Key Facts:

Size: Small - medium
Height: 46 - 53 cm (18 - 21 inches)
Weight: 16 - 22 kg (35 - 48 lb)
Life Span: 15 years
Grooming: Medium
Exercise: Demanding
Feeding: Medium
Temperament: Very alert & trainable
Country of Origin: England
AKC Group: Herding

Temperament:
The Border Collie is alert, keen, intelligent, faithful, hard-working and responsive. Border Collies have remarkable stamina and thrive on activity and working situations, rather than a domestic household environment. They are able to adapt to family life, so long as their need for company and exercise is met. Border Collies demands exercise for their muscles just as much as for their brain. Border Collies are very trainable and get on well with children if socialized from puppyhood. They make great watchdogs and are wary of strangers.

Grooming:
Weekly brushing is enough to keep the coat of a Border Collie looking healthy.

Exercise:
Physical exercise is not enough for this breed. Border Collies need to work, doing various tasks. Border Collies are represented among the top, in competitive sports such as agility, obedience and sheep dog trials. An idle dog will become very badly behaved and even aggressive.

History:
During the 16th century, around the border countries of England, Scotland and Wales, farmers concentrated on developing a top class sheep worker with a natural instinct for keeping their charges together. They succeeded and produced an all round dog excelling in stamina, brains and sensitivity to every gesture made by their master. The Border Collie was once known as the English Shepherd and evolved from smooth coated collies, a longer coated black/white collie and the Bearded Collie. The word ‘collie’ is believed to be a corruption of the words ‘colley’ or ‘coalie’ meaning a black faced sheep.

Physical Characteristics:

General Appearance: Agile, intelligent and swift
Colour: Black/white, blue/white, chocolate/white or tricolour.
Coat: The outercoat is long and dense. The undercoat is short and thick.
Tail: Low set, can have an upward swirl but is never carried over the back.
Ears: Set well apart, V-shaped with the tips dropping forward.
Body: Moderately long back, broad loins, deep flanks and well-angulated fore and hindquarters.

Additional Comments:

Border Collies are fine in a kennel, so long as they have daily activity and spend time with their owner.
Border Collies make ideal working dogs and are perfect for anyone wanting to reach high levels in dog sports.

About the Author

This article provided courtesy of http://www.dooziedog.com/dog_breeds/border_collie/

It’s unbelievable how sewing machines can have an impact on your life. Without a sewing machine, there are no clothes to wear and you have to throw away for favorite clothes when there is a slight tear.

With all the technology that is out there you may not even think of using a sewing machine any more to make cloths or even to fix them. If you were to think about it when you use a sewing machine to fix some of your cloths that have a small rip in them you can really save a large amount of money in the long run.

If you are able to fix all those small rips and tears you are not going to be throwing out a lot of cloths that are repairable. Then if you are not throwing them out you are not going to need to spend more money to replace all the cloths that you did pitch out the door. To some people pitching out some ripped cloths is an advantage so that they have a good reason to go to the store to buy more cloths for their wardrobe.

If you are one of the many people that have a sewing machine and choose not to use it for some of the small tasks at hand then you may want to think about making a few different items with it. You are able to make some Halloween costumes with a sewing machine and then you are not going to end up spending lots of money on an item that you or your kids are only going to wear for one night of the year and probable never wear it again. If you were to figure out what it cost to buy a costume or even rent one and them compare it to making your own costume you are going to see that it does cost less to make the costume in the end.

With some of the technology that the sewing machines have now you are even able to purchase a sewing machine that can do embroidery on almost any material. If you are one of the ones that have a machine that does embroidery machine you are going to be able to personalize your coats and maybe some hats for yourself and your family if your wish.

In conclusion, it will be nice to have a sewing machine at home. However small it may be, it’s a handy item.

Learn more about sewing machines for free and why you should have one at:
http://www.1-sewing-machines.info

ABOUT BECOMING AN ANTIQUE COLLECTOR
Before buying anything; make a point of studying books and catalogues (even old ones) on your subject, then attend a few auctions, be sure to inspect your choice of antiques on the viewing days before the auction, always allow enough time to visit and explore the main dealers’ stock, both before and after any auction sales. This way you will gradually be able to assess what quality items are available and the prices being currently asked. Make a point of chatting to dealers, or well-known collectors, about what has happened after an auction. Not always, but sometimes one can gain quite a lot of useful guidance about particular pieces, what to look out for and importantly about the general feelings about any record breaking prices.

