Ann's Weblog

Pictured above are Cinder (and Cinder YAWNING!), Rosie, Sarah cat, Maverick and Sophie. As usual, to see or print out a bigger photo, just click on the thumbnail image. This is only part of the lovely lot we have at the Pet Hostel, so I'll try to get more portraits done later.

Cinder is a diminuitive pup, a four month old pomeranian. She is dainty and quiet in the house, and outside she plays hard and is afraid of nothing! She was constantly inviting our dog, Lady, to play, and trying to beat Lady to a ball that I threw. Cindy was yawning in the second picture, not making a ferocious face.

Pictured next is Rosie, who has taken a little time to warm up to us. We don't force ourselves on such a "reserved" guest, but take care of her needs, walk her on the leash, and talk to her reassuringly. A most unusual thing happens with Rosie's eyes; when she is first here for a visit (she has become a regular), her eyes look completely black, as if only pupil is showing. As she relaxes, her brown eyes sparkle again and look less haunting... she appears quite composed in this photo and happily jumped up on the dog house to be brushed and petted (and photographed). She eats well while she's with us, and seems less furtive each visit.

The pretty panda-colured cat is "Sarah". She's sweet and affectionate, and content when in her cat kennel. Sarah looks quite regal in this shot, don't you think?

Maverick is a gorgeous Golden Retriever who is well-behaved and dignified, but with a great sense of fun as well. He was frolicking about until I told him "Down", for the picture-taking, and it tugged at my heart to see him look so worried!

And you might remember "Sophie", who has been a regular guest and favourite. Sophie was born here, a daughter to my American Eskimo female, fathered by a handsome border collie from a nearby farm. She is gentle and quiet, and always welcome to "board" in our house, as you see her here.

My perennial roots & some plants arrived this week, and I've opened boxes and watered some of the pots; they are all in my grooming shop as the temperatures still are well below freezing at night. I got a phonecall from the nursery stock wholesaler: evidently I had forgotten to fax my order in November! Therefore, I will not get all of what I wanted and needed for trees and shrubs, but I'll send that along right away. It's all starting to prey on my mind again... after a winter of lovely hibernation, I'm going "from 0 to 60" suddenly, not only in terms of hours of work, but charges (working capital) on my credit cards. I have to decide where all the plants and nursery stock should GO, in order to make a "wannabe garden centre" really pay. I know one thing for certain: I couldn't have done, and WASN'T doing, most of this alone.

I must run along to get some "real" work done, as opposed to the very fun stuff of writing to you nice folks. Gary and I started trying to straighten out the greenhouse yesterday; it was "useable" at the onset, and as we worked on it, the wind came up (and the temperature plummetted while the snow started again)... the structure ended up a pile of twisted pipes and torn covering AGAIN. If only I could find a grant or other funds to build a large, PROPER greenhouse.

Take care, everyone. I so appreciate you checking in. Love, Ann

P.S. The lion's name is "Dioko".

I've had so much trouble uploading a photos to my blog tonight, that I'm not in a mood to write. Will try again tomorrow.

~Ann

You've met Zoe, the teeny Yorkshire Terrier, and Mindy, this dear little poodle, before. It was my privilege to groom these delightful dogs today. After they went home, I had one dog come by just for toenail clipping... she is a rottweiller cross. "Poppy" has a severely split toenail which has caused her some pain: I cut it as short as I dared and used Vet Bond to attempt to glue the halves of the nail together so that it isn't as uncomfortable as it grows out.

This was the raisin bread that I baked on Sunday night. I didn't feel like driving into town to buy bread; there isn't much left of THIS now.

It snowed this morning again! Seems like we've had snow every other day for a week. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and warm, but I was in a bit of a funk. I'm sure I will get my motivation back when Spring is really here.

Rambo went home. He's a happy little guy while he's here, but he's overjoyed when his humans return! That's about the only change among the Pet Hostel guests, but this weekend is the start of Spring break, so we'll have a full house again.

Made hubby a banana creme pie (again!) to go with a "planned-over" meal tonight. That was pot roast from yesterday, with rice and broccoli with cheese sauce.

Gary's going skiing tomorrow in Jasper; he has managed to ski almost every week since the start of the season, and I'm completely supportive, of course. I don't go because I don't downhill ski; am content to hold the fort here.

Love you all for reading my blog. HUGS ~ Ann

This is our new friend, "Ku". Isn't she beautiful? She is the tallest Great Pyrenees that has stayed with us; come to think of it, she's the largest I've ever seen (approximately 34" tall!) You can find out more about this giant breed at GreatPyrenees.com .

Rynkar and Miko belong to the same human family. Rynkar (which means "wrinkles" in Swedish) is 3/4 Bullmastiff and makes my heart melt. Her forehead is quite furrowed when she's thinking hard.  Miko is a sedate and friendly Rottweiller who has visited us before. Miko was shampooed this afternoon and is now resting in the house on a pile of blankets!

We had our regularly scheduled Sunday breakfast in town. From the restaurant we watched the weather turn from overcast to SNOW again, but this afternoon has been sunny and "dry". I can't believe how fast the weeks go by; can't believe how fast the months and years pass, either.

Talk to you again, soon. ~Ann

This is the Dunster Winter Buy & Sell, a sort of flea market where proceeds from table fees , food concession and some donations provide funds for the community and school. It's a time for folks to gather. There were all kinds of items for sale, from baking to clothing, electronics, books, tools, and collectible knick-knacks. I had great conversations with old friends.

I bought my lunch there (yummy pizza, for the cause!), and otherwise used a great deal of restraint. My purchases were only a few vases to add to a selection at home to give away or sell bouquets in throughout the summer.

Rogue, Chester and Beowolf went home, and Ku, Miko, Rynkar, and Rambo arrived. Sunday will be busy, but I hope to share photos of the new guests.

Am too tired to write more. Hugs to you ~ Ann

We have such a nice bunch boarding this weekend. All are repeat visitors, and do not seem to mind waiting here for their owners:

On the top left, Rogue is being camera shy, but she had just had a romp (supervised) around the "back 40" with Lady, our dog. Chester and Beowolf have been frequent guests and wait patiently for their owner to return, playing with each other and having turns out of their run and in the house.

Seiko, who you've met, is spending time in the yard with Lady. The handsome lab is Chalko, who has been here before, and doesn't acted stressed either: his concern, as he licks his lips, is when the photographer is going to hand over that doggy treat!

Last week we had another favourite pair:

Katie and Zena, as you might have gathered, live in the same household. While they were here, during part of the day, they were in an outdoor kennel together, and a human visitor remarked about the diminuitive terrier being housed with the much bigger rottweiller! I retorted, "Oh surely you must know me better than THAT. We never house dogs from different families together... those two are a PAIR!". The very idea... Katie and Zena are best buds.

That's about all that's going on around here! Caring for the pets is my "first love" (besides caring for hubby and worrying about my daughters).

I'm going out to Dunster for their "Mid-Winter Buy & Sell". I didn't plan to participate by selling anything, as I've been doing a fair job of donating extra stuff to the church thrift shops and the swap shed at the transfer station. I've even thrown a few things away or recycled items such as 5 year old UNREAD magazines. Even so, I'm too curious and I also treasure the time to visit with my friends in the community I lived in for 15 years; now I have known some of those folks for three decades.

Hope all is well with you. ~Ann

This afternoon there was a mule deer in the yard, on the other side of the house from the kennels. The animals are quite plentiful in the Valley, and sometimes they are a pest to farmers and a hazard on the highway. So far the deer and moose have left our gardens alone. When we had 3000 strawberry plants "out back", the deer caused considerable damage; now that the area is a horse paddock, we can share the space. They stroll through the yard as if it is their own and really, it is. The picture above was used with permission from a better photographer.

Today, I did some raking and tidying in the kennels, played with dogs too. Some canine guests arrived and others went home. Oh, I did some work in Photoshop so that Gary can give his mom some photo collages for her 75th birthday, coming up soon. During the same week, my stepmother turns 85.

Hubby and I went out for lunch, which was a treat. We went to the "Chinese Restaurant", and ate big lunches, so we kept dinner simple.. just omelettes and toast. I delivered a large jar of homemade horseradish to a friend today; he wanted to pay for it, but I wouldn't hear of it. When we picked up the mail, I found a parcel that was mailed to me by a treasured friend from "chat" !

Hubby rented the video "The Departed", so we'll watch that tonight; I have a feeling that's one I need to concentrate on, instead of trying to chat-while-watching.

Bye for now. Take care all. ~ Ann 

I got up early (which for me is 7 a.m., because I typically go to bed at 2 a.m.) to greet a customer bringing her dogs. It was raining then; I got the new guests settled in and then went back to rest on the couch for an hour, and:

Grrr... a spring blizzard on the first day of spring. Truth be told, this isn't an uncommon occurrence in March, or even April. Generally we have no snow between May and September... any blizzards during that time would be considered "freak", but we know that anything can happen. Friends of ours who live just a few kilometres away experienced one calendar year in which there was FROST every single month!

Now that it's afternoon, the snow has quit falling. We just took a foray into town to get my truck back from the shop, and the highway was treacherous! I hope the plow trucks are out in full force before there are any wrecks. Within a couple of months, you might read me complaining of heat exhaustion, so we just have to take the extremes of weather in stride.

I have a friend who is distraught, and naturally I can't say who or why, but I'm worried and saddened. So much trouble all over.

Pleasant surprise for me this morning: my truck didn't cost nearly so much for the work as I thought it would. All it needed was a fuel filter and front brakes cleaned up, but that cost only $98. I should be on an austerity program since the "flooring project", but there are some corners one just can't cut.

Bye for now, thanks for reading my blog. ~Ann

Pictured are Chico (affectionately nicknamed "Doodles"), and Maggie, both of whom are freshly groomed.

Chico was really just here for "daycare" and toenail clipping, but because Gary and I are close friends with her owners, I decided to give her the full meal deal (no extra charge!). She didn't seem too stressed or upset, but as I took the photo, she seemed suspicious that she was going to get MORE beauty treatment.

Maggie has been a regular guest for both spa treatment and boarding. She is a pleasant little dog, happy and confident, but when the camera comes out, Maggie can put on the most dejected look! She has been the only Pet Hostel guest in recent years who leaps into the bathtub upon a simple request from me. Maggie and her owners are leaving our community, and I'm very sad about that.

I haven't accomplished very much else today! I created something like Pad Thai Noodles for lunch and have Indian Butter Chicken (again!) in the crockpot, which we'll have for dinner with basmati rice and naan (a bread). That link is for a sample recipe for Indian Butter Chicken; I find it simpler to buy the spice paste or powder for it, and follow the directions on the package! Here is MY Cooking Links page, on my site, for your entertainment.

Again today I didn't get out the sewing maching to create something for a certain loved one. Now I am going to MISS her birthday and am chastising myself. I just feel so uninspired to sew, and wonder when the desire will come back.

In the mail today came two movies from our DVD rental club: 'In the Heat of the Night', and "The Defiant Ones'. The first one I saw decades ago, and the second I've never heard of. Both are Sidney Poitier movies. As our TV reception has failed this afternoon, I'm glad we have received new movies!

It's time to go mix up the naan, and look after the boarders who stay mostly outdoors.

Thanks for stopping by! ~Ann