A Dog's Work is Never Done

Six weeks we’ve been home, and what a six weeks it’s been. We went from lounging in the shade of the RV and going for daily walks to long days working on the farm and in the city. You’re probably thinking, sure, long days for who? But when they work, we work, even if we don’t always do the same things. Here's the list:

Storm getting his last bath.

Four Sundays of bathing ten horses. Now I didn’t actually get in there and put shampoo on a horse, but I was nearby, keeping watch, keeping the other dogs in line, ready to jump in if a dog or horse got out of hand. Fortunately, that wasn’t necessary, but I still had to be there. Just because no ships crash doesn’t mean the lighthouse worker didn’t have to work.

On duty at Renfrew.

And then there were the renovations. Long days in a suite in Renfrew – cleaning, painting, changing flooring, adding new fixtures – it was exhausting – and I still have the paint on my fur to prove it.

Hours and hours of cutting down the caragana hedge and mulching it. Now they wouldn’t let me run the equipment but, again, I was supervising, from inside the house (I didn’t like the noise the chipper made).

Helping with year-end.

Year-end for the company, which means providing hours of support to Teresa in her office, always ready to jump in and provide a pleasant distraction if she got stuck or frustrated.

And when the final bath was given, the last pile of mulch was moved to the paddock, the tenant had taken possession of the suite, and the numbers were off to the accountant, I thought, “At last!” But then we were on the road to BC with a horse in tow.

Calypso getting a timbit (we got one too).

Surprisingly, it felt kind of good to be back on the road, watching the world roll by outside the truck window, Chico snoring on the seat beside me, “the pack” back together for a few days. The trip out with Calypso in the trailer was pretty much a straight through, keeping the journey as short as possible for her, so not much time for walks or exploring. We had about an hour of farm time at Calypso’s new home near Kelowna and then we were off to Levi and Ezra’s place for the night (technically it’s Ed & Betty’s place much like my house is Teresa & Nollind’s). It was a full evening of yard marking and playing and more yard marking. Poor Levi had to spend some kennel time because he was quite enamoured and kept getting up close and very personal with Chico. By bedtime I was exhausted; each of the other three dogs just half my age.

Off to the market!

The next day after breakfast we were headed north to Vernon to visit Teresa’s Aunt Frieda. We’d been to Frieda’s before, almost four years ago, when we headed out on our first winter journey, but during a whole week there we never actually had a chance to meet her (we stay on the property in our trailer). This year, she came driving with us, to the market, the apple orchard, and the bee place. I was hoping to get a good photo with her but Teresa forgot to organize it before Frieda was back inside the lodge so all I have is this one from inside the truck. Ah well, next time Frieda!

Chico's snow angel...seriously.

On the trip home we made a couple of stops, one up in Roger’sPass in the Selkirk Mountains. At just 4,360 feet, it’s not much of a climb compared to the crazy heights we’ve travelled to down south, but there was still some snow up there and we got out for a romp. Chico attempted to make a snow angel but, as you can see in the photo … it needs work.

Walking the canal.

We’re home again now and life has been a bit more relaxed than it was in April. Teresa takes us walking down the canal every couple of days and I love that. Yesterday was walk day but Chico and I got a little ahead of her and went on our own while she was feeding horses. She wasn’t very pleased when we came back all wet and dirty. She usually dries us off with towels and gives us breakfast after our walks but yesterday it was wait outside until you’re dry and then you can come in for breakfast.

I know, she looks all innocent, right?

They took Natalya (Nat), the house cat, to the vet on Friday. Seems she’s on the same drug as me now, the one they call my “bouncy juice”. I hope she doesn’t get as limber as I do. Even though she’s 18, she’s a pain in the butt and hard to keep in line. Damn cat thinks she runs the place. Chico and I will be headed outside and she’ll sit right there in the doorway, gazing off into space like she doesn’t see us needing past. And if you do run by her, what does she do? She swipes at you! Like I said, I hope the drugs don’t make her any feistier.

Well, I think I’m due for a nap, have to get my 14-16 hours in.