June 15, 2011: Did Someone Say We Needed Rain?

Whoever is doing these rain dances, stop it. Holy cow, we almost got washed away in a flash flood on Friday and then Sunday it bucketed down all day long. Sure, it was ground soaking rain...but it was also human soaking rain irrespective of the rain gear worn. I ventured out for two walks up the hill with the dogs and they were quite keen to return to their nice, warm and dry beds. Wimps. Needless to say, our leaking conservatory roof was, well ...leaking. A piece of the chimney took a nose dive onto the slate roof and cracked two slates. We finally had a repair person here to take a look at the roof but it will be another week or so before it is fixed. Nothing happens quickly in Wales!

The rain also managed to down a couple of trees...one onto the cottage roof. Thankfully no harm done. Kelvin was out in the elements sawing the branches off one by one until the tree had been removed. The debris is waiting for me to move it! In my spare time...

Why is it that thistles grow faster than grass after a good soaking?

Last week I mentioned I was having to puppy proof the gate into our hayshed to stop Pepper, Spice and Kent jumping through a gate and onto the haystack. Well, I was very pleased with myself when I managed to hang a puppy-proofed gate all by myself. 'Ha', I thought, 'I've outsmarted them! No more puppies playing in the shed and escaping out the back of the shed to the hill. Imagine my dismay when I discovered them in the shed again...this time, they had gone under the new gate. A piece of 2 by 4 was pressed into action. Puppies can no longer go under the gate. Gotcha, you little devils. Well, this morning, no puppies in the play area. Three puppies in the hayshed. Over the puppy proof gate they had gone. What now for these cunningly little devils? Perhaps it is time for some obedience training! I think they are winning...

We were off trialling on Saturday at the Clun trial. This is Vic Morris's trial and it's always well-organized. The weather was rubbish! One minute the sun was out and it was quite tolerable. The next, hail. Most of the day was chilly. However, the running was good, the sheep tricky and a nice challenging course. Perfect! I ran Bee and Meg, while Kelvin ran Blade and Tina. Bee's, Tina's and Blade's runs were completely forgettable. In Bee's case, she completely forgot what lie down meant and was summarily marched off the course. The wax that seemed to have built up in her ears has since been removed!!! Meg redeemed the day for our household with a smart run to the shedding ring...where, with 3 and a half minutes to take a 2 and 2 split, my sheep were hell bent on a 3 and 1 split. Do you think I could get the right combination? NO! I glanced at my watch with 54 seconds to go. Shi*t, I thought, I'd better stop farting around and just get the job done. And with that in mind, the shed came quickly and while Meg gathered the sheep for a full court press to the pen, I broke the 40 yard World Record running to get the pen gate open. It probably didn't look very pretty running in heavy wellies and winter rain gear, but who cares? Meg railroaded the sheep to the chute and through they went, gate banging shut in their ears. 16 seconds to spare. Yep, a shed and pen in 38 seconds. As I stepped to the post, someone told me to "go for it" - yep, I'd say I was going for it. Most fun I have had at a trial all year. Bonus was a 4th placing, two placings higher than Meg and I finished last year. Very proud of my girl, Meg! Now if only I could get Sioux back on the trial field for double the fun!

Good news this week...my favourite whistle which went AWOL sometime ago, along with my mobile phone, has been found safe and sound. It was in a weird place but how it got there is of no importance. I was jumping in glee at its return (yes, I know, I am pathetic!). It was immediately pressed into action and funnily enough, my dogs responded better to this whistle than the stand in.

Bad news...the truck has broken down again for the umpteenth time. If you haven't heard me say this before, I HATE MITSUIBISHI L200S!!! How can two engines 'blow up' on a truck that is not even 4 years old? DO NOT BUY A MITSUIBISHI!!!! Poor Kelvin was on his way to school when it broke down. How he is to get to and from school now is going to be our next headache! I guess that means no trialling either... @*#~!&*