Spinning

A couple of weeks ago I took a class in using a drop spindle. This is an old way to create yarn. Every so often I get a yearning to learn a new craft, a few years ago I took up knitting, before that pottery and I am sure there are a few other crafts in between. My husband bought me a beautiful Lendrum spinning wheel. I knew spinning would not be easy, and it is not. So every night after everyone goes to bed I get out my wheel and practice.
I am I think slowly getting better, my wheel turns in the direction I want mostly now. I am getting less of a grip on my roving so it is flowing on to the spindle slightly better. My excitement grows as I think I am getting closer to actually controlling the flow of fiber on to the spinning wheel.
One of the joys of spinning is keeping Finnegan off the fiber. It does not seem to matter where I place the wheel or where I place myself or the fiber, Finnegan finds a way to lie on it or get caught up in it. Finnegan has a way of making any craft I undertake a lot more interesting. He steals balls of yarn, rolls in the roving. He tried to put his nose in the wheel while spinning. It is always an adventure with Finnegan, I sort of wonder what he would do if I started to throw clay again, I would probably find him stuck to the clay turning on the potters wheel.

Dog Blogging

It is October now and fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the colours, the weather, just the whole feel of the season. It is that time of year when things start a new, change happens. My life is changing,  my children have grown, my youngest son is almost 19 and in a few years he will move on in his life, and mom will no more be the person he will go to to fix things, to tell his life stories too. I will be come the person that he visits on Sundays or holidays for a free dinner. How do I know this? My other two sons have taught me well. I know  because they are independent, strong, people that have a strong sense of self, that I have done my job as a mother well, but it is bitter sweet, and their is a bit of a void in my heart.
I have always wanted to do more with my life, to some how make a difference. My  two youngest kids are not quite on their own yet and because I am still working full time. I thought I would do Doggie Rescue. To be specific Australian Shepherd Rescue. I have done volunteering for them for a few years, ever since we adopted Dundee. I have done home checks, doggie transport, and fostering. So when the local Rep for Aussie rescue needed a break, I naively volunteered to take the role on.
This is a learning experience for me, not an easy one. If I could I would rescue all dogs, good, bad, dogs with bahviour issues, dogs with health issues. I would have my own version of "Dog Town".
There are many stories to tell,  the dogs that come into rescue and what has happened before they arrive and what happens after they find their forever home, the people that adopt them and the wonderful transformation of the dogs once in a loving home. To document those stories and experiences I have started a rescue blog. In the new Aussie Rescue dog blog, I will talk about what I learn about dogs, rescue and volunteering. So going forward, I will keep my personal Ziggy, Dundee and Finnegan stories on this blog and my stories about rescue and the dogs in my rescue blog. I am hoping this will work and will be informative and help me sort out my thoughts and views about rescue.

Little Elwood - over the rainbow bridge

As a kid growing up, we had many pets. People would drive up to our home, see the farm house and the barn, and just drop kittens, puppies, dogs and cats at the end of our lane. My mother would find them and bring into our home caring for them until they became members of our family.

We had many cats, strays that we would tame and make friends with kittens born from these strays. We found pets and lost them. Losing a pet is painful. I know, we lost dogs to the road, cats to disease and old age. Accepting that this happens has never gotten any easier for me.

Last week very good friends of mine went on a much needed vacation. I stayed with their cats, feeding them and keeping them company, one of them was Elwood a big orange tabby cat and his brother Bagpus a small black cat, both boys have real personality.

We new Elwood was sick, just diagnosed with feline diabetes, but we thought he was coping well and my friends were going to start treatment when they returned home.

Elwood crossed over the rainbow bridge last night. He had been sick for much longer than we new. But the brave beautiful boy that he was, he never complained.
Elwood is now in a beautiful place, happy and pain free. I know he does not want us to grieve for his passing. I know his mom and dad are still really sad with broken hearts, but they need to know Elwood had the best 5 years of his life in their care, he wants them to be happy and know that he is ok.

Elwood; thank-you for being such a good friend. You will always be missed.

How?

Each day I sit down with a new idea in mind, something new I want to do, or make or try. Plus there are all the other things that I do already that I want to add too.

So each day I do my regular job, I knit, I do some Aussie Rescue work, I read, and I might hit the piano if I can get my fingers to co-operate with the keys. I also visit with a friend either online or in person, I spend time with my family and my dogs. The dogs make it really hard to ignore them :-)

But that is such a small part of me really. There is the part of me that would like to go back to throwing clay pots, and I mean on a potters wheel not at things. There is the part of me that would like to take photography lessons, another part that wants to go back to my drawing and painting. A new part that wants to take Web Page design and learn how to spin the yarn that I knit with.

I like to know more about dog training and dog behaviour.

Oh yeah and I really want to travel, lots, and lots of travel. I have been to a few places in the world but there is so much more I want to see and experience.

So how do I fit it all in? I have more yarn than I can knit, my potters wheel sits in my basement without clay. I manage to take a few pictures every now and then, mostly of dogs and flowers. My fingers and the piano keys do not meet often enough, and when am I going to find more time and money to travel. Never mind all the courses and crafts I want to learn.

How does one get it all in? I have raised four kids, worked full time, had many dogs, spent as much time with family as I can, it is not like I haven't done anything, really? But I want to do so much more.

I could give up sleeping, it is over rated anyways, and well as for working, I need a way to pay for all the things I want to do, I can't really cut that out, and the dogs and family? Nope they are a big part of me, I just think I need two lives. It's looking like I need to change my belief system and hope for reincarnation?

BIG Orange Cat

I was raised on a farm, we had cats, dogs, chickens, an occasional horse and at one time cows. I love animals, and am probably more comfortable with dogs and cats than I am humans. If you have followed my blog you know I have 3 dogs, that are all Australian Shepherds. I love their smart sassy approach to life and I love how they always want to be with their humans.

You may not know I have cats, well they are technically not my cats, one is my daughters, one is my youngest sons, and one is my brothers. My children's cats are brother and sister, born in my sister-in-laws shed, created by two strays. My daughters cat is a calico, named Julie. She is a beautiful cat, but skittish and odd. My sons cat is an orange tabby. He has orange eyes and pads of his paws are also orange. His name is Mickey.

Mickey is huge, between 25 and 30 lbs of cat, bigger than most dogs in my neighbourhood. He also has asthma, apparently quite common in orange cats. Mickey is constantly on a diet, though he doesn't seem to recognize it. He also waddles when walks, you would think he is slow.

Tonight after dinner all the dogs were inside but I heard a lot of rumbling on the deck. I didn't give it much thought but sort of recognized that Mickey was the only animal on the deck at the time of the noise.

A few minutes later, I took my glass of wine and my latest book out to the deck to settle in for an evenings relaxing read. The dogs follow and I can hear the neighbourhood cardinals making very angry noises in my willow tree, it must be that Mickey is on the grass, and this upsets them. Then I realize the dogs have gathered around Mickey, and that he has something in his jaws. Mickey has the nicest cat personality in the world but there is one part of him I don't like. He is a birder. Yes Mickey had a robin in his jaws, dead, and still warm. I call for my husband to get a bag and I place the robin remains in it. I scold Mickey who looks like I have taken away his best friend, and his extra dinner (Which he does not need).

The most amazing thing about this is that my waddling 30lb cat, can spring from my deck onto a bird on my yard 15 feet away and catch it. Amazing really considering his size, it is hard to believe the speed and agility with which he can move.

Mickey is still outside on the grass waiting for his catch to return. Finnegan is lying next to me on the couch, having very bad gas.

One for June

It is almost July, time seems to fly by so quickly it seems only yesterday I was boarding a plane for Ireland. There have been many times I have wanted to add to this blog but something always gets in the way. Work, gardening, kids, dogs...there is always something to do. There is also the lure of a good book and a glass of wine, always distracting in the best sort of way.

The garden is looking slightly better, the deck planters are done, and very pretty; if only I could keep Finnegan from digging in them. I suppose I should be greatful that he is only digging in the planters and not in the garden proper. Or maybe I could train him to start digging that new hole to move my pond too. It is really too bad that I cannot get them to focus their energy on things I need to get done.

The dogs are good, the homemade food has made such a difference. They have beautiful coats and are so lean and healthy looking, and alas Finnegan has even more energy.

The garden well, it will be a work in progress, too many weeds for me to pull by myself, and no one who seems eager to help me. I wonder why?

It is Canada soon, this year a holiday in the middle of the week. I am happily taking the two following days off, so I can make some more garden progress. I am sure I can convince Finnegan to help, and Dundee will pickup sticks and Ziggy will watch, or guard her quacking stuffed ducks.

It is dog food making day, I am sure I will have lots of furry company while I prepare their weeks meals. Happy Summer all, enjoy!

The dog walk

I am just back from taking my three Aussie dogs for their morning walk. When I have to I walk all three of my super dogs together, it is a bit of a circus. Dundee tries to forge ahead, he wants his walk done so he can have breakfast. Finnegan barks to tell me how happy he is, and tries to take nips at Ziggy. Ziggy trots along, usually lagging behind a bit to stay out of Finnegan's way. I walk all my dogs on leather leashes which I have a firm grip on and I walk them on my left side. ( Except for sometimes Finnegan walks on the right side, so I can keep him away from Ziggy)

I do not let my dogs wander all over the side walk, and I do not let them walk in front of me. We have to share the sidewalk with other pedestrians, strollers, dog walkers and unfortunately people on bikes, but that is for another blog. It may not always seem that I have them in control, but 90% of the time I do. Even Dundee who is terrified of dogs with bad or aggressive energy, I have him in control and I can control him.  

What I don't understand is people who walk their dog off leash on a city side walk, or people who walk their dog on a flexi-leash, and let them run all over the sidewalk. (a flexi-leash is one of those leashes that give the dog about 20 feet of lead, and then can be reeled in) Flexi-leashes are dangerous, I had a friend whose dog was killed because he was walking on a flexi-leash and jumped onto the road in front of a car. That is heart breaking and completely avoidable. People who smugly walk down the street with their dog off leash and with out even a leash with them are just plain stupid. I can walk Ziggy without a leash on the street, she walks right beside me and checks in with me, making eye contact all the time, but I still would not do it. 

The man today walking his dog without a leash very smugly, had no control over his dog. I am sure he is confident in his dogs behaviour, but his dog was 4 feet in front of him, never checked in with his owner and was being walked on a city sidewalk full of teenagers going to school and busy cars, with owners focused on getting to work.  So many things could happen, another dog walker with an aggressive dog could have attacked his dog( this has happened to me even on leash), a kid on a bike comes racing by and the dog gets hit, cars, squirrels, bunny rabbits etc, etc, etc,. 

I am never smug with my dogs, Ziggy is perfectly trained but still has a personality of her own, Dundee is a very obedient dog but easily spooked and Finnegan well he is deaf, silly and still a puppy, time will tell with him.

People I know you think you are oh so cool walking your dog off leash on a city street but it is just plain stupid and it is also illegal.