For Daddy

Memorial to my Dad

The greatest things you gave me were not found in a store-
They were the things you could never pay for.
You gave me hope, compassion and love-
Things some kids can only dream of,
you gave me courage far stronger then I ever knew
so when I had to let you go,
To let you pass to a better place,
I some how managed to cope,
By remembering your gifts of love and hope.
Now you are safe, watching over us all down here,
And if I may, I have one last thing to say-
I want you to know how special it is for me to be a part of you
For you were the greatest man I knew!
So never forget your little girl,
The fun things we did, and the great times we had.
I will remember it all because you're my dad- 
   And know that I love you too!!!

True Colours - Black

Well this week's colour challenge was to go over to the dark side and find interesting things that were black.

I decided I would take Beckett and Keltic downtown and photograph them with a few of our interesting finds. Well that didn't work out too well and I couldn't get them to sit and stay together while I took the picture.  I did take their pictures on a little hill near the Peacekeepers Monument.

So our first picture of black is the Peacekeepers Monument. This monument is to all the men and women of the Canadian Forces who have served on peacekeeping or peacemaking missions.

Our second picture of black is the reason I went downtown.  This sculpture stands outside the National Art Gallery and is called the Maman. She's called the Maman as there are marble eggs in her thorax.

You can just see some of the white eggs if you look closely at the picture above

I didn't know it until I tried to find out the name of this sculpture that there are other museums that also have it, the Tate and the Guggenheim are just two of the others.  The Maman and the Peacekeepers Monument are not actually black when you get up close, they are both bronze but at a distance they look black.

There is a sculpture at the Museum that has black. It was a new one for me as I don't recall seeing it the last time I was down.

Does the horse leading the herd look black to you? No, well let me show you the other side.

Nearly all of the horses were a different colour on the other side.  Makes the sculpture look very different depending on your point of view.

We also found black lamp posts in this part of downtown Ottawa. This picture was taken very near where Beckett and Keltic checked out pee mail.

We had only paid for an hour of parking as I thought Keltic might be getting a wee bit tired with that much walking so we headed back home but on our way we stopped to see some horses, black horses.

One horse named Edward came over to check us out. At first Beckett was a little scared, barking and growling but then he calmed down as Edward started to eat grass. And how do we know his name is Edward? Well, from the name plate you can see on his halter.  These are just not any old black horses but they are the stars of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride.

They have their stables right here in Ottawa and before they start the show season they put on free Sunset Ceremonies at the end of June.  I went with my niece a few years back; it's all outdoors, you bring your own lawn chair or blankets and sit on the grass of an outdoor amphitheater. Sometimes you have to walk a ways as parking is hard to find.  Well behaved dogs are welcome. I may just have to take Beckett and Keltic this year.

Pee Mail

I took Beckett and Keltic downtown to find some interesting things for our True Colours challenge this week. While we were walking around they kept checking out trees and lamp posts but every time  I would try to get a photo they would stop sniffing.

This is not actually one of their favourite pee mail spots but rather a new one; I like to think they got some interesting messages, maybe from the tourist dogs visiting our city from away.

Urban Pee Mail Route

Only in the city, do you have grates around a tree. More about our trip downtown when we do our True Colour post.

True Colours - Rainbow

The theme for this week's photo challenge was rainbow or tutti-frutti. I wanted to get over to the Bulk Barn and take some pictures of the bins of wine gums, jelly worms, other assorted coloured candy but life just got in the way.  Taking care of a puppy is a lot of work.

So all I have this week for rainbow is some of the many many dog toys in the house.

Next week I hope to have something a little more interesting.

Wordless Wednesday

True Colours - Silver

This week's challenge was to find something miniature in silver and tell a story about it. I have a little silver horse on my computer that was given to me by my youngest sister as a Christmas gift but I didn't think that made much of story.

So I decided to use a silver pin that I have from the Canadian War Museum. Not long after the museum opened, my parents came to Ottawa for a visit. My Mum was already dealing with Parkinson's. She tired easily and had difficulty walking so she decided to stay home while my Dad, my nephew, and I headed down for a visit to the War Museum. I had been told that the museum had a program for veterans so I asked at the desk if there was a discount for former members of the military. It turned out that former members of the Canadian Forces and up to two escorts were given free admission to the museum.  I thought that was a nice gesture to give free admission not only to the veteran but also to the family or friends that accompanied them.

