I slept 11 hours last night. I was tired, and needed to catch up on lost sleep from the past few days. And these days I miss having someone to share my bed with…

Today on the Photoblog, more seals pics… Coming up will be pics of lobster fishing and ice pans.

Saturday at 6h45 I was back in the car with Happy! On route to Ste-Barbe to catch the return ferry home! The drive went really well, there’s not much traffic usually on the roads at this time of the year, so imagine early Saturday! I stopped at Tim Hortons in Deer Lake and fueled up. And I also stopped at Lobster Cove Head lighthouse to walk around with Happy a bit. I saw a cute bunny rabbit hopping around. It was peaceful, I was the only visitor (well the site is still closed from Winter). And I stopped along the coast between two tiny villages, there was a harbour with quays, boats, people leaving and arriving from lobster fishing, handling lobster cages, chatting, kids playing around. I could feel the sense of community around fisheries. People looked at me strange, wondering who I was and what I was doing there, while I wandered around, taking pics. I had a polite greet exchange with a lady who came near, but that was it! On the road I saw lots of moose again, all females and youngs. About 12 total during my weekend.

I arrived in St-Barbe for the ferry 1h15 before departure. But the boat was 30 minutes late. So it meant waiting almost 2 hours for the boat!!! I walked around St-Barbe, sat in the car, chatted with a few people from home… I left Happy in the car for the return crossing, because a lady who’s husband is highly allergic to dogs came to ask me to. I couldn’t say no. So I arranged with the boat’s crew to go down to see Happy every 30-45 minutes. The crossing took forever because of lots of ice on the water! About 3 hours, that’s double the usual time! It was pretty though… Going through the ice pans, nice beautiful sun shining. I spent quite a lot of time outside on deck. Also there were many seals! They are so cute. As the boat approached the ice pans where they were resting/taking in the sun, they jumped into the water.

Happy and I were glad to finally reach Blanc-Sablon and get out of that boat! I ate dinner with mom, who’d planned her Mother’s Day dinner… We had delicious lobster!

On Friday morning I got up at 4h30, left for the ferry at 5h15. The ferry was on time, leaving at 6h30, and cumulated about 20 minutes delay due to the ice conditions. Not so bad! I brought Happy up in the boat. I had written it on my reservation and said it to the ticket lady. Then in the boat, they came to say I wasn’t allowed pets. I said she’s not a pet, but a guide-dog in training, they brought me to some crew area to speak with a boat officer, I gave them a copy of the Mira letter, and we agreed Happy could stay with me. So we reached Newfoundland at 9h45 local time (time switches to NFLD in my tale, 1h30 later than Quebec time). I got on the road to reach Corner Brook, stopping only in Rocky Harbour for fuel and a break for Happy. I saw moose on the way, lots of them! Like this one crossing the road…

I got to my destination at about 13h45. In Corner Brook I went shopping a bit at Staples to get a few types of papers and printer ink. Then I went to the vet’s. My map said to turn on “Main St” but I didn’t see that sign… It was written “Mill Rd…” So I went on and eventually was too far… Mill Rd had to be Main St! I came back and found my way again to the vet’s. Happy’s heart worm test went well, it’s negative. And she now weights 24,6 kg. Afterwards I went to the American has-it-all-mega-store. I don’t know Corner Brook and didn’t want to get lost trying to find other places, so I went to the one I knew. Though I don’t like shopping there usually… I bought all kinds of stuff: travel suitcase for mom, perennials for outside, bath-care products, etc. All of the places I went to accepted Happy no problem, which was nice! At 18h, I went to M.’s place. Happy stayed in the basement, as she already has 2 dogs! We had dinner, watched a bit of tele and both went to bed early… M. worked in the morning, and I was leaving for the drive back!

