nancy

DH is the world's king of of TV downloads - almost exclusively UK. So, having gotten all the Mist ones as they appear, he just got the 2008 final of One Man & His Dog. We've also seen some England competitions. Has anyone else seen these? Man, they are fantastic! They make me want to go see such trials in person. But they also make me wonder just how much I'd see, compared to whet they can film where I couldn't be. We've watched dogs work sheep in Yorkshire. But this is incredible! BTW, DH has just ordered Year of the Working Sheepdog.

As long as you have your dog under control - as in, leashed, I understand. If we ever do take Fergie off leash on a trail, as soon as we have any hint that there is anyone around, she's back leashed. I get pissed with people who have their dogs in areas where their dogs must be leashed - state parks or Duke Forest - and the dogs are not. Mine is. And they yell that the dogs are friendly. Hey, Fergie is 13-1/2 and knows it. Some young pup comes up and wants to romp with her. She will first make nice. Then back off. Eventually, she will "correct" the stupid youngster. And, all the time, I'm trying to tell the idiot owner that Ferg is an old lady and concerned with her dignity. If we get tho the snap - which never ever involves contact - idiot owner gets all upset. Fergie is really friendly. And she is willing to put up with young dogs. Last week-end, she spent 2 full days in a big fenced area with our daughter's 6-month-old "hound of some type" while we all cleaned and painted their "new" house - son-in-law is new superintendent of Eno River State park (NC). Ferg even let Rosie sort of climb up on her and snuggle. What really frost me is people who take their dogs to festivals - or Crop Walk - then tell me, with or without my dog - that their dog doesn't like people or contact. Hey, so you brought it here because...? BTW, I was at out local (Durham NC) farmers' market this morning. Everyone - so help me, everyone - was surprised and pleased that I asked if their dogs were friendly and comfortable with strangers before I greeted the dogs. Heck, my 7-year-old granddaughter knows to ask the same.

My husband wants to know why we can't do the same for our loved humans as we can do for out pets. A human can even state the wish clearly.

Fergie refuses to swim in the ocean. It moves too much and tastes awful. She'll wade just a bit - and chase the edges of the waves. Mostly, she likes the seagulls and seashells. She will swim in our neighborhood pond when she gets overheated on a summer walk - or if a thunder storm is coming. No idea why she thinks swimming in circles will save her from the nasty noises and low pressure. She loves to swim up in Kerr Lake - and went right in and had a ball at Little Sebago. We think that's because those are so clean. She's not dumb.

Our stairs from the first to second floor are wood, not carpet. A year or so ago, our older daughter was visiting and noticed that Fergie was acting very cautious about those stairs. She suggested the carpet tread we'd had years ago when she was a kid. They make a big difference. I've noticed that Ferg seems to prefer our front steps and garage steps to the back ones. The first two are brick; the last, wood. Then, last week when I was taking laundry out to the line, I slid on the back steps. Any dampness makes them dangerous. I plan to find some kind of tread to put there. So there may be an interim solution before a ramp. Hey, a ramp won't work to get Ferg up to the bedrooms. I've been considering one of those stair lifts. Heck, pretty soon, I can use one. Ferg, 13-1/2, has had a couple of episodes when she has sort of lost use of her back right leg. The vet says he thinks it's the arthritis plus having it fall asleep because she sleeps on that side. We've learned that, if we don't act worried and just ease her along, she gets over it quickly. Plus a half tablet of Rimadyl if she seems really uncomfortable. The vet says that our worry makes her panic.

We just got the original move from Netflix and watched it. Wonderful. Our grandgirls will see it this week-end - and our son's grandson will get it, too. We also got the first season of the TV show and watched the first episode. Also great. OK, we are in our 60s and watch kids' shows. But we have always trusted the local children's librarian for our reading suggestions. And we are both English majors - I have an MA - and we earned our livings through technical publications. So it's not like we have to stick to "easy readers".

As far as I know - and I've been at them all - oldbies, newbies, in state, out of state - anyone who can make it is welcome. Heck, the first one was instigated by a woman from Texas. It's the NC BC Picnic only because it's in NC - not because it's limited to NC. Of course, check in with Becca because it's at her farm. I take what time she says to arrive and add at least an hour. A DH thing. He has gotten us to a party so early that the hosts were getting ready to shower. Didn't bother him a bit; he asked for instructions and got the cocktails set out. I love him. And, after 43 years trying to train him, I'm certainly not willing to take on a new challenge. So I'll stick with him. Anyhow.

Oh no. Don't tell me it's also an ITV-Yorkshire TV production, Sounds like they are all done for. Summer Wine, The Royal, even Heartbeat, which seems a lot lighter (in both plot and lighting) in the more recent series. And they have been all the best. Well, we did just download Have I Got News For You. So all is not lost.

Aha! There are DVD players in the US with official ways to "hack" them to play other regions and other encodings. How do I know? We get more DVDs of UK shows than of US shows. We will watch the move, then plan to make a copy for the grandgirls. But we won't give away our copy. Heck, we still watch the 1970s Railway Children and the Polar Express. And many of our favorite fantasy books are those that were recommended for our children - like the Susan Cooper series. I suspect we will order the TV series of Mist soon.

Has anyone seen either the movie about Mist, a sheepdog puppy, or the TV series about her and her friends? It's a UK production, narrated by Derek Jacobi. The movie appears to have been released for Christmas of 2006, and the series is dated 2008. My DH found an episode online - and we loved it. So he has just ordered the movie from amazon.co.uk.

End of July would be good for me. Yeah, I'm a non-trialer non-shepherd with a dog who thinks sheep are fuzzy white deer. But I can make spinach-ricotta pie and whities. Anyhow, that would mean I can go to Florida in June. OK, not the ideal time. But this would be to see Aunt Milly, my last living aunt - who is ~92. Everyone on my father's side has been gone since the mid 90s. My Mom died in 2001; Aunt Babs just died Friday - at 94. I got to visit her out in California in 2007. And I hope to go to New England around leaf season - depending on work schedules for daughter, brother, brother-in-law, and best friend since 6th grade.

Any plans yet for our annual NC BC picnic? I'm asking because I have two trips I'd like to make (by plane and visiting family who still work, so I have to plan ahead) by October and I want to be sure I'm here for the picnic. See, I'll arrange family around y'all.

That sure could be the breed - if they waddle like hippos. I was sure we each took at least one photo of these oddities. But I can't find them. It was at the end of a long day. We had scrambled from Gayle to the top of Wetherfell - in a gale. Looking down on fighter jets screaming down Wensleydale. Then around the top, along the Roman read and down through Burtersett and back to Hawes. And that was the main walk. We'd already done about 4 miles before breakfast. It was 5 nights in Gayle. In a 1797 house on the Gayle Road- our bedroom window was over a field of Swaledale ewes and lambs (and a family of rabbits), looking down to Gayle Beck and St. Margaret's church in Hawes. The Wensleydale Creamery was just on the left.

We just returned from Yorkshire and saw one flock of the strangest sheep. We were in hawes, at the top of Wensleydale, and down along the River Ure. In one field, we were with these odd sheep. They were huge - looked like woolly barrels. Their head were more like those of dogs - huge labs or even rotties. They walked like hippos! The woman we met walking her dog just after that field said she thought they were Clydesdales, but our landlady laughed and said that was not the name. But she couldn't remember what they were. They are definitely ugly - and definitely for meat. Anyone have any idea what our hippo sheep really are?

I get it for Fergie only when I'm about to board her. Well, at least a month in advance. And that's only because the kennels require it. Some years ago, she got KC even though she was vaccinated. It was no big deal - at least for her, then. She is Miss Congeniality in our neighborhood - dogs, cats, kids, adults....

I'm really glad to hear from you again. I feel sort of like that grandmother who lives too far away to keep track of you. But I feel like I've been watching you grow up on these boards. Although you were definitely no irresponsible kid when you joined. But you are now facing genuine adulthood - and seem quite up to the challenge. Please don't leave such gaps in the saga of you and Black jack. Man, I can remember when you first met him at the shelter. It's been a long - and wonderful - trip.

This story about a faithful border collie is in today's Yorkshire Post. I will try to get a photo of it on our upcoming trip.

Fergie had a pink square on the top of her black nose when she was younger. The vet said to use sunscreen, zinc oxide, or (honest) black Magic Marker when we went to the beach. Not so much to prevent cancer as to prevent painful sunburn. She didn't need anything for here because even our longest walks are quite shady.

No, she should not get fat because she's been spayed. She should have a narrow area between the ribs and hips when you look from above. You should feel her ribs - but not see them sticking through. From the side, she should have a lovely tuck up from the ribcage to the hips. Most dogs that you see - other than working border collies - are fat. Just like most kids you see these days. Do not be like my husband's Italian grandmother. Nona looked at each of us and clucked, "Oh, you too tin!" Of course, she was about 4 feet tall - and 4 feet wide!

What can I say after MaryNH's post? But that's how we are. Yes, I've been so worried while the boards were down.

Of course we have all been checking this tread for news of Jin. This isn't just a forum; it's a community. Heck, even my kids (adults) are all sending prayers and positive energy. And wanting to know how things are going. And don't worry, you can be rude and curmudgeonly to us when it's necessary. That's what friends are for.

Fergie and I are offering our prayers. And I have asked my pagan kids to talk to the Goddess. She's especially good with animals. I did get a better feeling after reading this Merck vet med link.

I cannot find the post that started this. I wonder what went wrong. Geez, our Fergie not only does not work sheep, she just wants to look at sheep. Treats them as we've taught her to treat deer. And as for living on a farm, we are on an acre lot within the city limits. And I have never felt a second-class member of this board. Yeah, second - or maybe fifth - as a class of knowledge about these dogs. Because I really do not have the experience with a real herding border collie - a real working one. But I do have something to say about a BC/mix who is doing well as our pet. And I have way more to learn about the reasons for our pet's acting as she does as a pet. Maybe it's that I earned my living as a technical editor. I sure as heck knew the grammatical and industry standards of the writing. And I did my best to understand the programs and hardware from the perspective of the people who would be using our products. But I sure as heck listened to the programmers, system and usability testers, customer representatives, marketing folks. and actual customers. Yeah, I read the specs and all. But I valued the opinion of those who say the product from other perspectives. That's what I love about this site. I get so many different perspectives. And the only ones I see dissed are the "breed because I feel like it" folks. And, as we and our three kids are all "fixed", having produced all of one grandchild, I'm a bit prejudiced there.

Wow, if they have special planes for shipping pets tot he UK, can I fly on one? Then we could take Fergie with us on our visits. As she is upset - seriously - by low pressure and loud noises, and she is 13 now, we are afraid to have her come with us. But if we could go with her....

My reaction to the term "borders" - if I know they mean dogs and not national boundaries or a really good British ale - is to ask whether they mean border collies or border terriers. There may be other breeds with that appellation, but those are the two I know and love.