This week started out with a quad ride. Dave, Shirley, Jeff, Gary and John and I hit the trails. It had been raining off and on for the past week so we knew the trails were likely going to be a bit wetter than the previous time on the trails. We had a short but powerful storm go through last evening so wet ground was inevitable!!
We got down to Deer Lake and it reminded me of the trails of a few years.....mud, mud and more mud!! Oh dear.....this is going to be a very "dirty" day!!
Gary's quad was making quite a noise so he decided to head back to town. The rest of us continued on and we did a big loop trail that took us to Hooker Lake, past Harry Piche's cabin, past the old truck, to the shelter and back to Heart Lake. It was awesome but I was covered with all kinds of mud and dirt.
When we got to the turn off to Heart Lake, John asked if anyone wanted to check out the trail to the south end of Otter Lake and everyone was game for that so we took a detour to Otter. We stopped along side Beau Creek and Dave noted that the beavers were building a dam and that the flow of the creek was greatly reduced. Well, it wasn't too long before there was a huge hole in the dam and the water was flowing freely into the creek!! I am sure Mr. Beaver will not be too impressed when he sees Dave's bit of destruction!!
We carried on the Otter Lake and I was really surprised to see how low the water level was again this year. There is no way that Leon is going to be getting his fishing barge off shore and into the lake this year!! The water's edge is just too far away. One would probably have to extend the dock another 100 feet to get to water!!
All in all, it was a good trip. Losing Gary was our only casualty but Jeff had a flat tire by the time we got to Otter so that had to be dealt with. We all arrived home safe and sound and that is always a good thing.
This week also marked Cooper's surgery. It was time for him to get "fixed". He went in Tuesday morning and John and I picked him up around 4:30 that same day. He was looking pretty sad and spent the rest of the evening puking his poor little guts out. He obviously did not take well to the anesthetic. He also got chipped and had a good examination of his mouth injury as well as suture removal from his lip. All in all, the surgery went well. Bonnie (the vet) was really pleased with the way his mouth healed. She had an issue with the first micro chip she inserted so had to insert another. Apparently the first chip wasn't transmitting so now Cooper has two!!
The evening went quietly along until it was time to put the cone over Cooper's head so that he would not lick the incision. Well, I no sooner got in on than he began freaking out. Jesus, I have never in my life heard such shrieking and sheer and utter terror coming out of a dog in my life. Cooper took off and did a spin around inside the trailer hitting every possible object in here all the while shrieking at the top of his lungs. I finally caught him in the bedroom and by the time John got his cone and collar off, we were both traumatized. John opened up the door and Cooper took off into the night!! Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I wanted to take off into the night as well!! Holy Buckets Batman!!
After giving him about 20 minutes to settle down, we went out to try and find him. We found him under a trailer in the corner of the yard looking like he had been beat!! It took a minute to convince him to come out but eventually we did manage to get him back into the trailer.
By this time I was exhausted.....Have I ever mentioned that I really did not want this dog in the first place!! Time for me to head to bed to calm my nerves. Jesus......
The rest of the week passed quietly with Cooper feeling better and eventually feeling so much better that he decided that it would be OK to chew the brand new iPhone cord. So glad it wasn't the old one!! Holy Buckets!! Man, this animal is trying my patience!!
The kids arrived for their two weeks at the lake.
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Sunday, July 17/2016 - Saturday, July 23/2016
This week started out with a quad ride. Dave, Shirley, Jeff, Gary and John and I hit the trails. It had been raining off and on for the past week so we knew the trails were likely going to be a bit wetter than the previous time on the trails. We had a short but powerful storm go through last evening so wet ground was inevitable!!
We got down to Deer Lake and it reminded me of the trails of a few years.....mud, mud and more mud!! Oh dear.....this is going to be a very "dirty" day!!
Gary's quad was making quite a noise so he decided to head back to town. The rest of us continued on and we did a big loop trail that took us to Hooker Lake, past Harry Piche's cabin, past the old truck, to the shelter and back to Heart Lake. It was awesome but I was covered with all kinds of mud and dirt.
When we got to the turn off to Heart Lake, John asked if anyone wanted to check out the trail to the south end of Otter Lake and everyone was game for that so we took a detour to Otter. We stopped along side Beau Creek and Dave noted that the beavers were building a dam and that the flow of the creek was greatly reduced. Well, it wasn't too long before there was a huge hole in the dam and the water was flowing freely into the creek!! I am sure Mr. Beaver will not be too impressed when he sees Dave's bit of destruction!!
We carried on the Otter Lake and I was really surprised to see how low the water level was again this year. There is no way that Leon is going to be getting his fishing barge off shore and into the lake this year!! The water's edge is just too far away. One would probably have to extend the dock another 100 feet to get to water!!
All in all, it was a good trip. Losing Gary was our only casualty but Jeff had a flat tire by the time we got to Otter so that had to be dealt with. We all arrived home safe and sound and that is always a good thing.
This week also marked Cooper's surgery. It was time for him to get "fixed". He went in Tuesday morning and John and I picked him up around 4:30 that same day. He was looking pretty sad and spent the rest of the evening puking his poor little guts out. He obviously did not take well to the anesthetic. He also got chipped and had a good examination of his mouth injury as well as suture removal from his lip. All in all, the surgery went well. Bonnie (the vet) was really pleased with the way his mouth healed. She had an issue with the first micro chip she inserted so had to insert another. Apparently the first chip wasn't transmitting so now Cooper has two!!
The evening went quietly along until it was time to put the cone over Cooper's head so that he would not lick the incision. Well, I no sooner got in on than he began freaking out. Jesus, I have never in my life heard such shrieking and sheer and utter terror coming out of a dog in my life. Cooper took off and did a spin around inside the trailer hitting every possible object in here all the while shrieking at the top of his lungs. I finally caught him in the bedroom and by the time John got his cone and collar off, we were both traumatized. John opened up the door and Cooper took off into the night!! Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I wanted to take off into the night as well!! Holy Buckets Batman!!
After giving him about 20 minutes to settle down, we went out to try and find him. We found him under a trailer in the corner of the yard looking like he had been beat!! It took a minute to convince him to come out but eventually we did manage to get him back into the trailer.
By this time I was exhausted.....Have I ever mentioned that I really did not want this dog in the first place!! Time for me to head to bed to calm my nerves. Jesus......
The rest of the week passed quietly with Cooper feeling better and eventually feeling so much better that he decided that it would be OK to chew the brand new iPhone cord. So glad it wasn't the old one!! Holy Buckets!! Man, this animal is trying my patience!!
The kids arrived for their two weeks at the lake.
We got down to Deer Lake and it reminded me of the trails of a few years.....mud, mud and more mud!! Oh dear.....this is going to be a very "dirty" day!!
Gary's quad was making quite a noise so he decided to head back to town. The rest of us continued on and we did a big loop trail that took us to Hooker Lake, past Harry Piche's cabin, past the old truck, to the shelter and back to Heart Lake. It was awesome but I was covered with all kinds of mud and dirt.
When we got to the turn off to Heart Lake, John asked if anyone wanted to check out the trail to the south end of Otter Lake and everyone was game for that so we took a detour to Otter. We stopped along side Beau Creek and Dave noted that the beavers were building a dam and that the flow of the creek was greatly reduced. Well, it wasn't too long before there was a huge hole in the dam and the water was flowing freely into the creek!! I am sure Mr. Beaver will not be too impressed when he sees Dave's bit of destruction!!
We carried on the Otter Lake and I was really surprised to see how low the water level was again this year. There is no way that Leon is going to be getting his fishing barge off shore and into the lake this year!! The water's edge is just too far away. One would probably have to extend the dock another 100 feet to get to water!!
All in all, it was a good trip. Losing Gary was our only casualty but Jeff had a flat tire by the time we got to Otter so that had to be dealt with. We all arrived home safe and sound and that is always a good thing.
This week also marked Cooper's surgery. It was time for him to get "fixed". He went in Tuesday morning and John and I picked him up around 4:30 that same day. He was looking pretty sad and spent the rest of the evening puking his poor little guts out. He obviously did not take well to the anesthetic. He also got chipped and had a good examination of his mouth injury as well as suture removal from his lip. All in all, the surgery went well. Bonnie (the vet) was really pleased with the way his mouth healed. She had an issue with the first micro chip she inserted so had to insert another. Apparently the first chip wasn't transmitting so now Cooper has two!!
The evening went quietly along until it was time to put the cone over Cooper's head so that he would not lick the incision. Well, I no sooner got in on than he began freaking out. Jesus, I have never in my life heard such shrieking and sheer and utter terror coming out of a dog in my life. Cooper took off and did a spin around inside the trailer hitting every possible object in here all the while shrieking at the top of his lungs. I finally caught him in the bedroom and by the time John got his cone and collar off, we were both traumatized. John opened up the door and Cooper took off into the night!! Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I wanted to take off into the night as well!! Holy Buckets Batman!!
After giving him about 20 minutes to settle down, we went out to try and find him. We found him under a trailer in the corner of the yard looking like he had been beat!! It took a minute to convince him to come out but eventually we did manage to get him back into the trailer.
By this time I was exhausted.....Have I ever mentioned that I really did not want this dog in the first place!! Time for me to head to bed to calm my nerves. Jesus......
The rest of the week passed quietly with Cooper feeling better and eventually feeling so much better that he decided that it would be OK to chew the brand new iPhone cord. So glad it wasn't the old one!! Holy Buckets!! Man, this animal is trying my patience!!
The kids arrived for their two weeks at the lake.
Sunday, July 10/2016 - Saturday, July 16/2016
This week's highlight was a quick trip into Saskatoon. John had an appointment to see the surgeon about his gall bladder. He has had a few attacks over the last few years and our family physician thought it would be wise to get an opinion from a surgeon so.... we headed into Saskatoon for the appointment.
We went in on Monday as his appointment was scheduled for early Tuesday. We arrived at the farm and spent a quiet evening with Bernie, Gloria and Kimmy. Cooper had some quality time with the cats and much to every one's surprise, he was pretty good with them again this time. Of course they are not really afraid of dogs so they don't run and that is probably a good thing!!
We had an awesome Chinese food supper (as always) and a few drinks. It was a nice evening.
I managed to get most of my shopping done before John's appointment and that was a good thing.
John's gall bladder is good for now so no surgery required as yet. We we wait and see how many attacks he has when we are in Arizona this winter and then take it from there.
Once all our shopping was done, we headed back to the farm, picked up the truck and camper and headed for Leoville. I am scheduled to work in the morning so there was a need to get home.
The rest of the week went quickly and before too long, the weekend was upon us.
Casey came for a quick visit and it was good to see him again. Roxy was looking good and after putting Cooper in his place, they got along pretty well.
Another busy week but again, a good one. July is half over and that is hard to believe, Time flies!!
Life is good,
We went in on Monday as his appointment was scheduled for early Tuesday. We arrived at the farm and spent a quiet evening with Bernie, Gloria and Kimmy. Cooper had some quality time with the cats and much to every one's surprise, he was pretty good with them again this time. Of course they are not really afraid of dogs so they don't run and that is probably a good thing!!
We had an awesome Chinese food supper (as always) and a few drinks. It was a nice evening.
I managed to get most of my shopping done before John's appointment and that was a good thing.
John's gall bladder is good for now so no surgery required as yet. We we wait and see how many attacks he has when we are in Arizona this winter and then take it from there.
Once all our shopping was done, we headed back to the farm, picked up the truck and camper and headed for Leoville. I am scheduled to work in the morning so there was a need to get home.
The rest of the week went quickly and before too long, the weekend was upon us.
Casey came for a quick visit and it was good to see him again. Roxy was looking good and after putting Cooper in his place, they got along pretty well.
Another busy week but again, a good one. July is half over and that is hard to believe, Time flies!!