Last night I went to bed at 21h30. On a usual work night, I fall asleep quickly. But last night it took me the longest time to go to dream land!!! I was anxious about the next day’s boat trip, drive, vet appointment, etc. Thoughts kept racing in my head. It drove me nuts! At 23h30 I finally fell asleep, out of exhaustion and using mom’s relaxation technique. And now it’s 4h30 and I’m awake, to catch the 6h30 ferry (I have to be at the wharf an hour before). And I only slept 5h and it sucks. I hope I won’t be too tired for the drive!

This morning I cut the bread for my toast too wide… And the slices burned in the toaster. I hate it when that happens!!

In the Summer time, we have a 1.5 hour time difference with our neighbours Newfoundland and Labrador.

I’m going to Newfoundland on Friday at 6:30AM (my time). I have to be there an hour before, so I’ll leave home at 5:15AM (my time)!

It’s a 1.5 hour boat ride and a 4.5 hours drive to reach the Newfoundland city of Corner Brook. That arvo Happy has an appointment at the vet’s to get a heartworm test done. Then I’ll do a tiny bit of shopping. I’ll sleep a friend’s place, she used to be my boss when I worked Summers at the radio station here, she moved to Corner Brook a few years ago.

And on Saturday early I will drive back to catch the 1PM (Newfoundland time) ferry. It means I have to leave at around 6:30AM (Newfoundland time), that’s 5AM (my time)!

I’ll be getting up VERY early morning in the next few days! What would I not do for Happy…

It was a nice lazy day!

I got up at 9h. Yep… I can sleep in now! Happy still gets up around 7h. But instead of getting dressed, bringing her out to pee, and not being able to fall back asleep after, I just kick her out of the bedroom and fall right back to nice dreams. She does her thing, either sleeping or playing, until I wake up. Happy winking…

Then we hung out around the house. I transplanted some of my tiny plants outside, some lettuce and kale. There’s still the spinach, green onions and flowers to do, but I didn’t have enough dirt. I also finalized some new cushions for the living room, all handmade!

Afterwards Happy and I headed to the beach! The snow/ice is mostly melted there, so it was time for the first walk on the beach of the new year! I kept Happy on the leash, since I am scared because the road is so near the beach. Happy went nuts trying to smell everything… Seaweed, mussels, rocks, grass…

Then I had lunch with mom, leftover homemade pizza.

And in the arvo, after doing some shopping (thick steaks, fresh fruit and fabric) I came home for a nap.

After the nap I prepped dinner, a BBQ with delicious thick steaks! Mom came with my birthday cake. And later her boyfriend joined us too. At first the idea was to go do a BBQ on a fire/grill near the beach. But there was a little bit of wind making it too cold. I’ll do the outside fire BBQ later this Summer!

I got a few cards, gifts (frame, patio lounging chair…), phone calls and emails! It’s nice to see people thought about me/took the time to do a little gesture.

In the evening, I just did my normal routine, as there is work the next day! After 3.5 days off though, it feels like I haven’t been to work in ages!!

Tomorrow, Monday, is my birthday. And I took the day off work. It’s a nice gift to know that I have a day free while others have to go to work!

There’s a new red wall in my house! It was a lot of work…

This is the view before (a pic of a few months ago)…

And here’s after 4 coats of red paint!

I’m happy with the result!

I just went to buy paint for my home!

Bloody Mary, a deep red colour, will go on one wall in my living room, the one where my desk faces with the big window. It’ll just give a nice pop of colour.

Marjoram, a light yellowish green, will go in my guest bedroom. Spring Fern, a bit of a darker shade, will go with it. I don’t know how yet… Will I feel adventurous and go for a stripe of the darker colour? Or do just a whole wall darker? Don’t know yet.

I’ll probably start painting in the living room tomorrow morning.

(Back in time to February 24th 2008…)

I got up early at 7h and got ready slowly, ate brekky, went to the beach at around 8h30. There I read, swam in the sea, took in some warm sun. But by noon I was itching to do an activity! I walked back to the hotel and sat on one of the swingchairs outside… I thought about what I could do. Bike to Varadero’s downtown? Or walk? Actually, I felt like going to the movies!

