Up at Dawn

It's getting to be a regular thing. I wake up with the sun and I so want to sleep longer. Not happening. I had 2 lesson this am .The first was Terv's on sheep and the 2nd was a Kelpie on cows. Everybody did well. No problems. Nobody got hurt and I think they learned something. That is my goal.. to teach them something they didn't know at every lesson. I hope I am succeeding. Then inside to work on the PC --trial stuff and back out again to hook up the trailer and go to Shelley's and pick up 3 sheep who gave us a little bit of a problem getting into the trailer. Dually was no help at all. While I was gone, Ed went over the Paul's and picked up 22 bales of 1st cut hay in my little utility trailer. I am going to run out of sheep hay this week too so that's why the bales. The cow hay will last until Monday and then I will be bringing cows home. I can't find any hay anywhere. Oh well, Maybe I can get them back when they start cutting this years hay. I think I am just about done doing stuff for the trial except for the night before. I still have some house cleaning and shopping to do and Jan will probably get here mid afternoon tomorrow. Oh well. She can go shopping with me.

Geez what happened to the rocking chair?

Somebody woke me up at 6:30 by driving the truck in the driveway and hooking up the trailer to go get cow hay. The dog reacted and I woke up thinking someone was here to work and it must be 8am already. it was not. So I got up anyway and started a long day . I loaded the trailer and got ready to get to the dump before people started to show up and realized I had nothing to hitch to. Ed had used the ball to go get the hay so I ran to Walmart to buy another one. I got a can of marking paint while i was there. I hooked up the trailer but by then it was too late to go so I put it off for a few hours. First Ed showed up to unload the hay and then Bob And Barb showed up to work on the trial site. Bob and I remeasured the arena and marked it with the marking paint. Meanwhile Barb worked on reinforcing the duck arena so the little duckies cannot get thru the fence. She also raked the far end and I helped as much as I could between jobs. And then Bill showed up to fix the water faucet but that didn't work and he will be back tomorrow. And then I took the load to the dump which took about an hr and back again to help Barb. And then one of Tim's guys showed up to move the wood pile in the front to the pasture to burn on Sat or sunday this week. He also raked the back yard and the shade garden for me. Yay. I gave Barb a lesson on Cows(Lizzie did well) and I loaded the wicker set I bought in the still hookde up trailer and took it back to the store. Ran into Tractor Supply for dog food and stopped at kahula to pick up Chinese food. Finished emailing people about lessons on sat watched a little tv and now I am going to bed.

Training

Betty and I left for NY at 8:15 this morning to have a lesson with Barb Armata. We have worked with her before and she is fun and kind and a good teacher. She has nice stock and the field is huge. Dare worked first and he was slow and careful and totally not his usual self. I worked each dog twice and he did loosen up a bit but not that much. We tried some distance driving and he drove a group about 100 yrds away but then he couldn't take it anymore and brought them back to me. He did hold the line well himself and generally did a good job. Dually lost the sheep up the far end of the pasture and had to go get them twice.First I sent him on a go bye and he went all the way up but came in really tight at the top but didn't cross over. The 2nd time we sent him on the away side which was against the fence. It was 300 yrds and he kept stopping and looking back at me and I kept him going and he finally got up around them without crossing over and they started to run toward me. He couldn;t take it and ringed them, but then he brought them all the way down. He did have an issue with one lamb stopping so he went back to get it and he ran at it thinking of course it would move , but it didn't and he ran smack dab into it and then jumped over it and the lamb finally moved probably thought the dog was crazy and he needed to get out of there. Betty got it on tape but it might be too far away to see. I was pleased with both dogs and the day was perfect. the bugs started to come out just as we were leaving. It's a long ride . We didnt get home till 4 and then I had a minor cluster headache. that is the 3rd cluster this week and so far they have all been really minor. I took Dually out after dinner to work 4 of the younger cows who were feeling really good and ran all over the arena. I tried to work them, but finally put them in the small pen to calm them down and then took them out again and they worked better. Dually's tongue was hangin.

No cluster last night!!

So lucky for me I did not wake up with a cluster headache last night. Tonights another night. I went to see my friend sing at a Sweet Adelines concert last night. They were very good. I was surprised at how much soprano there was though. Spent yesterday while it was pouring out all day, re-arranging the back porch and cleaning it. I started out just hanging some more pictures but then I decided since I had just bought new wicker for it that I should get the loveseat out and put the new rug down, wash the dog prints off the floor and put the little coffee table together. Finished that and I had to then re-arrange the living room because I had to add the loveseat back into the mix along with the other little coffee table that was on the porch. The living room doesn't look as open but it's cozy looking and neat. Waking up to a cover of snow was unexpected today. I had a t shirt on yesterday and today it's belong 32 out there. I have a full day of lessons scheduled. Wonder how that is going to go. I really wanted to work ducks with my first student but that may not be possible today. It does not look like it's going to melt really fast.

