Nature Friday - A Deer Friend

Thanks to Rosy and the Boyz for hosting Nature Friday. One of our deer friend's visited our feeder recently. She is young, likely a yearling. She was a very healthy looking girl. She ran away after the picture (as I had my ringer on and she heard the click). 

Before I scared her away, she spent some time trying to figure out how she may get the food from the feeder.

I hope she comes back soon! 

Thankful Thursday - Thanksgiving Edition

Happy Thanksgiving to our American Friends!

Lady thought because we missed Canadian Thanksgiving because she was away (don't worry, she found turkey that day for lunch), we would join our American pals and share our thanks today. Hailey is American by birth anyway.

Here are a list of things we are thankful for this year.

Hailey:
-I am thankful storm season has passed and I don't need meds and I can be wild.
-I am thankful that Phod lets me hump him.
-I am thankful for the blanket monster game.
-I am thankful Lady walks me every day even if we have to walk in the dark.
-I am thankful for belly rubs.
-I am thankful begging works and I get lots of treats.









Phod:

-I am thankful for Precious.
-I am thankful that Lady and Man have been home a lot recently after being away for 87 million years.
-I am thankful that Lee will play with me now.
-I am thankful to have a loving and safe home and lots to eat (even if I think they are trying to poison me all the time).
-Did I say I was thankful for Precious and other Precious and the other one, and all the Precious'?










Lady:
-I am thankful to live in a safe place, in a relatively safe country.
-I am thankful I have more than I need to eat.

-I am thankful for my health and access to health care.
-I am thankful for all the opportunities my privilege allows me.
-I am thankful for all the opportunities to travel, especially to meet blog pals!
-I am thankful for all my friends (especially my blog ones) and family.
-I am thankful for having the opportunity to love Lee and Phod.

If you celebrate or not, we wish you all a very wonderful day with much to be thankful for.

Wordless Wednesday - Surveying My Kingdom

Tasty Tuesday

If the TV is still in our room because Lady can't carry it down without help, and Lady is going to watch her favourite show in bed while eating popcorn, we will be really cute so she will share some.

A Day In The Life

Lady has felt like a very bad blog friend recently. She is only able to visit a couple days a week, if she is lucky. We thought we would share a day in the life so you can see why she can't visit as much as she would like.

Our week days start sound 4:45. Sometimes we are up earlier cause the Lady's light alarm makes us all think it is time to get up. Phod gets up with her right away as she goes to the bathroom and throws on her walking clothes. She usually has to call Lee to join her. We leave for our walking with Lady looking really stylish in her safety vest and headlamp as it is very dark here at that time now. We walk for 30-40 minutes. It has been slightly less the past few weeks. Not because of the cold and snow, but because Lady has a stress fracture in her foot.

An old picture of a walk in the light

When we return, we usually go back to bed with the Man while Lady does her getting ready to leave the house. She leaves the house around 6 am. About this time the Man is getting up. He feeds us breakfast, takes us out again and gives us a greenie before he leaves.

We then guard the house until about 5 when Man comes home. He takes us out, plays with us. We have to wait until about 6:30 for our dinner.

This is about the time our Lady may be home. She often works late so she can get home between 6:30-8:30.  We are always thrilled to see her and jump on her and make her play. She eats dinner, packs her lunch for the next day, and does stuff around the house. If she has a chance she may be on the internet or watch a show. She tries to be in bed by 9 at the latest. She prefers 8:30 as she really needs to be asleep by 9.

Now we live with these abandoned days because on almost every Wednesday and most Tuesdays, Lady is home all day. We still get up around the same time. Lady works out those mornings so Phod often watches her. We spend time supervising her work and demanding to go out. We admit, some times we are happy to see her leave the house for work, because supervising her all day can be tiring. Even though she is home, she often has evening work calls or extra stuff to get done around the house.

Supervisor Phod

It can be a tough life for Lady, but she says this is what she has picked for now. Having really long days, allows her to work at home more. She really does love most of her job. She says she is really going to enjoy retirement in 10 years.

Weekends can be either busy or quiet, you never know. Right now they are busy with non-work things.

Anyway, we just wanted to let you all know, we think a lot about you all and are doing our best to visit when we can.

Making the most of some time together

Nature Friday - Winter is Here

There is no denying it, winter is here to stay. On Monday November 11th,  we had a record snowfall. In the city it was close to 10 cm/4 inches. If that was not bad enough, the temperatures fell to -25C/-13F Wednesday morning. 

Lady is trying to embrace this, although would have preferred it arriving a few weeks later. But one memory of the pack is loving it! 

He loves to play with Precious in the snow. He loves when it sinks in and he has to dig it out. Precious will be allowed outside until the next big snowfall. At this point it has to hibernate for the winter because if it gets lost in the very deep snow, a certain boy gets very stressed and won't come out of the cold. Disc will replace Precious for the snowy months. An indoor Precious, which is has all year, will be his friend inside.

Thanks to Rosy and the Boyz for hosting this blog hop! 

No Photo Lady - a recent throw back

I came across these pictures over the weekend, sitting in my to post pile. They made me smile. 

Can't a boy just enjoy a good roll in the grass with his Precious without worrying about the puparazzi? 

That is it, I am going to stop being cute. 

Wordless Wednesday - Ummm I'm on the Wrong Side of the Door

Tasty Tuesday - An Empty PB Jar

For this story:

Lee is in pink

Phod is in blue

Man is in black

"I have a treat for you."

