Laura & I decided to have a Championship party for a few of us that finished collies recently. This would include Soleil, Flint, Grins, Delaney & Sawyer.
Since Tevis has been postponed til Oct 8th (a first in the history of the ride) and this weekend was slated for that and free in my mind for years it was a perfect day to have the party instead.
Two things were going to happen yesterday. One was I was going to dust. Tony, being the mean guy he is, took pictures. Like my friends care. There are bigger and more important things in life to worry about. Like making margaritas.
He asked where that duster came from. I never bought it. I do believe it came from his past life of highfalutin cleanliness.
I suck it up but what a waste of precious energy. Really.
The second thing that was going to happen yesterday was that Squishy was coming home. In a nutshell he was miserable in his new life and try as Candice & Peter did, he couldn't hack it. They were stellar in their wanting to make it work for Ty, but he was having panic attacks over the simplest of things (they got a new dishwasher and that sent him into a shaking, teeth chattering episode whenever it was on). He was terrified on his walks and oftentimes would smash into Candice and almost toss her onto the ground. (That was bad in so many way. Poor Candice. Poor Squishy.) He was hardly eating, wasn't wagging his tail or showing any sign of improvement. It was getting worse for him. I was sick about it, as were they. I felt like I failed everyone involved, including Ty. He had been there 3 weeks, which I felt was enough time for him to show some improvement. It wasn't happening.
Sue was driving up to Canada for a herding clinic and it so happened she was going to be driving thru Ty's new hometown and so we arranged for her to bring him home. She was able to get back in time for Linda to receive him and bring him up when she came for the Championship party. Timing was great. I tried to tell Sue she needed to come, but after 10 hours of driving, she was exhausted.
Ty came into the yard and he & everyone else (except SeaB) acted like he just went for a walk around the block. We have no block, but close enough. I've never had a dog I couldn't place and have them adjust. This is a post for a later time, as I need to figure out what I want to say about all of this. He's my ultimate responsibility and I would take back any dog that wasn't working out, for whatever reason, as I am the breeder.
Next, the margaritas.
Yummy. Linda T was taking cell phone pics. Laura looks like this in most of her photos.
Since this was taken AFTER Linda got there I am out of sequence.
The yard walk happened before the above photo. Oh God. I repeat myself. A trip around to see the dogs, horses & chickens. We got stuck with the horses for a long time.
Diane got mesmerized by Khaliq. Or vice versa. I saw this whispering, kissing, cuddling dialogue going with the two and ran in to get my camera. I could have come back an hour later and it would have looked exactly the same. Zen stuff.
Oh, here is Aura. She looks like she might have had a margarita like her baby. Or more Zen stuff.
Softness & Perfection. You should have seen these two. I don't know what Diane was telling her, but Khaliq was buying every word.
What a cute little muzzle for this grazing animal.
Poor baby Khaliq has tar weed on her muzzle. It's kinda sticky and unsightly, but underneath is her soft, velvety muzzle. She could be such a house pet. I was afraid I'd find her in Diane's car when she left. The way she was acting she would have just loaded herself up in that little vehicle!
After Linda, Squishy, T and Craig got there, we were off to take the boat for a little trip around the pasture. Something to do about a cruise in Virginia Beach. I must miss a lot not being on FB.
After we drank some more margaritas (lots more but now I think I didn't put enough tequila in them), we ate food. I love food. And we had the Championship Cake. And cake is food.
T made a fire and we sat outside and watched the Tevis moon come up. But not before Shiiq busted thru the hotwire and was in the big pasture with the other horses. I hate having to go retrieve a horse in the dark. Luckily he stood out like a light bulb because of his color. And, he comes when called. Another wonderful feature about this horse who is BTW, For Sale. He's pretty and comes when called. And you can see him well at night.
Smoke Inhalation. It wasn't too bad. I had the towel. Look, Craig is very interested in his phone. We must have been very boring to him.
I realized it's always good to keep the parties small because we only have 4 chairs. Inside, outside & couch space, thou x's 3 that's 12. I ramble. So sorry. What really does this matter?
We had a great time. Diane made an amazing fruit salad that we flung on the Ch. Cake, including bringing bread & wine that she left. I guess I will drink that. She also has a wicked sense of humor. That was the best part. Linda made some roll-up things & brought a pasta salad, Laura brought the pre-cooked chicken & the cake. Til next time!! Congratulations to all of us on our new collie champions!!!!! Again, may I say? Life is good.
