Colleen's Going Away Party

This still isn't really real to me yet.

Anyway, we all met at Janie's house to work dogs and sit around and bullshit. And that's exactly what we did.

Janie told me a couple of days ago that when she got home, she had eight lambs on the ground -- when there were none that morning. So first up, we went and played with the lambies.

Here's the whole group of them:

Some had white legs ... some had one black, one white ...



Some had two black legs ...


Some had perfect markings ...


Some did not. (I'm going to steal this little girl!)




Is there anything cuter?


A true Bo Peep


Here's Colleen ...


... and Jaenne ...


... Janie ...


... Kirk ...


... and Katy!



The beauty of being the photographer and the blogger is ... photos of me don't land on here.

We took the dogs for a leisurely run in the canal. He's Janie's puppy Guy. He is such a goofball and cuter than all getout.


Here's Guy again.


Here's Reena giving me a dirty look. The photo is not in focus. No photo I have of her is ever in focus. I am beyond frustrated. I took a ton of photos of her yesterday, and not one ... not one ... came out in focus. I don't think she's really a dog. ;-)


L to R: Janie, Katy, Jaenne, Colleen


Scout!


Mo ... what are you lookin' at?


Then the alcohol started flowing. I didn't drink because I don't drink nearly as much as any of these other people. It's a rare occasion when I'll crack a beer. These guys don't care if they're even drinking their own beer, and sometimes just all drink out of the same one. See?

Here's Colleen ...


and Katy ...


and Jaenne ... (gotta watch this one ... she's a real tipper, if you know what I mean...)


Colleen ... she was really goin' at it ...


Even Janie was hittin' the bottle.


See this? They were all doing it.


Not me, though. I don't drink. Much. Or very often. And never on Saturday at a going away party. Nor on Sunday at herding lessons. Or Monday after work. And I don't go to the bars during the week. Nope. And Friday night ... that's doG's night. I don't drink then, either. Not me.

I, instead, went out and worked Echo. First, we had to move all the momma ewes with their babies into the 125' arena. I wasn't quite sure what Echo would do around newborn lambs as she hasn't had the opportunity yet. She was amazing. Different than Zip (Zip pretends he doesn't see them), she looked right at them and knew they were there, but there was never a time when I felt she would do anything about it, so I never said a word to her and just let her do her thing. She focused on the ewes, and seemed to understand that moving the ewe was all she needed to do. They would stomp at her, and she would change her body pressure to let them know that it's alright, they can have a little room, but they will do what she wants them to do. They would turn and go. The lambs would come right up to Echo nose to nose (I was far too amazed watching her that I forgot to get pics), and she was just incredible. So after they were all safely in the other arena, we went into the duck arena and took the two very pregnant ewes from there into the barn area where the lambs just were. Easy peezy. I think we might have fun at the ranch trial in Washington. Seems like Ms. Echo is ready for some pen work. There was no tension. Just quiet, calm confidence.

So it was time to work the ducks.


She took every direction I gave her.


Stayed nicely off the ducks.


Kept control of everyone.




Flanked beautifully.


And looked gorgeous to boot!


Just like when she was a puppy ...





And here's Kip:


And Mo:






And Scout!






I think it's safe to say a good time was had by all.

Colleen, we're going to miss you like crazy! I'm not going to sit here and tell you how much I hope you enjoy your new place, and how I wish you luck in your new job and all that, because I won't need to. I'll probably be up there "visiting" before you know it! LOL

Happy tails,
Jodi