Snow, Snow and more snow

We have had record snowfalls here in the Hartford area this month. We have had the biggest one day total and the most snow in the month of January since records have been kept. That is, we've had a total of 45 inches so far in January, and the average is only 12 inches! And we're supposed to have another 12 inches on Wednesday. Everyone was out this weekend shoveling or raking the snow off their roof, and breaking off the giant icicles that have formed from all the warming and cooling. Some houses have icicles almost down to the ground! I'd hate to be under that if it ever fell. There have been reports of roof collapse around the state, and everyone is hoping to avoid that disaster. Another foot of snow piled on what we already have on the roof is a disaster waiting to happen.

The dogs are enjoying the snow, but it's hard for them to move around in it. They try to walk in the yard and one step into it, they are up to their armpits (or is it leg pits?) in snow. Will tries to run across it, but then sinks and can hardly move along in it. We've tried the golf course, but didn't get very far and decided to play in one place with the frisbee. We've tried our trail through the woods to Tulmeadow Farm, but that was grueling for all of us, dogs included. We dug out our cross country skis last weekend, which haven't seen the light of day in about ten years, I would say, and that worked very nicely. It took us awhile to clean off the dust and grime and old wax, but we got them ready with new wax and off we went to Simsbury Farms golf course. It was the perfect thing to do with the dogs. They ran and played, and we got around much better than if we were trying to walk on the icy snow-covered links. It was quite pleasant, with the rolling hills, and we weren't too sore afterwards. We will definitely do it again. The dogs were really good staying away from the skis. At one point, they got in the tracks behind the skis and kept up on the packed snow. It didn't take long for them to figure out the easy way to get around!

Frisbee is good at any time of year

Frisbee is good for tug of war

Frisbee is good for distracting Will for unsuspecting leaps by Emma

Will watches while Jim clears the deck - so much snow!

You talkin' to me?

Meet the Puppies

Yesterday, Aaron brought three of Eevi's four puppies over to meet Will and Emma. The fourth one is home on a trial visit with one of the guys from work that will hopefully fall madly in love with having an adorable puppy around the house. He took the little brown puppy, the only boy in the lot, that looks most like a brown coloured husky. These three are the little girls, all in black, tan and white. Two of them have markings that are more like the husky, and the one that Aaron plans to keep is most like the Karelian bear dog. Mother Eevi is part husky and part Karelian, which is a Finnish breed, used for hunting. Aaron found her at a breeder in Quebec, after looking for a long time for one of these dogs. She is a pretty dog, with markings like a husky in a way. There are photos of her on the blog, which you can find from the keyword list on the right.

Here's just a few photos of the puppies when they were here to visit.

Will, as usual, just wanted to get them to play. They didn't know what to do with him at first, and all huddled together watching him. There's safety in numbers, they know, and maybe that big thing will go away! Here's a photo of Will in the yard, crouching down in play mode, with the 3 puppies looking on and trying to get as far away as they can!

Puppy with one blue eye and one brown eye

Puppy with 2 brown eyes

Aaron with all three!

Me with a puppy and Lori with another

Wil just wants to play

Lynnette teaches Will to be patient

Training to herd sheep

It's been more than a month now since we've taken Will and Emma for their training to herd sheep (or geese, depending on the day). We are really missing the time at the farm with Lynnette, so here are just a few shots of Lynnette with Will and Emma. She has the magic touch when it comes to training the dogs, and they love her and miss her. We hope to be back there soon!

As you can see in these shots, Will needs to learn to be patient with the sheep. This particular day Lynnette made him stay by her side and just watch the sheep for a while. She would progressively move closer, but keep him quietly by her side. It was all he could do to stay there! He just loves the act of moving them around, and of keeping them in their place. He's born to do this job, but he does need to be patient and to learn when to go in at them, so this is all good. It is such a change from the first few times we had him here. He would hardly pay any attention to the sheep, and as a matter of fact, didn't even want to be near them. It was like a light switched on one day, when they started to run away from him, and he seemed to notice them. It's amazing the change.

Now we're waiting for Emma to see the light and want to be with the sheep. We hope that when we get back to Nutmeg Farm that she will want to be there and will be in the zone with the sheep. We will see what happens.

A little patience never hurt any border collie

Almost there!

There they are!

And we're off!

Emma's turn, with Moss helping

Sheep on the rocks

Morning walk at Simsbury Farms

We thought we would take another morning walk at Simsbury Farms, before the snowstorm happens later today. The weather guys are warning of a storm starting about noon today, and guess what? Dozens of schools in the state have announced either early closing or all day closing, before the snow has even begun! I guess it does avoid problems at rush hour, and worry for parents about what to do with the kids if schools close early, but it's a common occurrence here to be proactive. Better to be safe than sorry, is the mandate.

We followed our usual path today around the golf course. Straight out from the club house as far as you could go, then to the right, which leads down one hill and then up another one leading towards my favorite white oak tree that stands tall at the top of the hill. The melting snow over the last week has lined the cool side of the hills with ice, hiding under that thin layer of snow that fell a couple of days ago. My foot hit that hidden ice and I ended up flat on my back with a thump after flinging up into the air! I'm sure I'll have a bruise from that one. Emma was the one to come and check on me. She's always the most concerned whenever something happens out of the ordinary. Even something as simple as a sneeze, she's right there wondering what is wrong. Maybe it's a female thing, to worry, to be concerned.

Emma really enjoyed digging today in what snow was left from the last storm. She was determined to find out what was hiding under there. Will was curious, but as usual, just let Emma do what she would do, and lay there watching while she dug away. It's funny to watch him watching her. All he wanted was to get back to playing frisbee!

Dig, dig, dig!

There's something down there!

Shake, Shake, Shake!

Will watches while Emma digs

Foggy morning walk at Simsbury Farms

We couldn't resist going to one of our favorite places for a morning walk on the first Sunday of 2011. It was warm which brought with it a lot of melting snow and fog in the air. It was easy to walk the links with the snow melting a bit, and fun to throw the frisbee for Will and Emma. They love this place as much as we do. Here's just a few photos to show you what it was like with all the fog and the frisbee, and a stone wall to jump over too.

My favorite white oak

Foggy Day

Stone walls are no challenge for border collies who love to jump

Foggy walk on the golf course

Will with the frisbee (double click to enlarge)

Will waits patiently to play frisbee

Emma runs in from the fog (double click to see her)

White oak at Simsbury Farms Golf Course

Rocky Neck Beach on New Years Day, 2011

Getting a better view of the water

By the Pavillion at Rocky Neck Beach

Jim with Will and Emma on the breakwall

Will on the breakwall

Will

Frisbee games

Will checks on the seagulls

Emma is worn out after a fun day at the beach

It's New Years Day and here we are at the shore in Connecticut, with a lot of other people who decided to enjoy the almost 50 F degree weather outdoors. There are remnants of snow on the ground from the snowfall that brought about a foot of the white stuff on Boxing Day, but that didn't stop any of us. We were determined to be outside on such a wonderful day to start the new year. Will and Emma couldn't be happier - they loved the beach and the romp with all the other dogs who were there.

Rocky Neck Beach is just a little over an hour's drive from our house, and we've never been there before, so it was a perfect day to explore. The beach is in a cove, and is a nice white sand beach, surrounded on one side by a rocky 'arm' that juts out into Long Island Sound. We walked out to the tip of the peninsula to view the sound and the bay on the other side, which is surrounded by homes, probably most of which are seasonal.

They both loved the water, and walked or ran into it to play with the frisbee. As a matter of fact, Will would take the frisbee into the water after he caught it, dropping it just along the edge, as if daring Emma to go in and get it. Which she did. The water wasn't as cold as we thought it might be. I guess it hasn't cooled down as much as it will over the winter yet. I also think that the shallower water of the sound doesn't get as cold as the ocean just east of us in Rhode Island.

The tide was going out when we arrived about noon, and kept going out till we left about 3 pm. It was wonderful having so much beach to walk on at low tide. Lots of shells, and lots of gulls along the edge, but not many other shore birds. We saw a half dozen or so men with metal detectors scouring the beach for treasures. One guy was even wading knee deep in the water. Seems like it's the thing to do in the winter -to find rings and money and other objects that were lost in the busy days of summer. We didn't see anyone find any treasures, though.

We walked way out almost to the end of the long breakwall that protects the beach. It was pretty slippery on the big black rocks as we got closer to the end. Will and Emma didn't seem to mind too much - Will had a couple of slips when he tried to move too quickly from rock to rock, but Emma was pretty sure-footed and not afraid to jump rock to rock at all. She's got those short strong legs that carry her like a little mountain goat!

They were both exhausted after the afternoon at the beach and just zonked out in the car for the ride home. Before we headed home, though, we had to go to Lenny and Joe's Fish Tales in Madison for an early dinner. They were as busy today as they would be in the middle of summer, amazingly enough. It's a great place to check out if you're in the mood for a beachy meal of fish or seafood. Their clam strips are yummy!