finals Top 10 2007 ASCA Nationals MVA Qualifier Major Pointed ASCA Altered http://www.crowshillfarm.com/

For more information on Cancer Research:
http://www.ashgi.org/research.htm

http://www.breenlab.org/recruitment.html

Month of July...

Past month supper time is 10 pm by the time we get in the house after trying to catch up on farm stuff as well keeping on top of the 3 yards.
Hay season has been frustrating with the amount of rain we've been getting....the hay rake has been doing a lot of overtime this year. I've had to use my 4 x 4 to pull out our swather a few times after getting stuck in a low (wet ) area. Some of the hay is going to end up being baled on the tough side which means it'll have to be fed right away. The old square baler has gone through a lot of sheer pins when a gob of tough stuff causes things to snap.
It also means that everything gets shut down so you can reach in and unplug the baler..which cuts into a lot of down time when there is a race on to beat the weather.
Mix in the on going problem of trying to keep my sheep in their electric fence ( once they learn they can jump it..the grass always seems to be greener on the other side ) So they were brought home and all loaded on the trailer with a few sorted back to keep. I find this the easiest way to sort sheep...is to back sort.All the lambs went except the last few born as too young to wean. The ram stayed with a few ewes. They are all in the permanent fenced sheep pasture until I get a chance to put up the electric fence again for grazing. With the problem lambs gone , things should go smoother.
Nationals is coming up too quick and I haven't found time to seriously train for any event....now to make the time to train without the feeling like the clock is ticking and putting un-necessary pressure on the dogs.

New Skate boarder...

http://www.youtube.com/user/sumac0413#p/a/u/2/ZfRuB6sFbMw
Shaping behaviour with a clicker...Ms Dazzle hops right on and takes off.
( Derby x Sting daughter )
Thanks for sharing that clip Anne, made my day.
` Cathy