Kew Gardens

I was very excited Friday afternoon, C and I were planning a trip to Riverside Park. A park that seems to get people pretty excited. But the best laid plans are no match for erratic weather. As I have some difficulty parking in the garage, I left my car out on the street, as I came into my apartment I heard a booming crack, and then a thud, as a huge branch hit the ground. That sealed the deal, C and I agreed that the combination of the black clouds overhead, and the powerful winds meant that Riverside Park was out of the question.

However, I owe you a park review, and it occurred to me that I never did post a review of our trip to Kew Gardens.

Kew Gardens is out in the east end. You'll see here that it has a gorgeous gazebo, they use this during the Beech Jazz festival too, the musicians are in the gazebo and they arrange chairs in front. You will see that Cadie escaped my grasp here, but this is technically not an off-leash zone.

This photo may be harder to see, but here you see a lawn bowling club, and beyond it the lake, what you may not see too well is the boardwalk, and sort of lost in the mix is the off leash area.

I don't know if you remember it, but the day Cadie ate a stick of butter she found a beach ball, and I hid it in the closet. I knew we were headed to the beach, and I wanted her to have something to play with when we got there. I'm glad that I kept it for her. This beach ball gave her minutes of fun...about 3. She chased it and lunged at it and grabbed at it, and then it deflated, so I threw it out, it was a no brainer.

The dog park is huge, at least as large as Sunnybrook, but, at least twice as spectacular. There is a lot of sandy space for dogs to run and catch balls, or wrestle with each other, but it's right on the lake, so more often than not we passed people sunbathing with their dogs. Cadie and I went with C, her brother D and of course Toby.


It was very windy that day too, so I was very worried that Cadie would want to go swimming, and I had forgotten her life jacket, so there was no way I was going to let her go in. Fortunately, as always, Cadie was far more interested in chasing after her ball then in going into the water.



It was a hot day, and truthfully both dogs were really struggling with this trip. It seems counter intuitive, but I don't think this park is really suitable for a hot day. The off leash area is completely sandy, while the grassy area is shady and cool, it is reserved for on leash dogs and people. Sand doesn't hold cooler temperatures as well as grass, and there were very few trees, and no water fountain that I could see, so it was even hotter there than our regular walk. We did stop on our way back to the car to enjoy the cool shade, we were all very pleased to sit for a minute on a park bench.

That being said, it was great to get out and play in a new park. I think we would definitely go back The cherry on the cake was the fabulous view!

Stumbling blocks

We all have our strengths and weaknesses, our cleared hurtles and our stumbling blocks, I guess that's true regardless if your dog or a person.

Cadie is an urban dog, and it takes a lot to rattle her. She loves to ride the elevator, she sticks her nose in the tiny little gap of the door, and sniffs frantically as we go up and down, trying to get a feel for what the neighbors are having for dinner.

Cadie also love the subway. Inevitably she finds a person or two who will make as fuss over her, and that is after all what she loves most. Also the subway usually takes her out to see her friend Toby, and means a good romp in C's backyard.

Cadie doesn't seem to notice traffic at all, I don't think she ever did to be honest with you. She simply trots along, confident in the knowledge that those noisy cars won't bother her.

The one thing Cadie is afraid of though is being inside one of those cars. As a small puppy of 5 Lbs. she would curl up in my lap and sleep, occasionally she would stretch, and reposition herself, but then she would go back to sleep almost right away. And at the end of the day maybe that's the root of it, maybe she's only comfortable in the car when she can sit in my lap. At any rate, Cadie is not as excited about Hermione as I am.

I have tried to create a positive experience for her, putting her in the car and taking her to the park where she can play. I even tried taking her to C's place, my mum's place, and new places, but still I can't seem to get Cadie excited about the possibility of a car ride.

Admittedly I'm not a good driver, and maybe that's what's upsetting her, she fears for her life. I couldn't enjoy a car ride if I thought I was going to die. But...I didn't think dogs could fear for their lives...does anyone know the answer to this, are dogs aware of their own mortality?

But I digress. Last night on our way home from the park Cadie was accosted by a Cadie-look-alike. They sniffed hello and then the Cadie-look-alike hoped into the car, and drove off into the sunset. I turned to Cadie and said:

"see. That's what you need to do."

Cadie turned and gave me a look that said:

"don't pull on that thread. Aren't we having a nice time here?"

So I dropped the subject, and we continued on home. I guess no one is perfect, and I still have an advantage over Cadie in that I can pick her up and put her in the car if I want her in there.

There's Something in the Air

Cadie and I got up and headed to the park first thing this morning as usual. We were out for a good 2 hours, again, nothing unusual about that. But then we headed out again in the afternoon for another 2 hours. We had a good stroll up Yonge Street, and then headed down Mt. Pleasant, all in all, it was a great day.

They have already put the bubble up on the tennis court beside us, so I had thought that we had seen the last of the found tennis balls. I was wrong, Cadie found two today. The first ball she found she was happy to have me simply put in my dog walking bag.

