Sunday, August 28/2016 - Saturday, September 3/2016

This week was marked by the tragic loss of our sweet little Cooper.  John and I had gone for a load of wood and Cooper was running on the trail, after a while we did not see him and stopped and called to no avail, so we turned around and went back where we found him on the trail. We are not too sure if he slipped in the mud or if his heart murmur was actually worse than what we had thought. He had absolutely no damage to his body, so we think it was a heart attack.  Either way, we found him lying on the trail lifeless.  The realization of what had occurred was devastating and needless to say, it was very hard to deal with.  Unfortunately, that was just the start of this horrible evening.
When we attempted to turn around in the trail, we ended up getting stuck and despite several attempts to get moving, we ended up having to walk a mile and a half to the grid road with the hopes that there would be a kind soul traveling along the road that would stop and give us a ride back into town. Dave had been with us when we had got the wood but had taken the trail ahead of us and had headed home. Apparently he had waited a bit at the grid but decided to go home before we actually made it back to the grid.
I really was not looking forward to the walk with my sore hip, but I managed to find a stick that worked wonderfully as a cane.  I needed a few rests but we made it to the grid without meeting any bears, cougars or wolves.  Hell, we didn't even see a rabbit!!
Darkness had descended by the time we hit the grid but we headed towards town and eventually were picked up by a crew coming back from their forestry jobs.  They dropped us off at the yard and John and I then got into the side by side and headed back out to the truck.
It was a good thing that it was an exceptionally lovely evening out weather wise  as I had not taken any jackets when we had left earlier!!  I was totally NOT prepared for any sort of "issue".  I had even forgot the damn phone which really would have made things so very much easier!! All of these omissions added up to lessons learned!!
Back at the truck, we had to double line the winch to pull the truck out.  With the truck finally out, we headed for home.  I drove the side by side home and John was in the truck.  When we arrived at the yard, we dug a grave beside the fireplace and buried Cooper.  It was a hard thing to do but it had to be done.  Life sucks sometimes and this was truly one of those times.  It was a hard way to end the day.
John was devastated and I was so very sad for him.  He had come to love that dog.  We can only take solace in that he did not suffer and he is now in doggie heaven playing with Hogan and a whole bunch of kids as he sooo loved kids.    We can take comfort in that.
The rest of the week remained quite sober but the neighbours came over and helped us celebrate Cooper's short life.  It was a much needed break from the sadness that had descended on the yard.
Work rounded out the week for me and the long weekend was upon us.
It is definitely time to start getting our shit together and getting ready for the fall and the harvesting of the garden.  The weather is starting to turn chilly and there is now a risk of frost!!

Sunday, August 21/2016 - Saturday, August 27/2016

We arrived home on Sunday after a quick stop at Walmart in North Battleford.  I picked up a few things for making relish as that is on my agenda for this coming week.
We arrived home in the late afternoon and were soon joined by Dave and Shirley and Gary.  They all wanted to see the new trailer and John and I actually felt "missed"!!
Cooper, it appeared was glad to get home too.  He checked out the yard and greeted the neighbours like he had not seen them in a month!!   He actually travelled very well.  We took his kennel and he appeared to be quite comfortable in it.
The rest of the week was my working the scheduled night shifts and making relish.  It is that time of the year again.....relish and pickled beets.   Mmmmm

Rain, rain

Time for campfire in a can

In the shop