5C's Que Pasa

The twins are keeping us so busy that we have very little knowledge of what is happening in the world nor with Covid. Not 100% accurate but we have almost no free time.  They remember everything and trust me they know exactly where to go should we leave an area unblocked. I cannot believe how intelligent they are. They are like sponges soaking everything up. They are growing on a daily basis not only physically but also mentally.

This is their bed in the crate. Somehow they have burrowed under the yellow blanket which is tightly covering the dog bed ( this one belonged to our last two girls ).  Burrowing is a new thing.

So that in part is why I have not posted in over 7 days. Certainly a record for me as somehow I manage to get posts out while we traveled in Europe. I also am feeling my age. As most of you know I am still receiving massage and chiropractic treatments as a result of being rear ended November 2nd, 2019.  Just this past March 19th ( Friday ) I was given new exercises to help strengthen my back. After two days I was in pain and I couldn’t sleep due to the pain in my arms and shoulders. Fortunately  I was able to get in to see the chiropractor on the 24th ( Wednesday ) and she really did make a difference although I still had pain. I was told that the exercises I had been give were much too advanced for me. On Friday, March 26th I got what I thought was a great massage to soothe my joints and muscles. I could barely get off the table and drive home 😯 The intense pain returned.  So I was out of commission for twelve days.

They really love to snuggle for naps. As you can see their noses are slowly getting longer.

I could not do anything. I could not pick up the girls, nor make meals.  We ate a lot of take out. Colin took Ciela to puppy class on Wednesdays and Carlie on Thursdays.  I was only able to sit as typing set my shoulders and arms into spasms of pain. I felt better yesterday ( April 1st ) and went for a family walk. I managed that but suffered for it all evening. I couldn’t even let my bra straps touch my shoulders. Today I am a tad better.

We call this their patio bed. They sleep in the sun often and just watch the lake.

So there you have it folks, the reason I have not been posting. Zip as in nada energy. You can ask Colin, everyday I said that I had to do a post no matter what, but between my body and various things happening I was unable.

They taught themselves in one afternoon how to go up our outside stairs and hence to jump up onto my exercise machine. We are not teaching them how to go down. We are trying to avoid stairs re future back issues.

This has become an early morning sunbathing area.

As well we had to deal once again with no propane delivery on the 31st which meant a long weekend with only 34% propane in our tank. It took me an hour on the phone but I did get a delivery today. Otherwise I would have not been able to use the oven, too much hot water nor do laundry re the dryer. Fortunately it has warmed up enough that we are no longer using the fireplace for heat several hours per day ( the girls love to lay under it ). Oh and then we had a problem with the fireplace and the tech was here for awhile.  However as he directed Colin to do all the dirty work (clean up all the soot), his bill was a bit less. I almost forgot, we also had the window cleaner here for the first time since last September, the windows now sparkle. The girls really did well with all these different people in the house.  I penned them into a smaller area and they went with the flow.

Over the past few weeks Colin has been pulling things out and setting up our yard.

He had to take time out to solder our mini fence lights that Ciela managed to chew through. We can’t be  everywhere although we try. All is working again.  However I had to get after her the other day as she was trying again. They are responding to us better this week, especially the ‘off’ and ‘no’.

We have  been without a landline phone for over a month now. I’m sure I addressed this in past blogs but long story short, the phone lines which were laid in the dirt over 46 years ago, have disintegrated. I have to say that Telus has been able to keep us going for the past two years with a variety of repairs. We have lived here since 2003 with mostly no issues. It took many calls to Telus in the past month on my part and from Colin as well to come to a solution.  With the permission of the park here, we had a conduit installed through two sites onto  our property. We actually paid the park to do the work, hopefully they will keep to their $200.00 quote.  Colin moved all the rocks along the patio so that helped keep the cost on the low side. That was completed today so now we have to wait for Telus to come and install a brand new telephone line for us. Hopefully within the next seven days. This will be at no cost to us so we have been told. Don’t bother with suggesting this and that. We love the system we have because when we are traveling, even in Mexico or Europe, when our phone rings here ( both the business and the personal lines ) if the caller leaves a voice message it comes directly through to our online voicemail.  That is how we got through these past weeks by being aware of emails indicating a phone call. A special thank you to Rod for sharing his expertise with us.

You see this type of thing in cartoons and on TV a lot.

First time in twenty years that this had happened to us.

It has happened a few more times. We have been trained to not let the the toilet paper dangle even an inch:)

So as you can see it has been a frenzied past few weeks. I want to thank those that reached out gently to make sure that we are alright. My apologies to Gramma Katie who finally set a fire under me.  She emailed me yesterday and later Colin to remind me that we have not posted since March 25th. She is missing her daily “Chokolade  news”. We love you very much Katie and Louie. Please excuse my not replying to your email but instead writing this post for you. Katie has been Gramma to our previous four doxies.  And of course she is Gramma to the chocolate twins.  Surprise to you both, you will be meeting your new grandpups between June 20th and 23rd when we come to Vancouver 😀  We are coming in the RV and staying in Fort Langley for four nights.  So if any of our friends want to meet up send me an email. Gramma Katie gets first choice of date.

The latest chew toy is Colin’s shoes.

So back to March 29th. It was four years ago this past March 29th that we said goodbye to Carmeh and Caeli. I am still crying as I type this. We miss them so much. But also on March 26th our ‘chocolate stash’ turned 12 weeks.  They have been with us now just over five weeks. Our hearts have been opened to them and we love them so much. They are unique not just because of their colour and the fact that they are twins, having the same mother and father. There is something so very particular. Watching these siblings grow and interact with each other and ourselves is truly fascinating.  Hopefully in the weeks to come I will be able to describe some of the things we observe.

Our last photo on March 28th, 2017 with Carmeh and Caeli.

A lovely evening last Thursday the 25th.

Thanks for sticking with me and the girls.

Sent to me by a blog reader. I love this. Anyone know where I can find a few.

Another blog reader send me this as a suggestion to put under our RV steps in Mexico. I love the carpet but not the price. Don’t you think it is the cutest?

Please get your vaccine when you can.  And then please continue to stay safe until is it the right time to take off your mask.  We still are not able to get our shots, hopefully in a few weeks.

…we crossed into Canada after a very long driving day. We had rushed to Canada from Mexico because of Covid. You can read my post here of our arrival into Canada.Who would have thought that here we are a full year later still wearing masks and having to follow restrictions?  It was just a few weeks ago that we were finally allowed to have up to ten people in our yard as long as they were masked and socially distanced. We were all so very hopeful that the virus would be under control quickly. The majority of us are still waiting for the vaccine. What does the future hold for us? The Canadian/US border is still closed, that has never ever happened before, a full year 😯  Many say that it will not open until the fall but with the variants who knows? We remain hopeful that by the end of October we can cross the border and travel to Mexico. But how will the variants affect us and the world? All we can do is to continue to take it one day at a time.

I celebrated the one year anniversary by painting my toes. I have not painted them since we arrived home last year. I am hopeful, so today was the day.

We are so fortunate that these two have come into our lives, just flour weeks ago. Our spirits have lifted and we have a bright future ahead of us even if we have to stay in Canada.

Our chocolate stash is always entertaining us. Every time that Colin gets on his knees they climb up:)

A week ago today we were treated to this lovely sunset. To me it shows the promise of things to come.

More of the Albuquerque balloon fiesta balloon shots, taken October 2018. The Van Gogh balloon was extraordinary.

Special thanks to Sue who is still walking the Isla beach every morning for this soul stirring sunset, taken tonight.This is one of the things that I miss the most.

Back on March 13th we were trying to get them used to their harnesses so had them play outside with them on. Sadly they have already grown out of these lovely very expensive harnesses recommended for doxies. They are growing so very fast. The toy they are playing with belonged to our first two girls many years ago.

Colin donated an old leather belt that he no longer wears. They love chewing on it. They somehow end up wrapping themselves up in the belt. Taken March 12th.

On the same day they decided to start playing while laying on their backs. Great for belly rubs which of course they both love.

I decided to get two toy boxes and to switch the toys around every few days. Seems that being in the box is the most fun.This was taken on March 13th.

This is their new cat tunnel which they love, perhaps too much. They go crazy with this thing. Also taken March 13th.

They get bored  so easily. However sometimes they get over excited and we have to intervene. Easy to see dark chocolate ( Carlie ) and milk chocolate ( Ciela ).

On March 15th Colin gave them a carrot  from our outdoor storage area to give them something new to do. And the race was on.

They even managed to carry it to up the ramp together. They eat half of it before I took it away. Now that was a great treat and a fun run.

Everyday they are discovering new things. We have no idea how on the 15th of March, the day they turned 10 weeks old they managed this feat. Colin was changing the blanket on the bed when they took over their crate.

Every day is different than the previous 😀

Today they turned 11 weeks old and laying on their back is now a favourite position.

The photos for this post were taken seven days ago on March 10th.  Here they are trying to attack each other through the playpen.

As they grow they have become so squirmy. Colin can no longer take two out at a time. The one left behind now barks at the injustice at being left behind. Their personalities are beginning to emerge.

Sadly at puppy class last Wednesday one of Ciela’s back paws got stepped on by one of the ladies in the class.  From her screams I thought that she was dying. By the end of the class she could walk on it a bit but was stressed. She is now perfectly fine.

Carlie

Ciela

So today I need to confess that I, yes me, stepped on Carlie’s front right paw today in the bedroom. Somehow they got thru the barricades.  They are smarter than us and quite capable of breaking free. I was the only one in the room sorting the laundry when suddenly I felt and heard a squeal behind me. Trust me, it hurt me much more the her.  She did take a few hours to recover but in no time they were chasing each other outside ( in the cold ) all over the lawn. I am still upset about it.

I was getting food out of the freezer fo dinner. They now know the sound of the freezer door as that is where their frozen beans come from. Which they love.

I am not sure when I last updated you about my good friends who were in ICU with Covid. The husband got out of ICU a few days ago and today my dear friend  got out as well.  Of course they are still on the Covid ward in recovery but they will survive and get home – soon we hope.

Toe dremeling time. They get one tiny tiny treat ( cut in 4 ) for each toe. Ciela is okay with it.

Carlie not so much. But she was appreciative of the treats.

I want to welcome a very special reader to the comment section of my blog.  Michelle recently found my blog and has spent the past two weeks reading from the beginning to the end.  And she even enjoyed it 😉  I so appreciate your comment Michelle. One day perhaps we will meet on the Isla or somewhere else in Mexico. Looking forward to hearing from you as I move forward with the blog. Again I have been remiss in my postings ( and my comments ). But two puppies 😯  It is more difficult that I thought ( perhaps my age ). But they are each so very special and we love them so.

I hope you enjoy the photos.  There are many more to come.