Busy Times

Well I was back over a month ago and here I am again .... still reeling over the effect of being away for 3 weeks .. but I think Im sorted now and have the house in some sort of order ...

Blossom is 5th~6th week after being mated and she is beginning to look rotund, she is getting fussy with her food plus other little things that makes me think perhaps this time we may have Blossy babies ... Im gradually changing her food over from Royal Canin Mini to Royal Canin starter food which she should be on by the 6th week....fingers crossed everything goes well for her..

Jet my Border collie has been wonderful in training but not so much as a clear round this year with him, but as long as he enjoys the training thats all that counts in my book, it seems competition just pickles his head...

Tink my Kelpie is doing really well, but between her having a season and the odd blip here and there we have only managed a few places, well, should I say most of the time handler error we are getting good places but my steering does lose her time...Im trying folks to get better, its an art form this agility lark isnt it....and if I had legs like my husband I may well be doing better...although I do enjoy it and that is the main thing..

Busy training my Kelpie puppy Belle who is coming on such a treat, Im so pleased with her ... I just hope I can do her justice in the long run, but with my track record who knows :O)))

well, Bromsgrove Saturday and then Im judging at Honiton on Sunday ..

Cant think of much more to say only I'll try and keep up to date now with everything and hopefully I can get my art blog up and running too..

Im Back

Hi everyone, or I may well be talking to myself as its been so long since I have been here that people have given up on my news *sniff*

Reasons why I have not blog for a while is due to 'Io's' tribute on here, which up until now I found too upsetting to view, but now I think Im stronger and I can view his tribute better now although it is still hard.. 

I have been very busy doing shows and painting my art cards (ACEO'S) and have made a heap of new friends through my art too, which is great and has opened another avenue for me on the virtual social networks :O)) I am seriously thinking of starting another blog where my art is concerned as I now have started a shop at etsy.com my shop has prints and paintings of mine plus I have projects on the go and will show to all whenever they are finished. 

Blossom is doing really well and now is in grade 5 which Im thrilled about...were working on towards grade 6, although were having steering issues at the moment..

Beryl my smooth collie is fab although Im still scared to run her after she had that bang and went into a fit at Golden Valley limited show.

Tink my Kelpie is brilliant and showing a lot of promise with her agility and Im enjoying running her  so much as I am with Jet my Border Collie... Belle my baby Kelpie is wonderful and is a joy to own, Im so glad we kept her.

Were off to Scunthorpe where Im judging on Saturday... I love this show..

Just returned from Agility club show at Newbury and boy nobody knew where the down switch was for the heating !

Dont Be Afraid, Sleep Now And I Shall Watch Over You.

A few weeks ago for some reason I got my painting box out again ... the idea is that its a fantasy tale about my sheltie 'Blossom' who has a journey...last week I painted this picture and finished it on Saturday ... the words fall into place very aptly for what Im about to say in my next paragraphs...the latest part of the tale is:

....quietly she was following a flowered path when suddenly she heard a noise...through the early morning mist Blossom could make out the milky shape of a beautiful Unicorn.

Blossom grew tired and decided to lay down ... the morning sun revealed beautiful meadows and while dozing she was startled by the enchanted Unicorn who had caught up with Blossom, nuzzling Blossom with her soft bearded muzzle, the Unicorn whispered .... 'do not be afraid, sleep now and I shall watch over you'.....

Im sorry to post this but last week was dreadful.

'Io' came to Starsofmars a few years ago needing love and comfort of a loving home, I hope we gave it to him in his short life...he was named by the great Collie breed enthusiast the late Iris Coombes who advised his breeder Trevor Hayward to call him  Foxearth Fine Feathers, we decided to give him his pet name as 'Io' which is a star planet which orbits Pluto.

My darling 'Io' was never a 100% agility dog although trained to a good standard his hormones would dictate him that a fence post beside an agility course was much better than the next jump. He was shown in breed and did very well and qualified for Crufts he was entered for West Of England Ladies Kennel Club Championship show in a couple of weeks but it isn't to be....

 A week last Monday evening my  'Io' suddenly collapsed with a paralysed back end .. his back legs simple did not function, we rushed him to the vets where he stayed  til last Friday where Caroline our vet tried her up most to save him, she wasn't prepared to give up on him, nor were we, but, it wasnt to be, after a few days of an awful roller coaster of worry and turmoil...he was getting worse so, with Caroline's advice it was time to let him go, needless to say we are heartbroken ...he was fit, healthy and only 5, he suffered an embolism to the spine which is quite rare, but when it strikes it serves cruel and devastating results..

No more will I stroke and feel his wonderful head, no more will he nudge my hand for more cuddles, no more will I hear his bark..but, forever more I will remember him.

We miss you 'Io', Thank you sweetheart for all those happy days we had with you, Run to the bridge fella and wait for us there,  xxxx

You can add your own message for 'Io' to the slide by clicking onto add 'add your pics' button on the right hand side of the box, As Laura from California has ... Many thanks for a lovely thought x

More Doodles

More miniature paintings ... and the story continues too, much to our daughter Madeleine's delight....

While flying from meadow to meadow in a far far away place the newly hatched Sheltie fairy puppy noticed something very small on the ground, she said to herself, 'hmmmm' I did not know there were smaller things than I'..... with that thought her new sparkly wings took her down swiftly to her first encounter with Ruby the ladybird .... The little ladybird was so happy to have met a friend at last.

Settled in among the fallen spring flowers, Blossom and Ruby sat talking well into the night......

After many hours talking and getting to know each other Ruby the ladybird said with a gasp ' my goodness is that the time ! I must rush or I shall be late' !   Upon those words Blossom pricked her ears and said, 'please, dont go' but, little Ruby the ladybird was already hurrying off .....

Spring Day in Wales

Gosh, I have loads to say and I hope I wont be boring with you with the details but I suppose a blog is to digitally record things so here goes.Last week Mark, Madeleine and I took Blossom and the 3 Kelpie pups Mollie, Draco & Belle to Dare Valley Country park which is only 5 miles away from us. Dare Valley Country Park Blossom was certainly the trail blazer on the walk and ran rings around the pups much to our amusement, Blossom was in and out of the water with no problems the pups having not seen water up close just kept running and were shocked when they realised they had to swim, it was so funny to see them thinking OMG where has the ground gone!

Blossom was a total water baby leaving the pups to shame. At one point she tried to help Draco who jumped in and did not realise it was not solid as you can see by the photo Blossom is able to stand in the water but just look at Draco's face ~sheer Panic !

Moment in Time with Lovely Thoughts

On this first warm spring sunny day I have been lost in my own little creative world happily painting and I have completed a little jewel like miniature painting .... Blossom being my inspiration and muse....

I have started a little story for this painting :....

....... While flying  from meadow to meadow in a far far away place, Blossom the newly hatched Sheltie fairy puppy noticed something very small on the ground, Blossom said to herself, 'hmmmm, I did not know there were smaller creatures than myself !' with that thought her brand new sparkling wings took Blossom swiftly down to her first encounter with Ruby the ladybird ........

The slide show can be started by clicking onto the x on the right hand side of the 'slide box' you can also turn off or pause the music...hope you like :O)

Easter & Things

Well, Im going to forget that last weekend existed ... dont recall anything ! apart from eating this stuff.......................

Totally miffed that we didn't get to play agility at Easter but safety is the priority and Im sure we will be repaid our patience by him up there in due course.

Well, after Blossom not willing to succumb to maternal duties we have started back to training and it is going well, but, she can get sooo excited that she loses her focus, which I find frustrating .... With time constraints with training we waste a lot of time at the minute

 resetting and making sure she calms down before we start something else ... Im not happy that I cant train her as much as I would like, hopefully will get her to the standard so we are not pinging off at a hundred miles an hour off  the contacts ! I have been training her to nose tap to a mat as the actual foot tap isn't working coming off the decent...if I can get her to nose tap to the bottom of the contact her body seems to work better that way and for once she has to look at the floor and not me ! 

Was cleaning out Madeleine's room today and came across Madeleine's hula hoop, I called Blossom who whooped at the sight of the hoop and loved playing the 'through' game for five minutes my god does she get excited or what ... Ruby & Beryl came upstairs to see what was going on and they soon went back downstairs totally confused thinking Blossom had gone mad being so excited over a hula hoop... Madeleine has not been well since last Friday and Blossom has been Madeleine's constant companion, she seems to know that something isn't right and last night I found the pair sleeping in Madeleine's bed with Blossom tucked under Madeleine's arm...she stayed up there for a good hour or so ... Then Blossy came down and slept on my lap such a cuddly girl that she is... who needs a medicine bottle when you have a delightful sheltie called Blossom. Photo below is off Blossom when she was younger cant seem to find any recent ones on the computer.

As you may know I am a visual artist and have a BA Hons fine art degree (Printmaking) and HND in 2~D design which covered illustration.... now and then I sometimes draw some doodles and recently I did a couple of Sheltie's all of them have sold apart from the shopping bag image. You will notice there is a difference in styles this is evidence of me experimenting with line etc, the drawings are rendered over with a quick colour wash..

hope you like them :O)

 

Hmmmmmmmmm .....

Not sure what to write here today .... 

Pups are growing fast now ... Belle is learning new things everyday and is loving going out with me on my dog walks. 

Trying to get organised with my art objectives for this year as a visual artist you need to keep going on your own self development, very hard going when we have so many things going on here at home.

While on my walks I try to take my camera with me. I trained not only as an illustrator but as a printmaker which encompassed screen printing, lithography including the dying art of stone litho, all types of etchings, photography and digital art reproduction  while at Uni so taking photo's is just what I need to do to keep my hand in. 

Camping shows start in a few weeks I suppose like us everyone else is thinking of getting their caravans and the camping gear together. Were going to try and be good with our diets this year and not get too many takeaways at shows etc and am going to cook meals to take with us to heat up etc.

Crufts on the horizon, of course Mark is doing the agility side of things where I am getting my Smooth collie 'Beryl' ring fit for the breed rings. Her coat is looking well and she has toned up nicely.... she can be naughty when asked to move in the appropriate fashion for the ring as she tends to 'gait' instead of moving properly, she seems to prefer that movement than the one she needs to do .... she is entered in open bitch and will be on pastoral day (Saturday) Im trying to make Beryl up to her title this year and have booked Scottish breeds for end of March in Edinburgh and already Im dreading the drive up north, but its got to be done when you are 'chasing' the tickets.

Play Time Introducing Seren

                                    


Seren came to play ..... much to the delight of Blossom, Jet and especially Belle. Seren is Tracy Bennett's new puppy from Angela Gadenne's recent litter. Seren is litter sister to Sue White's new puppy Bear ..... First impressions as I opened the door to Tracy and seen this delightful ball of fluff which melted my heart as soon as I saw her. Seren is a bold sweet natured puppy and she did not bat an eye lid where playing with Belle the Kelpie puppy was concerned. Belle and Seren made friends straight away, it was a joy and amusing for Tracy and I to watch the pair rough and tumble over the couple of hours they were here for. 

Hope to see Seren's progress (come on Tracy hurry up and start your blog)

Enjoy the photo's

Summers Day at Merthyr Mawr

Yesterday Mark decided to joined me on one of my walks ..... We headed towards Merthyr Mawr a beautiful nature reserve on the coast by Porthcawl , (see the link). Merthyr Mawr

We had a collie named Holly and we took Draco and Halo ... they really enjoyed it and negotiated new unseen things like crossing streams and woods like they were pro's at it. Interesting to see the pups herding style where they played with the collie is concerned,  Draco was the thinker and would 'cast out' at a distance and would do minimal work where Halo preferred to be up close and personal and would run and run non stop.

Merthyr Mawr is a beautiful place where you get the feeling time has stood still .... you can whale watch from the dunes and the wildlife and fauna is second to none if you ever are in this neck of the woods do visit you wont be disappointed.

Belle at Penarth Marina January 29th 2008

Belle is growing up fast, and she is coming out with me on my dog walks with the adult dogs but only on short walks as I dont want her going 'high on her leg' (a term we use for over exercised walked pups and youngsters) here is Belle on a walk with me at the beautiful Penarth Marina in Cardiff.  

Penarth Marina

Cardiff Bay Barrage

Well I am a month late in starting this blog, (Was starting this at the beginning of 2008!)

I will hopefully blog anything and everything going on in my life concerning my family , which, consists of Husband, children, and dogs...

Here goes ..... 

It is only 3 weeks now before Blossom  is due to whelp, she was mated on 20th Dec 2007 to Lythwood Sharp Shooter (featured)

Blossom is looking well and is getting quite plump.

As you may know I have retained a Kelpie Red & Tan bitch puppy from the recent litter we bred from Ruby (Ag Ch Cories Ruby Tuesday) x Cap (Gogetta Captain Midnight) her name is 'Belle'(Starsofmars Mira) the name goes nicely with her elder half sister which I own known as 'Tink' (Starsofmars Titania) thus, keeping the theme of fairies and stars. 

Just like her mum and her sister, Belle is such a sweetheart and a lovely happy puppy. She is certainly bringing smiles to my face. Belle has been on plenty of walks and trips out in the van she is now the proper out and about girl. She is going nicely forward on the lead and is responding eagerly  to basic training.