Slowly but surely, Rosemary is making some connections. She came up to Maria this morning, and Maria held out her hand and Rosemary carefully and gently touched her nose against Maria’s finger, they made a connection. Rosemary is the most skittish of the Gang Of Four, but I think she is getting used to Bedlam Farm as a home.
We woke up with determination today, we had a long list of chores to do. We had to put chicken wire up in the barn, re-stack some of the firewood around the shed, collect wood pieces out in the pasture for kindling, take a load to the dump, do some food shopping. We also had to start separating manure from the big pile, we are keeping some for our gardens, giving some away.
We had to patch up some of the holes in the barn wall caused by equine gnawing – chicken wire on the outside, bricks on the inside. Lots of stapling.
Maria had to crawl around some tight spaces to get the holes patched we found a few great old signs and an old wooden crate that held ginger ale. For good measure, she cleaned out the barn.
Then Maria had to put some D-rings up on the back of my portrait frames, she and Lisa Carrino are hanging the show tomorrow, and then the Round House Cafe closes for a week. The cafe will open next weekend and my portraits will be up on the walls. (A reception, open to the public, will be held at the Round House Cafe on September 18, 2 to 4 p.m. The cafe is located at 1 Washington Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.)
Maria is chore fiend, once she gets rolling, there is no stopping here.
This morning, I put a photo up on the blog of Fate’s contemplative side, and this afternoon, I’m putting up a portrait of her other side, her pirate side. As you know, Fate has a Merle eye, common in some species, simply a genetic pattern, safe unless two Merle dogs are bred together. People often ask if Fate’s Merle eye is the reason the sheep don’t respect or fear her, but lots of great herding dogs have Merle eyes.
Fate is lacking in the “eye stalk,” I think the final stage of border collie prey drive that causes the sheep to fear them and respond. She is a beautiful and healthy dog, and the eye adds to her very distinctive personality. When I mow the lawn, Fate marches back and forth behind me, she never runs towards or near the road.
She has mastered any word that has anything to do with “work,” “sheep,” “pony” or “pasture” and is at the door in a flash. She is fond of hopping up on a stool and then hopping sideways onto my lap. Five minutes of belly-scratching, then time to wrestle. She has friends at the hardware store, the farmstand, the town recycling station and almost every place we stop or shop.
Fate is crazy about people – all people – and wags excitedly when she sees anyone on foot. She especially loves our Open Houses, and has also learned to stick her nose in open purses and bags trawling for food. She will be greeting visitors at our October Open House on Columbus Day Weekend.
We are slowly training her not to jump on people, she sometimes still gets carried away, but she loves to hug and cuddle and show offer her mad racing around the sheep.
That weekend, the shearer will be here to trim the Gang Of Four, the farrier will be here to trim the equine hooves, poets will give talks (so will I), Maria will talk about her forthcoming trip to India, artist Susie Fatzinger will be spinning and showing her beautiful fingerless gloves and hats. Maria will be curating a very special art show featuring six or seven different artists with original, affordable work.
Open House details on Maria’s website.
Ed Gulley will be talking about the life of a dairy farmer.
Red will be here, also. Lots of sheepherding and dog and future book talk from me.
I call them the Gang Of Four, sometimes the Romney Posse. They are imperious, independent, calm and entitled. They seem to know they are royalty, wool wise. Unlike most sheep, they meet my gaze, pose for photographs, are hard to rattle. They have added a rich dimension to the farm, my photography, the dog’s herding, and to Maria’s love of selling yarn. They will be shorn at the Bedlam Farm Open House on Columbus Day Weekend, October 8 and 8.
I have been so fortunate in my life with the dogs, one great dog after anther. I choose them carefully and thoughtfully, I train them lovingly and conscientiously, I treat them well and love them much. In return, one after another, they enter my life, enrich it. Dogs have been a profound element in my emotional work and recovery they have, one by one, helped me to be a better, more loving and open human being.
Fate is an usual dog, super-charged with energy, curiosity and joy. In another context, we could have driven one another mad. She has fit like a glove into our lives. As we wished, Fate is primarily Maria’s dog, she spends almost all of every day with her, going in and out of her studio, walking with her in the woods, riding with her in the car.
The two fit together, their energetic and loving and kinetic personalities meshing perfectly. I am also crazy about Fate, we wrestle, she makes me laugh, we more or less work the sheep together. We are totally in sync. Yesterday, she was in a rare posture of contemplation, I told her to stay and lay down on the ground and took this portrait of her thoughtful side. She is one of the great dogs.
