HANGIN' OUT AGAIN, WITH DOUG THE DOG

 POST # 669

On October 30th, I enjoyed a sunny ride  across to Vancouver Island, en route to my current location, here in Nanoose Bay. Pam picked me up at the ferry terminal and we headed back to her place.  I was last here, almost exactly one year ago to take care of Doug the dog.  You can't really tell from the photo, but he was truly happy to see me.  His mind appears to be elsewhere.  Perhaps he was thinking about the fact that Pam would be leaving the next day, and he wasn't too happy about that.

The next day was Halloween, so I asked Doug if he would be kind enough to show me his scary Halloween look, and he was happy to oblige.

I guess that his look worked, because we never even had one visitor the entire evening.  I think that it wasn't his look that caused the lack of visitors, but the fact that it was a very rainy night,  which didn't make it very inviting to go out trick or treating on the local streets.  We enjoyed a quiet evening at home, as the rain poured down.

There are two times each day, when I have Doug's full attention, and those two times are breakfast and dinner.  As soon as I grab his food bowl, he's right there next to me, waiting and drooling for his meal.  Moments after I put his bowl down, the food has disappeared.  

It must be time for our afternoon walk, so I'll get Doug ready, and off we'll go.  Thankfully the weather today has cooperated, so I won't have to take an umbrella along with me.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

RHUBARB RAMBLINGS AND THE TWO AUSSIE DAVIDS

 POST # 668

A very long time ago, when I was still a child, we had a great rhubarb patch in our garden at home.  My sisters and I would take advantage of this fact, and occasionally pick a stalk to eat.  Back then, it was normal to get a cup, put some sugar in it, and then dip the rhubarb into the sugar prior to eating it.  The idea was that because the rhubarb was sour, the sugar would help make it more palatable.  In fact, it seemed to exaggerate the sour taste, at least for me it did.  I'm not sure what effect it had on my sisters.

My dad on the other hand, used to sprinkle a bit of salt upon his rhubarb prior to eating it.  At the time it seemed like a strange idea to me, but somewhere along life's journey, I decided to try some rhubarb with salt.  And I've never looked back.  

Why so much talk about rhubarb today?  Well, I just finished the last three stalks here at Mary's place.   The plant is now done for the season, so I'll have to wait a long time until I can once again enjoy the taste of rhubarb with a sprinkle of salt.  And every time I do, it makes me think of my dad.  I'm glad that he showed me the best way to eat it, all those years ago.

Today's date also takes me back to the year 2002.  I've written about this before, but I'll state it again.  I was living in Dawson City at that time, and I phoned my friend David Jones in Melbourne to wish him a happy birthday (the 29th in Australia).  After wishing him a happy birthday, I asked, "what's new?"  That simple question was the beginning of a very big adventure.  David had just purchased a sailboat in Durban, South Africa, and right then and there he invited me along to help sail it back to Australia, an adventure that took place from March 6th to April 17th, 2003.  It most certainly was a memorable journey on many fronts, and was without doubt the biggest adventure I had been on up to that point.  So today is once again his birthday (in Australia), so I'll make sure to send him a note to wish him a happy birthday.

And speaking of Davids.  I sent an email yesterday to another David friend of mine in Australia, whom I hadn't heard from in ages, and lo and behold there was an email in my inbox today from him.  As it turned out, I managed to send the email to him on his birthday as well, so that was good timing.  It was great to be back in touch after all of these years.  Having had my yahoo email account hacked many years ago has caused some problems, and my lost contact with him was no doubt a result of that misfortune.

Soon I will be heading back to Canada to begin my next house sit back on Vancouver Island once again.  In the meantime, I will enjoy Mary and Dora-dog's company for a couple of more days.  And of course, I can't help myself, so here is the latest photo of Dora-dog just after we had returned from our daily walk.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer
 

SHE'S BAAAACK!!!

 POST #667

She's baaaack!!!  And Dora-dog is one happy bonehead indeed.  Mary arrived back from her vacation to Hawaii last Saturday morning, so I took Dora-dog for a ride to the Shell station to meet Mary after she exited from the airport shuttle bus.

Now I know that Dora-dog enjoys my company as well, but Mary is still number one in her books.  And that is as it should be.  After all, it was Mary who rescued this frightened young puppy from the animal shelter way back in February 2018.  Who knows where she may have ended up if Mary hadn't adopted her back at that time.  

She's had a good run since then, but a very large part of her happiness is the fact that she gets to spend time each and every day with Mary.  

Here is a link to a post that I wrote one year after Mary adopted Dora-dog.

https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/search?q=dora

They've come a long way since that time, and I'm pretty sure that they would both agree that it has been a wonderful journey for each of them.

And one more photo of Dora-dog, as you can see.  Her number one human is back on the scene, and  she is very, very happy about that.

Okay.  Just one more photo to re-confirm that Dora-dog is happy.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

ONE ON ONE WITH DORA-DOG

 POST # 666

                                                              Post walk relaxation

I could probably write an entire blog on the various meanings of the number 666, but instead I'll just say that I am currently one on one with Dora-dog.

Mary is off on a vacation to Hawaii, so it's just the two of us for this week, and as can be expected, we get along very well together, and I think that Dora-dog is enjoying this one on one time with her housesitting human friend.

We get two and sometimes three walks per day accomplished, and seeing as we are both carrying extra pounds these days, it's doing us both some good.

Our time together began with some rainy weather, but the last couple of days have been absolutely gorgeous, and we are enjoying spending as much of it as we can outdoors.

We've got the rest of the week to enjoy our one on one time, and we'll try and make the most of it while it lasts.

                                                Enjoying some late afternoon sunshine

The last time that we were one on one was way back in September of 2019, when I had the great pleasure of removing the cone off of Dora-dog's head.  She was very happy when that happened and here is a link to that blog post.  https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2019/09/so-long-cone.html

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

LEON'S NEW NEIGHBOUR

 POST # 665

Since my last visit here, Leon has a new neighbour.  In case you didn't get a good enough look with the first photo, here he is again.  Leon's owner did mention his name to me, but as of this writing, I have forgotten it.

But what's in a name anyhow?  The main thing to know about this new furball in the neighbourhood, is that he is extremely friendly.  Every day when I look outside in the morning, he is there to greet me at the back door.  I'm not sure if Leon is as happy to see this furball as I am, but they at least seem to respect each other.  I'm pretty sure that if the owner wanted to adopt another furball, this one would be only too glad to accept the offer.  Leon, maybe not so much.

I'm glad that he's in the neighbourhood, and I enjoy our daily visits out on the back deck.  He comes over on many occasions, and I get the impression that he would rather be here than at his own place across the street.  Why that is, I can only guess.

Of course, Leon is my first priority, and he is also very good company.  So the house sitter has had it good lately, enjoying two furballs for the price of one as it were.

However, tomorrow I will have to say so long to the both of them, as I continue on my journey.  As always, it's been great to hang out with Leon again, and I'm glad that he has a new friend in the neighbourhood.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE BRUSHAHOLIC'S SLAVE RETURNS

 POST # 664

Armed with one of Leon's favourite brushes, The Thoughtful Wanderer aka The Brushaholic's Slave, has returned once more for another round of pampering Leon in the way that he has come to expect.

I've had the great pleasure of getting to know and spend time with a variety of wonderful furballs over the many years that I have been pet and house sitting, but without a doubt, Leon wins the award for wanting to be brushed on a very regular basis.

The brushing begins right after he's had breakfast, and continues right through the day.  About the only time that he doesn't request to be brushed, is when he is sleeping.

I'm happy to oblige as I think that I enjoy it almost as much as Leon does.  It's a soothing activity for both of us.

So after breakfast is done, and Leon's had his first brush of the day, it's time for him to take a well deserved rest, and while doing so, he can dream of the future brushing opportunities that he will have the pleasure of enjoying before the day is complete.  He's one lucky furball.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

"YOU WERE VERY LUCKY"

 POST # 663

On September 18th which was last Thursday, I decided to head over to the local shopping centre to pick up a few items.  I happily hopped onto the bicycle that I have to use, and began my journey.  It's not far, probably about a ten minute ride from here.

I arrived at the intersection pictured above. I approached from the E&N trail at the bottom of the photo, and pressed the button at the crosswalk while I waited for the light to turn green.  A few moments passed, and then it was my turn to cross.  I hopped on the bike and began to ride across Island Highway.  The first lane of traffic had come to a complete stop, and as I began my journey across the highway, a car drove right in front of me and through the red light.  Luckily for me, I stopped in time. I watched the car pass, and the people in it, looked like they had no idea that they were driving through the red light.

Someone in the car next to where I had come to a stop, yelled out, " you were very lucky."  Whether it was luck or good awareness on my part, I'm not sure.  

I continued on to the shopping centre to do my shopping, and as I returned home, I re-played the near miss over in my mind a few times.  One really never knows what's around the corner each and every day, and I am glad that I was able to avoid the potential collision with a car travelling at 60 kph or so.  

Arriving home, I explained the whole event to Silken, and as you can see from the expression on her face, she was quite shocked at listening to my story.  She was probably just glad to see that I had returned home, so that she could continue to be fed and pampered for a few more days by the housesitter.

I also mentioned to Silken, that I will have to say goodbye to her this coming Wednesday, and head over to my next sit, which just happens to be only three doors down the street from here.  It will be a much shorter journey than I experienced prior to arriving at my current location.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

A VERY LONG TRAVEL DAY

 POST # 662

Last Wednesday, I once again had to say goodbye to Mary and Dora-dog, and head off to my next house sit assignment in Nanaimo.  We arrived at the train station a few minutes ahead of its scheduled arrival time of 10:04 am.  After saying goodbye, I headed onto the train platform, and soon, the Amtrak was arriving.  And for the first time that I can remember it was on time.  Well, almost on time.  We departed at 10:06 am.  It has always been much later to depart in past journeys, so I thought that we were off to a good start.  I had some things that I wanted to do in Vancouver after my arrival, and so I was quite happy that we were on our way.  About twenty minutes or so after leaving Bellingham, all of a sudden the train came to a very abrupt stop, out in the middle of nowhere.  This had never happened on previous journeys, and I, like all the other people on board were somewhat confused by this sudden stop.  After a few minutes, the conductor came on the intercom to inform us that the train had experienced  a "trespass" and that we were going to be here for quite a while.  It turns out that a "trespass" is the term they use for someone jumping in front of the moving train.  Unfortunately for that soul, it was their last day spent alive.  The photo above is where we were sitting on the tracks after this incident happened.  Originally, it was the conductor who told us that we would be here for at least a couple of hours, but later on, the engineer came on the intercom to let us know that it would be much longer of a wait, due to the fact that when an incident like this takes place, the crew has to retire, and wait for a replacement crew.  The replacement crew had to come from Seattle, and so we just had to stay put until that happened.

Well, it was shortly after 11 am when this incident took place, and the replacement crew didn't arrive until after 3 pm.  We finally got on our way again at 3:30 pm  My original plan was to be catching a 4 pm ferry, so that certainly wasn't going to happen.

I finally cleared customs at 5:26 pm and continued on my journey to the ferry terminal.  

I now planned on catching the 7:25 pm ferry to head to Nanaimo.  At the scheduled departure time, the ferry was just arriving at Horseshoe Bay, and we didn't get underway until 8 pm.  So my arrival into Nanaimo was very late indeed.

I visited with Ann Marie for a little while, but I was looking forward to bed, as it had been a very long travel day indeed.

Silken was looking as relaxed as ever, so I guess that she was happy that her favourite house sitter had finally arrived.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS.  I learned on this trip that there are people that actually just do a day trip to Vancouver, and then head back on the returning train.  For these passengers, once they finally cleared customs they had to get back in line and get on the train that they had just left, and head back to their original destination.  So much for their day trip to Vancouver.

PPS: In spite of all the inconvenience to the passengers, we should all spare a thought for the poor soul, who for whatever reason decided that this was going to be their last day. Sad news for sure.

HAZY DAYS

 POST # 661

Remember that old song by Nat King Cole, about the Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer.  Well I can't say that the recent days have been lazy or crazy, but they most certainly have been hazy. Each morning the sun looked like the image above, and every evening the moon (full today) looks just as hazy.

It's been like this for most of the days that I have been here in Washington, but today at least, it's just cloudy for a change.

Today was a perfect day to take Dora-dog for a walk, as the temperature wasn't too hot for a change.  

