IN WHICH BEAR "OVERDOES" IT, AND SUFFERS THE CONSEQUENCES

Her Ladyship, Miss Sadie, and the Bear are polar opposites, in some ways.

What we have in common is that we don't understand our own strength.

Miss Sadie, I think, underestimates hers. At four feet tall (or more, when standing on her back legs — something I really discourage), with 50 pounds of energy and enthusiasm, she really could knock you down. After which she would lick you to death.

Bear, on the other hand, overestimates his.

Case in point.

Yesterday was cool and breezy in the evening. We hadn't received any rain. (A day without rain is a "novel" experience this year; one is not quite sure how to handle that.) And as our front and back grass were both in need of cutting, Bear got out the lawnmower.

(You've probably guessed the rest already.)

The land on our "micro-holding" is not level, and is broken up by trees, and gardens, and other sorts of spaces and obstacles. So cutting the grass in a straight line really doesn't happen for more than a couple of metres/yards. One has to do a great deal of maneuvering around in the process of "mowing the hay." (And I have to carry the lawnmower part way from front to back because of the new stepping stones we put in this year.)

Anyhow, I did the mowing last night. And when I was finished, it looked quite good. I was happy with that. Plus, I got the grass cut before the next rain shower (scheduled for tonight). YES!!!

But after a bit, I wasn't feeling so good. I have an old injury in my back that I keep re-injuring. By bed time I was in quite a bit of pain. So I took some medication (fairly strong stuff, actually), and went to bed about 9:30. By then I was feeling extremely tired, and a bit dopey from the medication.

I slept through the night (something I rarely do), and woke up at 7:00 this morning, not quite sure who or where I was. I was able to look after Her Sadieship and get my own breakfast. Then I thought I would lie down and have a rest.

I woke up at 11:30. It is now just after noon. The effect of the medication has worn off — meaning that I'm not dopey, but in pain. I'm going to make lunch and try to figure out what to do next. Miss Sadie needs to be walked. I need to do some shopping. There are parts of the yard which need to be trimmed, weeded, and otherwise tidied up. I have several books I want to read. Currently is it 26°C (that's 79F), too hot a day for Bear's liking.

— — —

Footnote: We did indeed go shopping, but not as expected. We went to our favourite bakery (where we haven't been for a while), and picked up some things. They're baking a lot of different things there now — major focus on Italian — so we picked up some goods as an experiment. What we've tried thusfar has been really good.

After lunch, J and I talked for a while, and I finally took Sadie for a walk. It's 27°C (81F) outside, but with the humidity feels like 33C (91F). We're going to stay inside, and stay cool (er).

THE TIDE IS HIGH

. . . and so is the river. NO; we're nowhere close to being flooded, as some places to the south-west of us have been. It's just that there's a lot of water around — and a lot of jokes about it. (If I could remember some, I'd tell you — but my brain is even less functional than usual today). I recall something about kids thinking their dad had put in a swimming pool; dad had to explain that's the field where he usually grows his crops. Well, um, anyhow. . . .

I very much hope you have a reasonable balance of wet and dry, wherever you are. I'm scheduled for minor surgery in a few weeks; the doctor's going to cut out the webbing that's grown between my toes during all this wet weather. But he has quack yet to determine quack what quack to do about quack these strange noises that quack I've been making. Not ducky at all.

PLAYING IN THE RAIN

The long-awaited rain storm has arrived. It's just pouring buckets outside. Environment Canada's Weather Office has predicted some localized flooding.

And guess who wanted to go outside and play "fetch" in the back yard?

(Hint: It wasn't the Bear, who had on his storm suit.)

The only other possible character for this was Her Ladyship, Miss Sadie — the Standard Poodle. Her genetics tell her she's a retriever; she also has webbed paws, for working in water.

You can figure it out from there.

P.S.: We went out and played for 15 minutes. It wasn't Miss Sadie who wanted to come in at that point.

SILLINESS

We have had a lot of rain where I live. Either rain or clouds almost every day. It's too wet in many places to continue seeding, so the large crop predicted earlier may not materialize. Neither Her Ladyship, Miss Sadie, nor I are fond of long walks in the rain right now. And it's all making me a bit silly — waterlogged brain, I think.

So, I have an idea. We should change the name of our province from "Saskatchewan" to "Newyyd Cymru" (New Wales). Wales always gets lots of rain. Right? A more fitting name for us right now, since we've apparently had the wettest spring on record. Sigh! Of course, for New Wales, we would need a LOT of sheep; I'm not certain how that would go over, here in cattle country. 

Oh, yes; Miss Sadie is a year old, today. We'll head out for a celebratory walk in a few minutes.