Lucky Dog

SaskLotteries is having a contest for their new lottery ticket called "Lucky Dog".  Check it out and vote for my dogs :o)

https://luckydogphotos.sasklotteries.ca/default.aspx?p=r&r=c_pup_photoviewer&c=PUP2&pid=5d4e089f-e949-400e-a5bf-0cbdc78910dd

https://luckydogphotos.sasklotteries.ca/default.aspx?p=r&r=c_pup_photoviewer&c=PUP6&pid=3a4133c7-e420-44c7-868e-851eb8945036

https://luckydogphotos.sasklotteries.ca/default.aspx?p=r&r=c_pup_photoviewer&c=PUP7&pid=6295ef44-9e53-4e5f-8628-83a9356b9550

https://luckydogphotos.sasklotteries.ca/default.aspx?p=r&r=c_pup_photoviewer&c=PUP6&pid=a97e5dd1-2b5f-48f2-bd84-8b2bb844a21d

https://luckydogphotos.sasklotteries.ca/default.aspx?p=r&r=c_pup_photoviewer&c=PUP3&pid=38133445-c26b-414d-afef-945035b34093

https://luckydogphotos.sasklotteries.ca/default.aspx?p=r&r=c_pup_photoviewer&c=PUP3&pid=3f80188d-1cab-427a-886b-0cfad282e318

Thanks!

PS.  Jodie is booked in for her spay tomorrow.  Yikes!  I'm definitely not ready for this.  It's going to be a long next couple of days!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Just killin' time at work :o)  Don't tell the boss :o)

Everyone be safe, and try to practice some patience

Shaw :: Together is Amazing :)

Shaw :: Together is Amazing :)

Water Woes

Background Information:

This summer saw our land (~100 acres) almost completely under water.  We basically had a moat and you could only cross through the hills at the West end of the land or though the driveway.  On the North part of our land is a small body of water that is rented by Ducks Unlimited.  Contained with berms in this body of water is the lagoon for the town of Prud'homme.   This body of water is also on our neighbors land (actually closer to them then to us).  We share a well for water with these neighbors.  The well is about 100 feet from this body of water.

The Story:

After 20 some-odd years of neglect, the berms that contain the lagoon have given way.  Also, the lagoon has been completely submerged in water.  This means that everything that every person in the town of Prud'homme flushed down their toilet is released onto our land (ex. dental floss holders, toilet paper, tampon applicators).  Now when I or my neighbor goes out back on our land with our dogs, we have this wonderful view of garbage.  The second issue that this is causing is it is messing with our well water.  We have had it tested and there has been no jump in bacteria but the Nitrate level has made a significant jump.  Nitrates can not be removed by boiling and can cause Nitrite poisoning or cancer.  It also causes build-up in your taps, drains, dishwasher, clothes washer, etc. which can actually break many appliances.  It leaves a film on dishes and makes your skin REALLY dry.  And gives you a rash!  GROSS!  The Health Ministry recommended chlorinating our well and that young children and babies should not bath in our water until the nitrate levels go down.

The Problem:

So, we call the town up and ask what they are going to do about this.  "Oh, nothing right now" they say.  They have a grant from the government right now and they would rather upgrade the town's water purification system then fix the lagoon.  Ummm, I don't think so.  So they say "alright, we'll get someone out to look at it".  So a guy from Sask Environment comes out and says, "yup, it's broken".  Gee, thanks, didn't catch that one.  They also plan a meeting with an engineer to draft a repair plan, after which I was supposed to receive a phone call, which I never did and that was almost a month ago now.  I eventually called them back and the lady who answered said "oh yeah, the mayor wants to talk to you, she has some questions for you, please call her at home in the evening".  Uh, okay.  If she wants to talk to me why didn't she call me back?

So fine, they want to be like that, I'll get some government or some committee or something on my side.  Yeah, good luck!  I emailed Ducks Unlimited, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, and the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority and they all said they were not responsible and to talk to one of the other ones.  Although Ducks Unlimited at least tried to help, there just really wasn't anything they could do.

And now it's winter and everything is under a thick layer of ice and snow and is just silently poluting where people can't see.  Next step, I'm not sure yet.  Maybe start drinking the water so I can get sick, get time off work, and sue the town?  Sounds like all winning to me :o)

Seven Summits Coffee Company

My cousin and his wife have started their own coffee been company.  If you are in the Warfield, BC area then check them out!

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Seven-Summits-Coffee-Company/110758325605835

Dishclothes and More for Sale

Looking for something hand-made to give as a gift?  Have to get something for the one who has everything?  Why not order a hand-made cotton custom dishcloth or hot-spot.  Or maybe a nice easy-to-wash bag for going to the market.  Check out the photo's for a couple examples (I will try to get more posted).  I have tonnes of patterns to knit or crochet.  Text is very doable, as long as it's not too long.  Color is completely customizable (as long as I can get my hands on it!).  Obviously until I get some more pictures and patterns posted it will be kind of difficult to "pick" out your custom cloth, but if you are interested just send me an email with a description of what you are looking for and what time frame you are dealing with and I will see what I can do!  Or if you are interested in designing your own I can send you the grid sizes and you can design it and I will bring your creation to life (within reason :o) )  Pricing will vary depending on size and number of colors.

What Are You???

If anyone out there knows what this is or knows someone who might know, can you please let me know?  Thanks!

Nothing Like Quadding In Your Own Front Yard

The World Has FIFA Fever!

The FIFA World Cup starts today in South Africa!  Soccer hooligans are my favorite!  Here is the official song by Shakira.  It's actually pretty fun!


Well, there used to be a YouTube link here but Sony pulled it down, but you can see the video here: http://www.bscreview.com/2010/06/shakira-waka-waka-world-cup-video/


The opening ceremonies, I think, have actually already happened but I won't get to see them till I get home tonight.  But I did watch Sharkira's performance and it looks like a crazy party!  Can't wait!

Can you mow your lawn with a canoe?

Pretty soon we are going to have to try!

Good thing we own rubber boots!  Maybe we should have planted rice instead of peas and carrots!  I think even the dogs are starting to get sick of the water.  When we came home from work yesterday Jodie was actually dry!

Adventures in Septic Tank Replacement

So last weekend we started having septic tank issues.  The pump was running and never shutting off.  We checked the tank to find it full.  We figured one of the hoses must be plugged so on Monday evening we had our neighbor come over with his honey wagon and pump it out.  To our dismay, the bottom was full of concrete, the tank had collapsed on itself and the hose and plugged everything.

Here's how the last week of our life went:
Monday - get the septic tank pumped out and find out it's collapsed
Tuesday - call Sask1stCall and get all our lines located (which of 3, only one was correct)
Wednesday - get the contractor to come out and make a plan (Colin from Graham Contracting, he and his crew were AWESOME!!), call for a quote on 30 yards of pea gravel
Thursday - get the gravel delivered (which they didn't even tell us they were going to do), start digging looking for the power line (which we could not find because it was much deeper then we thought it was)
Friday - the crew shows up, finds out all the lines are marked out wrong, find the right lines, get the power to the house diverted (since the power and phone lines went right over the old tank)
Saturday - crew comes back out, gets the tank in and digs the trench for the power to go back in
Saturday Night - huge storm, we lose power for the whole night, which only happened because we had company
Sunday - wake up to 2 and a half inches of rain, have to dig the power trench out by hand, get the main power hooked back up; my other half, my dad, and I come out looking like mud monsters and are all at least 3 feet taller
Monday - the crew comes back and finishes the wiring in the middle of the giant clay and dirt mud whole and patches the ground up as best they can (which didn't turn out to be very much because everything was soooo wet); the backhoe gets stuck in the back and the tractor and trailers get stuck in the field

So a one to two day job turned into a 4 day job for the contractor and his crew.  I think they were definitely happy to be leaving the house of bad luck!  The dogs are definitely happy that the constant parade of people to our house is now over.  Although Jaxie was happy that she got to spend a few days in the house!  Our contractor and his crew were super amazing.  They were always very nice and professional, even when things were not going so great.  They felt really bad that they had to leave everything in such a state of disaster but it was not their fault the rain decided to dump on us.  They were definitely a pleasure to work with and made the whole situation seems not quite so bad.  I would (and, unfortunately, probably will) use them again and would recommend them to anyone!  And if you need cheep gravel, call AllRock in Saskatoon.

Here's the new septic tank:

The backhoe starting to dig:

Our yard after and the top of the new tank:

Where the bobcat got stuck:

My new dirt pile:

Where the semi and trailers were stuck:

Their equipment:

We definitely could not have made it through this without my mom and dad.  My dad helped out so much with getting the contractor and with all the wiring side of everything.  Colin Graham from Graham Contracting squished us in between two other jobs that he was working, which is totally awesome otherwise we would still probably not have a septic tank.  So I guess we were pretty lucky in a couple ways.

Now if it would just stop raining so I can start to get the yard put back together!  Oh well, until then, I guess it's back to work on the bar!

Birthday Gifts

I recently attended several birthday parties.  Everyone has so much stuff nowadays that it's really either gift card or something hand-made for gifts.  There really is no point blogging about gift cards so here are the hand-made ones.

I whipped up a couple dish clothes for one.  I had asked what her favorite color was and she said she really liked the blue and yellow in her kitchen, perfect!

One of the balls of yarn had a pattern for this bag.  I knew that this person liked to go to the farmer's market and stuff so I decided to try it out with the leftover yarn from the dish clothes.  I think it turned out pretty good and would be very handy for carrying fruits or vegetables.  And because it's made out of the cotton yarn, you can just throw it in the wash if it gets dirty!  It came out a little smaller then I had hoped but pretty good for a first time.

The second gift was for a chick that is currently trying to become a vet and loves frogs.  I came across these cute fellows in a magazine and just had to make them.

Everyone seemed pleased with their gifts.  Cheap, easy, and mostly useful!  Just the way I like it :o)

Have you ever seen the movie "The Birds"?

Me neither.  1963 was way before my time :o)  But it seems like our land out back could be where they filmed it!  See, part of our land is "rented" out to Ducks Unlimited and that part happens to be under water.  It also happens to be where thousands of geese come in the spring.  Seriously, thousands.  And they are incredibly noisy! 

Even though they bring a lot of noise and poop, we still welcome them every year.  It's a sure sign that summer is on the way.  If you come out to visit us, be sure to keep your mouth closed when looking up!

Who are you and what have you done with my puppy??

Well, the trip to the vet was a complete success.  The day started by getting everything packed into the Escape: dog carrier, leash, piggy toy, chew toy, blanket, puppy.  Okay, all good.  Jodie is definitely an outdoor dog, and when you put an outdoor dog into a carrier (or any dog that isn't used to it) there is going to be a fuss.  She basically howled as loud as she can for about 20 minutes.  Then she finally went to sleep.  Just about to the office and I smell something that is, unfortunately, all to familiar: puppy puke!  Doh!  I was hoping she would sleep through the motion sickness but I guess I'm just not that lucky!  Although it was very lucky that I had thrown a role of paper towel into the truck.  Okay, it's not the first time and it won't be the last time I have to clean up puppy puke.  Got to work and visited for a while.  She was very good!  No biting or barking or chewing on the leash, strange.  Then back in the truck to head to the vet, which is about a 5 minute drive, yup, more puke.  Clean it up again and go to the vet.  Everyone was super nice, including Jodie.  She even went to sleep on the exam table!  Really!  Where's the biting and barking puppy I live with!?!  The exam went really well and they even gave her a little puppy package with a new toy!  She didn't even cry when she got her shot.  Although I think I was much more nervous then her!  Then she was ready to go.  Went to visit the other half and show here off at his work (where she laid down on the floor and just went to sleep).  She then decided she was too tired to walk back to the truck so I carried her :o)  And she slept all the way home (no puke!).  A few days later the vet clinic sent Jodie a welcome card!  Very nice of them.  We will be back again at the beginning of May for a booster shot.  Hopefully she's over the motion sickness by then!

