Bob Jones RIP: 15th July 2000 - 1st March 2010

I never thought my next blog would be about our beloved Flat Coated Retriver 'Bob Jones' - our constant companion for the last 9.5years.

He became quite ill last weekend - not eating, throwing up, lethargic & grunting in pain as he sat down or re-positioned himself & he was restless.  He had been down the meadow a few days before & insistently licking a 'damp' patch of snow - I thought it was coyote pee & as they would be coming into season - this was the reason he was off his food - thought the silly old fool was 'in love'.

We called the vet on Sunday 22nd Feb, her initial thoughts were a tumour on the spleen - these beautiful dogs are susceptible to cancers ...

He went into the vet clinic on the Monday & put in an IV drip - the symptoms were similar to the horrid disease 'Leptispirosis' - caught from wild animals urine - which linked back to me seeing him licking the snow & his blood was sent off for analysis - trouble is it takes about a week to get the results back & in the mean time, he was loosing the fight, becoming weaker, although there were some small 'ups' - his kidneys came back into normal range - but his liver was not looking too good. The results of the lepto test became irrelevant - he was being treated for it anyway & the treatment is the same for liver disease, but by noon on Monday 1st March our vet sensitively suggested that we consider euthenasia & when we saw him we agreed. 

He was jaundiced, had been panting to keep his temp down, but not drinking so his mouth was dry, his tongue & gums dark brown - this was not the magnificent handsome creature from 2 weeks ago. His time had come.

When his Dad got to the clinic & to his cage - he lifted his head in 

greeting & licked him in appreciation. 

 

On St David's (Patron Saint of Wales) day March 1st 2010, this gentle loving boy, who ironically was born in Wales, went quietly & gracefully to sleep & is resting peacefully in the orchard we planted down the meadow, last year. I will put a seat there & a little garden later in the year.

He was really Daddy's boy. An outside loving boy. He will leave a huge gap in our lives & his little cousin Erik 'the Viking' (21 months) is missing him dreadfully - as we are.

All our friends have been very kind & offered words 

of sympathy that we really appreciate - I think most have been through something similar - but as Chuck put it - no matter how many times you go through it - it's never easy. But to our mind no matter what the pain now - he was worth every minute.

Gareth found a lovely quote from an American web site [www.helpguide.org] which kind of sums it all up:

'For someone who has truly loved

 a pet the loss of that animal can feel just as devastating as a human loss, if not more. The very things that make animals different than humans often 

make them more endearing.  An animal who doesn't talk, can't pass judgement or give you the silent treatment or withhold companionship & love. For many, pets provide a source of unwavering love, affection and companionship. The qualities of a beloved pet are hard to match in human form. The loss of that companion can be heartbraking.'

I'm sad that he only had 17 months here in this beautiful country, but he loved it here... the wide open spaces, 'his own' stream, meadow & orchard. The lovely neighbours who were always popping in to say hello & give him a fuss. He loved the snow, loved making 'doggy angels

' in the snow - even getting up in the middle of the night for a roll over in the snow! He loved the chickens - & eating chicken poop, much to my annoyance!! He seemed to smile & laugh with a wide grin. He had a magnificent ruff around his neck. He would give a 'kiss' on demand. He could leap up on to our tall bed with ease. He loved cats - giving them lots of loving licks around the ears. He loved the long walks up 'Bob's Trail', along the Yankee Line, and only a few weeks ago with the neighbours along the Garrey Road in the snow for a boil up. He loved having sticks, balls, & toys thrown for him to retrieve. He would get his paws dried with a towel quite patiently & loved his thigh to be tickled.

In the photo to the left he is in 'woo-hoo' pose - lying on his back, with his legs in the air, fast asleep - looks uncomfortable, but it was his favourite relaxed pose!

In every room of our house there is a reminder of 'my baby': photographs, a pottery caricature, a watercolour by Ken Taylor, fleece blankets, fling a rings et al...

I hope we will find another boy to help fill the gap - but none will ever replace him in our hearts.

Here are some more photos of our wonderful boy - now resting in peace on Tickle Trout Lodge, Nova Scotia & Ian has some thoughts on his blog: http://www.bushcraftnovascotia.blogspot.com/

'The Girls' have arrived...

Nora, Flora, Dora, Laura, Cora, Moira, Tora-Tora-Tora & Babs have arrived - they were 1 day old when is Lordship went to pick them up Yesterday (Friday) & they are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute!! They are in 'Coop Palace' on a bed of mown grass & a soft heat lamp to keep them warm. Awwww.

