My friend Nanne, who is Olive’s breeder, had some business
in Connecticut recently and asked to stay with me. Of course she is always
welcome here. She then suggested that she bring Olive’s brother, Gilly, along.
Well, why not? Olive hasn’t seen any of her siblings since March of 2015 when
she was brought down from Maine to live with me.
Nan and our mutual friend Laurie gave a wool show and a
class on crocheting at a small wool shop right here in Glastonbury on Saturday
night. They went straight to the wool shop with Gilly, so I did not see them
until around 9:00 p.m. after the event was over. My understanding was that the
shop owner bought a quantity of Nanne’s wool to sell in the shop, and it
sounded like Laurie’s crocheting class went well, so I am guessing the evening
was a roaring success. While the class was going on I stayed home and made a
pot of ribollita, a hearty Tuscan meatless bean and vegetable stew. That turned
out to be a good move in that Laurie and Nanne were very tired and hungry. A
vegetable stew (as opposed to a heavier meat stew) seemed just the thing for
them.
Hard to say whether Gilly and Olive recognized each other
right off, but Gilly was every bit the gentleman, deferring to Olive all the
way. Well, this is Olive’s space. Olive in turn played the part of the gracious
hostess, sharing her water dish, her space, even her food with Gilly. A few
times Olive played the part of the bratty little sister, essentially telling
Gilly “no, that’s mine”. On the whole, however, the two got along just fine.
Gilly slept in my guest room with Nanne while Olive slept with me.
Olive on the left, her brother Gilly on the right. Nanne is holding them.
The next day, Sunday, my friend Bill had his monthly Sunday
brunch. Nanne and Laurie know some of the people who frequent the brunch and
came along with me. A delicious apple pie from Maine was their contribution to
the feast. The brunch featured the usual assortment of pastries, eggs,
sausages, potatoes, and miscellaneous items. We all had a good time.
After brunch Nanne had to go directly to Norfolk, a town in
the northwest part of Connecticut, to do another show, taking Gilly with her.
This time Laurie stayed with me. We drove back to my house, picked up Olive,
and went for an easy hike at a state park in the nearby town of Hebron. The
park was once the site of a small mill town that was abandoned in the late 1800s.
Only some of the foundations remain of the town, including the foundation of
the mill itself. We hiked along the marked trails touring the mill site and the
pond, now a popular summer swimming area. After a bit of hiking, where we met a
number of people who were also out with their dogs, we headed back home. It’s a
good place to bring a dog; I resolved to go there with Olive more often and get
to know the layout of the park a bit more.
After a stop home to change and catch our breath, we headed
out to a pub in the town of Manchester where we met a number of friends,
including Katie & Cliff, had supper, and heard our friend, musician and sea
chantey man Don Sinetti with a few other musicians, perform some traditional Irish
music and sea music. Nanne came directly from Norfolk and joined us. We left
around 9:00 and got home with just enough energy to walk the dogs and turn in.
Monday morning we had breakfast together at a small
breakfast spot near me, leaving Olive and Gilly together in my house. It seemed
that the two dogs were just fine together and behaved themselves perfectly. At
this Nanne and Laurie packed up and left to go back home to Maine.
Olive seems to be of two minds: she is happy to get back to
normal, but seems to be a bit wistful that Gilly, Nanne, and Laurie are no
longer around. Back to her dull life.
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Olive’s father, Oliver, passed away some months ago. Her
mother, Jenny, is too old to have any more litters. Nanne has acquired a new
border collie female puppy named Selke who will be the new breeding dog. Gilly
will be the stud (so Olive will be an aunt!). Nanne is planning a mock wedding for July to which a number
of Gilly’s siblings, including Olive, will be invited. I am already working out
the logistics of getting up to Nanne’s farm and staying overnight. I am told
that everyone is expected to dress in black and white. Olive is already dressed,
then, for the occasion. I will likely wear black slacks with a white sweater. I
might offer to act the part of the minister, though I suppose I should clear it
with my pastor. ;-)
Look for a blog entry with photos of that event!
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Olive and I were part of an advanced “disk dog” class.
Unfortunately the circumstances were such that we had to miss three out of the
six classes. We are waiting to hear whether there will be a continuation of the
class. Olive has done quite well in the class so that I will likely continue if
that is an option. Whether we go further or not, whether we ever compete or
not, I think the activity has been good for Olive. We have been practicing the
basic routine of her going around behind me and tugging at the disk before I
toss it. She rarely misses catching the disk. We also have been practicing some
shorter tosses, specifically what I have been calling a “pizza toss” where I
toss the disk into the air like someone tossing a pizza and she catches it. A
bit more challenging is a “flip” where I send the disk flipping through the air
for a short distance. She has to time her attempt to catch it so that she hits
it just right. She has gotten quite good at both short tosses. In bad weather
we use a small light disk that my friend Carol gave us to practice those short
tosses in the living room. Not exactly the same as playing outdoors, but Olive
seems to enjoy it.