MS Society of Canada

Please sponsor Wendy Britton as she walks to help raise money to find a cure for MS!
MS Society of Canada

Jodie Goes To The Vet

I have to take Jodie to her first vet visit tomorrow morning for a check-up and her first set of shots.  Should be interesting.  I've never taken a dog to the vet before so we'll see how we do.  As long as they don't ask me to hold her while they give her the shots!  I don't think I can take that.

PS We will be making a stop at the Axon parking lot around 9am if anyone is interested in meeting her.  Probably better to do it before the appointment because we'll both be in better moods!

PS3 Heavy Rain Review

This weekend my better half and I played Heavy Rain for the PS3. I must say that it was the most original game I have played to date.

The graphics were absolutely amazing! It was like playing a movie. They had the real actors wear sensors and act out the whole game (just like a movie) so that the movements and facial expressions would be realistic (and they were, sometimes scarily so). I can't remember the exact number of hours recording (I think it said 137 hours) and 90 actors to make the game.  And when you see the real actors it is amazing how much the characters in the game look like them.  The did a most excellent job!  I can't even begin to imagine the amount of work that they put into this game.  Even the music was awesome (full orchestra to record 4 movies worth of music).

The controls were designed and executed very well. Instead of controls like X to shoot and O to jump, the controls were displayed on the screen (kind of like one long quick-time event) and were made to mimic the actual action being performed. For example, to open the car door you moved the right analog stick over and down around, like you would with your hand in real life. If you were trying to pull yourself up onto a rooftop it would have you press X repeatedly until you climbed up. Some of the actions needed to be performed slowly, like when applying ointment to a burn (do it too fast and the patient will freak on you for hurting them) or opening a window from inside a burning apartment (too fast and the fire burns you). One part when we were making our way through a power plant required two people (I suppose you could do it if you used your tongue or a toe) because we had to hold L1, L2, R1, R2, circle, x, and square to climb through electrified wires, and if you didn't hold them for the correct amount of time then you got electrocuted. It was pretty intense!

Another difference between Heavy Rain and other games is that if you kill one of the main characters then he/she is just gone from the game. We didn't experience this until the very end when one of our characters died so we were no longer able to use him. I think we will go back and see how it handles other characters dying at various parts in the game. Although, with the moral decisions you are forced to make and the realism of the characters, purposely letting them die may be more difficult then I think! (You get super attached immediately.  I was just watching and it was a total emotional roller coaster ride!)

In this game, you always seem to have a choice when it comes to decision making: do you help the hooker or not, cut the finger off or not, drink the poison or leave. It's all up to you. The game keeps going but it will definitely affect the outcome of the game when it comes to the end. Will you catch the killer or will he get away.  (Our ending was a total surprise to me, but my better half had it totally figured out!)

I say it's well worth a play, or even a watch if you're not really into actually doing the controlling.  And there is already download content (which I should be able to play by the time I get home from work today)!  I would say it was about 15 - 17 hours of awesome gameplay, which isn't bad nowadays.  And I think it offers re-play-ability to see what happens if you make different choices (such as kill the drug dealer instead of letting him live).  It is definitely rated M for mature (lots of nudity, swearing, violence, drug abuse, etc.) so don't buy it for you kids!  They wouldn't like it anyway.  The situations and decisions that need to be made in this game can only be appreciated by an adult (and it will even be lost on some adults).  If you want a no-brainer, point and shoot game, this is not what you are looking for.  If you want a mature game that requires making moral decisions in real-life-like situations and amazing graphics, play Heavy Rain!

My Puppies

Finally got a video of Jaxie and Jodie together and they are actually acting relatively civil. 



Also a "finally", Jodie slept through the whole night last night!  I was very impressed!  Now she'll probably be up 6 times tonight :o(  Oh well, at least I got one night of continuous rest.

I guess it was puppy love...

