September Celebrations

September is filled with special days.  Last month we celebrated Cody’s five-year adoption anniversary, along with Dutch’s fifth and Meg’s third birthdays (with Blue Bell, of course!).  

Cody and Dutch are experienced Blue Bell consumers, and wasted no time emptying their cups.  

It was Meg’s first opportunity for an ice cream treat, and she dived right in.  

Rue and Bo are always happy to share in the celebration, and look forward to marking their own special days next year.

There were other September celebrations, which were special as well.  Terry and Pattie Meyers joined us for Labor Day weekend.  Mo, their young boxer, enjoys her time with the Bagley Pack…especially the opportunity to play with new toys!

We spent most of our time porch-sitting and just enjoying each other's company, but did go into Hamilton and visited their nice small museum.  We also took in the Civil War "reenactment,"  which consisted of  shooting off the historic mortars.

Memorabilia on display included this original chuck wagon and a number of firearms these two re-enactors from nearby Comanche use when they participate in "battles" across the country.

And then, just a few days later Bill and Sherrie Sage and Sassy stopped by for a couple of days on their way home to Cleveland, Georgia, from their summer in Wyoming.  We missed our time with them this summer, so were thrilled that they could stop by for a visit.

We enjoyed plenty of porch-sitting, and a good lunch in Hico at the Chop House in the beautiful Midland Hotel. 

  

We were sorry to say goodbye to Bill and Sherrie, but hope to see them next year in Buffalo, if not before.

And, a couple of times Charly Kronberger and her dogs came to work sheep at our place.  It's always a good time, especially when Paul comes with her.  

We have been blessed with visits from a number of friends since we moved here…long-time friends, new friends and friends with whom we share never-to-be forgotten memories.  Cynthia Elam Darwin and her husband, Roger Sturgell are from the last category, at least Cynthia is.  Years ago, she and I spent many hours crewing on racing sailboats on Lake Travis with a double-handfull of like-minded, often sunburned, committed sailors.  We made memories that won’t be forgotten, and though we have both have moved on to less-strenuous pastimes, we wouldn’t change a minute of those times.  (And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that another special person who shared those times was Terry Meyers.  I can't calculate how many hours I spent on the pointy end of his J-29.  In fact, that is where I met John, but that's another tale for another time.)  

Cynthia and Roger were only able to spend a short time with us but we’re planning to get together again, hopefully before another 20+ years pass!  In the meantime, we'll enjoy the sunsets and life here in the country.

Recapping Our Summer....

Recapping our summer…..now that fall, blessed, cool fall, is here.  

Late May through early August was full of dog doin’s.  May 30 through June 2 saw us in the wide open spaces of Frio Draw Ranch outside Friona, TX.  Thanks to Terry and Pattie Meyers and their boxer pup, Mo, for holding down the fort here at the farm while we went to the Frio Draw Memorial Sheep Dog Trial.  

Tommy Hefner hosted a challenging trial that stretched all of us and our dogs.  The Bagley Boys didn’t have a particularly successful outing.  Open 1 saw all with RTs.  Open 2 was better; Dutch scored a 70 on a nice run.  Here are a few photos pulled from the video John took.  We finished the course successfully through our outrun, lift, drive, chute and shed, but timed out on the final element, "penning" our sheep in the trailer.

Cody got a 54 and Bo a 38…not stellar, but numbers.  Here are some photos of Bo's run.  We unfortunately timed out in the shed ring.  

The real “score” though, was Dutch’s.  Lauren Galia drove 8 hours from just outside Corsicana to bring her lovely female, Skye, for a “date” with him.  

They got along famously, and 7 weeks ago Skye gave birth to 4 lovely pups, one female and three males.  We are excited and can’t wait to watch them grow up.

While we were in Friona, there was drama going on at Goat Hill Farm.  When we returned, we found that our 602 cow had calved.  Not only that, she had twins, our second set in as many years.  We were puzzled, though.  Only one of the twins was nursing his mother.  

The other twin, a red baldy heifer, was being mothered and nursed by our G2 cow.  

The only problem was that G2 had calved only 6 months before.  She had apparently weaned her older calf in favor of mothering a new baby.  So far, all is well and both calves are thriving.  We do wonder, though, what will happen when G2 produces her own new baby in another couple of months.

Cows and stolen calves weren't the only things going on at the farm.  The prolonged drought, and/or some disease has caused almost all the many pecan trees at the farm to die.  One of the hardest to see go was the magnificent old pecan in Allan and Jef's back yard.  It finally succumbed, and was taken down, along with several beautiful post oaks that also have died.

Shortly after we returned from Friona, Dutch had another hot date.  The beautiful Tip, who we had tried to unsuccessfully breed with Dutch last winter, arrived for another try.  They were successful this time.

Tip became the proud mother of four pretty pups, three females and a male.  They should all be tris, as both Dutch and Tip are rough-coat tris.  

