This ewe is NOT the first ewe scheduled to go.....but good golly.....if she doesn't slow down she might not fit in the barn to lamb! I think the woolly girl next to her is a pretender....just wanting the maternity ward vittles and the straw beds! If every gal could just wait until the 10th....when they are supposed to start lambing.....I would be indebted! Off to work with Patrick Shannahan tomorrow......
If you meet this fellow at a dog trial.....be afraid....be very afraid! His wife was off to the airport with their lovely daughter......the wife must be the "better half"............gotta love a fellow that judged the last trial and kept trying to take my dog off to show her the sheep at the horse trailer at this trial! Like Sally would forget there were sheep in the trailer a month later..... 
Dee and I agreed to set sheep for a while.....here we are taking lambs up to the set out pens....
The judge was from Wales and knows Nell's breeding very well. I took her up to set with...give him a sneak preview of what is to come.....in a few years. I thought...heck..it could go really bad and I could be fired....or it could go phenomenally good.....she did me proud. Here she is posing for a shot after setting an open go.....
So the trial.....well, Sally and I did better this time then the time before. We actually put down a score....64 (and that was with a cross over on the outrun). She got her single with just a small bobble...and the pen was nice. I am proud.... and yet, as always ,contemplative. I got to scribe a few runs and it was very fun chatting with the judge. He asked me to think of one quality difference between the really top handlers and the mediocre handlers.....as we watched a few faux pas on a couple of runs and we chatted about my run. I thought about it....well, one big crucial quality I would like to see in myself is quick RECOVERY. The top handlers make mistakes and you never hear it in their whistles or voice (as mentioned by Geri).....they recover..... put it back together very quickly....sometimes so quick that the crowd misses the mistake. For me, after Sally crossed, I never felt like we got a good rhythm until we got to the third leg of the drive and the single.
As I said my goodbyes, and climbed back into my car for the drive home....I had much to think about. Good stuff.....recovery and the art of letting go...sounds like a good chapter title to the book of my life with trialing sheepdogs! Once again, I must express my gratitude to Geri Byrne and all those surrounding her. What a wonderful atmosphere she has created...the sheep were great...the trial course a challenge...to be sure! I've got another month to practice recovery....until then....
Seize the day!
...and UPWARD? Me....she who is afraid of heights.....had to climb stairs and cross big huge divides on planks of lumber without(#$&#+!!!) handrails....to the perch where the class was held. All the better to observe the pregnant ewes below in the holding area......I am sure!!!! 
Hey! I think this girl might be having a baby...or two! I totally wanted to go help...but NO we watched and she did just fine on her own....imagine that!
After the ewes lamb in the big holding area....and after they clean their lambs and do a bit of bonding.....they are moved into these jugs. I really like how they have metal feeders and water holders attached to the top panel of the jug.....keeping lambs from drowning in buckets.
All in all, it was a great day. I had to leave early to go feed my own sheep. I am looking forward to having lambs of my own real soon......all without that Mt. Everest experience of a bloody nose and vertigo from the observation pertch!
Nell bringing the sheep on her first go.....nicely covering the draw!
I get the valuable input on what Nell and I need to work on. Nell is a pushy little thing...always a bit forward...so we will work on that.....
I must confess that Nell looks so much better at home! Funny that! Which brings me to my second "c" of training for 2009....CRITERIA. I am beginning to look at myself and my criteria...checking to make sure that I keep it CONSISTENT. Nell is beginning to understand that I don't change regardless if the sheep change, or the place changes....or the weather changes.....
Oh, another snow picture......but well worth the clinic. I must say...I love working with Kathy. I love the fact she gives concrete homework. I think I actually learn more watching her work with other dogs...and then applying that same knowledge as I work my dogs. What a GREAT clinic it was. Until the next clinic........
After grabbing a snack....open faced toasted cheese sandwich with a pickle relish "thing"...and of course tea with milk and sugar.....Derek and I were off to work dogs! This just might be what Heaven will look like........
Here, Derek is working Fleece....a little bitch he bought from America's very own Geri Byrne! 
The next day, Derek and his wonderful wife Helen, took me to their place by the border of Scotland......it is a 17th Century Jacobean farmhouse.....an absolute to-die-for place with daub walls in the older barn portion.......
And of course we worked dogs! 
We awoke very early the next day, and Derek took me to the Skipton Dog Auction. The dog auction is quiet the event....here is a picture of potential buyers.
The field set-up is like a small trial field...trained dogs can gather and hit panels on a drive, while less trained dogs can show what they can do.
There were some very nice dogs for sale.....but since I would have been bidding against my gracious host, I chose instead to behave myself!My last day in England, Derek packed me and a few dogs up and took me to a trial. Here Derek is running a little bitch named Molly.
And this is Killiebrae Sally......
I took one look at the ladies loo.....and immediately STOPPED drinking tea!
We were up well before the sun as Derek took me and my souvenir of choice....a small, rough coated, black and white bitch named Sally.....back to the Manchester airport. My thanks to Derek and Helen Scrimgeour for their hospitality and for sharing their love of this amazing animal...the Border Collie!
There was a bonfire...like it helped! And the trial was a HUGE success. So here is what I need to work on......Miss Sally not getting stuck on the exhaust sheep! 
Thank you Geri Byrne......from the bottom of my heart....for providing such a fabulous place to work and train dogs! I had the BEST weekend....well, a score would have made it perfect....next time!!!!!