Here she is waiting patiently for the human to get his act together, so that the walk can begin.  And then we were off, on our favourite walk into town.  There are always plenty of places for Dora-dog to have a sniff along the way, and she never seems to get tired of the walk into town.  Today, we even met some of her four-legged friends along the way, which always adds something special for her.

But before long we were back home, and it was time to take a well deserved rest.

She's earned it, and I am happy to have been able to accompany her on our journey to town and back.  With any luck, our last couple of walks will not be hazy, but I guess we'll find out, starting tomorrow.

I say last couple of walks, because on Wednesday I will return to Canada, and once again I will have to say goodbye to Mary and Dora-dog, which is always a sad moment. 

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

FOUR IN ONE

 POST # 660

As I was making my way out the door, and saying goodbye to Carlos and Dulce, they gave me this look.  I've seen it before with other critters that I have had the pleasure to spend time with.  It's the look of "where are you going?"  Four short days ago, I had to say goodbye to them.  They were two of the finest boneheads that I have ever had the pleasure of taking care of, but they certainly kept me on my toes, and probably taught me a few lessons along the way, so I'm grateful to them for doing that.

From there, it was back onto a ferry to head across to the mainland once again, and spend the night in Vancouver.  My furball friend, Ollie was there to greet me upon my arrival.

As you can see, it was yet another hard day for Ollie, but somehow he manages to cope with all the stresses and strains that life sends his way.  He even allowed me to take a photograph in spite of the fact that he was trying to go back to sleep.  My visit was just a short one, and then I was once again on my way.

I boarded the Amtrak train, and once again headed south to visit Dora-dog in Washington State.  And so that completes the "four in one" in the title of today's very short post.  Three boneheads and one lone furball all in the same week.

I will still be here for the first post in September, so let's see what Dora-dog can come up with to keep me amused while I'm here.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

OUR DAILY WALKS

 POST # 659

Pre-walk

Twice each day, I hook up Dulce and Carlos, and head out for our daily walks.  There is always a look of anticipation  upon their faces,  while I put my shoes on, grab a couple of poop bags, and get ready to go.  They know the routine very well by now, and I don't have to say anything to encourage them.  Once we head out the door, the only decision to make is which direction we will go.  As time has gone on, I am getting better at trying different routes that may eliminate the possibility of an interaction with another critter, but it hasn't been easy, and there is always the unexpected.  In fact, to date there hasn't been even one walk that we've been on in which we manage to get back home without some interruption or another.  But walk we must, and so we do.

Walk

The walk above was one of our favourite ones, but the trail is now closed for some work, so even though it was one of the best walks we took part in, it is now ancient history.  The trail will be closed until well after I leave, so we have found other places to go since that time.  After a decent amount of time outdoors, it's time to head back home and relax for a while.  As you can see below, Dulce and Carlos have this part figured out.  There's nothing like a post walk snooze to make your day, and while they're snoozing, I can take a few moments to relax as well.

Post Walk

But soon, our walks will be coming to an end, as the owners arrive back this coming Sunday afternoon, which means that we only have six more walks to go prior to that time.  With any luck and maybe some good management on my part, they will all be stress free until then.  

And as an added bonus, I took a photo of a rainbow the other day. We had just had some rainfall which was much needed and most appreciated.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

CARLOS AND DULCE

 POST # 658

Say hello to Carlos (top), and Dulce.  Carlos is a three year old French mastiff, and Dulce is a one year old Dane/Poodle cross.  Let me tell you right now, they are certainly a handful, especially Carlos, who without a doubt is the strongest bonehead that I have ever encountered in all my years of pet sitting.

I arrived here on August 8th, and it's taken a while to settle in, but we seem to now have a pretty good routine going, and they are teaching me new lessons each and every day.  One of the early lessons was their reaction to other four-legged animals.  Let me put it this way.  It's all I can do to keep a hold of them when another dog or a cat happens to show up.  And believe me, I think that this neighbourhood has more cats and dogs than anywhere else that I have been.  So the daily walks are a workout for all of us.

We had a very close encounter just yesterday, when out of nowhere two people on bikes with their unleashed dog arrived on the scene, on a path that we were walking on.  I was doing my best to keep Dulce and Carlos under control, but with the other dog being free, it came right up to us.  Thankfully the owners managed to get control of their dog, and then head down the trail on their bikes.  I was glad to see them leave.

