Ok, today I'm just trying to win a Go cutter. If you haven't heard of it, its a new way to cut fabric for quilting and its a HUGE time saver. I've been trying to win one for the last month with all the great giveaways. If i don't win one before Christmas, this would be a great present! HINT, HINT! .
Go to http://www.ryanwalshquilts.com/ for a giveaway this week.
I'm going to ask for the 2.5" strip cutter, Winding Ways, and Blazing Star templates. If you need that web site, here it is accuquilt
FYI, we are semi-finishing the unfinished space, will have to rename it the 'Quilting Room' and then i'll have a nice warm, bright space to play with quilts.
Loving the cool rain today, its kinda overcast and gray but I love the sound of rain.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Yes, we CAN move those sheep
Well, its been 4 months since we started herding with Laurie. I've been working fly since early July. We've both learned a lot. Fly has a decent pickup of the herd and does well with fetching them to me. She is balanced now which means she stays on the opposite side of the herd from me. We are ready to learn 'come by' and 'away' now! These are long videos but a very good example of what we do at each lesson. Laurie will tell me one or two things to correct each time. Wow, this is so much fun! Be sure to listen to Laurie on the audio, some interesting comments about herding, Fly , and the first time her dog ever saw ducks (at a trial!)
Part 1 of the Lesson
Part 2 of the lesson
Part 1 of the Lesson
Part 2 of the lesson
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Yes, I DO have other hobbies!
Ok, just so you don't think that dogs and horses are my only active hobbies, here is a quilt that my daughter made. I did finish the border for her and also pieced the backing. We skyped to make decisions and I'm very happy with the final product. What do you think?
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
The day that changed everything!
I was just reminiscing about how Fly and I got started with sheep herding. Thought you might enjoy a video of Fly the first time she ever played with sheep. I didn't know there were two methods of training at this time, small pen vs. field, but she had a lot of fun! Now 5 months later, Fly and I can work in a 10 acre field and move sheep! yee haw its fun! I promise to get an updated video of Fly soon.
For now, here is a picture of her cuteness at home. She is being shy for the camera as you can see by her ears.
Fly and Callie playing - these are GOOD sounds you hear.
Fly's first time EVER on sheep. March 2010
Fly working with Laurie April 23, 2010
For now, here is a picture of her cuteness at home. She is being shy for the camera as you can see by her ears.
Fly and Callie playing - these are GOOD sounds you hear.
Fly's first time EVER on sheep. March 2010
Fly working with Laurie April 23, 2010
Monday, August 02, 2010
its HOT here.
Man its been SO hot this summer. But i'm trying not to let it slow me down.
Fly and I went herding today for the first time in TWO weeks. I have been experiencing withdrawal! She did VERY well again and was balancing to me and starting to 'rate' the sheep which means she is not pushing them to me too quickly. Only a couple of times did she push so hard that the sheep went around me and I ended up on the wrong side of the flock. She also did a nice easy pick up the first time. We need to continue working on the initial 'outrun' until we get to the point that she starts by my side, goes OUT to get the sheep and fetches them to me. Fun fun!
I've also been busy quilting charity quilts to get experience with my new quilting machine. I think i'm getting better with each quilt and also trying to get more creative as well. The last quilt I did with McTavishing and I think it turned out ok!
Fly and I went herding today for the first time in TWO weeks. I have been experiencing withdrawal! She did VERY well again and was balancing to me and starting to 'rate' the sheep which means she is not pushing them to me too quickly. Only a couple of times did she push so hard that the sheep went around me and I ended up on the wrong side of the flock. She also did a nice easy pick up the first time. We need to continue working on the initial 'outrun' until we get to the point that she starts by my side, goes OUT to get the sheep and fetches them to me. Fun fun!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Alas, twodraftmom is no longer true - and long overdue herding update.
I lost my wonderful Belgian mare Babe a week ago. I have no idea what happened but last Monday she was just dead in the pasture and had been for at least 12 hours. I found out that draft horses live 20-25 years and she was about 20. She was my best horse (sorry Bob) and will be sorely missed. Bob and Pepper have taken up quarters and I saw them grooming each other heartily last night. We are down to 3 horses now, after the loss of my Missy last fall as well. I have made the decision not to replace her at this time.
