Heel Low ^~~^ ^~~^ ^~~^ Doggone It

[JACB Dorper]

Part 1 of 3​

Heel low:

You know, I don't remember getting old, but I have done jest that...but I am not old...fur a tree.

Pear-A-Dice - Pink skies and winter whites...GORGEOUS
'cause it don't get any better than this!

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I am seven Cattle Dogz old, eh. Count 'em...SEVEN...four in heaven waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge and three to keep me occupied and tired (REtired...not ever!) in the best way possible!

Stoggar
Strya Foam, Fixins, HyBlade
Makins​

So thus far, bin owned by SEVEN Australian Cattle Dogs...
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Flown in from NSW...their first day here...
No mistaking what we were in for!
Girl pups with six days difference in age...
Bad to the bone and what we LOVE!​

Bin on our patch of dirt since 1998...funny how you can count the passage of time by watching yer garden (trees) grow.

July 20, 2016
Pond and waterfall​

Same area...

2006 - note the size of the two rowanberry trees on each side of the heart shaped waterfall...
came to us in the mail​

I guess having fun and being excessively happy does that to a soul.

So first things first. I am a dog person...thru and thru. I do not profess to be anything close to a financially viable entity...I am a retired accountant that drives the cruel bus (I work to help pay for all the bird seed I waste). I retired at 40 and got to talking way too much to the critters here...so much so one day the neighbour stopped by and we were visiting over the fence and Rick walked by... I told him, "Hey, say "HI" to the neighbour," and he merely mumbled something about thought I was talking to myself again.

So I went back to work to add some $ to the kitty and thought the kids would be a great distraction. from farmy chores.

Dogs...dogs and chooks, had them mostly all my life. Was dogless for a short smidgen of time when I was going to college and taking university courses, but past that...probably wither and die without my Nemesis.

2013 - View of the Ram Pasture and New Orchard​

My Hero and I live on five acres in the Great White North (that happens to be in the GREEN right now!). My spouse has made me thirty plus outbuildings...a sanctuary and sandbox where I may play to my heart's content. We look forward to all four seasons here...a change is as good as a rest...right?

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My spouse names the buildings...so many we need to say where we are going...so we can come find each other to stop the insanity...time to quit...time to sleep...do it all again tamorrah!

This is the Sheep Dip Inn and the Screw Ewe Saloon in the background​

Zero predation, fencing and putting things away safely are paramount here. Only lost ONE chook...on Earth Day 2007 when I personally left a geriatric yard hen out. Got tired of years of head counting to see all were safely inside...and that one old Dark Brahma hen decided to stay outside and was promptly eaten by one of our many welcomed resident owls. My bad, her life.

I love to show my creatures...pending biosecurity breaches of course.

Melody and I in 2003​

My first sheep show (and last, never to do it again)...Showed Canada's first Grand Champion Jacob Ewe, first Grand Champion Jacob Ram, and first placing Jacob ram lamb. WOW I thought...what a way to begin and end on a high note.

My first sanctioned poultry show...Rosy took Reserve in Breed as the first Blue Fawn Call Duck in North America to do so. At that time, Blue Fawn was an unrecognized variety so was totally against the rules. Leave it to me and my creatures to encourage persons to act up...hee hee...and here I was wondering how my breeding of five years in the Calls was going...har har...pleasant surprise!

For Biosecure reasons, I no longer show sheep...or poultry but just started back up with show dogs again.

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This be Emmy as a senior puppy female April 1st...and no fooling round...after like a dozen years from the dog show ring...I can still run silly around the ring and do her some justice--even against a pro handler! That's me gal--strutting her stuffin's! Next day my son showed Lacy as Best Opposite in the same class of four ACDs...so both our gals now have one major and two points of the ten required for their CKC Conformation Championships. Sweet!

I love to click pics and this is a photo above is of Makins (our first ACD) at six weeks of age (see, one ear up, one ear ready to follow suit) that won her $300 worth of dog food and the title of BEST DOG in a local city newspaper...but then, we knew that already...hee hee...ACDS are the bestest breed bar none!