Cluster headaches

I woke up last night at 11:47 with a fairly strong cluster. It caused my nose to run copiously. I spent 15 minutes at the sink with a hot washcloth on my eye and then I went back to bed and I could feel it release. I hope to hell it was an isolated incident. I haven't had a cluster cycle in years. I'm already thinking call the headache Dr so I can get an appt and he can order oxygen for me. Only problem with oxygen is it doesn't work for every headache and when it does, they bounce back in a couple of hours. Oh boy fun ahead. Cluster headaches are recurring bouts of excruciating unilateral headache attacks[5] of extreme intensity.[6] The duration of a typical CH attack ranges from about 15 to 180 minutes.[3] Most untreated attacks (about 75%) last less than 60 minutes.[7] The onset of an attack is rapid and most often without preliminary signs that are characteristic in migraine. Preliminary sensations of pain in the general area of attack, referred to as "shadows", may signal an imminent CH, or these symptoms may linger after an attack has passed, or even between attacks.[8] Though a CH is strictly unilateral, there are some documented cases of "side-shift" between cluster periods, extremely rare, simultaneously (within the same cluster period) bilateral headache.[9] Pain The pain occurs on one side only (unilateral), around the eye (orbital), particularly above the eye (supraorbital), in the temple (temporal), in any combination. The pain of CH is remarkably greater than in other headache conditions, including severe migraine. The term "headache" does not adequately convey the severity of the condition; the disease may be the most painful condition known to medical science.[10] The pain is described as stabbing, burning or squeezing and may be located near or behind the eye and at the back of the head or neck.[11] Other symptoms The typical symptoms of cluster headache are grouping (cluster) of recurring headache attacks of severe or very severe unilateral orbital, supraorbital and/or temporal pain. If left untreated, attack frequency will range from one attack every two days to eight attacks a day.[2][3] The headache attack is accompanied by at least one of the following autonomic symptoms: drooping eyelid, pupil constriction, redness of the conjunctiva, tearing, runny nose, and, less commonly, facial blushing, swelling, or sweating, commonly but not always appearing on the same side of the head as the pain.[2] Restlessness (for example, pacing or rocking back and forth), photosensitivity, aversion to light (photophobia) or sensitivity to noise (phonophobia) may occur during a CH. Nausea is a rare symptom, although it has been reported.[5] Secondary effects may include inability to organize thoughts and plans, physical exhaustion, confusion, agitation, aggressiveness, depression and anxiety.[12] People with CH may dread facing another headache and adjust their physical or social activities around a possible future occurrence. Likewise they may seek assistance to accomplish what would otherwise be normal tasks. They may hesitate to make plans because of the regularity, or conversely, the unpredictability of the pain schedule. These factors can lead to generalized anxiety disorders, panic disorder,[13] serious depressive disorders,[14] social withdrawal and isolation.[15] Recurrence Cluster headaches are occasionally referred to as "alarm clock headaches" because of the regularity of their timing and they may awaken individuals from sleep. Both individual attacks and the cluster grouping can have a metronomic regularity; attacks striking at a precise time of day each morning or night is typical. The grouping of headache clusters can occur more often around solstices, or spring and autumn equinoxes, sometimes showing circannual periodicity. This has prompted researchers to speculate involvement, or dysfunction of the brain's hypothalamus, which controls the body's "biological clock" and circadian rhythm.[16][17] Conversely, attack frequency may be highly unpredictable, showing no periodicity at all. In episodic cluster headaches, attacks occur once or more daily, often at the same time each day, for a period of several weeks, followed by a headache-free period lasting weeks, months, or years. Approximately 10–15% of cluster headaches chronic, with multiple headaches occurring every day for years, sometimes without any remission.[medical citation needed] In accordance with the International Headache Society (IHS) diagnostic criteria, cluster headaches occurring in two or more cluster periods, lasting from 7 to 365 days with a pain-free remission of one month or longer between the clusters may be classified as episodic. If attacks occur for more than a year without pain-free remission of at least one month, the condition is classified chronic.[2] Chronic CH occurs continuously without any remission periods between cycles; there may be high and low variation in cycles, meaning the frequency and severity of attacks may change without predictability, for a period of time. The amount of change during these cycles varies between individuals and does not demonstrate complete remission of the episodic form. The condition may change unpredictably, from chronic to episodic and from episodic to chronic.[18] Remission periods lasting for decades have been known to occur.[medical citation needed]

Dare and his cows

Dare didn't get to work yesterday so I let him work today. at first when I sent him to go get all 13 cows, I thought he was going to do it, but then he started to bring me one at a time. No way buddy. I had to keep sending him back and he was not happy about it. A time or 2 I had to toss a hose in his direction to convince him that he better go get them all. I finally got them all in the take pen and I sorted off 5 and then another 3 and I worked the remaining 5. I took them to the pen that we will have to sort out 2 first. I could not get the 2 that I wanted. But I got 2 in there and then put them all in and took them out again. I worked them up the fenceline and turned them and brought them back down. He has to work hard to keep them together and not running across the arena. They want to go home to the hay all the time. He worked hard and was tired. He had to HIT one of them a couple of times. Unfortunately , when he hits he won't hit the heels. He used to hit the hocks but now he bites the belly and jumps the hell out of the way. Sure makes them move though. Just a little scary for both of us I think. I worked on some trial paperwork today. I have all the farm trial scoresheets ready to go and organized. I also put descriptions in plastic sleeves ready to post on the day of or evening before the trial. I spoke to Tim about the walkway and I like what he had to offer. No idea what it's going to cost but he likes to keep costs down so I am hopeful. 2 of the 3 landscapers that came over last week have not gotten back to me. Might even have been the week before. I'm lost.

Lambs go to auction

I had to get up early today and get the lambs to auction before my first lesson at noon and of course I had no idea how long stuff was going to take so I got up at 6am. I was outside sorting sheep at 7. Dare was a big big help this morning. No stupid stuff from him. We had to put the lambs and ewes together for one last time and then after 1/2 hr or so I had to sort everybody.I sorted the lambs and goats into the take pen and then I sorted the lambs I wanted into the barnyard. They I had to move all the lambs leftover back into the upper pasture. After that I went out and hooked up the trailer. You have to be perfect with this trailer or you have to keep moving the car. I was perfect the first time Whooo whooo. I backed the trailer up to the pasture gate and that seemed to take a while because in spite of the many times I have backed up a trailer was was having issues. Finally got it backed up into the mud pile and lowered the tailgate. I put fence pieces on each side so the animals didn't escape. then I walked thru the gates and forgot to put them back up and went to get the sheepies. Dare very gently manipulated the lambs and BB down the the trailer ramp and we stood there and were very patient. BB was very nervous(surprise surprise).The lambs waalked in first and BB saw he could get around the trailer so he did. AGHHHH. I sent Dare to get him and the lambs left the trailer. AGHHH. Okk, Dare went and got them again and again we were patient and this time the lambs went in slowly and BB decided to follow and Dare held them in there while I closed the tailgate. I put Dare up and off I went. It took me less than an hr to get there. I dropped everybody off and came home. I felt a little bad about BB. He has been on the farm a lot of years. He was not getting any easier to handle and I was afraid some student might get hurt by him at a gate so bye bye BB. Then I had Lessons from 12 till 5. Debbie helped me before she left put up a new section of fence and I came in for dinner, but I have to go back out and fight with a hay bale so the cows have something to eat tonight. Geez I went out at 7pm and got back in after dark at 8:15 . I really had to fight with the tractor and the hay bale and the dark. And then when I walked back to the house, I had a ewe out trying to get to her lamb and she had gone around the house and got stuck between the dog yard and the upper pasture. Dare to the rescue. I got him out to draw the lambs to the front of the house and the ewe followed and then Dare and I picked her up and brought her out back to where she belongs. Bed soon.

Cows got worked

I gave 1 lesson this morning and then I took the dogs out back to work the cows. I tied 2 to the fence and worked Dare, but I need to remember to work Dually first. He gets squirrely when I work Dare first. Not sure why. Dare separated 3 off and we took them to the smaller pen inside the arena and worked them back and forth sending Dare to the heads to turn them and trying very hard to get him to take a heel. He wouldn't do it. We took them out into the arena and put them in the take pen while we went to get the other 3 cows. He got kicked doing something stupid but he's fine. We worked them for a while and I put Dare up and got Edge. Edge has so little training on him that I thought I would work him on a line but that only lasted 30 sec and I took it off. Too much stuff. Edge did very well. He only ran a cow into me once and I did no fall down so no harm no foul. He took a heel when he needed to and was a little hasty on heads, but he needs some more work. I was very pleased with him. Dually was next and he worked ok in the small pen until he pressured one and it jumped the little panels and then he had to go get it and he was just not listening to me. That happens when I work Dare first for some reason. gotta remember to work him first and then Dare. Starting to pick up the farm . Some of the tarps are still frozen into the ground but I got a few up. Hopefully I will have a work party this sunday and see what we can get done.

Part of this years cows arrived

Goat kids between the feeding panel and the hay, of course they are not supposed to be there.