Ann’s Weblog

I’ve had an interesting and somewhat stressful weekend, and for a new friend, it has been ten times more filled with anxiety than it was for me.

On Friday I had some new customers pull into the yard in order to leave their three cats with us for boarding. I liked the couple right away… cheerful and soft-spoken, they introduced themselves and proceeded to bring cat food and cats into the house. One cat, Sambuca, was in an airline kennel by itself, and the other two were being carried up the steps by the husband. Just as B. was stepping into our porch, the kennel/carrier fell apart, and Bailey and Kahlua scrambled back OUTDOORS before any of us could catch them or shut the door.

It was NOBODY’S fault. Even so, the mood around here plummeted as we all watched the two cats dive under my grooming shop. My new friend F. needed to stay with her cats and her hubby went on to Prince George to get some business done. The rest of their plans for the weekend were aborted.

So F. and I tried to call the elusive cats and we even caught sight of them during the day. One of my best ideas was to borrow a LIVE trap from our Village Office. I had some other work to do, but at any rate, because the cats didn’t know me, I kept some distance for the most part.

Early that evening, B. returned from the city and the two went home together. Later on, one of the cats was caught in the live trap! I was so relieved, and brought it into the house and made it more comfortable (she, Kahlua, was still traumatized). Still the other little cat, Bailey was, we had to believe, under the building.

The next morning, F. came out and spent the morning calling to the cat. I couldn’t keep the boarding dogs from barking from time to time, and other customers came and went. That day Bailey was still hiding out. Yesterday, F. and B. came out for a little while on their way to do some sledding in the mountains near us, and the cat let himself be seen, but not captured! This was more reason to have some hope; it was discouraging on Saturday to not even get a glimpse of him.

Last night, somewhere between 2 a.m. when I checked and 7 a.m when Gary checked… one of OUR cats was caught in the live trap. OH! Gilbert, our little dilute calico, was furious. Nevertheless, she had eaten some of the food left for the escapee, so I replenished the “bait” selection with wonderful, fishy, aromatic new canned food, kitty treats, milk and water. I arranged and rearranged the blankets inside and around the trap, doing my best to make it “uncagelike”, and checked to see that the warming pad underneath was still, um… warm. I was discouraged though… I thought the escaped cat would be most likely to enter the trap in the dead of night, and since it was occupied by Gilbert, a whole opportunity was lost.

This morning I went into town for a haircut, groceries, and lunch. To tell you the truth, I was trying to stay away from home so that things would be quieter for F., as she would surely be there trying to call the cat. I even took Lady with me so that she wouldn’t be barking in a kennel or the house while I was gone (knowing or seeing that someone was in the yard).

As I drove into the yard after a two-hour lunch, I saw that the heating mat was unplugged and standing against the side of the shop. The live cat trap was uncovered and parked neatly beside the steps… I KNEW that meant that F. had been there and had recovered her pet! Sure enough, when I went to the house, I found a note to that effect.

To say I was relieved would be an understatement… I was jubilant! No matter that this incident was the fault of no one, I felt that if the story didn’t have a positive outcome, it would somehow sully my reputation. Of course I had great empathy, sympathy and worry for the cat’s owners.  They felt that perhaps this effort might have gone on for MONTHS… Bailey in particular had been a spooky cat even as a kitten. In addition to that, the family AND their cats had survived a house fire just two months ago! The frightened cats had hid in the bush for days after the fire; we were thinking that poor Bailey would not be very inclined to leave the protection of the joists of the grooming shop for at LEAST a number of days.

I must wrap up this story by telling you what actually WORKED in this case, for the most elusive of the two cats. The owners had thought to bring CATNIP out; F. just sprinkled some on a familiar blanket near where Bailey had last shown himself, and pretty soon he was rolling around on it! My friend just quietly worked her way closer and closer, with the cat actually reaching out to touch her with his paw, when finally she could just GRAB him. It’s a lesson for all of us, our friends’ stroke of brilliance.

In the kerfluffle of the weekend, I didn’t think to get photos of Sambuca, Kahlua and Bailey, but I might be able to obtain some by email and post them later. I had some faith the whole weekend long, but thank goodness this has been resolved. A friendship was forged and we have all learned some little things… problem solving at its best.

All else is just great around here. There are still plenty of dogs boarding, and Spike the Uromastyx lizard. Otherwise it is calm, I’m calm, and it’s a beautiful spring day! Therefore, I’d better get back outside and get some things accomplished.

Thank you for hanging out with me for this little while. I’ve enjoyed telling this story, which ended so well.

Love, Ann

Overnight, we got a considerable dump of snow… maybe 10 inches. This is not unusual for March, really, but we are starting to wonder how it could all be gone by, say, mid April or so. Last year I went to Kelowna on April 10 to get my order of trees and shrubs, and there was no snow, if I remember correctly. However, it DID freeze hard again after I got the nursery stock home, and some items perished in their pots. I believe I will leave my “pick up” date until later in April this year.

Most people we talk to are sick of winter. We live in part of the country which can be expected to have snow for six months; still, we get a bit weary of shovelling and blowing and pushing it around. I’m starting to lay awake nights thinking of the garden centre and gardening … really we have to hit the ground running to get all that done in the few frost-free months we do have. We still don’t want to call any other place “home”.

Here are a few wintery pictures for you:

From top left… snow on the arbour, snow on the bench, kennel, the snow shovels by the barbecue (and my cast-off ‘for sale’ truck sign), some of my perennial beds under snow, and Gary about to put the tractor into snow-ploughing duty.

We babysat the little black Havanese dogs this week, and our friends took my sewing machine out to Hinton for repair, as they were going for other reasons. I’m thrilled that the technician found something to explain why my machine was giving me such a problem, and the cost was very reasonable. I haven’t sewn with it yet, but look forward to having it available when the mood strikes!

Today I’m going to groom a matted cat who is brought here once per year. I phoned the client and asked if he could give us a couple of hours extra to clear the driveway. Otherwise, I don’t have a busy day planned; a few of the boarders who were scheduled to come will not be arriving… several families had their own reasons for staying home this weekend.

We have Ranger and Annie, Makalu and Shiloh, Scruffy, Axel, Emma, Teddy and Chico (dogs), plus Sam the cat, birds Toohey and Rufus, and Spike the lizard. I think if I were a millionaire, I would still want to groom and board pets; still, even having just a few boarders yields a better income than anything I am qualified for “away” from the house. And the work seems like about the only thing that doesn’t seriously challenge my self-confidence… who knows why even at MY age I haven’t figured out the source of a nearly-debilitating sense of inferiority, or the solution for it. I find joy in so many things… it’s a puzzle.

I guess I’ll run along, and maybe run the vacuum.

Take care, everyone. Thanks for reading my blog. ~ Ann

From what I understand from my chat friends, “Women’s Day” is recognized around the world. In my favourite chat room, gals from Australia, New Zealand, U.K., U.S.A., U.A.E., Canada and India were all giving each other this greeting!

Has been a busy couple of days. I don’t know how people who have grooming shops in cities can keep up with business and life. At any rate, I like the pace here, quiet some days and moderately busy most days. Usually, our lives are not TOO hectic… well, not at this time of year, at least.

I must say… Rob’s dogs have both found good homes. Although it might be thought that the two dogs would be happiest in a new home together, it’s a lot to expect, to find someone to take TWO medium large dogs. At any rate, Levi, the rottweiler cross, went to a large acreage back in his home town, therefore Rob’s daughter can visit from time to time. The golden retriever went to a home in Valemount, where he will live with people who were some of my first customers in my boarding business… in 1984! They too are great folks.

It’s quieter today around here… EIGHT dogs have gone home since Friday night. Next weekend will be a blast, because it is school spring break here; lots of families are planning to spend some time in warmer places! Still boarding at the moment are Meena, Nelson, Teddy and Chico.

Yesterday I groomed three small dogs. I didn’t take a picture of “Scruffy”, who is here often for short stays, and I was asked to groom him while he was here. That was my pleasure.

Here are Oreo and Zoe. Oreo is always cheerful, and Zoe is sweet and gentle also, but nervous around the camera:

I just got back from regularly scheduled Sunday brunch with our friends. My birthday was well celebrated there; I so enjoyed all the friends who were there. There was another small crowd at a nearby table who were marking another gal’s birthday. Eventually, a trayful of shots of Bailey’s appeared at THEIR table and the drinks were passed to all the adults. I considered saying, “Hey, it’s MY birthday, too!”, but then I thought that might look childish, and I’d feel compelled to prove this by showing my driver’s license. As it turned out, yet another tray of shots appeared and were passed to other patrons, and when the waitress came to me, I quietly pointed out that it IS my birthday as well. So she gave me TWO shots of Bailey’s! That very nicely wrapped up our breakfast visit, though even after that, a large piece of cheesecake with a candle in it was delivered to EACH of we “birthday girls”. What a lot of attention! I had to take my dessert home, as I was full, full, full.

Gary is on his way home from Ft. St. James, where he was trimming dozens of horses. We’ll dine out at the pub this evening.

I’m about to tidy up in the house a little… I get kind of careless about housework when my good man isn’t home. And I’m afraid that when he IS home, he does a great deal of it before I get to it! …. it’s a blessing that I do not take for granted.

Today I get to board the Uromastyx “Spike” again!

I know, I know… it looks like EXACTLY the same picture as posted elsewhere in my Blog, but it’s not! She or He is back for a few days, over spring break. Later, I’ll get Makalu and Shiloh to stay as well, even though Shiloh is needing a new home soon… see earlier post.

So… hope you are all well also. Take care, talk to you later. ~ Ann

Shiloh needs a new home, with either large fenced yard or acreage. She is good with other dogs when she gets to know them, older children, and, we think, cats. She’s gentle in nature but energetic and might knock a small child over in her enthusiasm. She’s a spayed adult of about 5 years. As you can see, she’s a very pretty dog, and has that perpetual smile! Shiloh has a medium-length coat which is not too difficult to groom, but keeps her cozy outdoors. She also loves family life indoors.

If you think you might be able to provide Shiloh with what she needs for the rest of her years, please get hold of me through this blog (leave a comment and include phone number or email address). I will post some more pictures when I can.

This morning I had new little customer, “Oakley”. I hope I’m spelling his name correctly. Oakley is a cockapoo; he’s a classy little guy who was no trouble to groom.

I uploaded both pictures in case Oakley’s “parents” want to print out one or the other. Just click to enlarge.

I’m running away to a lunch date with friend Sharon and am SO looking forward to it. Perhaps I’ll get back to blogging later.

Love,  Ann

These two beautiful boys are looking for a home or homes, if possible in the Robson Valley. The are both neutered and approximately 3 years old. I’ve had them here at the Pet Hostel for a few days, and know that they are intelligent and obedient.

The golden retriever is “Tucker” and the smaller rottweiler cross is “Levi”. The dogs lost both their home and their loving owner in a house fire two weeks ago. Despite this tragic event, the dogs are
gentle and well-adjusted.

As usual, click on the pictures to obtain a bigger image.

So… business has been steady… dogs and cats to care for, both to board and to groom. As well, I had the bunny and the lizard for two weeks.

I’m starting to look forward to Spring. I’m not very prone to “cabin fever” or anything like that, but once I started looking at the stack of seed catalogues which had reached the house, and several gardening magazines, I did feel like I’d had almost enough “hibernation” time. There are many things that need doing before life gets very busy again, like taxes and such, even spring cleaning. For the moment I’m just thinking ahead to the opening of the little garden centre and planting the vegetables, and so on. Spring will happen; it always does.

I forgot that I had other pictures on the camera. For a short time, we were without a fully functioning keyboard for this computer… I had sprayed cleaner on the old one, too liberally. I was pretty hard on myself for a little while, and allowed the old keyboard to dry for a day, but it became apparent that we needed a replacement. Now we have a very sleek new Apple keyboard, better than the old.

Below is pictured a little dog who shall remain unnamed. Her owner drove over one morning, without phoning first, saying that “the dog stinks and we can’t let her in the house”. Although that day I had a full day of grooming booked already, I told him to leave the little dog with me.

She was “hopelessly matted” and had a great deal of fecal matter stuck under her tail and around her vulva. I gloved up and went to work relieving the poor creature of this terrible mess, and was glad that I hadn’t turned her away for even a day. This kind of care was months overdue, whether it would be done by a groomer or by the owner. The dog was patient and quiet while I worked.

Both of the “before” pictures were taken AFTER I had started grooming; I had cleared away some yucky stuff from under the dog’s tail already. I guess if I can still say, “I love my job!” after this kind of work, I’m in the right business!

This girl was friendly and happy after the grooming was complete… not as humbled as she appears to be in the photo (pets are usually suspicious of the camera!). To her owner’s credit, the dog was in good health, including a proper body weight, aside from the extreme rashiness under her tail and little sore spots under her eyes.

I have some games of “Lexulous”… the Facebook version of Scrabble… started, and other players are waiting for me to take my turn. It’s nice to come in here and talk to you folks, but for now I’m all “talked out”.

Take care, one and all. ~ Ann