First impressions

October 16, 2008 Pam Leave a comment

I went to see Max yesterday at the SPCA in Abbotsford. We spotted him on the internet and when I called to see if he was still there, he was! We thought we should go look, as he looked lost and alone, and frightened to be there.. Alicia was especially helpful once we got there, in telling us about Max. We thought he looked lovely. Someone had taken the time to groom him nicely and spruce him up, and he walked so nicely on the lead with us, and trotted like a trooper 🙂 My husband Maurice and I both felt like this little guy really should be part of our pack… and so the paperwork got done. We are waiting for Max’s surgery to be done tomorrow (thursday) and then we get to bring him home Friday or Saturday… and then we will have our furbaby home with us, and life will be good. I know he’s going to have a different personality from our first boy Buck… and that as a part chow, he’s going to be a stubborn guy about a few things 🙂 but we are up for it and our urge to give this guy a loving home far outweighs any thoughts that it might be more than we are used to.. 🙂

This Blog is going to be our diary of Max. Friends and family and dog lovers can help celebrate his life here with us. Post if you want, Max will answer you 🙂

…Pam and Maurice…

All About Max

First looks

October 15, 2008 Maxie 3 Comments

Mum and Dad came to the SPCA today and spotted me. They were not afraid of me because I barked. The staff had warned them that I do that when I don’t know who people are.. I just did it once though and then I was ok , and they seemed to like me!! I’ve been in the shelter for 2 months now, people come and go and pass me by. I can’t figure it out!? I don’t know why I got left here in the first place, after being a good boy for 7 years, all I know is I am ready to get sprung!

I’m really hoping they take me home cuz Dad took me for a walk, and then Mum took me for a spin too and we even jogged a bit! It was fun and my tail was high and I was steppin out proud! J Man it was fun… beats the heck out of sitting in a cage. Oh Man….they left, but they were sure making a fuss of me, so I’m wondering if they are coming back? No one ever made that fuss over me before…

Vacations

Ohio 2008

June 25, 2008 Maurice 2 Comments

Ohio June 2008

Now, we were in Ohio again this summer, staying at Joy and Randy’s place. (Happy 38th Anniversary you two!) We played a TON of golf – and let me tell you – Ohio is a GREAT place to play golf.

Let me tell you – some terrific courses, for some unbelievable prices. How does this sound? 18 holes on a terrific championship course, a cart, lunch and a sleeve of balls for 20 bucks! Yep that’s right, we did that in Ohio. And there were other great deals too – but the sleeve of balls kinda set this one apart!

Comparable courses back home in Vancouver would be double, triple or more! Not that you couldn’t pay more in Ohio, but there was no need! They live quite close to Firestone GCC, so that tells you there is a pedigree there. Every day there was a new challenging course to play. But sadly, we took very few pictures. Most of these shots are from the one course – and I’m not even sure what course that is, to tell you the truth.

But hey, 9 rounds in 11 days… we played a lot of golf!

Here is a movie of a couple famous golfers, who recently (October 18, 2008) celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary.

Amish Country

Mesopotamia, Ohio This is the parking lot at the local Walmart in Amish Country, southern Ohio!

As Randy says, Sam Walton knows a thing or two about marketing, and he wasn’t about to pass up customers with shall we say, less than traditional modes of transportation!

Taking a tour through Amish country is a must when you’re in Ohio. Lots of beautiful furniture made by people who take the time to do really nice work. Just amazing to wander through some of the places.

This is outside the store in Mesopotamia. Randy and Pam try to pass as Amish, but the jig was up when we told Pam that she had to get up at the crack of dawn every day!

Standing in the middle of town, across the street from where Randy and Pam had their picture taken is what is billed as the biggest horse in the world. Whether it is or not, this large wooden horse with Amish buggy is pretty darn cool, eh?

Ashtabula County, Covered Bridges

Randy is a prodigious driver and we get to see a lot of the beautiful countryside in Ohio. The golf courses I’ve already raved about, but the area where they live has a lot of deer running around, too!

I believe this movie is of the Harperfield covered bridge, in Ashtabula County, in north eastern Ohio.

This county is quite famous for the number and variety of covered bridges in the area.

