Month: May 2026

From our Chatham farm, we pointed the bow north, heading for our friends’ place on the shore of Lake Superior. We usually stop in at Cathie & Joe’s place near Rossport as part of our east-west sojourns. But this time was to be a special visit, because we were going to house and dog sit for them. Oh, yes, they have a dog… the cutest dog ever:

Weather down south had moved well past winter, and was nicely settled into spring. But as we headed north, we caught up with the cold and snow. Our plans were to stop in Sudbury first, so we could visit with our sailing friends Tom, Clarissa & Chia (kitty). Unfortunately, weather forced us to pull in early in Parry Sound. The threatened snows stayed away, but it poured heavily. Naturally, Ann-the-kid had to go stomping around in the rain. And of course, she didn’t have a raincoat, so had to use my coat and my hat.

The delay in Parry Sound meant we only had one night to spend in Sudbury with Chia… and Clarissa & Tom 😉. But they were gracious hosts as always, and it was wonderful to catch up on their winter adventures, and learn about their plans for the sailing summer. It’s sad that we won’t be joining them on the water, but we can still sail vicariously with them.

Sudbury was still heavy with snow, and it only got heavier as we carried on north. Sault Ste. Marie was our next overnight stop, and it was thick with the white stuff. By the time we pulled into Joe & Cathie’s place near Rossport, we were well back into winter.

We arrived a couple of days ahead of Cathie & Joe’s departure. They were headed to the west coast to carry on the great travelling adventures they’ve been having with Cathie’s brother Duncan and sister Margaret. And we were more than happy to assist by looking after their amazing home and too-cute doggie.

Our days were spent gazing at the beauty of Lake Superior, revelling in the wonderful space that is their house, and entertaining, and being entertained by, Piper the pup (who is actually about four years old now).

There were lots of dog walks , cuddles and play time . And we treated ourselves to great meals using Joe & Cathie’s wonderfully-equipped kitchen (they have everything a cook could need). Piper even got into the action when I was playing my video game. She’d come and sit beside me , watching the screen. And in some of the frenetic Spiderman battles, she’d run up to the TV and start chasing and batting-at, the action .

When we first arrived winter was still in full grip of the area, but from day-1 the snows started melting, and the sun shone through. We barely saw a flurry come down the whole time, and watched as the deep snow banks drained away. The ice on Lake Superior in front of their house stretched to the horizon when we first arrived. People were ice fishing a 1/2 km out from shore. But within two days, the ice had broken up, and was quickly melting away. Soon we had open water, and dry ground. The transition was amazingly swift.

By the end of our stay we were walking on ground and gravel, and sitting out on the front deck, enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

The day finally came when Cathie & Joe arrived back from their travels. Although Piper liked us, she absolutely adores her real parents.

We spent a couple more days with C, J & P. We heard about their wonderful travels up the Sunshine Coast, then over to Ucluelet, and finally in the big city of Vancouver. But we eventually had to pack our bags to carry on our journey west. It’s always a little sad to say goodbye, but we’ll be passing through again in a few months, as we head back to our home in Newfoundland. Even so, little Piper seemed forlorn.

I’m sure the brochure said something like: “Avoid winter. Come farmsit in Southwestern Ontario.” Well… just a few days after Jane&Phil made their getaway, winter decided to test our Canadian bona fides by taking a dump all over us.

And then it did it again

and again

and again!

We had so much snow that, in the span of two weeks, we had to call in the plowing cavalry three times.

The horses were unimpressed

And the dogs (and dog-master) had to bundle up just to go outside . All except Roni, the cold-weather husky, who wondered what all the fuss was about.

So yes, just like the rest of Canada, we got a heavy dose of winter, even though we were at the same latitude as northern California. But it’s hard to complain. Everyone else got it worse, including our new little home of Ramea, which saw hurricane after hurricane blow through. Austin, the person looking after our house, said he had to shovel three feet of snow off our bridge (deck leading to the front door). Normally Ramea gets a few cm of snow, at the most. So I can’t complain.

Despite the weather, we easily settled back into our routines, with Ann as head of the dog pack , and me as chief pooper-scooper out in the barn . This year the barn work, specifically dealing with our little Princeling named Noah , turned out to be pretty easy. Other than the four specially-prepared and unique daily feedings, he was easy to manage. But Ann’s pack was another story… Let’s just say, Ann got to know the vet rather well.

The second day into our stay we took poor little shivering Oliver into the vet to check out a growth on his leg . Everyone was pretty sure it was a benign fatty lump, but Jane wanted to make sure, so off to the vet we went. Ollie is a nervous wreck at the best of times. He is constantly quaking, shaking and shivering, so getting him to the vet is a pitifully painful event. But he managed, and was given a clean bill of health — at least with regard to the growth.

A few weeks after this benign event, Ollie again gave us cause for concern when Ann discovered blood and puss on the couch. He had matted blood around his butt, so once again it was off to the vet. Turns out little Ollie had a ruptured anal gland (eww 🤢🤮). It wasn’t too serious, but he had to be prevented from licking for a week, so was forced to wear a stylish inflatable ascot to prevent him reaching his butt. Needless to say, he was even shakier than normal that week, but he recovered fine.

All was quiet on the vet front for over a month, and then we get this text message from Ann. She’s on a walk with Roni, but had been gone longer than normal:

“So. First of all Roni is fine, but there was an incident with another dog…”

Roni met another dog on the walk. They seemed to be getting along fine, and at the encouragement of the other owner, Ann let them approach. All was well until Roni decided to show the other dog who was boss, and mounted him. This resulted in a quick chomp from the offended dog, and the results were thus:

It was all pretty traumatic — for Ann. She quickly recovered the chunk of ear, stopped the bleeding as much as possible, and rushed Roni to the vet. An immediate bandage was applied, but the main surgery and stitching had to happen the next day. Off to the vet again… The bandage was supposed to come off the following day, but despite Ann’s best efforts, it couldn’t be done, so… off to the vet again.

Roni was not happy. She didn’t care about the ear, but she hated wearing the awful cone. It all ended as well as could be, and now she has a more distinctive look.

Meanwhile, back on the farm… all was well with barn and house duties. We got into a pretty regular routine with the quadruple horse feedings, plus the sundry duties that included hay and food hauling, water bucket management, and of course kitty care. The barn cats, Sid & Stella, took to us right away. What a life they have; food and treats delivered daily, heated nest, a beautiful barn, and all the cuddles they want.

Turns out that Sid & Stella weren’t the only small critters enjoying the good life out in the barn. There’s definitely one other cat call Reg who lives there. I’ve only caught fleeting glances of him as he dashed for the ladder, but you could hear him thumping around upstairs at times. And we think there might be more cats hanging around.

But in addition, there’s also an opossum that they call Oppie, short for Oppenheimer. Twice I caught him chowing down on the cat food. He’s pretty cute, and the cats don’t seem to mind sharing.

Time slipped away. Ann got into a serious swimming pattern, going religiously every second day. And I brought the same fervour to my great passion: beer! Red Barn Brewery is nearby, and makes some of the finest IPAs and porters I’ve had the pleasure of tasting. They kept my right arm well-exercised, lifting pint after pint. Luckily, all the poop-scooping helped work off some calories.

Our days were dictated by horse and dog schedules, which is a lovely way to spend a winter. And it never feels like work when all the critters are so interesting, and so cute.

Sadly, our time came to an end, and we had to say our goodbyes once again to the whole crew. Before doing so we spent a day or so hanging out with our lovely home owners, Phil & Jane, who have really become good friends. We wished everyone a fond farewell, which was made all the more easy since we know we’ll be back again the following winter (and probably the winter after that!).