tower of tree tops

 A whole week! Actually, over a whole week of brush stacking, chainsawing (Carm), and a few visits with my parents. Time is neither going quickly or slowly, actually it seems I’m trapped in some sort of weird time vortex. I know that the calendar is still ticking by as the fields are turning a vibrant green and I can see the beginnings of leaves on the trees. Spring is marching towards summer, a bit late, slowly but surely.

Carm got the pool half opened Friday - the parts are assembled and the pump is in place but it still needs several inches of water before it can be started. No big rush though as the weather is not warm enough to get the pool to swimming temps.

Last Sunday we had Trudie & Leo for a traditional Italian ragu & meatballs. Monday Carm and I visited Mom & Dad. I brought Lupa with us so she got lots of duration practice on her mat. I kept her on her leash as I didn’t want her to jump onto Dad’s lap… Dad commented that she’s a handful and I guess she is! I try not to label her though as it can affect how I treat her and how frustrated I get. We are so used to her that we take it all in stride now and celebrate the small wins (oh how expectations have changed!).

Tuesday I drove back into the city for another visit, this time with Kirsten as well (and no Lupa). We had fun with Mom trying on her outfits for her upcoming cruise :-) 

Wednesday was Lupa school night - I forgot to give her the CBD but she did pretty well regardless. She was (almost) rock solid for her stays but had more trouble when the other dogs were moving plus she wanted to sniff everything when we practiced loose leash walking. Oh well!

Thursday we went to Pet Valu - Lupa did the best she’s ever done at a pet store - I was pretty proud of her progress. Then we hung out in front of another store for more loose leash walking. We met up with a lovely older woman who rained pets onto Lupa. We need to work on walking past people without the expectation of pets…

Carm had his first golf game on Friday! He came home tired but triumphant from his mastery of the ball (ha ha). I got a shot by shot recap so felt that I could have been on the course with him ;-)

The trailer is still sitting in the laneway hooked up to the truck… Nick (the repair guy), took the broken leg away to be machined so we are still waiting… We are so glad that this happened in April and not May when all the trailers come out of hibernation needing work.

The forecast is calling for several days of rain... the dogs have been enjoying all the time we’ve been spending outside - we’ll all be sad at being stuck inside.

Construction guy John came Saturday morning to give us an estimate for the front deck :-) Once that’s done we’ll get a new front door. The front looks like hell right now!

Today I made garlic chili oil (so much garlic) to use in an Asian cucumber salad - there will be no vampires within a mile of our place as the smell of garlic is heavy in the air. It’s a combination of thinly sliced garlic deep fried in oil until crisp and slightly brown, then the whole thing, oil and all, is poured into a jar with chili flakes with a bit of salt.

After leaving it sit for an hour, I opened the jar with butter fingers and spilled the whole thing! Oil, chilis and garlic everywhere. With Carm’s help I used my dough cutter to scoop it off the counter - thankfully it didn’t go onto the floor - and didn’t lose too much 😱

Awesome!

“a warm sunny day”

“another bunch of brush piled”

“generator coming on when the power went out”

from ChatGPT!

An ice storm can cause significant damage to trees, especially if the ice accumulation is heavy. When ice coats tree limbs and branches, the added weight can cause them to snap or break. This can result in fallen trees or broken branches that litter the landscape, causing hazards and property damage.

Cleanup efforts typically begin as soon as possible after the ice storm passes. The first step is to assess the damage to trees and determine which trees or limbs are hazardous and need to be removed. This is often done by trained professionals such as arborists or forestry experts, who can evaluate the extent of the damage and recommend the best course of action.

Once hazardous trees and limbs have been identified, they are typically removed using chainsaws, cranes, and other specialized equipment. The debris is then hauled away or chipped into smaller pieces for easier disposal. This process can take several days or even weeks, depending on the severity of the storm and the amount of damage.

After the hazardous trees and limbs have been removed, the cleanup effort shifts to removing fallen branches and other debris from the ground. This can involve using heavy equipment such as loaders or skid steers to clear the area and move the debris to a central location for disposal.

