So, here it is, Tuesday and it's raining. Again. Not a hard rain mind you, but still. My el cheapo boots from TS have been un-ceremoniously thrown into the dumpster and now I need a new pair. Drenched feet over the weekend, and large slits at the soles mean these boots are useless. So, now to find something more decent.

Sheep were good yesterday when I got to the farm. I gave a bit of grain to everyone, although I after checking them out, I see they really don't need it. Even older girl is looking better. That field has such a nice variety of grass/shrubs, that they are well fed. Don't think I will move them until the weekend. I may head out to a friend's place to work Dan this weekend, or I may not. I have a couple of huge bills to pay, so I need to save $$.

I moved mommy dearest into her own cage yesterday, and things are MUCH better for the babies and dad. Mother seems absolutely fine not being with them, and the injured baby seems to be putting his foot down more, and is more relaxed. He sits next to his dad a lot and is starting to eat food on his own. The main thing is that everyone is just quieter and happier. Not sure what I will do with that female.

I never did mention this about our trial, but the best part of all of it, is when a well respected open handler came up to me and told me that we should be very competitive in ranch and open next year. To have our hard work pay off, and me believing in him even when things were a bit left of center, it means a lot. Another open handler, when we walked out of the field after our last run said "you've come a LONG way". Yet another open handler came up and looked at me like "you bloomin' idiot, after I directed Dan's sheep outside the drive away panels" and he said "I thought maybe you were dyslexic"- he felt bad for us, since the run went so well.

As I think about how things went this weekend, I have to thank my Lucy for teaching me so much. We were never this successful, even though we did have some success, but she taught me that hard work pretty much gets you where you need to be, even if your score doesn't always show it. She lit my fire for this sport and she taught me to try and be better each time you are out there. For that, I owe her a great debt of gratitude.