Miscellaneous Updates
Heidi, my stunningly beautiful Great Dane, was successfully spayed three days ago. We got to her appointment by cab, (there seems to be a lot of people who don't like having such a large dog in there vehicle.) and my son managed to bring her home the next day. She has been a little tentative for a couple of days but this morning she seem more like her old self.
It turned out she was not pregnant as a result of he frolic with the handsome dog next door.
I guess I will accept the wisdom of others and agree life will be better for her and myself going forward. She may actually live longer and I will not have to be the defender of her virtue twice a year.
It has been a few years since I have seen a female with her nether regions so nicely shaved. Hopefully that will grow back before Winter sets in.
Thanks to all for your encouraging words.
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My friend, Lynne, finally managed to come for a visit. I guess I never realized or appreciated you much of a challenge it was for her to drive this far. As it turned out I traveled by train to Mississauga and drove with her here. After a week's visit, and with encouragement from me she managed to drive home alone, reporting the trip went well, much to my relief. The real test will be if she can drive a back up here.
Lynne still seems to think I live at the end of the World, when in reality I am barely in what is considered Northern Ontario.
We often sat out on the porch swing. It is loveliest in the morning with a cup of coffee. Later in the day Lynne enjoyed a class of wine, while I mostly stuck to the coffee. Heidi often likes to join
us on the swing, which made it a little crowded.
While here we took a couple of short drives in the car. One to Emerald Lake, another just up the bush road I live on and then a couple of hours north to the Tri-town area. Driving up the bush roads, Lynne could not get over the fact that we could drive 20 or 30 miles and not see a building, let alone a house. Emerald Lake is a lovely deep lake trout fishing lake. There has been a gold mine here, The Golden Rose, for many years but it has only periodically been open. It seems they have yet to discover the mother lode of gold in this area. May they never! Virtually all the land outside of the small towns is crown land. It is owned by the government (all of us). For the most part we can all enjoy it. There are some camps and tourist places on some larger lakes but the vast majority of the thousands of lakes have no private places on them.
I did have an opportunity to take Heidi in a car to see how she traveled. She managed quite well. Once we got moving and with a little encouragement she lay down and slept much as she does most of the time at home.
It seems I am the one who needs some training at traveling with a dog! We stopped at the small town of Temagami to get a little take-out food. I decided to take Heidi over by the boat ramp to get a drink from the lake. I then decided to take her across the parking lot to the bush in case she had to move her bowels. She did. . . . but she only make it half way across the parking lot before she "stooped to poop". I madly looked around to see if anyone was noticing and I bent pretending that I was petting her. (It is hard to screen a Great Dane)
HONK! HONK! There was a double blast on an air horn. Someone did notice. A couple sitting on a balcony began shouting at me to pick up after my dog. Well I had no way to do this. I was unprepared. They admonished me and told to to go and get something to clean up after my dog and come back. I apologetically agreed to do so. I did. Never again will I be unprepared.
We stopped briefly at the famous Highway Bookstore south of the Tri-towns. It is largely alone on the highway, quite unusual for a retail store. It sells new and used books and has seem published over the years books on local history. The very elderly couple who own and run it have it up for sale if any of you bibliophiles is interested.
We managed to drive through the Tritown communities and the historic town of Cobalt (which I had never visited) It was a lovely drive by the wonderful Lake Timiskaming. I would have like to go further but Lynne aready thought we were pretty far from home.
Traveling around I was secretly hoping we would see a moose, bear or even a wolf or lynx. Lynne insisted even from the car seeing such wild animals would be a fright. A couple of deer is the best we could see. To see such animals one has to get going early in the morning when they are on the move.
While Lynne visited we were invited to a picnic at the cabin on the river with Parker and his family. His mother was visiting them. It was a little odd to have my former wife and my friend Lynne together. (Lynne is in yellow and my former wife has the white hair). It proved to be an enjoyable afternoon. My son Parker is the one cooking a hot dog on a stick.
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As I read about the weather all around us: Lots of rain in the West and high heat in the South and ever storms that spawn tornadoes, I realize I continue to live in a good place without weather extremes.
The one extreme that concerns me the most is the fact that last Winter we had a winter drought and it extended into the Spring and even this summer there has not been that much rain. As a result my beloved river has the least water in it that I have ever seen in my 30 years of living here. It is dramatically lower. No amount of summer rain will fill it. It will take a Winter with a lot of snow for it to recover. I just hope this pattern of precipitation is not the new normal.
While is has been warm this summer the heat has not been as dramatic as the lower levels of precipitation. We are currently into the typical warm days and cool nights (great for sleeping) usual this time of year.
This rock and gravel shore are usually covered in water even at the driest part of the summer.
This is the river directly in front of the cabin. The large rock in the foreground is usually half under water. A mile downstream some beaver were even trying to dam the river. Mother Nature knows this is usually lower water.
posted by Tossing Pebbles in the Stream @ 6:53 p.m.
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10 Comments:
My creek looks as your river. I well remember it being just a trickle though, so I'm grateful for what's here. Charly likes ??? it.
You've had a very nice visit with Lynne. Describing your adventures out and about make me wishful...30 miles of no buildings; I say "wow".
I laughed about the 'poop trip'. Possibly/probably, if that were me and Charly, before I knew others were aware, I would have said: "well, shit, Charly". Ha Ha Ha. Embarrassament? Happens to the best of us, doesn't it. Hey you look good in your picture over on Annies blog.
Ahh--caught without a doggie bag. We always carry the plastic bags that our newspaper is delivered in. It makes a great clean-up bag.
What an interesting combination--you in the deep country and Lynne in the city. There are positives to both areas, of course.
And I bet Great Dane's poop a fairly large amount. There are benefits to the toy varieties it seems.
Lynn is lovely Phillip. I hope she enjoyed her stay. What is that bridge in the distance over the river? Is it a walking bridge, or for vehicles? CYA later.
I wonder when picking up after your dog became the norm. Once upon a time no one bothered. Some new ways are very good.
Please Philip, if you ever have to go to the vet CALL ME!!! I have our four large dogs in the car all the time and don't mind a bit. Please don't forget.
It's hard when you live out here to remember to always have poop bags with you but I usually do!! I try not to let ours out if we are not going far but I am always prepared just in case.
Poor Lynn, trying to introduce her to the bush. If she has never been here before I can understand but I hope she saw the beauty too.
We are so desperately in need of weeks of rain. I am worried about the wells. I'm almost scared to run the washing machine! I have never seen the rivers so low as they are now. It's not so immediately obvious with the lake until you see the water level marks on the rocks...
Beautiful photos of your area! I recently read that Canada has more lakes than all the rest of the world. See, Americas do study other countries! ;)
Hope Heidi is feeling better. She will be happier and healthier fixed I believe.
It has been drizzling here all day... .14 inches so far. Would not do much for your poor river. BUT it is cool - a BIG change from the 100 degrees last Sunday - it is 71. I LOVE IT!
A friend used to buy the cheapest plastic sandwich bags and wear them like a mitt to poop scoop when caught without her scooper. But then she had a tea cup Yorkie... probably a snack bag would have been enough! LOL!
This is another reason why I love my cats! (Don't let Heidi read that part!)
I am surprised at all the traveling Lynn has done that she thinks you are at the end of the earth. I envy your being able to drive miles and not see a building or people. So glad Heidi is back to being Heidi and that she enjoys car rides. Sounds like you are having a delightful summer. Looking forward to your trip this way.
Well, I can see that all your "gals" are doing well. It's a good thing that you only have to pick up after the one !!
You lead an interesting life, Philip.
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