Small Package, Huge Personality

Longtime followers of this blog may remember Ginger, aka Ginger Snap, a wee pomeranian who was the companion to the late mother of Deb Strong (Cat and Mouse Designs), until Deb's mom had to be moved to a care facility.  From then, Deb and her sister jointly cared for Ginger, with Ginger spending time at Deb's on the mainland, and at Deb's sister's place on the island.  Ginger quite happily moved back and forth between the two, according to which person was available to be her personal slave and which was travelling or caught up with other tasks. 

Little Ginger Snap passed away this week.  She had a good, long life - no, a GREAT long life, and she died as she lived - on her own terms, in her own way,  with Deb by her side.  One day she was going for walks and being her cheeky self, and the next she was gone. 

Ginger grabbed my heart from the moment I met her.  She came to the farm one day, when I was still living in Mission, and used her charm  and her energy to run circles around the other guests at the Garden Pawty - the first of several get togethers involving Deb, Sharon, Ellen, myself and our canine companions. She charmed us all.  She bossed us all around.  She quivered with excitement and she chattered away in a nonstop stream of little squeeks that clearly said "Feed me. Now!  Pay attention to me. Now!  Give me that cookie. Now!".  She was a hoot - I was constantly smiling when Ginger Snap was on the scene.

And now, I am betting, she is commanding plenty of attention at the Rainbow Bridge.  And all the angels are smiling.

Run free, Ginger Snap.  You will be very much missed.  My heartfelt condolences to Deb and family. 

Curious Cats and Bountiful Back Lanes

It is a perfect morning for a walk. The sun warms the earth from a blue sky dotted with light wisps of cloud. A gentle breeze washes my face. I am exploring Crofton's back lanes, hunting for photos to complement a column my friend Liz has prepared for the next edition of the Chemainus Courier. (Though our column, The Crofton Connection, is a joint endeavor, one of us often writes the bulk of it while the other edits and makes suggestions. Last month I wrote about Osborne Bay Park; this month Liz is writing about back lanes, gardens, and a couple who have embraced the simple life).

The dogs, too, enjoy our morning exploration of the back lanes of Crofton. I walk each dog separately – they have different paces and distances, and it gives me one-on-one time with each as well as a hand free for operating the camera or feasting on the plump blackberries that decorate the lanes.

There are berry pickers everywhere – a dad with his children here, a senior citizen there, a tourist from the motel in the next block. I am beginning to feel guilty for having the municipality clear out the blackberries in my own back lane last year (an act which very much upset Liz, but at least made it possible to access the tools between the back of my shed and my fence once again). I will compromise, trimming them back each year so they don’t entrap my property but leaving some for beauty and berries.

Blackberries, schmackberries - Ah think they should plant some cookie bushes here!

I have been walking these lanes each day for the past two weeks now, and each day spot something new – today it is bunches of grapes amidst apple branches draped over weathered old fence.

Grapes and apples cascade over a backyard fence

Then I spot these – I have no idea what they are, but they create beauty in what was once drab.

I turn to see a cat following Pepper and I down the lane, young and fearless and curious about these intruders.

And shortly after, across an empty lot, another cat watches us silently from beneath a fruit tree.

I am unsure what type of tree this is - perhaps a sour cherry, perhaps an unripe plum? The fruit is cherry size and at the moment, rock hard, with colours varying from yellow to red to purple.

The cat darts off, taking cover under a boat stashed against the side of a building  on which blackberries climb.

There are many cats in Crofton's back lanes - often shy, sometimes not. As I watch the timid one dash behind the boat, I smile remembering one from another back lane the previous evening. He was perched atop an arch over a backyard gate when I walked the first dog, and still there when I walked the second - watching me, watching the dog, watching the camera.

I spy a particularly lush patch of berries hidden deep within what looks like fennel, the berries so plump, so juicy, so ripe that they fall into my hand and leave my fingers stained with red. I fill the jar I carry in my waist pack – it holds one cereal-bowlful, just a perfect amount for one person for one day. The licorice smell of the fennel, a delightful vegetable to which I have just recently been introduced by a woman in my neighbourhood, tickles my nose and tantalizes my tastebuds.

We stop to watch the boats moving in and out of the marina, sun turning ocean to brilliant light.

The morning is growing late, and I have a theatre shift this afternoon and two more dogs to walk. I head back home, for a breakfast of fresh blackberries and vanilla greek style yoghurt , thankful to live in such a beautiful place, thankful for small town back lanes and curious cats.

Fresh blackberries and yoghurt on the patio

What's in your back lane?

What kind of person.....

chooses to put this sticker on their car?

The vehicle was sitting near our ferry terminal for a couple of days this week.  Perhaps it belongs to the parents of this boy I saw at the beach a few weeks ago......

The target he was stalking and then pretended to shoot? This:

The parents' reaction? "Good job, son!"

How sad.  How very sad.  What a lost opportunity  for a parent to teach a child to appreciate the beauty in nature instead of its slaughter.  What a lost opportunity for a parent to help change the world. 

Fundraiser Friday

(The second Friday of each month is my personal "Fundraiser Friday". I encourage you to select one day a month for your own "Fundraiser Friday" - or Monday or Tuesday or whatever day you please. You can read more about it here)

In a nation where everyone always seems to be busy and where there are always so many things on which to spend one's money, raising money for animals or donating to animal rescues sometimes takes a back seat. Unless you are personally involved in rescue and personally responsible for the bills,  expenses like animal rescue medical needs are pretty easy to ignore...or at least to put off until "tomorrow".

Most, though not all, of the readers of this blog are here because they like animals. And chances are, most, though not all, of my readers support animal rescues/shelters in some small or big way. And we all have our limits. I know financially I cannot do more than I do, and physically I have to make choices about what I can or cannot manage. I also make choices about what I will do, even when it is something within my capabilities and not in conflict with anything else on my calendar. I'm very protective of keeping balance in my life.

But one thing that only takes a moment and doesn't cost any money is to help spread the word - to spread the word about animal fundraisers, to spread the word about the availability of animals in rescues, to spread the word about ways others may help those who are already helping the animals. Rarely does a week go by that I don't find myself in conversation with someone who has no idea there are homeless dogs in places other than the SPCA, who has never heard of dog or cat rescue organizations or pig sanctuaries, who has no awareness that some homeless animals are being euthanized for no other reason than too many animals and too few adopters.

So if you have time for nothing else today, if you have no spare money this week to donate, if your calendar is already full for the month, take just one moment to share with your friends, your family, the kids next door, the six hundred thirty-two anonymous faces on your Facebook page (you know the ones - you don't have a clue who they are but they are a friend of a friend of a friend and so you clicked yes to their request to 'friend' you). Forward a link to this blog if you wish, or the link of  any of the organizations I so often mention here.

Neighbourhood kids getting bored with summer holidays? Last weekend Broken Promises Rescue in Victoria held a car wash. I was only able to help for a couple of hours, but in the six hours they were operating, a handful of volunteers raised over $700 towards the much-needed surgery of two of their latest rescues. Could the kids in your neighbourhood do that? Could they help pay for Buddy or Blackie's surgeries?  Could they raise a hundred dollars washing the neighbourhood cars? Will you ask them?

Know someone with some handy skills like carpentry or electrical or landscaping? Or the owner of a company that offers those services? Can you talk them into donating a day or two, or a bunch of materials, to help out a sanctuary like Hearts on Noses? What about your favourite produce place?  Would they give a case of apples or two to the pigs, or to a horse or pig rescue near you?  Could you, or a neighbour, or that teenager who just got her license and will accept any excuse to drive the car, pick it up and take it to the rescue?

Employed with an organization that has heart? What about suggesting to your boss that the organization take on a project, donate a day's work, or fundraise for your favourite shelter, sanctuary or rescue? Or get them to sponsor you and your co-workers on this year's BC SPCA Paws for a Cause walk!

Like me, I'm sure you sometimes wish you had the time, the energy, the money, the skills, to make the sort of difference that the dedicated directors and volunteers at places like Broken Promises Rescue, Hearts on Noses, Cowichan and District SPCA, Delta Community Animal Shelter, Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue and countless others make every day. But if we all pitch in just a little, if we all find some way to help just for a little while just one day a month, we could make a difference.

The need is endless. But the rewards are many. And all it takes is a moment of your time. One of the people you email or facebook or speak to today may be one who will also make a difference to an animal in need. It takes a community to help an animal in need. It takes a whole world to bring about real, permanent change. No matter where you live, no matter how little time or money you have, you can make a difference.

Without people like you, the animals would not be safe. Without people like you, a lovely old dog like Pepper would have had nowhere to go because shelters and sanctuaries would not exist, and the need for fostering would not be known, and vet bills could not be paid. Without people like you, and your friends and coworkers and each individual who responds to your request today, many more would die in pain, hunger and misery.

Pepper says thank you for spreading the word.

Ah sure hope people help.  Ah wouldn't have this little patch of sun without the SPCA
and mah foster mama!  Thank you fer spreading the word! Luvs, Pepper.

