MY RECENT WANDERINGS

 POST # 627

After one final walk with Dora-dog, it was time to get ready to once again be on the road to my next house sit gig.  Mary drove me to the train station this past Thursday so that I could catch the evening train back to Vancouver.  Once she and Dora-dog had left, it was time to wait for the train.  And wait, and wait, and wait some more.  About a half hour after the scheduled departure time of 7:34 pm, a member of the staff at the station informed us that the train would not be arriving, due to a landslide on the tracks, south of our location.  So now what?  Fortunately a bus had been organised, and it eventually arrived around 9 pm.  Now that it was a bus journey, we would have to clear customs at the border, which is something that I haven't done for a few years.  Thankfully, there were only six passengers on the bus, and we were in and out of customs in under ten minutes, and then on our way to Vancouver.

I arrived very late, and I was ready for bed.  The next morning I had a quick visit with Nicole and Dan prior to them heading off to work, and me getting ready to head to the ferry terminal.  Of course, there is always time to take a photo of Ollie prior to my departure, and after that was completed, I was on my way.

Howard met me at the ferry terminal in Nanaimo, and we headed back to their place just west of Duncan.  Caper, the bonehead seemed to be happy to see me, so happy in fact that she jumped up on the bed for a while.  Something tells me that this is where she will be sleeping during my stay.  But that's okay, as I am used to having bonehead friends next to me on the bed. I also have Logan, the furball to care for, so the bed might get a bit crowded from time to time.

But just prior to arriving here, Howard stopped in Ladysmith at the supermarket so that I could pick up a few items.  While I was in the store,  I needed to use the washroom, and when I got to it, there was this access code on the door.  Now what are the odds, that I would be in a random grocery store in Ladysmith B.C. and find an access code that is the exact numbers to match my day, month, and year of birth?  How crazy is that?

Howard and Sally left earlier today, and I went with them to the Brentwood Bay ferry, and dropped them off there, prior to heading back home.  When I arrived, Caper was happy to see me, but not so happy that Howard and Sally didn't walk in with me.  I'm sure she'll get used to the new arrangement soon.  But while we were away, Caper took it upon herself to add a few shoes to my bed.  This must be dog code for something, but I am not sure what.

I expect that all will go well, during my stay, and with any luck, the snow will not arrive until after I leave.

And finally, today is winter solstice, so the days will now begin to get longer, which is always a good thing in my opinion.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

A SWIFT EDUCATION

 POST # 626

After leaving my recent house sit with Sal and Gracie, I boarded the Skytrain to head back to Vancouver.  For a Sunday, it seemed unusually busy.  The other thing that I noticed was that the vast majority of the passengers, at least the ones in my carriage, were female.  And it also appeared that many of the females were a mother/daughter combination.

Sitting across from me, and a couple of rows back, was one of these mother/daughter combos.  They were all dressed up in sparkly outfits, with plenty of things dangling from their wrists, and both had the number 13 printed on some part of their bodies.  What on earth could all of this mean?

The journey continued on, and at one point, another mother/daughter couple boarded the train, and because it was by now, standing room only, they had to stand right beside the mother/daughter with the number 13 printed on their bodies.  The recently arrived mother/daughter, also had the number 13 on them, and they were also all dressed up in sparkly outfits.  What's going on here, I asked myself?

I had absolutely no clue whatsoever.  At some point these four females started up a conversation, and it wasn't long before one of them mentioned the name Taylor Swift.  I've heard of the name, but that's about it.  And now I was getting a Swift education for sure, as they continued their conversation.  It didn't take too long before I worked out that they, and probably most of the rest of the people on the Skytrain were heading to a Taylor Swift concert.  

The station that I left the train, was the closest one to the stadium that the concert was being played at, and the neighbourhood was inundated with carbon copies of these women that I had seen on board the train.

The following day, I boarded the Amtrak train, to head across the border once again to visit Mary and Dora-dog.  The train was sold out, and now I know why.  It was packed with concert goers, now returning home from the concert, the night before.

So that was my Swift education.  I sat down with Dora-dog, and patiently explained to her who Taylor Swift is, and what she does for a living, and this was her reaction.

She appears to be as impressed with the news as I was, in other words, not impressed at all.  But I guess that if you're an old fart like me, or a bonehead like Dora-dog, Taylor Swift doesn't have much of an impact.  And that is probably as it should be.  I for one, won't be going out anytime soon, to get the number 13 painted onto my skin.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THANKS SAL AND GRACIE

 POST # 625

Two very relaxed looking boneheads.  It's the end of another day, and they are both getting ready to settle in for the night.

