Many things in life start out being one thing, then become another over a period of time. 
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Remember this?   This was a fern that Florence gave me as a get well give.  Well, it is now a birds nest!  I have been hoping I could keep this beautiful plant alive.  I went to rotate or turn it yesterday and water it.  When I went to turn it, I saw something wispy and silky hanging out of one side.  I had put some roving on the fence last week for the birds to use as nest building material.  Well, there was the prettiest, neatest little nest in the fern.  The nest with very prettily lined with roving and in there was nestled three little bird eggs.  I put the plant back as I got it and pondered how to take care of it now.  I watered it very gently on one side this morning. 
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Remember this?  This is Romney from Spunky Eclectic in the colorway Rocky Mountain High.  I call it Blooming Redbuds in Tennessee.   
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I actually had two days off in a row this weekend and used to full advantage.  I slept until 11:00 am on Saturday and did a few hours of yardwork after getting up.  I am working on a couple of sock designs and wanted to knit later on Saturday, but the sock urge was not with me.  Something kept telling me to “KNIT LACE.”  Nothing would do that I KNIT LACE.  I got out some patterns and then it hit me.  I just got the Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl pattern this week as well as a special dyed hank of yarn in colorway Rocky Mountain High (can you tell I like that color, ha). I decided to use the commercial yarn for something else as I have what I just spun (533 yards of Rocky Mtn High) and it was crying to be worked up.  I wound it into a pull cake ball and began knitting Saturday and a good bit of Sunday.  The shawl will be bigger than what is in the pattern as I have additional yardage and bigger is sometimes better (definitely, in this case).  As it is Romney, it is not the softest in the world, but I am in love with what I see now and can’t wait to see the finished result! 

Now, yesterday, no yardwork was done.  We (the dogs and I) started out the day by having scrambled eggs and cheese.  We all adjourned to the backyard.  I knitted on the forest canopy and the dogs all got a marrow bone to chew on.  I am not sure who was happier.   
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Luc says me! 
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All that fun tired Jake out! 
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Lacey says “I want more!” 
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Progress on the Jitterbug sock.  I just finished the heel flap.  This will stay that way until after the sock class on Thursday night.  I want to show the class how you fold the flap in half and what shape it makes.  This a great technique that Lucy Neatby shared in her Cool Hands, Warm Feet book (or some name similar to that).
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Have a good week… 

Eye Candy Friday – April 30, 2007 Snowballs in April??? 
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Snowball Bush - Viburnum opulus:  Also called the European Cranberry.  When this bush blooms, it is loaded with flowering blooms that look just like snowballs.  The interesting thing is the natural color.  While there is not a profusion of bright, vibrant color, the blooms are just beautiful.  My snowball bush is almost as tall as my house and is usually dripping with snowballs.  Due to the odd weather and the recent freeze, it is not as fully loaded this year. 
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Socks!   Wow, the Thursday night class really socked it to me.  Six ladies learning to knit socks.  I felt like they were on autopilot almost.  If it weren’t for the kitchener, I felt like I could have just sat down and knitted too.  They did need me to show them how to do the kitchener, so I did feel the love or need for my, ahem, expertise.   
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My sage advice when doing the kitchener is:  When you start, do NOT stop for anything.  That means anything.  My students learned that one. 
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Seriously folks, this class has really set the bar for sock students everywhere.  A class of six women met and every single one of them have two socks that are almost completed or are completed.  There were four completed pair of socks at the end of the class.  Two of the students only lacked doing the toe on the second sock.  Amazing.  Their socks were so pretty too.  We meet for one more Thursday night session next week.  I have asked them all to bring or wear their socks.  Pictures to come - stay tuned for Eye Candy Friday next week!  Woo hoo 
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It is so gratifying to have others interested in what you love.  When I see how excited these new sock knitters get about the different sock yarns, the variety of patterns and the vast array of what they can now do, it makes me feel good to know that I enabled them to do this.  Enabled?  Yep, enablement went on last night.  Names such as Bearfoot, Jitterbug, Meilenweit, Panda Wool were floating around.  Several different sock yarns jumped into the bags of these unsuspecting sock knitters as well as a few new patterns.  I can forecast what some people may be getting for Christmas next year!   Socks are so great, portable, etc., not to mention oh so yummy to wear.  With that being said, I do not have many whole pairs myself.   One sock may be at the store on display and the other in my fiber room.  I often gift them too.  Why is it that sock knitters often do not have that many socks they make themselves?  
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Hmmm  It is F-R-I-D-A-Y.  I have two whole days off this weekend.  Yep.  I can do what I want to do when I want to do it.  No appointments, no certain times for anything.  Whew, I need that.  I can see yardwork (euw) in my future for this weekend.  I also have lots of other possibilities.  Like casting on for a short golf or footee sock on the new circ size 1’s that jumped into MY bag last night.  Gasp.    I forgot to mention that Koigu jumped in there too.  Sigh, I am incorrigible. Happy Friday!

