Life Rolls On...

Life rolled on after the awesome eclipse.  Dutch occupied his favorite perch any time I was in my office working on the computer.

Cousin Rosie posed for a portrait in her favorite spot…the front seat of the Kawasaki mule.

John and I took advantage of the banner bluebonnet year to pose with the dogs for a family portrait.  I’ll bet you can guess how many pics it took to get one with everyone’s eyes open and facing the camera.  Here are a few of them.

The last weekend in April, Cody, Bo, Dutch and I joined good friend Charly Kronberger and her dogs for a trip to Foster, OK, and the Bard Ranch Sheep Dog Trial. The weather wasn't the best...mist, rain, high winds (and tornado warnings), and several competitors bailed out.  We did have great weather for dogs and sheep, but not for photography (except for some neat "fireworks" we saw while sitting outside Brent Phelps' trailer).

I did take a few shots during the trial, though. Here’s one of Angie Coker-Sells and one of her dogs working on a shed.

The boys didn’t have an outstanding weekend, but all got the sought-after “numbers instead of letters.”  Bo was the high point dog of my pack with a respectable score of 65 on some very tough, newly-shorn woolies.  They were cranky, and the field was BIG…the outruns for the open class were well over 400 yards long.

If you look closely, you can see the sheep set out in the middle of the photo, far beyond the center fetch panels.  It was a challenging course... a ton of fun and not a small amount of frustration.  Thanks to Charly for driving and letting us hang out in her rig and thanks to Nicole Rhoades for putting on a great trial.  We will be back!

And speaking of sheep, the Sheep Sisters are growing and getting rolling fat in spite of being worked every day.  They are mowing the grass and producing…well, what sheep produce.  Here is some of that being moved by what as kids we called “tumble bugs.”  This one is a new-to-me variety, what my Seek iPhone application called a Louisiana Dung Beetle.  He is a long way from home, but was working hard to move his prize.

We have enjoyed our time with good friends Gail and Steve Dixon, who have been camped here since a bit before the solar eclipse.  (Their two Maine Coon kitties, Lily and Cece, declined to pose.)

We shared many a happy hour, and other good times like this trip to the Horny Toad Bar & Grill in nearby Cranfills Gap.

Steve and Gail pulled out this morning.  

It took a bit of sweat and swearing to get their big truck and 48-foot SpaceCraft trailer around the corner at our gate, but together we managed.  We will miss them, and look forward to seeing them here or on the road before too long.