Chance: We finally arrived

Hiya it’s me Chance.  We went on a long ride.  We stayed lots of different places with lots of different smells.   It is a good thing I know the magic words “Pee” and “Poop” and it is  fun to play ball in the motel room but a lawn is so much better.

October 30, 2014 Georgetown,Indiana

Ernie is here…he is still alive.  Didyaknow that a dog can live without any teeth?

Yup but teeth are what helps keep your tongue in your mouth.  Ernie is not allowed out on the lawn…he runs away..and since he can’t hear much…many people would have to run after him.

Far Side said “Chance stay out of the lake.”  She meant business too..as I was just groomed before we left home.

Brazil Lake

I think this lake has been single handedly stocked with fish.

Far Side sat outside in the sunshine with me for a long time.  Then Brother In Law Ronnie came back from his Tux fitting and we borrowed his Garmin and back in the car we went over to Louisville to Round House Trains and After Glow Beads.  Lucky for us they were only about a mile apart…we didn’t have any traffic jams…

Far Side bought some more beads…and Far Guy bought a Cracker Jack Train Car.  Far Side bought a train sign and they gave her one free because she gave them a bad time about customers who came the furthest to shop in their store.  Far Side said the place was a maze of trains and she hasn’t ever seen anything like it.  I wouldn’t know because I had to stay in the car.

Later that night Jen, Andy, Noah and Adam arrived without Miney and Little Elvis cause they came on an airplane.

Probably not this one… but a bigger one for people.

Chance: Swimming

Hiya!  It is me Chance the Border Collie with a swimming report!

We were at the lake, they took my fancy smancy orange life jacket along.   “It was time to sink or swim.”

Far Guy took me out, that stupid jacket has a handle..ya know there is no escape.

Far Guy took me out in the deeper water.  He held my chin out of the water.  I was scared.  He encouraged me to swim “Good boy, good boy!”

We practiced over and over..I can swim.  I am not so sure I like to swim..I like the water but I like to have all four of my feet on the lake bottom.   Anyways, now we can go out kayaking together and Far Side doesn’t have to worry about both of us drowning because I can swim!

Little Elvis went swimming too!

Noah and Little Elvis.  Noah always carries Little Elvis out and then gently lets him go in the water.

Miney borrowed my life jacket.

Miney does a real vigorous dog paddle splashing water all over. 

The next time we “Go Swimming” they hope that I take off from shore all by myself.  I am taking that concept under consideration:)

Chance: Playing Hockey

I learned to play “Hockey” back in 2005 when I was just one year old.  The Grandgirls and their friends taught me the game in their garage in Nebraska.  They played with a tennis ball.

 

My position was mobile goalie, if the ball ended up under something or back in a corner..I was off like a flash to retrieve it.  I would bring it back into play by dropping it where the kids were waiting with their sticks ready for the face off. One Christmas I played so hard..I injured the pads on my feet..I was a pathetic mess..sometimes Border Collies don’t know enough to quit.  By the time I started to limp it was too late..and I was out of action for awhile..restricted to grassy areas only. Far Side can be real bossy sometimes.

This year I got a new hockey stick for Christmas..from the Grandgirls..now I have two sticks.  Just incase more than one child wants to play at a time..which is a very good possibility!

Far Guy and I play hockey..

I drop the ball near his stick.  This was last Thursday December 30, 2010..before the big blizzard. We have lots more snow now!

Far Guy tries to get the ball past me..sometimes he does.  Most of the time I am victorious..but I have to let him sneak a shot past me every once in awhile or he gets bored.

Didja know that Far Guy and I are best friends?

I wait patiently for someone to get the message that I need to play ball and run some of my Border Collie energy off.

Far Side does not usually play Hockey..even though girls can play.  Sometimes she can be persuaded to go outside with me after dark and play regular ball with me.. I put my head in her lap and sigh..she gets the message…if that doesn’t work..a short little whine makes me sound pathetic and gets a reaction. She usually says “Chance go wait by the door..I will be along shortly.”  Then if I think it has been too long of a wait..one little yip will get her attention.   She is getting really good at lobbing the ball in the air with her left hand..it was hard for her to throw anything with her right hand after the dumb thumb surgery:)

Chance: Bass Lake

It is I the blogging Border Collie, I get to blog again today.  Far Side is off dusting and cleaning the house..she hosts Cousins Club here tonight at MY house.  Oh and she is baking something too..With all the  baking and cleaning she ought to be in a truly memorable mood by the end of the day. Far Guy and I will probably boogie right on out of here after supper..either that or we will go upstairs and play with the trains. Well I guess that Far Guy will play with the trains..I will be on duty smelling for the desert to be served..then I will sneak downstairs.  

How about a trip to a lake?  Alrighty then..how about Bass Lake, there are only four of them in Becker County.  The one we went to is in Shell Lake Township and it is just south of Shell Lake. We went on this adventure last Friday afternoon, November 05, 2010. There is no snow..and the lakes are not frozen yet.

This is my best  Rin Tin Tin impression.  Far Side loved the Adventures of Rin Tin Tin..did you know that the original Rin Tin Tin was saved during WWI as a five day old pup?  A soldier by the name of Lee Duncan rescued him in France. Later they both would train dogs and handlers during WWII.  Far Side loves Rin Tin Tin and Lassie..she watched a Lassie Movie the other night..then when she walked out of the room and came back a few minutes later..she said “What happened?” Far Guy said   “Well Lassie died.”  She said “Impossible, Lassie never dies she is a survivor.” Sure enough about that time a poor bedraggled limping Lassie peeks over a bunch of rocks and  takes off into the sunset in search of her owner, she walks for days but finally finds her owner a young boy at school. The reunion was wonderful..and everyone cried.   Kinda sappy stuff if you ask me..but Far Side says TV is full of all kinds of crap that is not fit to watch..murder and mayhem are on nearly every channel. Oh well..back to the lake.

This is the northern most end of Bass Lake at the Public Access. It is a 135 acre lake and you might catch some Northern Pike or Crappies here.  Far Side used to come here in the winter with her Father to the fish house.  The rumor used to be that part of this lake was bottomless..but apparently that was just a rumor..it is listed as being only 49 feet deep.

We had the public access all to ourselves..I had to do two different modeling sessions.  Wanna see the second one?

Perfect..Far Side said I was just perfect..well I already knew that.

 

Gotta run..THE END:)

Chance: Long Lake and The Smelly Fisherman

A few days ago Far Side and I visited Long Lake early in the morning.

There are 91 different Long Lakes in Minnesota. We were at the Long Lake in Hubbard County at the Hubbard Public Access which is on the southern most side of the lake.

Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes. However there are 11,842 lakes that are ten acres or more..and there might be as many as 15,000 lakes total..it just depends on your definition of a lake. There are about 250 lakes in the county we live in..and 160 in Hubbard County next door.

Far Side and I will be showing you a few lakes in the next few weeks..now that the flowers are frozen and the leaves have fallen..there isn’t much else to photograph..unless you are interested in barns or deer stands..Far Side is interested in both.  She is weird like that sometimes..

We met  “The Smelly Fisherman” at the public access.  He is the reason that I was on leash.  Sometimes I cannot  leave the car without my collar and leash on! Far Side decides for me. Not everyone likes dogs and I tend to be really friendly!

Dawn on Long Lake

We spoke with “The Smelly Fisherman”..he has had that nickname since he was ten years old.  He was born in Iowa, but used to live on Long Lake.   He was fishing for Northern and Walleye. ( Fall is the best time to fish for them.)   He said:

“ From the time I could hold a fishing rod I could catch fish.  It was funny, a bunch of us would be in a boat, and I would be the only one catching fish. I would bait someone else’s hook and then they would catch fish..I guess the fish liked my smell.”

I thought he smelled ok, nothing special.  Perhaps his cigar was disguising his special fish aroma:)

Round Lake

Chance and I went for a ride yesterday afternoon. It was so windy that our leaves that we had raked and blew into the woods were blowing back out again.  Talk about discouraging..there is a new pile in front of the step.

We stopped at Round Lake.

There were white caps on the lake.

No boats out on the lake today. The water was a beautiful color amongst all the new color of fall..shades of brown.

On the way home we saw two black labs on the side of the road that came up onto the road, as if to say “hey ..we need help.” I slowed down..I am in the middle of nowhere..the nearest house is maybe four miles away.  One of the dogs had been quilled..by the evil porkypines.. and looked fairly miserable. Both looked lean..I felt sorry for them, they appeared to be littermates.  Since one was injured and both were quite large dogs I chose not to stop.  Hopefully they were on their way home and had not been abandoned..I did not notice collars or tags. Did I tell you that I felt sad..really sad for animals stuck in a situation that could have been avoided.  I kept telling myself that maybe their hunter owner was just off in the woods calling for them..I know I am a bit of a dreamer…always expecting the best of people:(

Chance : Little Blueberry Lake

Sometimes when we are out and about.  Far Guy will ask Far Side “Have you ever been on that road?”  If she says “No” most of the time we get to go..being the adventurers we are. On Sunday Far Side said “Follow those Public Access signs..see where it leads, maybe we can walk Chance there.”  Well that brings me up and at’em and out of my slumber in the back seat. Walk and Chance in the same sentence means I am going to get out of the car! I usually sleep in between cows and horses.  If I am really dozing on the job..someone usually hollers “Horse” or “Cow.”

Ten miles later following the little brown Public Access signs we arrived.  It was not quite a two track road toward the end.

We wondered what lake we found.  Far Side said “It looks more like a river than a lake.”  You would think that they would put up a sign..you know the ones with a red X..you are here.

The options were Blueberry and Shipman..they kinda knew where they were. But they had never been there before. We consulted with Cousin Chuck..he said we must have been at Little Blueberry…he used to work for the DNR and knows the name of every lake in the area!

The water was cold..and neither of them ventured in with me. Far Guy found a stick to throw..a stick..I don’t “do” sticks…I was a bit of a grump about that stick. I retrieved it a couple of times..then Far Guy did the unthinkable…

He threw it in the deeper water where I would have to swim.  I can swim..but only with Far Side and she was not swimming that day.  She finally said “Enough already.”  I guess barking at sticks does no good..all the dogs across the lake began to bark. It was like a symphony:)

Chance : Sugar Point Battle

Hello..it’s me..the blogging Border Collie.  A few weeks ago we were gone all day long.  Far Side has not told you about the best part of that trip. So I guess it is up to me..

Far Side told me to jump up, so I did..then I walked on the rock ledge..perhaps I should do agility.  Far Guy has his jacket  over his head because it was windy..very windy and cool with the wind coming off the water.

What a perfect place to watch for my ship to come in.  Look at all that water!

Leech Lake even has some wave action..

How about some Chance action?  I can’t believe it, I played in the water all by myself..no matter how many times I invited Far Guy to play by barking at him, he kept hollering at me “ Chance I am not coming to play in that water..it is freezing.” Far Side finally gave up and grabbed a really long stick and splashed some water for me..she usually doesn’t mind wading in the water at least up to her knees..she looked pretty stupid leaning way out over the water. I kept hoping she would fall in..then we could have stayed and played all day long.  

I had a blast!

Far Side has been by here before, but only at night..the last time we were by here she had to take a flashlight out of the car to read the marker.  It says:

Sugar Point Battle

When a Federal Marshall with 100 troops of the 3rd Infantry tried to arrest the Chippewa Chief Bugonaygeshig at Sugar Point opposite here on the North East shore of the lake a sharp fight occurred October 5, 1898 the whites lost 7 killed and 10 wounded and the arrest was never accomplished

It sounds like Chief Old Bug was a tad upset about his tribe members being picked on by local officials.  Members of the Tribe were being arrested and then transported way out of the area for trial.  Then the Lumber Companies were coming in and not paying the Indians what their trees were worth. This was considered the last Indian uprising in the United States. I betcha never knew that ?

Far Side let me blog today because she needs to do real important stuff like laundry and raking leaves into the woods and out of her garage:)

Chance : Change

Hey loyal blog readers it is I, Chance the blogging Border Collie! 

Tuesday we went up north to see Miney and Little Elvis and my sister and her husband and their off spring.  They moved to a new/old house and are supposed to have it all fenced in now, a really safe yard for Little Elvis and Miney and me!   When we got there, I was barely out of the car, and Miney and Little Elvis came running..so Far Guy and Far Side walked the entire fence to see where they got out..well it seems a little boy was pulling our leg and let them out the gate.  Far Side about had a cow..as the traffic by their new house is terrible..and the grain trucks are coming and going from the elevator.
A new double walled doggie door was installed..not one where you just poke your head through and can see outside..you have to go through one flap and then through another..I would rather just have someone open the real door for me..but my sister found out if she closed the real door then I would go in and out the strange new doggie door. Change is sometimes difficult..but when you have friends to help you through a change, then the whole world seems better.
Their yard is beautiful, and shady and a grand place to play ball. They don’t have a doggie pool..but that might be because my sister is more persnickety than Far Side about dripping wet dogs.
Far Side says that Little Elvis is getting too handsome for his own good.  He needs to go to dog obedience school too..because he doesn’t come when called..he has a mind of his own, and if he doesn’t want to come..he doesn’t..Far Side called him a spoiled little fart.
 
Little Elvis is a Tri Color Sheltie ( Shetland Sheepdog)  and Miney is a Sheltie too, her color is called Sable.  Little Elvis is on the small side for a Sheltie and Miney is a tad on the large side for a Sheltie ( don’t tell her I said so.)  I am of course a Border Collie:)

Chance: A High Chair

Hey, It it's me the blogging Border Collie! The other day we went to town. Far Side saw a new attraction outside the newest tourist trap and just had to stop and take a photo.

 Far Guy lifted me up and I waited patiently for a photo..what a bunch of malarkey but I am rather handsome...I did jump down all by myself!

 Far Side was not too impressed with all the sporting goods, seen one set of waders and you have seen them all, she has also seen every t shirt and sweatshirt that has Park Rapids Minnesota embroiderd on it, she wasn't real interested in the bait shop either. She did enjoy their northwoods room...and she thought that their signs outside were pretty cute. AND someone said "Hello" to them as soon as they walked inside..Far Side nearly fainted..as this hardly ever happens in town:)

Chance : Jailed

It is I Chance, the wonder blogging Border Collie! 

I was in jail, I have never been in jail before, I had no get out of jail free card either.  This is how it went down..

Far Side has been talking about this "jail" for years.  She has been holding out for a big jail, with a doggie door to the out of doors.  She goes on and on about how great life was when they lived in Harwood, North Dakota.  They had a big jail, and there were two doggy doors one from the house to the garage and another from the garage to an enclosure that was six feet tall..with lots of room for the Shelties to play and bark ( That is what Shelties do best.)

Anyways..she gave up because Far Guy said he didn't want me locked up..us guys gotta stick together! Then "she" had that garage sale and announced "He will be on the lead or in the house all day..NO exceptions.  We don't need a sail dog."  Just in-case you don't know what a sail dog is ..it is one that is flatter than a pancake that you can pick up and sail across the road.  Yew...  Far Guy saw the light.  He went to Farm Fleet and bought me my very own jail.

It isn't very large, Miney kept me company.  I never howled or barked or anything.  Lots of kids came to visit me, and I watched the cars come and go.  I do not chase cars, only the ball.  But when someone drives into the yard, I run to greet them..kinda like a Border Collie Welcome Committee... Far Side says it is not my job..but I think it is..when she drives into the yard she stops and glares at me, until I sit down and don't move.  She has a mighty powerful stare.  Far Side says that this kennel will be just the ticket on days when I cannot go to town because it is too hot for me to be in the car.

Since the garage sale, I have only been in there once, I had a little lapse in judgement and left the yard by myself running after a squirrel..when I returned ..she locked me up and hollered at me.  Then we kissed and made up..cause she needed a model amongst the flowers..:)

Chance: My Sister

Yesterday my sister was in charge of me.  Far Guy went off to the Dentist with Far Side in tow..he needed to get a bad tooth pulled..Far Side needed to make sure he was going to be OK..hold his hand and get him back home safely. 

Since my sister was in charge.. we took the boat to the beach.  I never get to go there when there are lots of kids swimming, or when there are other dogs there..unless of course it is my sister's idea.  She didn't even make me wear a lead, the old fuddy duddies would have had that on me before I left the boat.   Far Side saw the photos of me playing at the beach and she was shocked..of course I was the entertainment at the beach for all the kids, I had a blast and my tongue was practically hanging in the water and I didn't want to get back on the boat.  I love water and kids splashing water for me to catch is my idea of a fine way to spend an entire afternoon. My sister is pretty cool.

 My sister also buys the biggest marshmallows I have ever seen in my life. They are humongous.

 One of my sisters offspring had marshmallow smeared on his pant leg.. Little Elvis and I cleaned that right up.

It was a good day, and got even better when we went to town and got an offspring of my other sisters..Madison is here for a few days..everyone was playing the card game "Spoons" while Little Elvis and I crashed under the table...just so you know, Far Side lost and all the kids said the loser had to eat a teaspoon of something right out of the fridge..so Far Side sucked it up and closed her eyes while Madison put a spoon of something in her mouth..YEWW ..lemon juice..everyone was giggling so hard they woke me up.  I love my sisters, I am the closest thing to a brother they are ever going to get..and the best part is they have offspring that love me and they bring all their dogs to visit..and when they are in charge of me ..they have their own rules:)