Thursday, August 30, 2012

Deja Vu

In the summer of 2004, I took Ceilidh and Tucker to Presqu'ile Provincial Park. We stopped and camped in Presqu'ile on the way home to Angus, Ontario, following a trip down east to visit my folks. I took pictures of them on the old Marsh Board Walk, just as this year I took pictures of Beckett and Keltic on the new Marsh Board Walk. The old Marsh Board walk was condemned the summer after these photos were taken and the new one was opened in 2007.

Tucker and Ceilidh - July 2004

Presqu'ile old Marsh Board Walk

Beckett and Keltic - Aug 2012

Presqu'ile - new Marsh Board Walk
I guess this does show the more things change, the more they stay the same and that life does go on.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Camping in Presqu'ile

The second part of our vacation was a camping trip to Presqu'ile Provincial Park on Lake Ontario. It is about a 4 hour drive from Ottawa, just far enough that it feels like you've left home but not so far that you are tired at the end of the day.  Again, Tucker stayed home with my sister. He wouldn't have been able to do even the short walks we did, although with the weather we had he may have enjoyed being out in the fresh air. We had the best camping weather, sunny with highs of about 22 to 24 degrees C dropping down to about 17 at night; perfect sleeping weather.

Campsite 224 in Lakeside Campground 
Presqu'ile Provincial Park is on a small peninsula most of which is the park but there is a small community near the park as well. The campgrounds mostly all border on Lake Ontario and the pebble beaches. There are sand beaches as well but the dogs are not permitted on those beaches and on some of the trails where the birds nest. The pebble beaches were fine for us, the water is shallow and the bottom was mainly smooth rock with some patches of pebbles. A lot of people in the campground just came out to these beaches to sun bathe and swim. They probably were a lot less crowded than the sand beaches.

Fannie and Jasmine

Shoreline of Lake Ontario

Beckett and Keltic on a rock that they had waded out to.

Presqu'ile Trip
We also did a couple of short walks. The first was just down the shoreline and back through the campgrounds but we also did the Marsh Boardwalk as well as took a drive out to the old lighthouse and had a picnic lunch. The park had a very scenic one-way road that also has a bike lane. From this road there are small parking lots at the start of a few trails for hikers. Nothing for the very serious hiker though, the Jobe's Wood trail is only a little over a kilometer and the other two trails are between 3 and 4 kilometers. There is another trail in the park but dogs are not permitted on that trail as it goes through a migratory bird nesting area.

Jasmine and Beckett on the Marsh Trail

The Marsh Boardwalk

Keltic inspecting a possible mouse house

Looking out on the lake from the shoreline path
Presqu'ile is a very nice small park. The campgrounds are well equipped with nice facilities. It's the second time I had been there, the first time was with Ceilidh and Tucker.  I have a picture of them on the boardwalk, I'll have to see if I can find it. If you only have a few days, you don't leave the park feeling like you missed out on seeing it.


Thursday, August 23, 2012

Tucker's Travels are Over

Today, I lost one of my best friends, my sable Sheltie, Tucker. 


He had a fearless heart, a quiet mind, was straight and true and brave and cool, everything I wish I was.


He began his travels in New Brunswick but at three years of age moved to Ontario where he began his agility career. He moved once more to Ottawa where he continued to be successful in the agility ring.


For a Sheltie, he had a quiet and thoughtful mind; no spinning for him.  When I would send him out to do a gamble, if he didn't get it right away, I could see him thinking about what he should do next; if my handling was good (and sometimes even if it was not that good), he would get the gamble.


I started the stories of his travels with high liver values and Cushings in Oct 2010 just before his 10th birthday.  I was so sure he would see his 12th birthday but that was not to be. When I came home from a camping trip with Beckett and Keltic, my sister called to say that he wasn't eating and hadn't stood on his own all day. I went over to pick him up and he didn't come to greet me but he looked stable enough that I decided to wait until today to take him to my own vet rather than go the 24 hour animal hospital, Alta Vista.  Late last night, he took a turn for the worst. I got him in a more comfortable position and laid down with him. I fell asleep listening to him breathe but by this morning he was gone.

31 Oct 2000 - 23 Aug 2012

I hope I didn't let him down. 
Good Bye Sweet Tucker Boo. 

