One of Those Days

By the short hairs

Ordinary, every day occurences become so much more interesting with a pup in my kennel. I smile easier, and more frequently. This picture is of Nell and Spot, who is not quite 3 months old now. His birthday is easy to remember, because he was born the day before Thanksgiving. He's an engaging little bugger, and Nell is fairly tolerant of him, even though she just weaned her own pups a few months back. 

Beautiful

I gave a lesson today, then worked my own dogs in the big field, and it was a perfect day for it. The weather forced me to my sweatshirt, but the sun was bright, the day without wind. When the field has it's Sunday clothes on as it does just now, it makes you want to linger. So I did. Big dog, Mirk, always meanders far afield, and Star stayed close to the truck and the water, because he had been the last to work and was cooling down. Nell is jumpy, there's no other way to describe her, but she likes to stay close. Spot is always underfoot to the extent that I'll look for him, then find him directly below at my feet. Like Nell, he likes to stay close.

Oh! Come on!

This is my favorite time of year in Cali. Days are cool, it might even rain. Nights are cold, but not that cold. The grass is really coming now, and the swelter of late summer and early fall are still a ways off. The dogs revel in winter here, especially dogs like Mirk, who came from Wales where it's really cold. The sheep are happier too, much more willing to work and be worked. I spent hours in that field only leaving when I decided it was a good day for a ride on my road bike.



OK, let's go...

 I have too many dogs in my kennel at this time, and it's easy to complain about the effort to keep them all clean and fed. But there was no place I'd rather have been today than in their company on that little hillside. The unconditional love of 7 dogs is a lot of love, and today I simply embraced it...then I went home and cleaned kennels!