Come From Away

I haven’t posted here in a long time. . .

The bad news first:

Back in November both or old men dogs had to be put to sleep… They had both been declining quite a bit. It was obvious that Japhy was really going as he was starting to loose control and pee just about anywhere he was standing. He was clearly not even aware of it sometimes. Often when he was outside, he would look a bit lost and we would have to go out and tap him on the shoulder, so to speak (this because he was almost blind and completely deaf), and get him to follow us back inside. The vet’s comment about him was, “He’s not really even here with us anymore.” :’-( Lester had a condition where his trachea would collapse on itself and he would be suffering to breath. The vet had given him a cough suppressant, which helps him with the cough he had developed, but actually did nothing to help him get better. It’s a physical condition that could only have possibly been helped by an operation that would have been too much for him… Back on that day in November, Japhy was looking horrible and we decided to take him to the vet. He was so badly off that we told the kids to give him a pet and a kiss as we did not think he would come back. K decided to take Lester also as he had been sleeping a great deal the same week and this seemed to be the only time when he was comfortable. When she arrived, the vets looked Lester up and down a great deal and told K that he was not doing well at all. Japhy was likely in the midst of some sort of major organ failure and had lost five pounds in six months (probably kidney failure). At his heaviest/healthiest this dog must have been about 28 pounds, so this was a major amount of weight for him. So K had to make the final call on her own as I was at home with the kids. It was a terrible day for all and a hard week following. Their annoying little antics have been with us so long that they are still being missed by all a great deal…

We buried them next to K’s beloved cat who passed this summer and will likely plant a tree on the spot come spring.

Truck news:

We finally got our truck from Leon. It still needs a few things fixed on it, but it is drivable (not by K’s standards, but…) Leon is aware of a few things that he wants to fix still, but we have it for the holidays to drive around and add to our own list in case there are others that we find. It will go back in the new year for a few adjustments (like a working gas gauge) and then we should be able to have the antique on the road all the time.

Compare the pictures above to the originals:

Scenery:

Here’s a picture taken through the car window as I cross the causeway over Pinette River. You can see the old posts from a bridge where the Trans Canada used to cross the river about thirty years ago.

Other news:

We are all ready for Giftmas and the kids are super excited. Hurray!