   Hello, my name is Leah and I am a Spunky Junky, among other things.  I love Spunky and just cannot get enough.  I received the yarn and pattern for the Forest Canopy Shawl this week.  I also received the Fiber of the Month in Strawberry Fields.  I must admit I saw a post on Diana’s blog (http://asheepinwoolsclothing.typepad.com/a_sheep_in_wools_clothing/) about her visit to Spunky and spied a hank of roving that was not listed on Amy’s website.  I wrote to Amy and asked her about it and it is a superwash roving called Poison.  Poison is in a box making it’s way to Tennessee as we ‘speak.’  I ask Amy if there was any way she could just set up an IV and just send me the roving through an IV since I am so hooked on this stuff.  She said she would send me a Spunky Junky pin instead and that would be less painful.  Hmm, I am not into pain, but Poison will do! 

I mentioned yesterday that I would share a pic of the yarn I just spun from the Spunky Rocky Mtn High Romney.  Well, here tis. 

550 yards.  I still have a single on one bobbin that I can use to ply on itself for a little more yardage.  The color reminds me of Redbud trees blooming in Tennessee in the Spring.
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I planted Spanish Lavender last year and it is so pretty right now.  It smells great year round also.

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Tonight is the third in a four class series for Socks on Two Circs!  They are going to learn to kitchener their toes and some tips and tricks that I have learned along the way.  This class of six is by far the most enthusiastic sock knitters I have had the honor to work with so far.  In a normal class, many people forget or do not have time to do their homework.  One person will usually leave the class with A sock done.  I know of several of the students that will be coming tonight that will have BOTH socks knit down to the toe!  I think there is a spoiler or two in there that have already finished….

What fun!

Plying with Commerical Yarn:  Ever heard of Crosspatch Creations or Three Bags Full?  They offer these beautiful batts that spin up into very unusual and beautiful yarn.    If you would like to read more about them, go to:  http://www.spinningfiber.net/    They mention using guard llamas to keep their flocks safe.  I did not realize the llamas did that.  Interesting!  I knew some people use donkeys to guard.  In Tennessee, you will see quite a few Great Pyrenees dogs in fields with goats or sheep.  I will say that I have seen more goats than sheep in TN. Maybe I have not been in the right places though. 
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I recently spun my first Crosspatch Creations batts in the Eggplant colorway.  I ended up with two good sized hanks and one smaller one.  I plied the two larger hanks of the Eggplant colorway with a commercial yarn called  Kid Seta in black.  The Kid Seta is a kid mohair with some silk content.  The resulting hanks were OH SO soft and the black mohair added a halo and more definition to the yarn.  It brought out the colors by adding the contrast of the black.    I also plied a small hank of the Eggplant on itself.