Like the neat rustic fence & gate Ian did -FAB!

Talking of which he's also made a great bridge across the River Kwai - well the brook down our meadow...made of alders (we have tons of them!)

We've both stood on it - so it can handle heavy loads! & The Boyz manage to get across too without loosing a paw...

Weather is hot & the black flies are a-biting... off to find some Penny Royal plants - a customer recommended this as it is a natural insect repellant. Poor Erik has his own personal 'gang' of flies above his head where ever he goes - the darn things like dark colours! He was sporting his union jack bandana laced with citronella oil today - but then started to eat it so we took it off him. He's also decided he wants to eat small stones too - arghhh!

Waiting for my Old Moss Roses to arrive - the soil is dug over ready & waiting... Paeonies are in as are hollyhocks & flocks & tomorrow a clematis - yummy!

TTFN...

Hillbillies Update...

Well, almost a month into the Antiques Boutique & we (well I) have been having fun!

Meeting lots of new people - sadly I cannot seem to remember their names! Must be my old age creeping in! Its still very quiet in Baddeck - everyone is saying this is normal & wait for the tourists to come. Hope they're right! But all of the feedback is positive 'great for the town', 'people are always asking where the nearest antiques shop is'... 'beautiful stuff', 'nicely laid out' etc etc (I'm blushing now!) Had a lovely couple in on Friday - she could have been my clone - loved ALL the Victoriana & spent a few bob on vintage linens & a Victorian Teapot & stand - that was gorgeous - what taste we have! Then she talked about how she's doing up an old house (! been there done that - twice) & she's trying to create an English country garden (I'm waiting for my heirloom roses to arrive too...).

Sir Lancelot is pulling the folks in nicely - some want to buy him, some try him on. I did hear footsteps on the stairs one day - & knew someone was approaching - then heard them banging poor Lance with a stick or summat - what a cheek! Anyway he's OK - if getting a tad rusty! He's out most days - think I'll get him a big brolley...

Ian's been hard at work - being eaten alive by the black flies - yeuk! But we have stacks of potatoes in & onions & the good old tractor has helped ENORMOUSLY! diggin holes for the 15 fruit trees & 12 fruit bushes & rows for the seedlings...

We've had our lovely Godin wood stove installed - remember this came from France to the UK then to Canada - all brand spanking new - & to EU code, but not to Canadian code - which meant that the insurance broker wouldn't insure the house if it was 'just installed' so we had to get a certified installer to do the work & he wasn't easy to find. Some would just over quote, one said he'd put the chimney in - but not hook up the stove as it wasn't certified! Anyway we got a great chap to do it - he was excellent, thorough & fair price.

The chimney went up & they put some roof tiles on too as they were in need of changing - then when up on the roof they found that the boards under the rotten tiles also needed replacing! DOH! Then the stove pipe we bought to go with the chimney wasn't suitable as it was single skinned - code here says it needs to be double skinned - so we have spare stove pipe now... well its all done & looks great - we are very pleased with it & it gives off loads of heat with a few logs... apple wood seems best & we have lots of that around here...

We have fabulous birds in the 'back yard' as they call their gardens over here! Golden Oriels, Yellow Finches, red Finches, Grackels with peacock blue heads in certain light, Blue jays & now the gorgeous red throated humming birds - we have feeders with sugar & water in on the front of the house & now on the back deck next to the kitchen window & the cute little guys are no longer shy in coming forward & its delightful to see them whilst washing the pots!!

The girls come next month (my chicks!) & we're almost ready for them - I painted their front door - a 'ruby lips' colour to match our house!

We have lots of moose hoof prints down the meadow & a HUGE POO! which we think is a bear poo - nice!!

The boyz have been swimming daily - they LURVE it! & are knackered... daily!! ACE

Working on the antiques website - hope to get it up there in about a weeks time... feedback would be appreciated http://www.antiques-boutique.com/

It's Erik the Vikings 1st birthday on 28th May - what a fine young puppy he's grown into - cute, cuddly, pretty-boy & big fun! Here he is snoozing on the sofa - his head lost in cushions!! - see that is cute!

Love to all in Blighty - Happy xxth to Anne on 29th May!! Happy 18th to Holly on 1st June & Happy birthday to Abs on the 15th - have a great day.

The Antiques Boutique is go!

Ye-ha! Yup we did it!

The Boutique was open for business on 1st may 2009! Not too many customers though as 'The Word' is not yet fully out there, but I'm working on it! Still we had a few sales yesterday & today & about 40-50 customers/browsers both days & great feedback - which is nice...but now - I'm knackered! & I'm sure His Lordship is too having made 2 display shelves & 2 tables in a week & being Mr Shifter too...

So until the tourist season gets fully underway I won't be doing Sundays. But we're open Mon-Sat 10am (yes I even get a lie in!!) until 4pm. Once it gets busy that will change to 10am - 6pm Mon-Fri, sat 10-4 & Sun 11-4 & we'll see how that goes.

I've got a guest comment book by the door for feedback & for people to tell me what they are interested in so I can locate items for them. So far I've got depression glass, Mary Gregory glass, cornflower glass, silver hair clasps, costume & vintage jewellery & linens & lace...

I've got the 'Discover your Coat of Arms' signs up with 4 samples displayed in nice frames & enquiry forms strategicaly placed - but I find I still need to explain what its all about. People don't seem to know that 'their' coat of arms isn't theirs - its a generic one - if you really had YOUR coat of arms then you would have had to design & register it & pay for it too. So this software I have can generate several examples of generic coats of arms & I can print them out on plain paper, parchment paper, artist canvas etc...the best artist canvas I found was back in Oswestry - & I cannot find the same stuff here - so a phone call to dear old Dad was in order to go collect & mail me 10 packets to keep me going! I have a new printer on order & a monitor that can link into the laptop for better viewing.

Like the bunting...? all (frantically) hand made by me - as were the Victorian style beaded swags - made from the dress velvet curtains we had in Hen Gor!
Here are a few of the 'posh' things we have in the shop: an early 19thc Wedgwood cheese dome - I think it was a wedding gift as it has scottish thistles on the dome (for the Scottish side of the family) & oak leaves on the base (for the English side).
Cute local finds:

and some Victorian amethyst glass - just need some fairy lights behind the to show off the gorgeous purple glass:

I have the blurb on the wall about my Ceramic Restoration services - which I will do in the Winter time so I'll give estimates & take 'orders' for now (hopefully!).

Ian will be able to make some rustic furniture on his pole-lathe which we can put on the pavement outside the shop & Sir Lancelot stands guard on the deck just outside the front door (it was windy yesterday & the poor thing fell over & his forearm came off! still he's OK now...& is drawing in the crowds, well a few folks at the moment... 1 lady came in - said she nearly crashed her car when she saw him standing there, as she just LOVES anything gothic/medieval but Baddeck was the lst place she'd expect to see a Knight in Shining Armour!)

I'm doing commission sales for 15% & have our neighbour's late Victorian 3 piece suite on the books - with one of the chairs in the shop - its gorgeous - mahogany, deep green velvet with face carvings on the arms & smaller floral carving on the backs of the chairs.

Lay away is available, as are gift vouchers that I've printed off with either: With Love, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, Happy Christmas, Best Wishes, or Thank You on them!

Other news: we have the wood stove in now - it looks fab..& a new chimney...& a new roof & when on the roof pulling up the roof tiles - they found we needed new board under the tiles... so we are a few pounds lighter!

The chicken coop is almost done.

The willow, fruit trees & bushes & old roses are on their way & finally the mosquitos have arrived... yeuk!

Off to create brochures & website...

Love to everyone in dear old Blighty!

Ok Ok I know I've been remis...

But here is THE SCOOP! As they say out here... The Antiques Boutique will open on 1st May - in downtown Baddeck! YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Hence the silence on the blog - its manic here at the mo. So briefly here are the details.

It's in an old nunnery (in fact a very nice lady owns the building now - well its an old front room see pic - its bottom right)- 260sq ft, with its own entrance at the side. But its on the main street - next to the Library, opposite a bank, the mall with coffee shop, various eateries, the Alexander Graham Bell museum, the Yacht Club & the Marina & Post Office. Neat hey...?! I'm desperately looking for antique shelving/display cabinets etc - found out that they call them 'Showcases' which makes sense - but gets a bit frustrating looking for stuff that are called summat different...

