Pictures with Santa

I just spent an hour looking for pictures with Santa (another attempt at avoiding getting ready for Christmas!) but only came up with two.  And you're not going to see them because it looks like Santa is strangling Brooke and I don't want to expose the big guy's bad side!

What I did find though were pre-digital camera pictures of Oscar, Ceasar, Chevy and Brooke - yes, all my four legged friends. 

Ceasar came home with us after Dan putting up with months of me sticking pictures of dogs to the fridge.  We went and met him at a shelter, took him for a walk and put him in the car.  The young girls at the shelter were crying because he was leaving and Dan was shaking his head because Ceasar had zero leash manners!  Dan said if we got a dog it would have to live outside.  Yeah ok (more like 'yeah right').  It took about three days and then Ceasar was safely living inside and sleeping on  Dan's pillow at night.  Dan worked graveyard shift back then so the transition was easy.  Ceasar settled in just fine and quickly learned that sleeping on the couch or the bed was better than sleeping on the floor. 

Ceasar had a cat buddy that lived next door to us at our old house.  For the record, we didn't steal that cat when we moved.  When we moved in here I bugged Dan for a cat.  And along came Oscar.  Ceasar and Oscar became fast friends.  They would rip around the house chasing each other, knocking over furniture etc.  Ceasar would flip Oscar over and chew on his belly - company always thought the dog was killing the cat but it was all in good fun until one day:

I didn't mean to kill him momma.

No, Oscar is not dead, he's stretching! 

Ceasar became ill and we lost him too soon.  He was our intro to living with dogs and my protector from the Jamaican stalker.  Ceasar lived a good life, so good in fact that when he was ill and I was at the butcher getting him chicken to boil, the butcher offered to quit his job and come live in our yard on a chain if we'd feed him that well.

Next came Chevy.  Oscar spent two years in hiding - not very fair.  Chevy had more training than any dog should require and despite that he still had issues.   This picture is an indication of his drive/determination:

Yes, he's standing on the hood of Dan's truck (known as 'bigwhiteugly') and that is Oscar trying to get away.  I learned  A LOT working with Chevy but eventually with my vet's intervention, he was rehomed. 

Then along came Brooke and since you see her all over this blog I won't subject you to her now.

Don't expect that to last long though.  I got a scanner for my birthday and finally put it to use this morning with the pictures above.

Wholly snowflake batman

The snow finally started falling and it didn't seem like it would ever quit:

Oscar ventured out, before it was over his head:

It kept falling, and we kept shovelling:

We kept shovelling except for this short beverage break.

The fence in the background is six feet tall - yes, SIX!

As you can see, we are running out of driveway space.

Brooke uses the yard area on the left side of the picture shown below for her, umm, personal business.  By now the snow is as deep as she is tall.

We actually had to shovel a trail and an 'area' for her:

The sun finally made an appearance and we were able to start cleaning up.

These pictures are actually from the winter of 2008/09!  We've only had a few dustings on the coast so far this year but we are ready for it.  No more shovelling for us - Dan got a blade for the ATV.  The weather experts better be right with their 'worst winter in 50 years' prediction.

My public service announcement

Christmas is just around the corner.  Are you considering purchasing that cute puppy at the local pet store?  Well DON'T.   By buying an animal, any animal not just that cute puppy in the window, from a pet store you are enabling those who breed due to greed.  I personally do not shop at stores that sell cats, dogs, rodents - they are selling those animals for profit without a care for that animal's well being. 

Puppy and kitten mills sell to pet stores - good breeders don't, simple as that.  A good breeder will breed to enhance the breed and do their best to ensure you are getting a healthy animal.  Purchase at a pet store and you are almost guaranteed to get behaviour and health problems.  For more information, or more convincing, have a look at www. nopuppymillscanada .ca.  (remove spaces)

If you are looking for an animal and don't want to go the breeder route, please consider your local animal control, SPCA and rescue organizations.  Do your homework when looking for your next fur friend - a little effort is worth it when you consider this next houseguest could be with you for the next ten to fifteen years.