Sal has boundless energy, but when it's time for bed, even she settles down.  Gracie is always settled down, and that is mostly because of her advanced age, as mentioned in last week's blog post.

Their owners arrive back home tomorrow, and then I will once again be on my way.

In my very long list of house sits, Gracie wins the prize for being the oldest bonehead that I have had the pleasure to get to know.  It certainly has taken some extra effort on my part to take care of her, but it has been worth every minute of it.  So thanks Gracie, for teaching me some new lessons.

Sal on the other hand, has been a very faithful companion during my stay here.   She's always by my side, no matter what part of the house that I am in at any given moment.  A true buddy.  So thanks Sal, for spending time with me.

The journey continues.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

BORDER COLLIE DOUBLE HEADER

 POST # 624

Sal and Gracie

In all of my years of house/pet sitting, I have had the pleasure to get to know a number of Border Collies, but this is the very first time, that I have had the opportunity to take care of *two of them at the same time.  A Border Collie double header as it were.

I arrived here in Delta, a couple of days ago, and only had a couple of hours or so to spend with the owners in order to go through any information that I needed to know about the house, but more importantly about Sal and Gracie.  The time went by very rapidly, and then they were off on their vacation to Hawaii.

Now it was just the three of us. Time to get to know one another.  Sal is the younger of the two, and right from the start, she was doing her Border Collie best to "round me up" as it were.  She follows me from one room to the next, and it didn't take long for her to decide that this new human can be trusted.  Of course, a few dog treats along the way has helped to cement the relationship.

Sal

Gracie on the other hand, is content to remain on the ground floor.  In actual fact she is 16 years old now, so she is pretty unsteady on her feet, and she doesn't have the ability any longer to climb stairs.  So part of my job is to make sure that I spend time on both levels of the house, so that both of them can have the opportunity to interact with the new human.

Gracie

Gracie spends much of her day, lying down and sleeping.  She doesn't have the energy to do much of anything else.  She lets me know when she needs to go out, and when that happens, I guide her around the yard, to make sure that she's okay, and eventually we make it back inside.  At that point, she settles in once again for a nap.  Gracie is certainly the oldest Border Collie that I have had the opportunity to spend time with.  No doubt, she will teach me a few lessons, during my stay here.

Sal on the other hand, has plenty of energy to spare, so we make sure to get out for our daily walks around the neighbourhood.  

So it's early days for now, and the three of us are still getting used to the routine.  But if the time spent so far is any indicator, it looks like things should go pretty smoothly for the rest of the house sit.  I'm looking forward to hanging out with these two.

* It is true that this is the first time that I have cared for two Border Collies, however I did care for four of them all at the same time, way back when during a sit at my friend's place in Bear Creek, in the Yukon.  Here is a link to that post from January 14th, 2016.  It includes a few videos, including one with all the dogs barking as was their habit, when the daily plane to Whitehorse took off for its journey south.

https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2016/01/back-in-bear-creek-yukon.html

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

HEADING SOUTH ONCE MORE

 POST # 623

The look in Doug's eyes seem to be asking me the question, "where do you think you're going?"  This photo was taken just prior to my departure from his home this past Tuesday.  It was the first time since my arrival, that he blocked the door.  The suitcase and backpack were an obvious sign to him, that something was up.  I gave him an extra special pat on the head, and thanked him for his company, and with that I was out the door, and on my way to Nanaimo to pick up his owner.  His sadness would soon turn to joy, once he saw her return a short while later.

I continued my journey, on to Vancouver for an overnight stay at my niece and her husband's place.  Of course, Ollie the furball was there as always, and he's so cute, I of course had to take a photo of him, prior to leaving.

Here he is, testing out his new favourite box.

Then it was time to go to the train station, to head south once again to Washington, on board the Amtrak Cascades train.

The train departed right on schedule, as we began our journey to the border.  I have been on this journey multiple times, but I had never seen such an empty train as this one.  I walked through four carriages to do a head count, and the total including myself was just nine passengers.  My carriage was completely empty except for me, so I took a photo for the record.

It was a windy and rainy night, and we arrived about fifteen minutes behind schedule, which is normal for this journey.  In fact, I don't think that I have ever arrived on time.  Mary and Dora-dog arrived soon afterwards to pick me up, and we continued our journey to Shelter Bay.  My travel day was now complete.

This morning I just had to take another photo of Dora-dog, just because she's so damn cute.  A visit to Shelter Bay wouldn't be complete without at least one photo of her.

That just about sums things up for this blog post, except to say thank you to my niece, for coming up with a suggestion for how to upload photos once again.  Thanks Nicole.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

OUR DAILY WALKS

 POST # 622

 Now that's a happy looking Doug.  Like most boneheads, he loves to go out for a walk or two each and every day.  It has been somewhat of a challenge, in light of the wet weather that we have been experiencing lately, but we usually get in at least one walk.

When we were out walking yesterday, I was thinking about how each walk is like a new experience for him.  Doug is like all the other boneheads that I have come to know over the years, in that regard.  We humans can be thinking that it's no big deal, but these four-legged critters look upon a walk as if it's just the very best thing that could be happening.  They are as always, living in the moment, and as a result they take full advantage of that time.

Our walks these days, only take place around the neighbourhood.  In times past, Doug would hop into the truck with me and we would go off on an adventure to a nearby beach location, or for a walk in the woods.  But nowadays,  Doug is unable to hop up into the truck, so all of our walks are close to home.  He doesn't seem to mind.  He's just happy to be out there checking out the sights and smells as we stroll along.

After we return home, it's time for  a treat for him, and soon after, he is settled in for his afternoon nap.  No doubt he will be dreaming about our next walk, and when it happens, he'll be just as excited to go, as he was the previous time.

Once again, our four-legged friends are giving us a lesson about living in the moment.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

A DOUG DAY

 POST # 621

Doug wants his breakfast.  And he wants it now.  With that kind of expression on his face, how could I resist?  

And so another day with Doug begins.  Having been here a few times in the past, I know the routine very well.  Minutes after I get up, it's time to take Doug out for his morning pee and poop, and the very next item on the agenda is breakfast.  There would be no way on earth, that I could expect to do anything else at this hour but get his food ready.  Thankfully he knows the routine very well, and so he is patient while the house sitter gets the food prepared.  But once I have his dish ready, then the excitement shows, along with the drool dripping from his mouth in anticipation of things to come.  Once I place the food dish on the floor, he gets right to it, and even though I haven't timed him, I suspect that it takes less than a minute for him to have licked his dish clean.

With breakfast out of the way, we usually have fun playing with his many toys.  And then at some point, I get to have my own breakfast.

Eventually it's time to head out for a walk around the neighbourhood, so that Doug can check out any "pee mail" that his dog neighbours may have left behind.

The days go by pretty fast, and before long it's time for Doug to relax on the couch prior to bedtime.  He's having his pre-sleep rest.

He is certainly an easy bonehead to care for, so I am lucky to have his companionship for a while longer.

I like to think that he enjoys my company as well, so it's a good match.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE LOOK

 POST # 620

I just informed Silken, that this coming weekend I will be leaving her, in order to take up residence with a dog named Doug.  As you can tell by the look upon her face, she is NOT impressed.

 

She is having trouble processing this recent news from the housesitter.  Why, she wonders would I choose to spend time with a dog named Doug instead of her?  Hence, the look.

But it is once again time to be moving on, and Silken will just have to accept that fact, even if she doesn't agree with it.  

When her owner is back home, I will become a distant memory, and life for Silken will once again return to normal.  But in the meantime, I expect to get plenty of opportunities to experience the look, prior to my departure.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE THINGS WE TAKE FOR GRANTED

 POST # 619

If you or I were to take a blank piece of paper, and begin to write down upon it, all of the things that we  take for granted, my guess would be that that blank sheet would fill up pretty darn fast.  

Yesterday, I awoke at my usual time, and as expected, Silken was waiting at my bedroom door in anticipation of it opening.  The reason that she was there was to tell me that it's breakfast time, Mr. housesitter, so would you please get to it, and prepare my morning meal.

We have a little routine that we go through.  After I turn on the kitchen light, I head over to the pantry to grab a can of cat food for her.  While I am doing this, she is rubbing up against my leg, purring away, in anticipation of the upcoming meal.

I open the can, put exactly half of the contents in one of her favourite dishes, sprinkle some special powder on top, and bend over to put it on the floor.  She wastes no time chowing down, and during this time, I take the opportunity to continue on with my morning chores.  I weigh out her daily kibble, and after that is complete, it's time to head over to her litter box, in order to scoop out what ever happens to be in there from the night before.

