Cap Does Elvis, Lip & All,,,,

 

 

 

 

Big Country,,,,

Abilene, Texas and the surrounding area is referred to as 'Big Country'. You hear this on newscasts, radio station identifications and many advertisements.

Someone of my generation inevitably gets the song, 'In a Big Country' by well, 'Big Country' stuck in their head. It is not quite as haunting as Abba's 'Dancing Queen' (which allows for more customization of lyrics), but lingering none the less.

The chorus begins, 'In a big country, dreams stay with you', and so they do....

One of our dreams was born here

 

 

Another got bigger

 

 

and bigger

 

 

A third was foreign to us, until we arrived here

 

 

 

Not quite certain that all dreams were honorable, ahem 

 

 

 

but when in Texas dream big!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



King of the Jungle (4 weeks old),,,,,

the Vendetta,,,,

We are very excited about our puppy out of imp. Gail. He is happy, sweet and has been developing as if reading the puppy stages manual,,,,
at two weeks, eyes opened

At exactly three weeks, this past Wed. he started walking

 

His character is developing and he has started playing a bit. That is what I anticipated with the hedgehog,,,

 

 

I hoped to capture one of those precious puppy moments; a photo to treasure in years to come. Instead what I witnessed can only be described as exacting revenge

 

riddled with growling and biting, it was completely void of any cuteness. It was, well, more like a 'first blood' moment. Which lead to this

pure, unadulterated gloat. Hedgehogs beware!

The Interuption,,,,

I have not been able to blog for a bit and in part it really is because as good as the weather is in Texas, the AT & T service is equally poor and we have not had connectivity since Feb 11th.

Mostly, though it is because of him:

 

and him

and her

Clearly no mere mortal was intended to resist Brae. I suspect the same will soon be said of our newest puppy. We imported Gail (above) in pup and her singleton is 2 weeks old, very excited for both of them! Thank you Mike and Stephanie for your help with the airport and keeping her until we arrived. (sorry about early

arrival ;-))

 

Great time in Texas. Brilliant fields, excellent trials. Due to circumstances I was not able to work my dogs beforehand and as such the closest I can get to the prize list is taking a picture of the winning results!

 

I will continue to post updates/pictures on Facebook as soon as I get a signal. Alasdair's Li is running extremely well. He and Sweep are partnering great and garnering points. Cap is running strong (every flank he interprets as a 'walk up',only faster!) but I am quite pleased given lack of preparation and Jim is a running a bit excitable but it is excellent experience. The double lift at Burkeys looks to be very challenging & great fun, top 10 combined overall scores from the 5 trials qualify. If the winter blues have you yearning for warm weather & outstanding trials, come on down to Texas!

The Intervention (& Website Re-design!)

The profound cultural legacy of the 80’s. From MTV to John Hughes, Bob Marley to Oliver Stone, Morrissey to Michael Lehmann, the music and movies were perhaps the most influential of our generation. Never in another time has the delivery been so brilliant that humor was confused for fatalistic narcissism. 
The impact was epic: Madonna, Pac-Man, the Miracle on Ice, Jerry Rice, Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, the Reagan years, Rubik’s cube, CNN and six degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Fashion was an entire wardrobe of vintage black, enormous hair and red lipstick. I was passionate about progressive music and Clemson football. My memories from the 80’s are awesome…. As it turns out technology from the 80’s is not.

My dated, tired website design required overhaul, update and revision. It required intervention from a bold, techie, mega-geek genius.

We are still at www.macraesheepdogs.com but with a new look (if the address is saved it may need to be re-entered). THANK YOU Kristi! Like the 80’s you are awesome.

 

 

2013, the bigger picture,,,,

 
Well, the bigger camera anyway. Very much the amateur I am quite excited about the gift Alasdair gave me!

 

Unfortunately, much like Border collies, I tend to go on instinct and therefore have not read the manual. Thus no pictures, yet! 2013 looks promising for taking photos and video but before looking forward, a look back.

2012 was an exceptional year. The kind that lulls you in with a dose of caffeine and finishes you off with a shot of tequila.

We and our dogs traveled over 25,000 miles.
In Texas we wrote songs, defined Patricide and made videos. Spring brought the best Bluegrass ever, although we did not do that well at the trial. Summer was spent at the Holland’s, Polly’s and Geri Abram’s. I lost my greatest friend, Bear and reflect on all he taught me every day.

The Klamath committee again hosted a great National. On my maiden trip to Canada we fought with border guards, ate cake and asked, ‘who the eff is Lisa?’ We ventured to NC to trial, clinic and create the perfect dirty martini.
We developed new comradeships, spent time with family and friends who have become family. We spent money we have yet to make. It was a year of triumph, heartache, laughter and love. We are very blessed and grateful. Last year especially reminded us what is really important.

Solomon Burke said it best, ‘it is not the grail, but the quest’.