We wanted to share this photo with you. A friend took this one as Alta relaxed after a houseful of out of town guests,here for my 75th birthday celebrations.

We both send congratulations to Trouble (we do check out the website, though Alta has trouble with the keypad )

Hope you and all the "cousins" are doing well.

Hugs, Caryl and Alta

Trouble has come in season a little early; we'll keep you all posted as developments proceed! To find Trouble on our website ~ her registered name is Briarlea Alta Bella.

Yesterday was worming day for our sheep flock - Trouble brought the sheep into the barnyard and then pushed them all into the barn. I usually have a chute for worming but we took it down this fall which means we were worming them all packed together. Not a lot of fun but with our new Premier worming system it went very fast!

In an effort to get a photo of the sheep for a holiday card...Trouble, Jim and I spent about an hour trying to convince the sheep to cooperate!








Trouble gets their attention and tells them to 'look sharp, sheep!'



"Wait! Wait! Don't go THAT way!"








"We're OUTTA Here!!" Oh, a gate??

With Trouble's help, they were loaded out in the pitch dark at 6:45 - I had them in the barn that unfortunately doesn't have lights - so I was worried a little about how it was all going to go - but the stock trailer has running lights so there was a dim glow. The did not want to go out, especially with the scarey tall stranger standing next to the door - but she pushed them just right. The guy was impressed. I"m back in the house for coffee. Trouble wants to go help some more.... oh how I remember those days when it was me trying to drag lambs by their wool into the trailer...or having them run down the road away from the trailer...she's such a help, you can hardly imagine...

Looking out the kitchen window - wood stacked for the winter, the dog trailer ready for it's trip south, and grey skies promising rain.

Lemon meringue pie made from scratch - is there any other way?? Thick and tangy, the best!! The big trailer will arrive on Wednesday morning to take the lambs away - good to see them go this year when the prices are still high and the new ram is due to arrive later in the week. We're staying once again with a Dorper ram and the 'hair sheep' genetics that seem popular. Hopefully the winter WON'T be colder and snowier than normal!

The dogs are doing well, herding trial season is over and we're gearing up to take Solo to obedience trials again in preparation for the 2012 trial season. He's a great, fun dog to have as a partner!

We picked up a couple bags of daffodil bulbs, trying to figure out where to plant them that the moles won't discover too quickly - a futile task, I fear! The gardens are all tilled up for the winter, new clean straw has been put in the chicken coop and the new little Call ducks are all snuggling down in it. They are supposed to be great for herding training - we'll see!!

Have just finished watching the HBO series "John Adams" ~ it was wonderful and made quite the impression on me - the dedication of those men and women who felt the drive to mold the future of a restless and raw country! How lucky we were and are that they took upon themselves such a responsibility!

I know it's not polite to brag (my parents have told me) but I can't help myself! Trouble outdid herself this past weekend at the ABdFC National Specialty by going High in Trial on Saturday with a score of 95 (out of 100.) This trial was open to all breeds so she won over some very good border collies and other breeds as well. I am thankful to have as my friend and neighbor Phyllis Clark who loves to trial dogs -- she took Trouble to this prestigious win, saving my blood pressure meds for another day :) Trouble was entered in 6 trial runs - 3 on sheep, 3 on ducks - she not only qualified but went first place in all but 1 of the sheep runs where she 'pulled some wool' as they say. It was a good ride home!

Toby (Ch. Briarlea Restless Robin x Briarlea Sabine)

He is 10 years old this Fall. He is a very handsome Bouv. We love him dearly. He is moving slow but otherwise healthy, maybe a little rotund. He arrived when my son went to Kindergarten and now my son is a Sophomore in High School! Toby has been great with the little dog too. She's his best friend really. Thought you would like this photo. Thank you for breeding such a wonderful dog. Hope all is well with you.

I have attached a couple of photos of him to show what he has been up to since he left Wisconsin.

Thanks so much for the photo; mostly thank you so much for loving this dog for the past 10 years....Sunny

I turned 60 on 9/11/11; for my birthday my husband Jim presented me with a wonderful surprise ~ a cruise to Alaska with my sons, their wives and their kids. Here we are, on the boat - Jim, me, Anthony and Crystal. It was great to be able to spend time with every one of them.

Home now, it seems all the tomatoes DIDN'T freeze!! So, I hauled out the wheelbarrow and filled it with lovely sweet red tomatoes (Jim can freeze this batch!) It seems the zillions of butternut squash did freeze however so the cows will be feasting yet.

My friend Phyllis and I are packing our bags (and dogs) and heading south to St. Louis on Friday for the Bouvier National Specialty -- this is the annual show for mostly conformation people who have Bouviers -- but they do provide a venue for herding which is where we'll be found with Trouble over the weekend. She's racked up a lot of titles this summer at the tender age of 2 so it'll be fun to see how she does next year as a more mature dog.

Summer is beginning to wind down; we dug half the potatoes yesterday - they are beauties! We moved them up out of the swampy garden area of last year which turns out was the right thing to do. Looks like the reds were the most prolific; I'll be curious about the Yukon Golds since it seems to me we've had quite a bit of rot with them in the past.

We hosted a cattle herding trial here this past weekend using our steers, then co-hosted a sheepdog trial at my friend Phyllis's at her place. It was a lot of fun; the dogs did well and the people are generally a good bunch. Thank goodness the weather cooperated!

