Day 3 of minding the farm, and 7 dogs, on my own.  The sheep are a cake walk compared to the dogs!  We have our own 5 dogs (3 border collies and a very old Akita cross and blue heeler cross) plus my son's pure bred 2 year old Akita, Bella, staying until after Christmas, and the neighbours old beagle, Sam.  Bella is a lively dog, full of energy, but not really well socialized with other dogs.  She usually gets along fine with our dogs but just to be on the safe side I keep her separated from Finn and Rhaq. Finn and Rhaq both like to assert themselves but they are no match for a young, strong Akita.   She usually leaves the old dogs alone and they leave her alone.  Yesterday, Bella and Bridget (nearly 15 yr old heeler) were outside when I went out to call Bridget in.  That was when Bella attacked Bridget.  I did not see what happened, but I can only imagine that Bella was pushy with Bridget and Bridget told her off with a snap.  That is usually all it takes to teach the young dogs to back off.  Bella just doesn't seem to understand dog manners, even though up till 6 months old she was with her parents, who would have taught her good manners.   At any rate, poor Bridget ended up with a large puncture to her neck and Bella is now isolated from all the dogs.  This creates a juggling act in the morning when all of them need to get outside to empty their bladders.  Needless to say, it is after 9 a.m. and I am just now getting my first cup of coffee. 

Just to contradict myself, I did let Niko out to play with Bella this morning.  Bella has become quite push with Niko, blocking him and pushing her body into him during play.  Niko is not enthusiastic to play with her any more.  So this morning was interesting.  Niko did not engage in play with her for at least 10 minutes.  He kept turning his head from her no matter what she did.  She play bowed, rolled over, did the jump and "let's go" move and chewed on his neck.  Finally he relented and they played for about half an hour.  Bella is so fast, agile and strong and never seems to tire.  Niko, on the other hand, is completely exhausted after half an hour of constant play.  

Last night I was awakened by a very strange sound.  I sleep with one ear open when I am alone, concerned that a dog may whine or bark in need of getting outside, which happens on occasion when somebody gets an upset stomach.  As I am on the top floor and they are in the basement with a floor between us, it is important I get up quickly when the need arises.  The sound that awakened me was like a chuffing and wheezing sound.  After hearing it get louder I got up and looked out the window.  The night was slightly light with a crescent moon.  There was a huge deer wandering across the front lawn.  Whether or not it was the deer making the noise, I don't know.  I assume it was.  But deer are a dime a dozen around here so I just went back to bed.  It was a beautiful night though.  The clouds drifted off the moon which lit up the whole yard.  Stars were shining between the clouds and the lake was dead calm.  I was happy to have been awakened to see such a peaceful scene. 

A few days ago I made mincemeat.  I love homemade mincemeat, which is a good thing, as the recipe I have makes about 15 pounds of it!  It lasts forever because I keep topping it up with rum or brandy, eventually saturating the whole works with alcohol.  When it cooks it is so mellow.  Here it is.  For perspective, the bowl is 16 inches in diameter and 6 inches deep.

I'm off to town today to buy some brandy for the mincemeat, among other things.  Poor Bella will be crated while I am gone so the other dogs can be outside.  I do have a chain link kennel outside but I am not confident it will hold her.  She has climbed out of all the other pens.   I will try her in it when I am home.  It's a beautiful day - blue sky, sunshine and the fog off the lake has dissipated. 

Here is a picture of the 3 border collies enjoying the last bit of warm earth.  They all just chose to go there while Dennis worked outside. That is where the Land Cruiser was parked.

Bye for now.