Dandylyons has earned her stripes.

Dandylyons finally had her way this year and got to dress up for Halloween as a

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TIGER!

She was so pleased with herself.

She even had a tail.

She became the object of curiosity.....

....which soon turned to ridicule.

Dandylyons didn't care because at the age of 20 she is very comfortable in her skin. Dandylyons and I lead the cattle out to pasture every morning and bring them home in the evening. Even though she was still in her tiger costume the cows didn't care and still followed us; hopefully forever laying to rest the old wives tale that cows don't follow other cows dressed up as tigers. The bloke driving the Budweiser delivery truck slowed down and gave us a cheery wave.

Here we are bringing them home last evening. That's me and my girl in the front.

We make sure they cross the road safely.

This was taken as the cattle, bellies full of high energy feed, stampeded past us to their corral.....I used Dandylyons as a shield and lived to tell the tale.

Brad and Teddy bring up the rear. Teddy is an incredible dog!

But once home, Teddy gets involved in domestic matters....

A week in the life of Teddy.

A week ago today Teddy went to the vets to be spayed. We dropped her off in the morning and picked her up in the afternoon. She was not only spayed but had her vaccines updated and was also micro-chipped.

She did very well and was so pleased to see us when her vet led her into the waiting room. Here she is that same evening. She had a pain pill and was comfortable.

She snuggled up to William when he came home. Right after this picture was taken she was romping with Blondie almost like nothing happened.

She had such a tiny incision and four little pink stitches.

The next day I tried to keep her from rough housing with the other pets as much as I could. Here she is on my bed.

Soon she was going shopping again.

She has started barking at people in stores if they seem to sneak up on her. I think her days as a shopping companion are coming to an end. She's not at all aggressive and tries to hide behind me. If people ignore her she wags her bob tail and sniffs them...it's when people come around corners and surprise her she gets scared. The people who work in the dog friendly stores have been very patient with her trying to make friends, but she remains very shy. I think all the exposure to different places and people have really helped her, but she will always be nervous around new people.

Today Brad took her stitches out and it must have made her feel much better because she raced around the house with her toys most of the evening. We always have our pups spayed before they are 6 months old and have had trouble free healthy girls.

Teddy works hard at having fun.

Teddy is now almost 6 months old and tomorrow she is going to the vets to get spayed. The following are pictures of her third time helping with the cattle. She's an Australian Shepherd and her instincts for cattle are incredible.

When a few of the cows make a break for it Teddy is right on them.

Dandylyons spots me hiding near the oak tree and tries to join me, but she's the wrong side of the fence.

I was trying to keep out of sight... so was Muffin.

Teddy and Brad get Dandylyons turned back.

Teddy keeps her moving.

Brad tells Teddy she's doing a good job.

Dandylyons sneaks the right side of the fence and pleads to me for help. She doesn't like being used as a pup training tool.

Dandylyons reluctantly joins the herd.....

and they all go in the corral.

So much for me trying to make myself scarce....Teddy knew where I was the whole time.

Good pup Teddy!

Fight of the Bumblebee.

Things started peacefully, then the bee spotted someone else who seemed to be really enjoying himself.

Even though he was surrounded with thousands of flowers, the bee lumbered over to see what was so good with this particular flower.

Holding off the other fellow, he tried to have a taste...

but the other chap stood his ground.

So our hero retreated...but not before he gave the little fellow a kick in the head.

The light frost we had didn't do any damage to the garden. I even picked tomatoes tonight. But I think the big frost is about to strike....maybe tonight. I have been enjoying the garden and it's little inhabitants before it's all gone for another year.

Indoor projects have already started. It takes me ages to get things done these days it seems. This piece of furniture, along with the books, have been in Brad's family for over a hundred years and I finally got around to refinishing it. Over the years it had been varnished a few times too many and the old varnish was looking horrible. So I stripped it off and spruced it up. The wood underneath was lovely...oak. I glued down some of the loose scroll work and it looked as good as new.

The project took me three times longer than a job like that would have before. While I was working on it I couldn't help but wonder about all the changes that has happened since it was first brought into the house...two world wars, all the inventions, the babies that were born in the house that have grown old and past on.... I uncovered little repairs that had been made to it years ago. I hope a hundred years from now one of our descendants refinishes it and wonders about us.

All the books in it are over a hundred years old and at least one is 160 years old. They are fascinating to read and we really enjoy them and the other old book in the house.