Friday irrigation water was turned on

We are fortunate to have irrigation water rights and get the water delivered from the Swalley Irrigation Co. via a ditch runs through the property between the house and the barn adding some ambiance to the place. There is usually water running in it from March to October. There are a couple of bridges over it that are neat. The draw back is every year the pine cones, needles and leaves need to be cleaned out of it. This year I tried burning the stuff, which was almost as labor intensive as just pitching it into the tractor bucket to be taken to the burn pile.

Cousin Tucker inspects the burning process

The first two years I was here when the water was turned on, it would fill the pond and overwhelm it and flood the horse paddocks from the initial volume of the water in the ditch making a big mess. Last year i got smart and built a flood irrigation type dam at the entrance to the pond to prevent the initial ditch waters from going in the pond and voiahl-lah... no flooding. Then the next day after the waters leveled out, I could pull the dam and fill the pond. I learned this from my early ranch days working for the Willis' in Vale, Oregon Success

Lucy the water dog -

On a different note, most cow dogs enjoy cooling off in available water, whether it be a ditch, pond or trough... Dottie my last dog that was killed last summer, absolutely hated water and no matter how hot she got, would not get in the ditch or a trough. I assumed it was something in the breeding, and figured that Lucy being a full sister would be the same way... Friday the water came down the ditch for the season. I needed to do a lot of cleaning as there were several jams of debris. While I had worked really hard a few weeks ago to clean our ditches, obviously some upstream folks did not. While I was out there shoveling a pitching the crap out of the ditch, Lucy was chasing pine cones and sticks down the ditch. She didn't seem to have any inhibitions about the water at all and bailed in several times after stuff. While the day was nice weather-wise, the water was really cold.

Lucy was very intrigued by the water that has suddenly appeared in the ditch. She ran up and down the ditch very excited about the change of scenery. The tree hollow in the background is a foot bridge that granddaughter Taylor and I built (placed there) last year.

I was really surprised when Lucy acted like she might jump in the water... and a second later ... she dove in and came out with a stick. She was so pleased with her self. So then began the game of my throwing the stick in the ditch for her to chase down and get. A very pleased Lucy with her stick

I figured after her first plunge into the water, she wouldn't go in again. but she fooled me and went in several times. Then it was kind of funny when, she didn't realize the places that the pine needles and other stuff covered the water wasn't solid footing and she'd try to walk across and fall in. Lucy is 7 months old. She is a McNab stockdog, raised by my friends the Porter Willis' in Tracy, CA. Now I need to get the sprinkler pipe back together, flushed and running on the front pasture.