Ohhhh pretty flowers!

There is a massive growth of Wild Roses immediately behind my home. Oh my gosh, the smell wafting from them is glorious!

 

A few further feet down, Scotch Broom

 

Lupine

 

I have no clue what these sweet things are, but they remind me of French Lavender

 

Delicate Wild Daisy

 

Lilac…oh how I love you!

 

Wild Lily

 

And a friend told me the name of this a couple years back, but the memory is lost! ( Jean, are you reading this? Help! )

I had spotted the Lilies after coming back from a friends home, and so pulled over to photograph them. Looking just beyond them I noticed a rough road and fields of wild flowers! Whoa, how cool is it to live somewhere for a few years and all of a sudden find another perfect dog walking stroll! The grass was knee high, and I panic at the thought of ticks on the dogs, so no walking there yet. But come Fall and Winter we are definitely heading there.

Hope you enjoyed your Thursday!

Please stop growing old

That's what Watcher hears me whisper to him occasionally.

He now opts to place himself a few feet in front of the electric fireplace when his joints and bones are complaining.

I watch him select how and where he will  carefully place his feet when going up and down our 3 steps to the yard.

He is getting just a touch more impatient with both Ticket and Watcher when they are close to him. Most especially Henry, as Henry just blindly flails himself around, unable to take note of Watcher's discomfort.

His muzzle, ear and feet tip hairs are over taking the black ones. I tell him he looks distinguished, but to please stop growing old.

Since the weather has been nicer lately, and the fireplace is not turned on except at night when it's colder, he finds himself a sunbeam outside and drenches himself in the warmth of the au natural heat.

He has always been my velcro boy, but lately he has become my canyouputmeinyourpocket boy. He simply cannot sit closer/lay closer/spend enough time with me to suit him.

He is asking for more time alone with me. And I gladly give it to him.

Ticket senses Watcher's neediness now and only once challenged it. She tried to get in between us with her tom-boyish pushiness and he only had to lift his lip once, with no snarl, and she backed up and let him be. Very unlike her. Good girl Tick.

But poor Henry...he has never ever learned to properly read these guys, being blind does that to a dog. He still refuses to accept that Watcher does not appreciate or want a dog hug. He will go on forever having his dog crush on Watcher. Keep on keepin' on baby.

And Watcher, please stop growing old.

Yards make for happy dogs, and their person!

Since my home is on wheels, and where we are is only temporary, I decided not to invest my hard earned (and sparse ) money and time on a fence. So, as I often have to lately, I improvised.

4 years ago I saw a super deal on a used dog kennel. A 4 paneled 6 foot high x 10 foot wide chain link dog kennel, including a swing door. Like this...

I didn't buy it for my dogs...there was no rhyme or reason, ( I can be dangerous at flea markets ) it was just such a damn good deal! I have a lot of friends with dogs and thought one of them could use it somewhere along their way. But no one ever did, so it just leaned against a shed from day 1. 

Until I got busy yesterday and *made* a yard! The panel with the door started from the front side of the trailer, went out 10 feet, and the other 3 went down the side and I *borrowed* a gate to close it off on the opposite side at the back. Within a couple of days I hope to use the lumber I have and build a 10 foot panel along the back and that will gain an extra 120 square feet. Sweet!

Before this the dogs had to go round back of our sardine can and into a penned off kennel behind the house whose driveway we are parked in. ( wow, that was quite a run on sentence! I'm not fixing it though, because I'm lazy like that ) 

The best part about this new yard, according to the dogs, is that they can come and go at will. The door to inside is always open when they are out.. 

Look at what I can do...I can go out, and I can go in when I want!

Or at least till it's wicked cold outdoors again. The second best part for all of us, and I think I can speak for the dogs this time, is that I too have room to sit out with them! I have already put my small table and chair out there under a small Maple tree. 

But, it's still basically a dog yard, which means grass will never grow. So I figure about 6-8 bags of white wood shavings like this ( 8 cubic feet per )

and it will be great! The only down side to the shavings is that the dogs track it in. But, it's easier to clean than the mud and dust they would track in without it. This amount of shavings will make it about six inches high, the yard will never be muddy and it's soft enough for the dogs to pick out spots to snooze in, if they wish to. 

