Dispatches from the Swamp – the ‘Has hell frozen over?’ edition

§  We have lived in the swamp for 4 years now. We have never had any problems with rodents until recently. We found evidence of a mouse about a week ago. We put some traps out and we got one yesterday. I hope that is it but the traps are still out just in case. For now, Swamp Dwellers 1, Rodentia 0. I suspect the mouse got in under the house when the drain pipe was put in. I hope there was only one!

§  In my daily conversation with my mother today she said that she now thinks Naheed Nenshi will be a good mayor for Calgary. From turning down city perks to holding city councillor’s accountable for their expense accounts, she thinks he is smart and fair. Amazingly not one word about his religion or marital status.

§  Operation no food waste at the swamp is working well. We’ve been doing it for 2 weeks now and the dogs love it. Plus we have been getting 2 meals for 7 dogs each week by adding a little meat and rice to our leftovers.

§  Clio was back to the vet for a re-check for her heart condition. She is doing well. The main concern is that she is quite thin as she always has been. Our vet suggested a liquid supplement. It had a lot of fat in it and I asked what it was made of. Turns out it is made of high fructose corn syrup, soy beans and gelatin byproducts. Yummy. These kinds of products really call into question why the vets will sell stuff like this for animals to consume. There was no food product in this stuff and certainly nothing species appropriate. We gratefully declined. I think we will just feed her real food more often instead.

§  NaBloPoMo is going well. I just wanted to give a shout out to some blogging buddies who are also participating. For those of you who don’t know, NaBloPoMo is all about posting every day in the month of the November. If you have a chance check out Dr. Beth’s and Tanya’s blog on NoLa.

§  This just in! It is really hard to blog while watching the puppy hump the rabbit toy. Deb keeps throwing it and he keeps going back for it! Too funny. Deb says: “It’s not supposed to be his fuck bunny.”

§  Oh, and in other news: my mother has re-commenced smoking. She actually went 6 months without. She thinks she breathes easier when she smokes. I think she is delusional.

 

Dispatches from the Swamp – the Hell has Frozen over Edition

Oh my god! My mother is freaking out because Calgary has elected a Muslim mayor, Naheed Nenshi! When we talked him she did not really know anything about his platform. Her main concerns were that he was Muslim and not married. She went on to say that he got everyone in NE Calgary (code for visible minorities) to vote for him. She also blamed students because he used social media. My mother and I spar a lot over politics mostly she pushes my buttons and I correct her racist language.

Our drainage work is back on. They are laying the drain pipes, filling it in with gravel and putting the dirt back on top. I am really looking forward to it all being done. I hope we have a better winter. It already is less damp in the old part of the house.

I had a major grant application to finish this week. I really don’t know why I don’t just do it all early rather than working steadily and getting it done. Oh well, perhaps it is just human nature. I finished it today and will send it in tomorrow. There is always another grant application to try to not procrastinate.

We are a little worried about the dogs being left alone 3 days a week for several hours. They have been very spoiled for the last couple of years as they were rarely alone. Madison is our real concern as she is getting increasingly anxious because of her dementia. She gets upset when gates are closed and tries to destroy them so we have to leave them all open. So far, so good.