An Aurora

     Settling in to go to sleep was a bit chaotic last night.  I was in my bed and almost to slumberland, when my wife told me that Kona wanted to go outside, so I went downstairs, slipped on my gum boots, and carried Kona out into the cold darkness.  Kona did what she had to do and so I carried her back inside the house, climbed the stairs, and tried to retrace the road to sleep.

    Again I was just about there when I heard crickets from my iPhone.  I had chosen the cricket sound as my alert that I was getting a text message.  I figured that since it was just after 11:00, it must have been a scam text, so I decided to just ignore it.  Then thinking about it, I realized that instead of the usual must one cricket alert, I got three in quick succession, which was unusual.  

    Still thinking about it, two thoughts came to me:   I had read there had been a prediction of auroras on Friday night, and it was Friday night.  The second thought was of Ingrid, who lives just up the road.  We had often talked about auroras, and she had seen a spectacular one that I had missed, so I wondered if she was texting me about watching one.  

    I reached over and looked at my phone.  Sure enough, Ingrid had sent me two photos of an aurora she was seeing at her house.  I grabbed my phone and went out into the dark, bracing, night air to see if I could see and aurora.  There was a slight greenish hue in the sky, but when I set my phone’s camera  to “Night Mode” I could see the bright green of the aurora quite clearly.  I walked around the property and took a slew of photos.  

    Here are three of them.

You can view my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Our Poor Designer "Doodle Dog" Can't Even Sit Properly

     For years now, dog breeders have been raking in the cash, breeding “Doodle Dogs” (all kinds other breeds to poodles).   They breed Labradoodles (Labrador Retriever-Poodle mix), Goldendoodles (Golden  Retriever-Poodle), Bernedoodles (Bernese Mountain Dog-Poodle mix) etc, etc.  You get the idea.  Everyone wanted a mixed poodle bred dog.  Sadly, it seems more attention was paid to selling puppies, than to the genetics of these designer dogs, and as a result, many dogs have been created and sold with horrible genetic problems.

    Our dog Kona is one of them.  Kona is a Bordoodle, a mix of Border Collie and Poodle.  She is a rescue dog that we got for free from her previous owners.  They told us she had joint problems, but we accepted that she might develop complications in the future.  She was still a young dog when we got her, and she was very energetic and normal.  However, now as she ages, very serious problems are starting to show.

    After our last vet visit where an X-ray of Kona was done, we were told that basically, Kona has no hip sockets, and her legs are held in place by scar tissue.  Kona can no longer walk,  she is able to stagger upright, when she needs to pee or poop, and shuffle like a seal when she needs to move a bit.  I have to carry her outside when she needs to do her business and carry her from room to room, when necessary.  

    With all of her problems, Kona remains stoic and very affectionate.  We have been giving her several pain-killers daily.  

    In the photo above, you can see that she can’t even sit properly.  At first glance of the photo, things seem normal, but look at the position of her rear legs in the shadow.   Normally a sitting dog will have one leg of her rear legs on the right side and the other on her left side.  Whenever Kona sits, she has both of her rear legs on the same side.

    It is very sad to see Kona struggling to deal with such difficulties, but like I said, she is very stoic and still full of eagerness, and spark.

    It is depressing to know that so many dog breeders are still so eager for money, that they ignore the genetics of the dogs they breed.

    Buyer, beware.

You can see my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

The Beauty of Open Water

     After months of being buried under ice and snow, my pond has now melted.  This morning it was showing off what it can do on a very still, calm day.  It was proudly reflecting the pristine white snow of the Cariboo Mountain Range on the other side of the Valley. 

    This mirror-like presentation doesn’t happen very often, usually there is a breeze that ripples the surface.  Seeing the Cariboos all snow-white and totally unobscured, is also rare.  Now, an hour or so after taking the photo, white puffy clouds are already starting to hide the very tops of the mountains.  

    I was glad that I had my iPhone in my pocket when I went out to feed the birds early this morning.  I am still very impressed with its zoom, that allows me to compose the view with just the features I am interested in.

Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

Just Below The Snow Line

     It is common knowledge that the higher you go in elevation, the colder it gets.  Yesterday there was visual proof of that across the road on the mountain slope.  We were getting a wet snowfall, which melted when it hit the ground at our place, but just a bit higher on the slope, it was a bit colder and the snow was sticking to the trees.  

    This is not an uncommon sight.    The Robson Valley bottomland across the Fraser River from us, has an elevation of 2,330 ft (710m).   The elevation of our house is 2,408 ft (734m) and those trees with the snow on them is about 2,500 ft i(750m) in elevation.  Even that small difference in elevation can create differences in temperature.

    I just got back from driving into McBride, and again I could see snow on the trees growing on the mountain slope, while there was no snow on the lower trees on the slope and in the field at its base.

You can view my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Back When Lucifer Was Constant Trouble

     Here is something I blogged about in 2013:  

        My wife noticed the pile of stuff in front of my computer, she thought that it was just one of my messes. (“How can you work like this, David?”)  I had to then explain to her that it was just my attempt to keep our cat Lucifer from blocking out my computer monitor by standing in front of it, as I worked.  You can see from the photo, it worked.  If Lucy does get interested in the moving cursor on the screen, she, a least, has to now watch it from the side, which allows me to still see what I am doing on the computer.

        Sadly, Lucifer and Kona our dog, (like their owners) are really starting to suffer from the effects of old age.  I have mentioned before how I now have to carry Kona everywhere, because she can no longer walk.  Lucifer, who is now just skin and bones, can no longer jump upon my desk and get in the way of my computer, those days are over for her.

    In the past, Lucifer made a cozy home of a padded folding chair covered over with a blanket, making a cave-like space for her, but now she no longer uses that as her home base, I assume because she can no longer jump into it.  Now she stays close to the ground and has adopted an old box I made for collecting my student’s work when I was teaching that was sitting on the floor of my office, as her sleeping place.

    It is hard to watch the declining activity in our pets, and realize that their lives, like ours, have an expiration date, but for now they are still doing what they can, not complaining, and showing affection to us, as we are showing to them.

   Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

Tomatoes and Chili Peppers to Come

     While outside, spring seems to be taking its time in coming, inside the house, this year’s gardening plants are developing as they should.   Above you see the result of the seeds I had planted when there was still snow on the ground outside.  The coloring of the photo might seem a bit off, but that is because the plants are under some grow lights.

    This is the start of the rather frustrating time, when the plants are starting to get big enough and should be transplanted into pots, but it is still too cold to keep them in the greenhouse, and once they are potted, they will really take up a lot of space, which is not available under the grow lights.   What I usually do is pot them, then keep the plotted plants in the house overnight, then cart them out to the greenhouse so they can get some sun during the day. 

    The greenhouse is usually warm enough for the plants during the day, it is just the nights when it is too cold in the greenhouse.  This moving of plants usually works out okay, although it gets to be a hassle carting them them back and forth every day.

    It will probably be a month, before I can actually plant the tomatoes and chilis into the soil in the greenhouse.  

Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

Pond Ice Disappearing

     I always look forward to seeing the winter ice on the pond start the melt.  The pond is so much more attractive when you can see it reflecting the sky once again.  It will be a couple more days before the ice is totally gone.  

    Yesterday when I walked around the pond, I was pleased to see that the pair of Hooded Mergansers had returned.  They have been coming for about 10 years  The female nests in a box on a tree and if everything goes as planned she will latter have a string of ducklings swimming behind her when they hatch.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca