Better Than Christmas......Really!

I've confessed I am OCD.....and that I have waited all summer for Nell to come into heat. My false proclamation of her being in heat and almost starting my trip to Missouri in early July....will go down in the history books of my friends as something to tease me about forever! In fact, I had sort of given up on poor Nell, thinking she must have some "female issue" and that she would never come into heat....ever! And then....miracles of Mary....she came into heat at the finals! Indeed....confirmed by all my nay-saying friends. Conveniently, Kathy Knox was right there with room to fly Nell home with her and so Nell went to Camp Knox. I won't talk about that fact that I sent my young, sweet (okay maybe not sweet) innocent girl to an old man who has children all over the continent. I'll briefly breeze over Kathy asking if Nell has any bad habits....me saying no...and then getting the call that Nell was practicing by herself on the young weaner lambs, sneaking under the gate to do so! The day finally came....my friends Cheryl and Lorri (plus Cheryl's husband who is my friend but won't admit it) flew out to the Knox trial and were willing to bring Nell home with them...if there was room on the plane!

I got the call at 7:30 in the morning....Nell was on the plane.....considering it is a 3 1/2 hour flight and a 4 hour drive for me....I jumped in the van and was off.....

I got to the SeaTac in the nick of time.....the plane from Kansas City was 30 minutes early....and I hit rush hour traffic in Portland. What a sight...there was Cheryl, and my Nell....who found me and just stared at me through her crate.....staring without a wag or whine. Man oh Man I missed that dog. I put her in the van and headed to Fido's Farm....where we took a long walk and then.....

we worked sheep! It was like she never left...but then she was more responsive...so the good was still there....but the pushing on me was softer....the month off was a good thing!

Yesterday was day 24 from the her last rendezvous with Jake.....so I took her to the vet to have a little lookie lou.....I was never one to wait till Christmas to open my gifts....ever. (Sorry, Mom, it's true...I got very good at re-wraps). The ultrasound was amazing.....6 tiny little nothings!!!!! This was so much better than Christmas. I asked the vet to sex them.....okay, just kidding but I am so excitedly over the moon. My Nell is having Jake puppies......

Seize the day!!!!!!!!

The Finals.....from a different view

I think I have recovered...maybe! Helping put on the 2009 USBCHA Finals was such a wild ride......better than Disneyland....surrounded by friends, border collies (a couple of shelties), sheep......what more could a woman want....other than to run my very own dog IN the competition. So, I thought I would share my view of the finals......

Here the first campers pulled in....I do believe that is the Helsley family and friends!

The trial committee met to discus the layout of the field......amazing how many top hats it took to make decisions....and how they all came to one conclusion.....only those on the committee would know!
This was my "home away from home" during the daylight hours. It was formally called the "information" tent. Not exactly sure how informative we were....those of us residing there day after day....but the view was great!

The set out pens were amazing! Designed by Ellen Skillings....they made the wrangling job so much more user friendly. On Monday, those in charge of the sheep.....kindly showed the girls around their diggs and gave them encouragement to "get used to it" sistas!The girls were released....four by four...and allowed to check out the field....grazing on the newly harvested alfalfa...what a treat!
And then.....it was on to the main event! You can barely see the fetch panels in the middle of the field....but this was taken from the set out looking back at the whole affair......What an amazing trial! I had no idea what all happens to put on an event like this.....and I was amazed at what a fabulous group of people pulled together to make it happen. Throughout the week, I did indeed get to see a few runs......but by Sunday....I went on strike and watched every single run...taking notes and dreaming of years to come! How does one put into words the beauty of the working border collie? I've left that to the other bloggers who covered the runs so eloquently.....as for me, for once, I have been left speechless!

Seize the day