Camping in the County

 

This week we spent a couple of days camping at Sandbanks Provincial Park. You may recall that last year's camping trip at Pinery ended in a driving a hysterical pup home at midnight. This trip was much more successful, probably because we had the park almost to ourselves!

Admittedly, Duncan was a bit unsure about it at first, and hid in the car while we set up camp:

But once he got used to the idea, he enjoyed prowling around the campsite:

He discovered that someone had left some interesting marshmallow sticks near the firepit:

Not to mention the tasty black stick he found IN the firepit!

By this time, he was a bit grubby(!) so we went to the beach. Sandbanks has two dog beaches; the first is at one end of the main "human" beach, and is just as nice and sandy as Pinery's. Duncan had a wonderful time running on the beach and chasing sticks into the water:

The second dog beach, which we tried out later, is at the mouth of the little river that runs through the campground. The water levels seemed low so the river didn't quite make it to the lake, but that meant more room for interesting smells:

We spent a lot of time driving around exploring Prince Edward County. Duncan loves riding in the car, but we discovered that he doesn't seem to like sheep. He barked at them until they ran back into the field they had escaped from (at least we hoped it was the right field!)

The town of Picton has a fabulous leash-free park, so we arranged our explorations to include a stop there on both afternoons. It's 7+ acres, with lots of trees and seats for humans, and Duncan has a wonderful time exploring it and playing with his new friend Clancy:

We made one last stop at the beach just before we headed home. It was quite windy that morning, and the water was rougher, so Duncan didn't enjoy playing in it quite as much. Instead, we played ball:

Cat-ching Up

It's been a couple of weeks since we last heard from our hero. So what's he been up to?

Well, he's been quite busy helping Megan move to Guelph for vet school. We spent a very long day moving furniture (including assembling a bed with a quite astonishing number of parts), and Duncan was a very big help in getting her settled...

Our room is upstairs? Okay, let's go...

Lots of closet space... 

Comfy couch...

Nice cool tile floor...

 The apartment passed inspection, and Dr. Megan moved in this morning – with the newest member of the family. Meet Jax. He's a very handsome cat, with big green eyes, 6 extra toes, and a repertoire of pathetic sound effects that rivals Duncan's. (Duncan hasn't met him yet, and probably won't until Christmas, which will make for very interesting holidays!)

This cushion smells like dog...

But the couch is comfy!

Bath Time

It wouldn't be entirely accurate to say that Duncan enjoys baths (as opposed to enjoying the bathtub), but he does tolerate them much better than Kerry ever did:

And it's a good thing, because he certainly needs them. Did you see his paws in yesterday's post? Look at the rinse water – and that's nothing compared to what it was like pre-sod!

Canada Day (a bit late)

(I found a draft post from the Canada Day weekend that I'd forgotten about. So we're temporarily going back to the pre-sod era.)

Last year, Duncan attended the Canada Day festivities in Spencer Smith Park. This year, it was too hot and humid to hang out in crowded places. So Duncan hung out in the shade of his transplanted grass instead.

Mud is pleasantly cool on a hot day:

Look at those paws!

And there's nothing quite like an ice cube to cool you down:

Flood Damage

It's been a week since the Great Burlington Flood. Our street was lucky, but Duncan and I pass many houses on our walks with dumpsters and piles of furniture, carpet, and drywall outside. To give you a bit more of an idea of how much rain we got, the park path was partially washed out, right at the bridge Duncan likes to take to meet his friends Watson, Ruby and Jasper:

And here's a shot of the damage from the other side of the stream, now back to normal levels. The water was running over the bridge at the height of the flood, not to mention over the path I stood on to take this photo and into the adjacent baseball diamond!

Playdate

Last week, Duncan had a playdate with Owen, Cerys, and Bryn. He had fun running around with them, but he did seem a bit taken aback at Bryn's size!

  

After the Deluge

Sunday Monday evening, Burlington got hit with a very impressive storm! Apparently we got more than 5 inches of rain – two months worth – within a few hours. We regained the pool for a few hours, and Duncan found it an excellent chance to wade a bit and grab a refreshing drink. (Water bowls are boring; he drinks from his only when he's desperate.)