The Weekend Report: Farewell to a Beautiful Farm

This weekend was an agility trial given by the Talbot Kennel Club. I've talked about how gorgeous this spot is before, like here, here, and here. I've gone every year since I started trialing 8 or more years ago. The farm is a small slice of heaven on Earth. Beautiful scenery made even better by being on a waterway off of the Chesapeake Bay. The day started out with light rain and luckily moved on to just cloudy and then even sunny! When I arrived at the trial, I soon learned that this was the last time the club would be holding their trial at this location. The unpredictability of the weather has made attendance drop off over the last few years. Without enough entry fees, the club just can't afford to stay. So they have chosen a new location....one with a roof. It is even further away for me, so I won't be going. But for me it is the loss of visiting this farm that really hurts. I will truly and deeply miss having the opportunity to spend a day there. I never really cared how my agility turned out so long as I could enjoy the farm. SIGH......

Our friend Chris and her cute Cardigan Quigley rode with us to the trial. We wandered around looking for photo-ops....

The Tres Amigos!

So how did the agility turn out, you might wonder? Well, we could not pull off a double-Q. Jimmy did qualify in Standard and earned 1st place and another 23 points. We had a very rare weave pole meltdown in our Jumpers run that cost us the Q. No worries, as we went off to walk the farm after that. You just can't sulk when you are surrounded by so much beauty!

Farewell, Spring Cove Farm! May you forever stay a beautiful piece of undeveloped land!

PS I hear they do Barn Hunt at the farm....I'll definitely be looking into that when Jimmy is done earning his PACH ;-)

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 27...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15
Masters STD legs: 27...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 10/11/15
Double Q's: 16
PACH Points: 1231

AKC Nationals 2016:
Double-Q's: 9 (out of 5 needed)
Points: 713 (out of 600 needed)....We QUALIFIED!!! 10/11/15
Masters Legs: 32 (out of 20 needed)

The Weekend Report: Mega-Mischief!!!

So this past Saturday was another agility trial at one of my favorite locations. I've posted about it several times, even in my very first blog post ever! The only caveat is that it is an outdoor trial, no barn, no indoor soccer field, just out in the elements. The weather forecast wasn't the best, but it wasn't awful.....passing showers. That didn't sound so bad. When I got up Saturday morning, it was dry and cloudy. Great! I packed up and headed out. Now this trial is the furthest one I drive to, just about 100 miles from home. It involves driving on the Capital Beltway (always a treat!), then heading east to Annapolis and across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Well, it stayed dry and rain free until I got all the way to Annapolis, a solid hour into the drive. Just drizzle at first, and as I crossed the bay, heavier rain. Uh-Oh! Arriving at the farm where the trial was, it was POURING! The wind was heavy and the rain was almost sideways! Crap! I park, and go check out what's going on. Agility trials are rain or shine, as everything has been planned and paid for well in advance. Everyone was huddled under a couple of small tents and a few brave souls were running their dogs in this hard rain. I decided I would wait it out, hoping the rain would pass or at least ease to some drizzle. But after about an hour, it was still pouring! The ground was getting muddy, everyone was soaked to the skin and it was cold! I waffled for a bit, trying to decide if I wanted to run in the rain, or just scratch Jimmy's name off the running order. In the end, I  decided since we weren't chasing a big title, or trying to qualify for the Nat'l Championship as we were last year at this time, that I would err on the side of caution. There was no point risking either Jimmy or me slipping in the sloppy, wet footing. Agility is about fun, and this just didn't feel like fun. So I scratched us, and headed back to the car. The poor boys had never even set foot outside the car! No point getting them wet and muddy. Off we went, driving that same 100 mile drive back home. Back across the bay, heading west this time. And once we got just west of Annapolis....the rain....stopped! It just wasn't meant to be this time. It's funny, too, because it was really a three day trial, but being so far from home, I only signed up for Saturday. Friday was a cool but sunny day, and Sunday was a sunny albeit VERY windy day. I managed to sign up for the one day that was a total wash out! And while it was very disappointing to miss out on my agility adrenaline fix, it was even more disappointing to miss out on this beautiful farm at the peak of the fall season.  No walk in the leaves, no stroll down by the water, and no photographs! Mischief indeed!!!!!

Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick

While the title of this blog post really comes from President Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy way back in 1900, as soon as I saw this photo, that's the phrase that came to mind. Of course, the only way Jimmy will ever speak softly is with a big stick in his mouth, blocking his voice! Otherwise, he can usually be heard screaming at the top of his lungs, especially when he's down at the water's edge!