I would like to start off this post with a heartfelt, but unfortunately and typically not very eloquent, tribute to two special dogs who sadly had to be put down last week. Bazil was one of the 'Sled Pets', a handsome, affectionate and utterly sweet boy who reminded me of my dog Buffy in a lot of ways. His passing hit me uncharacteristically hard and I miss him greatly.
The second loss was of one of the house dogs Blueberry, just the day after. He was a beautiful, loyal, funny, and very special boy whose eyes where a vibrant, bright blue. His passing came as a huge shock and he has left a large space in the house for such a small dog.
It's amazing how much the temperature fluctuates here, one day it will be 4'c and the next 21'c! On one of the warm days we got to go to an amazing lodge for an amazing brunch (remember that place thats painted with Native American art from the 1930's? That place!) and then went to go check out the beach, which as with almost everywhere on this part of Lake Superior's coast is beautiful.
As some days were getting very close to freezing we have had to turn on the wood furnace which heats the house. This means it is going to be on now all winter, which means we need a LOT of wood. Queue the days of chopping and stacking wood! It's quite a satisfying task though to be honest with you.
With the old bits of wood from clearing the area the house was built on we built a huge bonfire! I do love a good bonfire!
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| View of the fire from the kennels |
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| Thistles are just any other weed here. But to me it's burning the flower of Scotland! |
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| Posing with the fire... As you do. |
we enjoyed ciders and toasted marshmallows around the flames and it was a great evening
The fire was so big however it smoked and steamed for days afterwards!
Here is the wood furnace we stock up a couple of times a day to warm the house and keep it toasty - it's pretty cool.
There was a beautiful sunrise this week. I usually organise dog play groups so I don't have to get up majorly early but when I do it is very peaceful, calm and almost always beautiful.
When we made the trip up to Canada for the vets I spotted these signs - Scotland Street and a ski area and a road named Loch Lomond - where we used to live in Scotland. It was a little tiny bit of home thousands of miles away!
A new handler named Rachel came this week also after finishing a hike along the Appalachian Trail, which goes from Georgia to Maine through 14 states - pretty awesome really. She's great to work with and I'm having a great time with her and to top it off, on her first night we got to have another bonfire! Remember I just mentioned I love bonfires right?
On the days when it is cold we get to do 'fall training'. When it is under 10'Celcius we can run the dogs to train their endurance, manners etc etc. We hook up 8 of them to the ATV and they pull you through the forrest - yup it is just as fun as it sounds (very)!
Even though the woods are beautiful it can be really fun to get into Grand Marais (the nearest town, population 1330). This week we went on Schooner boat trip around Grand Marais, which was beautiful. There was the perfect amount of wind for most of it and we would heel really high and water would come over the side which is exciting - although the woman whose 80th birthday present was to come on the boat didn't look too happy!
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| Rachel and I preparing to sail. |
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| Beautiful views of Grand Marais |
The scenery is beautiful here with a lot of the trees changing colours for autumn and we like to go and 'tour' them. Our first stop was Ester Lake, the lake I usually get all those amazing sunset photos? A good few of us went and it was a great trip.
Yesterday we took another trip and this time brought the house dogs Sayah and Copper along. While Sayah lay flat in the back, trying not to be sick, Copper was up at the front, relishing his adventure! He loves car rides!
There was a river crossing the road (well, I suppose a road crossing a river) which was very exciting, and the path became very narrow and it was basically just a tiny trail in the middle of the vast forest.
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| View from the car window as we drove through the river |
We were heading to a pretty little cabin, although we forgot the key to get in. We walked the dogs and went home again as the drive was a good amount of excitement anyway!