We own a menagerie of creatures here... from our two pairs of Australian Black Swans (cob from Holland, cob from ON/AB cross and above, in quarantine in 2013...two pens imported up from the Southern States)...to Ruddy shelduck/goose (gucks or dooses...who knows eh!), to chickens, turkeys, pheasants, ducks, and geese.

American Geese - Buff Pied gander (never seen anyone else with the variety!) and Buff goose with goslings - goslings all Buff with one recessive for Pied Pattern.​

Standard Partridge Chantecler hen​

One of my ten plus years on the go now...bird projects is the creation of REAL BLOODED bantam Chanteclers... I am not an advocate of breeding young stocks...so hens and cocks...not pullets and cockerels which makes the breeding program a tad longer to employ...don't be having babies make babies eh. If it lives to that age to make more, by golly you already proved several necessary things...like longevity, fertility, production, disease resistance--simple fact you never KILLED them outright. And the best of all...you can judge the actual bird in hand...for what it is at the time...not guessing what they will be as adults...but I digress, eh.

Higgins' White Dove Bantam Chantecler
An accumulation from 3% retention rates...the best of the best to build forward on
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I am OK with crossing colour varieties, but rarely cross breeds. I play with colour like finger paints...and to show I have NO FEAR...the gal above is pure white...white as the winter's snow. Brother Wilfrid who created Canada's only recognized breed of chicken crossed breeds to make the composite breed, the sing brightly Chantecler...so for those who dare, and keep at it, there is hope at the end of the ordeal...great hope!

One of the WIP bantam Chanteclers natural hatching a variety of chicks in winter​

Advocate for natural...now don't misunderstand...I use my vet's advice and blast parasites with DRUGS and no qualms about antibiotics when told to use them...

http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/dental-surgery-on-ovines.33793/

but there is a side of me that knows a hen talking to her eggs and then raising her brood...just something BETTER about that whole kitten kabootle...

This is my Pear-A-Dice thread on BYC...hopefully I am not violating any BYHerder rooles by posting that link.

This one's on my adventures investigating what to do with the like 800+ pounds of Jacob fleeces I got stashed away...

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1075978/counting-sheep-gonna-wanna-sleep-bedroom-by-moi-critters

So my husband enjoys restoration of old <junk> vehicles...I have always loved antiques (love HIM more & more everyday...) so it came natural for us to love the conservation and upgrading of motorized vehicles...we love TRUCKS....

The dog SUB bus...​

Those into vintage trucks...my spouses Big Bolts...

Three of the SIX 1936 Chev Maple Leafs​

http://www.stovebolt.com/gallery/higgins_mapleleaf.html

Got two one ton 1928 Chevs too...gonna see my spouse restore those...one each and then RACE to town for ice cream...causing mayhem, getting noticed for being a road hazard by blocking traffic on the highways...flat out at fifty.

- Continued next ...max allowed of 20 images... -​

 

[JACB Dorper]

Part 2 of 3​

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HyBladin' in HyBlade​

My spouse is a grader operator and cabinet maker...when not working...we go for loser laps in his many rides...he works on them and I sit like the pretty lump in the passenger seat...enjoying the drive. Never about the destination ... all about the ride!

Rick's 1989 one ton Chev...​

And we do do some work with them trucks too...but combine it with play time too...round bales heading for home...heeded home sweet home for them ruminants fur winter feasting.

Not sure when I will ever slow down to report too much...past my Pear-A-Dice thread, what's that saying, those that can do...well boy do I DO...lotsa doo doo.

Hmm...critter related achievements...yeh...

- Got the Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog into the CKC Miscellaneous Breed classification.

- Our Conservation Farm (Rat Ranch), is the only Canadian establishment profiled in the latest edition written by Sandhill Preservation Glenn Drowns...Storey's Guide to Poultry (nfi).

- Had a US Jacob Sheep registry officially recognized by Canada's only registry...Canadian Livestock Corp. Means someone with Jacobs from that establishment can easily have their registered Jacobs registered here in the Great White North.

