Cross Country Skiing at Simsbury Farms

With all this snow and ice that we've been having, we are all getting to feel a little housebound. I think you might call it a major case of cabin fever. The snow just keeps coming, and we are trying to figure out a way for all of us to get some fresh air and exercise. These two border collies are just not used to staying inside and being inactive like we've been doing. It's all we can do to get out for a daily walk, let alone a good romp twice a day, like our usual routine. So we thought we would get our skis out again and try the golf course on the bright and sunny afternoon we had a couple of days ago. Just to note, today we are not having such good weather, once again. It is freezing rain outside right now, as it has been all afternoon. What a mess that will make!

So the other day we strapped on our skis and took off over the hills at the golf course, our favorite winter place. It was the day after a two day stint of snow and sleet and freezing rain, so you can only imagine what we encountered. Yes, it was a nice six inch layer of fresh snow, covered by an inch of almost solid ice! Well, we forgot to put new wax on our skis, and as a result, we just skidded around the top of the icy snow. Of course, Jim led the way and broke through as well as he could, and I got to follow in his tracks. Will did his best to follow in the tracks too, but Emma, being the little explorer today, did her best to walk on top of the snow. it was hilarious watching her - she would step as gingerly as she could, but then her back legs would crash through, and she'd almost get stuck in the deep snow. She'd pull herself out, and keep going until she broke through again. It was tough, but she's a real trooper! She got herself trapped behind the safety net on the driving range and really had a tough time getting through the deep snow to get back around the net. It was all we could do to watch and wait for her - even Will just laid there spotting her wondering just what she was up to! She was getting a little worried that she would never make her way around the long netting, and tired of the struggle, too, but she finally made it.

It is somewhere around two and a half or three feet of snow built up on the ground now, so you can only imagine how difficult it would be to walk in. If the snow hadn't been so icy, it would have been quite a nice ski. We did a bit of a circuit around the course, but were all happy to get back to the car. Even Will and Emma were tired out.

This is our mailbox and newspaper box buried in snow

Will watches Emma struggle in the deep snow behind the netting barricade

She made it!

Cross country skiing at Simsbury Farms

My favorite birch tree at Simsbury Farms

A great place for a run

The meet and greet

Snow and sand and Frisbee, what could be better?

Emma poses on the boardwalk

Trip to the Beach

What better place to be in the middle of a snow-filled winter than at the beach. I guess it isn't quite the same in cold Connecticut as it would be at a warm weather beach in the Caribbean or other locale, but it is fun just the same. Last Sunday, we had reason to be down by the shore, so we made an afternoon of it and took a pleasant walk along the strip of sand at Hammonasset State Park, one of our favorite beaches to walk in the off-season. In summer, dogs are not allowed on the beach or the boardwalk, but after the park closes for the season it is fair game for people and their pets. The beach was quite populated with walkers out to enjoy a day with no snow in the air. It's been quite a winter here, as I've said, and how nice it was to be able to get out and enjoy some time by the sea. A little Frisbee in the sand, a chance to meet some new dogs, and a good long shore walk was what the doctor called for on one of the last days of a very frigid January.

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