5C's Que Pasa

Actually Colin’s day started at 4:00AM ( and he only went to bed at 1:00AM ), my day started at 4:30AM.  One of the girls woke me and I got up when I realized that Colin was not in bed.  Nor was he in the bathroom or in the house.  Did he have an early morning shoot that I had forgotten?  No, his car is still there.  But where is he?  I was becoming a bit concerned.  Suddenly he came in from outside.  “There is a dog in our yard” he explained as he grabbed a towel.  I looked out and then I saw it.  It seems that a constant yip of a bark had woke Colin up. I never heard it.  The dog would not come to him and seemed stressed.

While he continued to try and catch the dog, I called security.  Apparently a dog was reported missing at 9:00PM last night. Just about then Colin brought the dog inside.

Poor Colin had been outside for close to 45 minutes trying to catch the dog. As you can see he wasn't wearing many clothes.

At this time of the morning it was 4C/40F and if this was the same dog, it had been out in the cold for close to 8 hours.  It was wet and shivering.  How did this animal get into our yard?  We have really secured our area and our dogs can’t get out.  The only thing we could think of, is that this little one came along the beach and rocks.  I called security again and found out that it was likely the missing dog and that the owners were on their way over.  He said that the dog was called Emma.  She did not respond to me calling her Emma.

She was a bundle of wet fur and cold to her core. I wrapped her in a blanket and held her close to try and share my body heat. We turned on the furnace and the fireplace. Emma would not stop shivering. Then she started to pant. I was becoming worried.

Finally a car pulled up.  This is a very large RV Resort with over 1000 people living here and the owners live at the other end of the park.  When we opened the door I expected the dog to jump with joy but instead there was no reaction other than the violent shivering and continued panting.  Something was not right.

It turns out that Emma belongs to this woman's brother and sister in law. Sadly the brother recently passed away on Christmas Day and the sister in law just had eye surgery yesterday. This lady, Marie, was looking after Emma for a while.

It was a very emotional moment.  Emma’s human Mom is almost blind and since her husband’s passing, Emma is the only thing keeping her going.  Marie and her husband searched until 2:00AM looking for the dog.  You can just image their anxiety.  Is seems that she somehow slipped out of her harness and took off.  Poor thing, she is lucky to be alive, we do have coyotes nearby.  What a nightmare the last 8 hours must have been for her.  Fortunately Colin heard her cries and rescued her.  I imagine that she was crying as she was trapped inside of our yard.

A happy ending.

So now it was closer to 5:30AM and no way were we going to be able to get back to sleep.  Colin had a coffee and started to work on some quotes for clients.  I put on a pot of decaf, which I allow myself once a week, on a Sunday, but today was a special occasion.

Colin suddenly said....look there is the beaver! He grabbed my camera.

Not a bad shot for being taken through a window.

We were rewarded by Mother Nature.  So great seeing the beaver, only our second sighting this year.  I sat with a book while Colin worked.  The sun came up and bathed our home with it’s warmth.  An unexpected bonus to the day.

One by one our girls got up and came to say good morning. We were amazed at how good they were while we had Emma inside, not a peep nor a bark.

If they aren't sitting with us, they are in the sun.

Our girls got a lot of love and attention today.

Another busy day for us…..looks like Colin will be doing 2 days of aerial photography in Vancouver next week, including a few aerials over in Nanaimo.

I'm pretty confident that this is our last storm for a while.

This was a double, almost triple rainbow more visible to the naked eye than the camera.

My day is coming to a close but Colin is out there doing some photography for a few more hours.  Then he is up at the crack of dawn to do some more.

With a forecast like this, for the first time since we got back from Mexico, we are going to be busy.

I’ve been quite busy the last few days, lots of phone calls, much research and many decisions to make.  My Dad, who is still in hospital, has been calling quite often and many of these things seem to take longer than anticipated.  All leaving no time to post.  We have had nothing but wind and rain and more rain.  No need to water our plants, everything is wet.  Our landscaper never even showed up today to cut the grass.  We are supposed to get another thundershower tonight but it looks like the clouds are drifting away.  Fingers crossed that the sun will soon be shining for our visitors.  There may be a conflict when they do arrive, as Colin has jobs requiring sun and he had deadlines to meet.  Hopefully everything will come together in a timely manner and we both will be able to spend a full two days with our Mexican friends once they arrive.

I liked the water pattern in this photo.

The rain let up long enough for this family to have a quality paddle...in different directions.

A real gaggle of babies.

These two families are always together.

First thing this morning I noticed that my desk chair was dragging along the floor and had actually made a tiny hole in the hardwood. Many phone calls later we found a place in town that would repair my chair and give me a loaner in the meantime.

We took both vehicles as we each had business to do in different parts of town for the rest of the day.  First we took the chair inside where the fellow made a comment that we must be the ones who had called earlier in the morning.  He promptly looked at the chair and took it apart.  He went to the back  of the store and returned a few moments later with a new base that sat the cylinder ( that was rubbing on the floor ) in my chair higher up and eliminated the problem.  We were there less than 15 minutes and the charge was $15.00.  Such a deal.  He was impressed that we have had the chair for over 14 years as most only last an average of 6 years.  I don’t remember how much we paid for it way back then but it was a lot in those days.  You do get what you pay for.

On the way into Kelowna I went to use my windshield wipers and the rubber on the blade of the one on the right was ripped.  Grrr!  Colin didn’t have time to deal with it and with more rain on the way it was up to me to deal with it.  What to do?

Easy, I just drove over to BMW where you drive into the service area. Very posh, you drive up, the door opens, you drive in and there are about 10 people standing around doing nothing. Within 10 minutes I had a set of new blades on the wipers. Ka-Ching, $48.00 before tax. Perhaps I would have gotten a better deal at Canadian Tire but likely they would not have had what I needed in stock plus I would have had to wait a few hours. Sometimes time is money. Plus I did need new wipers pronto.

Finally got home, got the girls fed, put out a few more fires ( business problems ), started to make our dinner and in my rush stabbed myself with the tip of a knife. This is the only bandaid in the house, the rest are all in the RV. That was my third incident of the day. It was time for a glass of vino.

I also realized that several things I need to cook with for this weekend are also in the RV.  I guess we overlooked certain things when we unloaded.  Always something extra to do.  The way the RV is at the moment, I can’t get into it on my own so I have to wait for Colin to be home so we can go together.

Loved this sky, the sun was setting to the right and this was all reflections, from the sun to the clouds to the hills and to the lake. A great way to end the day.

I just realized that my blog was started four years ago yesterday on May 28/2010.  It has been an interesting adventure and I have learned so many new things.  One of my  favorite parts is when someone walks up to me and asks “are you Contessa”?  I also enjoy receiving a comment from someone who has been reading my blog for a long time and finally makes a comment.  I don’t write to get comments but it is a precious gift and it is nice to know that you are out there  Thanks everyone for sharing my journey.

Did anyone notice how at the beginning of our time on the Isla this past winter, any food photos I posted were all healthy?

Did anyone notice that from January on, all the food photos were full of calories?

I blew it!  But I did decide to go off the wagon as they say and eat and drink whatever I wanted.  After all it was the first time in over three years that I was free to move around, do want I wanted, go to restaurants and to just enjoy life.  And I really did enjoy the Isla and Mazatlan, walking everywhere and dancing as much as I wanted and of course eating all I wanted.  I had a fabulous winter and just went for it.  I consciously threw my weight control out the window.  Secretly I hoped that all the extra activity would balance the extra calories.

It didn’t and I came home 15 lbs heavier. Sigh!!

Well I have already lost 6 lbs in the last 4 weeks.  Yeah me.  Tomorrow will be week two at Weight Watchers.  Yes I have returned to the program that helped me lose my 50 lbs plus. It really helps to keep me accountable.  So I still have another 9 lbs to go, officially that is.  I hope to add another 5 lbs …no not add as in gain…but add as in a total of 14 more to lose.

Was it worth it?  Honestly no it was not.  I’m giving up on those fattening margaritas that are never made the same way twice in a particular restaurant.  No more wasted calories on a drink that I like but seldom tastes good.  As to special food items, I will try to be more careful next season but I am human you know.

