How Do I Love Thee?

Let me count the ways.

Terry driving home after a long day at work, in the dark, on the backroads.

The phone rings.

"There's a deer been hit by a car on Patterson Sideroad, it's alive, on the side of the road, head is raised, tail is waving, but it's severely injured, it can't stand up. I turned the car around, the deer wants to run, but it can't move. What should we do?"

"I'll call the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police), they'll come out and deal with it."

"Okay, should I wait?".

"No, it'll be okay."

I call the OPP, they are on their way.




An act of mercy.

Let me count the ways.

Lest We Forget

Remembrance Day. In recent years, it has taken on even more significance. I think that's a good thing. It's even referred to as Remembrance Week now, November 5-11, instead of just November 11th.

Almost everyone's family has been touched by War in one way or another. My grandfather fought in WW I. My father-in-law fought in World War II.

It's important to remember. To figure out what happened and why. To be and stay aware and involved with what goes on in the world.

My father-in-law wrote a book about his Regiment in the War, called "7th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment in World War II". It was published in 1948. It follows his Regiment from Montreal to England, and through France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany. I recently pulled it out and looked through it and re-read parts of it.

I'd like to share some of it for Remembrance Day. The parts in quotes/italics are his words taken directly from the book.


The inside front plate of the book.

The dedication:

"This book is dedicated to those members of the Regiment who paid the supreme sacrifice that we might return home to live in peace. God grant we may."

There are many picture plates in the book. I've included a few of them here, click for a larger view.

"FIRST CHRISTMAS - The Regiment felt its first general wave of homesickness when a dismal rain heralded the first Christmas they were to spend away from home. Of course, dinners had been laid on for the men, Sergeants and the Officers in the true, traditional manner of any Regiment in the Canadian Army, and this went a long way towards relieving the ailment."

"So ended the Regiment's activities in France and, as they left the following day for a new unheard of battle area called "The Scheldt", they took with them many heart-warming memories of that country. All through the battles the F.F.I. or "Underground", had given every assistance possible and, even though sometimes their villages were wrecked, the natives had welcomed their "liberators" with everything in their hearts, pantries and wine cellars. To pay tribute to the French, it is fitting to include, here, a letter received by Lt.-Col. Lewis shortly after the close of this phase:-

Dear Col. Lewis,

It was felt that the following information might be of interest to you.

Several days ago, while this company was moving forward, we noticed one of your armoured cars knocked out and, opposite it, two graves. On inspection, we discovered that these were the graves of two Troopers of your Unit.

A day or so later, our C.Q.M.S., on his way back for rations, passed the same spot. The graves were piled high with the most beautiful flowers imaginable and railings were being constructed around them. He learned, from a conversation with two civilians, that the village had decided to erect a memorial over the graves in memory of the two men and, also, of all the Canadians who had lost their lives in clearing the Hun from France.

We also learned that, today, the villagers turned out in a body and a procession, headed by the local dignitaries, proceeded to the site, where High Mass was held by the Parish Priest.

We thought that you might like to inform the families of the two men of the villagers' action as it might help to alleviate, to some extent, their sorrow at the loss they have suffered.

With best regards, I am,

Yours sincerely,

A.H. Lowe, Maj. O.C., H.Q., Def. Coy (RMR)"

Holland

"During the night, the infantry, after a short, very bitter engagement managed to secure a small bridgehead and the sappers went to work putting up another of their famous Baily bridges. Sufficient praise will never be given to the Field Companies of the Royal Canadian Engineers for their bridgebuilding efforts. The work was invariably done under shellfire and the infantry, Recce and Tanks would watch in amazement as the sappers hustled about their business absolutely oblivious to the whistles and crashes."

"The day before the war ended found "B" Squadron trying desperately to get to Emden through an absolute maze of canals; "C" Squadron waiting for the Engineers to build a bridge so that they could carry out their orders to push on to the North Sea and "A" Squadron, the most northerly troops of the 3rd Canadian Division, having a stiff fight with the enemy as they held the only two bridges over the Ems Jade canal giving access to Aurich. They had got up there after a day of brilliant manoeuver, only to find the old story of blown bridges covered by enemy fire. Unfortunately, though they had taken some 100 prisoners that day, they suffered casualties, themselves, losing Cpl. Morrison and Sgt. Dabbs to the Honour Roll. Shortly after this incident occurred, an envoy from Aurich appeared under a flag of truce and was conducted to 8th Brigade Headquarters. A few minutes later, the orders were given not to move on any further.

Cease Fire - Although the B.B.C. announced that the Germans had ceased fighting in Northwestern Germany the previous evening, the "cease fire" was not given until 8:00 o'clock on the morning of the 5th of May. The order transmitted over the 60-odd wireless sets in the Regiment was met with mingled emotions. Some were jubilant, others felt rather empty. Still others asked, "What can this message mean, sir?". It was unbelievable - the war was over."