Small left hank is plied on itself.  Two other hanks (middle and right) plied with black Kid Seta:

What do you think? 
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Jan, friend that is sadly blogless, also spun some of different colorway and plied it with a mohair that was the same color as part of the batt mixture.  It made the Crosspatch softer and the like color blended without changing the color, just made it more pronounced.  It also added a halo to the resulting yarn.   
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Two new batts of the Triple Play blend jumped in my car last weekend and made their way into my fiber room. is now crying to be spun.
  
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Spinning:   I finished plying the Rocky Mountain High Romney from Spunky.  I was going to wind it into a hank on my new skein winder.  I had to assemble the skein winder and found that I had to sand parts of the winder and then wax it to seal it.  I did all of this and REALLY wanted to wind that yarn, but just could not put my yarn on the winder when the wax had not dried yet.  I will wind it off tonight and take pictures to share tomorrow. 
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Dogs:   I have determined that I am definitely a small dog person.  I am dog sitting this week for the neighbors who are away on their honeymoon.  They have two labs…one is a large puppy that is VERY exuberant.  She is very sweet, but very big.  When she greets you, it is a production and remaining in a standing position is a great feat.  I love my small dogs…..

New Sock Designs
I have three new socks and one new handwarmer pattern that will soon be available.  The handwarmer pattern currently is in the custody of a publishing company that is considering publishing the pattern.  The socks are in different stages of completion.   I will post pictures to my picturetrail album and let everyone know on my blog when they are ready.  My patterns are also available at Kathy’s Kreations (www.kathys-kreations.com) and Haus of Yarn (www.hausofyarn.com).   
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The latest pattern is a work in progress and was just crying to be made.  There is a beautiful new yarn out from Colinette called Jitterbug.  This yarn has caused questions in many a sock knitters mind due to the yardage of this yarn – 267 meters or 291.03 yards.  The question is if there is enough yarn in one hank to make a pair of socks.  I subscribe to the Socknitters list and read where several people were able to knit a pair of socks from one hank with yarn left over.  I am making a pair of socks for a woman’s US size 8.5 shoe. When the pattern is completed, I will let you know the dimensions and show you how much yarn I have left over. Enough talk, want a sneak peak at this little gem? 

A different view:

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On the sock yarn front, I snagged a real find the other day at HOY.   I believe this yarn is no longer manufactured, but you can still find some at your LYS or on Ebay.
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    Jake is the resident Yorkshire Terrorist and is 6 yrs old.  He and I have been competing in dog agility for three years now and have been training for almost five of his six years.  His Granma calls him Kissy Boy.  He loves to give kisses.  He is pretty good on the agility course too! 
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 Missy, aka the Sheep Herding Papillon, is 1.5 yrs old and is training in dog agility.  She is learning the basic equipment and is doing a nice job.  She will do just about anything for a treat.  Or her rubber fish that squeaks.
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On the spinning front, I will have the Rocky Mtn High plied and wound into a hank tonight.  I can’t wait to see the finished result.  I like the color so far, but it looks a bit fuzzy.  I am thinking about putting a little conditioner in the water that I use to soak the yarn.  I read somewhere that someone else tried this and it really smoothed their yarn out.  Anyone else ever tried this???

