Despite the moaning and whining the last weeks of holidays, the kids sucked it up and accepted the inevitable, and were positively cheery the first day of school. We really did have a wonderful and leisurely August - at least the kids did, while Tim and I were at work, but the kids did manage to get up bright and early and were all ready to go. Dogs were confused, though.
where is everyone going?
All in all the first week went well. We settled into a routine, figured out bus routes (sort of) and the dogs reconciled themselves to the long all day nap before their humans came back home. Next week will be a little tougher, once judo and the other evening activities start, but this was a good way to ease into our school year routine before things start getting really messy.
We really loved seeing Raul and Julie and the kids at their acreage. What a great place for kids to grow up! I am particularly envious of the chickens.
RJ entertained us all with feats of strength
RJ appears to be getting suited up for battle.
Sami loved the acreage too, and had a lot of fun with Zack.
It's dog and kid paradise. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!
with actual real cloud cover and rain this time, and wet grass courtesy of the thundershower that went by. Only Sami was having good time at this point.
I didn't blog much while I was in Langley, since it was more about doing than recording. But as I look back at my photos, there are some that seem to capture the moment, without needing much by way of words. Two here from Jericho beach park, during the Vancouver folk music festival.
We have been talking about getting a second dog for some time, partly because we are slightly nutty about dog company, and partly because there are always so many dogs out there that need adoption. We were so pleased with the organization that we adopted Sami from - Prairie Dog Canine Rescue - that we continued to watch their blog to see what others might come up.
While still in BC, we noticed a sheepdog up for adoption - his owner had been transferred to Vancouver and couldn't bring Orie along. Since the economic reality is that selling a small house in Lethbridge would scarcely get you an apartment in Vancouver, this seemed a likely reason for giving the poor fellow up. Tim called the PDCR people right away, and the day after we got back from Langley, we picked up Orie.
Orie made himself right at home. You could tell that he was still shy and a bit disoriented, but he settled in quickly, exploring all the nooks and crannies of the house and staking out his favorite places. He followed Tim around in particular - you could tell he was owned by a guy who left the toilet seat up (becase he loves drinking out of it) and let him up on the bed, because he keeps trying to jump up and lie down next to me.
Although he's great on the leash - slack line and everything - he is not exactly amazing at recall when off-leash. On the other hand, he tends to follow Sami's cue, so if Sami's being good, he might be too. Sometime. Maybe.
Actually he's getting better at recall all the time, and is sometimes better than Sami, who at the moment is going nuts trying to flush out birds. He's really loving the dog run, because it gives him more dogs to run around and wrestle with.
Sami will wrestle too - she's getting more used to it now, and both dogs will stare at me intently and make Frankenstein noises untill I let them out to play.
Orie's been with us for three weeks now, and while Sami wasn't sure at first what was going on and what this meant, the two are now starting to act like a pair rather than two dogs who happen to be occupying the same space. At first, Orie kind of acted like he expected us to take him home any moment "you people have been very nice, but can I go back to my dad now?" but now he is acting more and more like part of the family, and has become more outgoing and affectionate all the time.
this is what poor air quality looks like, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.
the smoke from the BC wildfires are hanging over Lethbridge today, with an air quality of 122, or very poor. Admittedly, it looks just like fog or mist. But it smells like the remains of last night's campfire.
I hate thinking of what's happening in some of the most beautiful parts of my home province. When we drove across BC to Alberta last month, haze covered the skies throughout the entire interior, and you couldn't help noticing how brown the hills around Kamloops were, and how the formerly green stands of trees were red-brown from pine beetle - or else, just dead. Hoping for safety for the residents, and recovery from one of the most devastating fire seasons the province has yet seen.
How beautiful are these areas being devastated? Here's an old picture, for instance, of Chilko Lake. It's unlikely that it still looks like this right now.