In addition to removing fallen trees and debris, it is also important to assess the health of the remaining trees and provide any necessary care. Trees that have been damaged by the ice storm may require pruning or other treatments to help them recover and prevent further damage.

Overall, the cleanup process after an ice storm can be extensive and time-consuming, but it is an important step in restoring the affected area to its natural state and ensuring the safety of people and property.

lewd art!

 This afternoon we were outside taking care of some more fallen trees - the wind whipping at my face so hard that I soon had an earache hence a weird head scarf a la Grace Kelly (but with less glamour!). Carm didn’t wimp out with the chainsaw and together we stacked brush in the clearings along the fence line - we could have a giant bonfire! 

Carm was a beast, lifting and shifting heavy logs like they were matchsticks (I exaggerate, but seriously some of those chunks were heavy!)

Our property is dotted with giant brush piles now.

A shout out to my brother Olaf who has started a side-hustle making digital art. He’s always been an artist and is a digital junkie so this medium is right up his alley. His shop has a big selection that would suit any taste. I bought the image below for our bathroom - a bit risque but I loved the image! 

Check his store out at https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/ArtisticInceptionCA and his instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CrQ_EJpugf4/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

Wednesday night we had our second class with Lupa - it went better than last week and while she was far from perfect, I was happy with how it went. She does bark a bit but it’s mostly ‘demand’ barking which we have inadvertently rewarded… Carm laughs and talks back to her which just reinforces the bad behaviour - bad Carm! She was excited to see the other dogs - no growling - and her little nub of a tail was going a mile a minute.

For some reason my brain has been working at slower speeds than normal! I can barely formulate a sentence…

Awesome!

“getting more brush off the fence”

“Lupa returning to my side automatically”

Paul Bunyon

 Carm channelled Paul Bunyon and a bit of Hercules yesterday as he cut down 2 trunks of a huge tree BY HAND! One trunk came down last week with the ice, leaving the other two in a precarious position. With a pole saw and a bit of help from a chainsaw on a pole but it was mostly pure muscle that brought that tree down!

The chainsaw came out for bucking up those beumouths while I shuffled between the felled brush and our towering brush pile with the tops of those three giant trunks.

Before the trees came down we moved the camper… oh dear… when I was raising it so that we could get under it with the truck, one side suddenly dipped down. What the actual HELL! With some fiddling we were able to get hitched and figured I had done something wrong (I hadn’t)... but when it came time to unhitch it was clear that something was wrong, really wrong, as the passenger side leg would not budge. There were some metal filings on the ground under that leg so it looks like the gears are stripped on that side.

We rushed into the house to make some phone calls and luckily (we hope), the RV repair guy that we used a few years ago is able to come to the house to fix it on Sunday or Monday (again, we hope!). In the meantime the beast sits heavily on the truck with just a bit of support from one landing leg.

Today I moved brush while Carm bucked up. It wasn’t as hot as yesterday but still hot in the sun. Carm also spent ages clearing out all the darn locust leaves from the pool. The water looks nice but there was still ice floating. 😱  The water is an icy 44F/7C. I wimped out after a few hours and am now collapsed on the sofa having had an A&W burger (I was starving!) and a hot bath. 

There’s still so much left to do…

When the chainsaw was off the dogs were out for some fun. They ran and ran and ran - the joy was palpable! Monday the vet said Adia was in good weight but if he were to see her again in a few weeks he’d be gobsmacked -  she puts on muscle quickly.

Lupa has been practicing her loose-leash walking and is doing great! Tomorrow I hope to get her to a parking lot somewhere to practice with more distractions.

The grass turned green today! The garlic is a few inches tall! The life force is strong here… birds are looking for nesting sites, squirrels and chippies are stuffing their faces, trees are budding, grass is greening, flying insects are out… we’ve had a little taste of summer 😍

Awesome!

“my muscle honey”

“grass turning green”

“hot April day!”

