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Tag: Stella
Enjoying the sun
All Ears
The cattle dogs were extremely focused on something outside the rustic cottage we recently stayed in. Faye and I never did see it or figure it out.
Dogs at Play
I am sorting through photos and came across these from the time shortly after we moved back to this house.
Achilles kicks off a merry chase game and Kendal joins in, which he rarely did.
Achilles leads on with Kendal in hot pursuit of him. Achilles is so fluid and graceful, Kendal is pure power. Chilidog can outmaneuver Kendal but if Kendal caught him, Chili would be bowled over. Stella is in hot pursuit of Kendal. Stella and Achilles have been buds for seven years now. Sometimes she singles Kendal out for special attention more than I like.
Chase games happen less frequently now, the dogs are older. While it would be easy to be sad about that, I prefer not to be. I look at these photos and smile. I look at Stella and Kendal now, several years on. They are crashed on separate dog beds on the deck. (I would look at Achilles but he is inside, crashed on the love seat. They are our dogs. They are good dogs.
Basking in the sun
Fuzzbutt
This is one of my favourite photos of Stella. She is in some ways a typical ACD – wary, never truly and completely relaxing, a bit schitzy. She also curious and you could say has an intense nose and hearing. When I come home after visiting different places she buries her nose in my pant leg (or my leg leg, grin) investigating.
During our second winter in Canada we walked after a big snow and brisk winds which piled the snow into drifts. Stella must have heard a mouse or other critter under the drift and plunged into the drift after it. She did that quite a few times on this walk, and on many snowy walks since.
O Canada
Some people prefer to leave their home on a holiday weekend – to camp, go to the lake, visit friends or family, and so on. Faye and I prefer to stay close to home. It’s an atypicial summer day, cloudy, about 22 degrees, with a refreshing east-northeast breeze. So far today we have tended to chores and have walked the dogs. We took Kendla on a short walk then while Faye settled him in the backyard with a marrow bone, we took the cattle dogs on a longer walk along the river. We discovered that the black raspberry bushes and the mulberry trees along the riverbank are bearing. I think we will go back during the week to harvest. Stella got an off leash romp and of course took a dip – she is actually a duck disguised as a dog. Come see what I mean.
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This is my second Canada Day as a Canadian citizen. I love living in this town, in this country. Once I moved here I never seriously considered moving back the the States. There are so many things I love about living here. Being in this small town. Experiencing four seasons. Good health care with far fewer worries about being able to afford going to the doctor (though if I didn’t have insurance through my employer, dental care and prescription meds would be 100% out-of-pocket expenses). More people here have more of a sense of pride and of belonging to their country, citzenship, than I think is commonly found in the States or felt by Americans.
It’s not a perfect place. This province is one of the have-nots, burdened with a monstrous debt that will likely only grow as people age and put more pressure on the health care system. I object to the my-way-or-the-highway method of governance practiced by the federal Conservative government (along with other aspects of its governance) and eagerly await my first opportunity to vote.
Despite those and other imperfections, Canada is my home. I feel very comfortable, very much at home here and look forward to spending the rest of my life here with my lovely wife. That’s why I applied for Canadian citizenship within days of becoming eligible, and why (among other reasons) I strengthened my bond and commitment to my home by renouncing my US citizenship. If I had the opportunity to choose again I would make the same decisions. None of these blessings would have entered my life without Faye. Thank you.
Happy and safe Canada Day to all.
Time to rest.
It’s a rough life, being one of our dogs.
The Internet and the Watch Dog
Our internet has been up and down and unpredictably so. It has been difficult to do much of anything. It seems that our ISP-provided modem has been faulty, so a new one is being couriered.
We are not Freaked Out, Panicked, and Discombobulated by having unpredictable connectivity. While it has been annoying, Faye and I have easily dealt with it. This evening we spent even more time sitting on the deck enjoying this evenings’ episode of BYTV or Back Yard TV. We watched the hummingbirds visit the feeder, heard a few rumbles of thunder, talked about how to store vegetables outdoors in straw bale storage.
As always, Stella is on guard, keeping a vigilant eye peeled for the evil squirrels that would invade the backyard. This out of focus cell phone photo only hints at her watchful demeanour.
Stella
Owning Australian Cattle dog mix (ACDx) Stella has taught me more about owning dogs and my relationship to them than any other dog that I have owned. Each dog is different, my home, my needs, my desires and thoughts on what a good dog is are different from yours. Not better or worse,
I brought her home as a nine month old puppy and had I not gotten serious about training and working with her, she could have been an unpleasant handful because she needed, and still needs, a job. A lot of hard and rewarding work has gone into giving her a job. I have tried to give her interesting work as well as a calm home environment for her to relax in. Stella is ten now and she’s a good dog.
Of course, I am not at all biased.
previouslytexan 