enough dog posts already!

Someone's not having a great day. And I don't even mean me, the guy who has to clean up after what's-her-muzzle.

Experience has told me that when Daisy is panting like mad, tongue hanging over the floor creating a puddle, I must run and grab some paper towel.

I did so today. It's nice to anticipate these things, as squeegeeing barf off the floor isn't an activity I relish. She obediently deposits onto the towel and we see what happens next.


What happened next was a very quick dash to the backyard. She was runny from both ends today, something her long fur isn't well-suited for. On her way back in afterward I scooped her up and gave her a haircut. Let me tell you, cutting poo off a dog is a whole lot quicker than giving a bath. The fur around her tail may look patchy, but at least she's clean in a jiffy!

So yeah, that's my fun for the day.

On Sunday Carrie wanted to go skating on the canal; I caved and we headed out in -25° breezy weather for some exercise. It's miserable work getting bundled, but once you get moving you start sweating soon enough.

It should be milder for a bit now. Some more snow would be nice...

new year, new... nothing!

We're all recovered from the holidays and life is nearly back to normal... especially now. Last Saturday Carrie's brother came over from BC to pick up a dog that Carrie's other brother ordered from a breeder in Ontario. Most of us had a great time, but Daisy would probably beg to differ. The newcomer, Pepper, was the scary reason why:


For the first two days our legless wonder was deathly afraid of the new pup, and she wouldn't tolerate being near it at all. Fortunately the guest couldn't jump onto the couch, so that's where Daisy safely hung out while the predator stalked the lowlands.


On day 3 Daisy's curiosity and playfulness got the better of her, and she proceeded to pick fights with Pepper. She didn't like Pepper's long paws reaching at her, but she countered this with her own length, using her bum to swipe at the pup and knock it off its feet.


Pepper was no pushover; she got the upper hand often enough.


We left the dogs at home a number of times, but with only one sizeable crate at our disposal, Pepper was crated while Daisy was kept gated in a single room (she's generally in her crate when we're out). This didn't work well the first time, as Daisy pushed over the gate and went to look for her new frenemy. The second time I propped up the gate better, but she simply proceeded to gnaw her way to freedom like a regular rodent. That pretty much got all her rights revoked for life and she will never have our trust again. Stupid dogs.


Sunday was relaxing as usual (if having 15 guests over for supper can be considered relaxing). Relaxing or not, it was fun, especially for those who got peed on while holding the pup.

On Monday we got out and enjoyed a very Ottawan activity: skating on the canal. It was very cold but the ice was decent, as were the beavertails afterwards (deep-fried slabs of sugar-coated goodness) that can be bought at various locations right on the canal ice. A short stretch of the canal wasn't open, but we got in at least 10km of skating.

Having seen our guests off, and having scrubbed all the floors today, everything is peaceful again.

Christmas holidays

We went to the Fraser Valley for a week and a bit for Christmas. (Sorry Bulkley Valleyites, no trip north this time... though the thought of a white Christmas was appealing.)

We flew out Saturday evening, with a stop in Toronto. There we got on a flight ultimately bound for Australia; it was ridiculously cramped and the seats were very close together, even for economy class. However, certain tiny passengers whose owners should have kept them in their crates had plenty of space.


We seemed to hang out with family a little more than usual, although we did hang out with friends a day or two. One couple from Ottawa had a Vancouver layover on their way home from Hawaii, so we headed over to the city with other friends--a family of former Ottawans--to entertain them for several hours.

We headed to the Vancouver Aquarium. There we saw all sorts of marine life, from turtles and eels to sharks and anacondas. There was also a 4D show which, it turned out, was geared toward kids and had nothing to do with anything marine.

Fortunately most of the sights could be seen from indoors, although we had to step out to take in some short shows of the dolphins and belugas.

Beauties.



Belugas.



Dolphins. Maybe hard to see, but in the second picture 3 dolphins are jumping to impressive heights.



Former temporary Hawaiians.


Former (we like to think future) Ottawans taking in a 4D show.



We had a couple of other former Ottawans to see who live in Washington, so we drove down to Seattle one night and stayed in a hotel on the waterfront. We spent the next day with our friends at the Museum of Flight. The guys probably had a better time there, but I consider it partial payback for the scads of art galleries that dot my past.

There was Wright brothers-era stuff, a WWI gallery, a WWII gallery, modern jets, and everything in between. Even a couple of simulators, one of which us guys went in.





An early stealth fighter. I'm a perfect fit! ...unless of course the cockpit needs to be closed while flying, in which I'd have to slouch a lot while flying.



We got to walk through a Concorde, which I found to be a surprisingly small plane up close.





There was also an old presidential plane first used 50 years ago. As an Air Force One, it served four presidents including Kennedy and Nixon. Not nearly as big as today's presidential jets, it was a neat step back in time.






Christmas gift-giving this year was affected mightily by Carrie's knitting hobby. She's been busy for a few months making things for each one of her family members, so that set the bar pretty high this year. Here's but a sample...


One day we went to Vancouver with the in-laws and hung out on Granville Island. We also cruised through the Olympic village, which is rather deserted; lots and lots of housing, hardly a soul residing there. Care to invest in a pretty summer spot on the west coast?




We flew back home yesterday, fortunately avoiding all the delay issues plaguing various airports. Of course that would have been too fortuitous, so our luggage decided to hole up somewhere rather than join us in Ottawa. Well, better at the end of the holidays than at the start. The luggage was delivered to our doorstep this morning, so all's well once more.

the single life... again

Nearly two weeks ago, on a Monday, I brought Carrie to the airport for another trip to Geneva; this was to be another nine-day excursion for her. She got as far as Montreal that day, where windy weather kept her trans-Atlantic flight grounded. So she spent a full day hanging out in her hotel room mere kilometres from home. She eventually made it to Geneva, where I'm confident she wowed the crowds with elegant arguments way over my head.

I headed south that weekend (well, on Thursday) to hang out with family. It was likely my last chance to go there before spring so I stayed there for a few days. I sort of hoped I would be snowed in and prevented from returning home Monday, but all we got there was a ton of rain. Oh London, why must thou get all the good weather(3+ feet of snow)?!! Anyway, the family enjoyed the dog's (and presumably my) visit, and I got back home Monday afternoon.

Carrie was expected to fly back home Wednesday, but she made it only to Zurich (which is technically the wrong way -- northeast). There, a couple inches of snow delayed some flights, causing her to miss her connecting flight to Montreal. Several hours of standing-in-line-looking-for-alternatives later, she was told she'd be flying out the next day via Frankfurt. So, another unexpected hotel stay. (For what it's worth, when you fly business class, they at least treat you to decent hotels and food when you do have delays like this.)

So Carrie got home a day late on Thursday, having to adjust to a 6-hour time change, only to prepare for our BC vacation two days later, which added 3 more hours of time change.

Anywho... we're in Langley now, with all our luggage, and thankful for an uneventful flight west.

Merry Christmas everyone!