"The Man has lost his mind, he is giving me a whole jar of PB."

"Wait. Phody come over, Hailey wait. Wait, Phod, no Hailey wait, Phod come here."

"Hurry up and say OK!"

"Ok."

"Lick, lick, lick."

"Hailey, you had had enough, it is Phody's turn. Phod come here."

"I don't want to. I don't know why you are trying to make me eat poison."

"He doesn't want it, but I sure do. Give it back to me."

"Come on Phod, you will like it if you give it a try. Come on, taste it."

"Do I have to? I don't want to. "

"Come on Phody, it is peanut butter, it is not scary."

"Hurry up Phod, I want it back."

"I don't want to but if you insist . . . ."

"There, I tasted it, can I be done with this now. I do not love it."

"Good boy, Phod. Hailey, you can have another turn."

"Lick it on the stool."

"Lick it on the floor."

"Better take it so my people don't get any stupid ideas about me having to share it anymore."

"Here is the perfect place to lick it. This is great, but it better not replace my Sunday morning pancake."

Mischief Monday - The Lost Tag

One day a week and a bit ago  the Man said "On no, Leelee's tag is missing."  Somehow the part with her information had fallen out. Lady immediately took to the internet and ordered another tag.

The important part of the tag is gone

Funny enough, a few days later, the name part was found shimmering in the morning frost in the long grass beside the stairs leading to the backyard.

Lady and Man didn't repair it, because the new tag had already been shipped. 

Lady picked this tag because it made her laugh as it says "Not all who wander are lost, but I might be" on the front and it has Hailey's name, phone number and address on the back. Lady ordered it on Etsy from a place called IslandEngravers, located on Vancouver Island. 

The hot pink looks striking on Leelee's black fur.

Lady doesn't think Lee cares one way or the other about her new tag. However, Lady is sure she approves more of this than the squirrel one she was also looking at, which was a lot more money, so Lady didn't get it.

Nature Friday - A Feathered Friend

While we were in Venice, I was taking this picture

when the Man said, look to your right.

Standing about 3 inches from me was my new feathered friend, who was kind enough to pose for me. 

Let me show off my wings

Strutting his/her stuff!

He/She was a very tourist friendly bird, and a lot of people took pictures of him/her! 

Thanks to Rosy and the Boyz for hosting Nature Friday!

Project Hailey - Loving My Winter Girl

It was a rough summer for our girl. As most of you remember, at the end of June, she went through the wall again during a storm while we were at work. This led to us playing with her medication. It sort of felt like she was our Goldilocks - 20 mg of prozac was too little (she will still go through the wall), 40 mg was too much (she will do nothing but sleep),  but 30 mg (and the occasional Xanax) was just right!

She remained on 30 mg until the end of September. At this time, we decreased her dose to 20 mg.

We did this because we thought the kennel would have more success giving her 1 pill (she needs 2 to get 30 mg) and because we like to take her off it in the winter.

She remained on 20 mg until last week, when we reduced her to 10 mg.  (We are now currently looking at fading that out, and we can talk more about how that goes in a later post. She had a hard time with that last year!)

The world is now white

The difference in my girl with 10 mg compared to 20 mg, is very clear. On the lower dose she is far more food motivated. She begs more. She drools watching you eat more. She counter surfs more. She is in the dishwasher more. Basically, you would think we did not feed her. Interesting to note, we had to remove her slobowl when we increased her meds because she was eating so slow, she would get tired of eating and not finish her dinner. It was just too much effort. As of yet, we have not had to return the slobowl.

Other noticeable behaviour changes. She is far more cuddly (although the fact it is much colder, it was -25C/-13F this morning may also be a factor in this, but even before this week, she didn't just spend her evenings hiding). She is also more easily excited. She jumps more. She barks more. She has more life!

While I love my winter girl more, I know that being medicated through storm and firework season is what is best for her and our pack. She deserves to feel as relaxed as possible. It is not safe for her to be so anxious or to engage in such dangerous behaviours as going through the walls. We all deserve not to hear her bark endlessly out of fear. 

Having Lee be more Lee, is one of the only good things that comes out of winter!

Taken yesterday. We had a record breaking snowfall on Monday. It is now here to stay I fear. 

Wordless Wednesday - TV Time

Tongue Out Tuesday

When you know Lady has liver treats. 

Lest We Forget

Today we pause to thank the men, women and animals who have and are currently willing to pay the ultimate price to ensure our freedom.

We also remember all of the families effected in anyway by war.

We remember.

Nature Friday

Today we join Rosy and the Boyz for Nature Friday.

Lady took this picture in Greece. She took it for Rosy.

Thankful Thursday -Treats for Us!

During her busy week last week, the Lady and one of her friends (because the Man was bed ridden), went to the SafePet Ottawa Gala. In case you don't remember, SafePet is an organization that fosters animals for people fleeing domestic violence. Most shelters don't accept pets and many people will stay in dangerous situations to keep their pets. While it is very sad that this is a needed group, the work they do is amazing. It is one of the local charities Lady and Man like to support the best. 

We hit the jackpot this year. First there were cookies in the gift bags. As Lady's friend is a cat owner, she gave her package to us!

Then there was the gift basket the Lady won in the silent auction.

Look at all the great cookies!

Like the mentalist at the show I will . . . .

Make the cookie disappear!

Even picky me loves them!

We are thankful for the Lady for picking these in the auction (even if we overheard her tell the Man this was the small basket . . . . . .)