October is a hard month!

Guess I have not done much writing lately. It was a hard first few days of October,with Lens birthday and our anniversary. I was going to go down to Rochester to shop today but just raining too hard and not worth the drive.
The dogs are in and laying all around the house and being good. Topaz who is 11 months and still very much a puppy is playing with the puppy, Bonnie who is only 4 months. They are great friends and play well together. 
I have a good book sitting in the living room just waiting for me to pick it up. I will probably do that this afternoon.
I have finally found a really nice home for Luke. He has been sterile for about a year, so there is no point to show him, since he can no longer produce. He is going to be the only dog and get lots of attention and exercise. He will love that and being a full time house dog as he loves to come in and curl up and sleep. I am excited for  him. It is hard to give up a dog but sometimes it is doing the best for them that shows real love for them.
Luke will be one happy spoiled boy. I placed three of my breeding girls when Len got sick as my focus was all on him, it had to be that way. In this past year I have bought two young girls and can now continue to produce quality, healthy and happy pets. 
I am not ready to give up breeding Shelties and I still want to do a little showing. 
If Len was here that would be what he would want too. He really wanted to do some showing. I will carry on with the dogs as long as I am physically able. I think they keep me going and keep me from aging fast. I could not have survived Lens illness and death without my dogs. I had to keep going for them. No sleeping in for sure. 
A miserable, cold and wet day. That book is beginning to look really good.
The weekends are very quiet for me as everyone is busy with their lives and all the weekend chores that need to be done. Maybe tomorrow I will get the shopping done. I do want to find a good quality puppy food for Bonnie, the four month old.
Hopefully there will be some sunshine tomorrow.
Well that is all for now, hope to not be gone for so long when I write again.

Peace and Quiet

Finally I am able to take my friends Shelties back to her. Glamour had her pups and all the girls are bred. The peace and quiet of living with my own dogs will feel so good. I have had extra dogs here since late August. I am glad that I could help out my friend but I am tired and ready to get back to my normal routine, playing with Bonnie the puppy, walking Rosie when I can.  My kids all need grooming and I have to get into that and get everyone done.  I want to paint my dog room before winter also. After this year with so much dog activity and rain and mud, it is in need of a good cleaning and paint. I also have to decide if I should get more patio blocks or some kennel decking for the dog yard. I need to do something to get rid of the mud. My dog room would be so much cleaner if I could get rid of the mud. It really bothers me and the dogs get dirty every time it rains.
Tomorrow a friend is coming with me to help load up the dogs and take them back to Illusion Farm in Maine. It is wonderful to have the new pups here but it is time for them to go back with their mom. It is a big responsibility, they are thriving, eating really well and nice and fat and round. Very healthy pups. At two days you can't tell much more than that.
Glamour is an excellent mom and that really helps. It has been raining all day and wish it would stop. The dogs hate having to go out in the rain but no choice before bed time.
Time to face the rain and get everyone ready for bed. 

                                                                       

Beautiful Sunny Day!

This morning Rosie and I took a walk on the walking trail which is right next to the house. A perfect day for it. Lots of stress over the weekend that we needed to get rid of and exercise is the perfect way to get rid of it. 
Apparently I did something to upset my daughter in law but I have no idea what I did. I guess it goes back to the week my husband was passing and his funeral. Needless to say I was not concentrating on any one other than my husband. So much of that time was in a fog and I don't know who did or said what. But apparently she does.
Since Rosie needs to lose weight and I need to get into shape we went for a walk, and it was long enough that Rosie was puffing and I was breaking into a sweat. Will try to walk with her every day that the weather is good, she needs to lose about 5 pounds.
She hopefully is bred and losing the weight would be good for her.

Well my cat Girly, earned her keep last night. Maybe around 4 am I hear this weird yowling and it is her hunting noise. I turned the light on and there she is after this mouse, and she got it, threw it up onto the bed and I immediately threw it off. She went after it again but it was dead. I thought we had conquered the mouse problem this past summer but now that the evenings are getting cooler they must be coming back in. I am so thankful for Girly, such an awesome cat

Time to get into gear and get the dog room vacuumed and the crates washed out. This is a necessity very often. Especially with dirt and gravel kennels.

Hope everyone gets out to enjoy this beautiful day, take your pup for a walk, they will thank you for it. 

An Exhausting Time!

Another seven days have gone by and finally back to writing. I am helping a friend with dogs of hers due to a surgery that she had. I have a houseful and it is exhausting. I had thought I would start a puppy class with Bonnie but I am just too exhausted to get out of here early to make the class.It is an hours drive to class and I am just not up for it at this point. There are 14 dogs here and that is a huge amount of juggling.  Another two weeks and we will be back to normal here with just my dogs. It will be a nice feeling. Can you imagine trying to give them all attention, feeding and cleaning, and taking in and out. And that is with two girls in season and three stud dogs. 
Have seriously considered finding good homes for a couple of my dogs so that they all get more one on one attention. I always think that I can handle anything but just not so anymore. When I was younger and working a full time job, 14 dogs were not a problem, and not really a problem now just too hard to get out early in the morning.
I try to give house time to as many as possible. My dogs get upset if they don't get their house time so I make a point to keep their routine as normal as possible. 
Time to get moving, dogs are ready to eat and I need to get this day going.

 

Off to a good start today. This is a very busy place with three girls here for breeding and having three stud dogs here makes for a three ring circus. I have to juggle dogs coming and going as only one stud is being used and the other two are not very happy. By this time next week there will be peace here. 
I am really ready for that and it will be peaceful even with my 9 Shelties. The others will be going home. 
My own girl Rosie was bred a couple of weeks ago so she is no longer a temptation to the boys. 
Today I need to wash down the dog room , with 12 Shelties it does tend to get messy. 
Another day of heat and humidity, makes working hard. Going to take Bonnie the puppy out to the agility area to play on some of the puppy equipment, she just loves this and at 11 weeks she is really quick. 
This afternoon when the heat and humidity are at its highest the dogs will be in the walk out basement which is very cool.
Being a widow is not easy. Every day takes an effort to get going, but I know the dogs need me and I am able to get up and get moving. My cat, Girly, is sitting on the desk right next to the keyboard. She is such good company. I love her to pieces.She gets along with most of the dogs, which is really nice. 
I am putting off getting to work this morning but maybe after a cup of tea I will get the motivation I need to clean the dog room. 
Bonnie is sleeping now and when she wakes we will go play for a little while.
My Shelties are wonderful. They keep me going.  You just can't ignore them.

No Ambition Today, too Hot and Humid!!

Seems like I just can't keep up the way I would like to. I know my granddaughter would not be happy with my missing so many days of writing.
The new pup Bonnie is settling in very nicely. Took her out to the agility area this morning and she loves to run the zoomies, she goes just as fast as she possibly can. 
I have three of my friends dogs here to help her out so it is pretty hectic. My friend Kathleen just had surgery for breast cancer and needs to take it real easy for the next four weeks and no lifting. I have two of her young girls and one of her stud dogs here for awhile. 
And today we are back into the heat and humidity which seems to zap all my motivation. I have such good intentions when I get started in the morning. They slowly melt away as the morning goes on.
There is a walking trail that was built not far from my house and I did get Keeper out for a walk yesterday. After the walk we played ball for awhile in the agility area and he loved it. He was not happy with the  bikers that went by but with more exposure he is will be ok. He did a little obedience with me on the walk and he really loves to work. He is so pleased with himself when he does  it right.
The two girls that are visiting are in season and are here to be bred and needless to say Luke is not very happy, as there is not a girl for him. He is off his feed and he howls at bedtime. Another week and the girls will be done and all will be normal around here.
I had planned to walk some this week but with the heat and humidity I don't think it will happen. Right now the dogs are all laying  around me while I sit at the computer and the air conditioner is running. They love the cool air. Soon I will go upstairs and get the air running for the cat. This house does not have an attic so the upstairs does get very hot. 
Today is Labor Day and since it is a holiday I don't feel so bad about not getting much accomplished, I have a hard time making myself work on a holiday, just something from the past as when I was growing up we always had a cookout on a holiday. Those days have been gone for a long time. The young people of today don't seem to do those family things. 
That has nothing to do with the dogs, just an observation. 
School starts tomorrow and I hope my grand kids have a really good first day of school. I will be thinking of them and remembering what it was like when the long summer was over. 
I think tonight I will do a little dog grooming and at least get something accomplished. The dogs will appreciate that. It has been a hard summer for double coated dogs, as the Shelties are, with a soft furry undercoat and a long outer coat. 
Maybe I will get a little ambitious this evening and write more about the dogs.

Looking for a lovely Sheltie puppy visit my website to see pictures of Kathleens puppies that are available! Jopavist Sheltie Shop

I know it has been a few days since I have written, so many things seem to get in the way. My granddaughter reminded me that it has been four days. 
So for the news Walter is coming back for the school year. I have missed him more than I ever thought I would and I am happy that he is coming home. He needs Topaz to play with. My sons dogs are a little older and Walter irritates the oldest by trying to get her to play. Now Pup Pup will have some peace. Walter and Topaz are close in age and perfect for playing together.

I have started a Go Fund Me site for good friend Kathleen Hathaway. She has a very aggressive form of breast cancer and could use some help with medical expenses. 
https://www.gofundme.com/manage/keep-illusion-farm-running
We appreciate any help or sharing that we can get. It takes a lot to keep the farm running and the medical expenses do come first.

Tomorrow we are having a grooming day for the Shelties at Illusion Farm. Kathleen is going in for surgery on Monday and having the dogs groomed will be one more thing that she will not have to worry about. It should be a fun day.

Guess that is about all the news for today. I probably won't get back here tomorrow as I will be helping with the grooming of the Illusion Farm Shelties.