…thanks to Tina from Travels and Trifles for hosting this week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge
I recently posted photos of flowers covered with rain drops so I had to go into the archives for these shots.
Our old girl loves the water…..
…do most of the family
So does her buddy, Olive.
At the conservatory
After a rainstorm
…thanks to Becky B for hosting #squaretops
We’ve owned three dogs during our married life. The first two were Golden Retrievers. We had Abby for almost eight years before she passed and Scully lived to the ripe old age of 15 years and 40 days. My husband always said that when Scully went we wouldn’t get another dog…..until he met Frances.
Frances came to us as a puppy because our oldest daughter who had been working from home got a brand new job that required her to leave the house every day. Not ideal for training a new dog. My husband agreed to look after her until a new owner could be found but after one week with us he couldn’t give her up. She is now 13 1/2 and has slowed down considerably.
Frances, in the eyes of my husband is his dog and will always be Top Dog.
…as a result I haven’t been posting very much or replying to a lot of emails
As some of you may know my husband and I were planning a trip to the UK to see our new granddaughter. In fact we should be on-route as I write this post but clearly I’m not on a plane to anywhere right now.
Early last week we were just getting over the sad news of three deaths in our extended family (not related to the virus) when my husband’s doctor strongly advised him not to take this trip. His suppressed immune system put him in a very high risk category for catching the coronavirus. It was a difficult decision but the right one not to go.
Now I had to decide if I would go without him and spend the first five days with our daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law and then the next eight days alone but close to our son, daughter-in-law and the new baby. I had a lot of mixed messages from colleagues and friends. Some said I should go and enjoy the new baby and others were worried that I could return and infect my husband and 93 year old father.
By Wednesday evening the airline that we were flying on offered a rebooking option without a penalty fee but we had to take the trip before September 1st. That did not work for my daughter and her family because of the summer camp that they run. However, as you know, every hour things changed quickly in the world and by Thursday evening the airline came back, after a lot of backlash from the public and extended the rebooking offer to December 31st.
All of us rebooked for mid October. On Saturday my husband and I ventured out to the mall to finalize our travel cancellation and rebooked our trip at the same time. We were happy the we booked through the Flight Centre because they did all the grunt work for us. After taking our information they sent us home and within a couple of hours we were notified that all was taken care of. Our daughter on the other hand spent a lot of time just trying to get through to the airline because they had booked on-line. Once they finally got through they were on hold for almost an hour but in the end they also were able to cancel this flight and rebook for later.
When we were at the mall Saturday afternoon we were surprised how empty the mall was. People certainly weren’t stocking up here for anything.
On Thursday our 13 1/2 year old dog, Frances, was clearly not well. She wasn’t eating, had difficulty walking and controlling her bladder. She slept most of the time and when she was awake she dragged her back legs and moved sideways. We had seen similar symptoms with our last dog and we knew that if she had the same thing she would recover but it would take a few days. On Friday we took her to the vet and she was also pretty sure that Frances has a vestibular disorder that affects her balance. She gave us some more medicine for her arthritis and some wet food that would stimulate her appetite. I’m happy to say that she’s already feeling somewhat better. She is eating and drinking more and even wanted to go out for a walk today. She still walks lopsided and you can see in the photo that her head is still tilted to the side.
I hope I haven’t alarmed anyone with the heading at the top of this post. No one in our family, neighbourhood or amongst our friends has the virus but the global epidemic has affected our lives and will continue to do so for the coming weeks. Practise social distancing, wash your hands a lot and stay healthy and please don’t hoard things you don’t need. It makes it very difficult for people, especially seniors who need those things to get them.
Be positive and stay calm.
Carol (aka Mama Cormier)
….thanks to Jo for hosting Jo’s Monday Walk
There was no time for a walk yesterday. My day started with making bread dough for Wednesday’s bake at Montgomery’s Inn and weighing and mixing 41 pounds of dried fruits for about 100 Christmas cakes. After that I drove home, picked up my neighbour and drove to Shuffle and Play for two and half hours of Bridge. Following that the two of us headed over to the hospital to visit a neighbour who’s been experiencing some health issues. Once home we went to see another neighbour to bring her up to date on what we saw and discussed at the hospital.
When all was said and done it was dinnertime and then it was dark….not ideal for going on a walk and taking photos.
Today, however, was a mild and sunny day. Perfect for walking with the dog and taking photos of the neighbourhood.
…thanks to Lens Artists Photo Challenge for this week’s theme, ‘waiting’
Waiting for permission to get on the couch.
Waiting to start kindergarten
Waiting to see what Olive will do
Waiting in line
Waiting to be seated in the restaurant
Waiting for me
Just waiting for his turn to touch the car
Waiting for the pizza to come out of the oven
Waiting for her pizza
…usually the first snow waits until the end of November 
Granted it’s not a lot of snow but even the dog, who usually loves the snow, was not impressed.
….on the weekend I took a stroll to the naturalized park close to home
It’s not often that our dog, Frances wants to go for long walks anymore. She’s almost 13 and she sleeps most of the day. On occasion, however, when she does want to go for a walk she’s seems to find the energy to make her way to Col. Sam Smith Park. On warm days she likes to go for a swim from one of the three beaches in the park but last weekend the water was a little too green for my liking so I didn’t tempt fate and kept her on her leash.
I love this time of year with the colours changing. Plants are producing berries and seed heads and the grasses are turning brown with lovely seed tops swaying in the wind. The bees are very active these days and the birds are getting ready to migrate. Here are a few of my favourite sightings from my walk last weekend.
….thanks to Alive and Trekking for hosting the Which Way Photo Challenge
….thanks to Jez Braithwaite for hosting Fan of…..
I’m a big fan of the beach down from my cottage on Georgian Bay. Last weekend the beach was quiet. It was a beautiful weekend but most people stayed in the city. I’m not complaining because I loved the solitude and spending time with my dog, Frances.