Meanwhile every bite and sip is being accounted for.  It certainly takes longer to take it off then to put it on.  The weather continues to be dismal making it difficult to get out and power walk, my preferred form of exercise.

A day like this is perfect. Notice the absolute calm spots in the middle of the lake, not even a wind ripple. You can also see how the snow pack is melting.

Today we went from showers to raining cats & dogs! From a bit of blue to totally dark skies. Back and forth all day long.

Come on back sunshine, I need you to get me motivated.

Saturday was a nice day so we worked outside.  Somehow one or two tasks kept growing.  Check that the fire pit was working, set out our rope lights and solar lights, sweep away the cobwebs, etc.

Including, kill the weeds in all the cracks and along the edge of the patio and in the front driveway. We don't use pesticides but instead boil a kettle of water. Then we pour the boiling water over the weeds and they die very quickly, right down to the roots.

I don't recall this being on the to do list but Colin decided to power wash almost everything. It did get rid of all the bird crap on the patio and the spiders nests and resulting mess but it did seem to go on and on.

Then I spray painted three different projects. This glass topped table was full of rust and looked pretty bad, now it looks better than new.

Today, Sunday, was definitely an inside day as we had rain shower after rain shower, that is in between the real rain.  The girls would ask to go out and when I opened the door they quickly turned around and headed to a bed and under a doggie blanket.  It never got over 58F all day.  I wore a sweater all day, it was damp and coolish.  Certainly not normal end of May weather. With nothing but time on our hands we did some inside cleaning.

So now with the outside and the inside of the house in good shape we better get some company soon.  I’ll let you in on a secret, we are expecting a visit from from some Mexican friends.  They are on a 3 month RV tour tour of the USA and Canada.  Nothing to do but wait.  When they get here, they get here.  The only thing I haven’t done is plan some meals and buy some food.  Manana.

It’s official, we are having a crappy spring.  Rain, wind, rain showers and the odd sighting of the sun followed by more of that wet stuff.  Not much you can do but make a point of heading outside when the sun does shine.  Thanks to all those who took the time to leave me a birthday comment.  I really appreciated it.

Colin had a job yesterday and I mostly worked at my desk.  But I did treat myself to a massage at the end of the day.  I used to have a massage bimonthly but the price of $90.00 for 60 minutes is a bit steep and now I might have one every 2 months.  As most of you know I do indulge in a weekly massage while in Mexico.  I have my own massage table and Casa Maria comes to our RV and I receive a 90 minute massage for $38.00/450 pesos.  Both of the people I use are RMT’s ( Registered Massage Therapists ).  Just for the record, my massages are more therapeutic that just for relaxation purposes.

I have spoken with my father a few times during this past week and he is still having more tests such as hearing and eyes and special tests for his lungs as he gets out of  breath just talking.  Meanwhile he is loving his physio and they told him that they hope to be able to send him home with 40% more mobility and agility and hopefully balance.  The good news is that he is happy to be there and is willing to stay for as long as it takes.  Initially he was told it would be anywhere from 2 – 6 weeks and Monday will be the end of his second week.  It is a relief to know he is in a safe place and I don’t have to worry about him.

The lake had gone down quite a bit, so we don’t have to worry about flooding but because it is so high the waves ( due to the high winds on occasion ) are breaking over the patio.  The lake was very calm in this photo.

Loved the colors of this kayaker, in addition to the pink & white boat and yellow paddles, her shirt was purple.

This is an extremely tall pink dogwood tree and thanks to my new camera I was able to zoom right to the top.

Does anyone know what kind of bush this is?

The flowers look like large popcorn balls.

Great news for Mazatlan, all the cruise ships are coming back. Who is coming and how many can be found here.  This will be fantastic for the economy.  Even more exciting is that the US government has dropped Mazatlan from from their travel alert list.  This alert has been in place for several years and has had an affect on Americans traveling to Mazatlan.  Tourism will soon be booming once again.

Meanwhile I'm looking forward to getting our kayaks out on the lake, soon.