Spear Grass Proposition

I was greeted as I walked in the front door today, not by Yoshi, but by a note from our dog walker saying she had taken him to the vet. He had gotten some spear grass into his ear.

Spear grass is dangerous since the barbed seeds can burrow into the skin, and become infected, or even end up in the bloodstream. If they migrate to the lungs, or other organs, this can kill a pet. Besides the danger, it is also a very expensive proposition to get the grass barbs removed.

After a quick panic I saw there was a voice message, and it was the vet clinic calling to say Yoshi was fine, and that the 2 barbs had been removed without any problems. He didn’t even need to be sedated.

Sox retrieved him, and learned that our dog walker had him at Macaulay Point Park, and after running through some grass started shaking his head a lot. She checked him over, saw the grass in his ear canal, and took him to the vet. Our dog walker is awesome! It is attention like this that makes us grateful to have her. Every day in the summer she checks him for spear grass and tics.

No worse for the wear, Yoshi was happy to eat dinner when he got home. We got off lucky too.

Langley Weekend

A couple weekends ago we made a trip to Langley to visit Sox’s family, and to visit with some friends. It was a great trip but rather expensive when you add in the IKEA trip.

My mother in law has the most amazing garden, and every time I visit I come away with some spectacular pictures of her flowers.

While there we walked up to a nearby park so Sprout could play. He enjoyed the slide a lot.

I also took Yoshi up to the dog park a couple times where he had a great time.

On the last day we were there I got out on my own to just wander and shoot. Downtown Langley was pretty quiet for BC Day, but it gave me more opportunity to take pictures.

It was a great trip. Lots packed into a long weekend.

All the pics are here.

Historical Firetruck

Today myself and another from the photoclub got out for a shoot. We went to the Saanich Historical Artifacts Society which from what I rememebered had some very interesting older vehicles, but also lots of other stuff.

When we arrived we were greeted with a lot of people, and some tents set up. It turned out that there was some picnic thing for local kids happening at the same time (despite what their calendar of events on the website said).

Despite the amount of people, and the distractions, I had great fun with there, and spent a lot of time with an old firetruck. I probably could have spent 3 hours taking pictures at the society, and I will make sure I/we go back some time.

All my pics are here.

Racing Moments

Last night was Big Rig Racing out at Western Speedway. What a hoot. The racing was great, no big accidents, but lots of tense moments. The burnout competition was pretty good too! I got a few pictures of that, and a movie of it too!

The hornet race cars were out in force, and they were hilarious. Nearly stock 4 cylinder cars with working horns and radios. It seemed like an entry level racing series but it looked like it would be very fun to try out.

The mini stocks were a higher level of racing than the hornets, and their cars, and driving skills reflected that.

I’m glad I was able to go. This one show reminded me of how much I enjoy watching racing. I think I will try to get out again some time this season. It is such good entertainment for the money, and I always come away glad I went.

Pics are here.

Swim Activity

Another early morning swim for me in which I managed 700m. I did 3X100m and 2X200m swims. I know I could have swam longer, and maybe next Thursday I will try for more than 200M continuous.

I am not sure what my end goal is, but I know that I am not getting a lot of physical activity, and I know I need it. Swimming is pretty easy to do, is close to home, and doesn’t take too much time out of my day. So far the hardest part about swimming is dragging myself out of bed.

This morning one thing really stood out about getting to the pool at 6:15. I was (by far) the youngest person in the pool. In the gym there were lots of people my age, but in the pool I was definitely out of place. Interesting.

Reward Tank

Lost: 1 Tiger Barb fish
Doesn’t answer to the name Stumpy, but that is his name
Reward if found.

As mentioned in a previous entry my Tiger Barbs haven’t been playing well with one another. Shortly after that post I was down to 2 barbs, but Stumpy slowly recovered. His fin grew back and he seemed happy in the tank.

Then, last night I was feeding the fish and didn’t see Stumpy. He has completely disappeared.There is no trace of him, not one little piece of carcass. It is very odd

Cowichan Morning

This past weekend Sox, Sprout and I headed up to Cowichan for an overnight stay at the deGoede cabin. As Sox mentioned, the weather wasn’t ideal, but it made for a relaxing time “in”. Big E and Sprout played very well together allowing Sox and I to relax. I took my camera gear but of course it was too wet to really take it out.

One really, nice side effect for me was to catch up on some quality sleep. The whole previous week I had been having bad sleeps. The night at the cabin solved that. A perfectly darkened room, no city noises, and a comfy bed. I felt great in the morning.