Categories
Family Toronto

Edgar the Bernedoodle

aka the Bernegoof

Okay, not really, I just came up with that today.

I stopped to take a picture of the city from the park – it’s cool and windy and the lights and the clouds look really pretty.

Picture of downtown Toronto skyline at night taken from the hill at Riverdale Park East.

And I swear the dog saw me pull out my phone and take a photo. Then he walked out in front me, sat down, and posed.

Same as the skyline photo with a large cute dog front and centre

I didn’t really even have a choice. So I thought I’d make this late evening post about the dog.

From day one:

bernedoodle puppy's face takes up most of the photo - he's sticking his tongue out.
One of the very first pictures I took of him – in my dad’s van that we went to pick him up in.
bernedoodle puppy lying beside pale, slightly hairy legs; you can see a pale wooden floor.
This gives you an idea as to his size back then.

…to today – uhm just look up a little

Oh wait – same pose again from October:

Same as last photo but dog is much much bigger

Both his parents were bernedoodles too – and so while the breeder thought he would end up about 45-50 ish pounds, I think he mostly sucked out the Bernese Mountain Dog genes and not so many of the poodle genes. He started off about 5 kg when we got him at about 2 months old (about 11 pounds) and weighed 35 kg in September at the vet visit, (about 16 months later; about 77 pounds).

He is definitely mostly my dog, though Q is getting more and more used to him. Especially as Edgar is becoming less and less jumpy and over-eager. And Edgar loves Toby but will spend ages barking at Toby when I leave for work or to go out or what have you. Sigh. Really not sure how to work on that one but we’re trying!

Edgar and I did a puppy class and then two levels of obedience. The obedience classes were at Dog Logic – and I really cannot say enough good things about Madelayne and her team. He goes to day care there too now occasionally especially when we’re both going to be out of the house for a long day! And it’s so much fun to see the photos they post on IG and that they send to me when he’s there.

Bernedoodle dog sitting up with a bright blue wall behind him. A small white dog is photo-bombing from the left side.
He’s being photobombed by Mikey – who has known Edgar since they were about the same size!

There are a couple of things we’re still working on:

First, not jumping on people when he’s excited to see them! This is especially true for friends either visiting the house or if we bump into them on the road.

Second, getting him more used to me brushing him. I really suck at this so we’re starting from scratch again – I’m going to try using a lick mat and some frozen peanut butter and just a couple of minutes at a time and we’ll see how it goes.

Third, I want to incorporate more “training time” with him on a daily, or really every-other-day, basis. Going over what we already know, adding a few things here and there (working on stay as I increase the distance between us; definitely working a bit more on leave it again – ahhhh garbage day walks are always fun; that sort of thing).

Sometimes there’s a lot of Sheryl Crow going around in my brain but I am very happy Toby finally agreed that we could get a dog and I am so very happy that dog is Edgar.

A selfie of a lady with kind eyes and grey hair and a round face and a scruffy looking bernedoodle

Oh and if you want to follow him on IG you can: @edgar_fluufle

Categories
Around the house Family Finance Health

Setting up for #MoneyMasterclass

I shared the link last time for the twitter achieve of the money masterclass but here it is again.

Some items are required at the start:

• 2 notebooks

• 5 jars for T and I and 4 jars for Q

• a month at a glance calendar

• 500 things (beads, buttons, toothpicks, poker chips, beans, whatever you can gather)

• 2 highlighters – different colours

• Construction paper

and a box to hold everything in.

I have no idea what to use for the 500 of something that I am not gonna mind having around somewhere. I’m going to wait until they are actually explained to figure them out.

Next the first actual task: list your core values.

WHY does this come up so much?!?! lol

So here’s the link again to my August 2021 blog post. This time I’m going to print out the damn list of values and post it near my computer.

Task 2 – List all the things you want or need to do in the next few years. The idea is to empty out your brain: everything you have been planning to do/wish you had done and then label them:

A = top priority; then B; everything else = C

Key for me is “next few years” there’s really only so much I can do in that time frame (retirement ain’t in the cards just yet)

So here’s my list – I think maybe I have too many A priorities but oh well!