Toys Necessary Tools 

The saying “Men do not grow up, they just get more expensive toys” holds true for women as well.  Of course, our ‘toys’ are a little more practical and have a specific use, most of the time.  Because we need those toys, it makes them that much more important as well.  Each time I contemplate a new hobby or craft, I think about what possibilities there are for toys or things that will be needed to enjoy that hobby or craft to the fullest.  I think “do I really want to do this and end up with a whole bunch of other stuff I need???” 
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Just last week when I took Missy to begin learning to herd sheep, I found that I would need a stock cane (stick to guide my dog).  I also found that I would need hard toed or steel toed boots to keep my feet from hurting when the sheep run over them, LOL.  Not to mention WARM clothes as you endure all sorts of extreme weather when herding.  I would think that spinning and knitting would complement this sport as I could knit items to keep me warm.  I did wear a pair of wool hand knit handwarmers while I was there. 
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Spinning Toys Tools
It is interesting how many different kinds of spinning devices there are just to twist roving or material to make it stronger.  Spinning wheels are different:  bobbin led, flyer led, double drive, etc.  There are, of course, all kinds of toys and attachments that you can have that will make your spinning life easier too.  I am now owned by two different spinning wheels, both from the Majacraft family (Rose and Alpaca).  I already had an umbrella swift, a ball winder, and a squirrel cage swift.  I now own a cone winder (to reduce the number of spools needed).  The cone winder also frees you to spin as many different things as you want as long as you have a plastic cone to wind off on to free up a bobbin.  Ha.  I thought I would use that a lot, but I have not.  I have it just in case though!  I have a yarn reel or blocker, but do not use it much because it only holds approximately 150 yards of yarn.  When I ply, I usually end up with 350 to 400 yards and like it all in one hank.   I have that just in case I need it too, LOL. 

I just received a hank winder last week and I think that should hold me over for the next little while.  I guess that is until I see something else that I just cannot live without.  My new hank winder is an upright Kiwi hank winder and I think I will like this.   

Spinning
Yesterday was so pretty outside, a nice temperature, the breeze barely blowing, the birds chirping and the dogs outside sunning.  I took my wheel outside and finished spinning the Rocky Mtn High romney from Spunky Eclectic.  Everyone took up their spinning positions while I was spinning: 

Luc

Roro
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I am in the process of plying two 4 oz bobbins of Rocky Mtn High Romney from Spunky Eclectic.  The interesting thing is that I purchased 4 oz of this fiber, but I filled two 4 oz bobbins.  How is that possible???
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Yarn
I mentioned last week that Haus of Yarn received 20 new colors of Koigu.  Boy did they!  I took a picture so you could see what a beautiful display they have of Koigu.  If you want need it, they have it!  Isn’t it pretty?!!!

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I wanted to take it all home exercised great restraint (really I did) and only brought home a very few skeins of this beautiful yarn. 
 
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I must confess that I did call and ask them to hold another color for me that I just could not live without decided that I would like to add to my collection.  Collection?  That leads to a whole other story.  I will post a picture of my Koigu tree later this week.  Koigu Tree????   Yeup
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Life in General
I missed teaching my Thursday night sock class last week because I had to endure go in for a routine same-day surgical procedure.  This is like the Emmy’s and I must thank everyone involved.  My Mom drove me and stressed patiently waited in the waiting room.  Jan, a dear friend and current sock student, brought homemade lasagna and salad.  We ate and we knitted on socks. 
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While I was at the Haus of Yarn on Saturday, Florence (best knitter in Nashville a very thoughtful student and good customer of the shop as well) gifted me with this giant fern as a get well present.
 
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I hope to keep it alive.   How thoughtful of her!
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I am designing a new sock using Colinette Jitterbug.  I will share a picture of that tomorrow.  Happy Monday.

Cold Storage.  Instead of putting my jewels on ice, I put my wool on ice.  Ha 

Main part of freezer

Door of freezer

Jan Q guessed right…..the wood in the package is indeed a yarn skeiner.  I must admit that was not too hard for her to answer as she knows I have wanted one.  She is my partner in crime friend that shops with me at different fiber festivals and forums.  I have not put it together yet, but will post an assembled picture next week.  It is a Kiwi yarn skeiner.

Have a great weekend!   I work at the LYS this weekend and they just got 20 new colors of Koigu in.  I guess you could say “I work for KOIGU!”

I have many directions and interests in which I spend my time.  Two large parts of my life are fiber (knitting, spinning, etc.) and dogs (rescue, agility and Dog Gone Delivery).  Dog Gone Delivery is a delivery service for premium dog food which includes a raw meat diet as well.  Sometimes my interests take me in one direction and then another interest is brought in and it all begins to relate one way or the other and then I go off into another direction. 