Yesterday, after doing the litter box chore, I noticed that it was time to add some more fresh material to her litter box.  It is located right next to her litter box in a separate container.  It's a simple matter of opening the lid, and scooping out whatever amount I need, and it was at this very moment, while bending over to complete this task, that a pain like I've never experienced before, shot through my lower back.  It was so intense, that I almost fell down as a result of it.  Now, I've had back pain over the years, but for the most part, my back is not a problem.  That isn't the case right now.  And so I am hobbling around at the moment, hoping that this pain will subside sooner rather than later.

When I awoke this morning, I thought that things felt somewhat better, but as soon as I got out of bed, I knew that I was right back where I was yesterday.  

So getting back to that piece of paper that I mentioned at the beginning, if I were to start my list right now, I would write down that having a back that is pain free would be one of those things that I have been taking for granted for some time now.  Not any more.

So I will try to get through today, and try to have a good night's rest tonight, in anticipation of feeling somewhat better tomorrow.

The things we take for granted.  Yes indeed.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

MEG RYAN AND THE CDCP

 POST # 618

"and yesterday I met Meg Ryan, or as she is known around these parts, Dr. Megan Ryan, my new dentist." 

I wrote the above words way back on November 28, 2017.  I had visited Dr. Megan Ryan on November 27th, to do some repair work on one of my front teeth.  Here is the blog post that mentioned it.

https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2017/11/meg-ryan-and-desperate-situations.html

And that was the very last time that I visited a dentist.  Since then, my dental health has continued to deteriorate, which of course isn't a good thing.  However, because I haven't been in any pain, I have neglected to visit the dentist.

Then this year, I finally became qualified from an age point of view, to apply for the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP).  So this past May, I applied.  My first application was rejected, because according to them, I had not filed my 2023 tax return.  This was not so, and I even had an email from the Canadian Revenue Agency to prove that I had indeed, filed my return.  

I have lost track of just how many times I tried unsuccessfully to contact the CRA, but eventually I was successful.  That was the first step in re-applying for the CDCP.  Once they had confirmed that I had filed my return, I re-submitted my application.

And just this past Friday, I received the letter that I had been waiting for, confirming that I was now a part of the plan.  

So this morning I was eager to go and visit a dentist here in Nanaimo, as my first step in getting some very long overdue dental work taken care of, now that I had successfully been accepted into the program.

Imagine my surprise this morning, when I realised that today was a public holiday.  It's Thanksgiving day, but for me it was just another Monday.  When you are a house/pet sitter, one day is just like the other, so I totally forgot that today was a holiday.  Oh well.  My planned visit to the dentist will have to wait until tomorrow.

With any luck, I will be accepted at the dentist that I plan to visit tomorrow.  If that happens, then it's just a matter of trying to plan some dates that I will be able to be there, to get some work done.  I guess I'll know more about that soon.

Of course, I mentioned all of this to Silken this morning, hoping to get a reaction out of her.  She just begged for some more food, and then went to curl up in her bed to go to sleep for the day.  She didn't seem the least bit interested.  I don't blame her.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

WEEK ONE WITH SILKEN

 POST # 617

It's time for another round of fun with my furball friend, Silken, featured above.  This particular photo was taken in August of last year.  With my continuing problem with uploading new photos, I decided to scroll through some old ones to find a photo of Silken.  Even though she is more than a year older now, she looks exactly the same.  She is ageing gracefully, to be sure.

It's a pretty relaxed routine with Silken, so relaxed in fact, that I have taken to her habit of having an afternoon nap, while she has one.  All in all, life is good for Silken and the house sitter.

This is only the first week that I have been here, and I'll be here until early November.  Perhaps between now and then I will finally work out how to get some new photos uploaded, so I can give a more accurate portrayal of Silken.

In the meantime, I'll leave the reader with one more old photo from last year.  Here she is, doing what she does best.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

COFFEE AND OLLIE

 POST # 616

A very long time ago, in the last months of 1980, I was living and working at a place in central Alberta, approximately a two plus hour drive from my home town of Calgary.

After the work week had finished, I would hop in my car, and make the drive back to Calgary, to catch up with family and friends for a couple of days, before returning Sunday night in preparation for the work week ahead.