“A&W burger after a hard physical day”

a visit from summer

 I was reading some stories about ‘the butterfly effect’ which is one little incident changing the course of your life - I’ve had a few of these moments: one time I was at my friends house and mentioned that I’d have to find a job for my gap year as her father walked through the kitchen… he gave me a job and gosh, I ended up working in the same place for 29 years! 

Then there’s the time I met Carm - the butterflies were flapping their wings hard that day! It started a few days earlier with me looking for a new apartment - my current home was on the 20th floor of a highrise and I hated living so disconnected from the earth, plus I was desperately trying to get rid of a psychotic boyfriend and moving seemed like the only way.

I’d seen an ad for a one bedroom down by the canal so rushed to see it as good apartments were hard to find… I saw it, liked it, and arranged to sign the lease on the weekend. When I went back to sign the lease I mentioned my dog and they said ‘no way’... darn. I left dejected, however just a block away from that apartment, I passed a house where a man was putting a ‘for rent’ sign out. I spoke to him (the landlord), looked at the apartment and said YAY! I mentioned Chetta - Gene wanted to meet her but was fine about her. So I moved into the apartment below Carm’s place! And here we are 36 years later! 

I think I have a bit of sunburn!!!! It’s 27C today! The last tiny speck of ice melted off the deck this afternoon so we deployed the table and chairs :-)  We uncovered the benches, the other little table and swept up all the darn locust seed pods - bring on summer! I didn’t get a photo but we had supper outside!!! Hurrah!

Last night was Lupa’s first ‘Adolescent Manners’ class - yikes! I was slightly apprehensive but optimistic… let's just say she wasn’t the best dog in class but not the worst either. She even had a few flashes of brilliance. She did bark a certain amount… but not nonstop… and wasn’t the only one. I brought her little mat which did give her something to focus on (and be rewarded for) while Michelle talked. Lupa was able to give me a bit of attention when the other dogs weren’t moving but when we all got up and started moving around she lost it a bit. She’s certainly a work in progress but I do have hope! 

Carm installed the new Shaw satellite receivers yesterday only to discover that they no longer have a clock nor do they have an indicator to show that something is being recorded on one of the tuners. WTH!!!! So we had to order a clock from Amazon… huge design failure!!!

Awesome!

“a few steps of loose leash”

“hot summer like day!”

“amazing blue sky”

spring has sprung

Spring has arrived here in snowy Canada! We’ve been having days into the teens and the forecast is calling for the mid 20s later in the week!  Hurray! Not that we can rely on the forecast though… it was supposed to be sunny today but instead it’s grey with wind.

The snow is almost off the field but we still have pretty tall snowbanks on the north side of the house. There is still snow on the deck but maybe by the end of the week we’ll have the table and chairs deployed :-) We went out after supper and shovelled some of the snow off to expedite the process! A photo reminder came up yesterday from 2021 showing us eating supper on the deck… spring has been so slow or perhaps that year it was especially early?

Yesterday we took some of the dog training ‘on the road’ so to speak… It was rabies shot day so I brought one of their mats or ‘hopitup’ beds to help them settle as we waited for the vet. It worked! I let them have a few minutes of snuffling around the room but then they both happily settled on the mat :-) Of course I was giving them lots of reinforcement (yummy treats) since this was a new environment for that skill - they did great!

Pat came for supper last night - another test for Lupa - I left the dogs in their crates for her arrival then once Pat got settled I put Lupa on a leash and slowly, with lots of hand touches, sits and pivots, made it across the 38 foot expanse from her crate to Pat. One bark! She ran to her mat and was happy to lie there for a minute or two before I released her to say hello. I was able to interrupt the hello and ask her to go back into the bed a few times. Really pleased with the progress!

Sunday we had lunch at Mom & Dad’s to celebrate Graham’s birthday with a little nod to Easter. We were short a few people but it was a fun gathering which stretched a bit longer than I planned. When we got home Lupa was hysterical - the worst she’s ever been. I think the fact that it was past their supper time might have contributed to her stress but gosh! calm down!

Carm started chainsaw work today :-( 

Awesome!

