Carol & Garston Blackwell And A
We made one trip this year to the mining convention in Vancouver. It was a good conference, free starters at Teck Corporation HQ in the top floor of one of the skyscrapers, followed by the conference dinner at the convention centre with prizes for excellence in mining. Gar, along with 20 or so past students, submitted a recommendation for his previous boss to be awarded a very prestigious wood carving with embossed medal, the Selwyn Blaylock award for contributions to the mining industry. Next night Madeleine and Peter Calder, the prize recipient, took us for dinner at the Seasons in the Park with a beautiful view of the city. We then took the ferry to Victoria and stayed there to visit the Butchart Gardens. I always wish I had taken my Grandmother there as she would have enjoyed it so much. The near neighbors have illuminated the next street over, but this year they have cut their hydro bill by using LED s. Their color and light show easily beats the cities downtown lights and makes the area Christmas.
Tinto is doing well and weighs 45 lbs now. He has a pancreas problem which is affecting large numbers of Alsatians (German Shepherds) and is the result of poor breeding. It is now spreading through the dog population including Border Collies. There is no cure, but mixing Tinto s food with dried pig pancreatic powder enables dogs to successfully live out their normal life as they can fully digest their food and grow normally. It was terrible for us to find the condition in our expensive well-bred collie, but that is the nature of dogs. He has been neutered so he won t pass on whatever causes the problem. Our vet had seen the condition in Alsatians and it took a few weeks of testing to find the problem, originally diagnosed as stomach flu. The breeder was notified to prevent Tinto s parents having more puppies together and offered to take him back. By then he was part of the family and we couldn t send him to an unknown fate when the condition can be treated apparently successfully. He gets picked up 3 days a week and taken to a big fenced farm in a bus full of his buddies and they all go for a walk and run for a few hours. He gets totally covered in mud, but the winter ice and snow should stop that. Here he is home again letting us know what a good time he had. However, all good times come to an end and he gets to visit the dog wash. He gets out of our truck, looks around and gets back in as soon as he figures out where he is. He is slowly getting to enjoy his bath time but doesn t let on. He is welcomed by all the people on the farm and the staff at the dog cleaners and the groomer. He loves children and lays down close to them waiting to be petted.
After his wash, comb and blow dry Tinto is clean enough to play in the house with his favourite chocolate rubber bone. Presently he is being treated for a cut in the base of the pad on the bottom of his paw from glass he walked on or dug around, so he is confined to home for a few weeks. We will teach him some more vocabulary when he is clean, but he is a fast runner who loves chasing and being chased. Macy, our Maine Coon, is doing well despite his muscle tightness. He gets a few mls of medicine before his meals and his coat and agility are excellent for his age. He can close his eyes and his fur is silky and not wiry. It worried me that I might have to have the vet help him pass on, but he has sprung back well.
After a few Sunday night pet hospital visits. we are looking at a big strong cat for a few years yet. He tolerates the dog and is not vicious at all, but I don t think Tinto would like a bite from Macy s big fangs, a situation we are desperate to avoid. No prizes for guessing which is Monkey and which is Macey, quite the pair. I still remember our decision to take Monkey after we took Macy at the Animal Shelter. They were together in a big cage, and we didn t want to split them up.
Unfortunately, we made the decision to take the pair a few days after Macy came home, and in the meantime a terrible cat virus spread through the shelter and killed quite a few of the cats. They kept moving Monkey away from infected areas as he had a home to go to. For a week or so I dropped over to see him after work, and he purred his heart out with joy when he saw me, and I held him. I had to wash my clothes to avoid bringing the bug home to Macy, and then one evening the Shelter called to say we should take him home but keep him quarantined for a couple of weeks. His name Monkey is from catching him half way up the curtains. After a while he became the healthiest of our two cats, and we expected him to outlive Macy by several years. He was always young at heart, and became very obedient and everyone he met loved him because he was so friendly. He loved chasing his toy mice mousey monkey and bringing them back to you, placing them at your feet. He chatted with anyone who visited with a series of meow tones answering anything spoken, and his purr sounded like a big diesel engine. He woke up Carols brother in law one morning, looking at him with his big sparkling green eyes and purring loudly. Ron had a nightmare that he was being run over by a big mining truck with green headlights!
If I don t get a present your Christmas tree is going to be cut down! A very sad event took place late this summer. Monkeys groomer noticed a lump on the side of his neck which became bigger. The vet thought it was something benign and cut it out leaving poor Monkey in an Elizabethan collar for three weeks. The biopsy results showed an aggressive cancer which slowly started to spread and in another three weeks Monkey found eating and drinking very painful. I took him to the vet who advised that in just a few more days our already gaunt little cat would be in serious pain. That morning he sat on my lap and then tried to sleep in Carol s chair. So early in the afternoon I took him to the vet and held him as he passed on peacefully holding one of his toy mice. It was more than sad for me as I lost a close friend who helped Macy catch any bugs or rodents in the house, and who was so playful and obedient. I still miss him at breakfast when he always meowed for my blunt almond butter knife to lick off any butter. He seemed to enjoy eating anything I ate, but he needed Macy to flip the knife over to clean the butter from both sides. The vet was very supportive as we had given our little cat a very good home and the best of care over many years, and not left him to an uncertain fate at the Animal Shelter.
I buried him under his favorite tree where he watched from our window as the birds took the little berries from the tree in the fall and winter. The leaves provide lots of shade for him in summer, and he is very much missed. The first snowfall of this winter 2018/2019