The Photogenic Dog and other subjects

Pepper, the new kid on the blog, is hogging all the attention around here. Not because she is obnoxious - she's not - but simply because she is so much fun to photograph. It took her about a day to get used to the black box in front of my face, and now she just ignores me as I snap picture after picture. Of course, the photos must be taken on HER terms - where ever she wants to be, when ever she wants to be there. No posing for this girl - ya gotta take her as she comes. But that's not hard to accept:

And a few other favourite shutter clicks from today:

Charley

Geraniums on the patio

Sweet pea from hanging basket

Sadie

Oh, and one last one - especially for my big sister who will be insanely jealous (heheheheh) - a photo of my harvest from the back lanes of Crofton during my walk with the dogs this morning:

Blackberries! Yum!

Magic Moment

Whenever I adopt or foster a new dog, there is always a moment in time that makes my heart sing. It is the moment when he or she first acts excited to see me when I walk in the door after a few hours away.

Now some dogs will do this from the very first day.  And some dogs will do it no matter who walks in the door.  But some dogs are much more reserved, or sad, or scared, or simply upset at having their world turn upside down. 

Sadie was one such dog.  It took her a very long time to get over the loss of her family.  For the ten days that Pepper has been with me, she has been an easy dog to care for but a sad dog - her tail often tucked between her legs or at least downward pointing.  And while she has a smiley face, especially when there is food around, her face forgets to tell the rest of her body to smile.  Only a very feeble wag in the morning showed me that she was okay with living here.

Until today.  Today I had a shift at the theatre which took me out of the house for over five hours by the time I added in travel and 'searching for parking in Chemainus on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of summer' time onto the four hour shift.  That's the longest I've ever left her. We've worked up to it gradually, but still it was a long afternoon for her.

Pepper was confined to the mudroom (immediately off the back porch) while I was out, and my own dogs to the middle part of the house.  So Pepper is the first one to see me when I walk into the house. 

Well!  To say she was a happy dog is an understatement.  I got straight-up-in-the-air-clear-the-coffee-table tail wags.  I got leap-up-and-give-sloppy-kisses greetings.  I got zoomies and playbows and even the coveted wiggle-butts!!  And, of course, I got smiles.  Miles and miles of happy dog smiles. 

That moment of recognition, of being glad to see you, of letting the grin on the face reach the tip of the tail, that's what makes fostering an old dog worth every moment of worry, every puddle that needs to be mopped up, every adjustment of household routines, every extra trip outside in the middle of the night. 

That's the magic moment.

Dogs, cats, birds, boats, flowers and fawns and beaches.

Okay, that about covers it - I have a bunch of miscellaneous photos, nothing terribly wonderful, but still worth sharing this Friday evening.

First, the island is full of deer (the bane of many gardeners) and their babies. When my daughter was here, a mama doe and her twins walked in front of our car right in town. By the time we fumbled to get our cameras out, they had moved to a vacant lot, but still visible. Mama doe is hidden in the grasses to the left of the fawns.

Sadly, a few days later, my sister saw a fawn dead by the side of the road at pretty much the same spot. And the next day, I saw mama doe and one fawn in the same location, so I think it is all the same family. People travel the roads much too fast around here for the number of deer - rarely does a day go by without seeing a deer, and rarely a week without seeing a dead one.

On a happier note, a few more photos from my afternoon at Karen's - some of her other dogs. (Hey, Turtle Gardens folks - if you are coming to the reunion Aug 27 and need a place to tent or park your RV, Karen has offered her property which, as you can see, is beautiful, and you can meet allllllll Karen's dogs!)

Amber

Fifa

Kabuki

Quinn and Drew

Ruby

Vimy

And, of course, Dolly and Amy

Play time!

One of my reasons for going over to Karen's was to take some photos of Fifa for her. Fifa has only three legs, and her sole rear leg is not that great. So to make things easier for Fifa, Karen and Norm ordered her a doggy wheelchair. They are still in the process of fitting it correctly, so Karen needed some photos emailed to the experts so the fit could be assessed. Here she is in her wheelchair:

"Next I suppose they'll hitch up a wagon so I can haul stuff around for them"

Charley, Sadie, and the new foster Pepper are all doing quite well. Charley has pretty much fully recovered from whatever caused her problems. Pepper is going to the vet a week from Monday to be checked for Cushings, but other than excessive thirst (like, 5-8 litres of water a day!) and hunger (3 times what my guys eat!) and pee (a river, a lake, no.... an ocean of pee!), she is doing well. She has discovered the ocean and the joys of wading in water:

A few more pictures for our walks around town - in back lanes and beaches, in early mornings and cooler evenings. It's too hot for any daytime wanderings, especially for black furry dogs (which is why there aren't any pics of Charley and Sadie in this post..... at least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'm such a bad mama - photograph everything and everyone except my own furkids!)

Yellow clematis on an old fence

These blue flowers grow EVERYWHERE here!

Cat catching a few rays on the beach

Pepper on the seawalk

Boat in the bay

Nature meets industry

Seagull party

Still waters just after sunrise

Crofton seawalk reflections



Morning sun on flowers