How cold is too cold?

We arrived home over a week ago as we had the clear from the vet in Edmonton for Hannah's flight. She did ok at her appt., red blood cell count was lower than it was in Manitoba so we started her on some steroids and once her antibiotics are completed we will start chemo on her to help shrink the tumour.  Both Craig and I know that this is not a cure for her but hopefully it will make her more comfortable and more time with us.  I know it is selfish of us to hold on but I truly believe that she will let us know when enough is enough.  She is still eating and drinking well, going to the bathroom and tries some days to play with Blitz.  The dynamics of the house has changed as before all of this you can be guaranteed that every morning Hannah and Blitz would have a big game of tug 'o war  and again at night.  There has been no games of tug 'o war and it not only makes me sad but also Blitz.  He has always been the sensitive boy and one day he brought Hannah 1/3 of the toys from the toy box, I guess hoping his gesture would make her feel better.

Blitz sleeps beside Hannah often - I guess he is looking after her in his own way

This is the day when he brought many of the toys to her

When I asked him what he was doing, this was the look I received

Good day - playing fetch with Craig

Mocha has been extremely happy that we are home and decided to let us know about all last week at about 3:00 in the morning.  She is a quiet cat except for when we go away and come back home.  I just wished she would tell us during the day and not in the middle of the night.

 

Mocha was happy that her pack is back home

 

Especially her dog Blitz

 

The sun rose last Sunday for the first time in 6 weeks, it was over the horizon for about 58 minutes but today it's up to 2 hours and 48 minutes and in no time we will see the sun for 24 hours.  We do not have a lot of snow this year but our temperatures have been plummeting to the -45'c range with the wind chill close to -60'c.  Now I'm a prairie girl and being from Manitoba you know what cold is but when the temperatures hit this low you feel the cold air entering your nostrils and head into your lungs.  Some days it literally takes your breath away.  I know I'm not the only one complaining up here as many of my co-workers are too, you know it's cold when the local Inuit people complain about the cold.  Yesterday and today the weather man put out an extreme wind chill warning, back home that would of happened when it hit -40'c instead of -60'c.

 

Sun rising over the clouds

 

As you can see we do not have much snow

 

This is how I found them last night - Goofballs!

 

Hannah was resting on the armchair so I gave her a pillow to be more comfy

 

Someone braving the -57'c wind chills today on the ice

 

This thermometer is in our back porch - wonder what it would have read if it was outside today?

I am on my second crochet project - a ladies scarf this time.  The pattern is a bit more challenging but I think I've got it so far.  I guess we will see what the end result will be and whether or not I decide to keep it or give it away.  If I give it to someone I hope they understand that this is only my second project and they will have to excuse any mistakes...as long as it keep them warm.

 

My second project - I hope it looks like the picture when I am completed.

 

Talk soon!

Homeward Bound

We arrived in Edmonton last night around 8pm, tired and hungry. We had a whirl wind vacation in Manitoba between the holidays and Hannah, it was like we ran out of time to see some of our friends and do what we wanted to do.  But all in all it was nice to spend a week with Craig's parents in Lac du Bonnet and to see some family members in Manitoba that we haven't seen for a long time.

 

It seemed like whenever we were driving we had to go through some type of blowing snow.  The drive from Lac du Bonnet was ok and I think mostly because it was during the day. When we arrived in Winnipeg for Hannah's appt. it was bitterly cold and snowing.  Her staples are out and the pathology report is in, thankfully there is no cancer but the pathologist thinks that she may have Chronic Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia.  Her vet will be sending the remaining of her blood to the lab for more testing today. 

 

We arrived at Granny's on Friday evening, again driving through blowing snow and at times couldn't see the car in front of us, just glad that Craig was behind the wheel.  We had one full day with my mom and to see my school friend Angie and her clan for lunch on Saturday.  We had to play a round or two of Rummy with my mom on Saturday night before we headed to bed early as the next day was gonna be a long one. 

