From Spring back to Winter

On Friday it was Spring.  We did a bit of pruning of the fruit trees, trying to stop before we overworked our crappy shoulders.  I was down to a t-shirt (I always get warmer than Larry when we are working).  I washed all those loads of laundry.  No, our washing machine is nothing special.  An ordinary top loader I bought second hand off Craigslist.

The dogs were chewing on some bones, well Luna and Jake at least.  I gave Calli the best bone.  She didn't care.  We had come back from our walk and she just wanted to go back into her dark hole in the basement.  I didn't want her to.  I wanted her to lay outside in the warm of the sun and chew on her bone.  She didn't want to.  She kept going to the basement door and barking to go in.  We were all outside, and I wanted her to stay out and get some vitamin D.  I have no idea if dogs absorb vitamin D like we do, but I wanted her out there anyway.  Larry suggested we put her in the x-pen.  Great idea!  She never really did chew on the bone, but she did relax and didn't bark about her situation.  After a while Luna realized that Calli had the best bone.  She circled the x-pen and nudged it with her nose a few times, but wouldn't really dare do any more than that  while we were there.

Lunchtime rolled around.  We are always happy to have the excuse to stop for lunch.  The dogs were still outside.  I glanced out of the window and saw this.

Luna had pushed the side of the x-pen in.  She was digging at the outside.  It's hard to see, but the bone is just on the other side of the wire in her shadow.  Then she laid down to see if her pointy nose would fit under.  Not yet.

I managed to sneak out of the back door without her noticing. .

Did I mention what a glorious day it was?:)  It truly was, the birds were chirping, it was warm, we thought Spring had arrived.  Nope.

 The next day, March 1st, came in like a lion.  It was cold, it was windy, my dog club was holding an agility trial in an unheated barn.  A little bit of snow was blowing in the wind.  Snow would flutter down through the venting strip at the ridge of the barn roof.  People were huddled under a patio heater.  The ring crew were huddled in their blankets.  Sunday morning was the worst.  The snow had started in earnest.  The roads were not the best.  People told of seeing cars in the ditch on the drive there.  There was a white strip of snow all the way down the middle of the ring that had blown thrown the vent strip on the roof overnight. Us dog people are a hardy bunch though, and eventually almost all the entries straggled in.  We started the trial late to allow some leeway on travelling times, and then we seemed to get farther behind as the day went on.  I had spent the first hour and a half as the parking attendant, as the parking area is small and we were trying to cram in as many cars as we could.  I figured on Sunday that a lot of people would cancel and I wouldn't really have to worry, but no, that parking lot filled up again.  It was a 12 hour day.

Oh the joys of using outdoor portapotties in the cold.  Umpteen layers seem to make you twice the size, with barely room to manoeuvre in there.  When you're done you pull the first bottom layer up, pull the first top layer down over it, pull the next bottom layer up over that, pull then next top layer down over that, and so on...., so every thing is all nicely tucked in so there are no cold drafts blowing round your back.  Three layers on the bottom, 5 layers on the top.

I was able to run my dogs at the trial.  Jake, well he was just amazing:)  Like someone said, you can bring him out of the closet, dust him off, throw him in the ring, and he just performs.  Neither dog had seen any agility equipment since early January, and hadn't had any serious work since last Fall.  Not that I take agility seriously any more, it's just something fun I do with my dogs occasionally.  We lose our practice barn to the BMXers over much of the winter.

 Jake went 5 for 5.  Five Qualifying runs, with a first, three seconds, and a third place.  Love my little red dog:)  He has now earned enough Q's to get his Silver award.  Two nice rosettes for that, which I borrowed for a photo, and were handed back.   I don't display them, and no point in just stuffing them in a drawer to become more junk.

Luna, well she is a riot to run.  She is kind of crazy, okay a lot crazy on Saturday.  Let's just say we had a lot of fun.  She was the only dog I ran on Sunday, and got 2 out of 3 Qualifying runs, and just one bar down to prevent the third.  A first place in one class for sure, and I think a first in the other.  I don't take any ribbons, and don't care too much about the placements, it is really the 'Q' (as we agility people call the Qualifying runs) that counts.  It is the 'Q's accumulated that allow you to move up in divisions, or receive titles.

Luna was good, was quite social, and only had a couple of small snarks with dogs that 'stared' at her.  An awesome weekend spent with my dogs.

We got a got about 3 inches of snow on Sunday, and then we got freezing rain, just barely freezing.  Thankfully not a lot, about a 1/4 inch coating on everything.  The roads were good for driving home.  The power went off last night, just as Amazing Race was starting:(  A few branches off a large fir tree near the front of the house broke off with almighty cracks.  The power is on this morning.  Unfortunately this snow melt will not be as kind as last week's, with it's sunshine, mild temperatures and NO rain.  It is wet, slushy and raining out there this morning, with rain forecast all week.  The birds are singing though, so Spring surely must be on it's way.

Happy New Year!!

No wild parties tonight, but we did spend a lot of time playing around with this.  It belongs to David, and he said he's got to obstacle 72.  Meredith has made it 44, and I've made it about 24.  There are 125. It is MUCH harder than it looks.  Larry tried it for the first time tonight, and was shockingly successful.  Not that he made it too far, but he got past some of the very early difficult obstacles on the first attempt.

And here's a few photos from the least photographed Christmas ever.  We were trying to set up a family photo.  I wanted everyone to sit, because I wanted the tree to stand out, so I was demonstrating how much better it looked if people sat:)  

And yes, we did have a white Christmas.  It started snowing in the early afternoon and turned everything white for the rest of the day.

And tonight we had one last chance to torment Smudge with a Christmas jester collar, before the decorations are all packed away.

Here's wishing for the very best for everyone in 2013!

Winter Wonderland Wednesday

Just in case you were wondering if we had fallen off the edge of the earth, or had got buried in a snowdrift, or were running in circles and couldn't find our way out of the mall.......here's a few pictures from this morning.




We've flirted with snow the last few days.  I drove home from White Rock on Sunday evening in a blizzard, which petered out to half strength after a few miles, and by the time I was half way home it had fizzled out completely, and there was nothing here.

There was a dusting of snow on the ground both Monday and Tuesday morning, but this morning there was a few inches, which has just about doubled itself in the last three or four hours.  The chickens were not impressed, and thankfully we cleaned out both the coops and the sheep barn yesterday, as they will be getting a lot of use if this keeps up.  Some of the bolder hens made the 50' dash to the sheep barn this morning, but they'll probably lay their eggs in there, because the snow is now deeper and they won't want to make their way back.



The dogs enjoy it of course, although it's quite a workout for Calli, as the snow impedes her back legs, and she has to drag them through it.



Lovely to look at, but the novelty will wear off fast.  We are right around the freezing mark, so the snow is great for snowmen and snowballs, but not so great for driving in.



For once Luna's undercarriage won't be covered in mud, yay!









The hen from the south chicken coop that  usually flies over the fence and heads to the right down that row of evergreens, and lays an egg in the open on some dirt, wouldn't have been too pleased this morning.  Hopefully she will be forced to lay her egg on some dry hay in a cosy nest box.  Poor thing!:)



And speaking of malls, I haven't even ventured there yet this shopping season.  Probably haven't been there since last year.  Maybe tomorrow:)

Please Tell Me It's a Mirage!

Supposed to turn to rain later, and warm up, and then they are dangling a carrot at the end of the week.

Forecast

Today

• 4°C
•  
• 60%

Sun

• 8°C
• 4°C
•  

Mon

• 7°C
• 6°C
•  

Tue

• 9°C
• 5°C
•  

Wed

• 8°C
• 5°C
•  

Thu

• 10°C
• 4°C
• 60%

Fri

• 11°C
• 4°C
•  

Issued : 8:39 AM PST Saturday 28 January 2012

Vitamin D

It's been more than a week since we've seen the sun.  There's been a whole lot of grey and white and wet.  The snow is taking it's sweet time to leave.  The hayfield, which is a south facing slope, is showing quite a bit of green.  That was no doubt helped along by Pride, who had access to that field last week and kept himself busy pawing through the snow to find the grass.  I hope he clobbered a few moles on the head while he was at it. Mole hills are rife in that field.  The field to the north of us is almost all green, no doubt because it is very open and exposed and when the snow was blowing, most of it blew away.  The neighbour's field to the south is still all white, as is our back hayfield.  The top of the driveway is still a skating rink.

It was pretty exciting to see the sun yesterday afternoon though, and I headed out to the hayfield for a wander.  A couple of weeks ago Luna lost a Flying Squirrel toy out there.  I did mention to the collies that perhaps they could find the toy.

Then I saw Jake tugging on something, trying to pull it free from a frozen clump of snow, and I thought 'Wow, he's found it already, good boy Jake!'

And then I saw what it really was.

He did get a little stick fetching in

And then there was a little mole/vole hunting

If you tell Luna to find a toy when you are outside, that only means one thing.

Her 'soccer' ball.  She ran off and brought it back from somewhere down the driveway.

And the chickens are happy that the snowy is slowly going.  This green is under the fir trees, so the snow was only thin there.

It's the temperature that affects the chickens more than the ground conditions.  Here they march up the snow to see if I've brought them any treats.  We cleaned some stuff out of my mum's fridge, freezer and cupboards.  The chickens are getting some of it.  They think it's pretty great.

And this morning, it's all grey and raining once again.

And The Freeway Roared

Hwy 1, formally known as the Trans Canada, and which we just call 'the freeway', is about 3 miles due south of us. Normally we can't hear it, but when we have a weather system coming in, or specifically a mild, damp weather system, the freeway lets us know.  We can hear a dull roar of traffic, even though there are hills and ravines and stretches of trees and buildings in the way. This morning the freeway was roaring.  We had been warned for the last couple of days that this cold, snowy spell was coming to a dramatic end.  A winter storm warning, with it's red banner, had been splashed across the weather page.  A warm front was moving in, which, before it beat the cold monster to it's knees, would bring us some more snow, then freezing rain, and then just straight rain, and a lot of it.

We just got a skiff of snow overnight, and it was about -6 this morning.  After we did the morning chores, I went out and removed the snow accumulation from the costco shelter that we have over our old travel trailer. That's the third time I've done it this week.  Then I started looking at other roofs that might not hold up under 8 inches of waterlogged snow.  I pulled snow off the north chicken coop, and then worked on the sheep barn.  A little bit of freezing rain came down while I was out there, but not much.  Sometime in the early afternoon it started again.  By this time the temperature was close to the freezing mark.  The rain was making a bit of a crust on top of the snow, and on a few other things, but it was nothing to worry about.  The road is brown slush.  Water is dripping off the roof. The roar has died, and now I can clearly hear the train a few miles to the north.

Luna says she will be quite happy to have a less icy place to pee.  And I think I'm going to knock the snow off that hedge before it gets all heavy and wet and pulls it out of shape.

Are We Just Wimps?

This morning we woke up to blowing snow,  temperatures of -12 C and a wind chill of -24 C.  Probably seems like nothing to some of you, but I suppose it is all what you are used to. This is unusual cold for us.  Not a record by any means, but probably the coldest we've had it for a few winters now.

I already know that very cold or very hot temperatures affect Calli's back feet, with their nerve damage, so I had booties on her back feet before we even went out the door.  We own two dog coats. I don't know if they actually needed them, but I put them on anyway.  One that fits Jake (barely) and another one that would fit Luna or Calli.  I figured Calli had that good Lab undercoat, and a bit more of a fat cover than skinny minny, no undercoat Luna, so Luna got the coat.  Calli got a reflective vest and a bear bell, so we could find her out in the bush.  She has been wandering off the trail, scrounging up things, and taking her own sweet time to respond to our calls.  

We didn't get very far, and both Calli and Jake were sitting down and holding up one front paw and then the other.  Back to the house I went, and put booties on all four feet of both of them.   The booties are just cheap little things from the dollar store, and they worked well, but every once in a while, one would come off in the snow, and the dog would stop and hold up it's foot.  We did get going, finally,  and Luna started playing with Jake.  That was good, as it took his mind off the weird feeling of wearing a coat AND booties.  Next thing there is a yipe, Luna stops dead in her tracks, and won't put her back left leg down.  I said 'Forget this', and I just scooped her up and started slogging back to the house.  I eventually had to put her down, and she used her leg, so thank goodness it was nothing major.  Next thing Jake stops, one naked foot in the air, and I scooped him up and carried him the rest of the way.  Looks like it's going to be a mostly inside day for the dogs.

So although this story (thanks Suzanne) makes sense,  does it depend somewhat on what a dog is used to?

Luna's Snowballs

She makes them and then she eats them.

There is no way she would have let me pull on those snowballs like she was.  She would have been leaping like a fish on the end of a line if I had been pulling on the hair like that.  I just left her to it, and a bit later she was all cleaned up.

More snow today, about 6 inches on top of what we had left from Saturday morning.  It was a different kind of snow, and it balled up on Luna's hair something fierce.  Jake not so much, but his hair is much softer than Luna's, and of course Calli only got a few around her feet.

It was Jake's turn for the chiropractor today, in another freaking snowstorm like the trip with Luna in November.   We have been noticing that Jake was limping for two or three steps on his right hind when he got up from his chair or the floor.  If you didn't see him get up, you'd never know anything was wrong.  Before making an expensive trip to the vet, I wanted the chiropractor to check him out first.  Dr. Lana said his pelvis was quite twisted, and Jake was not happy when she was adjusting it back into position.  We are hoping that it does the trick.  It wasn't an instant fix, she said it might take a day or two, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Since the University had closed for the day due to the weather, David was able to drive me, since he is the only one with snow tires.  We went from everything all white and snowing at our place, down the steep hill to the valley along the river.  Just past the dyke where we walk the dogs, the snow had stopped, the road was black and wet.  It was like coming into a different world.  Of course on the way back, we drove back into the winter whiteness.  A farmer at the bottom of the steep hill back up to our neck of the woods flagged us down and told us not to attempt it, he said most had failed.  I'm sure David on his own would have tried it anyway, but his dear mother suggested we had better take the safe option.

More snow is predicted for tonight.

And Luna, well she hasn't been this clean for a long time.

It's a Snow Day!

 Saturday we woke up to 7 or 8 inches of snow.  Then it rained, and then it was windy, and then the sun came out. In the evening we got a bit more snow.

<

To Stink Or Not To Stink.

  No question is Luna's mind.  She'll take being a stinker (literally), any day. Eau du poisson is her smell of choice. 

The salmon have been spawning somewhere up Nathan Creek, which is where we go for a walk along the dyke.    Just about every time we've been down there lately, Luna has managed to find a dead and smelly salmon to anoint herself with.

Here's the setting.  Golden Ears glowing white with snow, and the bare blueberry bushes adding a cheery touch to the flatlands.  And that schoolbus....well it takes a scenic side trip through the bushes.  Actually, it's been sat there for a long time, not sure why.  They use old school buses to transport the pickers. Maybe they are just storing it there, or maybe it's there as a lunch room of sorts during picking season.

And here we are. We had a photographer along this time.  All pictures are courtesy of Meredith.  Not quite sure what I was yapping on about here.  Practicing my flying technique may?  And the dogs, well they are there somewhere.  Jake and Luna are probably already at the swimming hole, which we tell them is closed for the season.  That's where those pilings are out to the left of my left wing arm.  The water level is quite low, and the swimming hole has changed a bit. Now there's more sand, which Calli thinks is a great thing.

Jake is ever hopeful.

Got a stick, or a ball, or damn it, got anything?

This is the only fish we saw. Calli just gave it a quick sniff, and here is looking for the rock that she had been carrying.  We don't think that Luna even noticed it, although really we weren't keeping a very good watch for Luna and her fish shoulder roll at all. 

We did get in a bit of water play near another set of pilings. If we haven't taken anything with us, sometimes it's hard to find a stick that will even float. Most of the wood is waterlogged stuff that has been washed downstream.

Jake was the only one that got any swimming in, and not much of that.  There was a bit of ice along the edge in spots, so the water would have been very cold.  When it comes to fetching, Jake doesn't have any common sense, so we have to use ours.

Jake on stilts, or maybe pilings.

See these teeth woman.....you'd better throw that stick

It was a gorgeous afternoon, the third of four dry and relatively sunny days we had in a row.

And there were three tired and happy dogs

When we got home, I was taking my jacket off in the utility room, and all of a sudden I'm wondering why I'm smelling fish.......

Luna was about eight feet away.  I went over to smell her. Sure enough.....

Meredith gave her a whiff, and she thought it was just the remnants of the previous trips.  I didn't think so, as I hadn't noticed the smell before.  There was no evidence of anything gross stuck to her back, but I got out a soapy rag and rubbed it over her shoulders anyway.  Cleaned her off, repeated a couple of more times, and now there's just a hint.

No doubt she'll be looking to top it up on the next visit.

And those four nice days we had, well they are now just a memory, because look what we have this morning!

About 7 or 8 inches of heavy wet snow:(

Bad photo, but that's Nelson checking it out.