The BEST EVER

Those were the words we used to describe our Thanksgiving Feast. Seriously, I knew it would be good, but this was almost dangerous. The Sweet Potatoes were more than delicious. The stuffing was stupendous. The Turkey was TO DIE FOR. The mashed potatoes were marvellous. It was just all so extremely great. Then there were the pies. I don't know if there are appropriate adjectives to describe them. The crust of the apple pie was flaky and light, the apples had just the right amount of spices. The Pumpkin pie, again, was just wonderful. What a distinctly wonderful Thanksgiving.

Later today Lucy and I worked sheep. Seemed like the only thing to do when I know I needed exercise, and Lucy surely (always) wants to work.

We worked those odd-ball Cotswolds. They are just funky. The don't just move off a dog. No, not these ladies. They are lazy. They wait to see what the dog has before they move off. We worked for a good while, with breaks. The Cotswold sisters were getting perturbed. Now, the other sheep were fine. No dog was slicing, or gripping, but they just were not "into" it. For the first time that I can remember, Lucy sped the sheep up, using just her presence/eye. The cool thing is that she did it when I asked, and another time, one CW decided to challenge her- that's when she pushed slowly forward and got her going. All nice and calmly.

Later we worked on some practice for penning, and then we worked on pulling off the fence. Now, Lucy has had trouble getting between sheep and a fence- you know, squishing through. Corners not so much, as she has space, but when they run along a fence, Lucy quite literally has to smoosh up into their butts/flanks. So, today she did.

Toward the end of the work, we worked on pulling off of their friends in another pen. This is when the CW sisters are at their worst. They will stop, they will stand, they will stomp and they will hit. They don't want to leave there. I had Lucy going both directions. At one point she pulled them off, and the CW sisters turned and stared at her. You know, I can't imagine what I would do, as I am a lover, not a hater, somewhat like Lucy... Anyway, Lucy held her ground, and when one went to hit her, she nailed her right in the nose,pushed her back and stayed her ground. Then they ewes turned away. They seriously needed that.

Lucy wishes the sheep would just please move along. She is one of those dogs who can and will grip, but she would like to try for diplomacy first. The CW sisters don't know from Diplomacy. I wish I had gotten a picture of her handling that ewe who charged her. I used to worry about Lucy's confidence when working sheep like this, but I think at this point, her confidence is upped each time she wins- which is every time now. She's old enough to really have to work the sheep she has, and she's smart, and fit enough to do it. I hope that having gone through the work of this, Lucy will have the power just emit from her, and there won't be any hesitation by the CW sisters :)