Siberians In The Mist

It was very foggy and cool around the Tawatinaw valley this morning.




Couldn't resist sharing a few photos!!!

An Old Married Couple?

Our issues with Irving have been fairly well detailed in my blogs over the years. Irving is just basically a jerk. While he rarely actually fights with other dogs, he does get in their face, show his fangs and make alot of noise. We've tried a HUGE number of techniques to get him past this behavior all with limited success. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) he is a hard enough driving dog that he is worth extra work and effort. Last year we ended up dealing with him by running him alone most of the time.This year we have had some more progress with him, but he's still far from great.

Now another 'problem' dog you may not know of is Tramp. Tramp is a 2 year old daughter of Moses and Olena. She is cute as a button and pulls like a demon in harness, but we think she watched too many Disney movies as a puppy and has this really annoying habit of barking as she runs down the trail (in case any of you have never noticed, whenever Disney movies show a dog team on the move they dub in a 'barking dog' soundtrack. However, real dog teams generally shut up as soon as they start to move). She mostly does it at the beginning of our runs, usually for about 2 miles and then sporadically for the rest of the trip. It's not a HUGE deal, but it tends to drive her running mates (and me) insane!!!

So this morning I said 'what the heck' and decided to run my two 'problem' dogs next to each other.

As we were bringing dogs from the yard to the ready chain, Simone noticed Tramp and Irving's names next to each other on the running board and said "Oh, that will be fun". I'm certain she said that because she had already decided to stay home this morning rather than joining us on our run.

Off we went.

When we stopped next to the Perryvale Cemetery for a break I told Mark that I thought I had figured out the trick to getting a good run out of Irving.

"How's that?", he said.

I told him that he was running great next to Tramp. "He muttered at her a bit when we left the yard, she got in his face and nattered at him for a mile or so, but both have been completely quiet since then."

"Sounds like they are married", Mark said.

"Excuse me?", I replied to my husband of 24 years.

"Sounds like you figured Irving out", he wisely replied.

Yup, that's what I thought he said.

I love it when a plan comes together!

That's What Friends Are For!!!

A sixteen dog team is over 60 feet long from the front of the ATV to the leaders noses. Turning them around, even when all goes well, is always a chore with lots of potential for disaster.

So, when your friend across the valley has a lovely circular driveway, gosh knows it makes sense to utilize it when you can!!

I'm not sure that Sam, the World's Most Adorable Guardian Sheepdog thought so though! He abandon his flock of sheep and headed for his shelter when the 2 packs of 'wolves' descended on his yard (sorry - no pictures, but check out Lisa's blog at www.tailsfromthedarkside.blogspot.com )

A nice easy, relatively stress free 20 mile run!!! Excellent!!

As opposed to the day before when I ended up with my gangline wrapped around the axle of my ATV - but let's not dwell on that - let's remember yesterday.

Ah - bliss!!!!

Thanks Lisa!!!!

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” - Seneca

Good thing I'm not a big believer in luck. This is how my run started today -

I backed my ATV out of the garage and managed to destroy my rearview mirror in the process. Nice!!!

About 7 miles into the run we came over a rise and spotted a couple loose cows. How is it that it is okay to pass them when 4 little measly strands of barb wire that dogs can slip through in a heartbeat, but panic ensures without???

'Luckily' (yes, I'm grinning - luck didn't have much to do with it - training and experience played a much bigger factor!!!) we got by without incident!

And yes, Mom and baby ran along next to us for about a 1/4 mile before we got by them.

Karen

There Is No Denying It Now!!

It started yesterday...

Big, fat, fluffy wet flakes of snow!!!

Sure, they were melting almost as soon as they hit the ground, but on the way down, they were indeed snowflakes.

By this morning flakes were actually sticking to the ground!!

Yup, no denying now....winter is on it's way...

The sounds of sled runners on snow, the crunch of snow underfoot on cold winters mornings, beautiful pristine white landscapes......I love it all.

Yet this morning my one thought was...

ACK!!!! Where did summer go!!!!????? I'm not ready for winter yet!!!!

...BUT I'm still smiling!!!!! Dasher is too!!!

Baled Out

Straw bales are an important part of winter survival gear for us country folk. Most years my very thoughtful neighbours across the highway give me enough straw bales to get me through the season, but since they didn't put any crops in this year we were on our own this time. Well, that is until 'Other Side of the Valley' Lisa put together a little straw co-op. Five of us got together and purchased 120 bales.

"Many hands make light work."
-John Heywood

Lisa has a pretty messed up back, so she was assigned the job of counting!

One hundred and twenty bales ready to roll!

Our 'take' was 30 bales. Ten of those will insulate the water line to the garage and the other 20 will be keeping the dogs warm and cozy for the winter!

Lisa will be using her 30 for her dogs and her sheep.

In addition Eve and Sandy's horses will be warm for the winter, as will Stacey's dogs and garden!!

One more 'pre-winter' task checked off on the list!!

Moving To A New Neighbourhood And Meeting TheLocals

We did a bit of rearranging in the yard yesterday and when it was all said and done Sherwood found himself out on a stakeout chain.

One of the first things you should do when you move to a new neighourhood is to get to know the locals.

Seems like a pretty friendly place!!!

=)