More canning today

I love doing stuff like canning. Today I made a small batch of raspberry jelly, and a small batch of blueberry jam. I made another batch of the tomato sauce and then processed both batches. Froze the rest of the raspberries and most of the blueberries. Later this week we will do a small batch of pickles and some red & green pepper relish. I wish I didnt have to go to work, I am so in the mood to do the homebody things, quilting, gardening etc.

Busy Day

We were really busy today, but it made for a very nice day. A trip to the farmers market, picked up pork chops for dinner, corn, blueberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic and eggs. Then run a few errands, dog food, fabric store, another fabric store, walmart, archivers. Then a run out to the apple orchard to pick apples and raspberries. Then home where we ate nummy pork chops and apple raspberry crisp. And then we made Maple Walnut Blueberry Conserves, and Blueberry Raspberry Jam, and tomato sauce(prepared, but not canned yet). Tomorrow we will make another batch of tomato sauce and can it, along with some pickles, and more jam or jelly-maybe jelly this time.
I also am making a set of curtains for a couple of soccer fields, hence the bunches of fabric. Busy days. The dogs felt left out, that is until they got new chew bones to enjoy.

No peppers tonight

but the dogs didnt seem to mind. Yes, I was fine with the slip yesterday, I really just slipped enough to lose my balance which caused the plate to flip up and the pepper to fly. I am not sure where the water came from. I wonder if a small peice of ice didnt fall out of the freezer or something. Who knows could have been a doggy master plan!

Tonight I took Magic and Peace to the dogpark. Its the first time since Peace was hurt. It was really interesting watching her. She was fine as long as there were large groups of dogs, but as the evening progressed and some left, she got concerned only when she was approached by a person(s) with a single dog. Didn't seem to matter what kind of dog either.

The dog park we like is a big open field with some trees and marshes surrounding most sides of the main area. There is a sandy worn, walking path around the outer perimeter and the inside is really grassy, with tall grasses and huge lumps and bumps. There are a few trails through the middle that the dogs have worn down, so they do criss cross if they like, but most dogs just go along with the owners running and playing in the general vicinity. Magic will go as far as the other side of the park without me if he can find another dog who will run that far. Tonight he found one that was willing to play chase in the tree area and boy did they seem to have fun. Everyone was laughing at Magic though, the grass is so high, so he runs and then leaps in the air to see for sure where he got off to. Both dogs were pooped when we left, but not too tired to stop off and roll in the mud and goo pondside. So both kids got baths. They stunk so bad!

Pepper from Heaven

Last night I made stuffed green peppers for dinner. The peppers were huge, one was easily a meal for a hungry person, so I made 4, one for each of us, and an extra for lunch for work the next day (or 2). As I am serving this last night, I slip on a little bit of water on the kitchen floor. It was just like a slow motion dream, I see this pepper fly off the plate, up in the air in front of my face and splat to the floor! Beef and rice everywhere. Ever see 4 corgis inhale my dinner? Good thing I made 1 extra.

Weaves

Shoot, I forgot to talk about our weaves last night. Last night his weaves were better than they have ever been! We had a section set up with 2 sets of six weave. The first set was straight on approach, the second set was at about a 45 degree angle about 8-10 feet from the first set, then there was a jump set up parallel to the weaves. Kind of like this \ __ -. So we started on the angled weave, turn to the next weave and sharply turn to the jump, wrap, weave weave. Magic nailed it with me on both sides, got all the entries, even the fairly sharp turn after the jump wrap, with some speed. NOT his usual walk through. So although he sometimes enters the on the wrong side with the 2x2s we have been rpacticing, something happened in his head, because there was no hesitation at all. It was probably the highlight of my night really. What a good boy!

Agility class

Last night at class we worked a full course. Often we just work on specific sections, and don't always do a whole course, but last night we did. The course was probably close to an excellent level course, except no weaves. We were working on some harder approaches including a jump with a wrap back around to the a frame. I found that Magic really doesn't see the sense in going around the jump wings when it is so much quicker to just back jump. When we practice figure 8 type wraps around a single jump he gets it, but apparently he wasn't making the connection last night. I realized though that I don't have a command for that wrap, so I may need to give it one. Or just not try to handle it from behind the jump with a wrap, if I handle it from the side, he wrapped correctly. Need to practice that.

The course also had a teeter, with the next obstacle being a tunnel, with the opening at about the midpoint of the teeter. Since Magic has had teeter issues, we haven't done many teeters, so last night I let him take it. He did really well stopping in the middle and controlling the teeter drop. I much prefer that for a cardigan than driving to the end and having the body take the pressure of the hard hit. We have some teachers who have tried to make us drive to the end, but I don't think they have enough leg to absorb the shock. I don't plan on ever competing to the point where that extra second will be an issue.

We also had a serpentine with 4 jumps, but were supposed to pull the dog out between jumps 3 and 4. Magic loves to jump though and although we saw his ears flick when I called him off jump 4, he seemed to ignore the call off. Both Michelle and I felt that I gave him the call off and pull between the jumps properly, because he seemed to take one step toward the area between, then he seemed to decide to take the jump anyway. He did sort of give me the "Later Mom" look that he gets when he is selectively listening.

However, when we put the whole course together at the end of the class, Magic had a very nice clean run. Too bad at a trial we can't have 2 tries!

I think I have ADD

I know I have always had an issue with focus. I have a hard time just doing one thing, and I tend to work best when I am actually multi-tasking. However, my dogs don't respond as well to training when I can't stay focused. So now I need to make some decisions of what to do next and when and how to do it, then I need to stick to it.

Peace-Suddenly I have a dog who doesn't trust me. It could be one of 2 things, or a bit of both I suppose. First at the dog show I made her go by all them scary dogs. Then Sunday night at home I knocked her in the head with the frisbee. It was totally accidental, I was playing with Magic and her head just got in the way. So now we need to rebuild some trust. That is going to be my primary focus this next couple of weeks. Lots of one on one time with Peace.

Magic - well he is going to get a break for the most part. We are working on the 2 by 2 weaves, but honestly he is not getting the entries consistantly. I am going to give him a 2 week break on training other than our agility class.

Siren - David will continue to work with her, but I am going to incorporate some more fun type things like spins and touches along with the obedience.

Grace - Stays, stays and more stays, and sitting when asked. That no sitting in the ring thing was too well ingrained. When I ask her for a sit, she often just stretches her stance further. Goofy girl, last night she almost sretched herself into a frog down.

Dawn - Dawn needs to focus on one thing at a time too-I have the quilt to do, but I also have knitting. Last night I dragged down the scrapbooks and worked on Magics book. And his is the only one that is even close to up to date. I need to start Rinnies, and Peaces books, and Grace's is way out of date. One at a time, One at a time.

I know boring reading for you, but a way for me to focus. Sorry!

Dog Show Weekend recap

Today was day 3, of a really good weekend of showing. Peace earned her 2nd major today, again taking BOW & BOS, so now we only need 3 more points. Her next show is Des Moines, but the numbers are huge, so I pretty sure we wont pick them up there. There are some nice dogs down that direction. Peace handled the other dogs OK over the days, occasionally having some isues, but overall she survived. We will definately have to keep working on this though.

So the weekend was good for a few of the crew up here. Garrett finished his girl Zoe, and got another major on his Briard Mitcham, Diana finished her boy Boogie, Peace picked up 7 points and Music picked up 4. Several of my friends in other breeds had some wins too. I cant believe how much time I spent just yacking with people. All in all a terrific weekend.

Dog Show, Day 2

Today Peace won WB and BOW, BOS for a 3 point major. Dianas boy won WD and Dickens was again BOB. The weather was beautiful today, although there was still lots of mud and wetness from yesterday. Hopefully by tomorrow it will be dryer yet. Good weekend so far for Daybreake kids with 2 majors. No pictures today since non eof the family came along, but the phot with the judge might be interesting when it comes, she was wearing bright red, and I was wearing lime green.

NSHGC Specialty

Today was our clubs specialty. Nice turnout and lots of fun. Potluck was really good and quite a success.

Peace did OK today. She had a few moments of abject terror, but mostly she held it together. She was goofy in the ring, sometimes frightened othertimes seemly OK. We were outside a ring when a shepherd ran by, and that freaked her out, but she did recover. So we will see how tomorrow goes.

Now for the wonderful news, Music, (for those of you who remember the pups, he was Nine) won his first points, a nice 4 point major! Joyce was shocked and thrilled and so was I.

Another blogger friend has good news from the day too, but I will let them share it.

Lets see what tomorrow brings.

Sorry for the bad pictures, I really need a new camera, and probably a better operator.

Tornado yesterday

We had a tornado yesterday up here in Minneapolis. Fortunately it was a small one, as tornados go. But it was large enough to do some damage in Minneapolis. We were very lucky, the path was about 4 blocks away from us, but mainly blowing the damage to the west, not to the east where we are, so other than some small branches down, we were OK. Talies family too was OK, other than losing power. The path of the tornado was between their home and ours, but we were both spared, thanks be.

So I did not go to agility last night with Magic. I am coming down with a cold and felt really bad last night, so did not want to go and run in the rain and damp. Instead I went to the grocery store and made a salad for the potluck at work today. I also precooked the chicken for the salad for the potluck at the dogshow tomorrow. Tonight is the club meeting at he show site, and I hope to get set up for tomorrows show as well. Then when I get home tonight I can make the salad for tomorrow, get the dog ready and the car packed and hopefully get to bed before midnight.

Please cross your fingers for Peace tomorrow. she has been really nervous around other dogs since whe was hurt. I hope she does OK now at the show, and doesn't get too upset. She is such a funny girl, I hate to see her spirit broken.

The quilt

As you can see there are a few parts still in process, but I needed to get a feel for what colors to make the little stars, so we laid it all out. Rows 1,2 and 3 are all together, except for the sashing rows. This one is bright, but I like it so far. It was made from a monthly sample class, where the quilt store picked out the fabrics for the individual blocks. I, however decided ont he layout and the yellow sashing and small stars. We spent quite a bit of time on the layout, and I just now noticed the 2 nine patch center blocks next to each other on the bottom. I think I will need to move that<>

Busy week ahead

Its going to be a busy week this week, so last night I put the quilt away again for a while. But I did get it laid out and decisions made about what goes where. Tonight we will have to have our pre-show bath with Peace. Tomorrow is agility with Magic, Thursday is the Herding Group club meeting at the show site, and Friday morning is the Herding Groups specialty. Peace is entered all 3 days of the weekend, but is the only girl Saturday and Sunday. Since the entries are in and paid for, I will probably still show her and hope for cross over points. Thanks goodness this show is close to home.
David and Siren are continuing to work together. Grace and I practicved a little heeling yesterday too. She loves having my attention, but still prefers to do things on her schedule. Oh well!

Quilting and Dogs

For this first time in a long time I actually did some quilting. I worked on a small wall hanging, but now need to run out and get some batting and maybe a pretty backing fabric to finish it. Then I worked on a quilt that I had started a while back. As usual, I can never do anything simply, so of course the sashing for this quilt is harder and more complex than the individual blocks. I have only 3 large blocks left to sew, and about half the cornerstone blocks to do.

It seems I am the same with quilting as I am with the dogs. I have a hard time waiting until all the individual pieces are done before I start putting it together. I have a need to see something substantial for the work I have put in. So although all the parts are not done, I have started putting some pieces together. It's my need to see progress and my own personal reward I think.

Its the same with the dogs. I often enter events with my dogs, really before I am done with the training. I need to see that we are making progress. Its not that I need another persons judgement, it's that I need to feel that we are moving toward a goal, and those Q's or even NQ's give me a real feel for where we are. I don't think that I could ever be a person who has a dog trained through utility before entering novice. I wish I could be that person, but so far have not mastered that. So you will probably continue to see me at shows with half trained dogs. But I guess that is OK as long as that is what makes me happy. Right?

On the dog training side, this weekend David worked with Siren and I worked a bit with Peace. Grace is in season, and the boys are driving her crazy. Me too really, Kazin leave her alone, Magic get off Grace. At one point yesterday, Grace shut herself in the living room crate. I think she was fed up.

David and Siren

My son David has always been a cat person. He has grown up with dogs, but always just preferred the cats. With the puppies coming along, David became more and more interested in all the dogs. Dave voluntarily spent more time with Grace and the babies than I truly expected. Which resulted in his really badly wanting us to keep Siren. I had not planned on keeping 2 puppies, as I knew with Grace and Magic and a new pup I would have my hands full as far as training went. 2 pups, triple the work. So we made a deal, he could keep Rinnie, but he had to help train her, and I am expecting he title(AKC) her in something. Well, by 8 weeks I knew what a smart little girl she was so I started working with her. But then I stopped. This is his dog-he needs to do it, right? Fast forward to this summer and I have asked David to help out a bit at shows lately. He doesn't care for conformation, and won't even think about agility because he is anti exercise (his words). But he did run Magic through a couple of pulls at the weight pull trial and liked that. Last night I finally convinced him to start working with Siren on obedience, as that is the foundation he will need no matter what he goes on to do with her, right?
I had Rinnie heeling at 10 weeks, so its not new to her, but it is new to him. He was simply amazed at how smart his little girl is, she got it right away. amazing huh! I really hope he will stick to this. I am hoping I can get him to try rally with her still sometime this year. Fingers crossed!

Garden Update

The garden this year is doing better than ever. We have had an abundance of green beans, ample zuchinni and quite a bunch of tomatoes. We have pickled 4 jars of green beans, canned 4 quarts of tomatoes and dehydrated chard, kale, tomatoes and some of the last peas. It doesnt sound like much compared to a country garden, but remember this is in the middle of the city in a community garden and the spot we have is really not that big!

We had our last meal from the broccoli and cauliflower, so those came out today, along with the pea plants. Parts of the peas were still green, but with the heat they were not looking so good anymore. We replaced the peas with four more pepper plants. There may not be time for too many peppers from them, but heck, they were really cheap and if we get anything from them it will be great. Our cucumber plant never really got going, where it was planted it just got overwhelmed by the beans and got no sun, so we moved that.

This sunflower is growing in the bean trellis and is about 10 feet tall, with beans growing up to the top, where I can't reach them. There are still flowers on the beans, so more coming there, we have lots of tomatoes still ripening and the nicest cabbage I have ever grown still to come. We will probably harvest at least one of those soon, and will start some millet in the vacant spots. If we get enough growing time yet this year, the wildlife will eat that up. Heck, they usually get the millet before the snow flies, but this year I will try to cover it and keep it until late fall if I can. Hopefully I will be able to protect a couple of the sunflower heads until winter for the wildlife too, although David is determined that he will get to eat the seeds of at least one of them. Enough rambling. Enjoy summer!

Friday Nights Fundraiser

was a huge success! The raffle was simply amazing. I did not stay for the drawings, as I was not feeling well, but darn was there some wonderful items. I tried to win the lamb, some training sessions and event entries. The event was really well done. Talie and her family came and we played a little. She is such a friendly little girl, loves everyone which is so good to see.

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet. Some knitting, some reading and a some nice cuddle time with the dogs.

They came so its official!

Ch Daybreakes Peaceful Dreams! FO UWP UCD Qwaynts Magic Spark!
Both dogs UKC certificates came today. Peace's Championship and Magics Family Obedience and United Weight Pull certificates. I know it's probably silly but I am so proud of my dogs, and those titles to me show how hard we have worked and the fun that we have together.

I know that a lot of people look down on the UKC titles, but I am very happy to have earned these. I like UKC shows, and enjoy working with the local clubs that do them. And I also like that UKC allows dogs to earn titles in sports that are not traditionally geared toward that breed, like a corgi in the dog sport classes, or weight pulling. Heck at the last weight pull there were several non traditional pulling type dogs and I think all of them qualified, and I think all of them placed in the classes. In fact the Old English Sheepdog not only placed in the weight pull, he went on and won Best in Show in conformation.
Plus, UKC rewards it members who earn multiple titles from different events. Along with Magics titles he received 2 $25.00 gift certificates. Thanks UKC!

Friday Night Fundraiser Fun Match

One of the most wonderful things I have seen in the dog world is how people come together for each other, in the good times, but more importantly in the bad times. Robin and Dan Kilbury recently lost thier home and thier canine family to a house fire. Many locals groups have gotten together and are having a fundraiser this Friday evening at TCOTC. Agility, Obedience, Rally, a raffle and bake sale.

Having gone through this many years ago, I know how devastating it can be. There are so many things that these people have to deal with, many of these things are things insurance cannot replace. One thing we can give these people is the support of thier friends, and a little extra cash to help cover the initial needs. While having a good time with our beloved pups.

So a fundraiser! Come out and work your dog in a match situation, buy some great baked goods and a few raffle tickets and share some goodwill. If you ever thought about doing performace with your pups, this is a good chance to give it a try. Any Grace pups wanting to try a sub novice obedience , or novice rally course? Come join us.

Weekend

A nice peaceful weekend at home. Wishes apparently feels no pain from her foot, so is really wanting to play. Peace will be getting her stitches out tomorrow, so no more cone. We had the dehydrator going all weekend, drying vegies for the winter. And some knitting. I knit a washcloth, dish scrubbie pair as a thank you gift for a friend.

Thanks for the thoughts on the whiskers. I will see how they look after her appointment tomorrow and as the rest of the scabs heal.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!