Mischief Monday - This Week's Winner Is . . .

The Lady.

First, she gets a big fat X for not going to PetExpo. She went somewhere Friday and came home with this bag that looks promising, but she promptly put it in a cupboard and said we have to wait for Hanukkah or Christmas.  Sigh!

Next she left the house on Saturday night with a suitcase. She left us alone with the Man (which we will pretend is horrible and that he didn't feed us, or love us, or takes us out, or make a wonderful fire to sleep by or anything). She came back Sunday morning and she smelt like other dogs. She was a traitor! We found other proof on her phone.

Look carefully you can see a paw at the back, that is Rex and then Pugsley on her feet.

Then Pugsley on her feet and Rex on Pugsley's head. 

We really wish Frankie and Ernie were around so we could take her to court!

Lady's Birthday Adventure - Part 6

We will begin by answering some questions posted on last weeks part 5.

Easy asked if all that volcanic activity smelled. The answer is some of it did. In one of the places we stayed the water had a slightly sulphur smell and taste. The place that looked like Mars was by the far the stinkiest place. It really smelled like rotten eggs. We didn't find the hot spring smelt very much.

The Daily Pip asked about the temperature. The temperature, as in the weather, was between 5-15C/41-51F (perhaps a bit warmer a couple afternoons in the sun). The temperature of the water in the places that it bubbled up at the side of the road were reported to be 80-100C/179-212F, so dangerously hot. The temperature of the bathing hot springs is apparently 37-39C/99-102F.

Now on to part 6 - Snow and Ice

You would think that as a Canadian who just survived the coldest winter on record I would have selected a trip to somewhere that was warmer. Truth be told, I like cooler temperatures. I don't mind visiting snow or having it around for a few days. Surprising for a place called Iceland, there is less snow than you would think during the summer.

In earlier post I have shared a few pictures with snow, my favourite picture, a favourite road, so here are some new ones.

Going up the Myrdalsjokull -(a glacier)

This was the view going up in a super jeep

The next picture is me near the glacier. We didn't stop on the edge of the glacier due to time. The drive up that big hill in the last picture took some time. The glacier is receding about 50 feet a year. Several years ago where I am standing would have been glacier.

This next set of pictures are from one of our favourite stops. This lagoon is where icebergs calf. It has been featured in a number of movies including Laura Croft Tomb Raider, Batman Begins, and Die Another Day.

This was the one spot where I spent a lot of time reflecting on the issues of climate change and global warming. If the glaciers are receding so quickly, what is the future of a beautiful place like this? Will my niece ever get the chance to see this, or will it be gone by the time she is old enough to travel? It was truly one of the coolest (literally and figuratively) natural wonders I have seen and imagining a world without it is a little sad.

Even a seal lived in the lagoon!

The bluer the ice, the older it is. The more water is compressed the bluer it gets

There was of course some snow and ice still in the mountains

This was at the top of the scary road!

That is a sample of some of the ice and snow we saw.

Next week, we will look at waterfalls. We saw more of them then snow!  I am also happy to answer any questions you have about the country.

Lady's Birthday Adventure - Part 3

Today we bring you the wildlife adventures.  On my list of things to do in Iceland was to see the wildlife. I wanted to see the arctic fox, seals, puffins and reindeer. I got very lucky that I saw all the above and more!

The Arctic Fox

Everything I read about this fox suggested that the likelihood of us seeing one was very low. First, we weren't going to the West Fjord where they live and also seeing them during the day is rare.  We got lucky, because in the end we saw 2. The picture if of the first one we saw. We saw a second one toward the end of the trip also while driving. The second one had a bird in his/her mouth. I didn't get a good picture of that unfortunately, but was thrilled to have seen 2!

Reindeer

The reindeer live on the east of the island only. I believe they were brought to the country by the Vikings, like almost everything but the arctic fox:)  On my birthday, we were at a former movie set (more about that in a later post). We came out of the set to see a herd of reindeer. We saw a second herd later that day, but this was the best encounter as we weren't in a car and we could just stand and watch until they ran away.

