The Blog of Blues

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blues2cruise
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Re: The Blog of Blues

#1441 Unread post by blues2cruise »

Wow! I have been at my sister's doing childcare. She and her partner went to Vegas for a wedding so I was at home with the ten year old boy. I had forgotten how labour intensive kids are. This kid was particularly challenging because he was so angry at not being able to go with his parents. It's exhausting being with someone who is rude, angry, argumentative and uncooperative.
Consequently I never got time to deal with my pictures.
Then my sister and her partner got home...but my sister came home with a back problem....went into spasm...and has been out of commission...so I have still been getting my nephew up in the morning and off to school...and taking care of my sister during the day.

This evening I finally got a chance to at least get my pictures into one folder. Then had to go on the internet to find out how to resize the images.

Here is one....
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me at yukon sign.jpg
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blues2cruise
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Re: The Blog of Blues

#1442 Unread post by blues2cruise »

I haven't been around very much since I retired and moved at the end of June. Being a vagabond makes it a challenge to keep up with anything. I have now been in one place for almost 2 weeks. My laptop is up and running and now I can access it and the internet easily.

I know that this photo show I am showing you doesn't have anything to do with motorcycling....oh...wait....to make it official about motorcycling...here is an image I took in Watson Lake, Yukon.
around the world bike trip.jpg
I asked these people if I could take their picture. They were happy to have me do it. They were from the Czeck Republic and were riding around the world. I saw them again at a couple of other campsites. They were making their way to Vancouver.

Now...The photo show is 3 minutes long. All pictures are mine. All taken in November. All in British Columbia.

https://www.dropbox.com/home?preview=Al ... vember.mp4
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blues2cruise
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Re: The Blog of Blues

#1443 Unread post by blues2cruise »

And one picture for good measure....also in November.
Nice to see you.jpg
Those who know me, know that I love horses. So, of course I had to stop and ogle. The horses seemed happy for a visit because they came over to the fence for some patting.
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blues2cruise
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Re: The Blog of Blues

#1444 Unread post by blues2cruise »

I have now experienced towing...albeit a small trailer....it was 6 x 12.

I need a bit more practicing with backing...but for a first time...was ok.
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Then....on my back after dropping off the trailer....there was snow on the Coquihalla. I pulled off into the bus and truck rest stop...because it is big and there were no other vehicles there. I got to do some donuts in the snow and practice hard braking and acceleration. Tired both rear wheel and 4 wheel drive. It's good to know how your vehicle and tires handle in snowy conditions.
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The sun came out and I had a sunshiny drive the rest of the way to Shuswap Lake...well...except for the fog patches....
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blues2cruise
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Re: The Blog of Blues

#1445 Unread post by blues2cruise »

It was minus 8 here today. And windy...so windy that the lake has waves that make it sound like the ocean.

I picked today to go prune a couple of apple trees. Of course it did not occur to me when I set off that the wood of the branches would be frozen. :roll:

I worked at it for a while until my arm muscles knew they had been working.

The place where I am staying for the winter has a small very old orchard at the back of the property. It takes about ten minutes to walk through the forest to it. The bears are hibernating right now....otherwise I might not feel inclined to go up there by myself. There is scat up there left over from the autumn feasting of apples. ..
The Forgotten Orchard.jpg
In the forgotten orchard..jpg
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blues2cruise
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Re: The Blog of Blues

#1446 Unread post by blues2cruise »

There has been plenty of snow...for a few weeks it was a few inches every couple of days....I was able to keep up with the shoveling.
But then...we got about 12 inches in 20 hours....
Fortunately a neighbour with a cat and 8 ft. bucket came and cleared that big dump of snow for me.

The temperature averages from zero to minus 8....but for a couple of weeks it went down to minus 18.

I don't mind the cold. I don't mind the snow. I didn't expect how dirty it would be. The road maintenance company spreads a lot of sand ... which is actually more like gravel some of the pieces are so big. Then of course as vehicles drive through it the roads are just one big slushy, sandy, muddy mess.

Hmmmm....I resized my pictures but a box comes up telling me the files are too large. Things have changed here so I need to go find out.
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blues2cruise
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Re: The Blog of Blues

#1447 Unread post by blues2cruise »

The driveway at the back of the house
back resized.jpg
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The driveway from the side of the house looking down to the road.
driveway resized.jpg
driveway resized.jpg (102.84 KiB) Viewed 19626 times
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blues2cruise
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Re: The Blog of Blues

#1448 Unread post by blues2cruise »

We are in the middle of a blowing and snowing winter system.
I have snowshoes with me so I use them to go on walkabouts with the neighbour's dog. I am looking after the dog while they are on vacation.
I have taken the dog beach walking and trail walking up into the woods and just simple walks to the mailbox and back..the mailbox is approximately a km away.
I have made sure not to stay out too long because I don't want the dog's paws to freeze...a couple of times I have noticed she starts lifting a paw and licking it while we were out so I know it's time to go in.

As far as the dog owners are concerned they said I could let her out in the morning, feed her twice a day and let her out at night. I told them I would take her out for walks as I had been doing before they left. It was my idea to take the dog for walks so that the dog got to know me before they left. I have looked after other people's dogs before and I know that a dog will pine for its owner.
The first couple of days I know this dog was very confused. She was happy to go for walks though. Tail wagging and nose to ground sniffing everywhere. I keep her on the leash when we walk on the road, but once we get to the beach or up in the woods, I let her off leash. I'm sure she walks three times as much as I do on these walks. She runs ahead and then runs back...in between the sideways forays.

Lately with so much snow I brought the dog to the house where I am house sitting. Only 2 house away. I thought it might be nice for the dog to be outside and have company while I shovel snow.

BAD IDEA

At first she was happy enough sniffing around the property. And when I lost sight of her, I would whistle and call and she would come back. Then she didn't come back. After an hour I put on my snowshoes and went in search of her. I found her cavorting with the neighbour's dog up in the meadow behind the property here. They made me give chase but I got her on the leash and brought her back.
She is not my dog and I sure don't want anything to happen while the owner's are gone.

Yesterday....another big snowfall...so I brought the dog over while I shoveled snow. I had already taken her out beach walking . Once again she was being good and came back when I called and whistled...but then she was gone for a while and didn't come back. I had a feeling she had hooked up with the neighbour's dog again. I carried on moving snow around but when it started to get late, I began to worry. I asked the neighbour...no he hadn't seen them...but then he lets his dog run loose all day.
I got my snowshoes and poles and went in search. I hiked up to the meadow twice...walked along the roadway in both directions...got in my truck and drove the road looking...it was dark.
I went to the neighbour but his dog wasn't home yet. He was not concerned at all and said he'd bring the dog over when they got back.
Eventually to dog came back on her own. I heard barking at the back door....she had been gone for 4 hours. I was so relieved.
Her paws and legs were covered in snowballs. Her tail had snowballs stuck all over...Her belly had snowballs...
I put her on the leash and took her to her house. I made her sit inside the door so snow wouldn't get tracked inside. I filled her food bowl and brought it to her. She must have been soooo hungry. Usually when I put the food in she looks at it and walks away...BORING...but she gobbled this down in a hurry.
I left her to rest and lick her self.
A couple of hours later I went back to let her out for night time pee. She was curled up and didn't want to move. I encouraged her to go so I could go back to my place and go to bed myself.
So...this morning when I went over to let her out and fill her food bowl...she didn't want to get up. When she finally did get up she was moving so slowly and it looked like she was limping. I think she really overdid it yesterday. She did not want to go outside. I pulled on her collar to get her outside, She went out just far enough to "go" and came right back. She ate and them resumed her curled up place on her blankets.

I know the experience won't teach the dog a lesson....because at the first opportunity she would go off to play with the other dog.
I, however, learned a lesson. From now on when I'm working outside...the dog stays tied up.
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NorthernPete
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Re: The Blog of Blues

#1449 Unread post by NorthernPete »

Dogs are definitely creatures of opportunity. Lol
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blues2cruise
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Re: The Blog of Blues

#1450 Unread post by blues2cruise »

It is snowing again where I am. I should have known better than to polish the chrome on my truck.

The road maintenance trucks use so much sand and salt and don't plow very well....it get so sloppy and dirty. The crud from the road sprays up so much it seeps into the crevices of the door jams and tailgate. Yesterday I also washed the inside of the truck bed and in the rubber seals...and inside all the doors. What can I say...it was a sunny day.
Then it snowed.

I have been pondering getting another motorbike once I leave here. I'll be going two hours south to live in a month and in theory it won't be snowing anymore.

It has crossed my mind to maybe get a bike with a sidecar. Then if I go on any road trips it can carry plenty of gear.

The delinquent dog from next door came over today while I was out shoveling snow. I'm not a "dog person" but they seem to like me. I was tossing snowballs for him. He is a very large dog and I didn't mind playing with him for a bit, but he started to get rough. When he jumped up he was as tall as I. He got so rambunctious I had to stop.
I'll try to get a picture.
I'm supposed to be driving to the lower mainland tomorrow. If this snow keeps up, it will be a slow drive.
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