Did you know that delivering dog food leads to the Mall? Last night, I delivered some raw frozen food to a family that was on vacation visiting here in Nashville.  They were afraid they were going to run out of food and found me (Dog Gone Delivery) through the internet.   This family was staying at a RV facility very near Opryland Hotel and also Opryland Mall.  Mall = Barnes & Noble.  Mall = Macaroni Grill.    I called my Mom to see if she wanted to ride with me on this dog food delivery mission of mercy.  She thought that would be a very good idea. 

After making the delivery, we dutifully made our way to Barnes & Noble.  I am not sure about you, but I am a creature of habit.  I read the Nashville Scene (local news publication) backwards and I shop in a certain order when I go to a bookstore.  First, I go to the periodical section to see if there are possibly any magazines that I do not currently own and do not subscribe to.  This would first be the Knitting/Spinning section and last would be the dog section.  There is an awesome magazine called Animal Wellness.  If you are a pet owner (horse, cat, dog), you really should check this magazine out.  It is full of healthy ideas, new products and healthy ways to address issues that many of us pet owners encounter.  I digress.    I sometimes stop by the Gift section on my way back to the Craft section.  At crafts, I look for any book that is not currently in my vast library and make a pile.  I then sit in the floor or whatever is handy and look through the pile of books I created.  I then make my way through the Love-In-The-Swamp Romance section to look for vampire or time travel books.  I also do the same in the Science Fiction section.  I save the CD department for very last.  I take my loot and ask to leave it on the counter there so I do not have to lug all that weight around and then I go look at and listen to new CDs.  

Now that you know the proper order of things…. Last night, I picked up an English knitting magazine and a new edition of Animal Wellness.  I then found a few knitting books, but nothing I could not live without.  I asked for help and found The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (CaroleKnits’ suggestion and Anne Robinson seconded that motion).  I plan on reading that soon.  In the CD section, Regina Spektor and Brandi Carlysle said they just had to go home with me too.  By this time, my Mom and I were fainting from hunger ready to eat and made a beeline for Macaroni Grill.  One vodka martini (for her) and one pomegranate martini (for me) later, our sugar level was restored and we ordered dinner.  My Mom’s fav is the Boursin filet.  I ordered the Halibut…which I normally love.  It was a little fishy though, go figure. 

So, are you asking how mystical creatures fit into this relational database?   Well, my Mom has been lusting after wanting a picture of a mystical creature and there just happened to be one at this Mall.  She was lamenting because she never remembers her camera.  Good little blogger that I am, I ran out to the car and retrieved the digital camera.   Can you guess what this is?

or this?

Merhorse

Can you guess what this is?

I will give you three hints.  I have wanted one of these for a long time (since I got my spinning wheel and plied my first bobbin of wool.  It is wood.    It is fiber related.  It is not assembled (drats).  I will put this together later and show you the answer in another post.

There is something about going online or looking through a catalog that is so fun.  There are so many possibilities, colors and options.  You look at everything, pick out something you just cannot live without and make a phone call or push a button on the computer.  Voila, an order is placed!  Magic.  I just love the internet!!!   After placing an order, each day when I drive home, I look at my front porch as I pass by and look to see if a package has magically appeared.  It is like Christmas waiting on the goodies.  The day when I ride by my porch to get in the driveway and see a box or package, then I wonder (if I have ordered from more than one place) what is inside.  What it looks like.  Will I love it?    I take the box in and open it.  Sometimes the contents are very prettily wrapped in tissue paper, sometimes not.  Before I started my blog, I always wished I could share the fun.  I can do that now.  Hehe.  I think that could also fall under the category of providing temptation or enabling others to follow my lead. 
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Yesterday was just one of those days.  I drove past my porch to get into the driveway and I saw a box on my porch.  I knew I had ordered from Threadbear and also from Spunky Eclectic.  Which was it?  Would it be just gorgeous?  What would I just have the urge to begin working on immediately?  Hmm.    On the way to the porch, I stopped by the mailbox.  Hmm.  There is a big fluffy envelope in there too.  Whoopeee!  Two suprises.  The mailbox package was indeed Threadbear.  The box on the porch was from Amy King at Spunky Eclectic. 
Okay, wanna see the loot??? This is serious eye candy and it does not matter WHAT day it is: 

