Travel Thursday - The Man's Dream Day

After tolerating a day of visiting my dead relatives, August 11th was all about the Man. We remained  in the Edinburgh area and spent time in castles. A life time ago we had visited the Edinburgh castle and given it was a weekend and busy, our wonderful hostess Yamini took us to two less busy castles. We were also treated to our last day of sun this trip.

First stop - Craigmillar Castle, a short jaunt (like 10 minutes) from Yamini's father's place. This castle is one of the best preserved medieval castles in Scotland.  It became famous as the place that Queen Mary rested and recovered in after the birth of her son and plotted the death of her husband. 

 Growing in the courtyard.

Looking toward the city

Yamini taught us to play this medieval bowling type game (note to self, don't play it on very uneven castle floors).

After a quick lunch, and a trip to the airport with Yamini's sister to get our lost bags (the whole family are wonderfully kind), we drove east down the coast to Tantallon Castle.  While we enjoyed the building of Craigmillar, the location on the coast of Tantallon was stunning. 

At the top the Man had a slight case of acrophobia, but the loving and supportive Lady made him pose for a picture and then take her picture before he could go down! 

Looking in the water

Our day ended with the Man's favourite food pizza. This may have been his favourite day, 2 castles, his bag returned and pizza!

Next week we head west to the hutch and meet up with another blog pal! Stay tuned!

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Diwali

We join Yamini in celebrating Diwali!  (Phod was terrified of the candle so it not pictured here but joins in spirit).

A Gala and Gifts For The Dogs

Saturday was SafePet Ottawa's 3rd Annual Gala and the 3rd we have attended. While I have spoken about them before, their work is very important so I am going to recap who they are and what they do. SafePet is an organization that fosters animals for people fleeing domestic abuse. They have fostered dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, a horse, lizards etc. They will try and find a safe place for any animal.  People fleeing are put in touch with local vet clinics who will hold the pet until a volunteer can pick it up and take it to the foster. To maintain privacy the vet remains the contact between the organization and the fosters. This year so far they have helped 65 animals from over 40 families.  This is double the animals they helped last year. While it is heartbreaking that there is a need for such an organization, it is heartwarming that people (mainly women) are finding the courage to leave. One of the speakers was a survivor who only had the courage to leave knowing her best friend, a dog called Jasmine, would be safe and loved while she put her life back together. Two lives saved. They are now living their happily ever after. (For the record, each table had a box of Kleenex on it as the stories shared by those involved made you laugh and made you cry. It is a very honest and emotional fundraiser followed by a party!). 

I had learned about this charity as one of my coworkers is heavily involved. She has repeatedly asked me to foster animals, but I know (and she understands) that it isn't the time for that for us. I think it would be too hard on Lee and Phod. So while I can't open my home to a foster at this time, I can open my wallet and help out.

Besides buying our tickets, and drinking my fair share of the champagne cocktail where a $1 from each went to the charity (the Man was our DD), the Man and I participated in the silent auction. While we didn't win every item we bid on (we did help drive up the prices and raise more money for the organization), we each won one. The Man won a pair of hockey tickets to a game later this month. I won the 'surprise' dog treat box. (So while Lee was freaking out and licking her nose - see yesterday's post - I was trying to win her treats!)

The box

The contents of the box

While there are a few items (grooming and a collar) we will be donating back to SafePet (this is where we are giving all our extra things because I know if they can't use them they pass them on to another rescue or shelter), I was very happy with all the treats. The one brush is the first brush I have ever used on Lee that she did not freak out, so we are keeping this. 

Further, our gift bags for the night each contained a ticket to Pet Expo this coming weekend. Uncle Chris and I will be attending as it is not the Man's thing. We will have even more spoiled dogs! And we will be helping SafePet more as they are the charity of choice for the event.

Mischief Monday - The Bug Strikes Again

Saturday evening, the Man and I went to a charity event (more on that tomorrow). We were out of the house from about 5:15 pm-midnight. The dogs had been well exercised and fed before we left.

When we got home, the Man noted that Lee had started to lick the skin off her nose again. As you may recall, in July, a few days before we were heading on vacation she did this and looked like Rudolph. Fortunately, we have some of the steroid cream left and will use this and hopefully prevent it from getting too bad. We are guessing she was nervous about us being out. It is very, very rare that we would both be out in an evening.

Sunday morning, around 7:15 new time Lady heard Lee get off the bed and go downstairs. It was too late to stop her. Lady realized that she had gone downstairs to pee on a cover that was on the floor. Lady and Man had brought the ladder in (it had been outside and it had rained) and had it drying on a cover in the living room so the floors the cleaner had spent Friday cleaning didn't get too dirty too soon. Lee had peed on it. Lee has the habit of peeing on any blanket left on the floor. Historically, if given access, she would also pee on the guest beds. She does not pee on the mats by the door or her own beds. I would love to get some throw rugs but know she would just pee on them.

If you look carefully on the front left side you can see the pee spot.

Lee has been off her prozac for about 2 weeks now. We have noted that she remains extremely hungry. Her counter surfing is higher than usual. Her begging for food is up. Her behaviour has been off too. She has been more playful, more cuddly, but also more annoying, as in she will demand love or obsessively lick the ground. We are going to give her another week or two to see if she evens out. If not, we may have to think about putting her back on her prozac. We love her so much and just want to do what is best for her.

In good news, at the time of the writing of this post, we had gone 2 whole days without any signs of mice. To date 13 mice have taken the Man's Mouse Uber and 2 have died when they released the humane trap too early.

Blog 4 Peace

Today we are joining bloggers around the world to Blog For Peace.  This year's theme is words are powerful. This is very true. Words are often the start of misunderstanding and hatred. While it feels overwhelming, we can all do a few simple things to bring peace to our families and communities.

Before saying anything, take a deep breathe and THINK:

If it isn't - DON'T say it.  Sometimes we may need to say unkind things, it may be necessary, but we can do so in a respectful way. 

More importantly, let's all try and say at least one kind thing to another person every day. 

Let's be more like our dogs - see the good in everyone, and greet everyone with an open heart.  We do have the power to change the world. 

Friday Funday - Halloween Outtakes

Lady keeps talking about the force - maybe the force can make these things off my head . . . . 

Travel Thursday - Home To Scotland

On August 9th, we and one of our 2 bags boarded this plane from Copenhagen to Edinburgh, Scotland. Here we spent the most wonderful week with the most gracious hostess, Yamini. 

We spent our first afternoon purchasing the supplies we needed (missing items from the missing bag) and spending time with Yamini and her father, who house we stayed in the city.

On the 10th, Yamini took us for a drive to Galashiels, to visit the genealogical society there. 2 very kind women helped me do some research into one branch of my family, the Gibsons. We answered a few of my Dad's, the family genealogist, questions and helped generate a whole bunch more, which is always the case when doing family research.

After a lovely lunch, where I was introduced to a new favourite, which I have eaten many times since, a jacket potato with coleslaw, we headed to Greenlaw.

Short story: Thomas Gibson was the shoemaker in Greenlaw. His 5 sons, including the second youngest Robert, all moved to Canada in and around 1850. They set up near a town called Wroxeter, Ontario. This is where my great-grandmother was born and raised, and is now in the cemetery there (with some of the original 5).

Here are a few pictures from this visit:

The street the family lived on, likely one of these were their home

The stone on the right is Thomas Gibson, the stone beside it has his mother and father and stone on the left is her family. I had a moment standing there, 151 years after his death thinking, he could have never imagined that so many years later, his multiple great-granddaughter, from Canada would be standing there. 

Me in my emergency sweater as it was one of the items in the missing bag and a much needed one in Scotland!

Our drive back to the city took us through a ruin at Soutra.

My dogs may not have been able to be there, but they were the reason we were there so their flats traveled with us. 

The countryside was beautiful. I understand economically why the Gibsons (and many other branches of my family) left Scotland, but I can't imagine why they would have left the rolling hills. Scotland is a country I could live in for sure!

Next week, we will share more of our time with the wonderful Yamini!