Marching Forward

Time marches on…and I’ve been so busy living life that I haven’t done too much reporting on it.  February rolled into March.  The Spanish oaks put on fresh, green leaves and the wild plum trees burst into bloom.

We branded the heifers that we will keep as replacement cows.

Family visited, along with all the dog cousins.  Laura, Jamey and Rachel found out that Sparkle Lily, one of the heifers we are keeping, will take range cubes from their hands.  

John and I hosted the first meeting of our new church family.  One Church Bosque met in our barn for its first service, then assembled for several weeks at Buck and Sid Thomason’s barn before taking up temporary residence each Sunday at the Cliftex Theater in Clifton.

Allan and Jef, assisted by the McElhanys and Carmody’s, dismantled the old barn behind the Little House.  Here is how it looked in the summer of 2014 (when we had lots of rain and good grass?).  Bob and Evelyn built the barn with the help of family, but unfortunately it was in serious deterioration and in danger of falling down.  We all loved it, but its time was past.  

It has been replaced by a slightly smaller, but much sturdier new structure.  Tin from the old barn helps keep the character of the original, which we all loved so much.  

We had expected our good friends, Rick and Linda Lorentz, to arrive on March 26 to spend a couple of weeks on their way north for the summer.  They were a day late, but not by choice.    Their Winnebago motor coach broke down outside of San Antonio and they spent the night at the repair shop.  On Monday, they loaded clothes for a few days, as well as the contents of their fridge and freezer, and headed for our house.  We were delighted to see them, of course, and planned some fun things to do while their coach was repaired.  

That wasn’t the end of it, though.  Instead of blowing a turbo, the mechanic said they had lost the entire engine!  Very bad news, as they then had to find the exact motor that would fit in their coach.  That wasn’t easy, especially since their coach was over ten years old.  The saga has continued for several weeks.  An engine was finally located, but had to be removed from a damaged coach and shipped from Kentucky to the repair shop in San Antonio.  It is presently being inspected, prepared and installed.  

We haven’t wasted our time together, though.  Rick and John have done a number of wood-working projects, including re-screening our front and back doors and building several tables and cabinets for the shop.  Linda and I have had a great time taking walks through the bluebonnets, 

admiring the yucca coming into bloom, shopping and attending local activities such as the monthly Gap Chamber of Commerce meeting and Derby Day at Red Caboose Winery (with mint juleps and In our Derby hats, of course).  

We have also been watching our resident eastern screech owls, Owlivia and Oliver.  (Traditional screech owl names carried forward from those we had as neighbors in Volente.)  Owlivia was first spied sitting in the door of the owl house, but has since moved out into the Spanish oak off the patio where the nest box is mounted.  

Oliver sits in a neighboring tree, or sometimes only a few branches away where he calls softly to her.  They look a lot alike, but he is smaller, with a more triangular shape.

We hope there will be owlets peeking out of the owl house soon.

A little earlier, I mentioned bluebonnets.  Here are a couple of Bagley Pack portraits in this year’s floral display.  We are especially grateful for the flowers this year.  It is still very dry, but not as bad as last spring when there wasn’t enough rain for any wildflowers at all.

You will notice that the Bagley Pack now has five members instead of four.  Llanfarian Dutch joined our family in late April.  He is a 3 1/2 year old male border collie, and a pleasure to have as a member of the family.

I am thankful and blessed to have Dutch, but heartbroken at the circumstances that brought him here.  My dear friend and fellow competitor in sheep dog trials, Jill Hefner, had been suffering from cancer for some time.  When she realized her time here was short, and she could no longer work or care for her trial dogs, she reached out to friends and offered us the opportunity to buy them.  It was heart-wrenching when Jill contacted me and offered me Dutch, because I knew how she treasured him.  She was at peace, though.  As she said, “I’m not afraid; I know where I’m going.”  She was a woman of deep faith, and I cherish the memories of our times together.  I am honored and blessed that she gave me this opportunity to take Dutch, and I will do my best to give him a wonderful home and continue the successful training and trialing Jill started.  

Dutch has the potential to become an outstanding Open trial dog, and to pass along his bloodlines to many beautiful pups.  Jill imported him as a puppy from Serge van der Zweep’s Llanfarian Border Collies in the Netherlands.  His imported name was Llanfarian Moss, but she chose "Dutch" as his new name in recognition of his native country.  I first noticed Dutch when Jill and I were competing at the Sand Rock Classic Sheep Dog Trial in Oklahoma in 2021.  At the time, I even told her, “If you ever find you have too many border collies and want to get rid of Dutch, be sure to call me first!”  I am so blessed that she did and I look forward to working with him.  

The past couple of months have been busy ones for us.  John and I, Rick and Linda spent a morning at Charly and Paul Kronberger's Firefly Ridge farm helping Charly worm the ewe lambs while Paul recuperated from knee replacement surgery.  

John and Rick wrangled sheep while Charly and I manned the drench guns.  Linda helped open and close gates and recorded the whole event for posterity.

March and April weren't without dog trials.  Linda accompanied Bo and me to Chris Thompson's C&S Sheep Dog Trial near Hillsboro.  We didn't bring home any gold, but had a good time.  (And Linda is fast becoming well-versed in sheep dog trials and the joys and heartaches that go with them.)

Late April arrived and I headed for Foster, Oklahoma, with the three "boys," Cody, Bo and Dutch, for the Bard Ranch Sheep Dog Trial.  Dutch didn't compete, but was able to get some "sheep time" doing exhaust work (collecting the sheep after a competitor's run and putting them into the pen with other sheep that have been worked). Here is a photo of Cody waiting his turn to compete.

And here are photos of some of our friends on the course.

Charly Kronberger & Tyg

Donna Rock

Tommy Hefner & Jill (and Tommy's dad, Tom)

John Lewis & Dot

Larry Moore

The boys and I had a great time.  Since our Volvo was in the shop (now out, thank goodness!), I drove up and stayed with Charly in her LQ horse (dog) trailer.  Here is a shot of the lovely pasture behind the RV spots where the dogs could stretch their legs. 

The weather the first day was tough, as were the sheep and the course.  I was proud of my dogs, though.  Cody gave me a nice outrun, lift and fetch on a very long Open course.  We were working four ewes, and that's harder than the three sheep that is more common.  They were belligerent, and many dogs had to contend with sheep that turned and challenged or charged them.  (They were wool sheep that had recently been shorn, so perhaps they were embarrassed because they were naked!  At any rate, they were a handful for most of the dogs.)  Cody managed to get them around the course, and gave me a nice shed.  Unfortunately we didn't get them penned, and our score wasn't anything to brag about.  It was a score, though, the only "numbers, not letters" for us for the weekend.  

By the time Bo ran in the Open Ranch class, it was dusk, and raining.  He gave me a very nice come-bye outrun, lifted his sheep and brought them down the course.  He had a nice turn at the post, got all but one of his sheep through the drive-away panels, and down to the cross-drive panels just before the turn to the pen.  That's when things fell apart.  His ewes went through the panels, but then split...in three directions...and bolted.  He tried his best to regroup and bring them back, but they were hell-bent on escaping and they did.  I was proud of his effort, though.  

On Saturday, I again sent Bo on a come-bye outrun.  Why not?  He had done very well on Friday, but something was different and he came in short and crossed over.  I was able to stop him and gave him a re-direct command, but I don't think he could hear me over the wind.  At any rate, he kept going and I called our run.  

Sunday was (finally) a beautiful day...clear skies, light wind and (thankfully) warmer temperatures.  Cody had a very nice away outrun, lifted his sheep and brought them down the course.  His turn at the post was nice, and I was hopeful.  It wasn't to be, though.  The sheep knew where the exhaust pen was (with water, hay and their friends) and one ewe was determined to go there.  She repeatedly turned and challenged Cody, and when she stopped so did her friends.  He managed to get them through the drive-away panels and turned into the cross-drive.  That's where the wheels fell off.  The cranky ewe kept stopping and lowering her head.  I tried all the tricks I knew.  Thinking Cody was too close, I pulled him back and the sheep started grazing.  I tried flanking him in both directions, but she was having none of it.  Finally, she charged and butted Cody and he nipped her smartly on the nose, as she deserved.  Unfortunately, the judge thought otherwise, and we received an unwelcome, "Thank you."  I was proud of him, though.  He was very patient, and only gripped when he was attacked.  I'll never fault one of my dogs for that.  I just hope I have a more open-minded judge the next time.