“dogs lying on the mat at the vets”

“family”

gone are the dark clouds

 We are blessed with sunshine and above freezing temps today. I suppose everyone without power would prefer below freezing - Stephanie buried her freezer stuff in a snowbank - the only reason to be glad for this damn snow that is sticking around! Photos are coming up in my memories that show bare earth ‘on this day’. In fact in 2021 the garlic was already up a few inches! It’s still under 2 feet of snow!

It’s the winter that keeps on giving…

This song came up in my playlist this afternoon, I consider it an anthem of sorts :-) Because today I can see clearly :-)  It’s a great song from the 70s! Hopefully I haven’t gone too far in the other direction but I’ll worry about that later.

I can see clearly now the rain is gone

I can see all obstacles in my way

Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind

It's gonna be a bright (bright)

Bright (bright) sunshiny day

It's gonna be a bright (bright)

Bright (bright) sunshiny day

Oh, yes I can make it now the pain is gone

All of the bad feelings have disappeared

Here is that rainbow I've been praying for

It's gonna be a bright (bright)

Bright (bright) sunshiny day

look all around, there's nothing but blue skies

Look straight ahead, there's nothing but blue skies

I can see clearly now the rain is gone

I can see all obstacles in my way

Here is that rainbow I've been praying for

It's gonna be a bright (bright)

Bright (bright) sunshiny day

Songwriters: Johnny Nash

While I was chatting with Kirsten today about dogs and dog breeds, she mentioned not wanting a dog with as much energy as Lupa… which given my months of angst about her makes sense. However! I should be writing more about how awesome she is becoming to make up for all the puppy trash talk! 

We are well past the puppy stages and still a bit in the naughty adolescent stage (she’s 1 ½ years old), but she has settled down tremendously. Around the house she’s almost perfect and rarely gets into trouble (although she did chew a dog bed the other day). She is often cuddled up against me or in my lap. She chews her bones quietly and has a few favourite toys that she plays with. There is less rambunctious playing in the house with Adia.

Tonight she was on my lap while I rested my bowl of pasta on her back :-) I can have a bowl of food beside me on the floor when we are playing ‘games’ and she won’t bother with it. It’s not like she isn’t food oriented though - a word from me and she’d gobble everything.

Her recall outside is pretty good unless there’s a really big distraction like a squirrel. We do have to work on loose leash walking and of course there’s the big problem of dog reactivity, but I think that’s going to work out with some more exposure (although she may never be great with Kirsten’s chihuahuas). 

After all those months of horror (made worse by my grief from losing Spike), I wouldn’t trade her for a better dog cause I think she is the best dog now :-) Just like that lady in the pet store said - the white witch who helped me to see the dog in front of me and her potential. If we put the effort in I think she’d excel in many dog sports - I see agility in her future, and maybe even rally-o if I can get my act together. She’s quick and keen.

It’s the Master’s golf tournament this weekend so guess how much golf will be on TV this weekend 🤪 Thank goodness for awesome headphones!

Awesome!

“peaceful easy feeling”

“the right song for the right time”

“geese in our springtime flood lake”

“Adia and Lupa”

“laughing on the phone with Kirsten”

the aftermath

 The icy gilding was finished shattering to the ground not long after noon leaving us with a broken forest. Thank goodness the wind died down last night or I’m not sure how many trees would have been left standing… as it is, we have a bunch of cleanup and enough branches for another brush pile.

Out in the field there’s a river of meltwater filling the swale that our builder sculpted into the land - the field drains nicely away from the house, actually everything drains away from the house. Our last house was in a swamp so the sump pump basically ran from March to June, luckily we never had a power failure during sump time, but it did ensure that we looked for a house with drainage!

The creek is in full flood, creating several acres of lake which the migrating geese love.

Today, for the first day in weeks, I had some moments of ‘peaceful easy feeling’! It feels fantastic to be back! I survived!

Awesome!

“no more broken trees”

“perfect pivot”

“dogs keen to play”

“pink sunset”

decimation

 The winter of 22/23 has got to break records for its weekly storms. Today we are ‘blessed’ with hours of freezing rain. The trees are heavy with a thick layer of destructive ice, that while beautiful, is deadly. Trees are bowed to the ground and many branches have been snapped off. A whole trunk of the tree that the bird feeder hangs from is on the ground.

