Bath Day

When you have a dog who hates baths – bath day is just one of the evils of life.    Chester hates baths.

A few years ago, I purchased a dog bath from Costco.  You can see it in this blog from 2008 when I first got it.  It is a wonderful bath – gets the dog up to my level, so I don’t have to bend down in a regular tub and has a tie down to keep squirming dogs in the tub.

The only problem is that the sprayer has to be attached onto a tap and the tap in the basement has the aerator stuck on it so I can’t get it off to attach the sprayer.    One time I used the tub in the basement anyway and filled a pail with water (over and over again) and bathed him that way.  That was way too time consuming and I wasn’t sure if I rinsed him well enough underneath.  So, last time I decided to use the tub in the bathroom.  That was exhausting – trying to hold him in the tub with one hand while spraying him and shampooing him with the other.

This time I asked Angela to bring the dog tub upstairs so I could use it in the bathroom.  I planned on putting the back end with the drain into the tub and using the hand held shower there to bath him.  First problem was that it didn’t fit through the door to get it into the bathroom.  It was close, so I decided to remove the legs and see if it would go in that way – and it did!    I then had to put the legs back on while inside this tiny room.  I got that done and put the back end into the tub – done!

It seems that raised the back end so that the water wouldn’t flow out the drain – but I knew I could lift up the front end after we were finished and drain it that way.  Of course with the back end – which is where it is low for the dog to jump in – in the tub, I would have to carry Chester and put him in.  He is only about 50 lbs, so I did that and attached him in there.

The bath was a breeze with him raised and the nice shower head. 

I dried the top 1/2 of him before getting him out of the tub, since he was up nice and high, but because the tub was slanted down in the front, there was a fair amount of water covering his feet and legs so I had to lift him out with very wet feet and legs.  I got those parts dried though and it was a very successful bath. 

I lifted and drained the tub very easily and left it there to dry for awhile.

Later, I went back upstairs to clean up and decided to try to move the tub back out of the room by just removing the legs on one side of it to see if it would fit that way.  It did  so next time its only 2 legs to remove for in and then out of the room.

If you’ve been watching Nkorho on Africam, you will know that the lions left early this morning and the hyaenas, jackals and vultures moved in to clean up the carcass.  It was amazing to watch how they all swooped in at the same time.  Right now there are still vultures on it.  Click here to see all of today’s pictures, that includes the vultures, jackals, hyaenas, lions, hippo, impala, wildebeest and Hadeda Ibis.  Now we have to wait for other critters to start showing up at Nkorho again.

Right now, shortly before Chester and I walk along the Red River, the temperature is -9C with a wind chill of -18C.  It is supposed to get up to zero (0C) by this afternoon.  This is certainly not the normal Christmas time weather we are having this year – but I’m not complaining.

Speaking of Christmas – this is pretty much it.  It is Christmas eve morning now  and it is late afternoon in Africa now.

Best wishes to everyone for a safe and happy/merry/wonderful Christmas from my house to yours. 

I Missed It

Here I was at work – minding my own business, when the Styx pride of lions along with one of the Majingilane male lions went hunting right in front of the camera at Nkorho.  They took down a buffalo and calf, feasted the whole night, went back for a second helping in the morning and generally just lazed around for awhile after that before going back for a third helping. As I am writing this, they are still there.

I got home from work shortly before dawn and I did get to see quite a bit of flat cats lying around – well, flat except for the extended bellies sticking up that is. I also saw them going back for a second helping – with the male insisting that he would eat alone first and only after he was finished could the girls and the kids get more.

The Styx pride has several cubs now and one was quite a bit smaller than the rest.  Everyone watching fell in love with the little one – he/she was absolutely adorable.  Africam watchers remember seeing the Styx pride in 2006 when they took down a buffalo on Christmas eve and spent all day Christmas in front of the cam with us.  We didn’t have the lights from the vehicles that night – so we did not see any of the kill or night time feasting like we did this time.

This pride has not had much luck in raising their babies – so I hope  this year will be the year that all these youngsters are allowed to grow up.  Hopefully with the help of the Maj coalition, this will happen.

Here are some of my pictures, but there are lots more covering both December 22 and December 23 on Africam.

Lions at Nkorho Dec 22 and 23, 2011

Lions at Nkorho Dec 22 and 23, 2011

Lions at Nkorho Dec 22 and 23, 2011

Lions at Nkorho Dec 22 and 23, 2011

Lions at Nkorho Dec 22 and 23, 2011

Lions at Nkorho Dec 22 and 23, 2011

Lions at Nkorho Dec 22 and 23, 2011

Chester had another good day and night.  We will be heading out for our walk very soon.  The temperature is -8C with a wind chill of -16C and is expected to stay around the same temperature all day.

Swans and Lions

I saw swans flying by yesterday when walking Chester.  It was a quick glimpse and since I had no idea swans even came around here, I at first doubted what I knew I saw.    I tried to convince myself that maybe these were Snow Geese, but I know what a goose looks like in flight and these were not geese.  There were 6 of them flying in a V formation.  Since I was not along the river, but in where there were houses and trees and not much space to view them, they were soon out of sight.

I looked swans up on the internet and found out that the Trumpeter Swan nests in Canada.  These guys were likely on their way south as it is getting cool around here now.

Back to the zoo trip on the 10th, I have Lion pictures to show today too.  The Lioness seemed very agitated with someone’s purse and kept clawing at the glass in the viewing spot this time.  The lady finally left when a few people told her to hide the purse or leave.  The male as always, was relaxing.

Lioness Oct 10 Assiniboine Park Zoo

Lioness Oct 10 Assiniboine Park Zoo

Lion Oct 10 Assiniboine Park Zoo

Lioness Oct 10 Assiniboine Park Zoo

Lion Oct 10 Assiniboine Park Zoo

On Africam today we have seen Giraffes, Bushbucks, Guinea Fowls, Impalas, Kudu, Elephants, Woolly-Necked Storks, Waterbuck, Warthog, Vervet Monkey, Zebras, Blacksmith Lapwing, Egyptian Geese, Terrapin, Nyala, Spur-Winged Goose, Grey Heron, Hyaena, and more.  Click here to see today’s pictures.

Chester

Chester is still doing fine – but a couple of days ago he had me pretty upset.  I know its normal behaviour for most dogs, especially sporting dogs though.

He found a nest of baby bunnies in our yard.  I think they were behind a tree against a fence and in one of the spots where I have lots of cut branches piled up.  There is no hope of me getting in there, but Chester must have heard the squeaking of the babies and got in.

He loves squeaky toys and he grabbed one out of the nest.  I found him lying down with it and giving it a poke with his nose to make it squeak.  I tried to get it away from him, but that just triggered him into the play mode a bit more.  We often play in the house with his squeaky toys.  He runs by me with one and I try to grab it out of his mouth.  Of course, I wasn’t about to grab the baby out of his mouth so I tried to grab him – but there is a lot more room in the back yard for him to stay out of my reach and I couldn’t get him.  I finally went in and got a treat and managed to distract him long enough to grab him and drag him inside.  I went out again to get the bunny, but it was dead.

At that point, I had to leave for work.  When I got home I let him out as usual and 10 minutes later it was time to call him in to eat – but he had another baby.  There was no way he was giving it up again and even food didn’t tempt him.  He wasn’t letting me anywhere near him, so I left him, knowing that this baby was doomed too.  It was a full 2 hours before he came in to eat and during that time I know he got at least one more baby and that is when I saw where he was getting it.  I assume that when one stops squeaking, he would go and get another one.  It has been too dark before or after work to look for the dead bunnies to remove them, as I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t eat them.

I hope it was a small litter and there are only 3 out there.

It would have been better for the babies if he actually meant to kill them because then they wouldn’t have suffered for so long – but his intent was just to play with the squeaky toys like he does in the house.  These were just better because they squirmed too.

When I go to Africa I will see animals killing other animals and I know that will upset me also – but it just seems more natural in the wild than it does in my back yard.  I don’t understand why the bunny would have made her nest in a yard where she is always being chased by Chester though.

I have a couple of pictures from yesterday to show.

Early Morning Rower on the Red River

Tree in the Sunrise

On Africam today we have seen Elephants, Grey Heron, Starlings, Spotted Eagle Owl (eggs will begin hatching any day now), Saddle Billed Stork, Vervet Monkeys, Zebras, Waterbucks, Impalas, Cape Buffalo, Hyaenas, Nyalas, Duiker, Guinea Fowl, White-tailed Mongoose, Jackal, Lions and more.  Click here to see today’s pictures.