 

We had our clocks set for 6:00am and we were on the road by 8:00am.  When we left Carman the temperature on the truck read -33'c and that was without the wind chill.  I guess Mother Nature was just helping us get used to the cold weather as I hear Cambridge Bay is dealing with some nasty weather also. We drove straight through to Edmonton and only stopping for pee breaks and gas.  I had purchased some snacks for the trip so we didn't even stop for lunch.  We drove up to the Sawridge Inn in Edmonton South about 8:30pm last night, got everyone fed and hit the hay around 11:00pm. 

 

We are going to the Calgary Trail Animal Hospital today at 3:00pm with Hannah to make sure she is well enough to fly tomorrow as she had a rough day yesterday.  She is better today but it would put my mind at ease to hear this from a vet.  We have an early flight tomorrow and should be at the airport by 5:00am as it takes us a couple of hours to go through security with the dogs. It will be nice to sleep in our own bed and of course to see Mocha and I am sure she will voice how unhappy she is that we took her Blitz away again. 

 

Here are some highlights of our travels on stormy prairie roads.  (not great pics as these are from either the Ipad or my little blackberry)

 

In case you didn't hear - I started crocheting and this is the scarf I made for Craig.

Hannah resting up before her vet appt.

Looks like Jack Frost left his mark on my mom's window

Drive from Lac du Bonnet

Drive to Carman

Drive to Edmonton (somewhere in Saskatchewan)

You know it's cold when the sun dogs are out

Sun set in Alberta

 

Talk soon!

Happy New Year!

I would like to wish all of my readers/followers a very Happy New Year and hoping you all have a wonderful 2014.  Last night the neighbours Bonnie and John came over for a dinner of prime rib, lobster and all of the fixings.  After dinner it was boys against the girls in a round of trivia pursuit and it was neck to neck but us girls let the boys win.  haha We popped the cork of a bottle of Mumm's Champaign at midnight to bring in the new year. We were all in bed by 2:00am and by 9:00am this morning we were up.

 

Hannah has found a favorite spot at Nana & Poppa's house and so has Miss Molly. We did make a road trip to Winnipeg on Monday to take Hannah in for a check up.  Her incision looks good but her platelets were a bit low and her urine sample did not change much.  Her vet wants to check her blood again on Friday when she gets her staples out and he gave her another antibiotic to go with the baytril.  We are hoping for good results on Friday in regards to her blood work.  We still haven't heard anything from pathology due to the holidays and we may not until we are home again in Cambridge Bay.

 

Not sure how a lab can fit on this chair but she does.

Miss Molly and Poppa enjoying the warm winter sun today

Craig took this picture of Blitz while we were driving to Winnipeg on Monday

Hannah was resting in the sun on the landing today so I took this opportunity to get a 'family pic'

 

Today Craig and I decided to take the shorthairs out on an adventure to Pinawa Channel and Hannah stayed with Nana & Poppa.  It was sunny and crisp again today but for some reason it didn't seem as cold.  Miss Molly ran like the wind today and of course Blitz was exploring the forest.  We drove to one end of the trail at Pinawa and let the dogs loose.

 

This is the sign at the beginning of the trail

Things look different on the River Winnipeg in winter

The trails were nicely groomed

Blitz is always trying to bite at Molly's face or bark in her ear

Sometimes pictures do not work out the way you want

Four off the ground and ears flying equal one happy dog

Not a great pic but a funny one

Molly and Blitz running towards me through the trees

Digging to China Blitz?

Miss Molly patiently waiting for us on the trail

 

After about an hour out with the dogs we headed to the other side of the trail to the suspension bridge to take some pictures.  This is such a nice walk in the summer and it's a winter wonderland these days.

 

The sign at the beginning of the walk

Beautiful snow covered evergreens

The suspension bridge

Another view of it

Craig on the bridge

 

Such beauty in the snow

A park bench in the snow

From there we headed back to the parents home but took a bit of a detour to Sunset Bay to watch the sunset tonight.  Too much snow to get down to the ice so I took a picture of it from the hill.

 

 

Talk soon!