Threadbear

Jitterbug in Kingfisher colorway.  Four hanks of this beautiful, pet me stuff.  I plan on knitting a shawl with this in the very near future.  I am also in the process of designing a sock pattern from a different colorway of Jitterbug.

Spunky Eclectic

Left to Right
Mountain Majesty-BFL
Brain Freeze-Romney
Purple Haze-BFL
The Purple Haze is screaming to be spun up.  That color is just awesome.  From very light purple to what I
wonder is black or is it a very dark purple.   

My Little Knitting Store – My Mom called me last night to talk Koigu.  She has been working on a knit project for about a year now.  She beads most of the time, but knits only occasionally.  When asked what her project is, she says “well maybe it is a wrap, maybe it is a blanket, maybe it is a….”   I think she enjoys just letting everyone wonder.  Well, she is on the tail end of this project now.  It is made with several colors of Koigu.  One recurring color is Blue #1000 or #2000, I forget the exact number.  She called last night to see if I happened to have one more hank of that color so she can knit safely.  My little yarn stash did happen to have just that color, so she is safe.  For now.   The local yarn store, www.hausofyarn.com, is getting a new shipment of Koigu this week.  Should I tell her???? 

Dogs:  I compete in dog agility with two Yorkies and am training two Papillons to compete some day in the future.  I also have other dogs at home that do not work and call them Hood Ornaments because it is their job to look good and be cute.  People do not get to see them as often as my competition dogs as they do not go train or compete.  I thought I would share a few pictures of them with you. 
 This is Lacey, Yorkshire Terrier.  She is blue and gold and will be 13 yrs old on June 1^st.    She only has three or four teeth left, but I still have lots of spunk.   She chases Ro Ro (Roscoe-15 lb Shih Tzu) whenever she can.  Ro Ro is scared of her.  Lacey is a rescue that came from Texas.  I got her when she was six years old and my home is her fourth.  She is a perfect little girl and she found a forever home with us. 

Luc - Recall News.   He is the little Papillon rescue that is 3 yrs old and is an escape artist.  We have been working on his recall (come) this past week.  Last night during our private agility lesson, Luc worked with the trainer while she watched me run some of my other dogs.  He has improved so much in just one week.  I know it will take some time, but he is not as incorrigible as I thought he was.  I love this little dog and there is something very special about him.  I know why I got him though, no one else was able to keep him.  I had to install “leaners” on my entire backyard fence to keep him in (kinda of like the zoo)! 

Sprite is a black and white Papillon.  He is four years old.  I originally got him to work in agility, but he does not like agility and gets car sick.  So, Sprite is a homebody or hood ornament and he is very happy to fill that position.  Sprite is a little cuddlebug.  He likes to get on your shoulder and puts his nose on your neck and rubs up against you.  He occasionally goes to visit with Aunt Diane and Uncle Joe if I have to go out of town.  Sprite adores his Uncle Joe.  I think if I were not careful, Sprite would pack his bags and stay with Uncle Joe.  Almost….    Sprite always looks as though he is laughing.  He is a very happy boy.  I am happy to have him in my life as well.
 
Dogs, Yarn, Fiber.  Life is Good 

Parts and Pieces

I was so excited about being able to have an eye candy Friday.  I had a great picture all lined up.  I got my camera out to upload the picture and discovered that I had my camera, but did not have the cable to hook up to the computer.  So, instead of an eye candy Friday, we will have a “start the week out right” Monday.  My kitchen window  (fi you click the pictures, you will see bigger, better pictures)

I love how the light looks coming through the bottles in my window and creates a luminous light quality.  It add a light, airy quality to my kitchen. 

