Winter at PPP ...

This time last year I had not discovered Point Pleasant Park. Since it had snowed last Friday, Saturday I took Wendy, Sooki and Chandler to PPP to rectify the situation. 

It was a sunny brisk morning and many other dog folk were gathered at the early morning doggie meet-up.

I hung out with other doggie folk and we smiled at dog antics. 

Wendy pretty much disappeared.  I found her playing with a child who was throwing a stick for her.  Wendy gets ticked off at me when I don't take a ball or stick, so she goes off to find some human who will do her bidding.  She'd come ack every ten minutes or so to make sure I was still around.  The child didn't have much of an arm and was throwing the stick about five feet each time.  Luckily, Wendy has very low standards.

Sooki would seek out other goofball dogs that liked to run and play hard and didn't mind her "bumping" style of play.  If other dogs were playing a rousing game of "chase, chase", she would happily join in.  "Chase, chase" is an exciting game involving lots of running and chasing.  That's about it.  I have so far not been able to find written rules for this amazing game but the dogs all seem to instinctively know how it's played. 

Chandler stuck pretty close to me, which is a bit unusual for him.  You can see him in the second picture (above) running with a German Shepard.

I would guess that there were 30-40 dogs of varying sizes, from Yorkies to Great Danes.  It's a wonderful experience to be among so many dogs just enjoying each other's company without a hint of conflict.

Just before 10 o'clock the dogs and their companions dispersed as if on command. 

And by the stroke of 10 they were all gone -- leaving not a trace behind.

A drizzly cold day

It is a drizzly cold day today. 
Two or three degrees celsius.  No sun.  And of course, a light rain.

A day that chills you to the bone and depresses you with its dull sameness.

I took Wendy and the pups for a walk at Shubie Park. 

Wearing my puffy, purple coat, ear muffs and mittens, I pulled my coat hood over my head and hunched my shoulders for a chilly walk.

The sky was grey and the woods dripping.

But I soon stop.  Something catches my eye.  There is life beneath the sleeping trees. It is not all brown and dull.  And even the browns, glisten in more shades than I can name

And the moss.  The glorious moss.  Does moss never loose its vibrant colour ?  Even after it has been covered with winter's snows does it still lurk there green and alive ?

The pups stand peering high into the branches of the trees hoping to catch a glimpse of a scolding red squirrell.  When they hear that chittering call, they fairly loose their minds.  Did it go this way ?  or that ?

Run, run, run.  Pant, pant, pant.  Wag, wag, wag. "Did you see me?  Did you see me run?"  They check back in with me to briefly share their joy.

Can you hear the rustle as you walk through the leaves ?  and smell that wonderful musty leaf smell ?

There are even crocodiles in these woods.  I almost sat on one that had cleverly disguised itself as a log.

The trees are talking as their branches brush each other in the light breeze.  "Time to go" they chide. "Night is coming early these days.  Time to go".

I guess they're right.

But this walk has been far from dull.



I'm baaaaa-aaaack ...

In my case, the old expression "No good deed goes unpunished" should be changed to "Go on a holiday and you'll pay for it when you get home".

As my more than five followers know, I just went on holiday.  My wonderful brother Darrell, took me and his wife and her sister on a two week trip to Greece !  We went to Athens and three Greek islands. It was a terrific holiday and I will tell you about it later.

But like that good deed, my time away was not without negative consequences.

Very tangible negative consequences.

Sigh ...

Apparently the dogs missed me.

As Kait was often out at school or work or studying, the dogs did not get the attention or exercise that they were accustomed to.

They entertained themselves by chewing on corners of things.  Antique stool.  Favourite chair.  The piano.

But their piece de resitance was the window sill ...

I think the damage was caused by Buffy and Sooki as they are the youngest and easily bored. 

Now that everyone is getting more attention and walks, things have settled back into old routines -- but it may be a while before I screw up the courage to go away again.

Or not ...

A bridge too far

Last week I sought out the Unitarian Church in the south end of Halifax and went to the Sunday morning service.  

 I wanted to join the choir and the first practice was Thursday evening.    When Thursday evening came I was still unpacking, tired and didn't fancy the half hour drive through the fog.  So I stayed home.   And I'm glad I did. 

Dear old Tugger, our oldest cat who had been acting a bit demented for a few months suddenly seemed very unwell.  We'd been so busy with unpacking we didn't notice that he perhaps wasn't eating and drinking as he should. 

This pic is from last week a day after we moved in.  We didn't have any furniture but we set up a camp table with blankets inside the front bay window.

That evening his health declined.  We stroked him and Thumper lay with him most of the evening.  I pointed that out to Kait and said that Thumper didn't usually do that.  "It's because Tugger's warm", my rational daughter replied. 

The next morning I found Tugger dead in his cozy bed.  He was cold.  But Roswell, one of our other cats was curled up next to him and stayed there for several hours while we dealt with our loss and dug a grave in the back yard.

It's amazing that a house full of animals can seem so empty because some poor old demented cat is gone.