A death in the family

I think I might be getting better. I am still sick, but not as sick as maybe a week ago. It's very gradual. I am hoping that in a couple more weeks I'll be out of the woods with this. A retired geneticist friend of mine thinks maybe I have a virus that hides in the body somewhere and every once in a while comes out and wreaks havoc. I think she's probably right.

Because my energy level is so low and I have to budget my activity, my social life has taken a back seat to things I need to get done around my place. Like harvesting the garden, stacking firewood, mowing the lawn, walking the dog. I always have a to do list, I can only cross off so much. But enough about me.

My son's dog died on Friday. The dog had tumours growing around his trachea, eventually he would asphyxiate. My son was trying to decide what to do. The vet had suggested surgery but my son didn't feel he could afford it, and anyway (as I pointed out), there was no guarantee they wouldn't just return again. He didn't know when he should pull the plug. Avoiding suffering was his main concern.

Some friends said, "Oh, you'll just know."

I said that wasn't always the case, it can be very difficult making that decision. We had a long phone call about it and at the end he thanked me for being able to have that conversation. I think he just needed a sounding board for all the conflicted feelings he had about it.

A couple days later he posted on Facebook about the dog's last day. The whole family took him out for a walk and then went to the vet's office. I think it was as good a way to handle it as possible.

I was fond of the dog, I feel sad that he died. He was a good family dog, he loved everyone in the household. He was always very happy to see me when I came to visit, but perhaps not so keen on my dog (who did not behave well when the two first met).

My son's youngest son has been hardest hit by this death, I don't think he has any memories of their previously dog-free home.

Dobby and the Queen

Dobby I am sure is fine with the Queen. He'd be happy to celebrate her birthday. But perhaps not with fireworks. This long weekend in celebration of the old Queen's birthday---Queen Victoria that is---is just one long firecracker fest. Yesterday Dobby was fairly nonchalant about it during the daytime, but sometime after supper he caved. For the first time ever, he started hiding in my bedroom. Realizing what was going on, I invited him to spend the night and he gratefully accepted. It was a bit hot with one huge boxer in the bed with me, but what can you do. Same thing tonight, he has already spread himself out on my bed and I am sure he has no intention of leaving before the morning. Earlier this evening he was following me very closely. If I went upstairs, he went upstairs, and if I went down so did he. If I paused halfway up or down, then so did he.

We put the kayak on the truck roof tonight. It has been hanging from my ceiling all winter and spring, now it is on the truck. Getting it down the stairs was awkward, especially with Dobby in the middle. When we paused, so did he. I felt like whacking him with a paddle.

The other thing we did this weekend was sod the backyard. In all the time we have owned this house, it has never had grass in the backyard, now it is full of lush green grass. It was a lot of work and our backs are aching, but it sure looks good now. We will water it twice a day for a couple of weeks and fence it off from kids and dogs.

Tristan has just joined Cubs and has discovered the joy of badges. He pores over the book of badges to see which ones he can qualify for. Turns out sodding a lawn qualifies him for a couple of badges, so we had one very willing helper. Several of the local little boys have just joined Cubs, they are all very excited about the badges. Interestingly, they are all boys who dislike competitive sports. Cubs is a very noncompetitive alternative. They get to go camping and collect badges to their little hearts content.

Tristan had his first Cub camping experience on the Mother's Day weekend, it was cold and rainy and there was even thunder and lightening, but the thrill of sharing a little tent with another Wolf Cub out in the woods made him oblivious to the weather. He came home exhausted, dirty and very happy. And of course got a badge for it. Not any old badge, but a badge that requires a Scout blanket to attach it to. His Mom was mystified by the concept of a Scout blanket, but having acquired one myself for Tristan's Uncle Sam when he was a Cub, I explained it to her. Now Tristan has his own Scout blanket, and his first badge for it.

I have a busy schedule this week. On Wednesday there is a weaving class field trip, all day. The rest of the week will be spent preparing to leave for Nova Scotia. Lots of packing and errands to take care of.

Dobby goes to the beach

Tristan and I took Dobby to the beach on Sunday afternoon.

Dobby was delighted to be there, he ran in great bounding circles on the sand from sheer joy. Chased a few seagulls and dug lots of holes. He even found a coconut to play with!


Coconuts washing up on the beach of Lake Ontario?!?

For quite a long time Dobby engaged in mysterious behaviour at the water's edge, apparently digging for something in the water. He even stuck his nose right under the water. Mysterious indeed for a dog that hates the water!

The concrete wall in the water is the breakwater, it protects the shoreline from getting eroded away in storms. It also provides a convenient and safe perch for seagulls.

The lines drawn on the sand of the beach are Tristan's, he was drawing a picture of a werewolf. No, it wouldn't help if I showed a photo of the whole drawing, I only know that it was supposed to be a werewolf because he told me that. When we arrived at the beach, Tristan quickly stripped off his winter coat and shoes and socks, but after a few minutes he had to put them back on again, a little colder than it looked!

The gentleman in the background of this picture is an engineer from Budapest, Hungary. He is in Toronto for three weeks helping to build a 3G network for Telus Communications. He watched Dobby for quite a long time, surreptitiously taking photos when he thought I wasn't looking. Finally he came over to talk to me, asking about Dobby.

He's alone here; he was sitting in his hotel room on Sunday afternoon and he looked at a map of the city and noticed that there was a Budapest Park, so he thought he would come and check it out. I didn't know that was the name of this part of the Toronto lakeshore beach, but after he told me that I saw the sign by the beach,"Budapest Park". He said that Budapest at this time of year is usually a little warmer than Toronto, but they were having a bit of snow now. I told him he is lucky he came this year and not last year, last year at this time there would have been a foot of snow on the ground!

After the beach we were hungry, Tristan remembered that we passed a MacDonald's on the way and he wanted to go there to eat. I told him I was sorry but there was no way I was eating at a MacDonald's. He said that his Mom told him that it was OK to eat there if you only ate a little bit, I again said I was sorry, I wasn't worried about the safety of the food I just really didn't like it. We went to the Stampede Grill for burgers and fries and real lemonade (I watched the woman make it from the lemons in the big basket on the counter) instead.

Now?

I wish I could teach Dobby to tell time.

Then I'd say, Go look at the clock, it's not time for your walk yet!

Cast of characters at the dogpark

I finally took a camera to the dog park!

John and I built a snowman last week and it got knocked down on Thursday but John set it back up on Friday, a few inches shorter, and it survived the weekend! It's still upright! I think it was a matter of principle with John, he was kind of annoyed at the local young vandals who knocked it down. Myself I was surprised it lasted more than a day, and even more impressed that it survived the weekend!

So. Here are some of the local dog characters.

Grover is the King of the dogpark, all dogs either worship Grover or try to challenge him, so far no challenger has succeeded. Still the King.














Grover's principle admirer is Pickles, who licks Grover's face every time he sees him. If Grover is late arriving at the dogpark, Pickles sits by the gate, staring down the road that Grover will arrive by. G.rover appreciates Pickles adoration, although sometimes he wishes Pickles wasn't quite so enthusiastic in his face-licking.




Tereska, She Who Must Be Obeyed. The dogs love and fear her, even Grover. It was funny the other day when Tereska came up to Grover and gave him hell for hogging a ball, I've never seen Grover look sheepish and a trifle scared before.

The dogs surrounding Tereska include Magnum and Chico (two black dogs on the left), Pickles (foreground), Petunia the boxer, Sheba an older all white swaybacked dog staring up at Tereska, Abbie the little spaniel with the jacket behind Sheba, Sophie the white and tan foxhound with her face just below Petunia's belly, and I am afraid I don't remember the name of the black and white dog behind Tereska.

This is Dobby and Shiva play fighting. Shiva is the fastest dog in the park, he looks terribly handsome in his sleek yellow and black racing jacket.












The big grey poodle in this picture is Henry, he literally bounces up and down when he is excited. The little one next to him is Abbie. In the background are Petunia the boxer, Magnum (black), Sheba (white) and I think Digby, who looks a bit fox-like. Henry and Abbie are sniffing a snowpile that serves as a surrogate fire hydrant, while the rest of the dogs are checking out the fallen snowman.

Last trip to the city

We went out early to walk the dogs because I wanted to get away early to the city. Before I left I did another coat of urethane on the deck. The urethane is so easy! It is downright pleasurable to use urethane instead of epoxy. And so quick!

I had a fairly successful trip into town to get what I need to finish the kayak. I got a different kayak cockpit cover, some inchworms, some rope and tie-downs for transporting the kayak. It started raining around 1.00pm and rained hard for the rest of the day. I was back home by 5.00pm.

When I got home it was cold in the house so I decided to light a fire, but to do that I needed to chop a log into kindling. Got thoroughly wet doing that, and of course by that time the wood was wet too so it was a pretty slow fire getting started.

Out of nowhere a bat appeared sitting on the wood stove. I tried to shoo it off the stove before it burned its feet but it just hissed at me. I finally got it onto the floor and then caught it in a plastic bag to put outdoors. For some reason it did not want to fly. It crawled under the house to get out of the rain. Very strange watching a bat crawl, it has little claws on its wings and it has to spread its wings to crawl.

I may add pictures later, but right now I am in a bit of a hurry.

Whale burning

Today I burned my humpback whale onto the rear bulkhead. I practiced first on a spare piece of plywood, and when I thought I understood how to do it, I tackled the bulkhead. First I went over all the lines with a penknife, to make grooves that the woodburner would follow. Then I did the actual burning.

I propped the bulkhead up where it will eventually be glued so I could take a picture of what it will look like in the kayak. The backrest will partially obscure it when it is installed.

To keep Dobby busy I brought along his bone, which I had been storing in the freezer. It was partially thawed when I gave it to him, he was a bit tentative with it at first.

I saw Mike drive by in his "new" truck. When I was finished burning the whale I went back to his place to get some measurements off of Ruth's kayak for placing the thigh braces and back rest. I packed up Dobby's bone so he could chew on that while I talked to Mike. Well, he wasn't keen on giving it up. I gave it back to him when we got to Mike's, but I guess he was worried I would take it away from him again, so he went into the woods and buried it!

Mike saw him skulking off with his bone and mentioned it, I followed Dobby and found the burial spot, a pile of fresh dirt. So I went and got a spade and tried to dig it up again, but could not find it. Maybe I was mistaken? But no, after I stopped digging, Dobby came in and dug up the bone himself. And since I had found the spot so easily I guess he decided he needed a better burial spot so he tried going further into the woods to rebury the bone. I called him back and retrieved the bone. Sorry Dobby, I've got other plans for your bone!

On our morning dog walk, Sheila and I took the dogs to their favourite swimming hole, well, Moose's favourite swimming hole, Max only wades and Dobby won't go in at all.

Then we went out to the tall grass field behind Sheila's house where Dobby chased Max round and round. Moose no longer joins the game, he's content to watch from the sidelines.

The grass is so tall that Dobby can't see Max, so he makes these hilarious leaps in the air to get a view over the grass. Very funny to watch, his ears stand straight up.

Sheila took this picture of Dobby in the tall grass.

I made another list of things remaining to be done on the kayak. If I am diligent I could possibly be finished by next Friday. Kind of doubt it though. According to my list I was supposed to burn the whale on the bulkhead and then epoxy it, but I just didn't feel like doing any epoxying today so technically I am already behind on the schedule.

Mike says I should start reading the tide tables to pick a good launch date. I will want to launch about an hour before high tide. With the new moon coming up the tides will be higher too.

It was just as hot today as yesterday but there was a breeze. A storm coming in. But the storm did not arrive until dinner time, the day was mostly hot and windy. The chickens were funny this morning, one was sitting on some eggs and another was sitting on top of her. I reached in and pulled the eggs out from under both of them.

Give a dog a bone

This morning the broody hen was still sitting on the eggs, but later in the day I checked back and she had left them to get quite cold.

So I think she's given up on the idea of motherhood.

And if she hasn't, too bad, because I took them.

Gave two to Dobby, hardboiled two for a potato salad, and fried two for dinner.

Aren't they cute? The chickens I mean.

I took the soup bone Mike gave me to the Garden House to occupy Dobby while I worked with the epoxy.

He was so quiet that a couple of times I had to check to make sure he was still there.

The bone completely took over his attention.








While Dobby chewed on his bone outside, I glued the upper coaming onto the kayak.

I have run out of epoxy again. I will have to go back to Halifax to get some more, probably on Friday. Discussed it with Mike, to see if there is anything else I should pick up in the City. He said he was going in on the weekend and would pick up a couple of things for me at Mountain Equipment. But I will have to pick up the epoxy, Lee Valley will be out of his way.

The day started out damp and misty but cleared as time went on. By afternoon it was not exactly sunny, but as close to it as it has gotten all week. I took Dobby for a walk around the perimeter of the hayfield surrounding the house.



We saw a turtle in the field.













Beside the barn is a pond with trout in it, but the water is murky and I have not seen them. Mike suggested I wear polaroid sunglasses to look so I did and sure enough I saw one huge trout surface to catch an insect. I probably would have seen it without the sunglasses, I just happened to be looking at the right moment.

I moved the turtle over to the weeds by the pond, thinking he might be better off closer to the water.

In the evening the sun showed up briefly just as it was setting. The view from the north facing windows was magnificent: the sunset over the Bay with Cape Split off in the distance. After dark the stars came out and I decided to take advantage of the hot tub on the rear deck, to lie there in the warm water and admire the Milky Way.

They don't call this place the Baxter's Harbour Hilton for nothing!

Kayak progress

Yesterday I removed the clamps from the glued coaming and then glued and clamped the hatch lips into the hatch openings on the kayak.







Today I unclamped the lips and epoxied the edges of the upper coaming pieces and the hatch covers.









Now I can put the hatch covers in the hatch openings.












The coaming is starting to take shape, the hatches can now be covered.










It's starting to look like a kayak.













I fibreglassed the back side of the bulkhead with the whale on it.











There was a tropical storm passing by Nova Scotia today, the South Shore got lots of rain (over 150 mm in some places) but it did not rain here until supper time.

Dobby got to play with Max and Moose, and later I rode down to the Harbour with him.











The tide was in, the Harbour was full of water and all the boats were afloat.











First time I've seen them afloat, usually I see them lying on the bottom.











I am house sitting this week and one of my tasks is to let the chickens out in the morning and put them back in their coop at night. There are five of them, Rhode Island Reds. Quite tame, I can pick them up and pet them.

The last couple of nights they have been putting themselves back in the coop before I get there. They are all lined up on a shelf by the door, I just have to count heads. Tonight one of them was sitting in a nestbox on a half dozen eggs she laid this morning. I saw her sitting there and knew that was what she was up to but I didn't hang around to collect them.

I am supposed to collect the eggs every morning, but she laid them right after I opened the coop in the morning. Now I wonder if I should collect them if she's still there tomorrow. There's no rooster so this is kind of a lost cause for her, but losing a half dozen eggs is no big deal to me either. Decisions, decisions!

My other tasks are to water the flowers and feed the birds. The flowers don't need watering because it is raining every day now, and I think a chipmunk is eating all the seeds I put out for the birds. I see the chipmunk running around with cheek pouches positively bursting.

The chicken coop is far enough away from the house that Dobby doesn't know about it yet. I'm hoping he will remain ignorant. Mike gave me a large frozen soup bone for Dobby, I'll give it to him when I am working on the kayak. Should keep him occupied for awhile.

Back to the kayak

So now Dobby is here in Baxter's Harbour with me.

I've introduced him to the Baxter's Harbour beach and the woods.

The first few dogs we ran into were not interested in playing with him but today he met Max the corgi and Moose the chocolate lab.

Max was happy to play with Dobby and very surprisingly so was Moose.

Actually it was quite funny, Moose is a big lumbering brown bear of a dog but he ran after Dobby as if his life depended on it.

Sheila hasn't seen him run like that in years, and I've never seen him run!

He ran so hard and for so long that Sheila finally made him stop to catch his breath, she was afraid he'd have a heart attack.

So the three dogs got quite the run.

We took them into Sheila's hayfield where they ran in circles through the tall grass.

Sheila and I just laughed and laughed.

Sheila thinks it's great, Dobby gives her dogs great exercise, so I think we'll be walking them together regularly.

Today I worked on the kayak for the first time in almost a week.

I sanded some of the hatch lips and coamings that I had glassed before I left. I glued the first layer of coaming to the kayak cockpit.







Dobby thinks kayak building is boring.

Changes in Phelan and Dobby

Since returning home I'm noticing a couple of amusing things here.

One is Phelan, my youngest grandson. He is at that stage (he's two) of rapidly learning to talk. And in the ten days I've been away I can hear how much his vocabulary and grasp of communication has improved. Quite impressive.

Before I left he was repeating everything you said, now he is making up with his own sentences independently.

Today he is experimenting with changing my name, from Granne to Grannie. This is a change I don't particularly want to encourage, I like Granne just fine. But he is being quite deliberate about it, as if he made a decision to improve upon my name by the addition of another syllable.

The other is Dobbie, the boxer pup. He's noticeably bigger and starting to look more doggish and less puppyish. He is also visiting me more often, now that Bunny is gone.

Before I left for Belize but after Bunny left, he would come to the foot of my stairs and wait to be called up, but now he comes up on his own. Usually for short visits, he is not inclined to stay up here even when there is no one downstairs.

Downstairs is his home and he appears to know that.

But when he comes up for an extended visit, he immediately moves into "my" spot on the couch.

Hmmm.

Going to have to educate him on that.

That's My spot, not Yours.





The other thing he does is try to climb into my lap and lick my face when I am sitting at my computer.

Like, pay attention to Me, not that silly box.

Who let the dog up?

On Saturday Isaac and family went out for the better part of the afternoon and evening. I was out for most of the afternoon. Which left the house to the animals, Bunny and Dobby.

Bunny is a mature lady, she tends not to chew things she shouldn't, but not so Dobby, he's just a youngster with a lot of chewing to get through!

Anyway, when I returned to the house I saw Dobby on the couch trying to rip open a bag of cereal. He'd been alone for a few hours and I guess tired of it.

I managed to get the cereal away from him before he had it spread everywhere, then I started piling furniture, cushions and bedding on the couch to try to prevent him from getting up there again. It's not so much that he's not allowed on the couch, just that he tries to chew the couch too...

I went upstairs and a little while later came back down again and there he was, asleep on the couch!

I guess he thought I piled all that stuff there for his sleeping comfort.

After taking a couple of photos I left him there, as in, let sleeping dogs lie.