Monday, lots of sun and a stiff breeze combined with lots of good buddies and the beach. What more could a critter want. We kept busy until our little Shih Tzu friend, Otis  , arrived because we knew he would want to see the beach with us. 

   

As soon as he could, Otis   waded into the tidal pool and the rest of us   dove into the newly dredged-out channel. Otis   got a good laugh out of that. 

This is how the channel   looks today and the flow of the water from the pond to the ocean has deposited lots of little fish on the sand bars as the tide falls. They remain there, dried out by the sun and the wind and the aroma is quite intoxicating. 

        

    

Gemma   couldn't resist the temptation to roll on those 'past-their-sell-by-date' fish and when it was time to go home, her human was apprised of her beach adventure, since there was no way to disguise her rank odour.  

Here's Gemma's tale of woe which she wrote while waiting to see what the verdict would be. 

 

Betrayed by my Nose

by

Gemma,

the Golden

Today I went to daycare, and most times I’m really good. 

Today was an exception though, and apologize, I should.

It seems as the beach was calling, my sniffers caught a smell. 

A flip, a flop, and a roll-on-top, my pal Stephanie sure won’t tell?

Alas, to Mary she had whispered, and on to dad is how it goes. 

I should have stayed off the beach, and not followed my nose.

This time the smell wasn’t from the forest, and was from the sea. 

I had hoped dad couldn’t place it, but thanks to them, he knows it’s me.

I had said it attacked when I wasn’t looking but, buy it, he did not.

  I no longer smell like roses, but something a fisherman had once caught.

So here I sit all sad eyed, trying to get my way.

  If I don’t make eye contact, maybe on the sofa, I will stay?

Although I think it may be working, he doesn’t seem impressed. 

Maybe I can make it through the night, and it not be addressed.

The talk of bathtubs and bubbles, is clearly not my wish. 

 I guess next time I’ll just go swimming, and not roll in sweet, smelling fish.

… or will I?

Saturday started out foggy and eventually the sun shone a bit so we played outside most of the day and enjoyed one another's company.

The Labradogian League 

          

  

Lilliputian Relay

    

    

Nature Lovers 

 

Today's Tourists

  

Daffodil Enthusiasts

   

   

Avian B & B  

 

Sunday, more sun and beach fun for us once Koda gets here. . 

   

   

   

In the afternoon, Desi and Bruce arrived to take on a few jobs and Andrew, the mowing guy, drove up with his machines and he mowed grass for the next three hours. By the time the mowing was all done and our dinner was over, we were all tired and ready for a good night's sleep.  

On Thursday, the speedy Pepper   arrived for a short stay and she immediately showed off her agility and airborne maneuvers. This led to lots of games of chase where no one was able to catch her but that didn't stop them from trying.   

       

   

We're getting used to the change in routine that has come about because of the Cocoa's Cabana Phase 2. Instead of having our meals in the mudroom of the house, we now have them prepared and delivered in the new kitchen and common area in this new facility.  For those of us who don't like eating with other critters, we can enjoy our meals in one of the six private suites. These suites also provide a place we can go to if  we crave some quiet time to rest or nap. 

Be that as it may, we are critters and we like our routines so these changes are sometimes difficult for us to accept. We don't always get it but we'll keep trying.

Friday, another day of fog  and guess where we were   shortly after arriving. Yes, the beach called to us and Stephanie knew just how much we wanted to go. 

 

       

    

  

The Grimes Gang are always a good source of entertainment when they come to spend Friday with us  and today was no exception. Those of us who stayed behind at the house, watched the three of them race around the yards at top speed, always with Opal in the lead. 

   

   

Mary was keeping any eye out as she waited for a technician from Bell to bring and instal a new modem at the house so most of us cooled our heels at the cabana  to avoid scaring him. Over there the games of chase and a few wrestling matches kept us busy for the afternoon until it was time for the day visitors to be picked up by their humans. 

Wednesday was a foggy look at our world and most of the pond goldfish   didn't put in an appearance. There are lots of daffodils blooming but no signs of the Spring Peepers  who make so much noise at night when we take our late walk. It's hard to believe that such a tiny creature can make such an uproar. Click on the link below to hear them. 

The sound of Spring Peepers

Spring peepers   hibernate underground from October to late March or April. I may be the smallest frog in the province, but, during April to June breeding period, its deafening evening chorus makes it the most obvious frog. (Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History)

  There were  some very heavy  downpours of rain in the morning so we delayed our beach walk until the rain let up. While we waited we did play some games of chase in the East pasture which Remington enjoyed while Harvey and Penelope, tired from all that pursuit of a much longer-legged playmate, curl up for nap on their chair.     

 

       

Ollie and Ozzy had the same thing on their mind after playing outside so they went back inside and napped with their Auntie Nala. 

    

The afternoon beach walk was , by no means, a dry outing as the drizzly rain kept up but that didn't dampen our enthusiasm. 

    

   

 

Ruger arrived in the morning for his extended stay and he was keen to meet all of his fellow critters after doing his perimeter check. The other arrival, who we hadn't seen for a while was Lulu Bear   and she was thrilled to meet one of her fellow Frenchies, Harvey. The two Shelties, Thunder and Skye, were reunited with their humans and left us to return home. 

We took ourselves down to the beach to enjoy the surf and race on the sand bars and a float plane flew overhead a few times. We didn't pay much attention but I think Stephanie was wondering if this was the same pilot who had the unexpected, rough landing on the beach last year.    

           

There were lots of interesting tidal pools for Gemma and Nala   to check out and Marty and Rusty just enjoyed chasing one another.  

