City meets country today

Thursday saw an improving weather pattern but only short term. The city beckoned - Lori needed a progesterone test, the pantry was calling out to Costco and a number of errands had to be done. Lee set off in that direction while Ken and Tom moved into the living room flooring project in earnest. Kelsey was here to hold the fort for the dogs and to support Queen Patti in her benevolent dictatorship.
The men accomplished an incredible amount on the living room floor and except for the new tiles for the fireplace and some work on trim, it is almost complete. This project may actually be finished in my lifetime!
All was well in the world of the dogs - better in fact than in Chantelle's world where the crisis of the day was the fly that would not leave her car. Dawn and Jimmy came for dinner last night and Jimmy was her of the day - we now call him the fly slayer. It was a cool July evening so we had prime rib with broccoli salad and new potatoes and Eton Mess - a perennial favourite.
The house dogs are in fine fettle these cool overcast days. They play under Patti's critical eye, Atlas invents games with a common theme - there must be a chase at the end - and Lola trails along behind him learning with unguarded approval everything he does. Old Sophie is happy with the weather and plays her solitary soccer game in great bursts of activity followed by long sleeps on the deck. Charlotte has decided that 'tis the season to be free, and will go to any length to simply not be enclosed. She crawls through closed crates if the bottom isn't locked, opens every gate in the yards when the whim hits her and feels the only acceptable space is either loose in the house or loose in the big yard. Anything more limiting requires her immediate attention - she had to have been a safe cracker in her last life. Chantelle walks around muttering about Charlotte's behaviour and spending a lifetime chasing 'that dog' but fortunately laughs as she tells the tales of putting Charlotte in a pen only to find her walking behind her when she walks away. Life with Airedales is never dull.
Old Seven is doing well and takes boarding in her stride. She will leave us tomorrow but has managed to keep herself amused through this visit. Uncritical and appreciative of anything you do for her, she is a great old girl who will bring her new home a lot of joy, we suspect. KC is settling in nicely and has lost a bit of weight through the exercise he got with Apollo. Apollo and Shooz left yesterday morning at 5:30. Ken and Lee got them organized and Ken drove them to the airport before dawn for a Westjet flight to the West Coast. The West Jet contract company (ELS) is great to deal with and the fellow who checked them in said with enthusiasm that he remembered Apollo who had flown with them before - must be the beard, we reckon.
Tomorrow is a busy intake day - 2 Airedales, Roddi and Ruari, Hershey and Kelsee all arrive. It will be Old Home Week in the kennel with that combination and the two new Airedales will be treated to a party.
Lee leaves for Newfoundland tomorrow so Ken and Chantelle are planning meals - they seem to have a commonality that involves take-out.

Oh Canada

July 1 brought Canada's birthday and a party to Regalridge. Working through the day and into the early evening, we managed to make it to the city for the end of day festivities celebrating Canada Day. Boarding the boat at dinnertime, we cruised to one of the inner islands, had a great meal finished by strawberry shortcake with berries from Ken's garden and then motored into the harbour for a birds' eye view of the fireworks. It was foggy as we left the dock and the low cloud led us to believe that the fireworks were less than probable. However, as we finished a rousing game of Hearts and looked out the porthole, the fog dispersed and the cloud cover seemed a bit less menacing. Sure enough, a half hour later we were treated to a great display that lit the Halifax skyline. It is never more impressive than when on a boat in the harbour. We motored back and were home before midnight.
The early part of the day saw preparations made to say good bye to Apollo and Shooz. Chantelle gave Apollo a haircut, an interesting process following the owners' dictates and adding a bit of poetic license. Let's just say that the show rings would be a whole lot more interesting if Chantelle had Standard Poodles. . . We suspect that Apollo will be happy to see his children in British Columbia but that he will miss his big exercise yard here at Regalridge and that he will particularly miss his pals. He is a very social fellow and loved company. Somehow, I suspect the old cat simply won't measure up. The new boarder, Seven, has settled in nicely. She is an old Am Staff and a great dog. KC is happily playing with any Airedale we offer and enjoys being back at Regalridge. His haircut is settling in and a trim is almost in order. Speaking with his owner, Allan, he will be with us until mid-July at least and that will suit KC just fine.
We worried about the house dogs last night. The neighborhood occasionally adds a few fireworks to the Canada Day festivities and some of the dogs hate them. Thankfully, all was well and the combination of CBC and CNN (gotta love those letters) kept the dogs happy.
Ken gardened through the day, is finishing his flowers, weeding beds at a furious pace and finalizing the vegetable planting. Now that the strawberries are picked, we look forward to raspberries in the next couple of weeks.

The Provincial Tour continues

Monday and Tuesday were spent on Nova Scotia's scenic north shore and the comparisons to the Annapolis Valley were inevitable. The road to Tatamagouche is certainly more rural than our 100 series highways. The history of the Province is remarkable as you drive through villages still supporting general stores for the use of families employed in the logging and farming businesses. Homes range from currently in a building stage to more than 200 years old, from farms to cottages. It is a lovely drive.
Lobster roll and milkshake in hand, we found Shelagh in the dining room of the Lodge. That was a first for us and we were pleased to see her continued integration in the facility. Tuesday saw us back with Shelagh bright and early for her speech therapy. Inez, her wonderful volunteer, was with us to work with the therapist so that she, too, would be able to support the learning process. Again, Shelagh made significant progress and we are confident that as we raise more funds to be able to bring the therapist as often as is possible, even more gains will be made. It is terribly frustrating for Shelagh that she is unable to communicate, so speech is a gift that will be her lifeline.
Overnight, Ken and Lee stayed with brother Reg at his cottage in Malagash, a community a few kilometres from the nursing home. It was a great opportunity to visit with Reg, his daughter and son-in-law and to relax on the shore.
Chantelle's big news was the acquisition of a new car on Tuesday. Turning in her little Chrysler, she has opted this time for a GM - with every bell and whistle. It is a lovely vehicle and was christened with Ken's driving us for ice cream last night after the kennel closed - summer has finally arrived and the car performed perfectly!
All is well with the dogs. Ben departed and Apollo and KC will miss their third musketeer. Seven arrived and has settled in nicely. She is a lucky dog - one who was taken to the SPCA with a rope around her neck then adopted by a good family who agreed that an old dog deserved more dignity than to end her life in such an ignominious way. She greets us as we go through the kennel and didn't miss a beat as she came for boarding.
The young dogs are delighting in the June weather - and they may be the only ones on the property to be quite so impressed by fog, humidity and clouds. Atlas has a great game going of grab the extreme end of the big rope toy that came with us from Virginia and swing it so that it connects with his nearest potential playmate. Doing this often enough is sure to get a great game going - a game that is if it is a youngster that he belts and a discipline session (that he still considers a game) if he happens to target one of his older friends.
Apollo and Shooz are packing. They leave Thursday morning before the sun comes up. They are such a big part of the property at this stage that it will be odd not to have them with us.
Today is Canada Day so we are organizing to enjoy our great country's birthday.