Barren

The other day I took the dogs for a run in an area where the “Lost Creek” fire was.  This fire happened in 2003 and was massive.  It came close to taking out a few of the towns around here.

A good number of the trees on the mountains were burnt up on one side of the valley here.

The trees are burnt as far as you can see in this area.

If you look close enough the baby trees are well on their way to adulthood.

Davin as usual was having fun.

Even though he had a slightly crazed look about him.

Ande of course found one of the many water-filled holes to lie in.  It doesn’t matter that they are now covered in ice,  as you can tell by the stick sitting on top of it.

All the more refreshing.

Just Peachy

Our renovations are coming along after much hard work.  We gutted the top floor and two main floor rooms.  This house was built with many boards and now we have a yard and alley full of them.  We had to get the electrical done as the house was still using the old knob and tube wiring.  We mostly had only two prong plug-ins.  Not fun in this day and age.

With the walls torn down and no insulation it has been cold, cold, cold.  We’ve probably had the coldest October that I can remember.  Finally today was the big day.  Insulation!  We had decided to go with the expanding foam insulation because the house was built with boards which equals a lot of gaps.

It was instantly 20 degrees warmer

This is my room/bedroom

I will see this first thing when I wake up.

I feel like I am living inside a giant peach.

Or maybe fluffy cotton candy.

Apparently it is hard on the eyes.

Water Bottle

In September I finished my agility class with Davin.  We received a nice certificate and a water bottle.   I always enjoy getting a certificate to show for my efforts and it is also something nice to put in the photo album.  That is if I ever put one together.  But the highlight was receiving the water bottle.  I had waited all summer to get one of these bottles.  With envy in my eyes I would watch people drink from them.  I was sure that they had some sort of connections that I didn’t.  Then the day finally came.  My own Go Dog Go water bottle.

It’s official.

But then I think there was a misunderstanding on Davin’s part.  He must of thought my long-awaited bottle was his reward for a job well done.  After all I since I received the certificate shouldn’t he receive something as well?

Oh No! My long-awaited water bottle!

Just got munched by a bad puppy, I mean dog.

It never even had water in it yet.  Oh well at least Davin sort of enjoyed it.

Fall Hike

We have been so busy with our house renos that I haven’t had much time for fun things.  So today I decided to go for a long hike.  Hiking is relaxing for me and I love being in the forest.  It was a great warm fall day after all the cold and snow that we have had.

Are we going this way?

We just randomly followed trails with no destination in mind.

This is not a very good photo but the timing was right.  We were in a gully and the forest was dim and spooky here.

Of course what is a hike without the usual spa. Ice floes at no extra charge.

And what’s a day out without fine dining?

It was great to get out and enjoy the fresh air and the company of the dogs.  I hope there are more days like this before winter settles in.

Winter Already

It’s only October and already the snow is falling.  Well…really it’s dumping.  I woke up this morning to a winter wonderland.

It’s way too early to be facing this.

Notice the snow covered kayak. Sadness.

The dogs on the other hand love it.  Ande spend all morning rolling in it.

Yum! Yum!  Davin spent the morning eating it in between the zoomies.

In fact I was late for work because Davin didn’t want to come into the house.  He was being a total brat.

I on the other hand just wanted to hibernate!

Oh yeah, it’s only 78 more sleeps til Christmas.

Family Fun

A few weeks ago when the weather was still nice I took Davin to visit some of his family.  Of course once again I was taking a citified dog to a ranch.

Davin with his sister. It takes him a few minutes of looking around in amazement at all the biggish animals that are around.

We took the dogs for a walk around the ranch and that’s when he discovered the fun of round bales.

Let the games begin!

Jerzee showing Davin how to run the bales.

The chase is on and on…

Davin is already taller then his dad. . I’m not sure what’s going on with Davin’s ears.

Davin with his dad.  It was a great day.  I can’t wait for summer to come again.