ALL THE OHIO PICTURES.

Grand Cayman, Vacations

Feeding Frenzy!

December 7, 2007 Maurice Leave a comment

Lots and lots of fishes! This is a feeding frenzy folks! Pam brought some fish food into the water and they went crazy for it! Not sure it’s the best thing to be doing, feeding fish? Might attract some big nasty fish, who knows?

We chose a site right at the cruise ship harbor in downtown Georgetown called Eden Rock for our last dive, and man, are we glad we got in here. The entry to the water was easy, with stairs cut into the rock. As soon as you hit the water, you see these HUGE fish called Tarpons.

The next couple of pictures are more of the same feeding frenzy. It’s kind of amazing to be totally surrounded by all these feeding fish, with HUGE tarpons just looking on.

Check out the last couple of pictures on this page for the tarpons – they are about 5-7 feet long and about 200+ pounds – quite intimidating! The waiter at the restaurant right beside Eden Rock, cleans his fish, then throws the debris in the ocean. The TARPONS jump right out of the water to grab the pieces! Unreal!

We saw some other great fish, too. Tim spotted this blue peacock flounder. It was so cool to see him move. He kinda glides along like a flying carpet.

Here is a movie of the dive with the tarpons, off Eden Rock. Some fairly large fish here!

Grand Cayman, Vacations

More snorkeling pictures

December 6, 2007 Maurice Leave a comment

We have snorkeled every single day, and most days twice – unless shopping got in the way! I’ve said it before, and it certainly bears repeating, the clarity of the water is truly astonishing. Sometimes it seems we can see as far as we can on land. It is just that clear.

This blue-lipped fish is really bright. Called a rock beauty, it lives up to that name, that’s for sure!

I never dreamed there was such a world under the water! Everywhere we look, there are fish, and lots of them, not a bunch here, a few there, none there. There are fish everywhere we look, everywhere we turn.

Of course we had another great sunset. Going to miss those a lot. Vancouver can get some good sunsets, but a lot are just ho hum. Every night has been a great picture here on Grand Cayman.

Grand Cayman, Vacations

Swimming with the stingrays

December 5, 2007 Maurice Leave a comment

We’re nearing the end of our vacation, and today we headed out to see the famous Stingray City. We took a large catamaran about a mile off land, and then hopped into the ocean. It was FILLED with stingrays. The Stingrays having been coming to these waters for years to collect the scraps the fisherman toss over the edge, as they clean their catch. The stingrays are quite docile, and don’t mind being handled and touched. They feel sort of like a big portabella mushroom!

It was really quite an experience.

Then they took us to the Coral Gardens. That was easily the most amazing experience we’ve had in the water! I was so distracted, I did not hear the blasts to return to the ship and almost got left out there! Honestly, I simply did not hear it, it had nothing to do with not wanting to leave!

But the fish were amazing. We saw a very cool Nassau grouper, Pam’s been waiting for one of those. Big faces and lips on them. The colors of the coral were something to see as well. We thought we’d seen coral, but wow, this was so much different. There were long golden stalks of what looked like feathers waving in the sea. There were elkhorn coral, brain coral… coral I can’t name. But seeing it all together like that, in this huge teeming world, it was amazing. Just remarkable.

Grand Cayman, Vacations

Sunday is the day to relax

December 3, 2007 Maurice Leave a comment

Today we mostly just swam in the ocean, since Sundays are pretty closed up around here. No shops or markets are open on Sundays, so it’s just a quiet day of relaxation.The weather was nice – about 28 or 29 C – the ocean was about 27 or 28 C – so it was nice swimming out to the reefs to see all the fish.

The queen triggerfish is really amazing. He was quite large, about 2.5 feet high. The way they move is so graceful and elegant. They don’t really seem to be doing anything, yet they are moving along at quite a fast clip. the coloring on his eye – it is amazing, wow. Really cool to have seen this fish today.

The coral is really cool. Very colorful, and lots of fish like to hide out among the spikes and growths. These yellow guys are called yellowtail snapper, or maybe a French grunt?

We have seen a couple different kinds of these flat-bottomed fish. They look like little ships floating in the ocean. They have the tiniest little wings to move them along. Cute! I find myself drawn to them!