- Was president of CAPS (Central Alberta Premium Sheep club) for several years...the membership loved the meets I put on and the speakers, popcorn I made, room I set up and tore down each month for th meetings and that was the rux...too much work and not enough hands to help and so I find the "lil' red hen" syndrome goes. I now longer do the club things (clubs are wooden and used to beat one abouts the head, eh). I go it alone, I like others that love animals but far too busy to stop much and certainly could live ten lifetimes just here.

- Did presentations on the publications that Alberta Ag had for sheep, shelterbelt, and poultry persons.

- Studied & researched sheep breeds for a decade before deciding upon Jacobs in 2003 but now that my geriatric Jacobs are like passing on due to old age (2003 and 2005)...oldsters. Me being old too,,,have gone to hair sheep...Dorpers...the DARK side hair sheeps...love them! Never did believe I could afford to own the breed but now we do!

Our new Hair Sheep - 4 reg Dorper ewes (1 reg ram) and two Katahdin/Dorpers for COLOUR!​

So on to more of our endeavours in the pursuit and hog-tying of happiness.

Heed my warnings...FTD...avert the eyes...and look no more...do not above ALL, make eye contact...l00k away...I say...run away...do not look them in the eyes...oh good gack!

Words from the WEAK...
FTD...
Fear The Duck​

The going joke here is that I am into DUCKS and my spouse into TRUCKS and we have melded the interests (I lie, I have way more species than just ducks...) here on the funny farm. Those couples willing to play nice nice together, stay together.

I use to have one of the biggest bevies of Call Ducks on the planet...
Near every variety imaginable...but have since
toned and tamed it down...jest a tad, eh!​

Things that tug at my attentions...

Teaching beings to pull a load...near most anything can be draft trained...at least in my books!

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Herding dogs...the herding commands easily convert to Gee and Haw and ah...but ain't they be cute! Bit barn sour...issues going away from the dog kibble containment area...streaks of plum speedy on the way home...

Big Horn (duh) Rodeo Parade...

My spouse designed and made the wagon (yeh, I wanted to just buy one of those teeny tiny wagons at the hardware store...he'd have none of that--said he'd be EMBARRASSED...so he build me a REAL covered wagon).

I trained the rams over the early winter (bungy cord to a car tire, lotsa treats for good reinforcements--end on happy note) and braided up the harnesses and trappings...cord from seiner netting company out East...brass (don't freeze as fast as silver) hardware, and stubborn determination to get er done.

Sheep draft braidings​

BTW, I had antique brass bells on the rams (neck collars) BUT I don't "bell" sheep at home...ding ding ding-a- If'n I would not like it, I try to avoid doing it to the dependents...

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Colour genetics...oh me library on that topic flows on over! An investment in amusements.

Black, Splash and Blue Calls - to explain incompletely dominant Blue Dilution... ​

Makins, HyBlade and myself taught over 450 Bio 11 & 12 students colour genetics and proud to say, that not one student that attended our presentation did not pass their final exams. Bully!

Sep 2015 - Veg Garden with pea, carrot and lettuce raiders at the gate​

Gardening...oh let the green thumb grow...

Hero made this greenhouse in 2007 for moi...positively posh!​

I never take advice that says NEVER...cause that is not a word in my vocabulary.

Wanna help out and make educated suggestions, I'll consider it...but like my dawgs...I am bull headed forceful...never say NEVER.

This is Makins and my third time EVER on sheep. Photos taken by a reporter for the Western Producer...I saw flashes and thought, better hurry up because a lightening storm is upon us...but nope, was flashes from a camera.

So our 3x time ever on live stock. See me and Makins...all that work WE did together to get her to GATHER up sheep first and then later, we know an ACD will drive...driving stock is what they have been bred to do. So first we learn to gather the stock, then all I gotta do is tell her "Get 'em, get 'em, get 'em!" and blighme...she did. But yeh...third time on sheeps and we did awesome. That be our great dogs...them Australian Cattle Dogs!

Our young ACD pups...keeping our flock/herd in order​

Some people mistakenly assume (you know that saying about making a butt of you and me...eh!)...assume that because other members of a breed act in a certain way...that all members will be that way.