The Final Dismiss at the Armoury, 29 December, 1945

"Finally, on Dec. 22nd the Unit boarded the Queen Elizabeth and set sail for Canada, arriving in New York on Dec. 27th. It was a wonderful sight to see the activity of the great American harbour as the Lizzie steamed up the Hudson. There were bands playing amidst the thunder of the hundreds of ships' whistles which were continuously blowing. On the train up from New York to Montreal final orders were given by Col. W.C. Bowen in regards to the dress and formation that would be required in the final parade at the Armoury. As the troopers marched into the Armoury at Cote des Neiges to the strains of "Men of Harlech" many of them found it difficult to keep the tears out of their eyes. After such a long family history it is no wonder that the final command "Dismiss" given by Col. Bowen was met with such a mixture of emotions. However, the Regiment was quickly forgotten as the soldiers ran to meet their loved ones."

My father-in-law, Captain Walter G.H. Pavey, 7th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment (17th Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars).

I never met my grandfather who fought in World War I, as he died the day after I was born. I never met my father-in-law either, he died suddenly at the age of 51 years (younger than I am now). However, I hear and feel him in the words of his book. These are the two people I would most want to meet, if I could.

Lest we forget.

Four On The Floor

Every day lately, four turkeys have been passing through, usually morning and late afternoon, to eat up the spilled seeds under one of the feeders. This feeder is in full view from my kitchen window. Nothing gets wasted from the feeder, if one bird isn't keen on it, others are. I refer to these turkeys as "the girls" (having no idea if they are or not), however, I do think they may be the mother and her 3 youngsters I blogged about before. I'm sure if the food stays they will keep coming, and I will have turkeys to feed this winter as I did two winters ago when I fed a flock of 14-17 for the whole season. I really missed them last year, as they used to hang around for the entire day, all winter long.

They love this area as there is loose dirt under the trees and they can scratch it up to their heart's content.

The four bunched up, showing the feeder above them with a Blue Jay visiting it.

Mason's Latest Champion

I received the show photo from Mason's latest Canadian Champion, a sable male bred by Linda James and Gaye Shepley, out of their Ch. Ravenscourt GrandGables Sachet. "Patrick" is Can. Ch. number 7 for Mason (he also has one Am. Ch.) and number 3 for his dam.

New Ch. Ravenscourt Briarlea McDreamy! Beautifully groomed and expertly presented by Cheryl Pike. My thanks and congratulations to all on a lightening-quick finish!

I love sitting at home and getting all the good news, pictures, etc. of the Mason kids and other Whitegates dogs and relatives out there. At the moment, that's exactly where it's at for me!

The Same, But Different

I had seen the little Red-Breasted Nuthatches around for a while at the feeders, and just in the last few weeks, the White-Breasted Nuthatch as well.

I was pleased when I recently got a good picture of the Red-Breasted Nuthatch. Woodpecker-like, with their short tail, eating insects and often upside down on tree trunks. If you enlarge the picture you can see their curved beak. They don't bore into trees like Woodpeckers, but pick out insects under bits of bark. They are really pretty with a unique call.

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

For several days I have been going out to feed the Chickadees by hand, and all other birds would fly away, except for the Red-Breasted Nuthatch, who would stay in the vicinity, doing its thing. As I stood there patiently with my hand held out, I wondered why the Nuthatch wouldn't try to eat from my hand too, it must see how the Chickadees have been profiting from their boldness. Just as I had this thought, the little mind-reader decided to fly in for a sample:

Since I didn't have a camera with me, I had to go inside and get it. On my way back outside to try for these pictures, didn't the Nuthatch fly right up to me and land on my shoulder as I was walking! It also landed on my index finger on the shutter button as I was set up to try for pictures, and checked out my face. It walked up and down my arm. It also pecked at the nailpolish on my thumb! All or nothing with this guy! And yes, it's a guy, the females have grey heads like the wing colour, the males have black like this one.

This shot shows the very short tail. I love the blue-grey wings.

This shot also shows the curved beak well. What a pretty little bird, about the same size as the Chickadees.

The White-breasted Nuthatch. They are about double the size of the little Red-Breasted variety. This one is a female, the males have a black cap instead of grey, just like the other variety.

The White-Breasted female upside down on a tree. A position very common for both varieties of Nuthatch.

We have to take the feeders in each night, as we have a raccoon who will empty and has broken two of them. Tonight when Terry went out to get the feeders, apparently the little Red-Breasted Nuthatch was fluttering all around his face, checking him out and looking for a handout. It seems I've created a monster....

Chickadee-dee-dee

I like the little Black-capped Chickadees best of all the birds, so very cute and with their call that announces their name! And, it turns out, so very tame! I'd heard of people feeding them from their hands, so I decided to try it with "my" Chickadees. I went near the feeder for the bigger birds which scares them away and makes it easy for the Chickadees to get in. When the feeder is almost empty, it's easier for the Chickadees to take it from your hand than to struggle for crumbs from the feeder. And they did! I used a mixture of seeds/nuts, but they almost always picked sunflower seeds or peanut pieces, so I stuck to using just those. Not all of them will do it, but most of them will, it's fun!

I decided to try to get pictures of them eating from my hand, I wasn't sure how it would work out as it meant holding the camera in one hand only, the "wrong" hand for me. I'm left handed and, of course, the shutter button is on the right side of the camera. It sure makes it difficult when everything is backwards! So I had to feed them with my left hand and both hold and shot the camera with my right hand. After an initial awkwardness it turned out better than I thought and I got some good shots!

Each picture is a different landing, sometimes even two birds will go for your hand at once. Give it a try! Their little feet are so light on your hand. I grab a handful of feed every now and then and go out to feed them, it's relaxing and picks up your spirits at the same time. These little guys stick with us through the whole long winter, so consider giving them a "helping hand"!

Aren't I the cutest?


Decisions, decisions!


Okay, THIS one.


I don't want to be a little pig...


"Dining in".... (this guy decided to eat right on my hand instead of flying away with it)


Some like sunflower seeds


...and some like peanuts.

Acts of Kindness

I already knew that I had the best vets in the world. Skilled, hard-working, compassionate, they always go above and beyond. In fact, everyone at the clinic is top notch. No wonder they have such a large breeder clientele and many clients that travel long distances to get to them. They are the same vets who saved Ozzy in my "Cob Caution" post.

Imagine my surprise when the doorbell rang yesterday and I received delivery of this beautiful flower arrangement in loving memory of Brooke, from all of the staff of our vet clinic.





Of course I burst into tears but I was so touched that they would be thinking of me the next day, the day when I was calling all the dogs Brooke by mistake, taking away her bed, still stepping over her spot, making one too many dinners. Nobleton Veterinary Clinic, they are a real class act. It was so appreciated, as were all the notes and calls I've received. I am very thankful for all of these acts of kindness, they really help in the healing process.

Brooke

Brooke - Ch. Whitegates Just One Look

January 2, 1998 - October 19, 2009

So loved, always such a good dog. The sweet one.












Please click on the large, right facing triangle to listen to the beautiful Hawaiian rendition of this song, selected in memory of our Brooke.

Cob Caution

About a year ago a Sheltie bred by us almost died from eating a corn cob or piece of one. This wasn't a corn-on-the-cob corn cob (although those would have exactly the same effect), but a piece of cob from a decorative (fall, harvest, halloween) corn cob. That decorative piece of cob found it's way into his area compliments of a squirrel or raccoon, and it very nearly cost him his life.

At the time, I was going to write about it, as I had never heard of the dangers of corn cobs until this incident, and hadn't ever read about it on any e-mail list, etc., but I never did get around to it. But now, 'tis the season once again, and I was given a reminder.

Imagine my surprise when I found this on our front lawn yesterday:





All the corn kernels but one had been picked out of this obviously decorative piece. This wasn't ours, and any neighbours we have live acres away from us. So, it could've only been brought here, a considerable distance, by an animal of some sort. Our dogs don't go in the front, so they were safe from any temptation to chew on this, but I HAVE found, on occasion, pieces of cob, decorative or otherwise, in our fenced 2 1/2 acres in the back, where our dogs DO go. I have NO idea how they got there, it had to be a wild animal bringing it in, because they weren't from us.

Our boy that ate the cob became violently ill when the piece of cob that had been kicking around in his stomach tried to pass from the stomach to the intestine and got stuck at that juncture. Only a super aware owner, terrific vets and good fortune saved this dog. He was in surgery before 24 hours had passed from his first symptoms, or he would not have made it. He was the THIRD case they had operated on that WEEK, and one other was not so lucky. Corn cob does not digest and the size is just right to be the perfect foreign body obstruction. Just google corn cob/obstruction/canine, it's one of the main causes of foreign body surgeries, and unfortunately, many canine deaths. I was also surprised to find out that some people will give their dog a corn cob to chew for recreation. NO! This is so risky. So, now that fall is most definitely here, you might want to rethink your decorations. Also, it's a very good idea to carefully and safely dispose of all cobs from any corn roasts. These fresh, buttery ones are particularly tempting for a dog.

Here's the lucky boy, doing just fine after a touch and go few weeks last fall:

Whitegates A Touch Of Blue, C.D. (yes, he's a cryptic bi-blue).

Full House

Seven birds on 8 perches (where's Waldo?). All Goldfinches except the Chickadee who has flown in for his grab and fly. The Chickadees don't perch, they grab and go. This is the most birds I've seen on this feeder, as they tend to peck at each other, driving competition away. When it gets even close to this full, there is a line up waiting in the tree for a chance at the seed. The female Goldfinch in the foreground is poised for a peck at the Chickadee, but he's there and gone in a blink. The little Chickadees are still my favourite.

I'm getting so many species now at or under the feeders. Blue Jays, Cardinals, Black-capped Chickadees, American Goldfinches, Mourning Doves, Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, Sparrows of many types, Purple Finches (rare), Red-breasted nuthatches, White-breasted nuthatches, Black-eyed Juncos (the newest to show up). Even four wild turkeys under the feeder twice a day recently. I've been trying to get good pictures of all the different species. Some are very elusive.