Jodie had me up at 4:40am today and was bound and determined to not let me go back to sleep.  She had to pee and she had to go right now.  So I jump out of bed, pick her up, run to the kitchen and grab her leash and my jacket, jump into my winter boots and out we go.  And what do I get for all my effort?  A little tiny tinkle and 20 minutes of following a puppy around my yard in the dark.  Yeah for me!  Convinced she's finished, I take her back in the house.  Not 2 seconds later she's crying at the door to go out.  Alrighty then, back out we go, and she goes a little bit again.  Now she's got to be done, I think to myself, but no, she does it again.  Alright, this time I'm staying out till I'm sure she's done.  35 minutes later I'm standing on my front lawn watching the sun come up with Jodie and Jaxie.  Nice to see the sun but I really would have rather been sleeping.   At least once the sun comes up the yipees and other farm dogs finally shut-up.  Back in the house we go.  I've got about 20 minutes available for sleep, but no, there will be no rest for me, now it's play time!  Since I'm about to lock her in a room for 8 hours, I give in and play.  She falls asleep on the living room floor around 6:45am, just in time for me to have to wake her up to put her in her room.  Ugh!  This dog just might hate me.  And yes, she did sleep in our bed again.

Welcome Jodie!

This is our new puppy Jodie.  She is 8 weeks and 3 days old.  She is a Great Pyrenees and will grow to be huge!  But I can tell already, that with us at least, she will just be a huge baby!

She was born on an Indian Reserve about 10 minutes North of Carlyle Saskatchewan on January 15th, 2010.  They already had too many dogs there so she needed a new home.  My better half had been wanting a Great Pyrenees for some time so we were always keeping one eye open for them.  Being on the farm and with Jaxie getting older we were hoping to get one sooner rather then later.  The add appeared on Kijiji so I sent them an email.  A week later we were making the +10 hour round trip to get our new addition.

Of course first we needed supplies.  It has been quite some time since we've had a puppy.  A color and leash (pink Harley Davidson), a bed, food bowls, food, treats, toys, and a carrier were all purchased.

The drive down seemed to take forever.  The closer we got the more we started talking about what would happen if these people were actually serial killers and not dog sellers.  Oh well, we figured, if it's going to happen then it's going to happen, although we maybe should have told more people where exactly we were going.  But it all worked out well.  It was actually a couple kids who were very nice so that was all good.  Picked the puppy we wanted and packed up to make the long drive home.  The first half an hour Jodie cried and barked and made all sorts of noise.  Then she feel asleep for pretty much the rest of the drive home.  Stopped to give her a break but she really liked it better in the carrier.

She slept most of the rest of the evening at home.  She was quiet in the carrier before so we decided that she should sleep in there for the night.  Well, it started out good, but by 2:30am we were up and sleeping on the couch so she could sleep on the living room floor.  Darn babies!

The next day was a good one.  It was beautiful outside so we took Jodie out to meet the rest of the family.  Abi and Killer really could not have cared less.  Ali swatted Jodie's ear and made her bleed and then ran away!  Poor puppy, doesn't even live with us for a whole 24 hours and she's already wounded.  Jaxie was very curious.  Pounced on her once but was mostly friendly.  Jodie was, of course, very curious of everything but thankfully still not brave enough to venture very far from us, although she started to get braver as the day wore on.  There were a few times we had to go running through the mud to get her!  Lots of cuddling was needed after the beating by the other animals and the bath.  She is the biggest suck ever and definitely loves her snuggles!

We tried putting her in the bathroom the second night but the crying began immediately.  My better half decided that she should sleep with us, but really, only this one time!  Yeah right.  So she slept on our bed.  And she actually woke me up at 6am to go outside.  I guess I was a little slow because she still peed on the floor but at least she tried. 

She was none too pleased being locked up for the day but she can't very well be running around the house or outside by herself.  Oh well, we did it with Jaxie and she turned out perfect.

So I guess this is a whole new adventure.  We kind of forgot how nice it can be to have a dog in the house, even if it is one that bites your toes!  Off to the pet store again today for puppy shampoo, a smaller collar, and more toys.  Good times!