Birdie has finally come in season ~ this will be her one and only litter as she is really my son Seth's (and his family's) companion but we do want to save these valuable bloodlines for our breeding program since she's out of our WTCH Briarlea Lark of High Rolls TD CD PT and one of the titled dogs we imported from France - We'll update when we have an alliance with Solo.

It seems the cold weather a few weeks ago has slowed down the green-up here in NM; our flowering jasmine looks dead although our neighbor swears it will come to life...how, I ask, when we have had no moisture all year?

First, a note that my son Seth was quoted with pictures of his Saunas in an msn article! I am unable to put the link here (too bad!) - also, he's coming down here next week for a visit! Yippee!! I'll be so excited to see him ;)

The winds are truly remarkable here in NM - and maybe some rain tomorrow so we're getting ready with books and videos at the library this afternoon. Thank goodness, no snow! I got the contract from community ed for the upcoming family dog obedience classes I will be teaching when I go back up north - it should be fun!

It looks like the wind is arriving in New Mexico a month early this year - predictions of winds up to 80mph are forecast for the weekend. Yikes!! I've been busy raking, pruning, cleaning up the yard and taking trips to my sister Suzanne's place in La Luz to do the same. The dogs especially enjoy her place which is big and fenced in so they get to raz around like crazies until they poop out and flop down in the shade. The grass is just starting to green up and the local Lowe's and Home Depot now have the flats of tomatoes and marigolds out...oh, the temptations....! Trouble's doing well, fat and sassy - Una goes in to be spayed on Tuesday and we're still waiting on Birdie to come in season. Solo had his coat cut down yesterday; the leaves and bits of flotsam and jetsam became just too much. He is figuring out the article indication for AKC utility, has his positions down (for french ring) and we're working on the rest of his exercises for both as time permits. He's a lot of fun to partner with!

Not too much else to report for now, just enjoying the weather and looking forward to having Jim come down next Sunday!

After a quick trip to Las Vegas, New Mexico, we're back home taking advantage of the warm days (70F) here in southern NM. Las Vegas is about an hour east of Santa Fe and is gorgeous mountainy (and very western) country. The dogs enjoyed the cool climate and I began a new collection of copper cowboy hats! We're hearing from our friends up north that the snow has been piling up ~ Jim's gone off to Milwaukee to stay with his folks while his mom undergoes surgery - and will be heading down here the first weekend in March, dragging me kicking and screaming back to the frozen tundra in the middle of the month.

Solo has begun article training in AKC Utility - he loves it - and now that Trouble has been bred, we can all take a break from that particular excitement :)

It's almost 75F here this morning and not even noon yet! I took Una down to the 'dogwash' and gave her a bath; we're off to pick up some blooming hyacinths and crocus to put in the big pots by the front door. We're also going to take a look at fig trees; our neighbor has one that produces for him so it might be worth a try!
The big news is that Trouble and Solo have had 2 successful alliances the past two days ~ puppies would be due around April 19 and ready for new homes Father's Day weekend if all goes as planned. If you have sent a deposit for a pup, you are on the official list now!
Tomorrow I head north for a little adventure (with the dogs!) to visit my son Miles near Santa Fe...he starts a new job near Colorado Springs on February 28 so this is our window of opportunity for a visit. The birds are very active here in the mornings, it sounds like Springtime in Wisconsin!

Happy Valentine's Day! Reports from Wisconsin that the first set of lambs has been born! The old earless ewe had twins on Saturday over at Phyllis' place where she had been volunteered for stockwork. Phyllis has put her and the other two aged ewes in the barn now. Good old ewe to wait until the weather had warmed up to lamb!

Here, we heard from Nancy Culley that Riker had qualified in Excellent Standard and Jumpers and that Bennie had finished his FAST title - Noche, Ziva and Stryker are all out there training and/or trialing in Minnesota and Kaida and now Cayuse continue to work in French Ring out in Seattle. We are saddened to report that Bruta passed away last weekend; I"ll fill everyone in on the details in another post.

In the meanwhile, the temps are in the 60-70F range here, talk of the dry winter and sell-off of livestock on the radio this morning. Trouble is due to be bred this week; I"ll be back in town in a few days to report on her progress!

It's Tuesday and back to 'normal' here in New Mexico with temps in the mid-60's today however we also seem to be having a 'wind event' with white sands blowing across the desert. It's nothing if not interesting! The good news is that I am feeling much better, the water is unfrozen, the house continues to be snug if a bit doggy now that Trouble has come in season. We had an appointment to spay Una last Tuesday but it was not to be .... she will have it done before we head north however. Yesterday we drove up the mountain to Cloudcroft to see what the fire damage looked like - a number of the small businesses went up in fire and smoke right before Xmas but all had been cleared up and the town certainly seemed to have plenty of cars lining the street. We stopped in at a new art gallery and picked up Valentine cards for my mom and my mom-in-law.

We are delighted to be feeding the winter birds; rufous sided towhees, stellar jays, and myriad other 'little' birds, mostly grey and brown, that need identifying yet. Bird feed, like all feed down here, seems remarkably expensive.

Jim reports that winter is still in full swing up in Wisconsin although folks at the little Cafe seem to be mollified temporarily by the Packer win!

New Mexico in the winter ~ this year it's been an adventure! All of January I felt blessed to be where the sun shone every day without fail, the temperature hovered between 60 and 70F and we took long walks in the canyons around High Rolls. February 1 arrived with the snow of the century - our water froze, the windows were caked with an inch of ice, I came down with the flu and Una came in season. Unable to travel down the mountain due to black ice, we holed up for the week, watched movies (War and Peace, Pride and Prejudice (along with commentary) 5 episodes of "24" and watched dog training videos until we could truly take no more! Today I am feeling human again, we ventured out and are amazed to see snow in Alameda Park in Alamogordo, snow on all the mountains east and west of us! There is no water to be found in the local grocery stores and everyone is bundled up although the temps are predicted to be in the upper 40's today! Let's hope we've seen the end of 'winter' here!