I adore my sheep...nothing makes me stop, pause and suck in the view like a flock of my sheep...never get nuthing done but sometimes, that pause to smell the roses, warranted indeedy!

The Aussie girls kissing my Jacob Wether...
Lacy cast under a spell by Rex...fast asleep...
Beware the charms of them sheep!​

Rick has taught me many things...how happiness is right behind your eyes AND not to judge a book by what others say...

Heelers...savage dogs...never work sheep, never work poultry...if they are soft on stock, then they will lack force to move difficult beats. Hogwash. A dog breed known to be this intelligent...all they need is a human willing to work with their abilities and tailor and teach and be patient.

Our ACDs work turkeys, ducks, swans, sheep, goats, llamas, chickens...Makins would pick up hidden nest eggs and bring them to us for her dinner...scrambled as in cooked by moi! Makins and Lacy have brought me songbirds that needed attentions...in their savage Heeler mouths...unharmed by them. Yes, Australian Cattle Dogs are life support systems for a set of scissor jaws...but like responsible gun owners...guns do not kill or maim people, people do!

Nothing finer than a well worked with Australian Cattle Dog for any kind of stock work. Makins' uncle worked Musk Oxen in Alaska for the Conservation Officers. Makins worked ducks to sheep...on her second time on stock (sheep) she earned her 1/4 CKC Herding Started Title. Never say never...because the impossible is possible given you work at it.


Art...from wood carving, stainglass, to crafts like tawing leather to signs for the place.


Sewing...yes, beware the woman whose sole son has grown up and will not be tortured no mores...right to refusal at being made the FOOL!

For the next victims will be them poor defenceless dogs...

Undercover covert operative...MAKINS​

Used pink pompoms for the cow teats...yeh...and the brand on her hip...yup...that be a RAT!

Rick, Alexander and Tara...first letters make RAT...and my name is A Rat backwards...dare you ask no more on the topic...since Alberta is deemed to be rat free...before we arrive that is!

You can teach an old female dog new tricks... above is my Jacob ewe Nascor (triplette from my first lambing here)...getting her shearing done by me on June 20...slow and steady...careful I am. She jest lays there and waits on me. Use to prewash them sheeps...great on the blades and cutters...much cleaner fleeces and made my shearing much nicer. Gotten too old to do that task much, so now I shear and clip in the raw fleece...sorta what everyone else does...melding with the rest of what the flock does in my old age perhaps...sorta.

So I am now learning how to CLIP a sheep...same slow, careful and happy learner...

Hair sheep flock in the bird yard - doing what sheeps do best...
GRAZE!
July 18, 2016​

- Continued next ...max allowed of 20 images... -​

 

[JACB Dorper]

Part 3 of 3​

I learn much by doing...

Got the stuff out...ready, set, and CLIP!​

Do some research and ask for input, but best method is the trying to get it right, learn from your botches and keep at it. Perfection is never quite attainable, but the fun is in the attempt...you never fail if you never try, eh.

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Decor, she looks so much nicer clipped up clean.

Boss Man...clipped him and took me three hours from start to clean up...

Australian genetics - sire's grandfather and dam's sire are Ozzies!!​

Be aware...we run a conservation farm...and by Canadian TAX laws, we have absolutely NO expectation of profit. Farming for us does not = profit. Farming for us is not a business; we are a hobby farm for fun. No dollar amount could buy our happiness...but an influx of $ sure helps this losing cause, eh.

Hmmm...run about 15 tons of poultry feeds here...one day, get an auger.
In the meantime, bucket brigade puts it in the feed store...
nets me that extra slice of booberry pie!​

As mentioned...my part time job only starts to cover the bird feed bills here...my spouse is lucky enough he covers my short falls.

Using my ele netting portable charger system to clip the green
Why ruminants...their job here is to eat the GREEN
And make me stop - pause to admire them
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That does not mean we cannot investigate things like pasture rotations, forage types, caring for the plants first over the beasts, weather concerns, buildings, equipment, methods of husbandry, ele netting, how to save a buck yet = happy healthy creatures, shearing/clipping, processing happy meats, production, eating what you produce/grow, preserving, feathers for fly tying, fitting/training for show, lambing, use of products (tawing hides, making useful equipment like harnesses, fun wagons), behaviour, time/resource saving tips, transport, marketing ...all aspects of medications and preventatives...