Life is good,
Sunday, July 3/2016 - Saturday, July 9/2016
Four days scheduled to work this week so there wasn't much else to do except rest on my days off.
The weather has been OK and the garden is awesome. We are all gorging on fresh lettuce and kale. The dill is awesome too and I have been sharing that with whoever wants it. The rest of the herbs are coming along. The parsley is awesome and I have been sharing that with the store here in town as they use it for their meat trays when they get orders for them. Even Shirley was over the other day to get some for a recipe she was trying out.
Gary has been busy this week so that is really good for him. I am not sure though if he is really loving all the long days. He seems to be getting home quite late these days and with Arlene visiting, there is not much time for them to do much of anything. Hopefully they will at least be able to get out and do some fishing on the weekend.
Cooper continues to heal after his big fist fight with Bear. It is a good thing that dogs live in the present. His mouth is still a bit sore and he is still eating a combination of soft and hard dog food. His energy level is good so I am thinking that the worst is over for the little jerk!!
John has finally started working on the new roof for the little trailer that we bought from Gary last year. It will be nice to get it out of the shop.
We also bought an old wood burning stove for the shop so, that has to be dealt with at some point as well. Not sure exactly where that will go but it will be nice when it is chilly, dreary and rainy outside. We will be able to stoked that little sucker up and sit in the warmth instead of hanging around the campfire under the umbrella!!
All in all, it has been another good week. All is well.
The weather has been OK and the garden is awesome. We are all gorging on fresh lettuce and kale. The dill is awesome too and I have been sharing that with whoever wants it. The rest of the herbs are coming along. The parsley is awesome and I have been sharing that with the store here in town as they use it for their meat trays when they get orders for them. Even Shirley was over the other day to get some for a recipe she was trying out.
Gary has been busy this week so that is really good for him. I am not sure though if he is really loving all the long days. He seems to be getting home quite late these days and with Arlene visiting, there is not much time for them to do much of anything. Hopefully they will at least be able to get out and do some fishing on the weekend.
Cooper continues to heal after his big fist fight with Bear. It is a good thing that dogs live in the present. His mouth is still a bit sore and he is still eating a combination of soft and hard dog food. His energy level is good so I am thinking that the worst is over for the little jerk!!
John has finally started working on the new roof for the little trailer that we bought from Gary last year. It will be nice to get it out of the shop.
We also bought an old wood burning stove for the shop so, that has to be dealt with at some point as well. Not sure exactly where that will go but it will be nice when it is chilly, dreary and rainy outside. We will be able to stoked that little sucker up and sit in the warmth instead of hanging around the campfire under the umbrella!!
All in all, it has been another good week. All is well.
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| Cooper enjoying the fire |
Sunday, June 26/2016 - Saturday, July 2/2016
The weather has finally turned nice and I would like to say almost too hot for me although I really should not complain.
The garden is coming along nicely and of course the onions are ready and I have been crabbing at both Gary and Shirley to get picking and eating!! All the lettuce, the kale, the spinach and baby beet greens are ready for picking as well. I got the pea fence up and now the vines are crawling up the wire like there is no tomorrow. I love that fence and will be so thankful that I won't have to bend down to pick peas. Last year, the peas grew taller than the fence and it looks like that is going to be happening again this year!! The potatoes need to be hilled and I have tried to convince Gary to do it but I fear my words are falling on deaf ears!!
The birds are loving the seeds again this year and I found some old peanuts to add to the feeder and the blue jays and crows are loving those!! I have seen a few hummingbirds at the feeder but am thinking that there are too many feeders at the nursing home for them to be bothered with this one. The ants are loving it though!
I worked three shifts this week and am blessed to be working the July long weekend again this year!
The kids arrived here on Thursday evening to drop off the new fancy outside door we had ordered from Kim for the man cave. They were on their way to the lake for the long weekend. Of course I was working so didn't get to see them but maybe John and I will drive over at some point for a quick visit. I am hoping at some point this summer, that either Coors or Roxy will teach Cooper how to swim. Cooper frolics at the edge of the water but will not really go in past his tummy. He needs one of his cousins to teach him how not to drown!!
Cooper continues to improve and is running around like an idiot again. There is only a bit of swelling left along the one side of his nose from where he had all the dental injury but that is almost gone. He is back to eating some hard food and doesn't seem to have any trouble with that although I am thinking he was really loving the expensive canned food and would rather have that instead of the equally expensive hard puppy food!!
All in all, it was another good week. I can not believe that the month of June is over, and July has begun. Gosh, four more months and we will be preparing to head back to Arizona for the winter!! Yikes, time does fly when we are having fun.....or as we get older!!
The garden is coming along nicely and of course the onions are ready and I have been crabbing at both Gary and Shirley to get picking and eating!! All the lettuce, the kale, the spinach and baby beet greens are ready for picking as well. I got the pea fence up and now the vines are crawling up the wire like there is no tomorrow. I love that fence and will be so thankful that I won't have to bend down to pick peas. Last year, the peas grew taller than the fence and it looks like that is going to be happening again this year!! The potatoes need to be hilled and I have tried to convince Gary to do it but I fear my words are falling on deaf ears!!
The birds are loving the seeds again this year and I found some old peanuts to add to the feeder and the blue jays and crows are loving those!! I have seen a few hummingbirds at the feeder but am thinking that there are too many feeders at the nursing home for them to be bothered with this one. The ants are loving it though!
I worked three shifts this week and am blessed to be working the July long weekend again this year!
The kids arrived here on Thursday evening to drop off the new fancy outside door we had ordered from Kim for the man cave. They were on their way to the lake for the long weekend. Of course I was working so didn't get to see them but maybe John and I will drive over at some point for a quick visit. I am hoping at some point this summer, that either Coors or Roxy will teach Cooper how to swim. Cooper frolics at the edge of the water but will not really go in past his tummy. He needs one of his cousins to teach him how not to drown!!
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| A afternoon at Vimy Lake |
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| Cooper riding in the back of the truck in the chair! |
All in all, it was another good week. I can not believe that the month of June is over, and July has begun. Gosh, four more months and we will be preparing to head back to Arizona for the winter!! Yikes, time does fly when we are having fun.....or as we get older!!
Sunday, June 19/2016 - Saturday, June 25/2016
This week started off with the annual Father's Day Quad Rally here in town. The kids had all arrived and had parked their campers at Lac EauClaire for the summer so thought they would just ride over from there, register and head out on the course. Of course John and I, being older and wiser thought that there was a very good possibility of the kids not arriving at a reasonable time headed out on the trail before noon. Dave and Shirley and Gary and two of his friends joined us and we ended up having an awesome day.
I had worked the night before so came home, grabbed a couple of hours sleep then climbed into the side by side and off we went.....down the dusty trail. And, it was dusty as there had only been a few episodes of rain but, enough had fallen so that the rally was not cancelled due to severe dryness. The possibility of forest fires was way too great so we were all thankful for the rain we did receive.
We were long past the midway point of the trail when we finally got a call from the kids asking us where we were. They were so far behind us that there was no way we would see them!! Oh well, as long as they were having a good time we were good with that and it certainly did sound like they were!! They were planning on only doing the rally till the wiener stop and then heading back over to Clearwater from there. I think they were feeling the effects from the partying from the night before!! Oh to be young and foolish again!!
We arrived back in Leoville around six and I was more than happy to shower and hit the bed as I was starting to power out. Two hours sleep and a whole day of quadding was taking its toll. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow!!
The rest of the week included three shifts at the home for me and grass cutting for John.
Cooper is slowly healing. A lot of the swelling has gone down and he is eating lots of soft foods. We have picked up all his chew bones as that is probably not a good idea and he is careful not to chew on the "bad" side of his mouth. Life is looking better for him!!
Life is good.
I had worked the night before so came home, grabbed a couple of hours sleep then climbed into the side by side and off we went.....down the dusty trail. And, it was dusty as there had only been a few episodes of rain but, enough had fallen so that the rally was not cancelled due to severe dryness. The possibility of forest fires was way too great so we were all thankful for the rain we did receive.
We were long past the midway point of the trail when we finally got a call from the kids asking us where we were. They were so far behind us that there was no way we would see them!! Oh well, as long as they were having a good time we were good with that and it certainly did sound like they were!! They were planning on only doing the rally till the wiener stop and then heading back over to Clearwater from there. I think they were feeling the effects from the partying from the night before!! Oh to be young and foolish again!!
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| Add caption |
The rest of the week included three shifts at the home for me and grass cutting for John.
Cooper is slowly healing. A lot of the swelling has gone down and he is eating lots of soft foods. We have picked up all his chew bones as that is probably not a good idea and he is careful not to chew on the "bad" side of his mouth. Life is looking better for him!!
Life is good.
Sunday, June 12/2016 - Saturday, June 18/2016
This week started out with dreary weather. It is cloudy with an occasion sighting of the sun!! I keep thinking that if it is going to be like this, it might just as well rain!! The rain we got last Wednesday was awesome and provided some much needed water to our nearby forests and that is always a blessing.
The only good thing about this kind of weather is that it is good "sleeping" weather and that is awesome as the start of this week found me doing another night shift at the nursing home!! I am slowly building up my hours and have now left a copy of my schedule with the girls so that they can plan their summer and make sure I am available to take their shifts. It all works out very well for them and for me.
This week was highlighted by Cooper having his first official dogfight. Unfortunately, he tried to take on Bear who is ten times his size and is probably ten times stronger. It did not turn out well for poor little Cooper and I ended up taking a trip to the vet for stitches and examination. He lost one of his permanent molars and may lose another as Bear had his head clasped in his jaws!! The sutures were needed to close a laceration on his lip. He has several marks on his head and body where Bear's teeth connected but we are hoping those will heal without leaving scars. He was a very sad little puppy. He is now on painkillers and antibiotics. Good grief.....it is starting already!! Hopefully he heals without any difficulty. I guess Cooper gets to stay in the yard here at home when John and I visit Dave and Shirley as it was Bear's jealousy that sparked the whole fight as Cooper was being way too friendly with Shirley and Bear took exception. Oh well, better safe than sorry and if I remember correctly, Bear and Hogan never got along either.
My hip continues to give me grief but I guess there is not too much I can do about that as there is severe arthritic changes on xray and the aching will probably not go away until I get a new hip joint. I walk like a really old lady and that of course is not sitting well with me!! Guess I will just keep on plugging away as best I can and be glad it is just an aching hip!!
Life is good.....most days!!
The only good thing about this kind of weather is that it is good "sleeping" weather and that is awesome as the start of this week found me doing another night shift at the nursing home!! I am slowly building up my hours and have now left a copy of my schedule with the girls so that they can plan their summer and make sure I am available to take their shifts. It all works out very well for them and for me.
This week was highlighted by Cooper having his first official dogfight. Unfortunately, he tried to take on Bear who is ten times his size and is probably ten times stronger. It did not turn out well for poor little Cooper and I ended up taking a trip to the vet for stitches and examination. He lost one of his permanent molars and may lose another as Bear had his head clasped in his jaws!! The sutures were needed to close a laceration on his lip. He has several marks on his head and body where Bear's teeth connected but we are hoping those will heal without leaving scars. He was a very sad little puppy. He is now on painkillers and antibiotics. Good grief.....it is starting already!! Hopefully he heals without any difficulty. I guess Cooper gets to stay in the yard here at home when John and I visit Dave and Shirley as it was Bear's jealousy that sparked the whole fight as Cooper was being way too friendly with Shirley and Bear took exception. Oh well, better safe than sorry and if I remember correctly, Bear and Hogan never got along either.
My hip continues to give me grief but I guess there is not too much I can do about that as there is severe arthritic changes on xray and the aching will probably not go away until I get a new hip joint. I walk like a really old lady and that of course is not sitting well with me!! Guess I will just keep on plugging away as best I can and be glad it is just an aching hip!!
Life is good.....most days!!
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