Wait, I'm not finished yet with this public service announcement.  It is C O L D outside.  Please bring your pets indoors - where they belong.  And remember, antifreeze KILLS.  Ask you mechanic (or husband/spouse/significant other) to use non-toxic propylene glycol anifreeze in your vehicles.  A few drops of antifreeze in your driveway can end your fur kid's life. 

Let's do what we can to keep these guys safe:

PLEASE turn off the lights, I'm trying to sleep here.

And don't forget, cats and dogs like Christmas too:

I hope Santa brought me a mouse.

I hope Santa brought ME a t-bone.

I wasn't going to comment on giving pets as gifts but I will.  Many people think pets as gifts are wrong.  I do too - if it is an impulse purchase.  February and March see our local shelters filling up with animals that were given as gifts because the novelty has worn off and that cute little puppy/kitten actually requires effort.

On the other hand,  if you have done your homework and you and/or the person receiving the pet are committed to caring for this animal's health and well-being for the life of the animal then I'm all for it. 

The end of an era?

Last Sunday when we were up at the trailer it was semi-finals for the Grey Cup.  We watched the games and Hamilton, much to my dismay, lost to Toronto.  What was even more disappointing was the Lions loss to Saskatchewan.  Bummed me out so much I took off the unlucky Lions t-shirt I was wearing and threw it in the fire (and no, I wasn't wandering around topless, I had a thermal shirt on underneath).

So, why the end of an era?  Well, we had been humming and hawing about going to Grey Cup this year and finally decided (even before the loss) that we weren't going.  We have been to eleven in a row and had a lot of good times so not going this year is going to be different. 

We even declined a nice invitation from one of my family members to come and visit them after the game - and the clear statement that we were welcome to stay, just not for long ie nothing more than a day or two.  That was a tough one to pass up but we still have a nice driveway they can park and sleep in!

But, like I said, we had some really good times at those we have been too.  My pictures from most of our trips are all over the place; only available in hard copy or on another computer.  I do have the ones from  2007 forward handy though.

2007 took us to Toronto.  Dan and I went out ahead of our group so we could hook up with a friend who lives there. 

Then two more of our entourage showed up:

Welcome.

Notice the large whiskey, small diet coke and plastic bag?  Yeah, that's pretty much what N travels with - the plastic bag contains salt & vinegar chips - worth their weight in gold to him.

Par for the course, we hit the Lions Den with a bunch of others.

That's our group in the back and a stranger in the front.

2008 took us to Montreal.  That was our second time to Montreal for Grey Cup.  Both times it was a blast.  I really like Montreal.  More the of usual suspects this time.

Get down!

THE CUP:

"I could mix a serious whiskey in this puppy."

We did some chillin and eating in old montreal:

Oh, it looks like we had a few beer too.

And hung out with Cam W who is now off playing in the NFL:

He's a softie inside.

And as always, Leo was hanging around causing trouble with these two:

See that smile on N's face?  Where's Leo's paws?

Apologies go out again to I & R who got a prank message from me at their hotel that we'd been kicked out of our room and had no where to stay.  They were very kindly making arrangements, and room, for us in their room, until they found out I was BS'ing them.  They eventually forgave me.

2009 took us to Calgary.  We ran into one of the best known former Lions:

Self portrait and Luuuuu wanted a retake after he got off the phone.

Game day, hanging out deciding when to get ready and how many layers of clothes to put on.  These guys don't look too energetic do they:

We on the other hand were raring to go:

Another self portrait, and no retakes because where are Ian's hands!

So, no Grey Cup trip this year but for all of you considering it - go for it.  You won't regret it. We'll take a few (two) years off and then we are on a list for priority tix and room for TO in 2012.

The only CFL city we haven't been to is Hamilton.  When/if they get their stadium and host the grey cup, we will go.

Now I have to go find the rest of my pictures.  I have some doozies!  N having a nap on the floor, Chris Schultz' face when I ask him to stand outside in the rain with me to wait for my friends so I can get a group shot, he's expecting a bunch of women to appear and N, G and Dan come lumbering around the corner!  Lots of good memories and even more pictures that will not be posted for public viewing. 

Snow fun

Like I said earlier, we got some snow last trip to the trailer.  We were doing some work outside around the trailer one afternoon and I finished what was needed of me.  So, what does one do on a sunny afternoon with really fresh powder?  Well, build a snowman of course:

Check out my hairdo!

After a bit of packing and rolling Brooke came to check him out.

Gimme a kiss big guy.

What's with the do?

A little beef broth and this would make a great snow cone.

Can't say I've ever had the opportunity to build a snowman on November 13 before.  It was fun!  But, I set him up next to the fire pit - and then built a fire so he was short lived.

We got snow!

We were at the trailer mid-November and we got snow!  A couple inches each night.

We got up early (early for me on a day off) our first morning to this:

6:30 am - so not quite daylight

We have a snow dog (and a bird dog which I will talk about later).  The snow really holds scent so  Brooke spent a good deal of time following her nose.  I should have had Dan lay a track for us and did some tracking with her since we haven't been in a while but didn't get around to it.  Instead we just enjoyed what we had.

A nose to the ground results in:

It was great.  We didn't get much but enough.  We came home Monday and were told Monday night the snow started falling HEAVY on Monday afternoon.

Today is Dan's birthday

Asked how he felt about getting older, this is how he responded:

Like fine wine, better with age?

Happy birthday, Daniel.

BC Lions win a do or die game and Eskimos tank

Yesterday, November 6, was a big day in the CFL for Lions fans and those pesky Eskimo fans.  Lions fans faired better.  TSN reports:

          LIONS DOWN TIGER-CATS TO EARN FINAL WEST PLAYOFF BERTH

And the Edmonton Journal reports:

    The Edmonton Eskimos didn't get any help and they truly failed to help themselves in attempting to  punch their own ticket into the CFL post-season, ultimately getting smacked 31-23 by the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday.

Perhaps Grey Cup tickets will be easier to come by now that the home team has been given the boot. 

As big Lions fans, we definitely didn't want a win for the Eskimos so on Friday I pulled out the Ricky Ray voodoo doll:

And doctored it up a bit.  I took the picture with my phone so it is not terribly clear.  What you don't get a good view of is the white tags which read "Simpson" and "2" - a former Lion and current Roughrider. 

#15 - Ray for you non football fans is Edmonton's quarterback, who is probably still trying to dry his tears. 

Go Lions.

Do you know these creeps?

With Halloween only hours away, we have a couple creeps hanging around.  This guy:

And this guy:

And here's a few more of each of them:

Here's a shot of their house:

And a group photo:

Those are my halloween pumpkins.  I'm getting lazy (or old?) so only three this year.  I tried food coloring on the inside of the centre one above.  It didn't work out so well although it kind of looks like brain matter in the pictures, eh?

No photoshop here

I haven't photoshopped, touched up or altered this:

Yes, Dan's got messy hair and hasn't shaved in more than a week but do you see the ball? 

See the ball here:

Looks fake, don't it?

A picture

If we had of had kids, you might see less pictures of our dog.  However, that is NOT a good reason to have children.  So, you are stuck with our dog:

Whadda ya want now, lady?

I should have trimmed that long grass that is growing from the ground because it looks like it is coming out of her nose.

When is the last time you drove through the Fraser Canyon?

I really like driving through the Fraser Canyon.  Except that one time about ten years ago when we were travelling in February and hit black ice while passing another vehicle.  We ended up sliding sideways (ie looking out the passenger window gave me the view of the highway that we should have had while driving straight ahead) right past the car we were passing.  Scared that other driver as much as it did me - which may explain my dislike of being a passenger.

Now, back to what I was talking about.  The Fraser Canyon.  The pictures are a bit fuzzy because we were driving and I was messing around taking pictures as we were moving.

This is the ferry at Lytton:

A little further along heading east:

Still going.  We didn't see any white water rafters this time.  At some point we WILL stop to get pictures though when they are out on the river.  The picture below is a huge rock in the middle of the river, with rapids swirling around.  The picture doesn't show it very clearly though.

And then we get east (north east?  Did I mention I am directionally challenged) of Cache Creek, see how the landscape changes:

Yes, that is my reflection in the window.  Like I said, I was messing around with the camera while we were driving.

So, if you (J & T from the USA) are thinking of moving back to this neck of the world, this is just a subtle reminder of what you are missing!