Seals

We saw seals in two places. One in the south, near Hofn and one in the north near Hvammstangi.

These are the seals near Hofn

After visiting the Seal Centre in Hvammstangi, we drove the peninsula to 2 spots where the seals live.  We had been told at the centre the best time to see the seals was about 8 pm. We visited the spot around 2:30 and went back around 8 pm. Here are some of the highlights.

Mom feeding her pup. The pup had come up and barked and barked. Mom hopped up, feed the pup and they disappeared. 

A seal showing off

Two seals playing or maybe mating, we couldn't tell for sure

Puffins

There are a lot of puffins in Iceland, however, like every creature on this planet except humans, the numbers are declining.

In the south, near Vik, we saw one nesting.

On a boat tour to Puffin Island near Husavik we saw several thousand. 

Those are all puffins

Whales

I am an animal lover, but I admit to being a big whale hater. I started after reading Moby Dick. Since then I have had a very strong fear of being crushed by a whale. I can't go under a whale skeleton in a museum. I have gotten better as I can be in the room with a skeleton without crying. One of my goals for this trip was to overcoming my fear. I had started doing cognitive behaviour therapy on myself (I am a behaviour analyst after all) and had made some progress. Then in March I believe, a Canadian woman was killed when a whale jumped up and landed on the zodiac she was on. Freak accident yes, but it made my phobia go from the completely irrational to possible, even if unlikely. I had given up on it until about 2 days before we were near Husavik. I decided I would try it. New decade, new me! The rules were no zodiacs and I wouldn't take the pictures. 

It wasn't easy, I thought I was going to faint or throw up much of the 4 hours and I did a lot of cognitive behaviour therapy in my head. But I was able to look at the sea life we saw. Interesting to note, after the tour we went to the whale museum and I still couldn't be under the skeleton. Maybe I will live the rest of my life that way, and that is ok!

What we saw:

We saw dolphins and porpoises. Not sure which these are.

We saw a humpback.

What we didn't see - Blue Whales. Apparently 3 have been visiting the bay. I think I am ok with not seeing the biggest creature to ever live on the planet. The humpback was more than enough!

The next day, on our search for seals, we saw 2 whales in the bay. Here is one. Our guess given the size and location and what we learned from the marine biologist who was our whale watching guide is they were Minke whales. 

I am happy to say, all my wildlife adventures came true on my trip.

Come back next Saturday for "the road". In future posts we will explore, fire, ice and waterfalls too!

Mischief Monday - The One Where Lady Forgets

Last week, after my poor Hailey Bug was sick because of the ketchup, I went through the treat cupboard looking for a treat that would be easy on her tummy.

As I was going through, stuffed in the back, a bag with the Valentine's toys I had bought them and completely forgotten about.  You can see from the picture, I had even bought one for Emma, as she was here for the holiday.

I know you are all thinking, how could I not have gone in the treat cupboard for 3 weeks? What kind of blog writing dog owner am I? Our counter has a container for greenies (the daily morning treat) that didn't need to be refilled. There is also a cookie jar with cookies and at least 3 or 4 part bags of treats. The pups have had enough treats, they just haven't need a refill.

The pups were thrilled to get their toys. Because Hailey was sick she picked first. She picked the purple one holding the heart (on the right). Phod got the red one and the little porcupine has been tucked away for Miss Emma. (We will see if I remember to give it to her!)

Mischief Monday - Lady's Crazy Week

First: Today is our 4th blog-aversary! Wow, can't believe it. It is also post 1387. I keep worrying I will run out of things to write about - I guess not. Thank you all for sharing our adventures. Having you all along with me makes it more fun!

This post is really not about my dogs, it is about our life!

I knew last week was going to be crazy work wise. I work with kids with autism, and they were all going back to school, which meant their therapy schedules and therapy teams were all changing. After 11 Septembers, I knew this was going to be a bit of a nightmare. I also knew the nice summer traffic was a thing of the past and the real world would be back. But I was not prepared for what happen.

