It's a frosty morning!

Wow, what a difference a week can make. Last week at this time we were enjoying balmy temperatures of plus 6 to 7 degrees, and bright sunshine. There was no snow on the ground and a couple of days I actually wore a spring jacket to work. It totally felt like a lovely day in late March or early April. We knew it was just a little teaser from Mother Nature but we enjoyed it all the same.

Now this morning it's minus 18 degrees with quite strong winds, making it feel like minus 30. BRRRRRR - now that's cold. I have to admit I owe Lloyd an apology. When he was buying me a new car at Christmas, he called to tell me he had also gotten a remote starter. I was less than enthusiastic about this option as I didn't really feel it was necessary. This morning I was ever so grateful to just be able to push a button from the comfort of my toasty warm kitchen and let it warm up.

I still had to go out and walk around for a minute but at least I had a warm car to get into. On lovely mild days, Cooper loves to spend his entire morning outside. He will spend literally hours sitting on the little back patio, surveying his kingdom. For those of you who don't know, Cooper is my dog. I totally lucked out getting him.
The story of Cooper is an interesting one that might not have turned out as well as it did. When I was driving to PEI to live, having left Guelph a day after Lloyd with the Uhaul full of furniture, I stopped in Brockville to visit some friends and stay over night. I had my best travelling companion with me. James drove out with me to PEI when he was five years old and we had a great time. So much so, that he would often ask when we were going again. So when he learned that I was planning to drive out by myself, he was first in line to offer to join me for the trip. We took a more direct route this time, doing it in two days instead of over three.
Anyway, we arrived at Trish and Stephan's in the early afternoon. At some point during our conversation, I mentioned that I was probably going to get a dog when I moved. After all, what is an old farm house without a resident dog. It seems that Trish knew someone, who knew someone, who was looking for a home for a dog - a cocker spaniel. It just so happens that I LOVE cocker spaniels. So, a few phone calls and emails later, it was decided that I was going to pick up this dog in Montreal on my way through the next morning. I know, I know, this was a terribly risky thing to even contemplate. I know absolutely nothing about this little beast.
I was a little nervous as it was at trying to find my way through Montreal, and now I had to find someone's house. But Google, bless them, gives excellent driving directions. With very little effort James and I arrived at Pascal's home in Montreal a little after 7:00 in the morning.
The dog was very cute, very friendly, and the fellow was ever so anxious that we would take him. He repeatedly said, "So, you're going to take him, right?" That should have set off all kinds of warning bells and whistles! But I've always been a soft touch for cute dogs "Ohhhh, just look at that face! " is something Lloyd has heard a good many times over the years.
So, off we headed, me, James and the dog, who's name I might add, was Cookie. Not my first choice for a male dog! So down the road we went as James and I pondered what his new name should be, because I just could not imagine calling him Cookie! James came up with a great suggestion - he thought that Cooper would be a good name because it sounds a lot like Cookie and might be easier for him to get used to. So Cooper it bacame.
Stephan and Trish had loaned us a crate to put him in before we left Brockville (requiring me to leave my dollhouse at their place, but that just means I'll have to make a trip down there to visit this summer. We made more frequent stops than we had originally planned and James was a great help taking him for walks at each stop. It's been a while since I owned a dog and some things take a while to become a habit again. At one stop we pooped and scooped and then put the little bag on the roof of the car and then went for a walk. Trouble is we forgot to take the bag off the car when we got in. A couple of miles down the road, James and I realized we had forgotten to take it off and put it into the garbage. We spent a little while contemplating the looks on the face of the person who comes upon this little sealed bag and thinks they may have found some treasure. Nothing can provide as much entertainment to an eight year boy as pondering the untimate destination of a bag of poo.
James was such a good little trooper. We had left Brockville around 5:00 in the morning and we crossed the bridge at approximately 9:00. Now we were on the island and the excitement began to build. We were both so eager to get out of the car and to get to our house, but we still had an hour to go. So on the way, we planned just how we were going to explain to Lloyd that we now own a dog. James had it all planned. We took the dog out of the crate just before we got to the house so that when Lloyd opened the door and saw the dog at James' feet, James was going to say "Papa, he followed us home, can we keep him? " All papa said was "Why am I not surprised?" He knows me too well.
Well, nine months later, I can only say he is the BEST dog, (well most of the time!). I discovered why he was in need of a home. Apparently the couple who owned him split up and both moved into apartments and could not keep him. Pascal was the brother of the woman and he lived in a lovely condominium. Trouble with Cooper is that he suffers a tiny bit from seperation anxiety. When you leave him alone, he howls like a wolf. Now this only goes on for about 30 to 45 seconds, then he just gives up and goes about the rest of his day. But I can see where that behaviour might not be well tolerated in an apartment.
But he is great company and has been a lot of fun to have around.

Now that we have snow, he goes outside and loves to run around the yard with the dog who loves next door, named Scoobie. Sometimes when he comes in he has big balls of snow attached to his feet and he won't let me pull them off, so he spends a really long time working away at getting those off. He really is quite the character!