Sneaky

Davin loves  food… human food that is.   Nothing is safe if it is within his reach.  It doesn’t matter about the consequences, the food is apparently worth it.  He will take every opportunity to sneak it.

Sometimes my sister eats while she is at the computer.  Sometimes it’s something irresistible.  Davin going into stealth mode.

Beware of the dog under the computer desk.

Squeeze….good thing his nose isn’t any longer or that food would be gone before she knew what happened!

The Last Trip?

On the weekend I decided to go kayaking on Crowsnest Lake.  The day was beautiful on Saturday but a little windy.  This lake can be quite windy and therefore wavy but I thought that I would give it a try anyway.  Who knows this could be my last trip of the season.

The day started off quite nice.  The dogs were anxious to get going.

In this part of the country the leaves mostly turn yellow in the fall so it’s nice to see some other colors.

I was mostly sticking to the coves along the lake as the middle of the lake was getting rougher.

This is what I found in one of the coves. There are several old cabins in this area.  Now I am curious and will try to find out why they are here.  There used to be an old Chinese camp somewhere around here.  The Chinese were part of the railway building through this area. I’m not sure if this would be part of that or maybe old trapper’s cabins.  Hmm…a mystery to explore.

As we headed out of the last cove, the wind was really starting to howl and the waves were really getting high.  I tried to round this point but the waves were trying to slam me into the shore and I wasn’t making any headway.  Also trying to balance between the waves and Davin on the back of the kayak it’s a wonder that I even stayed upright. I don’t want to work this work at it and besides it was getting somewhat risky.  Crowsnest Lake is not a lake to fool around with and by this time even the coves had become rough so I turned around but at least I was riding the waves on the way back.

Of course I was thinking about the sea monster that surely must be in this lake when a head popped up beside my boat.  And like the girl that I am I screeched.   I have to check this out but I’m pretty sure it was an Otter.  He kept popping up close to the boat and checking things out.  I couldn’t get a picture because of the waves.  At one point I heard some loud chirping and so looked behind me and there was a family of Otters all bobbing in the water looking at me.  It was so cool…I’ve never seen Otters in the wild before.

Crowsnest Mountain

I was wet and frozen by the time I got back but the trip was worth it because of the things I had seen.

The Shepherd Within

On Sunday I took the dogs to a friend’s ranch for a visit. They love going to this place.  There are a million smells with room to run at their hearts content.  My friend has a German Shepherd who is related to mine.  So Davin got to hang out with two shepherds. I have been sensing an identity crisis coming on for sometime now.

The host dog Ryder.  Davin is in love with him.

Ryder watching the city dogs run around checking things out.  They’re acting like, well…city dogs.

Of course what’s a ranch experience without the spa.  Oops I mean swamp.  And that water was muddy!

Then of course there’s always the touristy photo op to prove you were here.

But then I knew that I had stayed too long.  The ear is up, he is starting to lose control of who he really is.

Free, free at last to be a shepherd, a German Shepherd.

I wonder if I should break it to him gently that he is an Australian Shepherd?

Agility in the Mountains

This weekend I went to visit my mom and there was an agility trial going on in the town she lives in.  Since I had friends entered I decided to go and watch some of the action.  Well of course what’s action without photos.  My camera had been stolen so I borrowed a point and shoot.  Hmmm…

Is half a dog better than no dog?

This is Sarah’s dog Kaleb. And yes he does have a front half!

In between the time I press the button and the actual photo is snapped the run is over.

Then I tried an obstacle where I could follow the dog with the camera.  Well at least I finally see a whole dog.

This is Amanda’s dog Boone.

Ah…finally some success.

This is Amanda’s dog Wicca.

But by this time I was too frustrated to take anymore photos.  So I just sat back and enjoyed the action.

It was find to watch the dogs run and the Go Dog Go dogs did fantastic. I hope someday I will be able to compete.

I will be ordering a new camera but of course that doesn’t mean the photos will be any better.