Share It Sunday’, Guest Blog Collies of The Meadow!

Nominated by last week’s guest Misty Shores Chesapeakes!

Time To Put Up The Collie Indoor Plumbing!

As I mentioned in a earlier post our collies had a tradition for years where they would dump the tree and redecorate it to suit their fancy and by the time Christmas got here the tree looked… well… like it had been hit by a bomb!

We came to the point where we tied it up three years ago so it wouldn’t get dumped and for the first year ever the tree didn’t get touched.  It was a relief and yet disappointing for it is tradition around here…. but my young collies had finally reached the age where the tree didn’t interest them anymore and lil Hallie and Mick just weren’t interested in it for some reason.

Two years ago, however, with Ginger, Rutherford and Walter having their first Christmas and with Mick infatuated with Ginger it has been a different story.

When the tree went up and was decorated very pretty the interest took hold.  It started with Tigger the cat climbing to the top and batting the star.  Well, she has always done that but this year it peaked the interest.  Mick decided it would be fun to run as fast as he could between the tree and the wall…. the tree touched the wall so you can imagine what happens when a 115 pound collie flies through…. yeah the tree spins like a top, tips and shakes and things fly!

Then I see the tree spin more and there goes Walter with a garland in his mouth, grinning like a fool as the garland begins unwinding!  Rutherford grabs it and tugs the other way as the tree sways, shakes, then spins and he and Walter play tug O’War with the garland. Ginger moves in and almost disappears in the branches to see what the cat is doing and I hear her chewing…. on Lord knows what.

They scatter as we shoo them away and fix the tree back up. Well, it happens again and again and when they learn they shouldn’t do those things they then pull off the shiny plastic ornaments (we don’t use glass with all these collies) and make them into a chew toy.  They make great chew toys Dad!!!

Then Rutherford discovers the plastic lights.  We only use plastic for glass would be inviting a disaster ….  He is sitting there admiring the lights and I pet him saying aren’t they pretty?  He looks up innocently and smiles as I turn my back.  Then I hear crunch and turn to see he had bitten a light top off…. but like all lil collies it takes at least twice to find out he shouldn’t do that.  I scold him and the next day discover he had learned it was bad to bite off the lights, so instead figured it was okay to chew the wire in half when we plugged in the lights and nothing happened.. well until we held half the string in one hand with half of it plugged in and the other end laying on the floor where it had been bitten off…..

The branches became bent and crushed, the ornaments disappeared halfway up the tree with the top a mess from the darn cat.  But, oh those collies were so proud of their tree. It had been colliefied!!!!

Finally, my wife couldn’t take it anymore and redid the tree.  It didn’t take long for it to become colliefied again!  Mick just ran through it gleefully and the other terrible trio had to explore a bit with Rutherford and Walter stripping off a garland both running gleefully with it in their mouths as the tree spun, Ginger crushing branches, Tigger batting the star and ornaments falling to the floor with Ginger then running off with one as I yelled for her to stop and she dropped it and stood there looking up at me with that famous collie look of … “What?  What ornament?  I don’t know nothing about that stinking ornament, besides you don’t need that ornament you have a hundred others…. it is redundant!”  She then looks at me and watches me put it back on the tree with a mischievious glint in her coal black eyes.  “I’ll get you yet my lil pretty!”  They seem to say as I smile and snicker for it was nice to have the collie tree tradition back this again.  I love seeing them play with the tree and while it destroys how it looks it just wouldn’t be the same without their antics!

Trevor; Dad, is this collie indoor plumbing?  Cool!!!!!!

If I ignore the tree they will let their guard down….

What a beautiful ornament…. crunch!!!!

  

About Me!

Collies of the meadow!

As those who read Collies Of The Meadow know I love my collies. They are my life.  Albert Payson Terhune is my favorite author.  Our collies do everything with our family and the highlight of the year for them is on my birthday they get doggie treats and a small bowl of ice cream (vanilla) to celebrate.

Our blog is dedicated to all our collies, past, present and future who have blessed us with their love, enthusiasm for life, their joy and fun and alas their sorrowful ends we somehow sadly live through.  I love you my dear collies… I always will.  Thank you Mackenzie, Chessie, Niamh, Hallie, Sadie and Anya whom I hope to see again someday. You are my babies and always will be.  In heaven I will hug and hold you once again….  To Trevor, Lad, Smoke, Skylight, Mick, Rutherford, Walter, Teddy, Lil Hallie, Branwen, Ellie and Ginger the Shnapp know I love you all dearly.  I always will…… you are my life and always will be.  Thank you for loving me as I am, a flawed human being whose only hope for salvation is Jesus and my ability to give you love.

My other interests are reading, baseball, having penpals.  But, my other love in my life after my family and wife is old tractors.  I have a old Allis Chalmers b from 1944 that is the Apple of my eye.  You can read about her at “My Old Allis” blog here on WordPress.  Also, I have a 1941 Allis Chalmers WC who I am currently restoring.  Can you tell I like those Orange Tractors?   My WC, or Molly as I call her also has her own blog here.  “Old Mollys Story” is the tale of a tractor from the tractor’s perspective.

Albert Payson Terhune once wrote something that has since become a motto of my life… I share it here with you;

“I wonder if it is heretical to believe that when at last my tired feet shall tread the Other Shore, a madly welcoming swirl of exultant collies—the splendid Sunnybank dogs that have been my chums here—will bound forward, circling and barking around me, to lead me Home!”
Albert Payson Terhune

I can only second this notion for when I die and I am find no collie to greet me I will know where I am heading for eternity and it will not be heaven.

This is Hallie, Anya and Trevor.  They were all related to Niamh and these three are the collie who were bred to form Niamh’s Misty Meadow.  They are the foundation collies so to speak.  One other collie who lives with our friends in Georgia is the other foundation collie and that is Marcus.  The descendents of these collies now make up our collie family.  These three collies lived here and sadly Hallie and Anya have now passed into the afterlife.  Trevor will soon follow.  Someday…… I hope they and I will frolic together in the fields of heaven….  till then I can only remember them….and miss them but yet feel their love for me.

Continuing to give something back on my ‘Share It Sunday’. We all share and we grow together.  Pop over say hello and make a new friend.

From the author Molly The Wally.

And don’t forget Roo’s Power Of The Paw web site where we can stop over and wish our furry friends who are under the weather well.

 POTP!