Tuesday morning, first day of crazy week. I am trying to feed the dogs. The Man kept getting in my way. First he was standing in front of the drawer needed for the spoon for the soft food. Then in front of the can of food. I went to shoo him out of the way and accidentally kicked him and broke my toe. (Note: The Man was not hurt during the kick).

Toe Day 2

I have broken my fair share of toes in the past (call me klutz) and knew there is nothing I could do except ice and tape. I taped it, found shoes that didn't hurt too much and set off for my longest day at work. At the end of the day, I was hit with a migraine, which turned into a 48 hour headache.

Toe Day 4

Wednesday, Man went to step around Phod and hit the bannister and did this:

Thursday, I was at the farm to get our veggie share, and I embarrassingly tripped going into the barn and hurt my thumb. Hold my travel mug has been painful as the strain is in the palm at the base of the thumb. [Note: I think I have been extra clumsy because of the headache. One of the symptoms I have related to migraines is dizziness, and I felt slightly off balance most of the week].

Add to this the craziness of work (which would need 15 pages itself to try and explain), traffic that was 100% worse then anticipated, it wasn't my favourite week.

I admit, I have not been the best dog mom, as I worked late every day and to be honest, my foot has hurt a lot, but  I took the pups on their morning walks. It was painful but had to be done. I have been leaving more of the other bathroom breaks to the Man as I find walking on the ground, that is uneven, more painful then the road.

Let's hope this week is a little better - or at least no one gets hurt!

An Accident and Help Requested

Stupid Lady Injured When Not Attending to Her Dog

On Easter Sunday, after a yummy dinner, the Lady, the Man, Uncle Chris and the pups were outside. Emma and Phod were off leash and Hailey was on leash. The Lady was not paying attention to Hailey who was sniffing around the well. The Lady was talking to the Man about the statue of David (the people have booked a very exciting trip for the end of the year). What the Lady missed happening while she was babbling was Hailey deciding she want to play with Emma. Hailey jumped forward jerking the Lady with such force, Lady heard the snap in her neck, the world became blurry, and Lady had to let go of Hailey. Uncle Chris ran and got Hailey. The Man ran to the Lady.

The Man lead the Lady into the house and Googled "treatment for whiplash". He pumped the Lady full of drugs and put heat on it. The Lady had a terrible night's sleep Sunday night because she couldn't sleep on her side and every time she rolled over the pain was terrible. Monday was not much better and the Lady was a complete witch may have been grumpy and spent the day in bed resting her neck. 

Every day since then, it has gotten better and her movement has improved. The Lady is glad, but she wonders if her dogs really are going to be the death of her (April has not been her month, her arm, then she was a little sick, then her neck).

All Lady's whining is boring me

Help Wanted

A friend is looking at getting puppy from a breeder. She is very concerned about accidentally getting a puppy mill dog. She wants to know what she should be looking for/asking to make sure she doesn't support a puppy mill. Any advice would be helpful. 

Training Thursday - Teaching our Lady to Walk

Apparently instead of spending time teaching us to do cool tricks, Lady needs to teach herself to walk. She missed one morning of walk as she was away for work and today she hurts herself.

We were having a nice walk. It was later in the morning cause Lady got home so late last night she could sleep in a little. We were on our way back, about 1 km from the house. We were around a little bend, with a little curve and Lady could here a vehicle coming. She stared to reel us in and move to the side and somehow in this tripped on a rock and rolled her right ankle.

She says the pain that shot through her leg was terrible and she thought those HBO words but was actually silent. She took a few steps and realized at least she could walk. She really had no other choice,  we were 1 km from home and there was no one to call to get us. So we slowly walked home.

She is icing it and hoping it is just a minor sprain and will be all better tomorrow. But it hurts a lot right now, so it could be more serious.

We are not being helpful cause we are laughing at her and telling her to learn to walk! Although we hope this doesn't interfere with tomorrows walk.

PS We did a good job at making her feel guilty about leaving us yesterday. I, Hailey, sort of gave her the cold shoulder, and Phod acted like he had never been loved!  It was great cause she felt bad.