Kirchgessners

I hope I'm spelling that right.  LOL  If not, someone will correct me :0)  This is a lovely farm in Arlington owned by Vivian Kirchgessner.  I got to meet Vivian and her rat terrier Annie.  She is up there in years, but enjoys having people use her farm and land.  How neat is that.  Plus, she has a garden area that she works in and keeps the place looking extraordinarily well.

A beautiful entrance to her farmhouse.  Us sheepdoggers use the back entrance to give her some privacy.  But, Viv likes to take a walk about and meet people.

Yoko did some set-out for nursery.  We were just holding on the field or trying to, but there was trouble in the set out pens, so Yoko went to the rescue.  She got to get her grip on which she does very well.  The Scotties wouldn't move off the gal who was pushing them into the set out pens.  She didn't want to put her dog in with them.  Go Yo :0)

I should have taken a before and after picture.  This is the AFTER picture.  I had to wash Yoko in my shampoo because she was mud all the way up to her flanks.  There was a barrel full of rain water from the gutters that worked out perfectly for us.  Plus, the sun was out.  I hung her here with Champ as company to dry.  She wasn't coming into the camper to sleep with me looking like she did.  LOL

Looking t the round pen in the foreground.  Day 2 clinic goers in the background.  Loved the venue:  clinic, trial, clinic.

This way Jack Knox got to work with us a couple of times on Friday.  It was supposed to rain Friday, but stayed nice all day.  Saturday, the day of the trial it was supposed to be cloudy and sunny.  It poured for the first 4 hours of the day and then became sunny.  You never know.  Sunday was the clinic again, so we could work on the problems we had at the trial on Saturday.  Sunday was sunny and Brrrr cold.  Low 20's in the morning.

My toes were numb at 25 degrees even with my merino wool socks on.

Champ wore a short jacket for the first few hours of the Sunday clinic :0)

Jack and his scribe got to stay in the truck to judge us.  This looks later in the day.  When I ran Yoko it was pouring.  It was Yoko's first time seeing the field.  When she spotted her sheep, I sent her.  She is a wide runner, but she went exceptionally wide (if hindsight would have been more foresight) I would have corrected that, but I let her go.  She took the route through the woods.  She had never been in those woods and soon she popped out to take a look about.  One short look back and she was back on track.  She drew up a little short of balance...not sure why.  The open dogs were working 3 lambs.  I thought she gripped at the lift, but was told otherwise by the set out.  She did give a little jump in (most likely because they were staring at her).  The katahdin lamb flew to the set out through the river to grandmother's house we go.  I couldn't see Yoko, but the set-out said she didn't want to come back to me without that lamb.  It took awhile for me to call her in.  Oh well C'est la vie.  I dearly love my Yoko.  RETIRE.

A little mist on the field.  This is Daphne from Canada who won the nursery class, i believe.  She had a very nice run and the best set out of the class (They were a bitch to set for nursery)

Christmas wreaths on the panels.  This is a lovely field to run.  It has a rolling terrain, woods, ditches, lowland water, etc.  Very challenging.  I just love a challenge!

I heard the geese coming.  Too bad all I had was a pocket digital camera.

Champ posing for GQ mag.  

Champ did okay for his first OPEN run.  I was a bit nervous running him under jack Knox, but the cool thing is I have always trusted Champ.  That is a good feeling.

He had run the pro-novice field a month ago.  So he knew the field.  He hadn't run the open course before or on the lambs.  I had to laugh because the set out for his class said there was one lamb in the set out that was bonkers.  They said whomever gets this lamb isn't going to be happy.  Well, yeppers, we got that lamb!  Murphy's law, eh?

Champ's lambs were on there run as he approached the top, but he got them under control and through the fetch panels only losing 2 points.  What killed me was the post.  The bonkers lamb took off running.  We had a hugely wide turn that cost us mucho points.  Partly my fault for watching Champ instead of the nutty lamb.  He made his drive panels.  I knew we didn't have much time on an 8 minute course to get our shed and pen.  I had a missed attempt and then got the shed as time ran out, so no pen.  He came up with a 75.  We'll take it :0)  If I hadn't given away those points at the post we might have placed.  Boo hoo.  Shoulda woulda coulda.....

Anyway, a good first attempt and Jack had nothing but nice things to say.  Except, I have to fix his rolling stop.  A project, for sure.

I'd give my eye teeth for this 

lovely old barn.  Loved the Merry Christmas on it :0)

Coming home on the Edmonds ferry to Kingston.  

Always nice to get home before dark if possible, but it wasn't in the cards.  It's a lot of work to come home to a COLD house by yourself, unload the camper/refrigerator, feed dogs, get the trash down the hill, yadda yadda yadda.  I know all of the single ladies out there know exactly what I am saying!

But, in the long run, it's all worth it;  to me, anyway :0)