The end of June saw us again on the road, this time to Peyton, Colorado, in the rolling hills east of Colorado Springs.  Our misadventure on the way involved the big living room slide on our RV.  Our first night out, parked in Snyder, TX, the slide went out with a loud "Bang."  Long, long story short, a weld had broken and the slide was inoperable.  With the help of a local mobile RV repairman, a day later the slide had been pulled in and secured for the trip.  It was a bit snug for the next two weeks, but we managed and are glad we were able to make the trip.  

We again parked with our friends at Terri and Brian’s Nicolau’s Kyon Ranch.  It was a jam-packed two weeks.  On June 29, Terri and Brian hosted the Kyon Ranch Sheep Dog Trial.  

Kristi Cetrulo's Brig

Terry Murray & Jill

Blake Byrum

Judge, Scribe & Peanut Gallery

Terri Nicolau & Bree

Les Hale, not surprisingly, took top honors with his two dogs, and is shown receiving his trophy from Terri Nicolau.

Then, on June 30 and July 1, we drove a short half-mile down the road to the Hopper Road Sheep Dog Trials hosted by Terry Murray & Mike Lupou and Alice and Travis Meuten.  The fields are challenging, but beautiful.  We had all kinds of weather, including a downpour that we sat out in the judge’s trailer.  

Barb Biller

Any Port in a Storm

After the Storm...Cody & I Getting Ready to Run

Cody, unfortunately never found his sheep.  Dutch found his on his second run and got them down the field to me.  Our run was pretty ragged, but we did get to the pen, where we ran out of time.

Dutch and I Waiting for Sheep

We celebrated the Fourth of July at Alice and Travis’s place with burgers and brats and lots of good visiting.  Then, after hanging out with friends at Terri and Brian’s place, on Thursday we hooked up and drove some 40 miles north and east to Simla, Colorado, to Mindy Bower and Kevin Hall’s Uh Oh Ranch Summer Sheep Dog Trial.  Again, the courses were challenging and the sheep as well, but they were honest and provided great learning opportunities.  

Cody didn't compete at Uh Oh Ranch because only two dogs per handler were allowed.  Bo and Dutch had the opportunity, but it was a rough go for both of them.  Bo helped with exhaust after his run, and cooled off in the water buckets.

Alice Baker Meutens posed with Terry Murray's sidekick, Otter

Opening Ceremonies at Uh Oh Ranch were a special treat.  Two young women who are training mustangs for show and sale in the Mustang Makeover.  The horses have only been worked for a few months, so walking quietly across the trial field carrying flags was a real accomplishment.  

All three trials were great from every aspect.  I think my dogs were not as well prepared as they could have been.  The range woolies and long courses were tough for them, and the altitude (over 7,000 feet), was more than they are accustomed to.  Next year we will try for more conditioning.  

One of the highlights of the Colorado Summer Series was the opportunity to watch Dutch’s offspring in action.  His earlier litter (with Jill and Tommy Hefner’s Nan) was born in early 2022.  There were 8 pups, and I am in contact with the owners of 5 of them.  All 5 are trialing, and have just finished their nursery year.  Four of the five were entered in the Colorado trials, and I was able to get a group picture.

From left to right are:   Mindy Bower's Lush, Terry Murray's Pickle P, Tina LaPlatt's Bree, and Les Hale's Bette.  Only Ron Burkey’s Frio is missing.  I look forward to seeing more of these pups in the coming months.  

And then, we were on the road home, with the Bagley Pack riding comfortably behind us on the jack-knife sofa in the Volvo.

We arrived back in time for Rue to celebrate her twelfth birthday with her pack and Cousin Rosie.  Blue Bell is very popular for birthday parties!

But the Colorado trials and Rue's birthday weren’t the last of the dog-related adventures this summer.  In mid-August, my good friend, Allen Mills, gave me the opportunity to buy his 2024 nursery dog, FFR Meg.  Allen has had her since she was a pup, so I have watched her grow up and mature when I went to “practice” on Tuesdays at Allen and Kay’s place in Goldthwaite.  

Meg is also special for another reason.  She was bred by another good friend, Charly Kronberger.  Meg’s dam, Charly’s Ms. B, had a litter of 7 pups, the last by C-section.  In one of those cruel twists of fate, the veterinarian didn’t do his job properly, and shortly after Charly brought Ms. B and her pups home, she apparently bled out and died.  Charly hand-raised the pups with the help of Jill Hefner’s bitch, Birdie, who had recently weaned her own litter.  I feel especially blessed to have the opportunity to work with this nice young dog, and Meg has now joined the Bagley Pack.  

She and I are learning how to work together, and she is also learning how neat it is to be a member of the Bagley Pack.  We will get our feet wet on the trial field at next month's Sand Rock Ranch Fall Classic Sheep Dog Trial.  Wish us luck and stay tuned...