At 12h15 the electricity went off at the resort for 30 minutes. There were these strange power outings throughout the trip, mostly during the day. I ate, went to my room, watched Cuban news and dozed off for a little nap. When I woke up it was really time to get moving!

In front of the hotel there was a stand. We could hire a bike, free for one hour, afterwards it’s tip the owner according to the extra time. On my bike, off to Parque Josone! I liked seeing the birds in that park.

Then off to the “flea market.” I was told there was a guarded bike parking, where you tip a man to keep your bike, but I couldn’t find it. In my best broken Spanish I asked a lady holding a souvenir stand, and she had no idea either. She offered to leave my bike at her stand and she’d watch it while I was away. I wasn’t too sure, but I decided to trust the lady. She seemed nice. But I knew it was still a risk. I told her I’d be in trouble if I lost that bike! We agreed I’d be back in about an hour. I went exploring the many market stands, looking for souvenirs for people back home. I bought dominoes for me, paintings for mom and me, a little dress for my cousin’s daughter and postcards. Back at the lady’s stand, my bike was still there. Yay! I gave her 1 CUC tip to thank her and also bought some postcards from her stand.

On my way back, I stopped at a church. Outside Santa Elvira church a man was sitting. He begged for money. I didn’t want to give him money, but I offered a chocolate chip granola bar. He was very happy, smiled and said “chocolate?” and I replied “si!” He was even more happy. He put it in his shirt’s pocket.

Biking in Varadero wasn’t hard at all. There’s almost no traffic on a two-lanes each way road. So there’s a lane for the bikes and slow vehicules like horses on the right, and a lane for cars on the left.

After the biking I went back for a late arvo dip in the sea. I waited to photograph the sunset, but couldn’t because I had to go get ready for my 18h45 dinner at the seafood resto. I ordered lobster, which was only so-so… I am used to so much better in Blanc-Sablon so! The flambed banana dessert was just alright too. And I got bit by at least 10 mosquitoes. It was itchy. But thankfully I’d brought the anti-itch stuff to put on.

In my room, I prepped for the next day of exploration in Havana! And went to bed.

What I will do for my birthday on May 5th.

Today I got a birthday card from someone in Montreal in the mail, but I didn’t open it yet. Will keep it for my actual birthday.

Last night I had a strange/bad dream. I don’t remember most of it but…

I had just moved to a new big city. I rented an apart, which was in a half-basement, with tiny windows giving out onto the footpath and metal bars. The inside wasn’t too clean either… My stuff was unpacked.

I had to call the cops too, so they would fill out a report. I didn’t know the cops’ number in this new big city.

That’s all I remember…

Corner Brook in the near future to get Happy tested for heart worms! I’ll try to reduce costs as much as possible. Don’t want it to cost me a fortune for a simple test! That’s what happens when you’re training a Mira dog in Blanc-Sablon I guess…

This afternoon in the mail there was a letter from Mira. Happy has to go check if she has heart worm and receive preventive medication. They give a series of dates, and say if I can’t go to these, I have to go to my own vet and pay. Thing is, I can’t do either! I am not in Montreal/Quebec on these dates and the closest vet is in Newfoundland, 2 hours away by boat plus 2 hours by car.

So I called the lady responsible… Hopefully we’ll come up with a solution. Worse case, I’ll bring Happy to the city at the end of May, though I hadn’t planned on that. And I’d leave her at Mira for the 2 weeks. But the best situation would be if the lady could just send me the meds and forget about the test.

I’m still waiting to hear about Happy’s evaluation result. Mom finds it’s much more demanding than what I signed up for. On my part, I love Happy and the joy she brings me, and don’t care about this stuff… Even if it costs a bit of money or lots of time. It’s my way to give, to volunteer. And I get so much in return too!

On Thursday after work I went to the store to buy some fabric. That evening, and on Friday, I worked on a special gift for a co-worker (the one that’s going on maternity leave and I will be replacing starting mid-May). Can’t say what it is in order for it to stay a secret… But I like it and am proud of my sewing work!!