On Wednesday I had the great pleasure of joining the Laughing Ladies Book Club as they discussed 8 State Hurricane Kate in St. Paul. It was fun to hear their discussion and answer their questions about the book. One question that momentarily stumped me was “What are the main lessons that you learned from your experiences?†After thinking for a moment, I decided that one main lesson was that if you are strongly called to do something, find a way to do it. Read more…
Posted on January 10th, 2009
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Seems like everywhere we turn lately there is bad news…financial failures, job losses, people at war. So my New Year’s resolution is to include a positive message here each week. My plan is to record the message and post the audio link. My challenge is to learn how to do this ASAP. 😉 Check back weekly for a new audio message intended to give you a warm, fuzzy feeling and/or make you laugh.
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Also coming in 2009: a virtual book tour for 8 State Hurricane Kate: The Journey and Legacy of a Katrina Cattle Dog, including an audio excerpt of my interview with Theresa Bernard of the Minnesota Women’s Press, a video of the Australian Cattle Dog segment of “The Dog Show†with Donna Chicone, and perhaps my discussion with a local book club. Stay tuned, and look toward the light!
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Happy New Year!
Posted on December 31st, 2008
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Those of you who have Valley Access TV in Minnesota and Wisconsin can tune in to channel 15 on January 1st to watch “The Dog Show†with Donna Chicone. The breed feature on this show is the Australian Cattle Dog. Louanne Brooks and I will show 11 ½ year old Pete (blue) and my dog Bandit (red), Pete’s 5 year old grandson. Louanne talks about the history and qualities of the breed and I talk about the book “8 State Hurricane Kate†and why cattle dogs sometimes end up in rescue. There are photos of Pete herding sheep and Bandit herding sheep and cattle and clearing an agility jump (not all at once!). The show also has a feature on the Canine Good Citizen test. Check here for the schedule:
http://www.valleyaccesschannels.tv/valley_access_channels.htm
Soon I’ll have a video of the cattle dog part of the show available here on the website too.
Thanks for your support!
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Posted on December 31st, 2008
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On December 24th, I left my three dogs in Becky’s care and flew to the Gulf Coast of Florida to visit part of my family for the Christmas holiday. The last time I had been to Florida was March of 2007, and before that I spent about three weeks there while recovering from surgery near the end of 2006. If you have read Kate’s book, you know the story of the starfish man, who I met at the beach just before I returned to Minnesota in December of 2006. I wrote down his story shortly after that, well before the book was published. In March of 2007, when I returned to Florida for my mom’s 70th birthday bash, I took a printout of the starfish story. I returned to the beach and found the starfish man again. Read more…
Posted on December 29th, 2008
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The impound manager was begging me to find a place for Maverick to go. He had been there since being picked up as a stray at the end of October, and had stayed there an extra two weeks waiting for the breeder to pick him up. In order to get Maverick out of the impound, the vet bill for his rabies vaccination and heartworm test had to be paid. Read more…
Posted on December 29th, 2008
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I’m finally ready to write about the first week of December. It felt like the week from hell, but somehow I just kept going. I’d been having problems with my well pump for a while, even though I had the whole thing replaced over the summer, which involved trimming trees and other preparations. Even after being replaced though, it just kept getting louder and louder and I knew something wasn’t right. Read more…
Posted on December 29th, 2008
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I want to update you on Maverick. Just because I haven’t been posting doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot going on–I’ve been too busy to get on the computer lately! The first week of December was “the week from hell” for me–more on that later! Eileen has been working tirelessly (or maybe “tiredly”, I’m not sure) to organize Maverick’s transport to rescue in Tennessee, or a rescue option for him here in Minnesota.
Maverick has had to visit the vet twice since we got him out of the impound. Read more…
Posted on December 20th, 2008
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After some serious back and forth e-mails with the breeder, I finally gave up on her. Yesterday I picked up “Maverick” from the impound and took him to my friend Becky’s place for boarding. He seems to have a very even temperament, but he got anxious when we got in the truck. He whined for a while, then settled down. Poor guy has been at the impound since October. Read more…
Posted on December 10th, 2008
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Remember Gypsy, the 10 year old red female who I saw in the Pasado’s Safe Haven Magazine? I first wrote about her here on November 3rd. She was adopted by a man from Alaska who saw her info posted on the ACD-L by my friend Eileen and flew to the Seattle area to pick her up. This month Gypsy is on the cover of the Pasado’s Safe Haven magazine. It’s nice to report and revisit Gypsy’s happy ending!
Posted on December 8th, 2008
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Friday came and went and the breeder did not show up to visit or pick up this dog as promised. He stayed at the impound for an extra 2 weeks because the breeder who had identified him said she would come to pick him up on December 5th. He tested positive for heartworm and now she has backed out, not even covering the costs for his basic vaccinations. We are scrambling to get him into rescue, since our funds have been committed to dogs that didn’t have a breeder to back them up. Read more…
Posted on December 8th, 2008
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