aye your sons pup will be pretty quick I would imagine and don't think it will be to small either , hope it turns out a good companion . As for your poor Merlin aye it's great what they will put up with for the thought of a nice treat after , they aren't stupid eh they know it's coming . Your daughter will get a dog in time when it feels right to them but she will get one am sure . As for wee buddy he's so laid back its unbelievable our last dog was a cracking golden retriever but this pup is the easiest dog we have ever had , well enjoy your picnic with bee keepers you will get some good tips from their stories about the bees . Tooraloo Ruth x
It's great Buddy is such a good dog. My Merlin was similar - by far the easiest dog I have ever had to train.. I tended to feel that he was my reward for persevering with my very clever but stubbornly naughty dog I had before him.
I read an interesting article about the wild Scottish honey bee. It said experts are getting worried that it's gene pool is being diluted by local bee keepers importing bees from elsewhere. With the result that it is loosing some of it's Scottish hardiness developed over years of evolution. Humans do tend to interfere where they shouldn't don't they. I hasten to add that my bees are local to me - a local experienced keeper helped me collect a local swarm reported in the next village. Speak to you soon. Ruth
I have told this story many times of my observation on life it all starts at school the front of the class and the back of the class . The ones at the front of the class stick in and do what they. Are taught even if it's right or wrong they do it . The back of the class don't care and have their own ideas in life ( common sence ) but are classed as Rebels . When they all leave school the front of the class get jobs that the back of the class don't get as they don't have the exam passes of the front of the class . Alas decisions are made by the front of the class and like your bees someone from the front of the class said lets introduce new bees ! . And someone from the back of the class working on a farm or somthting could probably told them not to do it but nobody listens as they are all to busy being clever , it's been this way since the begging of time . But common sence at the back of the class is ignored . Study things that happen all around you you will see I am spot on ha ha am off on one the night Ruth . Take care tooraloo
Absolutely spot on Ian. Couldn't agree more! I could tell you a long, long story how health and safety bods put my poor husband in hospital with spray poisoning some years ago insisting he spray horticultural crops their way. Instead of his own logical way. Hubby was right, they were wrong and after that little incident they quietly dropped a few of the new ideas they had been pushing.
aye I can well imagine what your husband had to put up with ,, the front of the class have brains but alas no common sence !! . Any way hope your doing allright ? And your wee bees as well . Wee buddy won't be wee buddy for long he's growing so fast and so contented he's an amazing pup we are well chuffed with him . Hope your sons new dog is doing okay , a wee pat for Merlin tooraloo Ruth
Yes my son's pup is doing well. I think she's going to be a bit bigger than they imagine, never mind,they'll cope.
It's great Buddy is turning out so well. I expect only part is due to breeding, the rest is due to your training of him. It makes all the difference. It's so easy to ruin a dog - our neighbour has unfortunately. (twice!)
Bee safari went well, picked up a few useful nuggets of information.
Talking of puppies.....we're getting a collie pup in 3 weeks time. It's a long story. I didn't actually go out looking. Merlin's breeder got in touch and then visited. We visited her. They're gorgeous. After a long play with puppies in a field we picked another little black and white one. I had wanted a brown but this one's character was the best for us. We're calling her Cherry. We can visit as often as we like and borrow her to bring back to meet Merlin a few times. (they're only in the next village). So it's out with the newspaper and cardboard play boxes again. Happy days.
your some case we just can't help ourselves when it comes to dogs eh . I hope your Merlin will be okay with it . Aye the grandchildren will be wanting to go to granny's house when cherry arrives happy times eh , buddy is at the lanky stage now and doing fine , I think your sons gog may be a fair size yet but as you say they will be fine as long as the dog is a good nature that's what counts . The years rolling in fast your wee bees when do they Finnish work or do they just go till it's cold ? Well I better go and start my day , and tidy up buddy's mess of. Cardboard toys ect ha ha !! Tooraloo Ruth good luck
Yes, I know I probably need my head examined! But these days I tend to feel that if I feel like doing something (Legal) and can manage it, why not. Life's too short.
We "borrowed" 2 of the pups for a few hours last week. No, don't worry I haven't completely lost it. The idea was to introduce them to Merlin, If he's unhappy I won't have one. He was very wary of the black and white one as it was a bit "full on" and pestered him too much. Merlin wouldn't dream of putting it in it's place. But he didn't mind the red (brown) and white one which is much more laid back. So we're having that one in a few weeks time when fully weaned.
They and Merlin are not working border collies, the lady that breeds them concentrates on temperament with the result that all her dogs are good natured and easy to train.
Yep, the grand children are looking forward to it. I do feel very lucky that our children and grand children live within easy distance. We don't live in each others pockets but do see them all fairly often.
The end of beekeeping year is August I gather. By then you start preparing them for the winter and by October need to check they have sufficient stores for winter by "hefting" the hive. A very technical term for lifting one side of the hive to check it's weight! If it's heavy they have enough stores. If it's light you need to feed them sugar syrup.
Hello to buddy. How old is he? Is he house trained yet? I can't remember how long that takes.
well here's hopeing all will go well when you get your new puppy and that Merlin gets on okay with it and if Merlin is good at staying in about it's good for the pup , it will make life easier for you too , but hopefully it won't pester Merlin too much . Buddy is fourteen weeks old and is pretty much trained now we just put him out the minute he would wake up and now he is using his dog flap a really laid back wee man indeed and he manages to sleep all night without needing out , but like kids they are all different , I couldn't be without him now he is with me all day every day we are learning each other he watches me and I him it's a strong bond already.
Next year will be your best year for your bees I think as your just getting up and running with them this year aye you will be a dab hand at this honey , well nice to hear from you Ruth tooraloo
It's great that you and Buddy have that magic bond already. There's nothing quite like it is there?
We have borrowed the new pup for two afternoons already so she can meet Merlin and get used to her new home.He's a bit stand offish at the moment. I don't think he realises that little scrap is a real dog. But he hasn't grumped at her yet, I know he will to put her in her place eventually. And she has been very respectful of him and not tried to get in his bed. So so far so good. She's coming to us first weekend of August.
it won't be all that long till the new pups home now as Aug is just a few days away . Aye I don't suppose Merlin will put up with too much nonsense the pup will soon learn I suppose who's the boss as its merlins home . Aye wee buddy isint so wee he seems to grow every night as when morning comes he looks a wee bit bigger . His farts are stinking I can't believe a puppy can make such a smell heaven help us when he's fully grown I won't light a match then as there would be an explosion with the methane he prouduces ha ha !! Well good luck with your new pup when she comes home Ruth and give Merlin a wee clap from me tooraloo
We borrowed Cherry for a few hours again yesterday. She and Merlin had a friendly noses to nose. I think she'll fit in fine. But as always we have the proviso that if by any chance they don't get on she'll have to go back. Merlin was here first after all.
Deepest sympathies over a farting dog. They can be deadly. The ponk seems to permeate everything for ages. Although it is quite funny when they whip round to see what that weird noise behind them was. Unless it's a treacherous quiet one that has everyone in the room wrinkling their noses and looking around for the culprit while the "innocent" pup slumbers on in front of the fire.
Mind you I don't have much of a sense of smell these days. Hope you both have a good weekend Ruth
well it's a busy time for you now with bee season over and puppy season begins aye all fun and games now , you tend to forget what work they can be I hope it all goes well for you and Merlin , our pup buddy is all legs just now but we are so lucky he has been. Really good he goes everywhere with me no matter what I am doing nothing bothers him at all , well all the best Ruth good luck in all you do
Yep, a busy week here. Merlin is not too keen on Cherry, a bit too dignified for all this playing lark. But Cherry is working on that while being nice and respectful of him most of the time. Apart from the first noisy night she sleeps through now that I leave the radio on quietly for her. I keep turning it down a notch so hopefully we can dispense with that soon. Mostly clean in the house providing I rememberer to whisk her out often enough. Not bad for 9 weeks.
I make sure Merlin gets lots of fuss and one on one time too. I did catch them playing the other day but he stopped as soon as he saw I was watching!
Buddy sounds pretty "bomb proof" which is lovely. I'm working on giving Cherry as many new experiences as I can in her early weeks in the hope that she will be too. It worked on Merlin and he's a lovely dog. He looks great and no one can believe he's 10.
good to hear from you and that you got your puppy home now , yes you have to be quick to start with at getting them out the door as soon as they wake up or its mop up time ha ha !! Aye buddy goes to the door now no problems at all , his only down side is if we meet other dogs he wants to go to them and it's not every dog that's freindly so once he learns that we've cracked it I think . Cherry will stay in about well if merlins good at that and it's a great help learning from him for you , well good luck Ruth let us know how you go as time and changes go on with the growing up of cherry . ( buddy is all legs just now ). Ha ha buddy long legs I call him ha ha !! Tooraloo
Merlin has finally started to play with Cherry - very sweet to watch. In spite of our best efforts the mop bucket's getting regular use and my husband reckons we should buy shares in the paper towel factory!
She does follow Merlin's lead a lot which is handy as he is very good. She is very good and responsive. Got recall cracked. Working on getting her to accept lead now. Nothing seems to phase her. She's a super little pup and will make a great dog. I'm very glad we had her.
As you say there are some not so polite dogs out there and it's not nice seeing your own friendly dog geting grumped at.
never noticed till now that daffy and I had sort of took over your page talking about dogs I never noticed till Clemmo put up the post when I looked back to see who this' shasha was omg all our postings . Well daffy I will post you on everything except PD page if that's okay wit you ? And a very warm welcome to shasha and Clemmo if you ever just want a chat you know where I will be tooraloo
I keep clicking the wrong buttons anyway, never know wether to click reply or response, but posts seem to get there anyway. my page says 57 responses I haven't found them all yet
aw just join in on any postings that interest you that's what I do am normally on here at night time . Yes we all have PD but we all deal with it differently as you will read , good luck to you remember join in on what suits you tooraloo
