THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

 POST # 560

As I wind up my house/pet sitting duties here, and head back over to the mainland,  I wasn't exactly sure what I would talk about today, but then I came up with the idea of including this photo, as an example of at least a part of my adventurous life.

A while back, I was pawing through my storage locker, with the purpose of finding my birth certificate, and while doing so, I came across this long forgotten photograph.  I thought that it was worthwhile to share it with my readers.

I took this photo, while living in Melbourne, Australia way back in 1996.  Did I ever look this young?  It's hard to believe it now.  

It was a trip down memory lane for me. Photos of my time at Expo '88 in Brisbane, when I worked for a float plane company that did daily flights to the Expo venue.  A few photos of the day that I received my Australian Citizenship, and the after party at the house I lived in.  Hiking and climbing in the mountains west of Calgary.  A couple of photos of mom and one of dad.  Landing my Piper Warrior aircraft at Moorabbin airport in Melbourne, after I had received my pilot's license.  A photo from Indonesia, with a monkey on my back trying to steal my eyeglasses.  A photo from a fruit juice stand in New Delhi, India, and many more. There are at least two readers of my blog, that if they look real, real hard, will find themselves also featured in this post.  I've enjoyed life's journey.  What's that line from the old song by Joe Walsh, "Life's Been Good To Me So Far."  I have to agree.

The adventure continues.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

FROM NEW FURBALLS TO AN OLD BONEHEAD

 POST # 559

From Sam's point of view, it doesn't get much better than this, as a way to start the day.  During my time here in Ladysmith, caring for Sam and Tess, this became Sam's morning ritual.  As soon as he heard that I was awake, he would come racing up the stairs and settle himself down in between my legs.  He probably could have stayed here all day long, because as you can see, he looks rather relaxed.  But before long, it was time for me to get up and head back downstairs with Sam, in order to join Tess in the kitchen.  The furballs demanded breakfast, so before I attended to any other item, breakfast was served.  Soon after, they would both be back upstairs in my room sleeping again.  What a rough life.  Mind you, it certainly is an easy house/pet sit, when I can just do my own thing all day long, while the furballs dream about whatever they dream about. They probably dream about sleeping even more.

But yesterday, the party came to an end.  Sam and Tess's owners returned home, and I had to head to my next gig, here in Nanaimo.  I've lost track of how many times I've been at my current location, but it's a wonderful place to spend some time, and the view overlooking the harbour is spectacular.  

So it's time now to hang out with Eunice, and even though, she's a timid bonehead, I think that ever so slowly, she's coming around to trusting the house sitter.  Her owner left this morning, and I just happened to get this photo of Eunice, as she drove away.  Her look says it all.  

A few hours have now passed since I took this photo, and Eunice seems to have come to terms with the fact that she is once again stuck with me for a while.  Soon enough, we will be into a regular routine, and things will settle down for her.

Now just to  backtrack in time for a moment, I had to include these two photos which I took about three days ago, down by the marina in Ladysmith.  This visit to the marina had become a part of my daily walk, and I found a particular bench overlooking the marina, which had a wonderful tree next to it, that allowed me to be in the shade.  While sitting there relaxing the other day, I heard the sound of what could only be an eagle.  The sound was right up above me, so I walked a short distance from the bench, and there it was sitting in the tree.  I took one photo, and then decided to take one more, and it was just a fluke that I managed to catch the eagle right at the moment that it took off from the branch.  Both photos are somewhat blurry, but you get the picture.  I was happy to have been there at the moment of take off.

So that rounds out the blog for today.  Eunice is giving me the look, so it must be time to get her out for her afternoon stroll around the neighbourhood.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

WARNING!!! MOUSE FREE ZONE

 POST # 558

If you happen to be a mouse, you'll want to stay well clear of the house that I have recently arrived at, here in the lovely little town of Ladysmith, BC.  The two resident furballs have attached this door knocker to the front door, just as a warning.  This is a mouse free zone.

I've only been here for three days, but so far, I haven't even seen a single mouse, so I guess that the furballs are right on top of things.  I can sleep peacefully each and every night, knowing that they are keeping the house sitter safe from wandering rodents.

If I were to hazard a guess as to which one of these two would be a good "mouser", my money would be on Sam, shown above.  He's got energy to spare.  On the other hand, Tess, below, spends most of her day sleeping.  I'm sure that she deserves it.

They are both very affectionate companions, so I am having a wonderfully relaxed time getting to know them.

I have a great location, and even though I am technically in a small town, this location feels quite rural.  As I may have mentioned before on this blog, I like a more rural setting, and the main reason for that, is that it offers peace and quiet.  Above all else, including the critters that I care for, my number one preference for any particular house/pet sit is that it is quiet, and my current location fits the bill.  

I have a wonderful garden that I can relax in, and I happen to be here when there are plenty of fresh beans and raspberries to pick, something that I do a couple of times a day.  There are even a few early tomatoes, so I am very fortunate indeed.

Each morning, as soon as I wake up, I hear Sam bounding up the stairs, so that he can hop up on my bed, and spend a few moments with the sitter.  Tess, on the other hand, doesn't see the point of wasting the energy to climb the staircase, so she just remains downstairs, in anticipation of my imminent arrival so that they can both enjoy some cat food for breakfast, served of course, by the house sitter.  It didn't take the two of them very long to train me.

After the furballs have had their breakfast, my next chore is to head outside and water the many plants in the yard.  It doesn't take me very long to do, and I rather enjoy the task, so it really doesn't feel like work.

Just this morning, when I was in the backyard, completing my watering duties, I noticed this flower on the cactus in the photo below.  Truth be known, it's the first time that I have noticed it, since my arrival, which makes me wonder if it just sprang up overnight?  Whatever the case may be, it certainly is a pretty flower to look at.

And just in case I forget who is actually running the show around here, this sign is there to remind me each and every day.  Thankfully, as a pet sitter, at least I don't have to pay the mortgage.

A couple of more things to mention before I finish for today, is that as you can see, I now have the ability to once again post photos.  It's a little more complicated than before, prior to my email account getting hacked, but at least it's now possible.  

And the last item for today is to mention my blog post from exactly one year ago, on July 14, 2022.  On that day, I officially outlived my dear old dad by one day.  So as of today, I have another year under my belt.  Where did that year go?  The days fly by way too fast now, but at least I am still here to enjoy each and every one of them.  

Here is a link to that post from one year ago, today.

http://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2022/07/24606th-day-on-planet-earth.html

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

WANDERING FROM SHELTER BAY TO NANAIMO

 POST # 557

The Thoughtful Wanderer is once again on the move, today being another travel day.  Since my last post on June 28th, I returned briefly to Vancouver, sleeping on another airport bench, prior to heading to Horseshoe Bay, for a quick day trip to Nanaimo to pick up a sauna bed, that was going to be travelling to Washington with me.

I arrived in Mount Vernon via Amtrak, to be greeted by Mary and Dora-dog, for our short journey back to their home in Shelter Bay.  That all happened on June 30th.  Our original plan was to leave the very next day for Whitefish Montana, but I was exhausted from the previous two days, so we made a sensible decision to hang out in Shelter Bay on July 1st, and set off on our adventure the very next day.

We've done this trip a couple of times before, and I think that I had forgotten just how long of a drive it was to get to Whitefish.  Thirteen hours after we departed at 6:30 am we arrived at her daughter and son in law's place, at their new home, which is in a rural location about fifteen minutes south of the city of Whitefish.  

The main reason for the trip was for Mary to have an opportunity to visit with Chani and Hugh, and their dog, Confetti, aka Fetti, but a secondary objective was to get away from the constant fireworks noise that is the norm at this time of year around Shelter Bay.  As we were south of the main town of Whitefish, we anticipated a quieter evening on July 4th.  How wrong we were.  Many of their neighbours decided to celebrate the holiday, with plenty of fireworks, and one neighbour in particular just couldn't seem to quit celebrating.  He was still doing it at 2:30 am, so needless to say, we didn't get much sleep.  The humans are one thing, but poor Dora-dog, gets freaked out by the sound.  She is a bundle of stress, and it is a very sad experience to see her like this.

Somehow, we all made it through the night, and we departed early on July 5th for our return journey to Shelter Bay.  Our plan was to take a different route back to Washington, with the hope of shaving some time off of our outbound trip.  It probably would have worked, but somewhere east of Interstate 5, as we travelled along highway 20, the traffic came to a halt.  It lasted for an hour, and we never did work out what caused the traffic jam, but eventually we were once again on our way, arriving back home around 7:30 pm.

We had chosen to return on the 5th, which gave us the opportunity to get settled back in, and relax, do some gardening, and spend time down by the channel yesterday, so that Dora-dog could have a chance to swim and play with other dogs.  Somehow all of the stress that she had recently experienced seemed to just evaporate into thin air.  It was such a joy to see her happy once again.

And speaking of Dora-dog, Mary stumbled across a photo online that was a picture of a dog breed called an Armant.  If someone had told me that the picture I was looking at was Dora-dog, I would have believed them.  It was almost a carbon copy of her appearance.  Here is a Wikipedia link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armant_(dog)

 Well who knew, that little old Dora-dog was such an exotic creature?

Yesterday went by way too fast as far as I was concerned, but it certainly was an enjoyable day to spend.

This morning I was up early, in preparation for yet another journey. We drove to the Amtrak station this morning, said our goodbyes and once again, The Thoughtful Wanderer was on the move.  Today's journey started off with the train trip back to Vancouver, followed by a ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, where I will be settling in to a new house sit location for only five short days.  I will be pet free this time around, which is a change for me, as I usually am hanging out with a four legged critter or two or three.

Well, so far, so good.  This update is from the ferry terminal in Horseshoe Bay.  I made it out here with plenty of time to spare, and seeing as I know of a little out of the way place here at the terminal, where I can connect to the internet, I'm taking the opportunity to do so.  Soon enough, we'll be heading across the Strait to Nanaimo, and once I arrive, it's a short bus ride to my next location.  I'll do a final update at that time, and have this posted before the sun goes down.  Then it will be time to put my feet up and relax as my travel day will have come to a close.

Finally, I have now arrived at my destination for the next five days.  It will be an early night for sure.

Also, the reader will note the lack of photos in today's post.  I could say that it is because I put in so many photos on my last post, but the real reason is that I have been having issues with my yahoo email account in the past week, and I have had to change the password three times.  I used to be able to take photos, email them to myself, and then upload them to my blog, but I can't do that at the moment.  Hopefully by next week, I will have sorted this out.

Okay, that's all she wrote for today.  It will be an early night for this weary wanderer.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer