Sandhills

This popped up on my FaceBook feed today. It brought back so many memories, I had to share it!

The moment you know your day is about to go sideways in Florida is when you spot a sandhill crane standing somewhere it absolutely should NOT be.

Not near a marsh.

Not in a field.

Right in the middle of the Publix parking lot like it personally manages the property.

In Florida, this isn’t just a bird.

This is a six-foot-tall prehistoric traffic supervisor fueled entirely by swamp energy, entitlement, and the belief that YOUR car is the problem.

You slow down hoping it’ll move.

It doesn’t.

You tap the horn gently.

The crane slowly turns its head like you just violated state law.

You inch the car forward.

It takes ONE slow step closer to your bumper like: “Interesting decision, buddy.”

Suddenly being late to work feels way safer than escalating the situation.

The crane just stands there. Silent. Unbothered. Built like a retired velociraptor with HOA authority.

Like it personally approved the layout of this parking lot and your Honda Accord failed inspection.

And then it happens…

The warning sequence.

Wings spread wide. Neck extended. That weird prehistoric screech echoes across the parking lot while somebody loading groceries quietly backs into their car and locks the doors.

That’s when you realize: this is no longer traffic.

This is negotiation.

Tourists think Florida wildlife means alligators.

Florida residents know better.

Alligators usually mind their business.

A sandhill crane will stare directly into your soul for 14 straight minutes while blocking the only exit lane near the garden center.

They don’t attack like normal animals.

They supervise.

Slowly. Confidently. Like tiny airport security agents enforcing parking lot law.

And somehow there’s ALWAYS another one nearby.

Just standing there watching.

Like backup officers waiting for the signal.

Meanwhile one retired guy in flip-flops casually walks past saying: “Yeah don’t mess with ‘em this time of year.”

SIR WHAT DO YOU MEAN “THIS TIME OF YEAR”???

So eventually you do what every Floridian learns to do:

You stop the car. You avoid eye contact. You let the sandhill crane complete whatever mysterious government operation it’s conducting in front of the shopping carts.

Because in Florida…

the bird doesn’t move for you.

You move for the bird

All of this is basically true! The Sandhills were a common sight when I lived in Babcock Ranch. Sandhill cranes mate for life, and we would see a few different family units; mom, dad and one or two youngsters. It was very common to run across the cranes while walking the dogs in the mornings. They were often foraging in the grassy open areas sprinkled around Babcock, and would simply lift their heads and stare at me, and my two large dogs (at that time an Aussie and a Border Collie), and go on feeding. Being within 10 feet of them didn't even phase them!

What the Facebook story doesn't address is the sounds of the Sandhills. We would hear this echoing off the little lake we lived on, and it would always make me smile!

Although Sandhill Cranes are found in central Florida, we no longer live in their habitat area; wetlands, waterways and open grasslands. I may run across them in my travels, one never knows! 

Did the Itsy Bitsy Spider Cause This?

 As I write, early on Sunday evening, I am being serenaded by rumbling thunder, and the rain has begun to fall. Not much, but it is rain! The weather map is constantly evolving. It can't make up its mind. I hope the blobs of green and yellow continue to grow and move over our area. Like so many others, we need the moisture 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed as we look ahead over the next 10 days. Maybe, just maybe, we will be entering into the more usual 'rainy season' in Florida. The article accompanying the graph below stated that the rainy season in north western central Floria typically begins around May 25. Looks like we might be right on target! 

This is a graph of the percent of rain chance in the Tampa Bay weather region over a typical year. The fact that there is an identifiable rainy season stands out like a green thumb!

Here's hoping! 

Generally our days are sunny, hot and muggy, crowned by the buildup of thunderheads and a glorious, short downpour in the early evening. As much as I don't care for the additional humidity from that, we certainly can use it. 

Century Plant Woes

We have had a huge Century Plant (Agave Americana) in our yard. The spikes were well over my head. Sadly, our plant was damage by the severe cold that we experienced. But of course, I never thought to take a picture of it, either before the freeze or afterwards. I found this picture of another frost damaged Agave on the Internet.

Checking the "encyclopedia at my fingertips" (Google), I was told to use sharp scissors to trim the damaged portions off of the leaves. Yeah, right! That's a joke. The spine of each leaf is over an inch thick. The spikes are like leather. Scissors didn't even knick the leaves/spikes.

Yesterday I grabbed the Mister's small, battery-powered chain saw and went to town, removing the brown ends from each spike. It looks rather lopsided, and still could use a little more trimming on the very tips, but at least it looks more alive than crumpled and dead. 

With the satisfaction of a job finished (perhaps not well done) I trundled my cart and tools around to the back, and went inside. Then it hit me. OMG! My arms were on fire. They itched. They burned. It almost made me cry. I realized that there must be something in the Agave plant that causes skin irritation. I stripped off my shirt and pants and ran, with my arms burning even worse, to the kitchen. I poured dish soap on my arms and began washing. I picked up a small scrub brush, and scrubbed. The burning did not abate. If anything it intensified. I looked online and discovered that Agave has calcium oxalate crystals and oils that cause severe irritation and painful rashes. Yes, indeed! One article said to flush the skin for fifteen minutes to ensure that all crystals are washed away. Oh, and it also said not to scrub - oh well, too late for that! I jumped into the shower and slowly the painful burning subsided. All that remains of my escapade is a bit of a spotty rash, and the memory imprinted on my brain. If my plant needs more attention, it will be done in full length sleeves, pants, and gloves, leaving no gap at the wrists! And trust me, I have no burning desire to touch that plant again! 

Patchwork Pie

This was in my email list this morning. 

How cute!

And you could do this with just about any pie. 

But, if you want to try this pie, click here.

The Long Arm...of the law?

I wanted to share a wonderful feature of my long arm....and it should be a law! 

The Mister mentioned the "Comfort Table" as a selling(buyer's) feature of the new long arm, when I was considering it.  I knew that it would be really nice to have, and yesterday it proved its weight in gold (even at today's prices!) The Comfort Table has an electric motor that raises and lowers the table, and thus the machine and the sewing surface. On my previous machine I had to release clips, one by one on 5 different legs, sliding the legs up or down to the next spot the clip could go in. The only way I could do this was assuming an "Atlas holding the earth on his back" posture, hunching under the table and lifting while releasing the clips. Not exactly great for one's body. Suffice it to say, once the table was at the correct height, it stayed there. The correct height being, for most quilting, at such a height that you have a 90° bend at your elbow when standing at the machine. 

Usually that's where my machine, on the comfort table resides. However, my back/hip/sciatic have been problematic recently. I also had a lot of tiny quilting to do. I lowered the machine, pulled up my chair, and went to work. It was perfect! 

At one point in the quilting process I needed to do some stitching at the very top of the quilt. It was difficult to see what I was doing at a seated height, and even standing, leaning over at the usual height was painful. I raised the table until it was almost chest high, allowing me to lean over without pain and quilt the portion at the top of the quilt, 

I have the best of all worlds!

Ding-Dong

We get a lot of visitors at our door....on our 5+ acres...behind a locked gate!

Many times a day....

Originally we taught the girls to 'touch' a bell hung from the door knob 

to let us know they wanted to go out. 

Kaitlyn is the queen of ringing the bell. 

She is our 'farm dog' and prefers to be out a lot during the day. 

Vickie will occasionally ring it. 

At our previous home we had the bells on the door leading to the lanai.

Once the dogs rang the bell, we could leave the door ajar

as it led to the screened-in pool cage and an opening to the fenced-in dog yard. 

They could come in at will. 

We didn't have that option at our new home. 

Segue....

I have always been fascinated by dogs who learn to touch buttons

to explain what they want or need:

Then I began to think...I have Corgis. They are smart. 

My girls would constantly be telling me they want a treat!

Do I want them to be telling me what they want? 

When they want?

NO! 

But...

What's the best way to have the dogs let me know

when they are ready to come inside?

I didn't want them scratching at the door.

And, if I wasn't in the room near the door, would I hear it?

Could I teach them to bark when they wanted to come in?

Okay...I don't want them to learn to touch buttons...

but what if I used a door bell?

I found a 'doggy door bell' on Amazon for around $30.

Then I found a wireless 'human' door bell for around $10. 

BINGO!

It only took a few days before the girls learned to 'touch' the doorbell pad.

I mounted the bell on the sill of the doors,

one for the front door and another for the back door (with a different "ring"). 

This has worked for us....

and our girls!

Oh, and for one of the guys working on our house!

He was enthralled by what the dogs would do, and if he had his arms full,

he'd touch their bell to let me know he needed help at the door!

Sabbath Mode

 Mr. A-I-nstein tells me that Sabbath is....

 a weekly day of rest and spiritual enrichment, lasting from Friday sunset to Saturday nightfall, rooted in the biblical creation story and the Ten Commandments. It is primarily observed in Judaism, focusing on ceasing work to spend time with family, praying, and resting. While traditional, some Christian groups observe it on Saturday, whereas most observe Sunday. 

Orthodox tradition ( in Judaism) prohibits the use of electronics and cooking over Sabbath. I am not Jewish....but I kinda like the concept! Apparently, my range decided we should practice Sabbath and it went on Sabbath mode last week. I came into the kitchen and the usual display was blank. I tried pushing buttons and nothing happened. I found the manual for my range, but it didn't address the situation. As we had purchased an additional warranty I called the provided number. The gal screening my call walked me through a few procedures. I had to flip the breaker off, wait a few minutes, flip the breaker back on again. (I had already tried that). She asked about Sabbath mode. I checked and could find no buttons for Sabbath mode. The woman arranged for a repair date and ordered parts. 

Last week the technician came by, ran a few tests, took the display panel off, and went to replace it with the new one that had arrived during the week. Unfortunately, that panel's wire connector did not match the one on our range. He left, the company ordered another part, and he returned a few days ago.

The technician returned. He asked that I flip the circuit breaker. He changed the display panel, and asked that I flip the circuit back on. As I walked toward the kitchen, after having turned the power back on, I heard a distinct, 'Uh, oh'! Apparently the screen was blank. After scratching his head he looked online, tried holding several buttons in unison. I looked over and saw a button for 'settings' and touched that. What popped up immediately? "Sabbath Mode ON". Somehow, our range had been put into Sabbath Mode...or decided on its own that it didn't want to be used, and the original issue I had was not an issue at all. Who knew?! Both the technician and I were a bit chagrinned. 

But, I kinda like the idea of following a Sabbath, in a secular way. I think it's refreshing to have a time without electronics and a time to focus on faith and family. 

A Little Bit of Pretty

Here's a little tribute for all moms:

I hope you all have a Happy Mother's Day!

 

When the Right Place Becomes the Wrong Place

When we moved to Colorado in 2007 I made the decision to become a Master Gardener so that I could better understand how and what to plant at my new home, whose climate, soil and sunlight were so very different from South Carolina where I had resided for 34 years. One of the first things that was emphasized was, "Right plant, right place!" 

But, what does one do when the right place suddenly becomes the wrong place for a particular plant?

We had several trees removed last year that were overhanging the house and were a threat in the event of a hurricane. It was amazing to see the difference in light that would make in the garden. Suddenly, the shaded garden bank became a sunny garden bank. Quite a few of the plants in that area were not happy and were obviously in the wrong place.

 These are Cast Iron plants. Although formerly green and lush, they are now exhibiting browning leaf tips, partly from our cold winter and partly from being burned by the sun, (The red plants are Cordyline, recently purchased to occupy their new 'right' place - they don't mind the sun.)

I have begun moving those plants to the right place, a corner in the garden that receives less direct sunlight and is more apt to have dappled shade. 

Cast Iron plants to not like having their roots disturbed, so they may not appreciate their move. I keep telling them it's for their own good. Time will tell! 

Oh, Deer....take two

Eight years ago, today, we were leaving Texas after visiting friends at Lake Medina.  I wrote this post about one of those once-on-a-lifetime experiences. I just had to share one of the "Wow!" moments of my life!

Oh, Deer!

We had a wonderful visit with our friends at Lake Medina. We had a full day and a half to talk, and talk, and talk some more. We had a long day ahead of us on the day we were leaving as the campgrounds in West Texas along I-10 become a bit sparse and we wanted to make it to Van Horn, TX. 

We got up at day break and set about our tasks. I took Tucker and Gypsy for their morning walk and tied them out at a tree. I felt badly for anyone trying to sleep along our chosen path because we bumped into small groups of deer on our walk, and of course Loud Mouth (Tucker) has to speak his piece to try to get the deer to move on. Oh, how he wished to run them off, and oh, how tempted was I to let him go! Dealing with a barking, lunging, 70-pound Aussie is trying. 

Anyway, back at the camper, we set about our tasks: I worked on getting breakfast and the Mister began dumping tanks and unhooking cable, water, and power. He came inside to say, "Uh oh! We have a problem." (Too bad we had moved beyond Houston or he could have used that in context for a change!) I followed him outside to the back of the camper. He gestured his hand in the general direction of the back wheel, and said, "Look." I looked for a water leak. It wasn't that. I looked for a broken fitting, I didn't see any. I looked at the tire, it wasn't flat. Do you see the problem?

And then, I saw it. There was a newborn fawn curled up on the gravel between the wheel and the stabilizing jack. An itty, bitty speckled, darling, still showing marks where momma had licked it clean! Oh, my! 

I went over to our friends, who are early risers, and told them that we had a problem and bring a camera. He, being slightly hard of hearing, went and got his hammer. He's got a great sense of humor so we could all laugh at that. They were equally stunned at what we had found. 

We worked as quietly as we could to ready the camper for our departure. We figured that as long as we didn't touch the fawn, the doe would return. I did share messages with a friend who is a wildlife rescue and rehab person, and she confirmed it would be alright for us to make an exit and leave the little guy on the gravel. 

Our friends took up watch at a distance and we received a message about 5 minutes after we left that mom had returned to take her little one. We all heaved a great sigh of relief.

I am fortunate that we all got to witness this miracle. It was a truly special morning!

Side note : Newborn fawns have no scent as a protection from predators. They instinctually lie perfectly still where their mother has gently pushed them down. When I walked the dogs I passed within a few feet of the fawn. When I tied the dogs their ropes would have let them get less than 8 feet from the fawn. They didn't have a clue!

Evolution of a Quilt

I have an Accuquilt "Go!" cutter. It's a fabric die cut machine, which advertises that using their system allows the quilter to cut fabric pieces for a quilt faster and with more precision, yielding better end results.   I've used it a bit, but in my mind, not enough. Just over 2 years ago I decided to make a quilt that came in a book accompanying the machine. The quilt was called “My Road to Oklahoma”. It was designed by Eleanor Burns. Eleanor is a master quilter and was the TV host of a show called "Quilt in a Day". This is an image I found on the Internet showing this particular quilt. 

I used the appropriate dies to cut some of the fabric and began piecing pieces together. I laid out some blocks on my design wall, experimenting with the colors and shapes I had cut. As I progressed, I decided I didn't really care for the quilt layout. 

`

However, some of the blocks on the diagonal lines reminded me of a pattern that is sometimes called the Chandelier Quilt. 

Picture from the Internet

 I had selected bright fabric so why not let it shine as a chandelier! 

I laid out what I had cut, using a 4-patch block instead of the larger square in the quilt design and stared at it a bit. I also had made up some of the 4-patch star blocks (sometimes called a scrappy star or a sawtooth star). The chandelier quilt didn't have that block in it...but if it is a chandelier...it could have some brighter lights! 

I placed some of the stars randomly among the 'string of lights' in the chandelier. 

All of this was happening around this time that I visited the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA. While enjoying the quilts on display I struck up a conversation with two other women. One of them turned out to be Marianne Hatton who wrote a book called “Simply Dynamic Sampler Quilts”. Although the book is out of print, I was able to locate one a few weeks later and loved it. Marianne describes the process for making a sampler quilt with different types of blocks, ie showcasing a 'sample' of quilt blocks. Unlike most sampler quilts, Marianne suggested varying the size of the blocks to add interest to the quilt. 

I decided to apply that idea and created a large star within a star within a star, and added that to a 'string of lights' in the quilt. The quilt is now on my long arm, ready to be quilted. 

I find it interesting to see how this quilt changed from my first idea to the final product. It really was an evolutionary process....but was it the quilt that evolved, or the quilter, herself?!

Name That....

 Emotion! 

The Mister has been working on finishing his workshop for weeks. When we had the RV barn built, extra space was included and designated as his workshop area. Our contractor for other jobs around the house framed in the workshop, put in joists for a loft storage area, put down sheathing for a floor and built stairs to the loft. 

The Mister took over the rest of the job, and has been working at wiring the shop for outlets, putting in lights and adding additional power for overhead fans and a vacuum system. A while back he began purchasing and ordering insulation batts for the interior walls and the ceiling. The insulation for the ceiling  has been delayed. The Mister is less than happy as he wants to get moving with the sheetrock and flooring so the finish details can be completed and he can begin to enjoy the workshop. 

Today he finally got a notice that his shipment of insulation would be delivered. And, it arrived. Here it is:

Some day we may laugh about this! But, not today. He is/was fuming. He stormed into the store (I wasn't there...but I am making an assumption here) and addressed customer service. He did not receive a warm reception...until it was noticed that the "part number" for a bundle of batts, and that for a pallet of insulation bundles is in fact, the very same number. 

Oops! 

Oh, and he paid for a pallet, not a single bundle. 

Oops! 

Someone coulda, shoulda noticed! 

So, he is back to square one. He is waiting to learn when the order will be shipped and when it will arrive. 

Lots of emotions swirling around here. I am sure you can name more than a few.....

May Showers Bring....

 Weeds!

I love the garden that the previous owners of the house installed and maintained. Between the weather and our removing some trees that changed the amount of light that the garden receives, it is not faring well. And yes, it could be that I don't give it the right amount of TLC, or perhaps don't spend enough time out there telling the plants how lovely they look! Oh, and yes, it could also be that it is only the beginning of May, and with the freeze we had, some plants have to come back to their glory from the roots. And, they are working on that! 

Our rain yesterday was lovely. And, no, the rain didn't mean that the weeds grew overnight. They have been there. However, the lovely rain means damp soil, which translates to it being a tad easier to get weeds out of the garden, along with their roots! 

I spent my morning kneeling and sitting amongst the emerging ferns, digging out, and pulling out baby palms, smilax, Virginia creeper and all manner of nasty, ugly, stubborn, prickly, deep rooted, obnoxious weeds. Look at my haul....and I only covered about 20 feet of the garden bank. 

Of course, I had help (???) from the dogs. One or the other would come over to see me periodically, when I had my face closest to the ground with my hands buried in the dirt, and thus in a vulnerable position, to give me a kiss. I'm sure you can tell from the picture that Vickie is rooting me on....yeah, go mom! You got this! ...whatever!

Rain, Glorious Rain

 It's raining! 

Our last rain was on April 8, and we had < .02 inches of rain. Not even enough to wet a  whistle! 

We have already had close to 3/4" of rain in the last hour.

Everything looks greener - mostly because all of the tree pollen and dust has been washed off everything. My car is back to its usual color; I'll no longer lose it in the parking lot because I don't recognize it with its yellow-pea green coat of pollen! 

Sadly, the weather patterns show us going back into a long spell of dry weather, but I'm enjoying it at the moment and I'll take anything I can get. 

Daylilies

Evan as a kid I recall enjoying the daylilies that grew along the roadsides in the northeast. I had a growing daylily bed when we lived in Colorado, and years before that I tried to grow some on our property in NC, but they were simply yummy dessert for the deer.  

I have a partially sunny bank in my garden that lost most of the plantings on it last winter. I decided to try some lilies. I looked online for local farms, but didn't see much that had much inventory. So I looked further afield. I stumbled on the website for Oakes Daylilies. I called and chatted about what type of lily might thrive in central Florida. The gal on the phone indicated that they have dormant and evergreen, or semi-evergreen varieties and anything that doesn't require a period of dormancy would grow in our area. 

I took a leap of faith and ordered some plants. I ordered three of each of the following: 

All Fired Up

Touched by Midas

Jungle Princess

I was also given 1 bonus lily. I don't know what it will be....and I'm thinking they don't either!

The lilies came in a box with some air holes. 

The plants come in fans, with anywhere from 3-5 blades. 

A few of them were bundles of two fans, perhaps one with 2 blades and one with three.

Each fan had a nice label identifying the plant. I appreciate the the labels also specified the 

average height of the plant/flower spike (?).

Before the plant's arrival I raked the mulch and oak leaves off the hillside, and dug 10 holes. 

Once the plants arrives they were planted with peat moss to amend the soil,

and were thoroughly watered. A few of the bundled fans were separated (if they were not 

entwined), giving me a few extra plants. I will replace the mulch after I know that all of 

the newly planted bundles are settled in their new homes. (sounds like a reasonable excuse, right?!)

The plants should begin to grow with 2-3 weeks. I know I can'd hold my breath that long,

but I am anxious to see the end results of my investments (time and money). 

Reversion

Last summer I had beautiful impatiens. They have long been one of my favorite landscape flowers, perhaps because we have always lived amongst the trees and impatiens are one of a few flowering plants that will flower profusely with low light. 

This is one of the two arrangements from last year. 

Impatiens are annuals, and even though they were sheltered from the cold, the plants died back. But, not before leaving a healthy crop of seeds to assure that there would be offspring to carry on their genes! The plants began growing this spring as soon as it warmed up and they are now producing flowers. Here is the other pot:

I can't find a picture of this pot from last year, but I know it had several colors of impatiens, and now all the blossoms I see are red. It seems to me that I recall having a similar experience many years ago when I had impatiens bloom in my garden from the previous year's seeds. 

I asked Google about my observations. Mr. A-I-nstein tells me, "Most commercially bought impatiens are hybrids (F1). While they produce seeds, those seeds rarely inherit the specialized color of the parent, instead, reverting to the original dominant color of the species (typically pink, white or red.)"

So I have a bonafide genetics experiment going on in my garden!  Hooray for Mendel!

Potted

 We lost several plants to the freeze. One was an Asparagus Fern that came with the house. The fern was planted in a unique concrete pot made by the previous owners. I wanted to replant with something else, but I couldn't get the rootball left from the previous tenant out of the pot!

I tried carefully turning the pot upside down. Maybe gravity would do its work on it.

It didn't.

I tried taking a dowel and plunging it down the hole, thinking maying that would push the root ball out.

It didn't.

I tried water, thinking that if I forced water in the hole it might wash dirt away from the roots, and the remaining roots making up the ball could fall out.

It didn't.

So today, I went out to the shop and asked the Mister if he had a saw I could use to cut into the root ball and take it out, piece by piece. "Of course," he said, "there's a DeWalt for that!"

I went back to the plant, cut and pulled, and pulled and cut, and used my saw-tooth trowel, and the saw some more. I was finally able to pull the rootball out of the pot. 

I'm thinking the rootball basket that is left (on the right in the picture) may make an interesting planter in its own right! 

A Sew Sew Day

 I am ready to quilt my Lupine and Laughter quilt, but I didn't have a wide backing, or five yards of a coordinating fabric to make a backing, or even five yards of ugly fabric to use as backing. But, I have lots of leftovers from making Lupine & Laughter, and I have lots of other scraps, so I began sewing small pieces together to make larger pieces. 

My process has been to create 9 pieces that are roughly 30" square. Those will then be sewn together to make one piece larger than 80" X 80". It is almost relaxing to grab pieces, sew them, trim them and then find another that kinda fits that spot. 

Sew, I worked on that for a bit, then gathered pieces for the Desert Oasis quilt I've been working on, grabbed my smaller sewing machine and all the necessary sewing accessories (accept the ones I forgot and had to come back to house to get 😜), and trucked it all to the community center to sew with my friends. 

Did I take pictures while I was there? No....did you expect that of me? I was busy sewing, and trimming, and babbling, cackling, blabbing and simply chewing the fat. There were five of us. I found it interesting to hear what all we chatted about. Our conversations covered the gamut: what's for dinner/lunch, silly/stupid things we did as kids and didn't kill ourselves doing, what we are sewing next, what our husbands are doing while we are sewing, our pets, our health (or lack thereof), the wellbeing of our friends, when our next opportunity to sew will be, and sew on and sew forth! 

It was enjoyable. It was relaxing. And then it was time to pack up and head home. Once there I worked in the garden a bit, ran out to ALDI to pick up some veggies and bread (we love their sour dough and their Italian breads) and then back home to feed the wee beasties and water plants around our home as 'hand watering' is permissible after 6 PM.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

I Smell a Rat

When Vicky was one she participated in some FastCAT competitions and earned her first ranking of B-CAT. FastCAT is a lure chasing event managed by AKC. A plastic bag lure is pulled in front of a dog leading them on a 100 yard dash as fast as they can go. Vicky ran 19.6 mph in her last race. Kaitlyn was two days too young to participate the first time, but she was able to take an introductory class and seemed to love it. During one of the fun runs she pulled or tore her CCL. We decided that perhaps racing our dogs as fast as they could go was not such a great idea!

However, while we were at the events holding FastCAT there were other competitions going on, including Dock Diving, Agility, Obedience and Barn Hunt, to name a few. Both the Mister and I were intrigued by Barn Hunt. In this competition dogs must find one or more hidden rats (housed in sturdy PVC containers with air holes) hidden in, on, or around hay bales. I thought Kaitlyn would love this task. 

Wednesday we took both dogs to an introductory session at a training facility about an hour from us . The trainer showed each dog (individually) a rat in a cage and I was to praise the dog for 'engaging' with the rat. The trainer moved the caged along the floor and encouraged the dog to follow, again earning lots of praise and pats and scritches from me. Then the trainer draped a little straw over the cage, having me ask the dog to find it, praising and showing great joy when she stopped and sniffed, or pawed at the cage or assumed 'play' position in front of the cage. The trainer had each dog do this a few times, then gave them a break to 'think about it'. 

Each dog had two other opportunities to find rats. The second and third time there were two rats; one in the cage and one in a tube. On the third experience for each dog, one of the rat cages was placed up on a hay bale. It had already been suggested that I encourage the dogs to go through tunnels formed by the hay bales, and to climb on them. Both dogs are familiar with tunnels as we have played with some agility equipment before, and jumping up on the hay bales was not an obstacle for either of them. I think Kaitlyn actually enjoyed going through the various tunnels. 

There's a rat in the tube below Vicky's nose.

You can make out the PVC plug at the bottom of the picture, on the left.

Nope! No rat here!

I didn't see either dog demonstrate much enthusiasm for this 'sport', but they are still trying to figure out what it was I was asking of them. I'll continue taking them to some more training sessions and see how it goes. The "Mister" is ready to get a rat, make a tube for it and make some mazes with hay bales in our barn! I think the tail may be wagging the dog....but wait, our dogs don't have tails, so that wouldn't work!!