What interests me is doing good by this Earth and its other living entities...it means that money for us does not limit what we do here. We could have paid cash for three even four houses by now in regards to the ongoing feed costs to provide for the mouths here...but what would we be doing with our lives and all that spare time & resources we'd have left languishing...doing nada?

We have funny levels of importance here...the animals come first over the humans--lots of people would never agree to those terms, eh. But some may! Do I go to one poultry show and risk fame and fortune by coming back to breath ILT on the birds from my own nostrils...sicken the birds we kept at home--supposedly safe...does one day = 364 days of misery. So far, touch my wooden head...we have never used any antibiotics on our poultry. May have to one day and the expired lots I keep replacing just in case in the fridge may one day get used if'n my vet says to. So far, so good.

We prefer the company of animals over our own kind--obviously. Yes, anti-social to a degree...we do like people but on our own terms...which most often happens to be ours!

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When in the company of critters, they do welcome you...you usually bring fresh water, food and tend to their every need...what is not to like unless it is harvest time...

We owe a duty of care to the dependents we chose to own...for poultry, canines and livestock are all classed under our laws as property...but we are advocates that happiness is the fun we get back for the resources we pour into them. We feed the songbirds regular here and we know that biosecurity protocols say you should not...well we will both tell you where to stick that formality!

Fav colour; Chrome...fav music; real dirt C&W, 80's Rock like ZZ Top, AC/DC, Aerosmith, ...fav food; shwimps and booberries / hotdogs on the BQ with family in the Man Porch...fav origin of creatures; Australia...fav author; To Do books of most any kind...where the person writes in a fashion where they explain what they did, why, and the results (huge fan of Dr. Carefoot!), fav method; scientific. Fav hobbies; too many to choose... So what are our wants...just another day in Pear-A-Dice...pretty please!

And so I close...as complex and complicated as a day in the life of living here...that be that fur now.

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Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[Poka_Doodle]

Welcome from Colorado. We have a few dog breeders here.

 

[JACB Dorper]

Heel low back to Colorado!

Not sure I can be classified as a "dog breeder" even tho I chaired the Breeders' Code of Ethics for the Canadian ACD Club. I am a dog person...I live, breathe and think like a mutt would. Mighten even have a small case of dog breath too.

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Ever since I was a child, I was in works of THE planned litter...and so goes the plans of mice and (wo)man...one litter in 2001, three pups, had spent five years canvassing about three replies every week to narrow it down to two other owners... Kept in touch all these years and the one fam, just lost their "pup" this year from that replacement breeding. I test, we title the dogs, researched pedigrees like a mad person...but would never be a good breeder in dogs as the one litter cost $10,000 (keep foremost in mind, was a bean counter). Sold those pups with a lifetime guarantee that I would pay the purchase price (mere $750) back even to have the dog die in my arms. Man I had fun with that litter.

Girls loved their area & luved soaking in the sights​

Puppy playground awaiting addition of PUPS​

Last August, I resurrected some of the puppy playground equipment for the two gals ... at least 14 years old...tire jump, tunnel...

Tuggy Timber​

Added a few like the tuggy timber and splash pool...

Teeter totter
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I'm quantifiably nutso...

Dogs were a tad less than pleased to see the new hair sheep playing on their equipment...

D'Arcy...checking out the toys...​

Have had more "litters" of sheep. That's a hoot and a half, eh. I do admit my first Jacob breeding was a pasture on a lead affair...but not before planned ram exposure and flushing the ewes with better nutrition to have them cycle on up. Told you I am out there...a mix of what a commercial farmer would do and what a pet owner does. Guess I walk on the fence alot...fall down, go boom, get back up...

October 20, 2003​

I do alot of "play" farming...serious about the play and having fun, but also serious about doing the animals right.

We eat some of our critters but we try our best to make happy meat. I feel as a meat eater...I have an obligation to know some of my meals personally...justifies my right to eat...something sorta like that.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[Baymule]

I love your farm! Your writing style is a hoot, I can tell you will fit perfectly here! Your out buildings are all so cute, just love them. Your Hero is very talented and I love his trucks too!

 

[Latestarter]

Thanks for the ability to visit your oasis Tara. You have a beautiful place and beautiful animals. It's taken you a lot of years and effort to get it where it is today, but it sure must be nice to sit back and just enjoy every now and again. Lots of work to keep it up no doubt! But I'm sure that's part of your joy.

 

[OneFineAcre]

interesting read.

 

[micah wotring]

Hey, welcome to BYH from West Virginia!!

Enjoyed reading your intro(s). XD

MW

 

[JACB Dorper]

Heel low:

I love your farm! Your writing style is a hoot, I can tell you will fit perfectly here! Your out buildings are all so cute, just love them. Your Hero is very talented and I love his trucks too!

How very nice of you to say this!

Yes, my fear is that I WILL fit in here perfectly & instead of doing something in the real world each and every day, I will be lingering on here too much! Slide right in, part of the pack, flock, herd...use to being more the square peg pondering the round holes...

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I got so many things I dream up that I want to be doing (can I buy another nine lives please!)...and some not so much JOBs pending. Checked on my tables of tomatoes in the greenhouse and yup, aphids have decided to visit them now too...bad year for them or bad year for ants and since the ants like to "farm" aphids...whatever the scenario--there are now hordes of icky greeny aphids to threaten the wellness of the plants in the greenhouse. So out I will go (la la la) with the soap and water to spray them all down...sigh! Rick laughed last night..."I know what YOU will be doing tomorrow!"

My Hero is a good provider...so he's a keeper in my books. I've laughed because I have been asked to "pimp" him out but still not done with him quite yet and thinking..."If I ever am...he'll be all used up and no good to even himself!" On the Stovebolt site where his vintage rides are featured...his handle thar is "toooldtopartout" and good golly, there are daze where I think it covers the both of us. Nothing left, all used up, all gone, no more...screaming down the luge of life, butt on fire, nostrils near froze shut, glasses fogged over...laughing hysterical at the impending DOOM looming up...but having too much fun to realize the implosion is near.

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Probably why we love the Cattle Dogs so much...by the time they give up the ghost...no teeth left (jest nubs), aches and pains from playing too hard, despite all attempts to keep them civil, they are total wrecks...they pretty much pass on with "no thanks" on offer to their organ donor's cards (as if such things existed for canines, eh!).

Rick got on to getting this place going day one. Lots of machinery operation and land shaping. He dug out the foundation for his cabinet shop, hauled in gravel and it has been on the settle ever since...proper foundation! I ordered the shelterbelt trees that summer for the spring of 1999 and got right down to planting them once they arrived (white spruce, caragana, lilacs, other ornamental trees). For the advice to get the plants in right away is so true. You blink and 20 years goes by because you are having fun and before you know it...and before you truly thought it possible...you actually have vegetation worthy of some real estate values! LOL

This is one row of Caragana...I planted sticks and now it is a green wall that should be trimmed up and shaped...jot that down on the list of ongoing "to do's" eh!

Thanks for the ability to visit your oasis Tara. You have a beautiful place and beautiful animals. It's taken you a lot of years and effort to get it where it is today, but it sure must be nice to sit back and just enjoy every now and again. Lots of work to keep it up no doubt! But I'm sure that's part of your joy.

Thanks LS...

If someone lacks purpose in their lives...buy some dirt and shackle your expectations to an ongoing vision.

I know you have similar aspirations and I am so proud of your dedication and drive to pursue your path to happiness. Happiness or too tired to think of getting into other troubles...whichever it is...never a dull moment or lack of purpose.

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interesting read.

Thanks & happy to have amused you!

Hey, welcome to BYH from West Virginia!!

Enjoyed reading your intro(s). XD

Thank you...happy to entertain!


Was a beauty of a day yester...but a tad too sunny to dump sheep out in the middle of it...so strategic planning, I put the bearded ladies out to clear the North East ditch instead of going back to the West ditch for fire preventive clean up (clean up, aisle nine!).