The rain stirs memories of the ice storm of 1998 although this is just a touch of the severity… it also brings to mind April of 2018 when we were returning from a sunny cruise. We landed (a miracle in itself), took a cab to Mom’s where she was outside chipping half an inch of ice from our trusty Subaru… against our better judgement we braved the ice and inched our way home. The power went out within an hour of us arriving home. Pat was staying over so we all huddled in the darkness and crossed our fingers that power would be restored by morning.

Alas… it was out for two days. It cinched our plan for a ‘whole house’ standby generator! Ironically, today we still have power while Kirsten and Stephanie don’t. I wish we could share!

I thought we’d watch movies and chill out all day but for some reason we didn’t settle - I suppose the sound of crashing trees kept us jumping up to look out the windows. I did make cheese stuffed Naan though (yum!).

After my big whine the other day things have been getting better for me… I (almost) feel back to normal. I guess I could be grateful for the opportunity to practice wellness again 😱

Lupa and I were supposed to start in-person classes today but it’s been thankfully rescheduled for next week. That gives me another week to get her better prepared for school!

It was a beautiful day on Tuesday (was that just yesterday?), so I was hanging out in the grocery store parking lot with Lupa while Carm did some shopping. He parked in a nice open area far away from the store with lots of room to walk around in but after a few minutes a giant truck pulled in right beside us and then after another couple of minutes a car parked on the other side of us… half of the parking lot was empty. The lady getting out of the car said it was too hard for her to park anywhere else when I mentioned, (after jumping out of the way while she screeched into the spot), that I had been walking there. Apparently it’s too hard to back up…

Smile and wave, smile and wave…

Awesome!

“feeling a bit better”

“snug and warm in the house”

“knowing the generator is on stand-by”

“naan stuffed with cheese!”

“Canada”

temporary insanity

 I’ve been trying to keep my balance on the cusp between winter and spring, or not balancing would be more apt… I’d hoped that this spring would be an exception and that the ‘black dog’ would leave me alone… alas… I’ve crashed.

Dog training has taken a back seat to my misery… I try, half heartedly cause that’s all I can muster, but just can’t seem to get it together. Yesterday morning I cut up some treats to play but that was an effort that left me exhausted.

I know it’s getting bad when even being in bed isn’t cocooned enough - the compulsion to curl in a ball somewhere was strong Saturday night before I distracted myself with reels and reels of FB watch videos. Everything just seemed so hard - I wanted to escape life but somehow under the covers wasn’t escape enough… when I’m at that point I can’t express myself and just want to withdraw myself from everything.

I’m not sure what to do. I’ve been letting myself have some slack these last few days but am not sure if it is helping - I’ve tried some of the other things that sometimes help… but… oh sure, when the actual distraction is happening I’m a bit better, but then it’s over and I’m done.

What is maybe different about this time is that, aside from one or two especially miserable day, I KNOW that it is temporary! Usually when I’m in a mood slump it feels like I’ll be stuck there forever which seems unbearable. I’ll be fine though… as long as I don’t just give up, which I won’t!

I’m not a total f&ckup though! We are having new sinks and faucets installed in the bathrooms today and yesterday I managed to empty both cupboards… although I didn’t sort through what I was removing… maybe later when I put everything back…

I’ve only cooked something for supper once in the last two weeks…

Friday we met up with Kirsten and Shawn for shwarma - which was of course lovely and brightened an otherwise grey (and almost snowy) day. 

Carm’s birthday was last Monday - we started the celebration in the morning with burnt sugar cake, Trudie had us over for supper along with Pat and Marie, then finally it was a quick sibling night online. 🥰

It’s been another whinging post… sorry about that! Somehow it helps to share. But I’m not looking for sympathy!

Awesome!

“it’s still light past 7pm!”

“my little dog lying back in my arms”

“first speck of bare earth in the field”

“knowing AND remembering that it’s only temporary”