After an auction it can be possible sometimes to find that a dealer might have a similar quality piece, or even a better one, for much less than has just been paid! A note of caution here, sometimes a really silly price is paid in the auction room, simply because two determined people badly wanted that piece. In such a case of course, that value has to be discounted to a certain extent. It is this sort of information that should be sought (in my earlier suggestion of chatting at the end of the auction).

BUYING GUIDANCE
The best advice for anyone tempted to collect any antiques would be, first, to study your choice of subject and attend auctions, meet and talk to the dealers, handle and see as many pieces as possible. Do not rush in to buy because unfortunately trying to collect, in any specialised antique area, it often takes many years to acquire the necessary expertise, without which, very costly mistakes can be made. Once you feel more confident you should then be prepared to commission a well-known specialist dealer to bid for you. You would have to expect to pay at least 10% (of the bid price) for this service. But this can be well worth paying, as you will not only benefit from his knowledge and guidance, you will also stop him bidding against you!

Only another collector can fully appreciate that overpowering urge, that comes over one, on finding a treasure really wanted. It is the closest feeling to that of love at first sight. I have been told that one’s pupils tend to enlarge, and this is one of the signs that dealers watch out for, and as collectors, of course, we always try desperately to camouflage our interest.

AUCTIONS
Strange things certainly do happen at auction! If there is only one spectacular piece amongst some fairly good items, there is a good chance of picking up a bargain, both just before and just after, the really super piece. Before, the main buyers are often holding back hoping they can be in with a chance with their maximum bid, so they tend to stop bidding as high as they might have done in normal circumstances. Immediately after, because everyone is discussing what has just been paid, especially if a record price was reached, all this can be going on whilst another piece slips through and is sold.

There are also items known as ’sleepers’ and often these are pieces that are sold at bargain prices, just because no one present required it, or for some reason it was overlooked.

Attending a poor auction (this is one with only one or two good items in it, amongst a lot of junk) can be advantageous, if there is a fine example to be had. Quite a number of buyers feel they cannot afford the time in attending such a poor auction. Sadly this does not happen so much now.

Sometimes too, but not often, a piece is wrongly described. Then one can, if lucky, really find a bargain. Once we bought a jade snuff bottle that is so remarkably well hollowed and such a flawless piece of stone, that it was in fact sold wrongly catalogued as glass! We had to buy it from a well-known dealer (preferring to pay him a good profit, rather than keep bidding it up against him) in the end it wasn’t cheap - but it is one of the finest we have ever seen!

We no longer believe much in trying to find bargains, as we have found that the most expensive, but finest examples, over time, are often by far the best buys! We have worried about having paid too much on several occasions. They were very rare, superb examples, but still we worried. Yet these are now the treasures that have proved to be the most wonderful bargains of all!

BEYOND VALUE
Lastly, there is one important factor that has not been mentioned, as it is so impossible to measure! That is the value of the pleasure one enjoys from participating, as a collector, in such a fascinating hobby as collecting antiques is hard to describe.

You also meet such interesting people from all over the world, for there is an immediate bond amongst fellow collectors, except when met at the beginning of an auction!

Then there is the intrigue of the hunt and the excitement at every new addition that only another collector can fully appreciate. Life is so enriched, I do believe that such hobbies are vital, and so many people who have hardly any outside interests, beyond their world of work, have no idea of just how much fun they are missing!

The author has been a very keen collector for many years in helping to create ‘The Cohen collection’.

To see some more articles with photographs please use the following link: -
http://www.jncohen.net/antiques/articles.htm

Also to learn more about ‘The Cohen collection’ please use the following link: -
http://www.jncohen.net/Cohen_collection

As a society, we all must be a little paranoid. We can barely contain ourselves, waiting for the next techno gadget to make our lives better. And even if our lives isn’t better for owning it; we have to buy it anyway, just to keep up with the Jones’. As soon as we get this new toy, it’s great, at least for a little while. We eventually get bored with our new toy. We start to misplace it, lose it, it doesn’t even matter anymore because we’ve completely lost interest. Slowly but surely we start to buy more and more new gadgets, but it doesn’t matter because they all seem to end up in the same place. Somewhere, in the back of our closet, gathering dust, with all the other super incredible gadgets that we once ran out to buy. We really don’t want to throw the old toys away because we might want to use them again; but as time passes and objects start to pile-up, we reluctantly make the choice to dispose of our old toys, to make room for the new.