On a happier note, sheep herding is progressing nicely with Fly. I signed her up for a clinic at the end of June but she managed to pick THAT DAY to stop working for Laurie. The very last session just before the clinic I had been in the field with Laurie and maybe she just decided it was time to work for MOM! So, time for Claire to get out there and DO it instead of just watching. It was a slow start but I have been watching Laurie closely and have picked up what to do fairly well(according to Laurie). Yesterday Fly was balancing sheep to me! This means that as i would move one way around the sheep, she would follow to keep the sheep balanced between us. And, as I would move the other way, she would also move. Fly is hearing 'Lie Down' and understanding it means she is in the right position to balance and then fetch the sheep to me. I'm so proud of her! If you know me, you know i hate to sweat but i have to say , as Fly gets better, this gets more and more fun! The sweating is ok by me and maybe i'll lose some weight!
Things to work on:
Agility updates : Callie is temporarily taking a break after she came up lame. We are doing anti-inflammatory for 2 weeks then will do a recheck. Since the last blog we started advanced agility and she did great. Since she came up lame last class, I was able to run Barb's REALLY fast dog. It was lots of fun and will be something to aim for with Fly. Fly finished agility teamwork and we did well, I need to teach her weave poles and keep working on simple jumps, front and rear crosses, watching me, and following me around a course. I also need to start working her at a distance.
On a happier note, sheep herding is progressing nicely with Fly. I signed her up for a clinic at the end of June but she managed to pick THAT DAY to stop working for Laurie. The very last session just before the clinic I had been in the field with Laurie and maybe she just decided it was time to work for MOM! So, time for Claire to get out there and DO it instead of just watching. It was a slow start but I have been watching Laurie closely and have picked up what to do fairly well(according to Laurie). Yesterday Fly was balancing sheep to me! This means that as i would move one way around the sheep, she would follow to keep the sheep balanced between us. And, as I would move the other way, she would also move. Fly is hearing 'Lie Down' and understanding it means she is in the right position to balance and then fetch the sheep to me. I'm so proud of her! If you know me, you know i hate to sweat but i have to say , as Fly gets better, this gets more and more fun! The sweating is ok by me and maybe i'll lose some weight!
Things to work on:
- Try to get better fetches, both initially and whenever she is going towards the sheep. I need to push Fly out earlier from me to prevent her from side-swiping the sheep. She needs to respond to my pressure and start working on a nice 'get out' to gather the sheep. On a fresh fetch, I need to stand between fly and the sheep, let her go, and then again , push her further out to prevent herd busting.
- More switching direction once she is on the back side 'fetching' them to me. Last night she was paying attention and did switch from left to right at least 2x!
Agility updates : Callie is temporarily taking a break after she came up lame. We are doing anti-inflammatory for 2 weeks then will do a recheck. Since the last blog we started advanced agility and she did great. Since she came up lame last class, I was able to run Barb's REALLY fast dog. It was lots of fun and will be something to aim for with Fly. Fly finished agility teamwork and we did well, I need to teach her weave poles and keep working on simple jumps, front and rear crosses, watching me, and following me around a course. I also need to start working her at a distance.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Dog agility week 4 and herding update
I took Fly and Callie to agility class Tuesday. We are 4 weeks into a 6 week session.
Fly is taking Jumps class. So far she has learned to jump 6 jumps in a row with a single 'go' command'. She is also beginning to follow me from jump to jump, especially as we go around corners. Fly is still a pup and doesn't pay much attention to me in the ring. She especially is easily distracted by other dogs. Our homework this week is to work on 'watch me' and more angled jumps with a final goal of jumping in a circle. I need to slow down and keep a closer eye on Fly.
Callie is taking beginning agility handling mostly so I can learn handling skills. So far she is the star of the class and has received many accolades of 'perfect run'. We learned 'front crosses' and Callie did well with that. When we tried 'back crosses' however we ran into Callie's weak spot. She does NOT like being handled, she has NEVER like to be picked up. To teach the back cross I first had to teach her to 'switch' away from me. Basically , if she is on my left, I want her to do a left hand turn away from me and at the same time I'm also turning left. Then Callie ends up on my right side. We were able to do this to the right using her 'spin' command but doing this on the left was much harder and of course when I tried to cue her by touching her side, she just backed away. Anyway, after a few days we got it worked out and now she basically has a spin both clockwise and counter-clockwise.
Now, lets return to the 'back cross'. During class we didn't do well. We decided that I can basically outrun Callie ( she IS 10 ) and we don't really need a back cross! Ok, thats wimping out but I DO need to learn this for Fly. Homework with Callie; Work on a 'go' command to get her to work in front of me.
Herding update:
We are about 4 weeks into herding lessons for Fly. She has a lot of natural instinct so I'm taking her to Brazito to play with sheep. She is learning how to get the sheep to move. These last two lessons she has been in the 5 acre field. The first time she ran at 110% speed for the first two minutes and then she crashed. She did get back in the game but MAN she has a long tongue. At one point she was running with her tongue hanging out 4 inches and it was FLAPPING! Monday she only ran at top speed for about 30 seconds. She then settled down a bit and was doing great circles around the sheep. Laurie is working on getting Fly to go 'out', that is , not so close to the sheep. She is also trying to get Fly to change directions and go counter-clockwise (Away) as well as she does clockwise (Come by). Fly took a couple of direction changes well and was also doing a nice 'balance' of the sheep to Laurie. The goal is to be able to move the sheep in a figure 8 with Laurie leading and Fly pushing. Updates to follow!
p.s.
You'll be glad to know I bought a belly band for the single horse harness so we'll have no more repeats of the cart incident from the last post! Can't wait to use it and I hope I measured it correctly and its big enough to get around both Babe and Bobs bellies.
Fly is taking Jumps class. So far she has learned to jump 6 jumps in a row with a single 'go' command'. She is also beginning to follow me from jump to jump, especially as we go around corners. Fly is still a pup and doesn't pay much attention to me in the ring. She especially is easily distracted by other dogs. Our homework this week is to work on 'watch me' and more angled jumps with a final goal of jumping in a circle. I need to slow down and keep a closer eye on Fly.
Callie is taking beginning agility handling mostly so I can learn handling skills. So far she is the star of the class and has received many accolades of 'perfect run'. We learned 'front crosses' and Callie did well with that. When we tried 'back crosses' however we ran into Callie's weak spot. She does NOT like being handled, she has NEVER like to be picked up. To teach the back cross I first had to teach her to 'switch' away from me. Basically , if she is on my left, I want her to do a left hand turn away from me and at the same time I'm also turning left. Then Callie ends up on my right side. We were able to do this to the right using her 'spin' command but doing this on the left was much harder and of course when I tried to cue her by touching her side, she just backed away. Anyway, after a few days we got it worked out and now she basically has a spin both clockwise and counter-clockwise.
Now, lets return to the 'back cross'. During class we didn't do well. We decided that I can basically outrun Callie ( she IS 10 ) and we don't really need a back cross! Ok, thats wimping out but I DO need to learn this for Fly. Homework with Callie; Work on a 'go' command to get her to work in front of me.
Herding update:
We are about 4 weeks into herding lessons for Fly. She has a lot of natural instinct so I'm taking her to Brazito to play with sheep. She is learning how to get the sheep to move. These last two lessons she has been in the 5 acre field. The first time she ran at 110% speed for the first two minutes and then she crashed. She did get back in the game but MAN she has a long tongue. At one point she was running with her tongue hanging out 4 inches and it was FLAPPING! Monday she only ran at top speed for about 30 seconds. She then settled down a bit and was doing great circles around the sheep. Laurie is working on getting Fly to go 'out', that is , not so close to the sheep. She is also trying to get Fly to change directions and go counter-clockwise (Away) as well as she does clockwise (Come by). Fly took a couple of direction changes well and was also doing a nice 'balance' of the sheep to Laurie. The goal is to be able to move the sheep in a figure 8 with Laurie leading and Fly pushing. Updates to follow!
p.s.
You'll be glad to know I bought a belly band for the single horse harness so we'll have no more repeats of the cart incident from the last post! Can't wait to use it and I hope I measured it correctly and its big enough to get around both Babe and Bobs bellies.
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