Fiber Content

I am a single fiber addict enthusiast and surround myself with it.  I have a freezer in an outbuilding that I purchased for the dogs’ raw frozen food.  It is now 90% full of fiber and 10% is dog food (I now have a different freezer for the dog food).   When I say that I surround myself with fiber.  I do just that.  I have two spinning wheels and a Dorothy Leclerc loom in my living room.  I have a three bedroom house and one of the bedrooms is dedicated to yarn (and now some roving too).  All of this kind of bleeds over to other parts of the house from time to time.  A dear friend of mine, Barbara, keeps me straight and comes to clean every other Thursday.  In between her visits, I am bad about laying things down where I am at the time.

The night before Barbara comes, I have to go through the house and pick things up and put them where they go.  If Barbara did this instead, I would never find anything again.   This all leads to the subject of diet, or the lack thereof.  It is kind of hard to eat well if you have to clean your stove off before you could even begin to think of cooking anything on the stove top.  Do not get me wrong, I am not complaining by any means.  I so enjoy being able to be ‘me’ and just do what I want.  It is somewhat amusing to look on the stove and just really “see” what is there sometimes.  

I am a big fan of before and after pictures as well.   So, I am sharing a before and after Barbara comes shot of my stove.  I have a feeling that if she saw the ‘before’ part she might not would come to my house at all.   

Before

After

Dog Doins

Sheep herding.  Missy and I did it.  Yippee!!  I will say that you really need the right clothes, boots, etc. to do this.  It was very cold.  I had to put on the extra pair of socks I brought with me because my feet were freezing.  I was wishing I had brought wool socks with me.  I did not bring them because I did think about it.  Silly me.   It was approximately 35 degrees and drizzled most of the day with flurries here and there. 

Some of the herding group flocked together to try and get warm:

Did you know there is a list of Herding Breed dogs?  These dogs are allowed to compete in AKC herding events.  If your dog is not on that list, they cannot compete.  I found out yesterday that Papillons are not on “the list.”  There are other events she could compete in if we were to go as far as really learning how to herd.  Yesterday, Missy and I went to the Alabama border (we got up at 4 am for this wonderous occasion) to a farm to learn to herd sheep.

Baby sheep - Tom Thumb

The AKC judge that was there, Doyle, was very nice and encouraging and acted as though it was just a normal day when a Papillon showed up to learn to herd.  I will say that Missy is much bigger than your normal Papillon, but she is half the size of a border collie.  There were 7 BCs there, one cattle dog and one Papillon there.  Missy was first as we got there earlier than everyone else.  While Missy and I were in the ring, I heard the judge say at least three times “Well, if I had not seen it with my own eyes, I would not have believed it!”  Everyone was crowded around watching this little girl tell those sheep what to do.  I had on steel toed shoes (sheep feet hurt if they step on you).  Missy herded those sheep around and did a good job.  The only problem with that was that she does not have a back off button and she kept driving the sheep toward me and they were running over me.  Those sheep are bigger than they look when they are trying to cart you off somewhere and you have them crowded around you and they are running from a barking dog.  We got to get in the ring twice before lunch and twice afterward.  Missy slept VERY well on the way home.  You would have thought she would be tuckered out for the night, but she dug up a game of wrestling with Luc when we got settled in at home.  I took a few pictures of the younger sheep and babies to share.

Missy waiting for her turn to herd:

Someone Herding with a Border Collie:

More lambs:

Agility-A good friend of mine, Diane, that is owned by two Papillons went to the Papillon Nationals in San Antonio, Texas last week.  She ran Pierre and Hunter in agility. 

Thought for the Day….With all the descriptions of things I love, the word addicting and addiction keep popping up.  I wonder if I have an addictive personality???