They say, “everything that is old, becomes new again”. Styles come in cycles, so if you’re around long enough, an old style will become new again. This concept really does apply to fashion. It’s amazing to see clothing styles from 20 and 30 years ago, brought back as the latest fashion. But we can only wonder, if it’s the clothes, or the fact that the people wearing them are so young that they have no clue that their style has been done before.

Maybe it’s our human need to stay somehow connected to the past; that has driven us to create an industry for the past. And this industry would be that of antiques. Yes, antiques, that old junk that was left behind by our great-great ancestors. No one has really created a definition for antiques that everyone agrees on; but a more general description is, objects that have reached an age which makes them a witness of a previous era in human society.

Objects, which are antiques, usually show an attention to detail and design; like the older model automobiles. The more unique an antique is, the more valuable it’s likely to be. Just about any object can become an antique if it lasts long enough. It seems very strange, that an industry like antiques, which at times appears to be like a private club, has no say so in who can enter the club. Antiques can be purchased in stores, or through dealers and even on the internet. There are many people who have become dedicated in shopping for antiques; and they don’t just do it from home, but they travel around the country, hoping to find a special piece.

It’s amazing how society can create an industry, where apparently one didn’t exist. In antiques, people are basically salivating over objects that many of us would’ve considered old junk. Yet, we have lots of people willing to pay great deals of money for the privilege of owning an object that probably had very little value, back in its heyday.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Antiques

Kids are always wanting to make mom a gift for Mother’s Day. They want something that is all their own, without much help from anyone, so here are some ideas that are both inexpensive and easy for them.

A home made jewelry box: Give the child a small paper mache box - sort of like a jewelry box, any shape with a lid. Now, put down some newspaper, put acrylic paints, brushes, glitter, buttons, charms, ribbon or lace, glue, colored markers or crayons down on the paper, and let your child do the work. You will be surprised what they can come up with.

They can also use the same materials to make a card for Mom on Mother’s Day. Just get a thick card stock to fold in half so they can decorate it. You can also use poster board and help them make a big “Happy Mother’s Day” sign, to greet her in the morning with.

Another idea is to get some cheap plastic beads with big holes, some string and let them make a matching set of bracelets and a necklace for mom.

Cut out hearts of red, pink, lavender paper or poster board, color it, put glitter on it and hang them all over the house.

Modeling clay is always a nice medium to play with. There are clays that only need to dry in the air and need no baking at all. Modeling clay allows your child to form anything that comes to mind. They can use their imagination with no limits, except for the limits of the clay. Once the project is dry, your child can paint it or dress it up any way they want. It is an inexpensive way and fun way of letting your child make and give of their heart to their mom on Mother’s Day.

Check your local craft shop for other project ideas that are appropriate for this age group. Take your little one to the store and let them decide what they want to make for mommy. Just remember to read the age group limit on the outside of the box.

Always remember to supervise the children, especially with glue, paint and scissors around.

Nicola Kennedy has enjoyed some great Mother’s Days, both as a grateful mom and a loving daughter. She can help you find great Mother’s Day gifts with tips and news, information and views at http://www.I-Love-My-Mom.com

This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact. All rights reserved. Copyright http://www.I-Love-My-Mom.com

For years any electric train was powered by a DC system. The major problem was you just couldn’t run more than one train on the same track unless your layout was massive and you built in control blocks with several people controlling those blocks. You had no control over the engine except for the control of the transformer or rectifier.

Recently a new system has been introduced that revolutionized the control of trains on a layout. We are going to look at the HO system and DCC control versus the DC system.

First a layout does not have to be huge to be able to control a locomotive or several locomotives at the same time. DCC introduced the decoder which is a mini chip and circuit board that is programmable. They can be very small that will fit into an “n” gauge locomotive or reasonably sized to fit any larger locomotive.

The decoder introduced a means to program a locomotive and be able to operate that locomotive independently from any other locomotive on the track. For example, you are able to lash together a set of four F3 diesel engines and run them as a unit. You can also program a set of steam engines to do the same or run them independently.

The DCC system allows the operator to run locomotives at a very low and realistic speed. The power distribution through the decoder is refined by the circuitry and PC. You will find the locomotives respond better and speed is attained in a controlled fashion. You may also control the lights in the locomotive by turning them off and on and if there is a Mars light you can have it on or off.

There are also sound systems with a decoder as part of the sound circuitry. However that is a different subject to be discussed in a later article.

The hand held controller/program unit allows you to either run several engines together as a unit. Also, if we have two steam engines running slightly different than each other the controller allows for that since it has two separate controllers built in. You set the speed of one and then match that speed with the other controller so they are going at the same speed.

The most engines we have tried to run on my friends layout was seven engines. One set was a lash up of four locomotives, another was a lash of two locomotives and one single locomotives. This was a mix of two sets of diesels and one articulated steam engine.

By monitoring the engines and setting each combination or single engine to be traveling at the same speed allows for continuous running with out incident.

You just can’t do this with any success with the DC system of operation. There are too many variables to deal with the DC operation versus the DCC operation.

There is a cost for decoders which are not necessarily cheap. The initial cost of the system that is built in to the layout is also costly. However, I feel it is worth it since you can do so many more things with DCC. There are several manufactures of these products and the prices very. The best way to find the best buys is through surfing the WEB for a retailer who can give you the best price.

Joy Ball has been involved in the restoration and maintenance of a variety of Brass Model Locomotives. Through her years of expertise, Mrs. Ball has perfected the art of train restoration often spending countless hours preserving vintage Brass Locomotive to the running condition of even the newest Brass Model Replicas. It should be noted that the above article was written by Joy’s husband Michael Ball. Receive her free newsletter at http://www.brasslocomotiveworks.com.

I love finding free knitting patterns and to go along with that I love to save money reusing old yarn. Have you ever looked at a sweater and thought that you don’t like the style anymore but you love the color or the texture of the yarn. Well, I have. Maybe I never really liked it in the first place. It’s time to dig out a great free knitting pattern and re-use the yarn.

The first thing I do is search through my free knitting pattern collection to find one I like and see if the sweater I am reusing is big enough for the new knitting pattern. First I unstitch the seams. Snip carefully with scissors so you don’t cut through the actual knitting. First you need to find the end where the knitting was cast off. This makes it very easy to just pull and unravel each row. It helps if you have a helper with their hands about a foot apart, or you can use the back of a chair to wind the yarn around. Keep doing this until you come to the end of that piece of yarn. Tie another piece of yarn around the yarn bundle in two places so it doesn’t tangle. This yarn will be very wrinkled, would be difficult to knit with and would give a bumpy texture to your knitting if used like this.

I have had some success with washing the yarn in bundles (washable yarn only of course). I wash yarn as usual leaving the yarn dripping wet. I hang the yarn over the back of an old chair outside, or inside in the bath tub in the winter. You can use anything that will hang. A stick across two boxes will work. The weight of the water will unwrinkle the yarn. After it is dry I hand wind the yarn into balls or use my yarn winder. I prefer the yarn winder as it allows the yarn to be pulled from the middle which stops it rolling and catching but if you don’t have one then hand winding it is. Good luck in your knitting

The Knitting Nova loves to knit and to collect free knitting patterns. She also loves to blog. She has been collecting free knitting patterns for 30 years and has taught many young family members how knitting is fun and easy. You can find more information on her blog at http://www.free-knitting-patterns.blogspot.com/

Although guests to your wedding will not see your lingerie, choose the right kind is as important as the selection of your wedding dress, particularly because lingerie will be judged by the most adorable of the attendants to your event: your new husband.

Good taste and common sense is needed when it comes to choosing your Bridal lingerie to complement your wedding dress. As an example, if you are going to wear an informal wedding dress, do not choose a very stuffed corset, and opt for a simpler bustier one instead.

Although, there is a wide array of Bridal lingerie, including body-hugging Basques and strapless corsets with stretch spandex panels, your lingerie should be chosen along with your informal bridal gown, and to your wedding dress.

Due to the fact that everyone has an opinion, the selection of your Bridal lingerie is a decision as personal as your dreams waiting for the big day to arrive. However, a bridal bustier or satin corset with sheer stay-up stockings, satin spandex gloves or crochet short gloves are nice lingerie settings, independent of your wedding dress.

An informal bridal gown, and particularly those tight fitting types, will usually fit best with casual lingerie, including those nipple covers that adhere to your breasts providing minimal cover for your breast for maximum exposure when you want to show your most appealing and sexiest look.

There are also micro spandex tights, invisible bras, self-adhesive disposable bras and push up bras with adhesive enhancers that mold to the breasts, pushing up, and providing strapless resembling nudity, another good lingerie option for an informal wedding dress.

Brides who prefer a wedding dress, sticking to traditional styles may prefer lingerie such as baby dolls, but making sure they are made of silk or chiffon for a sensuous hugging note, in addition to a satin lace garter with bows. Some bridal shops offer complementary lingerie, including whole sets of bustiers, stockings, garter and gloves.

Not only should the wedding dress influence the choice of lingerie, there is something else to keep in mind: your honeymoon destinations. If you are wearing an informal wedding dress during your wedding ceremony and reception in Florida, but you and your groom will take to the North Pole for your honeymoon, you simply will feel uncomfortable and out of context wearing just nipple covers.

Besides, an informal wedding dress may be designed as luxurious as a classic attire, so your lingerie in this case should be chosen accordingly.

When you’re smiling in the pictures, you feel like you’re taking a good shot, but can you be so sure? One of the ways that you can help your chances of looking your best is through your makeup decisions. But the wedding day is a completely different ballgame than going out for dinner.

Finding a good makeup artist

When you’re looking for someone to do your makeup for your wedding, you want to listen to your friends and family for referrals. If someone’s name keeps popping up, then you will want to schedule a consultation with them to see what they are like and what they can do for you.

Even if you’re not starting off with a list of people to turn to, you can go through the phone book and start calling to see who does bridal parties. If you have bridesmaids that you want to have makeup for as well, you may want to invite one of them along for help.

Have the makeup artist do your face in the way that you would want for your wedding day. Be specific about what you want and see how they respond. This should be free at first, so be sure to ask a lot of questions, find out the pricing and if she or he will go to the hotel or if everyone needs to go to the salon.

Here’s the key to finding out if the artist is any good for you: have your bridesmaid take a picture of your face in the outdoors and indoors. This will help you to see if you will look good in your pictures, or if you need to find someone else.

If you don’t normally wear makeup

It’s okay if you don’t wear makeup on an everyday basis. Most times, the artists will just make sure that you don’t have any visible blemishes or scars for your pictures as well as enhance your eyes and smile. You should tell the artist if you’re uncomfortable with anything that they’re doing; so that you find someone that will work with you, rather than just do what they think is best.

Even if you end up doing your own makeup, you should be putting your best face forward for your wedding pictures. If there’s a feature on your face that you particularly like, draw attention to that. You can read magazines for advice or have a bridesmaid paint your face and try new things on you.

Formula One motor sport is just the summit of go karting. It is the professional make-up of the sport in full. F1 is a worldwide phenomenon, a multinational media conglomerate that rakes in millions and millions of ? annually from advertising, funding, & television revenue sources. Qualified drivers with a millionaire bank account race these astounding cars that are unique with hi-tech features - everything from tough to generate lightweight casings that glide the mechanism to tires with apparelled grooving style that exemplify the unbelievable speed on the grand prix circuit. Catch up with the latest Formula One Results.

There is at this time no sport that best exemplifies the meaning “international sport” like F1 motorsport. Many countries are active members in developing the F1 motor sport scene - Malaysia for example, is a hot spot for F1 racing (Fernando Alonso, a Spanish-born Formula One motor racing driver under Team Renault very recently won a race there) & Italy plays an important function in designing and producing 1st class, top-of-the-line go karts. Rivalry is normal in Formula One - providing an edge of passion with every zip of the curve and nitrous boost of the machine.

F1 vehicles can be summed up in two words: technological wonder. These shiny, low riding gems travelling around laps at speeds near one hundred & ninety miles per hour consist of nothing more than simply a chassis, an engine, & 4 wheels. For a start, the engine is positioned behind the cockpit as opposed to standard cars. Find great offers on extreme sports equipment.