I thought there would be other visits to the museum with my Dad but this was our first and only visit together. It will be a year at the end of the month since he passed away. Maybe it's time for a another visit to the War Museum or perhaps the Aviation Museum.

The pin above is only one of many that I have from places I had visited. I'm sure there are others that would bring back a memory of my Dad.

Changes

I started taking pictures of the tree in my front yard, when on 2 Apr it already had buds on the branches.

Little by little, you can see the changes that spring brings, new beginnings.

Spring came a little early and in some places, frost killed off many of the buds but it didn't seem to hurt my tree.

Such a shame the flowers are here for only a short time.

But now the berries will come and when they are ripe the birds will feast on them.

Mishmash Monday

A bit blurry, but Keltic was trying to get Beckett to play; so far Beckett hasn't played with him but he does seem to be getting tolerant of a little bother jumping all over him. This morning, Beckett let Keltic sleep within inches of him as we grabbed a couple more hours relaxing before really getting up. After all, 5:30am is a little too early on a day off.

True Colours - Brown

Well not only does the color have to be brown this week but it has to be a brown teddy bear (or a dog stuffie). I do happen have a few brown bears and they decided it would be a good day to go out into the backyard for a play date.  They played on the agility equipment and sat out in the sun. A wonderful time was had by all.

Tanner, my Brass Button bear decided to play on the teeter. Be careful, Tanner, hold on tight.

Aunt Yvonne DuBeary, yes that's her name, wanted to swing on the tire. She had a good time.

Mink played with the tunnels. You're supposed to go through the tunnel, Mink. Mink is hand-made from an old fur coat. I'll bet you can guess what kind of fur.

Then after playing, they decided to relax in the sun on the back of the bench on the deck. Being pretty high up there, they had a wonderful view of the backyard. I'm sure they enjoyed their day out. Almost like a Teddy Bear Picnic.

Beckett's Surprise

Well, I said the other day that we had a surprise.  I took Beckett on a long drive yesterday. It was a nice day, sunny but cool, good driving weather. The traffic was light so we made good time to our destination.  We went to a farm in Tweed that Beckett's breeder now owns to pick a new little brother. I'm not sure Beckett was thrilled with the whole situation. He played shy while at the breeders and wasn't much interested in the puppy when we stopped at a picnic site on the way home.

But he's here to stay, so this is our first post about Triadic's Keltic LivinontheEdge, Keltic will be his call name. We hope the CKC will accept the registered name, if not we'll make it simpler and just go with Keltic Edge. Keltic's grandfather on both sides is Bach's Razor's Edge. Keltic and his brothers were born on 17 Mar 2012, St Patrick's Day. He had three brothers, two sable and one tri-colour but the tri boy only lived a few days.

Keltic's First Day at home

Tucker was not too impressed although he reminds me a lot of Tucker at that age.  Beckett is already showing signs of interest but Keltic is two weeks younger than Beckett was when I got him, so I'm not sure Keltic's really ready to play with the big kids yet, although he tries. I'll give him a couple weeks to settle in and find his way into the pack before we let him roughhouse any with Beckett.

He's been very brave taking everything in stride yesterday; it always amazes me how you can take them away from everything they've known and, if they are loved and fed, they accept it all so quickly. He ate well, did most of his business in the back yard and slept through the night without too much crying; in fact it was Tucker who got us up this morning. A good start to his new life.

Welcome home, Keltic boy.

True Colours - Surprise - Celestial Blue

I'm going to take my cue from Lassie and Benji and post a colour challenge that I missed - Celestial Blue.

I only found a few items in the house without resorting to more agility ribbons.

My first choice is my Star Trek mug. I don't use it for coffee or any other liquid. I have it in my den as a pencil holder.

My next selections are two of my Caithness Glass paperweights. I might have used some of them before.

I think that this picture really fits the celestial blue theme.

I couldn't do the twist as we haven't seen blue sky much at all this past week or so and it's been quite cold.  I sure hope it's nice this weekend as I really would like to spend some time outdoors.  It's a surprise and I'll post early next week about it, maybe even Sunday night. Stay tuned.

This photo I took from the train  when my sister and I went to Toronto to see War Horse.

Remember, watch this space.