April 10, 2009: Happy Easter, Folks!
We had hoped for a quieter week this week but the reality of it was quite the opposite. Kelvin has been busy grading university papers for what appears to be the last classes he will be teaching for his Canadian and American Universities. With the economy as bad as it is, North American universities have 'released' many of their part time staff. Even some of Kelvin's full-time colleagues on the ground in North America have had their so-called 'protected' jobs trimmed to part-time employment. No longer are universities the bastion of life-long employment. 'Tenure' seems to be taking on a whole new meaning in this recession. We hope our 'academic' friends around the world survive this difficult period.

Kelvin has received some nice messages from his students. Here is one:

I am not sure if I heard you correctly last Saturday but if I understand correctly you won't be teaching any more online classes through Calgary. U of C doesn't always make decisions that benefit their students as per my experiences. If I'm correct that saddens me but I hope our paths will cross again. Your classes have been stimulating, creative and pertinent to my career. You have given me the confidence to be an adult learner! I really had reservations about embarking on this path but it was something that I really wanted to do. You are a creative, knowledgable, very organized and thought provoking teacher. ... I think that sometimes in the education field we don't let others know what impact they have on others. Thank you again and God bless.

What Kelvin does next, we are not sure. The good news is his mole catching prowess is improving dramatically. He has now doubled his daily haul of moles to 6 a day...and gaining. Since he only has about half of his traps set right now, the local farmers are looking foward to having hayfields with few (or no) moles. Perhaps this will be Kelvin's next vocation :-)

The news of Kelvin's jobs has made for a tough week. As some of you know, our elation about finally finding a new home has turned into a bit of a nightmare. At this stage, we don't know whether or not we are going to get this farm, and it isn't for lack of trying or desire! We completely forgot about Easter and as it turns out, this 'holiday' may just spell an end to our attempts to secure this farm. If we can't bring this to a successful conclusion next week, we will have to move on. We truly hope this is not the case, but in the meantime, we have had to start our farm search all over again. This is unbelieveably discouraging and our spirits are being sorely tested but sometimes things are outside of our control. While we might not be able to control this situation, we can control how we respond to it and if that means we have to start all over again, we will. To say we are absolutely gutted about all of this would be an understatement.

A bright spot during the week was a trip up to Aled Owen's place to have him autograph some books. We had a box of books autographed by Aled, Bobby and Kevin. Most of these were preordered so we ended up with only 4 left to sell! Like last time, one does not go up to Aled's without taking a dog. This time it was Steffi, Cian and Bee who got the nod to go. For Steffi and Cian, this was a real treat as they have not been on sheep before...except for when the little devils have escaped under fences and helped themselves. Thankfully this has not happened very often and the sheep have been faster than them, although on occasion they have successfuly rounded up a group. With lambs on the ground now we have had to be that much more vigilant to make sure the pups have not got away on us.

We are pleased to report that both Cian and Steffi were terrific on Aled's nice 'puppy' sheep. Steffi, in particular, was very, very exciting. Oh my goodness, she is quite like Meg (her mother) - very stylish! It was thrilling to see what is in her. As Aled said, "some dogs just have it." I had to remind Aled that she was NOT staying behind with him! The test now is to let her grow up some more before taking her to sheep again and not be too keen to get her out too soon. Cian showed lots in him too. He is so keen and eager to get to sheep, just like his father, Jamie. Like Steffi, Cian will be put away now for a few months. They have just turned 5 months old so they won't really get started until the end of the year. Now we are super keen to try Jenna, Mike and Tim...but we'll wait until they have an opportunity on quiet sheep.

Bee was also a litte star. She just makes you smile when you are out in the field with her. Aled offered terrific advice on things to work on so over the next few months, that's what we'll be doing. We're not in any hurry to bring Bee along as she won't run in nursery trials until the end of 2010 but the wait is going to be a pleasureable one. Bee is so keen and willing to work as a team. She is a treat. That's not to say she does everything right. She doesn't...nor is that the expectation for an 8 month old! She is learning fast though. Smart and natural. A good combination! She is quite like her father, Joe in looks and style.

It was a super trip up to Aled's, made that much better by meeting up with our Irish friend, John, who was up there training. We hadn't planned to be there at the same time as John but it was nice to see him and his dog, Jock. Jock is a nice dog! Watch for John and Jock at the Irish National this year or next or the one after. If and when they make the Irish team, we'll be off to the International to support them.

John's dog, Jock, at the Llanddeusant Trial April 11th

Off trialling this weekend. Two days of trials up at Nigel Watkins' place. Kelvin is judging one day. Bet he'll be tougher on me than everyone else! ...and that would be OK.

Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate this. When Kelvin was out setting mole traps I searched high and low for any hidden stashes of Easter eggs. Came up empty handed. I think this means Kelvin has not bought any eggs for me again this year. :-((