Going to the dogs…

Winter relaxed its grip on Alberta long enough for us to make our eastern dash. The drive through the Prairies was uneventful, and kinda boring (as usual 😑). But the weather was cold, but fine for the drive, and we soon found ourselves back in Kenora, ON. That night we checked the weather, and it hinted at snow heading our way, but the prediction was for late the following day, so we didn’t rush…

The next day we took our time taking in the beautiful sights of Northern Ontario towns like Dryden 😂, but the forecast kept getting worse. We made the left turn at Thunder Bay, heading east along the Trans-Canada, and were soon caught in a rapidly intensifying snow storm.

By the time we were past Nipigon, the snow was getting heavy and wet, and roads were becoming treacherous. At one point we ended up being shepherded by a snow plow as it took a long line of vehicles up and over a pass. We pulled into Cathie & Joe’s place near Rossport just as the roads were becoming impassible.

The snow kept coming… We ended up spending the next few days clearing the snow, doing it multiple times because it just kept coming. The forecast called for at least 50cm, but it felt like we got even more.

Despite all the snow, we had a glorious time hanging out with Cathie & Joe and Piper. What a great place to get stuck for a few days!!

All too soon we had to hit the road once again. We had to get to our next farm-sitting gig in southern Ontario, and time was getting a little tight. So we said our goodbyes, and headed off once again. But winter wasn’t done with us yet. We only got as far as Wawa when the snows started in again. Added to that, the highway south was closed for 12 hours due to a nasty crash.

The next day dawned clear and snow-free, and the accident which had closed the highway (pretty much the ONLY highway), had been cleared. We headed south once again, making one more overnight stop in Parry Sound — a pretty little town in Georgian Bay. From there it was a few more hours down to our new temporary home near Chatham, ON.

We arrived Jane & Phil’s place by late afternoon, and within a few hours were feeling very much at home. Their small farm is located a short distance outside of Chatham, on a three-acre slice of land. The space is encompassed by stunning old trees of all sorts, and includes a house, garage, barn, and a few other out-buildings. But best of all, it came with dogs… lots of dogs.

Not only dogs… two small horses, as well as a couple of barn cats.

The number and variety of animals was one big attraction, but each animal has their own unique story. Most of them are “rescues” in some way. From Tiley who lost a leg in a car accident, to Buttercup the blind pony, they had all suffered hardships in the past, and have all found a safe and wonderful home with Phil & Jane. But this meant we had big shoes to fill, which is why we arrived a couple of days early so we could learn the routines.

Jane & Phil actually have four dogs, but the original plan was for us to be foster-parents to only two of them. One of them (Callie) has special medical needs, and Tiley doesn’t easily trust people. She’s a sweetie, but because of her past traumas, doesn’t let many people get close to her. The plan was for her to be housed at Phil & Jane’s daughter’s place, where Tiley had spent time before. But after a couple of days we got a somewhat frantic message saying Tiley wasn’t settling in with Ainsley. She wasn’t eating or drinking, and was generally stressed, so we agreed to try her back.

Happily, she took to Ann right away 😀 — me… not so much ☹️.

We settled in to the daily routine and sorted out the best way to divide all the tasks. As usual, we shared most things, although Ann did the dog-walks, and I did most of the outdoor work; mostly poop-scooping, horse food prep, and lawn mowing.

After about a week, my mom and sis joined us on the farm. We had arranged for them to visit while we were there, so Kathy drove them down from Ottawa to spend the week with us. It was a great visit, including being there for the total solar eclipse. We were right on the edge of ‘totality’, so that gave us about 40 seconds of complete coverage. It was… out of this world.

It was great having Mom & Kathy visit. The two of them did some exploring of the area, and we all ended up in the town of Erieau, on the shore of Lake Erie, for “the world’s best fish & chips.” It was pretty good, although Newfoundland’s versions still win. But mostly we just hung out at the beautiful farm.

After a week Kathy had to get back to work, so she and mom headed for Ottawa, leaving us to settle back into our farm/chore routines. The animal’s constant needs forced a nice rhythm to each day. Mornings involved releasing and feeding the horses (after giving Noah his oral medicine via syringe). The dogs would get their breakfast at the same time. Late morning I would go out to clean the stables, feed the cats , and set up the horses’ food for the evening — always under the watchful eye of Noah .

Ann would usually take Roni for her walk around midday. She even started taking all three on short pre-walks around the yard, which was pretty funny. Sometimes they would visit me while I was mucking the barn. Roni could smell ‘cat’ as she stuck her head through the cat-door.

The days ticked by. We had arrived at the farm at the tail end of winter, but pretty soon the weather turned warm, and sometimes quite wet:

All the warmth and rain also brought the grass to life — and they have a lot of grass! Luckily, they also have a “zero-turn” ride-on lawnmower that made the job a lot easier, and almost fun. But even with this fancy mower, it was a full-day job cutting the acres of grass. Luckily, we only had to do it twice. This left lots of time for just hanging out, and enjoying the wonderful place, and space, and most especially, the dogs, who fell in love with Ann.

They hated when she left, and were always excited when she came back home.

The time seemed to go so fast, and all too soon our homeowners were back, and we were saying our goodbyes. Parting is always such sweet sorrow, but it was tempered by the knowledge that we’ll be back next winter. Until then, we’ll just have pictures to remind us of the place, and all the sweet animals: