Decorating the tree

In what has become something of a tradition in the last few years our friend Andrea joins us to decorate the tree ready for Christmas.  This year our friends Stephen & Glenn joined us as well as Esther who is down from Whitehorse in Yukon on a course at one of the hospitals.

The troops get to work.

An hour of fun, giggles and drinks (hence the blurry picture !) and we have a decorated tree.  It looks fantastic, thanks for your help guys !

Only one of the tree ‘crackers’ has teeth marks in it which is quite an accomplishment given the number Mojo tried to steal in the process.  They are now all strategically placed above dog-head-height.

The reward for such great tree decorating (and rumour has it the reason we had such a good turn out to help), a fantastic dinner laid on by David.  Clockwise from left – David, Esther, Andrea, Glenn and Stephen.

Lamb shanks cooked long & slow in a delicious red-wine and vegetable sauce with garlic mashed potatoes, green beans and carrots. Mum & Dad FYI – the lamb shanks were about $10-$11 for a pack of three from Superstore although I didn’t notice the price per kg and have now thrown away the packaging, sorry !

Now we are all set for Christmas and our ‘first’ Christmas dinner, to host the 10 program managers from Davids hospital on Thursday evening, right after a forecast 24hrs of snow….it could be an eventful couple of days ahead !

Bear in Downtown Vancouver

This afternoon we had one of those ‘we know we’re not in England anymore’ moments when a black bear was spotted in Downtown Vancouver.  While bear sightings are not very unusual here in North Vancouver, to see one in the centre of the city is extremely rare. 

It is believed the bear had found it’s way into a dumpster in the underground parking garage of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, right in the heart of Downtown.  The dumpster was collected by a garbage truck when someone spotted the bear as the garbage truck pulled away.  UPDATE:  Conservation officers now say they think the bear climbed into the truck when it was parked on the North Shore and hitched a ride into Downtown.

A tranquiliser dart was shot into the bear and conservation officers and the VPD had to wait for a couple minutes for the sedative to take effect.  A brave and brilliant conservation officer then jumps up onto the back of the truck to catch the bear as he eventually falls asleep, before dropping him into a net held by some VPD officers.  Not a problem many Oxford police officers have had to deal with !

Conservation officers say they have tagged it and will release the 18 month old boy back into the wild in the Squamish Estuary tomorrow.

Frosty walks with friends

Last Friday, in between the mundane tasks of a visit to Costco and the excitement of picking up the Christmas tree we were able to squeeze in a dog-walk with our friend Sig.

Before we left, telltale signs of Mojo in the garden, sat waiting for a crow or squirrel sighting.  An area of defrosted grass the shape of two paws and a big ole rump (no offense Mojo, just sayin’).

We walked in and around the ravines close to Sig & Helens house in The Crest neighbourhood of Burnaby.  The ravines are criss-crossed with a network of trails and perfect for the dogs to run around freely away from roads.

In a few locations on the walk we saw this unusual sight.  We think it’s where a tree branch has given off moisture which has steamed when the sun shines on it but the cold air temperature has frozen the steam as it’s rising from the branch.  It looks like cotton wool wrapped around the bushes.

Mojo as always was beside himself when we arrive, not knowing whether to get fuss from Sig, follow Buddy and worship the ground he walks on, sniff Missy intimately or fetch his stick.  He does a little of each followed by plenty of throwing the stick downhill to take some of the puff out of him although he still remembered to cock his leg when pee’ing in Buddys company, something he never does on his own !

Last Christmas

As we get ready for this Christmas at home we were looking back at the pics we had of the great time we had visiting Family & Friends in the UK last year......

It’s not Christmas yet Mojo

Mojo has been a little perturbed this week.  He has spotted some wrapped presents sitting on the sideboard in the living room that David brought back from England in November.

A fun tradition with our previous Aussie Charlie was that he would unwrap his own presents (and most other peoples if invited).  He loved the whole process of ripping of the paper and tape and pulling out whatever was inside.  Mojo has also quickly caught onto the spirit of receiving.  It’s too bad that Charlie used to unwrap and enjoy while Mojo tends to unwrap and destroy.

So, Mojo has developed a full understanding for shiny crinkly paper with twirly bits and bows.  He just doesn’t quite get that not all presents are for him and some presents that are for him he isn’t necessarily allowed just yet.   Not the greatest photos and video here as taken on my iPhone as it was to hand rather than grabbing the camera.

He spent over an hour sat looking, pacing and occasionally whining or huffing & puffing asking to be given the presents to open.  Now, a couple of days later he still looks up there expectantly every time he walks past, just incase now is his moment.

Given that these are just a couple of presents on the sideboard, goodness knows what he’ll be like when we start putting them under the tree.  Here is a photo of Charlie from Christmas 2002, exercising perfect self-control and patience awaiting the invitation to start shredding paper and undoing bows.  Mojo……watch & learn.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chuck it out !

Hahahahahah !  After we had finished rolling around on the floor laughing I felt compelled to record and post this recent TV commercial.

It is of course the season for cheap junk imported from China, we mustn’t forget the sound of approaching hooves on the super Horse Clock nor the ‘almost miraculous’ spiritual accessory of the Prayer Cross.

Quite why the 44th President of the United States was targeted is a little unclear, poor guy.  What happened to the days of growing cress in a little plastic tub on the kitchen window sill ?

“Show pride and support”.  Where’s the pride in making the President look like an oompa loompa ?

It also occured to me that the timing was strange…..he was elected in 2008 and the next election isn’t until next year.  Given the time of year I thought a Chia Jesus might be more appropriate, but then after a quick search online I found some high school kids already had that idea……..

Oh well, happy Christmas shopping season everybody !

Snow-shoeing on Cypress

Today I decided to take Mojo snow-shoeing.  I had a quiet day in my diary and the forecast was for a day of full sun.

Well, sun wasn’t exactly visible as we set out at around 9.30am, infact the clouds looked dark and were quite definitely covering the tops of the mountains.  Nonetheless we headed out, I decided to go to Cypress Provincial Park this time and use the winter snow-shoe trail to Hollyburn Peak – a route we had taken during the summer a few times before but not in the winter.

We set out on the trail, under very grey skies.  However, at +2 degrees and dry it was very comfortable walking.

Views here where the hiking trail is close to the cross-country ski runs.

Because the hiking trails are close to the ski facilities there are signs posted advising all dogs must be under control.  It seemed like a good time with Mojo to practice our ‘recall’ to make sure he remembers ‘come’ must still happen even with all the fun of a snow-day.

Good boy !

For most of the route up Hollyburn Mountain the trail is denoted by orange markers on poles. The backcountry mountains in the winter are not somewhere to get lost, plus there are many sinkholes where a thin layer of snow covers a huge hole in the ground which are very dangerous – best to stick to the marked trail.

Mojo thinks one of the best aspects of hiking in the snow – the whole world is edible !

Now, as shown a little later in the post, the sun did eventually make an appearance, so here I have a photo that I took on the way up, followed by the identical image taken on our way back down.  What a difference some sun makes !

The mountain was however beautifully peaceful and quiet, just a few birds chirping and Mojo crunching in the snow.  And no, that’s not Mojo walking on the ski run, that must be someone else’s dog.  Mojo knows he isn’t allowed on the ski run.

We find great proof of why you need to wear snow-shoes and not just your regular shoes for this kind of hiking.  A deep (probably 2-3ft) hole where someones foot has disappeared deep into the snowpack.  As well as having a very wet leg that person has most likely decided to get snow-shoes now !

A dog with a face full of snow is a happy dog.

Ahead we see the trail disappearing into cloud.  At this point I was very seriously considering turning around and heading back.  The route had been steep uphill virtually all the way and it was obviously continuing that way and if we were just going to end up in mist & cloud it hardly seemed worth the effort continuing.  People were passing us having been at the top saying you can’t see a thing, just thick fog.

The trees are getting smaller in the sub-alpine of the higher elevation and all silver with frost.

I decided to continue a bit further up the trail and then suddenly the clouds completely disappeared in the matter of just a few minutes.

This photo is recorded on the camera as taken at 11.14am.

Then just 8 minutes later I take these images of Mojo basking in glorious sun, recorded at 11.22am.

A final few minutes push to the top and we’re at the peak of Hollyburn Mountain.

As we arrive there is another walker who is clearly aware that the birds up here are very tame…..here he is feeding a grey finch with some food he’s brought up with him.  He graciously allows me to photograph him in the act.

The views from the top of Hollyburn Mountain are superb.  There are still some clouds hanging around but they are burning off and the views are still excellent.

Views East towards the peaks behind Grouse Mountain.

The Lions are just coming into view.

Mojo takes in the view to the North of us.

The downhill-ski and snow-boarding area of Cypress Bowl across the valley from us.

Cypress Bowl again with Howe Sound, Bowen Island and Sunshine Coast beyond.

The top of Hollyburn Mountain at 1325m (4347ft).

After soaking in the views and the very welcome sunshine we make our way down.  Some of the views along the trail.

In about half the time it took us to get up the mountain, we are back down at the parking lot.  Final views here of the downhill ski area from the car.

Mojo and I had a blast on this walk and with 1.3m of snow already on the local mountains it looks like it’s going to be a great winter for snowy walks.