      

Henry takes his beach walks very seriously and keeps a close eye on Stephanie so he can be sure she photographs his good side.  Lulu  Bear was tempted to eat some of the seaweed and kelp on the shore, so she ended up on the leash for a while but she still enjoyed her outing, particularly the patch of mud that she was tempted to roll in. 

    

   

Back at the house, the daffodils are continuing to put lots of energy into their blooms and they attract lots of attention from Harrington as he sits surrounded by them, deep in thought. 

  

There was lots of activity at Cocoa's Cabana Phase 2 as Stephanie prepared to begin giving us our meals out of the new kitchen. We all watched carefully to ensure that she remembered to bring all of our food, treats and favorite dishes.    

 

   

Here are the photos to tell the tale of our day's activities.  

   

   

  

     

  

It's no wonder, after such a busy day, we were all dog-tired and slept like logs.

Both Saturday and Sunday were at maximum capacity so we had lots to do but now we can't remember a lot of the details. We recall that Shamsky   arrived before breakfast on Saturday and he no sooner got introduced to everyone when Nala  ,

Ollie   and Ozzy    arrived for their Spring Vacation.

Little Lyla   joined the party for her first overnight stay and shortly afterward, Finley got picked up by his human and headed home. so, we were now at full complement for the day and the agenda called for lots of puppy play and good fun.

The Brachy Bunch, Penelope, Harvey and Felon   wanted to get a group photo, showing their common facial features which makes them so distinctive. 

Honey  , who always seems to be posing like a model, presents a very different profile and she enjoys upstaging a bunch of daffodils.

On Sunday, most of us got to race down to the beach with Stephanie and act like a pack of wild hooligans. 

    

Tilly and Tess dove straight into the water and rode some waves while the rest of us explored the piles of sand and seaweed on the shore.   

      

Shamsky and Harrington   stopped playing long enough to ask Stephanie to take their picture, being such good buddies and all. Rusty   got his tail curled over his back in a classic Doodle pose for his keepsake photo. 

For those who didn't get to go to the beach, there was lots of fun to be had back at the house where Lyla  waited patiently, by the gate, for her human to pick her up. Molly     was thrilled to see her humans at the gate ready to take her home where she intends to spend a couple of days  catching up on her sleep and later in the afternoon, Swanson was whisked away to his own yard to enjoy his peace and quiet. 

   

  

    

We started our day in the usual fashion, waiting for the day-visitors, as well as Swanson, so we could race down to the beach and dash into the water. Back at the house, Mary could hear us howling and barking as though we were chasing some unknown enemy out of teritory. 

     

   

   

   

After the excitment of being a wild-dog pack, we returned to the civilization of the house and morphed back into our alter egoes, domesticated companion animals who sleep a lot, play fight and follow the humans around. 

     

Every year, Arthur decides that he he needs a Spring Adventure. He was introduced to this custom by his Uncle Owen, who also picked an early Spring Day to go in search of some fun and games and the two of them would pretend to be going to the beach with the rest of the pack but they would disappear into the woods before reaching the shore. 

As usual, when they didn't return to the house after the rest of the pack got there, Mary and Stephanie would give them a grace period of thirty minutes before going to look for them. They were often sidetracked by pheasants in their travels and Mary would listen for the indignant fuss the pheasants would make when they thought they were being hounded by some highly-trained bird dogs. Getting bored of this pastime, they would make their way back to the house, only to find themselves on the other side of the perimeter fence. When that happened, they had to be coaxed back to the driveway gate or picked up on a neighboring property. 

Today, Arthur went on his Spring Fling without his Uncle Owen, who passed away last year.  We had returned from the beach with Stephanie, not realizing that Arthur was supposed to have followed us there but he never showed up. So, the waiting began and just when Mary had started the car, fully loaded with some dog biscuits, to go in search of the happy wanderer, Stephanie spotted him in the pond area trying to find his way to an open gate. It seems that over the winter, the deer had knocked down the fence behind the pond so Arthur found this entry and was happy to explore this NDZ (NO DOG Zone). He surprised three Mallard ducks that were hanging out on the water and they took flight upon seeing this terrifying apparition swim toward them. The pond Goldfish, which number in the hundreds, dove to the bottom, fearing that he might want a fish dinner if he couldn't have duck. 

If only they could know that this fearsome creature   was only interested in being their friend and, upon being spurned, he would return to his favorite sofa in the house. But first he had to endure a hosing off and wait in the yard until he was somehat drier. 

We had enjoyed our morning beach walk with Stephanie and the sand was warm from the sun while the water was still cool but refreshing. 

One of the morning arrivals, Rusty, the Doodle, was thrilled to have Thunder as his best buddy at the beach. 

          

        

 

Being at the beach with your pals is a lot of fun and in the afternoon, those of us who weren't too tired, enjoyed playing in the yards. 

   

Here's Joey, a regular Thursday visitor along with Lucy, the Black Doodle who will be staying overnight and pictured in the foreground is Louie, another Doodle, who will be with us for a few days.    

     

It was a busy time as the day-vistors were picked up and then we assembled for dinner and tried to be patient while Stephanie got the grub ready.  

Honey wants someone to throw this ball for her. 

The last day of April dawned with bright skies and it got  warm as the sun climbed overhead. Since it's Wednesday, the usual collection of Doodles arrived, along with Swanson     and Remi  , to spend the day with us. Of course, the first thing on our collective minds was the urgent desire to play 'Wild Dog Pack' down at the beach so Stephanie didn't try and talk us into doing a Poop Patrol first. Thank the Lord for small  mercies. 

       

   

In the afternoon, there was lots of time to play in the yard and for Stephanie to get lots of photos. 

       

   

   

Around noon, our Lab girlfriends, Tilley and Tess arrived for their Spring vacation and they set out to inspect everything to see what had been changed since their last visit. They are both very polite and friendly and like to have each other in sight most of the time.