Decisions, decisions!

Just when we thought it was summer...



Thunder and lightning and just enough rain to make everything wet and soggy!

So we finally got around to taking the Flyboys into the round pen to meet some sheep up close. They'd seen sheep once before (twice in JJ's case) very briefly, but now they are starting to get big enough to have a proper look.

Our basic idea was that we'd use their initial reactions and early work to whittle the four Flyboys down to two keepers, although I'd kind of expected to keep Finbar because of his white head, unless another pup really spoke to me. It seemed like a really good idea at the time, but now the painful reality is that I'm in love with all of four of them, and I can't imagine letting any of them go. They've trashed our verandah, trashed my veggie patch, would like to trash Jack's toybox if they got half a chance, and it looks like they'll trash my heart too.


JJ and Finbar:




Jules, you wanted to know how Harry's going?

"Aunty Jules, please come and get me! These heartless people won't let me chew the couch!"








"Put that bloody camera down and open the gate, woman!"




JJ, ever the poser:







Note the right ear starting to elevate:




Finn, just a total sweetheart:





And Elvis is still impossible to photograph- he never ever stops! His ears get crazier by the day, but I think we can confidently say they'll be pricked:





Introduction to sheep:



Harry, after his little holiday in Perth, has decided to be a sheepdog. He was interested straight away without much chasing, showed a bit of eye and generally tried to get to the head. If first impressions mean anything, he might do okay.

JJ has already declared his intentions on sheep, and while he was a lot like Harry when he first switched on, it was interesting to see some differences now. JJ's more full-on, more interested in coming in and taking them on. He seems to have some of Fred's jerky, two-footed bouncing movement at times, so if he turns out to be "Fred with more force" R will be happy.

Finbar was still a bit of a puppy- he started very much like Fly, with the odd charge at the sheep and a bit of a woof, but also showed a little bit of style and eye. R says he's the most like Bill of the lot, which isn't really what I want to hear (much as I love Bill). I'm worried that this initial bluff and barking means he might be a bit weaker than his brothers, which is not what I'm looking for. On the other hand, he's only 4 months old, and still a baby. I probably need a dog with a bit of softness and biddability, not necessarily with tonnes of push. Something like Fred, or Bill with a bit more guts, would do me fine.

Elvis was only half interested. He drew the short straw in some ways, because he was last in the pen and the sheep were a bit irritable and prone to standing on the fence and facing up the pups, and he wasn't really sure about it all. It was also getting dark and the thunder was starting to sound like it was just over the hill, so Finn and Elvis only had a very short spin. We'll let them see sheep again some time soon, maybe just running around outside the yards next time we're drenching.

But it's starting to get close to decision time for keeping pups. Early starting was going to be one of our criteria, but isn't it typical that the two pups we'd kind of ear-marked as keepers are the ones least keen at this stage? Of course they are just babies yet, and they are all interested and all have flashes of some nice stuff, so it doesn't look like any of them are going to be true late starters like their uncle Jim... We'll see how they go a bit longer, although Elvis is officially for sale, which sucks because he's just the sweetest, eagerest little bloke. I've been doing a bit of basic training with him this week, puppy push-ups and house manners, and he's a star. He is also a little clone of his older half-sister, Squirt (DiscoDiva's litter), who belonged to a good friend and tragically drowned as a youngster.

They can't all stay, though. They can't all stay. They can't...


And now in the interests of tangentiality, here's my veggie garden after initial renovations and a festival of pea straw:

Nice little Roma tomatoes (note pile of straw in background- you can never have too much!):





Eggplants and hopefully spring onions here (the fencing is to keep vermin out- see later in this post):




Tomatoes and basil:





And if the Turkey's Nest dam is empty by early summer, this is why:




Dog of many faces:








Nice tail, Muddy:




Muddy and his apprentice:







"Argh! Missed again!"






"Curse you, elusive water demon!"




"Gotcha!"




"Maybe I should have let this one get away"




The roses are just going ballistic at the moment:




(all that deadheading! Sob!)

My favourite farm scenery: