Before
This afternoon Tilly and I did a Pet Therapy session with the City of Edmonton 311 operators. She was her normal friendly, cheerful self and I think everyone enjoyed loving her up. I don’t know what it is about Therapy work but she is always exhausted after. She was a sleep before the car exited the parkade and she snored the whole way home.
After
Filed under Pet Therapy, PeTS, Therapy Dog, Tilly
On Sunday morning we participated in the annual First Responders Half Marathon. We have McMullin staying with us again so he and Brodie came out to cheer us on. They were a big hit. Everyone wanted to stop by and say hello to the pair.
As I was approaching the end, Don handed me the “boys” so that they could cross the finish line with me.
Brodie also helped Laura and Heidi cross the finish line.
Filed under Brodie, Hope Heels, Races, Volunteering
Although I was present at the birth of almost all of the litters that Wally sired, and I saw the puppies almost daily, I never had the opportunity to whelp a litter myself. This has been a bucket list item for me for many years.
When we bought Spirit, we got join ownership with the breeder. The plan was to show her and if all went well, eventually use her as a breeding bitch for Tailspin. Sadly, at 6 months we found out that Spirit had a bad shoulder so that quickly put an end to her breeding career.
In November we were asked if we would be willing to whelp a litter of service dog puppies. Although having a litter during an Alberta winter is not my idea of fun (puppies can never go outside and play) we accepted the challenge. Molly was inseminated in mid November. The sperm was collected from a beautiful English Golden from National Service Dogs with a great track record of producing quality puppies. On Friday Molly went for an ultrasound to confirm if she was pregnant. Sadly she was not. There are a lot of sad and disappointed people….especially me. They are hoping to give it one more try the next time Molly comes into season. On the positive side, it looks like cute little McMullin might be hanging around with us for a few weeks longer.
Filed under Hope Heels
We have a short term addition to our fur family. This is McMullin and he is one of the puppies that were donated to Hope Heels to train as a service dog. He is an 8 week old smooth Collie. He will be staying with us until he has a puppy raiser family to go to. He’s only been in the house for a few hours but he seems to have settled in just fine.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Hope Heels, Training, Volunteering
A few months ago I was surfing for some info on composting and I came across a link to the City of Edmonton Master Composter Recycler program. I read through the info and immediately knew that this was something that I wanted to join. I put in my application, I was given an interview and I ended up one of the lucky 30 people that were selected to participate in 2014. We had our first two classes this past week. The participants range in age from maybe the early 20’s to the 60’s and everyone seems passionate about the environment and what they can do to minimize their impact. Yesterday’s class was a real eye opener for me. We talked about what items can be put in the blue bag. I was pretty disappointed to discover that probably close to 5o% of the stuff I put in my blue bag was wrong. Did you know that the only plastic shopping bags that are acceptable for recycling in Edmonton are the ones you get from the grocery store….that’s it. They don’t take the plastic bags that we put our fresh produce in, they don’t take shopping bags from retail stores, plastic packaging etc. On the positive side there was nothing that I put in the trash that should have been put in our blue bag. If you are ever unsure about what can be recycled, here is a link to a handy on-line poster that you can print. A good rule of thumb is that is has to be bigger than your fist and smaller than a basket ball (except flattened cardboard, it can be bigger).
I’m really looking forward to Tuesday’s class on composting. We even get to try our hands at setting up a worm composting bin. I’ve been bugging Don for years to have one in the house. Now’s my chance!!
For more info on Edmonton’s programs check out www.edmonton.ca/waste #yegwaste
Filed under Master Composter Recycler, Volunteering
Today members of our Modern Quilt Guild got together for a sew day. Some worked on their own projects and others worked together to make quilted incubator covers for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Royal Alex Hospital. These covers help block out the light to make for a more relaxing/soothing rest for the little ones inside. I was on quilt duty. I managed to quilt enough pieces for 2 covers. One with an overall grid pattern and the other with a large improvised baptiste fan design. I hope we get to see how they look when they are put to use.
Filed under Edmonton Modern Quilt Guild, EMQG, Quilting, Volunteering
Life In The Dog House 