I had the same height amount in the pen, cleaned it as they pooped and once a month would take out an inch of the shavings and throw them in the compost next door. When it got down to two inches I raked it up and replaced it with another fresh 6 inches; it's the perfect solution to a very small  yard with the huge potential for a mud wallow. 

It's a small yard, but it's our yard.

Oh Hi Henry!

                                                                   

I hope everyone enjoys today! I'll be spending it revamping this blog...it's just a wee bit cluttered, and it's something I enjoy doing. See ya's!

Things I’ve Learned

When people show me who they are, I will believe them the first time.

 

Spontaneous acts of kindness are apt to be extremely contagious. I will do them often.

 

I am thankful for my vision.

 

 

I never allow a cruelty towards animals, of any species, go unchallenged.

 

I always take advice from Elephants….

“I'll just have to save him.
Because, after all,
A person's a person
No matter how small."

 

Find the joys in every day. Hunting frogs and sunbeams on the bum are 2 of the good ones.

 

Laugh when the mood strikes you!

Red Rose Tea and Bears guarding crops…available only in Canada!

 

I try very hard not to be judgemental. Each of us does things uniquely, as we are each individuals.

 

When I have done something that causes another being discomfort, I sincerely apologize immediately..,.before it gets blown up.

 

and I always remember that…

 

Now go and play nice with the world and the beings in it!

And then there was bliss…

Wednesday, May 18th 2011. That’s the day the world got lucky.

Logan Roop was born to Kelly and Sumeet.

I left my home at 7 a.m. to drive the 2 hours to make the scheduled birth at 11…giving myself an extra 2 hours for road delays.

No clogged traffic through the mountains!

Still okay past the mountains. Nice sunshiny day!

Yikes, I’m glad I’m not heading east! Look at those poor saps to the left! Lots of folks heading out of the concrete jungle of Vancouver for the May long weekend.

‘Bout an hour away, blasting Bob Marley, smilingsmilingsmiling…

EEEEEK!!!! Just over the top of the hill…gawddamn people heading to the island taking up my road space and time….get the f**k outta’ my way!!!

K, it’s all cool. I get there by 10:00. Plenty of time to spare. I go to the Labour floor, tell the nurses I’m there and to let my son know. Whew! I am shown the waiting room, walk in and begin to get anxious. I do a LOT of this:

looking out the window

and looking at the ceiling

and door eye-balling

and LOTS of clock-watching

and more and more and more door-watching

And then, the skies parted, the world stopped revolving, all the people and animals in the world stood still and held their breath.

Welcome Logan, happy birth day! Get ready for the time of your life!Your Grandma loves you! *perma smiling*

Trials and Tribulations of Being Human

They never end.

Thank gawd. Otherwise we’d all be void.

Death of family member, poor health of other members, soon-to-be born member, *lost* member, member in stressland, and plain ‘ol mental tiredness has kept me from blogging.

Wednesday was a wonderful respite from it all. My friend Kelsie and I took a 5 hour road trip. I handed her the camera and here’s some of the less blurry shots she took from the passenger window while I was driving and some when we got out to stretch our legs.

Almost every field we saw was filled with the beautiful yellow of Dandelions.

Or a beautiful horse…

Or someone who replaced a sign but never took away the original. How odd. Apparently BC Canada’s 604 area code came into practice in 1947, so who knows how old the bottom sign is. Here’s some interesting trivia about the 604 code. ( also tidbits about the U.S. and Canada there )




We drove down 0 Avenue, which is always an interesting drive. O Avenue is quite simply an undefended border for Canada and the U.S. By *undefended* I mean that there is no distinction that there even is a border. It’s an old 2 lane paved road, on Canada’s side of the border…..not very long, maybe about 20 miles.

U.S. on the left, Canada on the right.

A marsh on the U.S. side

Blueberry bushes on the Canadian side

Small plane soaring low across 0 Avenue, Canada to the U.S.

Salmon Berry flowers

It was a warm day, warm enough for us to roll down the windows and enjoy it, and the view.

But one of the tips of Mount Cheam still defied the warmer weather we are having

And something that makes me laugh!

Enjoy your Friday!