When we got to the park, she started jumping around and clawing at my bag until I finally pulled her favourite orange ball out and threw it across the lawn. I don't know how she had the energy to chase a ball, but she did. so we spent some time in park, and then headed home.

It was fabulous, the temperature was perfect, and the roads were so full of people, though it became less crowded as the afternoon wore on.

On her way in Cadie found the second ball, and her day was complete, she had everything she could want. Then she came in and headed right over the couch where she struggled to keep her eyes open while she demolished her newest treasure.

Must..Keep...Chewing!

It's Cadie Life, I Just Live Here

It's funny how an animal can take over your life. One moment you are blissfully unaware the animal exists and the next you are completely wrapped around their little dew claw. This is how it is with Cadie. Cadie sets the tone in the apartment, if she's having a bad day everyone (meaning me) is having a bad day. Cadie tells me when it's time to go to bed, and when it's time to get up. She also tells me when it's time to eat, and when we've spent too much lounging and we're bored. It's true, Cadie is the real matriarch of the apartment, and I am just the follower.


I remember being in my first year of university and being terribly offended when my roomate, who I wasn't all that fond of told me that what I needed was a mother. Naturally I protested, I can look after myself. She laughed and tossed her head and said, "no, no you can't. You need a mother!" The obvious rudeness of this statement aside, I am at heart a routine-driven person, who thrives on knowing what to expect from each situation. Of course life isn't like that, but I think that's the biggest reason that I am such a dog person. Dogs are completely lost without their routines, (they also love cooler weather, and are happiest when they live in the moment. At my more philosophical and romantic moments I like to think that I am descended from wolves, but I digress.)

University on the other hand is so flexible. You get up when you want, you do your homework if you want, a person has to create their own routine, which was something I was struggling with in my first year. So really I don't need a mother, I mean I have one, what I needed was a dog. A little being to run my life and keep me on a short leash.

Rainy Day Relief

Hermione has come home. I can't tell you how much of a relief it is to have my car back. The drive home last night was gruelling, but it was worth it, as it took me only 15 minutes to get to work today. Also it's supposed to rain today so I'm glad that I'll have the ability to dive to and from the park if needs be.

As a general rule Cadie hates to be out in the rain, but then she didn't get as much exercise as she needs last night, so we may be walking through a steady stream in a soggy park after all.

happy, rainy Thursday everyone!

Photo Gifts

I know that it's weird to be writing about the weekend on a Wednesday. But I find the middle of the week so tiring. The worst day of the week is clearly Tuesday YUCK! But Wednesday can be pretty bad too.

Cadie and I played host to our good friend W on Saturday. We had my famous egg salad sandwiches, on a fresh baguette and fresh veggies. But W came over for another reason. I was going through my photos looking for a nice one of Cadie and myself when I noticed that all of the pictures of me were taken by my ex. Not only is it disturbing to think that the only photos you have of yourself were taken by an ex, these photos are now very out-of-date. They're two years old, I was much heavier and Cadie was a puppy. It was time for some new photos. So W came over and here is what she gave me.






A pensive Cadie, trying her best to please her new best friend



Sitting pretty so that W will pet her



Me watching Cadie play, you can also see the dilapidated baseball diamond



You might think that Cadie is playing, but really, she's protecting her ball from this interloper

Excellent recall, she just wanted to make sure W saw her being so good




Finally, I have something updated, and we look fantastic together don't we?

As you know every picture has a story, this story is that Cadie was driven to distraction by my insisting on getting a photo. As far as Cadie was concerned she was at the park to chase the ball and nothing else, so getting this shot was a bit of a struggle. I had to rein her in multiple times, and in the end W had to shoot almost blindly, because we had only a couple of seconds before Cadie wormed her way free and ran off to find her ball again.

 

All in all, a very successful weekend as far as I'm concerned. So thank you to W for giving me such beautiful pictures of my little Cadie, and of the two of us. It's nice to have photos with good memories attached to them.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Cadie and I headed out for our walk last night under heavy, black rain clouds. Initially I was going to drive, but Cadie's energy was way too high, and driving me nuts, and as I was pulling onto my street it looked like the sun was coming out.

The sun was not coming out, but the walk was pretty dry. It rained on us a little again in the baseball bowl and then just as we were headed inside, so not too bad at all, and truthfully I really needed the walk, to clear my mind, and try to stop my head ache.

It most have worked because I got a great night's sleep last night, and when I woke up the sun was trying to peak through the clouds. This is the best sign of the week, even better though is that it is expected to be a beautiful day leading into a beautiful weekend.

C and I are going to another Jays game tonight. We're going to have the best seats of the season (usually we sit in the nose bleeds, but tonight we'll be down in the 100s). This is GREAT and I am very excited, the 100s have the best indulgence-type foods, so I think we're having pizza, though that might change after we've had the chance to walk around and see what else the Dome has to offer. But, even if we do decide on pizza, the pizza in the 100s is much, much better than the pizza in the nose bleeds, I have no idea why, it just is.

Anyhow, the sunshine has renewed my faith in life and revitalized my spirit. Happy Friday everyone