Course the hair sheeps are still learning the ropes here (ele netting--gotta train stock to respect it)...I check on them often to make sure nobody is in trouble! Plus being ditch side, I watch, listen and worry...some vehicle drives off and releases them--puts them at risk of great harm ...yeh, all that paranoid shepherdess stuff.

Goes without saying that the two young ACDawg girls came along to "help" me--I always need helpers to liven up my day. Might fall down and I may need a duo tongue lashing to help me get up and at it again...

So I check on the hairy ones and they are doing just grand. It'll be the time I don't check when my thoughts run wild that they WILL be in a bad way...so more so to calm my issues...I check, sit in my folding chair, have a gulp or three of bottled water and then after lingering jest long enough to think of another "must do" thingy...off I go...hobbling about aimlessly on a mission.

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Gals are good! Still on the mow, fence still standing, beauty.

Truly IS a nice place for the sheep to be grazing on a hot day. This is an off shoot road (we are a triangle; roads on all sides...laughed as the "realestate" person described it as an "undesirable acreage" and we howled...no neighbours...fence is OURS to deal with...biosecure being unto ourselves on all sides--no nose to nose contact with some sickly un-dewormed shaggy beasts we don't own...what is not to love!). Lots of clovers, tall grasses, trees for shade; I can stomp in the elenetting to butt up next to the surrounding perimeter fence and voila...awesome place! But need to check on them to make sure my imagination is not creating a false sense of happiness...they be all good!

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So I look back at the two girl dogs...both are suppose to stay INSIDE the property--I'd be distracted oogling those sheep and look up to find dog(s) are gone! Eeep...so girls are not to be wandering outside the property as they too are learning about the ZAPpy power of the netting. Heard one let out a piercing shriek about two weeks ago...not sure which girl got too close but in a sick way, you do hafta chuckle. Like those old house furnace radiator plates that use to get red hot and burn some kid's feets...good gack but all the warnings about it being HOT are never fully considered until someone does it for real. Like the dogs and goofing off...someone always ends up wearing a cone, eh.

Lacy the RED...attempting to go on walk about​

There is this wives' tale about them Red Heelers...devil's spawn some profess...the RED dogs are the ones into the most trouble and I can't quite argue that. They make it or follow it...but whatever the case, maker or breaker...the RED ACDs are always into and up to something. Use to hear farmers talk about pigs like that...coming from or going to--TROUBLE! Don't get me wrong...we love mayhem, gives us something to fix, to do...but really? Thousands invested in fencing, toils and labours because fencing is never done...but really? I triple fenced this place already...don't make me do a fourth strip...buggers!

"Lacy...you jest had to!" Our home bred red girl Fixins, she could charge the page wire fence and she'd bust thru the squares in it...determined to get whatever she wanted to get on the other side. Not so much greener grass, just her exercising her meaner disposition to teach the outside world a lesson. I can see Lacy is following happily in her paw prints. Rick installed the checkered plate of aluminum on the space between the front and back gates because we saw the obvious need to keep the dogs IN. So now we gotta go and weld solid wire on the gates so you cannot squeeze UNDER it?? Me tired of fencing...but I guess I could see how far this goes before we do an upgrade...will she actually squeeze right out...or...

"Hi there...I want to be with YOU!"​

Thank doG we love you...whole bunches you Poochy Puppers...AGH! Australian Cattle Dogs...Velcro dog, Shadow dog, Siamese twin...any of those because as the Breed Standard creator (Mr. Robert Kaleski) says of the breed...

Nothing in the bush makes as good a mate as a Cattle Dog.
Besides working cattle and horses, he is a great fighter,
good game dog, retriever and finest watch dog possible.

"How much do you still love me now?"​

Yeh, I know I said I loved mayhem...yeh...!

Oh well...sheep outside the boundaries were all good & OK...Emmy is there giving Decor a reassuring kissy sniff at the fence line...so all is well...time to get my butt back out in the land of the living.

I have aphids to combat if'n I want to see any fruit from the tomatoes this season...sigh.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

Edit - Sorry, slipped in an extra [/QUOTE] and fowled things up...hee hee...corrected now! :-D