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Vacation in Shediac

We went down to Shediac NB for the first part of our vacation this year. I rented a cottage very near the Point du Chene wharf.  The wharf is a great gathering place for tourists and locals. It has a restaurant, a bar, a gift shop and an ice cream shop as well as a tour boat operator. It is also a marina with mostly recreational boats but some fishing boats do call the wharf their home port.

View down the wharf, the building like a Pirate ship is a gift shop.

The lighthouse also doubles as the public washrooms

Fishing vessel and lobster traps
My cottage was located in a very diverse community. There were very large, probably million dollar, homes right down to little cottages like the one I rented all on the same few blocks. Some people were very unique in the way they decorated their homes. The most unique was this house; the sign says Whale Oil Beef Hooked Folk Art. Say that five times fast. They had many sculptures in the yard like the one below.



I also did an agility demonstration last year at the nursing home where my Mum resides. I organized another one this year. Last year there were only two dogs, this year we had eleven dogs at the show. The nursing home also invited the SPCA who brought some other dogs and kittens for the residents to meet.


I know the residents get a big kick out of the dogs and really appreciate having something a little different in the daily routine. 

We also did the Riverside Agility trial while we were down east. We did this trial last year and it was so much fun, well worth the drive even if I was only going to do the trial. 

The field is right on the river so if you have a dog that loves water, you might have quite an off course. Luckily, Beckett doesn't like the water all that much. We had a great weekend, getting four qualifying scores out of eight runs and we got invited to the Steeplechase Cash Cup for qualifying in both Steeplechase runs. Beckett loves to run here as there is an off leash field right next to the tenting area so he got to play Frisbee right after his runs.

My sister and brother-in-law came over from Prince Edward Island on Friday night and spent two nights with me at the cottage. They also came to the lobster supper that Riverside Agility hosts on Saturday night. That's quite an East Coast thing to do. Shediac is known as the home of the world's largest lobster.

Beckett and Keltic with the World's Biggest Lobster
The lobster, another view. I think Beckett thought it would get him; he wouldn't look at the camera but kept checking what was behind him.

Beckett and Keltic in Shediac

We also spent  a bit of time walking and wading on the beach with the dogs as I wrote about in Beach Party

It wasn't until my second last day in Shediac that I found the good beach near my cottage after one of the neighbours gave me directions.  Dogs are allowed on that beach so if we go back next year, I hope to find the time to actually go swimming.  You actually had to cross a small creek to get to this beach so the dogs probably would stay on the beach if I went in swimming for a couple minutes at a time.

We are heading out tomorrow to go camping at Presquile, a provincial park about 4 hours from here so stay tuned for part two of our vacation stories.


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Beach Party

 This summer I rented a cottage in Shediac, New Brunswick; I'll do a post on our vacation later. The cottage was quite cute, a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and one bath.

Cottage in Point du chene
Living room
Living room - other view

Kitchen
We were right on the coast, one block down from our cottage was the sea but there wasn't a good beach where I was, or so I thought. I was withing walking distance of Parlee Beach but dogs are not permitted at that beach. But a friend from Ottawa was also down on her vacation with her four dogs and she had rented a cottage in Barachois about 10 minutes drive from where I was. From her place, it was a short walk or drive to some nice beaches where we could take the dogs. Another couple from the Ottawa area were also camping in Shediac with their three dogs. We all got together at low tide a few times and had quite the party with the dogs. Some didn't much like the water but they all enjoyed running around in the sand, chasing birds or toys.


Keltic

Sam

Beckett and Keltic wading in the water.
Sally


Tic
Whistler

Gryphon

Tac

Toe



Nearly the whole gang
Beckett

Some of the dogs loved the water and liked to wade but none liked to swim much. Beckett surprised me; he did come out to me and would swim for a bit before turning back to where he could walk. The life jacket has helped as now he keeps his feet in the water, before he always looked like he was trying to climb out of the water which didn't help him stay up at all. Keltic, while not being totally enthralled with the water, seems to enjoy it a bit more than Beckett.


Wordless Wednesday



Friday, August 3, 2012

Still Changing

Scroll down to see how much Keltic has changed. They grow so fast. Tomorrow we head out to New Brunswick where my Mum will get to meet Keltic for the first time. I wish she could have had the chance to meet little 5 May Keltic but they sure don't stay that way for long. This week I registered Keltic for basic obedience starting in August and for herding instinct test in September when he will be 6 months old. Hard to believe he will already be old enough.

3 Aug 2012

6 Jul 2012
5 Jun 2012
5 May 2012