Nature Friday - When Storms Strike

Earlier this week we talked about going to the dog park. We hadn't been since the tornados came through our area on September 21, 2018. That day 6 tornados touched down in our region. 3 people died, numerous were hurt and many lost everything (one small community of about 1000 had 60 buildings completely destroyed).

One of the tornados went through a piece of the park. Lady said it was haunting. It may not be the normal beautiful nature we share, but given all the climate change things that are happening, it is important to share. Perhaps it will inspire us all to make a few small changes to help save our planet. (She will get off her soapbox now).

Having a drink in a spot that use to have trees

Remains of the forest. 

Travel Thursday - Halifax

At the end of May, I went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada with my mom and sister for a long weekend. 

It is an easy flight from Ottawa, taking between an hour and an hour and a half. We didn't get a picture of it, but the US Vice President's airplane (airforce 2????) was at the airport that day as he was in town for a visit. More impressive than his plane was the 2 huge military planes that accompanied it. 

My sister took this picture for her kids - We were looking for Care Bears:)

Our first day we spent downtown Halifax. We visited Pier 21. From 1928-1971 a million immigrants passed through the doors on their way to North America. During WWII over 500 000 Canadian soldiers (including my grandfather) left for Europe from this pier.  It is a lovely museum if you ever have a chance to get there.

One of the cool things they have done is to take the stories of specific immigrants and present them in photo books, with an accompanying suitcase to show what they packed. 

These are all the possessions this man brought to Canada. It is less than some people take on vacation. 

We walked along the water front, which was very dog friendly and had lots of places to get bags if you needed them (because we all know, sometimes you run out!)

After lunch, we went to the Art Gallery. Confession, I know nothing about Art, but I love it. I recently purchased a membership to the National Gallery of Canada and may have already been twice.

I have an extreme phobia of whales (long story for another day). I loved this painting because it shows whales and a guy running saying "I am afraid".

Even on vacation I don't always escape work! I work with individuals with autism and related disorders. The gallery had an art program for people with autism and they had an exhibition of their work. 

There was some of Dali's sketches . . .

I have chosen not to share my favourite piece here because it may be offensive to some people (there is a lot of nudity). However, I fell in love with Canadian Cree artist Kent Monkman's works. I have never had discussions about the meaning of a piece with strangers before. It is that thought provoking. His process is amazing as well. I highly recommend a Google search of his works and his process. Love or hate his paintings, the work he puts into them is amazing.

We had a very nice first day away of art and culture. 

Wordless Wednesday - Disc of Summer

Sucking Up To Us

As mentioned yesterday, Lady was a terrible human because she spent time with cats on her birthday and not us. To make it up to us, she and the Man took us to a dog park on Saturday.

We now live far from any dog park. Country dogs don't usual need to go, they run free in their yards, but some pup whose name starts with H, can't be trusted off leash in the yard most of the time. She is too comfortable and likes to hunt too much. So this is a chance to socialize and run free. Lady is always a little nervous about the dog park, but given the huge space, it is easy to avoid bad owners.

Here are some pictures from our visit (she didn't take too many because she wanted to be watching us).

Lee, on the floor in the back seat, under the canopy cover because Phod threw up in her spot

Phod talking to a puppy named Athena

Molly, Ruby - is that you?

It is important to stay hydrated on a hot day! 

We met up with cousin Emma and Uncle Chris

Two happy pups

Phod had a great time wallowing in a huge puddle. Lee just waded in. 

Man says he is looking to set up a meet up with a friend's dog later in July. It will be nice to get to go again!

Mischief Monday - Cat Time

So as you loyal readers know, last week was the Lady's birthday. You may have noticed she started the week great with the blogs, but did not end so well. That is because she was too busy being very bad. Last week, Lady made the choice to spend part of her birthday (she always takes the day off if it is a week day) at the Feline Cafe playing with cats.

If that wasn't bad enough, she took a lot of pictures of cats. We know because after smelling her, we went through her phone and found the following:

Selfie with a kitten on her lap. You can't pick the cats up, but can keep them on you if they jump up

Giving kisses

And if it wasn't bad enough that our Lady, who has hardly been home went and spent time with cats and took pictures, she took the Man. That is right, both the people spent time in a feline cafe.

Do you see the one snuggled up with the Man and the kitten behind his head?

All the cats at the cafe are up for adoption. Some had pending adoptions (all the little kittens). Lady said we don't need to worry, while she loves cats and someday may have another, it is not the time. She also said something about us being enough of a handful.

Anyway, we were very mad and Lady and Man tried to make it up to us on the weekend. Tomorrow we will tell you about it. 

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Birthday Dear Lady!

Tasty Tuesday - A Treat From Mabel

When the peeps were at min-BAR, the marvellous Miss Mabel, sent a special treat home with them, Huckleberry Syrup. 

On Sunday, they gave it a try on their pancakes. 

The Lady and Man thought it was very yummy. This is very high praise coming from Canadian's who are genetically programmed to think REAL maple syrup is the only thing that goes on the pancakes. 

And while there were no extra pancakes for us this weekend, we did get a dollop of whip cream on the plates to lick clean. 

We made sure the plates were clean! 

Thank you Miss Mabel and her peeps for the special treat! 

Mischief Monday - I Ear You

We are back! Lady has returned from trip 6 this year (while on trip 6 she planned trip 9 . . . . it is a work trip. We really wonder if she likes to be home).  At any rate, the Man did a fine job caring for us in her absence. We were very excited to have her home Friday night and just couldn't stop sniffing her and getting pets.

So while she is living the glamours, jet setting life (Editor's note: Lady would like to put on the record that it is far more glamours than it sounds, it is downright exhausting, especially when you work the equivalent of 2 weeks in 1 . . .), we have been fine.

The only real problem we have right now is Phod's ears. In spite of the fact that the Lady and Man are cleaning them at least daily, he just can't shake the problems. They are very dirty, and they get itchy, and he scratches them until they bleed. We assume it is related to environmental allergies. He is on allergy meds. This year is apparently the worst allergy year ever! People who have never had allergies are having problems. This is probably making it worse. 

He does not enjoy this process, but he is very cooperative.  We hope they get better soon or at least don't get worse. 

This Interruption in Posting Is Brought to You by

The Lady never being home.

Hi pals. Thought we would do a quick post to say we are all fine. It has been a cold, wet spring and the bugs are terrible, but we are all good. The big problem has been Lady is just traveling way too much! She just got back from her 5th trip this year and is home for a week before going on her 6th trip.

Let's just recap the fun she has had this year.
Last week in January/first in February, she, the Man and Uncle Chris went to the Caribbean.
In March she was gone for a night for work.
In April she was gone for 2 nights for work.
The last week in April/into May, she and the Man went to see our blog pals in Utah.
She just got back from a weekend in Nova Scotia with our Grammie and Aunt C.
Next she is going away for work for a week.

She says she only has 2 more trips planned after next week (we are sure she will find a way to get more). One is to visit the Big Guy and Grammie in the summer and we may or may not be going with her. (We hope we are, but we will see how she is feeling about traveling with us). Then she and the Man have a trip to Europe in the fall.

Lady, who while does not like airports, overall does love to travel says this year has been a little intense.

All of that to say, our visiting and posting will be a little erratic for another week or so. Lady says when you are away so much and run your own business that sometimes when you are home, there is a lot to do. She is prioritizing spending time with us over writing about her time with us. She says she hopes to be back into routine around June 17th.

Hope you are all well.

A picture of Lady, Grammie and Aunt C. There are no new pictures of us, and we may have forgotten what she looks like!