It was bound to happen. . .

Lucy is a very energetic Sheltie. Hour long walks don't wear her out. . .so I decided at the beginning of this summer to see if she'd run alongside the bike. She was/is a natural, and we've been biking all summer (only during cool times of the day. . .and sometimes just a couple of blocks.) The first few times I took her out, I stayed pretty close to home in case she pulled me off my bike and I had to walk the bike and dog home in bloody shame. But she's done so well, I have ventured further and further from home. Tonight we took a new route, and were on our way home (only two blocks from home) when it happened. I'm riding along, looking at houses, etc, when I feel a tug on the leash. I look down, and there is a small, cute little dog who has run up next to Lucy. Lucy is tugging a bit to escape the little dog, and I brake (thinking I was going to run over one or both of the dogs). The back wheel goes right, the front wheel goes left, and my left leg is unable to keep me upright. I fall to the street. My left shin and elbow are scraped and bloody. No one came to get the little tan dog (wearing a collar, so I'm sure it is loved--sure hope nothing happens to it tonight.) I WAS able to get back on my bike and ride home. . .no walk of shame for me! My first bike and dog injury--and it wasn't even Lucy's fault! ETA: I was *this* close to signing up for a 35 mile bike race tomorrow. I'm glad I chickened out. . .I think my leg will be sore from the scrape tomorrow. . .

Two more bags!

I made two more bags! The yellow one is for me--you can see the lining in the picture--the bag is reversible. The blue and cream bag is for my cousin. Her birthday is July 4 and she really likes the patriotic theme. I added a red button so she could have a red/white/blue bag!

I made a bag!

First of all, you need to know that I am a VERY novice sewer. . .but I was determined to have a cute fabric bag for the summer--and I wasn't willing to pay upwards of $30 for one. So I searched the internet for a free pattern. Found a GREAT tutorial at

http://tinyhappy.typepad.com/tiny_happy/2006/06/shoulder_bag_tu.html

Thanks so much tinyhappy!

Here is my bag! I will be making another soon--already have fabric. The one here follows tinyhappy's pattern except I made the shoulder strap longer. The next one will have the longer shoulder strap--but will also be a deeper bag. . .

Wanna Go for a Bike Ride?

The last couple of weeks have been busy. My nephew was here. . .Lucy loves to have the boy around. Jake and I painted the foundation of my house, the side of my garage and the side of the house (where I sprayed it with deck stain. sigh.) Jake also mowed the lawn.

The really exciting thing for Lucy is. . .Lucy can run next to me when I'm riding the bike! I had hoped she would do this without running into the wheels, pulling me over or otherwise tangling herself around the bike. The first time we took off, she went like she'd been doing this her whole life. At first she would trot next to the bike, even when I went faster, she wouldn't break out into a run. . .now she will run. I think she was a little afraid that I would hit her with the bike. She was very careful and watched me every minute. Now she is more confident--she will attempt to bark at other dogs and big, noisy vehicle. When she does this, I either speed up, brake, or turn the bike into her (depending on the situation.) I do this because I think she needs to focus on me, and not on the 'danger' lurking out there. So far, it's worked. I'm sticking to streets that are not very busy, and am staying pretty close to home. I'm not 100% sure that she won't make me crash, and I want to be close if I have to walk Lucy and the bike home because I'm too bloody to ride :o).

Busy Days!

Whew! I've been busy! I had a class and I'm getting ready to paint. Lucy likes me to be home with her all day. She is much happier when I'm home with her than when I have to go to work. On Sunday, we spent a long time outside. I read and sometimes threw the ball for her. She laid in the shade (on the step by the garage) and sometimes would bring the ball and drop it next to my chair. It was too hot for her to play a lot of fetch. She'd get the ball a couple of times, then need to take a break.

I changed the bedding tonight. It's a hard job with Lucy around. She likes to jump up on the bed when I'm changing the sheets. She lays in the middle of the bed and makes me work around her. Sigh.

My nephew is here this week. Lucy really likes 'the boy'. He is a good player and will throw the ball a lot. Lucy thinks having 'the boy' here all the time would be grand, but 'the boy' doesn't want to live in this town. Lucy doesn't bark at 'the boy' the way she barks at everyone else when they come and go.

It amazes me how much Lucy likes kids considering she doesn't live with any. My friend has a two year old little boy, and Lucy thinks he is a good playmate and ball thrower (even though he only throws it a couple of feet in front of him.) The neighbor girl (see above) is a good friend to Lucy, and sometimes she babysits her kindergarten cousin. The little cousin and Lucy are a good match. They are both full of energy. . .personalities my mom calls "being a pistol." Sometimes they come over and play with Lucy. . .Lucy enjoys them too. Lucy is not picky about who throws the ball or flippy-flopper. If someone wants to throw it, she is a happy camper!

Just Whistle!

Lucy is naughty. . .or have I mentioned that? Because she is a Sheltie, and the instinct to watch for danger is strong, she likes to look out the window and alert me to potential troublemakers outside. . .like walkers, bikers, babies in strollers, etc. She does this by barking and barking and barking and barking and barking. . .and so on. Shelties have VERY loud voices. Because they originated in th Shetland Islands, they were always less than three miles from the ocean. . .and their bark had to carry over the crashing waves on the shoreline.

Today I bought a whistle. I wanted a 'silent' dog whistle, but the pet store didn't have any, so while I was at WalMart, I bought a steel referee's whistle. So far so good. One blast of the whistle and Lucy stopped barking. One blast of the whistle and Lucy dropped the sheet she'd grabbed from the laundry basket. One blast of the whistle, and she stopped circling (sp?) the table (which she does when she thinks I'm getting ready to leave the house.)

Will the effectiveness of the whistle wear off? We'll see. . .but I plan to continue to use the whistle until I don't need to anymore. . .or she stops paying attention to it.

Oh. I AM still planning to get a dog whistle. This steel whistle is killing MY ears!

one more. . .

another dead baby bird in the yard today. Lucy didn't notice it, but I looked where they have been, and there it was. I didn't scream this time at least. sigh. I REALLY hope this is the last one.

Birds

I have a thing about birds. There was a turkey vulture episode a couple of years ago. . .I'll write about that another time.

Anyway, on Saturday, before I mowed the lawn, I was out scooping. There was a dead baby bird under the cedar tree, and I screamed, of course. Part of the reason I screamed was because I was surprised, but the other part was because I knew I would have to pick up the dead bird. Yuck! So anyway, after a couple more screams, I managed to dispose of the bird.

On Monday, I came home from work and was playing flippy-flopper with Lucy. She played a couple of tosses, then ran under the cedar tree, and, you guessed it, she found a baby bird. Alive. She 'played' with it for a minute before I could distract her and get her inside the house. I went to check on the bird, and it was alive, despite Lucy rolling it onto its back, but it didn't look good. I didn't have the stomach to do what needed to be done, so I called a neighbor. He picked it up, and it didn't look as bad as I thought. I don't think he had the heart to kill it, either. We put it on the outside of the fence so Lucy wouldn't get it, and hopefully the mother bird would come for it. I had to go out that night. . .when I came home, the baby bird was dead. I should have been braver earlier in the day and put it out of its pain.

Tuesday, when I came home after work, I noticed two birds hopping along the fence. Upon closer inspection, I noticed yet another baby bird out of its nest and in my yard. Sigh. I had some gardening to do, and I wanted to leave the birds to take care of themselves, so I brought Lucy out on the long leash. I tied her to the fence so she could be outside with me, but far from the birds. When I was done gardening, I called the neighbors and their sixth grade daughter came over to help me with the bird. After much scrambling (it could run really fast and fly a couple of inches off the ground), we caught the baby bird in a box and put it under a bush outside the fence. We dug up some worms for the bird, but when we got back, it was gone. We looked, but couldn't find it.

K. and I watched the nest in the cedar tree for about an hour. There are a couple more babies up there. I think another bird (darn blackbirds!) is pushing these baby birds out of the nest. I hope the others learn to fly soon so I don't have to save anymore of these birds from Lucy.

Hi!

Lucy is my dog. . .a Sheltland Sheepdog (or Sheltie) to be exact. People sometimes ask what a Sheltie looks like. I always say, "Think about Lassie. Now shrink Lassie down to 20-25 pounds. A Sheltie is a collie that can sit on your lap." Lots of people think that Shelties are miniature collies, but they are not. Both Shelties and collies are believed to have decended from border collies. Shelties come from the Shetland Islands. . .same as Shetland ponies. They are small because the Shetland Islands are rough and rocky. There isn't much food and only small animals can really navigate the conditions. I'll post some fun and informative links about the Shetland Sheepdog so if you want to know more, you can read about them from people who are experts, and not just a girl who loves her little dog :o).

Lucy is naughty. I've said it from the beginning and I'll say it again now. From very early on, I've commented, "Lucy doesn't know the rules. Lucy doesn't even think there should be rules for her. She's too cute for rules." I had another Sheltie named Molly who died at almost 12 years old a couple of months before I got Lucy. Molly knew all the rules. Molly slept 23 1/2 hours a day. There is a big difference between the behavior of a 12 year old dog and an eight week old puppy.

Lucy does lots of interesting things and keeps me on my toes. When we are bored at work, someone will ask me, "What has Lucy done recently?" They all know there will be something funny I'll tell them.

So if you want a laugh, check back here. I'm going to try to post funny things Lucy does or has done. Good times.