So far, that has been the closest encounter that we have had, but every day is a new opportunity for more chaos.  I am certainly keeping my eyes peeled as we walk along, and if I see any other critters, we take our walk in another direction.

In other news, we experienced the August full moon (Sturgeon moon) back on August 9th, and it was a pleasure to see it rise with its glow reflected on the ocean.

And then a couple of days ago, the sky filled with smoke from a wildfire northwest of here, but as of today the sky is once again clear.

So that's the latest news for now.  I'm sure I'll have a few more stories next week with regards to Carlos and Dulce, as each day is a new adventure with these two boneheads.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS:  Good news regarding Logan from last week's post.  The day the owners arrived home, Logan came back.  I guess I didn't give him enough treats while I was there, but I was very happy to hear that he is alive and well.

WHERE IS LOGAN?

 POST # 657

The look on Caper's face seems to imply that she too wants to know where Logan has gone.  The owners left here back on September 28th.  That was the last day the Caper and I have seen him.

Logan is very used to coming and going as he pleases.  He has a cat door that he uses on a regular basis, and when I have been here in the past, he just shows up for a while to have something to eat, maybe take a nap, and before long, he's out wandering around.  It seems to have worked fine for many years, but for whatever reason, this time he's decided to go walkabout.

On a couple of occasions during this time period, I noticed that some of the cat food in his dish had been eaten.  Seeing as Caper doesn't have access to it, and the housesitter has more tasty items on his menu, then the only critter that could have eaten it, has to be Logan.  At least that is a hopeful sign.  He still must be somewhere around the property, otherwise the food would have never been touched.

But the mystery continues right up until today.  I leave tomorrow, so maybe he'll show up prior to my departure.  If he does, I'm sure that I will know, because Caper always makes a ruckus when Logan comes into the house.

Perhaps Logan knows that the owners will be home soon, and he's just hanging out somewhere outside until he sees their car arrive.  I'm sure they'll let me know if that is the case. 

In the meantime, I'll just hang out with Caper, and we'll both keep our eyes peeled for our wandering furball friend, Logan.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE SUMMER OPTION

 POST # 656

I have had the great pleasure to house and pet sit for my friends Howard and Sally for a decade now, but not until this sit, have I ever had the summer option of taking care of their home and critters, Caper and Logan.

But summer is most certainly here now, and one of the first indicators of that, was the line up of garlic in the place next to the house, where the wood is normally stacked up, for use in the wood stove.  But there is no need for a wood stove right now, as each and every day so far has been sunny and very warm.

In addition to the garlic, there are other things growing in the garden, one of which is blueberries.  There is way more than I can pick and eat, but I am happy to munch through as many as I can, while I am here.

In addition to Caper and Logan, I have a couple of donkeys to spend time with if I choose to do so.

I'll be doing another post from here on August 7th, prior to my departure.  I wonder if the weather will stay as hot as it currently is, and I also wonder just how many of those blueberries I'll consume during my stay?

In the meantime, I'll just hang out with Caper and Logan, and the donkeys, and try to enjoy each day as it presents itself.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

A VERY RELAXING WEEK

 POST # 655

It has been a very relaxing week here at Britannia Beach, and my four-legged friends seem to be having a competition to see who can be more relaxed than the other.  Have a look.

Or how about these next two images.  It appears that they are really trying to outdo one another.

And even though there is time each day to take Tank for a walk, sometimes accompanied by Mitten, the two of them have certainly perfected the art of relaxation.  What a life.

There has also been time to enjoy the wonderful views around the area.   On a walk at the shoreline with Tank, I took a photo of a mountain across the water.  As best as I can tell, it is probably Mount Sedgwick, which is northwest of my current location.

And the other day on a trip to Squamish I stopped to take a photo of this magnificent rock face, which borders the highway.

The weather has been pretty darn perfect as well, although the downside to that has been that the fire danger has gone from moderate to extreme,  just in one week.  

But now my days are winding down in this beautiful location, and come this Saturday, I will once again be on my way, heading back to Vancouver Island for a little while.  I'm certainly going to miss spending time with Mitten and Tank, but I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to spend a couple of weeks with them.  I hope that they feel the same about the house sitter.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer