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!

Thanksgiving on the Bruce Trail in Canada

Lori, Jazz, me, Emma and Will on the Bruce Trail

Lori and her Springer, Jazz

Jim, Emma and Will at the ruins on the trail

Jazz and Feather have a swim

Puff balls 'exploding'

Last Monday was Thanksgiving Day in Canada and a wonderful day for a nice walk on the Bruce Trail in Burlington. The sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue, making a great backdrop for the bright oranges, reds and yellows of fall. It seems like the colors are much more brilliant in southern Ontario than those in Connecticut this fall. The very dry weather we had through August and September in New England have taken a toll on the usually colorful fall foliage. We've had color, mind you, but just a lot less brilliant than normal. The oranges and reds have seemed much more muted. The yellows are just as bright, though, but it almost seemed like everything was yellow this year. And now, mid-way through October, we're already into the golden bronze and copper tones, which is the customary second part of fall color. Well, I guess this is the time for that since we're halfway through October already.

Anyway, my sister Lori and her dog Jazz joined us for a Thanksgiving weekend walk on the Bruce Trail just north of Burlington, Ontario. This part of the trail has multiple side trails and runs in part alongside a creek that winds through the woods. We saw more people than we usually do when we've gone there before with my son, Aaron, probably since it was a holiday weekend, and it was such a nice day. We were joined by a dog that lives on the property that flanks the trail by the road access. We learned her name was Feather, but we called her Tramp because she looks just like the dog from Lady and the Tramp, grey and raggedy but cute and friendly. She walked (or ran) the entire way with us and our dogs, until we were near the end of our walk and thought we were lost. We thought she might lead us back to the beginning of the trail so we asked her to 'Go home', and she took one look at us and ran off through the woods. We decided not to follow her, bushwacking like she did through the woods, since we didn't know where she was going. We ended up meeting a woman who knew the trails well and she told us the way back to the beginning. It was a maze of trails and we weren't sure enough that we were on the right track, but as it turns out, we were heading in the right direction after all. We made it back to the cars with no problem once we got the directions straight. I guess we need to pay better attention when we walk there. Usually Aaron is the one who leads us through, and he's much better with directions!

Tobermory, Georgian Bay side

Jim and Emma

Will on the lookout

Aaron and the dogs

Will watches

Happy Cajun

Cajun and Eevi

Eevi

Trip to Tobermory, Ontario

Here's a few photos from our short camping trip in September to Tobermory. We went with my son, Aaron, and his two dogs, Cajun and Eevi. It was the first camping trip for Will and Emma and they had a great time, as we thought they would. We all love being outdoors, and it was a great weekend, even though it did get a little rainy and windy. We still got some great shots of the water and the rocks, and we all enjoyed the walking and being together.

Herding Training at Nutmeg Farm

Jim's first time with Will and the sheep

Will gathers the sheep

On the run

Emma watches the action

We are really trying to keep to weekly herding lessons for Will and Emma, but it's been tough due to our schedules. But we've had two weeks in a row of lessons, and we've actually had a great break-through with Will. He was the reluctant border collie when it came to the sheep up until now, but 3 weeks ago he actually seemed to notice the sheep and came to life! Lynnette had him in the small pen with a flock of sheep, doing the lunging that she leads him through, and he was going along with it all. We didn't notice anything different in his attitude towards the sheep. He usually seems like he doesn't really care that they are there, and in fact, seems like he wants to get away from them. The change happened when Lynnette opened the door to the pen to let the sheep into the large area of the barn for to give more space for lunging. Well, the sheep took off out the door as fast as they could and Will suddenly seemed to notice them. He perked right up, and ran out after them, with Lynnette still holding the lead. The instinct and the training came into play, and he began to circle around the sheep, gathering them into a circle, like he knew what he was doing. He raced and raced in a wide circle around the startled sheep. Startled because he had shown no interest prior to this, and they did nothing else but what they knew to do they gathered together, and turned and turned , watching every step that Will took as he ran around them

Lynnette was not as surprised as we were. She knew that he would the interest would 'kick in' at some point. . She let him have his rein for a short time, but stepped in to have him turn around to go in the opposite direction. She kept him going back and forth in his running circle, first one way, then the other. He was in his glory! And we were in awe that he finally had discovered the sheep, and his true nature to do something about them!

We've had one lesson since then, and each week, he goes through his paces, with the warm-up exercises, putting up with all the stretching, the flexing, and the backing up and side-stepping. But for the second time, when he got into the pen with the sheep he suddenly came alive. This time, Lynnette worked with him for a short time, and then called Jim into the pen. While Will continued to work the sheep, Jim changed places with Lynnette, and got himself into place, complete with horse whip and all.

For the first time, Jim was surrounded by the flock of sheep who were all trying to avoid the crazy running Will. Will just kept his pace, running a circle around the sheep. Jim did what he was told, working Will back and forth with the sheep, around and around, back and forth, changing directions just as Jim instructed him to do, by holding out first the left hand with the whip, then the right. Back and forth, back and forth. Shorter and shorter circles, then, when Jim was in the corner surrounded by the sheep, Will came to a stop and laid right in front of Jim and his flock of restless sheep. He did it!

It was the greatest feeling to see Will find his sheep, and to see Jim in there, whip in hand, looking like he knew what he was doing in the middle of a big flock of sheep.

Will and Jim wait in the hangar while Emma has her lesson