A – improve my health

A – do things together as a family more

A – pay down debt

A – set up an emergency fund of 3 – 6 months of expenses!!

A – stop accumulating stuff

B – travel more

B – contribute more to our RRSPs / TSFAs (retirement savings)

B – create more (stitch, paint, play piano)

B – read more / learn more

C – move to a smaller place (still walkable; with some outside room; dog friendly)

Some more stuff to think about:
WHY do I want to do this?
By WHEN do I want to get it done?
WHAT are the steps I have to take?
WHO can I ask for help?

Categories
Family

We are all hockey people

 They talked about the crash at school today.

Q: But I didn’t hear much from the teachers because the kids were talking.

So I did my best with the story. As best I can with a sensitive 7-year-old.

From the Red Deer News online: http://rdnewsnow.com/article/578615/rdpsd-students-show-support-humboldt-jersey-day-thursday

(Mid-way through trying to explain why the hockey team was on the bus and where they were going and so on)

Q: But how did they get to the game?

Me: Dude – they didn’t go to the game. They couldn’t.

Q: But the ones who were still there? Oh wait. They all couldn’t right? They were either dead or really really hurt.

*** Silence ***

Q: There was something about leaving a stick outside?

Me: Some people are leaving them outside the door to show a sign that we’re thinking about them and their friends and family.

Q: We have two sticks. Can we leave one at each door?

Later I remembered we have a side door. So my player’s stick (you know, the non-goalie stick) went out there. #putyoursticksout #humboldtstrong

Categories
Diversions Family

C is for March

I seem to have run out of steam a little in March. No reading to speak of – although I did catch up on my newspapers and magazines (mostly The Atlantic). I had a trial subscription to Texture that was going to expire at the end of March so I did a fair bit of poking around on there and then concluded I wasn’t going to miss it when the trial was over so that was good to know.

There was lego of course! The Curiosity Rover 🙂 it fits nicely with my Saturn V rocket.

Oh and Chicago too:

mostly sorted…

And I finished up a cross-stitch that I have to put some final touches on and then send out to a good friend’s daughter to remind her that there is always an adventure to be had:

adventure awaits

And if I really want to stretch it, I got a hair cut 😉

less hair; more grey

Q fell asleep while waiting…

Categories
Diversions Family Get Crafty

Happy Monday – weekend craziness

Happy Monday all! We had a wonderful, warm weekend – but the kind of weekend that feels like you need a weekend to recover from it!

Friday was all nostalgia, as I went back to high school! I took a slightly longer route to get there so I could walk down the street I used to live on and see the house I spent the first 13 or 14 years of my life in. It seems like they added a nice deck to the back but the front looked a lot like it did 35 years ago.

On the street where I lived

I was on the left even as a child

I went and found my grad photos (yes, photos, I actually kinda love saying “when did I graduate? Oh, 1992. And ’93” lol)

Grad ’92

Grad ’93 – Harry Potter specs long before HP 😉

It’s such a great entrance too!

Saturday involved getting Q to drama class and me cross-stitching while waiting around. Then hockey school and a pit stop for ice cream afterwards

First he ate his

then he ate mine

Toby took Q off to gymnastics in the afternoon and then, with my folks in charge of Q for the night, Toby and I went off to the west end for a pub night for the high school. So lovely to see everyone that I did see but I missed a lot of people too because, well, I was volunteering Sunday morning!

Sunday is usually the day we have nothing so that we can recover from the week and the usual Saturday madness but instead I volunteered with EGALE running some water tables at the Scotibank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and then headed out to the wilds of Etobicoke to help my mom, an uncle, and a couple of cousins work in my babcia’s garden. Whew. 

I’m hoping for less craziness this weekend but I dunno!

 

NOTE: yea, I know, this went up on Tuesday but only because I couldn’t get the photos to upload on the blog. The very helpful admin for my host fixed it all overnight for me – well overnight for me, day time for him, he’s in the UK.