Look what we saw this evening!





We'd have missed it completely if I hadn't needed to give my parents a ride home from the boatyard. As soon as I'd dropped them off I went home and told Rob about it. We took Abby with us down to the park. She and Rob walked around while I took a bunch of pictures (there are a few more over on flickr).

Yesterday, in between a slow morning and a lazy evening, we walk down to Old Town for the annual Ramble and Ride. Old Town is a nice walk from our house and I like events where we can take Abby along. We were a little unsure about the weather when we set off. There was a cool breeze and grey clouds passing overhead but when the sun hit you it felt hot. We took a chance and went without jackets, something I was very happy about when we were walking back and not having to carry them.



We perused the craft fair, got some good food and heard a bit of the live music that was going on at different spots along the road. The local stables had a horse and carriage making rounds. I'm always amazed how big horses really are; the barnyard smell that goes with them is kind of a novelty up here too. Abby didn't really notice the horses at first - too many people and cars around - but at some point she realized that they were animals and much bigger than her!


My primary goal this year was to get ice cream from the Wildcat Cafe. I'd been wanting to all summer but we'd just never gotten around to it. We sat on the picnic table outside the restaurant where we could watch passers by and look out onto Back Bay. Abby got some ice cream too (we asked for a spoon): just for the record, pistachio is preferred over peaches and cream.




Owing to the heat, and her natural love of them, Abby walked through, and drank from, every puddle she could get to on our way to the Wildcat - including one that was really more like a pool of mud. On our way home we stopped at the SPCA Dog Wash (like a charity car wash but dogs instead) where my sister Claire was lending a hand and Abby got her very first bath.



She was pretty nervous about the whole ordeal but behaved very well. Rob held her collar and kept her calm, Claire and another volunteer did most of the washing, and I knelt nearby taking pictures and telling her what a good girl she was. Rob and Claire did their best to get all the sand out of her legs and paws. She looked so skinny with her fur wet and sudsy. When all the shampoo had finally been rinsed off she was very happy to jump out of the tub and have a good shake and was even willing to eat a cookie. By the time we'd reached home she was mostly dry and very fluffy. Claire was clearly becoming an expert at dog washing since after everything she was still completely dry.




The Dog Wash is a by donation event that the SPCA holds a few times a year (I think there was one at the Canada Day festivities too). Claire said it went really well. Abby was dog number 19 and by the end of the day they'd washed 30 dogs.

Yesterday was great. The weather was perfect: hot, but not too hot, and windy enough to keep the bugs off. We walked down to Old Town the Old Town Ramble and Ride with Abby.


There was lots of good food to eat: we had barbequed whitefish, hot dogs, fries and ice cream. Abby got some too as consolation for being tied up on a short leash.


I found some caribou antler buttons at the craft market and we heard all sorts of music as we walked around.


The highlight of the afternoon was Abby getting away (while being released from the temporary captivity that ensured we could actually eat our hot dogs) and falling in the lake. She hasn't done much swimming yet and the lake is still very cold; the look on her face as she came back up to the surface was pure shock. Fortunately Rob was right there and able to haul her out by her collar; she ran on adrenaline for the next twenty minutes and we were both glad she's a small dog and not something more powerful.


We did some much needed clean up around the house and yard when we got home. Abby snoozed, the adrenaline and ice cream having worn off, and Zeke wandered the house freely. I made Jell-o (peach with bits of peach) and filled our popsicle moulds and two custard cups for some cold snacks later on.


I got a nice picture of Zeke (the impossible to photograph black cat). He's getting a little more salt in his face and shoulders these days. I hadn't really noticed so much until now. He's about 15 but still very healthy and lively (has to be with Abby around).


And I started another sundress.