Yesterday night we had a document in TV concerning you terrible landscape-fires in Australia and I got really worried about Kerrie and others, are you living in area with fires going on? Are you ok there?
It´s really hard to understad your situation there!How long those fires can move and continue?
We hold our hopes for you to survive there!
Sinikka and Muffy from Finland

Hi Kuttukuu
Your concern is greatly appreciated!! Don't worry Kerrie is fine and a good way from the fires. As far as we know all members are safe although some are living in the general areas of concern.
There are still 5 fires burning uncontrolled, the largest has burnt since the 7th of February and over 150,000 hectares. They are in forest areas that are difficult to access. The weather today has been our first really hot day since that terrible day and storms with lightning were predicted. Fortunately out of 9 new fires to start, at this stage only one remains burning out of control. At our end of the state the weather wasn't as bad as predicted, only got to 35 degrees compared to the 40 predicted.
It has been a terrible disaster but the whole country is pulling together to help the poor souls affected with huge amounts of money and goods donated to the cause.
This has all been the result of 12 years of below average to record low rainfall, followed by a week long heatwave with high winds that sucked every drop of moist out everything alive. You wouldn't know but our native trees create an oil that the trees give off in higher amounts as the temperature rises, this oil is flamable and can create huge fire storms. Hopefully Autumn will bring some relief with cool weather and rain...good rain!

We´re holding our hopes for you and rain to come.
It´s so difficult to understand our differences between climates and landscapes, as you know we have four very different seasons, right now there´s -10 degrees and the winter is changing till spring to come, sun is shining and snow and ice covers all trees and lakes.
(It would be wonderfull to visit your country some day!)
Muffy grows and developes juts fine, she lift her both ears up and is a very promising youngster who has equally fun and still works hard beside my other dogs every day. We have lots of pressure on work cause we have now lots of young sheep with their moms inside the barn and working there gives lots of hard situations for dogs.
But Muffy works there great, is intensive and still listenes carefully if I give her commands.I´m very pleased with her and think that my Border Collies are nothing compares to her:) I hardly can wait until we get spring and see how she reacts when we move forward in training: starting work on open fields with stock.
I´ll put some links here later after I transfer photos from my camera into photobucket.
Have a nice day you all!
Sinikka

Hi Kuttukuu
-10 is very hard to imagine at the moment but I guess when we are on opposite sides of the globe things are going to be different...we are heading into Autumn here and hopefully to more moist weather. Isn't it marvellous that we can discuss it so easily?
Sounds like Muffy is doing very well and by the time you get her outside she will be well trained and will take to it without any problem. Look forward to hearing how she goes and seeing some photos.

From this link you find Muffy´s newest photos- and of course other photobuckets from terrible photos (Susien raatelemat lampaat) which are taken from our stock that got in wolves mouths last summer, horses (Hevoset kuttukuussa) ect. ect.

http://www.kuvaboxi.fi/julkinen/2augh+sikke-omat-koirat.html

Sinikka

We are all fine up here in Queensland no fires just some of us with wet toes but we have missed the floods thank god
Muffy has grown up into a nice looking dog, sorry tried to follow your links to see working pic's of her under your house but all i could find was Muffy in the wheelborrow but she looks great nice strong colours and looks very fit and healthy

Unfortunately working photos are very difficult to take inside but after couple of weeks we already get sheeps and goats visiting outside when sun starts to warm the weather up and then I´ll follow her with camera:)
Sinikka

Some lovely photos, I love the ones with snow on their faces. The ones of them arriving off the plane are great, they look so good and like they handled the flight so well. Well done.

Lovely photos! I too really enjoyed seeing the "snow whiskers". Don't think I'd like a cold kiss from them like that!! She's a nice looking girl. If you go out with her does she attract much attention, being a little different to your other dogs?

Muffy is very independent girl, but very sensitive for me asking her to do something. If there´s a chaos where my other dogs bark and play, I can call her with silent voice and she immediately pays attention and if I stair her little bit deeper, she lies immediatley down like saying: "Do you mean this, I can do this:)) I´ve made lots of "backround-work" for her lie-downs to be as easy as possible, correct and quick, just because they are best possible "brake" when we start working outside with sheep after few weeks.
She also stays down as long as she makes sure what else I have to say for her and when I thank her, she´s so happy- but not a bit "humble".I´m sure I´ll get a real fine working-girl in few months:)I´ve already booked me and Muffy and Satu and Tiger to join first AHBA:s farm trials in Finland, in my farm in July.
We had a permission from AHBA (which is club for All Herding Breeds in USA and now it´s spreading all away to Nothern Countries also) to host their official trials in July and we´ll have Linda Bell from Texas, from Winslide-australian sheperds-kennel, to hold clinics and judge the trials.
There´s already 52 dogs from all different races to join the trials (only 4 BorderCollies and 1 Working Kelpie- all other dogs are Briards, Aussies, Australian Cattle Dogs, Pumis,Mudis, Schapendois, Cao Serra De Aires ect.)
I just wish you were closer to join us too!!
Sinikka