Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Growing, growing

G'Kar and his litter-mates continue to grow every day. Here's another picture of two of them sleeping, which, apparently, they do most of the time all day.



We're hoping to get up to Willobunch next weekend and see the puppies!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Down South

We drove across the border today to take in the sights, sounds, and cigars of Washington. After an early start and a quick border crossing, we stopped by Charis for breakfast. Next we ventured into ROSS (Random Odd Stuff on Sale) and within 30 seconds inside the store we were greeted to a popular American pastime: treating the people who work in the store like crap.

Now, I have a lot of American friends, and you guys know I love you, but, seriously, can't y'all be a bit more polite? You're giving yourself a bad name, here. Just because the check out line up is a tad bit long is no reason to go off on some poor teenager working the till. Spend some time in Canada and drink some beer; it'll do you good.

After a somewhat fruitless search through ROSS we went on to the heart of historic Bellingham: Fairview. We stopped by the Fairview Smoke Shop and I picked up a box of Gloria Cubana Wavell robustos. The price was about $200 less than what I'd have to pay in Canada, if I could find the darn things (they're hard to find in Canada) so I was pretty happy, especially when they didn't charge me any duty at the border!

We spent some time walking around Fairview and then headed out for Chuckanut Drive. We wove around the coast on a mountain side for the better part of an hour. I spent most of the time wondering just how much those damn mansions cost and the rest of the time remembering that I do get motion sickness in the back seat of a van while driving down windy-weavy roads. Maybe it should be called Chuckalot Drive. The scenery certainly does qualify for "damn pretty," though.


After Chuckanut (not nearly as bad as twistanut or crushanut) we spent about 40 minutes driving around looking for the best price on gas and, after saving about $0.30, we confidently left the area in search of the Daffodils that Skagit Valley (I'm not making up these names!) is famous for. The tulips weren't in bloom yet, so we had to settle for their yellow counterpart.

We ended the US trip with a drive through La Conner and a fantastic view from a scary bridge - seen below.






Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Stephenson Wharf

We spent the day touring around Vancouver area including a stop by Stephenson Wharf. As far as I can tell, this famous wharf specializes in selling fresh fish right from the boat, and large signs. Lots of signs. Signs saying, "Don't go here." Signs saying, "Positively no going there either." Signs, signs, signs. I think the local authority has some kind of connection to a sign company.

For a look at just a few signs, zoom in on this picture.

From White Rock

The wharf is beside the Gulf of Georgia Cannery, a national historic site. Unfortunately, the cannery was closed until May, so we couldn't go inside.

From White Rock


The day before we spent some time in Granville Island, which, among other things, has the highest piles of grapes in Vancouver!

From White Rock

Awww #2

And another cuddly picture...
I learned a surprising thing the other day. I've always known that Theobromine (a caffeine-like chemical found in chocolate) can be toxic to dogs, but I had no idea that grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure! I was so surprised by this that I even checked Snopes for a confirmation.

So, I guess we can add grapes and raisins to chocolate, onions, and garlic.

Awww

A face only a cat couldn't love.

We still don't know which is G'Kar; we'll find out after a personality test. Our breeder will choose one based on what we want out of our dog.
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Sunday, April 12, 2009

Wet and dreary

Isn't it ironc that we left our cold home to come to a colder White Rock? You know, the same White Rock that apparently has some of the nicest weather in North America.

From White Rock


It rained most of the day here, so we did what most Canadians do when it's cold out: we went shopping. And drank coffee.

Finally after a long day, the rain stopped and we went out for a walk along the pier. We even got to walk up to the famous White Rock which is, well, a big white rock... about 488 metric tonnes of white rock, but still a white rock.

From White Rock

White Rock

We landed in White Rock last night at around 10pm. The trip was quite good, though we had a 3-hour layover in Edmonton. WestJet rules; they always seem to do things right for the most part. They have an almost magical ability to drop you off at the gate next to the gate where you need to get your connecting flight and they somehow turn around a plane in 10 minutes.

On the flight from Edmonton to Abbotsford, the plane was about half full, maybe less. I've never been on a plan that was so empty; it was just plain weird. We had the exit row on both flights (yay leg room!) but the woman next to the exit door on the Abbotsford flight decided to move to have her own row to herself. The guy in the exit row across the way was completely by himself.

I picked up a new dog book in Saskatoon and read it on the plane. I seem to do this about every year or so, but now with a new puppy on the way, I'll be reading and re-reading a few dog books. I'm not sure what it is about dog books, but I tend to be able to read them very quickly and, obviously, I never tire of them.

This particular book is written by Tufts Vetrinary college, with many staff contributing. Basically, it's one of those, "We see too damn many dogs that need help so we're going to make sure it stops," books. It's also the first puppy book I've ever read, which is astoundingly weird. For some reason everything else I've read has been on training, behaviour, psychology, history, stories, more training, and philosophy. Why I've never read a puppy book, I don't know.

Most of the book was excellent advice, if a bit heavy-handed (meaning somewhat impossible to do if you have a life at all). The authors do, however, do an excellent job of dispelling many myths, particularly in the area of nutrition and health. Because Tufts is asked to provide clinical research for dog food manufacturers, they really know their stuff. You can sense their frustration when you read about many of the various myths about doggie health, such as raw food diets or "all natural" diets. I guess that pseudoscience is rampant everywhere!

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

And just one more...

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First Pics

And here he is... somewhere in there!






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A G'Kar is born

G'Kar was born today. Or more properly, Smok'nGold G'Kar of the Kha'Ri. At least that's what I think will be his CKC name.

To mark this occasion, here is one of my favourite quotes from G'Kar:

The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice. The language is not Narn, or Human, or Centauri, or Gaim or Minbari. It speaks in the language of hope; It speaks in the language of trust; It speaks in the language of strength, and the language of compassion. It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul. But always, it is the same voice. It is the voice of our ancestors, speaking through us, And the voice of our inheritors, waiting to be born. It is the small, still voice that says: We are one. No matter the blood; No matter the skin; No matter the world; No matter the star; We are one. No matter the pain; No matter the darkness; No matter the loss; No matter the fear; We are one. Here, gathered together in common cause. we agree to recognise this singular truth, and this singular rule: That we must be kind to one another, because each voice enriches us and ennobles us, and each voice lost diminishes us. We are the voice of the Universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light the way to a better future. We are one.