We’re headed off to shows at Waukesha this weekend and the computer is traveling…. see you then.

This show weekend is always beastly hot. Never fails.

Meanwhile, I did run across this photo of Ch. Okies Kell Wild Wild West taken by Gu Chen of China – Will in motion in the breed ring at ASSA 2010!

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My first show back in the ring was last Friday at the Lochland SSC club show. While I always go for it, you can ask anybody who talked to be before the show I honestly thought I was just going for the social experience. I had a naked open AOC dog,  a five year old bred-by bitch who keeps taking a back burner to client bitches and not getting shown, and an Open AOC bitch that is probably a year or more away from being mature and ready to win.

Lo and behold my Bred-By Bitch, another Ch. Kell Sincerely daughter named Kell In The Still of The Night, wins the Bred-by class and goes on to win the 5 point specialty major. You could have knocked me over with a feather!! 

We had Ch. Kell Sincerely along for the ride because she was due with a repeat of WB from the Nationals, Kell Personality. I did some pics of Cecily and of Cecily with her two daughters…

Satin is on the left, Cecily in the middle, and Sasha on the right.

And Cecily herself 8 years old an in whelp -

I need to work on getting black dogs in differnt light conditions. It was overcast, and I had some problems here with the lighting, but you get the idea. Cecily (Ch. Kell Sincerley) likes to make her daughters look like herself…

We also bred her daughter Ch. Kell Okie’s Walkin’ After Midnight to Will. “Patsy” is by Ch. Okie’s Smokin Gun, a Ch. Kell Okie’s Bizzy Bein Blue ROM son. She is likely pregnant….

I am suffering terrible cabin fever… so we’re headed to the Lochland SSC and Lake Minnetonka shows in mid-June, and the second set (infant) of twins are coming with us. Thank you to Karen Munster for letting us park the infants in the air conditioned comfort of your RV and groom nearby… it should work out really well.

I think we’re going to have to save our nickels and dimes and buy a good camper…then it really will become a family affair. Daddy, Sawyer, Soriya, Finley, Galen, Grammie, and Abby can ALL go. It might look like the circus has come to town when we go to the shows, but it will be fun.

Galen and Finley are doing well. We don’t do much more sleeping than 3 hours at a stretch so we’ve returned to that funny perpetual state of sleep deprivation, but they’re good babies.

Pictures of our latest hopeful from our litter by “Roper” (Odyssey Kell Fit To Be Tied) out of Anneke. Biblack male is possibly show, the tri female is show and we’ll grow her out for a while…

I did some thinking and was pretty sure I knew who what I wanted to send her with. This handler’s judging lineup looked good, this is a handler I would trust with my dogs, and she had an opening for an AOC bitch. I was getting ready to make entries for her first set of shows, working on getting shipping lined up, and lining up finances to cover her expenses. We looked good to go!

Only, what is with the chunks of coat hanging out of Satin’s thighs?

Drat. When am I ever going to be able to ger her finished?

Meanwhile we’re just watching my blood pressure get higher, my face and feet swell up, and we’re counting the day (?) or days. Sawyer and Soriya are visiting with Grandpa Zoss and Nana in Sioux City this week based on the assumption that at some point this week I’ll end up being delivered. The house is awfully quiet without them here. I miss them.

Jack was a sable male out of my ‘first’ Sheltie – not my mom’s first but my first – Kell Strawberry Wine. Strawberry was by Merri Lon Mighty Request out of Ch. Merri Lon Antigua, a Ch. Halstor’s Peter Pumpkin ROM daugther.  I was listed as Strawberry’s co-owner and I ‘bred’ my first litter of Shelties ever in 1978 at the age of 5.

Gary tells wonderful stories about Jack, but the enduring impression of Jack is pretty well reflected by the photo below. Jack had an air of dignity about him that Gary will never forget. This first Sheltie love set the stage for many more to come.

While Strawberry doesn’t really carry down anywhere because of the fickle hand of fate, the memories she helped create through her son Jake continues to reverbate today.

Gary with his new family member, Alex, pictures below.  Alex is by Ch. Aynsworth No Moon Tonight x Kell Ribbons O Moonlight, a Ch. Kell Sincerely daughter. Here is hoping Alex can add a new thread to the woven tale of Gary and Mary and their Sheltie crew!

For my part, I predict that by this time next week I’ll be meeting baby #3 and baby #4. The preeclampsia is running away with the show a little bit!

Hearing about the show wins (Pebbles picked up another major Sunday and now just needs 2 singles to finish, a dog I usually handle picked up a 4 point major to finish on Saturday) has been wonderful. But it is safe to say I would rather be there!

Dinnertime was just getting underway and they were pretty wound up, anticipating the food to hit their trays and waiting for everybody in the household to stop milling around and sit down to eat. There was a lot of volume in the room, particularly coming from a pair of hungry toddlers who were winding up to a full scream.

As I was taking my seat next to the high chairs my phone rang. When I looked at caller ID on the phone I could only tell that the call was coming from somewhere in Illinois and I assumed it might be somebody calling about one of the available puppies. I quickly excused myself and tried to get out of earshot of the hungry ones. I dashed to the next room, thinking I was in safe range only to hit the green button just in time for a new chorus of impatient yells.

I can only assume Sue still got a blast in the phone from the stereophonics eminating from my dining room table. Thank goodness it was Sue, who certainly knows I have a pair of 19 month old twins, and not a kindly but anonymous person calling with innocent questions about a puppy they might be interested in adding to their family!

So, my apologies to Sue. It was a good phone call though, with Sue letting me know the little klepto-girl Pebbs picked up her 2nd 5 point major win today at the Interlocking Shetland Sheepdog Club specialty. Way to go Sue and Pebbles!