The pigs Alice and Arlo, are doing well and are planning a trip to Mike's sometime the first full week in September. We'll miss them as they've become great pets. This picture was from the weekend, Alice is watching the dogs from under the big pines in her yard. I have a great pile of old hay and straw in this corner that they spend quite a bit of time digging and playing in - their yard is big and keeps very clean and dry with the exception of the mud bog they insist on creating near their water!

I'll need to get a little picture of the quail - we're collecting a few eggs every day (I only have 6 of them) and the plan is to make pickled eggs. Too much fun!!

Here are some pictures of Trouble dog-breaking some steers for a stockdog trial we're hosting in another week. Look at the tails on the steers and you'll see they're just flicking flies, not concerned about the dog. She moves them in both directions (flanking them) and turns them back without biting, maneuvers them where she wants them to go in an orderly and calm manner....keeping that expensive weight on them - !

What to do with those Quail eggs we have now that we have Quail??

Quail Eggs Benedict and Caviar

1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
12 quail eggs
12 2-inch round croutons
Hollandaise sauce (recipe follows)
Osetra Caviar

Bring a medium pot of water to a simmer. Add the vinegar. Gently break the quail eggs, one by one, into the simmering water and poach for 1 minute. Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Place one cooled, poached quail egg on each crouton. Top with a little hollandaise sauce and caviar.

My grandkids Anthony and Crystal - one last visit before Crystal heads home to Colorado!

Happy 8th Birthday, Hudson! Thanks to Jolie for taking such good care of you since you were a baby!

Say 'Hello' to Gale - Briarlea Nightingale of Rustic Road from our long-awaited litter of Solo x Birdie. She's a little pistole!!

The raspberries seem ready to pick this week along with our little planting of blueberries (12 plants) from last year. We FINALLY got some rain this morning after a month-long drought; the hayfield looks pathetic enough that I've found and purchased 15 big round bales of hay for the sheep. Today I may get out to mow the weeds out of the hayfield, more likely tomorrow since it's supposed to be 90F here today and cooler tomorrow.

Cherry pie in the oven as we speak so it looks like a good day all around!

My granddaughter Crystal is here this summer; here she is at riding lessons with Porter, a 28 year old Arab gelding. He's a wonderful horse for a first-time rider!

Wisconsin Youth having fun, I guess ... this is what we woke to this morning! And no, insurance won't pay to have it repaired....the 16' gate is pretty much scrap and the corner posts will need to be replaced, the wire restretched. Just a little more work, thank you kids!

Happy Birthday, Stryker!
Briarlea Common Virtue MX MXJ

Friday we had an enormous dumpster delivered to our farm. Actually it is only a 10 yard dumpster but it looks huge to me; it was placed on the new gravel turnaround I had created with gravel from the local quarry and our new front loader (with help from Shorty Fender, our neighbor who has a bobcat with some kind of magic leveler on it.) The local quarry which is actually only a mile from our farm has been a godsend for folks around us - we order gravel to make driveways, to fill in basement foundations, to help keep the barnyards dry - and now we understand it may be a source of sand for fracking operations in North Dakota. Locals are of course up in arms at the prospect.

But back to the dumpster. Jim and Crystal spent much of the day sorting through 30 years of miscellaneous hardware, flowerpots, scraps of linoleum, old doors, lumber, etc. and making decisions whether to keep or toss. Lots tossed, I'll admit, but the 'keep' pile seems pretty healthy to me.

I had hesitated whether to mention that we have 2 peachicks - both are still thriving after 10 days so we're hopeful that they will continue to grow. They are in the milkhouse right now, in a cage with a heatlight. There were about a dozen or 15 peachick eggs under one of the broody hens but today in our frenzy to clean, clean, clean we decided to toss them. I don't know why they weren't fertile but they weren't...either that or they got chilled somewhere along the way. I've noticed a very fat garter snake in the henhouse lately but don't think that had anything to do with the eggs. At any rate, the pigs were happy to be the recipient of these goodies.

Trouble's pups are all gone now but for one who leaves on Tuesday. They were a very fun litter - friendly, active, smart - and we are fortunate that our friend Cory is co-owning one of them with us.

Now we can focus on Birdie's puppies - Crystal is a great puppysitter and cuddler - which really is wonderful for all concerned!

I was recently reminded that my blog had been pretty quiet lately so I'm taking a minute to send Happy Birthday wishes to our Solo x Ruby puppies who just have turned a year old.

Thanks to Susan for this picture of Noche' - we share ownership of this feisty young gal; Susan's been great about getting her out and about to obedience, agility and herding lessons.

and to Sally for sending along this picture from Montana of Tilly and her friend Wally. I'm so fortunate to have had you folks find me and choose a puppy from this combination!

In other news, the puppies from Trouble begin to leave home this coming week, lightening the puppy responsibilities and giving me some time to spend with our girl Una who has been getting the short end of the stick she says. We have Birdie's puppies coming along to also help fill in that time!

The chickens have been growing and growing and will be ready for their final adventure on June 20! Now how much closer to free-range can you get, guys? We did see a fat garter snake in their yard yesterday; I think it may be a mother snake full of babies - I doubt they'll be around long in that yard though.


Yesterday we hatched out 2 pea chicks - they're hard for me to keep going though - so we'll see how these fare. The piggies are growing well and have made themselves a sort of nest in the duff under the pines in their yard; as with most of our pigs, they have interesting and delightful personalities making it difficult when the time comes to part with them. Chuck Draxler brought over 6 big hefty steers a couple weeks ago - Trouble has been working with them to get them dog broke for our summer clinic and trial. She loves and is good at it!