Facebook Status

For the last several months, I have been writing about the critters I have seen when walking  Chester along the Red River.  Well, there simply haven’t been any critters for the last couple of weeks, so it’s time to find other topics.

Yes, Chester and I will continue to go on our walks, but even if we do find something worth taking a picture of, the chances are that there will not be enough light to get a good pic.  You see – the days are getting shorter here.  This week’s forecast is full of temperatures in the low 30′sC during the day, but dropping to the low teens during the night.

My topic today is facebook status.  I seldom put a status on facebook anymore.  I used to post when I was going to work or walking the dog or whatever.  The one thing I never do is re post other people’s status.  There are so many people who do that on a regular basis it surprises me.

I have no idea who actually writes these statuses – but they always say “re post if you support this or feel this way” and might say “I’ll be watching to see if your values are like my values”.  It might say 90% of people will not re post – do you have the courage to be one of the 10%.  So, a lot of people will re post.  Sometimes they just want you to re post it as your status for one hour.

Its the generic one – if you know someone that something might happen to or something might have happened to, please re post – or if you love someone or loved someone or miss someone – those are the ones that annoy me.

Most of these status re posts will show up approximately every 3 months or so.  I just think that one particular one has gone for good when I haven’t seen it for a few weeks, and suddenly, its back again and will be re posted by pretty much the same people again.

If someone is facing a particular crisis or problem or health issue, I am more than willing to offer support, good thoughts and prayers.

Now, you’ve had my rant for the day – its been awhile since I’ve had a rant here.    If you agree – please don’t re post it.

Chester had another good day and night – it has now been 2 weeks since his last seizure.

I still haven’t heard about the job, but can guess from the amount of time since I was supposed to hear – that I did not get it.  So – I stay where I am.

On Africam today, we have seen Lions, Rhino, Elephant, Nyala, Wildebeest, Duiker, Warthogs, African Fish Eagle, Jackals, Pied Crow, Zebras, Waterbuck, Impalas, Saddle-billed Stork, Reedbuck and more.  Click here to see today’s pictures.

Lions

This morning it was 18C with 100% humidity when Chester and I walked along the Red River.   Whew!  I haven’t had the air conditioner on for days, but this morning I turned it on.  That much humidity is just a bit too high for my liking.

Chester had another good day and night. 

I didn’t hear about the job yesterday.  I have no idea what is happening, but assume that means someone else was chosen.

Africam had an amazing visit by lions last night (this morning in Africa) at Nkorho.  There were 2 adult females and 3 young ones.  They had obviously had a good feed and were very thirsty.  After a long drink, they lay down and posed for us.    The same lions had been there the night before, but that time they just had a drink and moved on.  Of course there were a lot more sightings between the 3 cameras, so by checking out today’s pictures, you will also see Reedbuck, Rhinos, Elephants, Nyalas, Waterbuck, Vervet Monkeys, African Crowned Eagles, Black Backed Jackal, Helmeted Guinea Fowl, Waterbuck, Southern Ground Hornbills, Brown Hooded Kingfisher, Bushbuck and more.  Click here to see today’s pictures.

I’ll show you a couple of the lion pictures.

Lions at Nkorho Aug 31

Just look at those full bellies!  These girls and the young are the KNP Pride.

Lions at Nkorho Aug 31

Chester

It was 17C when Chester and I walked along the Red River this morning.  It had been raining overnight and it was like a heavy mist was still around.  It is supposed to get up to 28C by afternoon, but the next several days are in the low 20′s range.  Tomorrow is September!  Where did the summer go?

Chester had another good day and night!    Right now he keeps interrupting me with his toy and I am more than willing to stop and play with him.  I took some pictures of him with it this morning, but once I got the camera out he was more interested in it than in the toy.  I did manage to get a couple that weren’t too bad though.

Chester

Chester

This is a squeaky toy, and he really does love the squeaks.  Added to that it is a soft toy too.  This one had a fairly solid plastic part around the middle, but it was quickly chewed and partly eaten so he could have just the soft toy.  Plastic is meant to be chewed as far as he is concerned but he is very gentle with the soft toys.

On Africam today, we have seen lions, cheetah, elephants, warthogs, wildebeest, waterbuck, impalas  and more.  Click here to see today’s pictures.

Chester and other Stuff

Chester was fine for the rest of yesterday and overnight and throughout the morning today.  I have to admit that every time he moves, I’m watching him though.  That will settle down once he’s gone a few days without any more seizures, but we really have to get past the next few days.   Each episode has been a little worse, so Dr. McKay has given me a couple of tips to bring him out of one, if he seems to have problems coming back.

Other than a couple of appointments and getting groceries and things, I will be home with him most of the time until Sunday when I have to go back to work.

Today, I met with my new financial adviser Sarah, to see if she can come up with a plan to make my trip to Africa a reality – along with the normal retirement planning, etc.  I will meet with her again in a couple of weeks to see what she can come up with.

I have to plan for long term medical costs for Chester now too.  He will have to go in for regular blood tests and have the medication twice daily for the rest of his life.

Of course part of the plan depends on what happens after tomorrow, when I have an interview for a one year promotion at the Y.  If I get the job, there will be more money to plan with and if I don’t get the job, things will continue the way they are with me barely making ends meet.   I hate interviews, but I am excited about having a new challenge if I am successful in obtaining the position.

You may remember my orange tree story when I moved and re-potted my orange tree back in May this year.  If interested, you can find it here.  Well, today I found that one (and I think its the only one) orange is still looking healthy and growing on my tree.   It is about the size of my thumbnail – which is still pretty small, but it will be exciting if it actually grows large enough to eat.  Other than watering, I am not touching that tree for some time.

Orange Aug 25

A couple of days ago, Josh and Jamie (my next door neighbours) put up a fence where the old house next door used to be.  They matched it perfectly with my fence (actually did it much better)!  Now Chester can no longer get out of the yard when he is in the after affects of his seizures, but I am still staying outside with him most of the time he is out in the yard now.

the new fence

Chester today

He looks nice and healthy.  As always, the tail is going even when he actually stops moving.

On Africam today, we have seen Lions, Elephants, Rhinos, Cape Buffalo, Nyalas, Impalas, Giraffe, Warthogs, Bushbuck, Waterbuck, Wildebeest and much more.  This list includes 4 of the big 5 from Africa – just by sitting in my livingroom    Click here to see today’s pictures.

Heat Wave Continues

At 7am, when Chester and I walked along the Red River this morning, the temperature was 23C and with the humidity it feels like 29C.  That translates to 84.2F.  They are saying 37C this afternoon which is 98.6F – wow!

When it gets this hot, everyone is running their air conditioners and/or fans and there is always the danger of hydro going off due to overload.

There were ducks all over the place today, but I limited my pictures of them a bit.  The duck population on this part of the Red River has had a population explosion with several successful families this year. 

The beavers seem to be expanding their lodge already too and managed to put one of the main beams in place last night.

Young Mallard July 19

I wonder when the young male Mallards start to show some adult markings.

Young male Wood Ducks July 19

Beaver Lodge - main beam for expansion

I think it took a fair amount of beaver power to get that log up there.

Since we were a little later walking today, I was thinking the beavers had all gone to bed, but as we were walking away, one was swimming towards home – guess he went out drinking with the boys after all that hard work.

Beaver July 19

On Africam today we have seen lions, a serval (rare),  hippo, warthogs, nyalas, impalas, wooly-necked storks, skinks, vervet monkeys and more.  Click here to see today’s pictures.

More of This and That

It was 17C when Chester and I headed towards the Red River for our walk this morning.  The sun was shining and there was little (if any) wind.  The moon was up in the sky, there were rowers on the river, there were lots of ducks and even a couple of beavers.  So – I got quite a few pictures and came back home, even though I could have stayed out there much longer.  Chester didn’t like all the standing around while I was taking pictures, since he was seeing bunnies everywhere he looked and was much more interested in the idea of chasing them.

The Moon Jul 18

Big Tree July 18

The river is finally going down again – its good to see the ground around the tree.

Rower at my scenic spot

The funny thing is that when I looked at this picture, I wondered if this is someone I know.  I’ll have to find out if she was on the river this morning.

Ducks July 18

Wood Duck July 18 - a young male

Wood Ducks July 18 - 2 young males and a young female

Wood Duck July 18 - another young male

Wood Ducks July 18

Beaver July 18

None of the pictures of this beaver are fully in focus because of all the leaves and branches in the way – but he is there!

Beaver July 18

Beaver July 18

Then I found the other beaver swimming. 

Beaver July 18

Beaver July 18

We saw lions early this morning at Nkorho on Africam!     Click here to see the lion pictures, plus the rest of the critters who visited today.