Ian's made an ace sandwich advertising board & I'm in the process of painting it (very laborious as I've had to scalpel out the text for the sinage! DOH then the spray paint went underneath the paper - argh!) Ian's made a frame for my jewellery - will photo that when its done...I'm working out 'processes' (I can hear the BUPA guys sighing from here!!!) Well I need to work out what payments to take - Visa/Mastercard/Debit/Amex...do I take US$ as well as Canadian$ (with my number dylexia - it is a dilema!!!) Insurance, Bank fees, taxes etc etc. However - when having a mooch around a 'junk' shop the other day - his prices were astronomical - for junk - stuff we would normally see at a UK boot sale - so I'm fairly optimistic that we can source our goods from the UK & turn a profit. I have 'Sir Lancelot' my repro suit of armour that I'll put on the pavement to attract the tourists in & I have my software to print of coats of arms onto parchment or canvas paper - that I can't find out here!! So good old ebay came to the rescue again - I just love that website! & I will be able to import the canvas photo paper no probs... I will also be able to advertise my Ceramic Restoration Services, Ians bushcrafts: long bows, snow shoes, moccasins etc. These are some he made over the winter.

When I get time - I'll do the website http://www.antiques-boutique.com/ so look out for that. The business cards have been ordered - gorgeous! & a brochure is imminent...

We are also having our lovely antique wood stove installed at last... so the house is a mess...

We have 8 egg laying golden comet chicks on order - coming June - so his Lordship is making a magnificent Amish Chicken Coop like this one - photos to follow... He is getting a John Deere tractor tomorrow - its green & big... OK! Photos to follow too...

Then we should be getting 16 fruit trees: apples, pears, peaches, cherries & plums - all different varieties, plus 12 fruit bushes: blackberries, cranberries, blueberries & potato seedlings & onion sets & a humongous amount of veg seed needs to go in after the last frost - which is end May/mid June. I already have 72 leeks pushing up through the soil trays in the back room! Oh - & I have 6 old roses, hollyhocks, & loads of paeonies to plant when the weather warms up... I've built a dry stone wall - at the weekend & got hot & sweaty - then we had torrential rain & a snow storm! MAD!

We've got a very cheeky raccoon that is stealing the bird seed at night - it looks like a big fat cat & they can climb trees - so I shine the torch out over the bird seed area before letting the dogs out. Sometimes we see his eyes shining back at us - weird.

Had a moose at the back of the house the other evening & a mass of colourful birds come to the feeders daily - including a big F.O. American robin - they are huge - there were about 50 of the blighters on the lawn the other day - but the bird song is brilliant - love it...

Bob n Erik are fine - just loving it. But Bob is disappointed that the lovely snow is almost gone - he mooches round to try to find a tiny pile of snow big enough to have a last roll over in - sweet boy! Now its getting a bit warmer they have re-discovered the stream - then the mud...

Well tis all for now - promise to post some photos as things move on...

Curling, Coasting & The Flight of the Silver Dart

Well hellllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooooo - long time no post... but I've been dead busy - visiting the folks back in old Blighty, which was fab. But I was blamed for bringing the snow with me as Heathrow & Gatwick came to a complete standstill with the worst snow in 18 years - so, I'm very sorry about that! - Invest in a snow plough or 2!

Visited Hampton Court Palace & got me bag of treasures from the Tudor kitchens locked in the loos, just before closing - oops, but they were very kind & opened them up again for me. So my HenryVIII chocolate & mulled wine spice & recipes for rose petals were recovered... (nice codpiece Harry!)

Journey out was no problem. Journey back - dreadful - starting with an excess baggage fee of an exorbitant £168! (Just for a zillion Ty-phoo tea bags & a few 'cartons' of curly wurlys & Cadbury's caramel bars!) The agent said it was because I booked my tickets separately from Air Canada tickets therefore the 'local' baggage allowance was applicable - WHAT THE... its all the same flight if I booked it with BMI or Air Canada. Needless to say a letter of complaint is winging its way to the chairman of AC.

Then a delay of an hour and a half leaving Heathrow - nope there was no snow that day - but a bloke deep in his cups sitting a row/seat behind me... stinking he was. Should have been carted off at first sniff of him - but no... the softly, softly approach was taken... lets ask him what he's had... then half an hour later lets ask him how much he's had... then half an hour later lets breathalyse him... then a few minutes later, oh sod it lets just get going - so the p1ss artist stayed where he was - needless to say the poor woman sitting next to him demanded to be moved I can't blame her - he pharphed all the way back across the Atlantic. & so arriving an hour & a half late - I missed my connection (argggggggggggggg). But I still had the strange notion that I had to rush through customs - so I dashed through the gates trying to get to the front of the customs queue & there he was bright as a button 20 people in front of me! How the hell did he get there - farty pants had pharped his way to the front of that queue - people were probably standing aside trying to avoid the green cloud coming their way.

Never mind - it was shortly my turn - I just hoped the resident sniffer dog didn't mind the overpowering aroma of... chocolate emanating from my bags! Phew I was OK... Then the stern customs officer - 'Can I see your Landed Immigrant Card please...' 'My what...?' ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! Yes my new status also came with a responsibility - that when re-entering my newly adopted country I had to flash this status card - or else... Well it was or else... So I was sent, hanging head in shame, to another queue - Immigration - which as anyone knows who has emigrated - is not a fast queue. All hope of getting on the next plane had now dimmed. Anyway - cut a long story (of a very long day) short I missed my 3.30pm flight & was put on the 10.30pm flight - which was 40 mins late.My mobile phone battery was running low as was my phone credit - needed to call 'His Lordship' to confirm I was actually on that last flight out. We landed home at the Lodge at 2am a full 24hours after leaving my B&B in London - exhausted. Ian was pleased to see me of course(!) but Bob Jones was SOOOOOO excited to see me - it sounded like he was crying & his tail nearly wagged itself off!

Brill. Erik the Viking appeared pleased too - but whether that was cos 'mommy was home' or cos Bob Jones was happy - who knows. Took me 4 days to recover from my ordeal...

But on to more exciting things than International Travel: Curling... a bit like bowls on ice - remember the Scottish had a team in the Olympics that did really well. So we had an incling what it was about. Ian has taken to it like a fish to water - me - panic attack just standing on the ice! DOH! Probably cos the coach taped Duct tape to one shoe to help you slide - I couldn't stand, never mind slide! So I gracefully conceded defeat & sat at the edge - brrrrr it was chilly! But our kindly neighbour Stewart, (81) took me in hand & removed the Duct tape & got me walking on the ice in my trainers - just as good - & using a stick to punt the 'stones' down the rink. It was brill - everyone was so kind & helpful & they were pleased that new people were joining the club - so we will go every Weds morning until the end of the season-(March) & start again in October. I was quite invigorated after 2 hours on the ice - I came home & cleaned the house with energy to spare - neat hey??

Today (22nd Feb) there was a demo of the flight of the Silver Dart see http://www.flightofthesilverdart.ca/ for more details. Basically the first flight of the British Empire took place in Baddeck 100 years ago with the great Alexander Graham Bell behind the original funding/planning/ inventions - he lived the latter part of his life here on the Island of Cape Breton...So we all trundled off to the iced over bay of Baddeck & waited to view this replica test flight - it was great. (Even the walk on the iced over bay was exciting for us). It did manage to take off (piloted by an astronaut!) - but when we saw it only for a few minutes & a few feet... then it went to turn round on the ice & the front wheel buckled! So off the ice we trundled looking for somewhere to get a hot breakfast. We found out later that it was repaired & had several more successful flights that afternoon.

There is an 'official' flight - in front of the Governor General of Canada tomorrow morning with all sorts of dignitaries & MPs & VIPs & formal ceremony to take place - but... there is a storm coming!! So it may not happen... they will have to go to plan B - but no one knows what that is yet... All we know is that there should be fireworks at 9pm, one of which is the mother of all fireworks at a cost of £400! Yahoo - my kinda firework!

Also today we went 'coasting' (Sledging for you Brits - again - keep up at the back...!)

Ian has been very industrious - making Mukluks

(long moccasins for you Brits! Made for walking in light snow).

He's made his own moccasins too (as Erik ate his slippers!!oops!)He's now in the process of ruining my new sewing machine to make a snow suit - so he can sit around in the snow waiting for interesting animals to pass by... talking of which we believe there are bob-cats lurking on the meadow & there is talk of a mountain lion here -officially they say there are non on Cape Breton but there are increasing reports of sightings - fabulous creatures.
Mr Beaver is active - we can see that - but still haven't seen him! & 'Kylie & Wile E Coyote' are tormenting Bob Jones nightly with their howls. One morning Bob was barking, demented, Ian, dashingly dressed in long johns & his dressing gown, opened the door thinking he just wanted a pee, but he (Bob!) was off down the meadow! He did come back eventually - poor lad.

I just hope he doesn't 'fall in lurve' with Kylie - I don't want any coy-dogs dumped on my doorstep - though they would be sooooo cute...>>>>>>>>>>>>

Well enough for now.

TTFN - eh!