And it was during that time, that I started drinking coffee.  I would have just one cup, prior to the beginning of my drive to Calgary, and because it was the only cup I would drink all week, I would get quite a buzz from the caffeine.  And that's why I drank it, as it helped to keep me awake on my journey southward.

So that was the beginning of coffee drinking for me.  Why do I bring this up now?  Well, as of today, it has been exactly one year since I drank my last cup of coffee, and to my surprise, I haven't missed it one little bit.  It's rather strange that a habit that had lasted for 43 years, could just stop, and not be missed.  I don't even think about it now.  

Changing subjects.  In a couple of days, I will be saying goodbye to Ollie, as I head across the water to Nanaimo to begin my next house sit.  He'll probably be sleeping when I leave, even though it will be the middle of the afternoon.  He's a true furball.  He loves to sleep most of the day.  But if he is asleep, I'll make sure to wake him up, and give him a pat on the head to say my goodbye.  Thanks for your company Ollie.  It has once again been a pleasure to spend some time with you, my furball friend.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

OLLIE IS NOT IMPRESSED

 POST # 615

Today, I mentioned to Ollie, that tomorrow will be the Autumnal Equinox.  He looked unimpressed.  Mind you, this seems to be his default expression.  He hasn't got time to think about any celestial event, as it cuts into his sleep schedule.  And I certainly wouldn't want to interrupt his schedule.  Autumn happens to be my favourite season, but for Ollie, all of the seasons are the same, seeing as he is an indoor only furball.

Another week has come and gone, and I can't believe how fast it seems to have disappeared into the rear view mirror.  

I did have lined up a couple of cute photos of Ollie for this week's post, but I still haven't solved the issue of uploading photos to my blog.  Ollie is unimpressed about that as well, and so am I.  

But there is still one more post to do, before the end of the month, and maybe I'll have some success this week, with that issue.  After all, I would like to have one last opportunity to impress Ollie, before I depart.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

SUCCESS AND FAILURE

 POST # 614

My plan failed.  In last week's blog post, I mentioned that I was working on a plan to retrieve my iPod Touch device, in order to once again have the ability to post photos on the blog.

The first part of the plan worked perfectly. I did get my iPod back.

Last Wednesday, I once again boarded an Amtrak train to Washington.  I was up very early in the morning, in order to be at the station just after 6 am.  The train arrived on time mid morning, and I had the entire day to spend with Mary and Dora-dog.  Mary of course was expecting me, but Dora-dog seemed quite surprised that I was back so soon after leaving on September 6th.  Be that as it may, it didn't take her long to think that everything was back to normal, now that her second favourite human was back.

Unfortunately, the visit was only going to be a short one, and when we headed back to the train station that evening, Dora-dog knew that something was up. Sadly, I said goodbye once again to Mary and Dora-dog, and waited for the train to arrive.  Once again, it was almost an hour behind schedule, and with various delays along the way, due to freight train traffic, we arrived at 11:22 pm at the station in Vancouver.  Thankfully, this time I breezed through Customs, and I walked in the door at 11:48 pm.

Ollie was very happy to see me.  We had a visit, but it wasn't long before I was crawling into bed, as it had been a very long day indeed.

So my plan to retrieve my iPod was a success, but the failure part of the plan, is that for some reason, I cannot download any photos onto my computer from it, and I am not sure why that is.  So that is the failure part of the plan.

I'll keep tinkering around, to see if I can add some photos, and if I am successful, they will be added later.  If not, then maybe from now on, this will end up being a words only blog.  I guess we'll see what happens.

In the meantime, Ollie seems happy, as long as he has a human slave to feed him, and play with him in between his naps.  

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

BACK TO WORDS ONLY

 POST # 613

Back in the old days, when I began this blog, every post was filled with words, and had no photos.  As time progressed, photos started to appear, and they have been a regular feature for many years now.  But today, it's back to words only.  Why the change?  Here's why.

Yesterday, when we arrived at the train station, in preparation for my departure, Mary noticed that I had left my Ipod Touch device at her place.  I couldn't believe it, but it was true.  Stupid me.  In all my years of travel, I have developed the habit of always taking a second look prior to leaving anywhere, to make sure that I have everything, but yesterday I screwed up.  With nothing to take photos with, I'm left with only words. 

As it turned out, the train was almost one hour late departing, and of course, if we had known that, we would have had plenty of time to return to her home, collect the Ipod, and be back at the station in time to board the train.  But we couldn't have known that the train was going to be that late, so I boarded without it.

It was a slow journey back to Canada, with frequent stops along the way.  Better late than never, we arrived, and it was time to go through the standard Customs check at the station.  Lately, that has been a pretty quick affair, but that wasn't the case last night.  I got asked many of the usual questions, and the border guard seemed to be content with my responses.  I figured that any moment, he would give me the go ahead to clear customs, but oh no, not this time around.  He sent me to another room for a second round of inspection.  I'd been through this about two years previous, and it was time to do it again.  The agent opened up my bags and as he pulled everything out, the questions just kept on coming.  I was beginning to wonder just how long I was going to be there, when he asked what I did for a living.  I told him that I was retired, but that I used to drive a ferry at Granville Island.  As soon as I said that, he relaxed and had a chuckle, because he too, had done the same job some years ago.  We had found some common ground.   At that point, he ended his inspection, and welcomed me back into the country.

I was the very last person to clear customs, and it wasn't much before midnight before I arrived at my current destination of my niece Nicole, and her husband Dan's place in Yaletown.  It's time for another round of petsitting Ollie the furball, and if I had my device, I could add a photo.  But that will have to wait for another time I'm afraid.

So for now, I am back to words only, but I am working on a plan to retrieve my device before too long, so that once again, I'll be able to add a few select photos.  

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

RHEUM RHABARBARUM aka RHUBARB

 POST # 612

Mary has a wonderful rhubarb patch in her garden, and on most days, I pick one or two of the stalks and have them as my early morning treat.  Munching on rhubarb, always reminds me of my dad.  And why is that?  Well, a very long time ago, when I was a child, we also had a rhubarb patch in our yard.  My sisters and I would eat the rhubarb after we had dipped the end of it into some sugar.  Because of its sour taste, we thought that adding sugar to it before putting it in our mouths, would help to lessen the sourness of it.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  And here is where dad comes into the story.  He would sprinkle a tiny bit of salt on the rhubarb, and eat it that way.

Somewhere along the way, I decided to try the salt option, and what do you know, it tasted much better.  At least that's what I think, and it's what my dad thought as well.  So each time I enjoy a stalk of rhubarb, with the addition of salt, it reminds me of dear old dad.

But the rhubarb season is coming to an end, as the days progress, so I will try and eat up as much of it as possible before I head back to Canada.

Here is this morning's serving, and if you look very closely, you can see the sprinkle of salt on the stalk.  Even Dora-dog looks somewhat interested.

And now for a complete change of subjects. Here is a photo that I took this morning.  The sign is located at the entrance to Shelter Bay, and on most occasions the words written usually elicit a laugh or two.  I thought this was a particularly witty one.

The sign changes every now and again, and most of the time, I get a laugh from the words that are written there.  Someone in the community has a pretty good sense of humour.

August is coming to a close, and this is my final post for the month.  By the time my next post is due on September 7th, I expect to be settled back in Vancouver for my next house sit assignment.  

In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy the company of Mary and Dora-dog while I'm still here, and in addition to that, I will enjoy more Rheum rhabarbarum (with salt) as well.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE SEASON CONTINUES TO PROGRESS

 POST # 611

Just prior to retiring for the night, I took a photo of the (almost) full moon.  That was on Sunday, August 18th.  It wouldn't be full for about another twelve hours, but with clouds rolling in, this was the best opportunity to capture it. 

The season continues to progress, and as a result, we have been blessed with some cooler weather as a result.  I for one, am happy about that, as it has been rather hot for this old Canuck, and I appreciate the relief.

Another sign of the season progressing, is the maturing of the greenery here.  Mary put together a rather nice collection the other day, to display on the back deck.

In addition to those, there are plenty of maturing sunflowers around her property.  They are the result of all the bird feeders at the neighbour's house.  Lots of seeds manage to get transported across the street by the bird population, and as a result, we have the benefit of plenty of sunflower seed plants growing in the yard.

One of Dora-dog's favourite four-legged friends returned for a visit this week from Montana.  Mary's daughter paid us a short visit, and Fetti aka Confetti had joined her on the journey.  Dora-dog and Fetti get along well together, so it was fun to have them come by and spend some time with us.

That about sums things up for this past week. What will next week hold in store?

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE WEEK THAT WAS

 POST # 610

While we were away in Spokane, some of the local deer population has decided to hang out under Mary's cedar tree, in order to stay out of the heat.  There have been up to three of them there at the same time, and we have a good viewpoint from the kitchen window.  Dora-dog would just love to get out there and chase as many deer as possible, but with the road right behind the tree, it would not be a wise decision to let her loose.  

Having been away for a while, there were plenty of projects to do around the house.  My week started with the pruning of a tree out front.  It now looks much tidier since I began chopping the branches from it.  Dora-dog is keeping a watchful eye on my work, just to make sure that it's up to her standards.

From tree pruning to awning washing, the work projects continued.  There are a total of four awnings such as this one, and they certainly needed a scrub down.  They look so much better now that the job is complete.

Taking a break in the work schedule, we headed out to visit Mary's son Ben on his property, which is about an hour's drive from here in Shelter Bay.  He had recently arrived back from Hawaii with his girlfriend Simone, and it was nice to spend some time out there for a visit.  

Back home there was another project to do, which was to replace a rotting board on the deck.  The job took way longer than I had anticipated, due to the fact that all of the screws attaching the board to the deck, were completely rusted.  Eventually, I had to resort to using a saw to cut the board away from the deck, and replace it with a new board.  Thankfully, Dora-dog was there to help me out, and keep an eye on things to make sure that the job was done correctly.

And that pretty well sums up the week that was.  As I type these words, the deer is back again under the cedar tree out front.  It seems to have decided to make this spot its new home.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

A JOURNEY TO SPOKANE

 POST # 609

I hopped in the car this past week, and along with Mary and Dora-dog, we headed off on an adventure to the city of Spokane, which is about a six hour drive east from here.  The weather here has been rather warm, but it was nothing compared to the heat in Spokane.

We settled in to our Air B&B, and it wasn't long before Dora-dog was spying out the window at her favourite critter, a squirrel parked on the corner of the fence, straight ahead of her.  She was content to watch its every move.

Now getting back to the heat.  Every day was in the '90's, and we even had one day of 103 F.  Mary was at a weekend seminar, and Dora-dog and I took various strolls around the local neighbourhood, in spite of the heat.  

Sunday evening, we all ventured out to Manito park, which was just a short drive from our location, and spent an hour or so wandering around the gardens.  It was a very pleasant location to spend some time, and I took a variety of photos while we were there.

On one of my morning walks with Dora-dog, we came across some very strange looking chickens.  I've never seen anything like them before.  They were as curious about us, as we were of them.

We departed Spokane yesterday, and headed back to Shelter Bay, arriving early in the evening.  It was nice to be back at the coast, and finally out of the oppressive heat in Spokane.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

RETURN TO SHELTER BAY

 POST # 608

There was a large crowd gathered for the afternoon Amtrak train, one week ago today at Vancouver's Pacific Central Station.  Normally, I'm near the front of the line, but I arrived a mere four minutes after the stated boarding time of 3:30 pm and the line was already very long.  As I stood in line, I began to wonder what kind of seating arrangement I would get after I boarded the train.  Thankfully, I found a good seat, which helped to make the journey more enjoyable.

It was a beautiful afternoon, as we rolled past the famous white rock, in the city of White Rock, the last city prior to arriving at the border crossing.  The train comes to a complete stop at that point, and we all have to remain in our seats, in anticipation of the border guards coming through the train to collect our customs declarations and check our passports.  I debated whether or not I should try and take a photo during this process, but I decided to go for it anyhow.  Timing was everything.

The process only takes about ten minutes or so, and then we were once again on our way, with the first stop at Bellingham WA, which is about a half hour journey south of the border.  A short stop there to load/unload some passengers, and we then continued our journey to the next station at Mount Vernon, which was my stop to disembark.

Mary and Dora-dog were there to greet me, and we made our way back home.  My travel day was now complete.

The garden has certainly grown, since my last visit, as you can see by the sunflower plants.  They were barely out of the ground the last time I was here, but with all of the sunny warm days, they are very happy indeed.

This coming week, the three of us will be travelling to Spokane for a few days, and the place we will be staying at requires that your pet has a "crate" to sleep in.  As luck would have it, a friend who works at the local thrift store, told us that there happened to be one available, and so we got there right at opening, and so now, Dora-dog has a new place to sleep.  She appears to be happy with her new "home".

So that just about sums up my most recent journey here to Shelter Bay, and on my next post, I'll no doubt have something to say about our trip to/from Spokane.  Until then, I will remain...

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer