This is Willow, the little Shih Tzu who was groomed today. She was good as gold, as always! Willow’s owners have just adopted a Chihuahua X Terrier and showed the new puppy to me. I should have grabbed the camera!
Today is so busy at the Pet Hostel that I’d better finish my tea and get right back to tending our guests. This is MY WEBSITE for anyone who is interested.
~ Ann
Well, now, it has been a few days since I checked in with you. Pictured above are the crocusses (crocii) which are in bloom right now, with many daffodils, tulips, and other spring bulbs emerging, and perennial plants showing signs of life. I have some nursery stock “planted” in the main vegetable garden, and most have those trees and shrubs have survived. I placed an order for other items, and that is exciting. However, I was under the impression that I had faxed my large list to the wholesale nursery in November, and found out last week that I had folded it up and put it away with the catalog. When the company phoned, concerned that they had not heard from me (what great service!), I discovered that at this “late date” I cannot get all the things I wanted. We did a fairly good job of “damage control” on my want list, substituting where possible.
That handsome golden retriever is boarding here for the first time. He exhibits such joie de vive that a person just has to smile while around him. We have eight other dogs, two cats and a hamster boarding at the moment, most of whom you’ve met here in the blog! There are three more cats and at least two more dogs coming before the weekend; they say “do what you love”, and I’m loving every day of it.
Have been grooming dogs and too pressed to take portraits of all. I’ve been trying to pot up the perennial plants. I took a picture (above) of the piles of WONDERFUL horse manure which is on the garden now, and it will be turned under when the soil dries out more. Gary and I managed to re-erect the greenhouse and pull the plastic back over it (did I write about this previously?).
Gary went skiing in Jasper today, getting the best he can out of his season’s pass. He went with a beautiful young woman who grew up with my daughters… I imagine heads turned at the ski lodge!
This is all for now. The horses need feeding (they are fat, but start calling at this time of day for more hay). I’ll do the rounds at the kennels… feeding, water, walking, meds for a darling epileptic dog, and custom loving.
Hope everyone is having a good Spring, or Autumn in Australia and NZ. Love you for visiting; I feel like you’re at our house! ~Ann
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”.
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 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
I took a picture of the chickens that were roasting in the oven at 5 o’clock, and they didn’t look as wonderful as they turned out to be! So, I’m posting this picture from our niece’s collection of pictures that she took when she visited this summer. This view is facing EAST (in a south-east kind of way…) from half-way up a mountain near us. Our acreage is near one of the Fraser’s bends on the right side of the picture. A photo taken from up here makes the great river and wide valley seem small! More photos of the valley are at this web page on my site.
I’ve had just a fine couple of days. Today I met friends for our “usual” Sunday breakfast, and Gary wasn’t able to attend because he was farm-sitting elsewhere and then had horses to trim. We had a good time, but one of my friends rarely gets a word in edgewise because the rest of us talk a lot. Sorry, M. dear.
On Saturday, I got a phone call from a dog owner who was somewhat distressed. She had been given a pregnant little dog just a month ago; the vet told her not to have the dog groomed until after “Mischa” had given birth. The litter of 5 wee pups was born one week ago (mother dog is Shih Tzu, and the owner reports that the sire might be… Rottweiller!). The new mother dog was matted and filthy, so I agreed to take her right away. When she was clipped and bathed, we had a dog who was the picture of health and happy as can be! I did the grooming as quickly as I could, though Mischa didn’t seem stressed from the separation from the puppies, and I was told that the litter slept the whole time. All’s well there, now. I didn’t get a picture of Mischa, though I hope she’ll be a regular customer now. (Will those puppies be ShihTzweiller, or RottTzu…)
Because I had a dog to groom yesterday, I managed to stay away from a big garage sale! I was curious, true, but there is nothing that I need at this time; I was afraid that I’d come home with a pile of stuff just while I’m trying to “downsize” here. Maybe I have an iota of self-control, because I could have got there, had I tried.
Since the 28 pound cat, I haven’t had any work that wasn’t quite routine, but it’s all good anyway. My perennials didn’t arrive this week, but I’ll phone to confirm soon so I’ll know where I’m at. I need the inspiration to clean out the greenhouse in preparation! It didn’t help (the inspiration level) that it snowed here on Friday, again.
These are some of the daffodils, peeking out of the snow. We have hundreds still buried under snow, and look forward to the cheery displays in the next few weeks!
I had the most wonderful phone call late this afternoon. “Dee” now from Oakville, has been my friend since we were four years old in Calgary! We don’t call, write, or email very often, but when we do, we connect so well. The call made my day.. my week! We resolve to correspond more. Dee and I mostly talked of recent times, but she is also a beloved connection to happy childhood days when my mother was alive.
It’s funny… off and on today I have tried to chat with folks online in Yahoo Garden Chat, and Yahoo Messenger hasn’t been allowing it. There have been other ways to visit with the same people, but those “chat mechanisms” have not been working well EITHER! I’ve suffered some pangs of withdrawal. I spent some time (freed up because of not chatting) sealing the grout on the new kitchen floor, and it looks nice, if I do say so myself.
I’m doing some work on the other computer, our favourite, our treasured iMac, so I must get back to that. It is good to talk to you, loyal readers (visitors to this blog reached a new HIGH last week). Thank you.
~ Ann
Was glad to have a little paying work today, I groomed this delightful Yorkshire Terrier, Pikachu.
At her owner’s request, I tried a rather different style with this “client”: I clipped much of the fur from her tiny feet so that Pikachu wouldn’t be so bothered by snow and ice crystals building up between the pads. I think it’s a great idea for winter for dogs with hairy paws. (Click on the thumbnails for a larger portrait to view or print out.)
I “babysat” (provided daycare for) my friend’s dogs Morag and Foxy again this week. The sisters have become long-legged beauties; at this age many puppies have an “ugly duckling” stage: NOT so for them! Am I biased? Yes, indeed.
I also groomed “Snoopy”, a regular client who is part Fox Terrier, part Yorkshire Terrier, and total gentleman and sweetie.
I am glad to report that I seem to have shaken “the blues”. There’s no rational excuse for me to feel so sad (I wouldn’t call what I have “depression”… more like melancholy), but I do feel relieved when the grey mood passes.
Am very excited to see my daughters in Calgary; two of them live there, and one is flying back from Argentina next week (unless she has changed her mind and extended her stay). We always have a great time visiting and eating great food in restaurants, sometimes shopping. I need to visit my stepmother, who also lives in Calgary. She is, in general, lonely, and troubled by realities of what lies ahead in her life. Whatever conversations she thinks we need to have, I’m opened minded to.
The weather has been great today, mild and clear. Gary split a bunch of firewood and hauled it all indoors. The warmer temperatures and high winds have resulted in our parking area being just like a skating rink, so we try to greet customers at the cars so that THEY don’t have to walk on the ice, and we have spread some gritty stuff on it. The gritty stuff that I found in my shop? Chick starter! Hey, it’s biodegradeable, and we won’t be raising chickens again any time soon.
We’re having cheese blintzes tonight (yippee) and some plain meatballs with the main attraction.
Thanks for checking my blog.
~Ann
I did take some picture of beloved canine friends, nevertheless.
Above are Beowolf and Chester, who belong to our friend Keith. Both are very easy to have around and are quite accustomed to visiting at the Pet Hostel.
Zena, the rottweiller, and Katie, the Jack Russell Terrier, are staying with us this weekend, too. As you can see, Katie is particularly fond of relaxing with Gary, and Zena would too, except that she’s a bit large for the lap.
We had our usual Sunday brunch with friends and since coming home, I’ve been scanning photos for a project. Now, I’m hanging out with you fine folk.
I watched a movie last night, “Tsotsi”, which is a profound and disturbing film from South Africa (subtitled).
Made cream puffs yesterday… first in a LONG time! The recipe, as it was, made only FIVE largish puffs, so they are… gone.
I’m uninspired today; will maybe write more later.
~Ann
