Beautiful Arctic

An arctic cold blast made it a challenge to go for our daily walk. 

At our place the wind was so cold that hauling in firewood was an ordeal today. Though, with the westerly wind, there was a chance that the woods on the east side of the island were more sheltered.

It turned out to be true and the walk was not bad at all.  

The fresh snow had changed everything into winter wonderland again. 

Dixie was zooming around, she loves the powdery snow.  

Peter on the ground playing with Dixie.

On the way back I briefly looked out over the beach. 

It was a challenge to get some photos without tracks because... 

... everywhere I went Dixie was ahead of me. 

The white and blue makes everything so beautiful. 

Not much more to add today. 

I just let the photos speak for themselves. 

Two "trolls" dressed for the occasion!

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Translation

Trotz der arktischen Kälte haben wir uns auf unseren täglichen Spaziergang begeben. Auf der Ostseite der Insel, im Wald war es auch nicht so schlecht. Hier erreichte uns der Westwind nicht. Der frischgefallene Pulverschnee hatte alles wieder verzaubert. Dixie raste wie eine Wilde herum, sie liebt den Schnee. Auf dem Weg zurück zum Wagen habe ich noch schnell einen Blick über die Düne getan. Schnee und Sonnenschein macht alles besonders schön. 

Two Ladies Crawling

It was even colder today than two days ago. 

There was now way around it, we needed to walk 

the southwestern trail again.

This way we were joined by Dixie's boyfriend Beau

and his owner, Joyce.

"Let's go for a walk, Beau!"

Early morning sea fog made pretty pattern along the rocky beach 

In patches it even covered the ground with white hoar frost.

Both dogs are petty good camouflaged.

View over towards the eastern most town Lubec, Maine.

A bench invites to rest, but as the white frost cover on the rocks tells, 

this place was still too cold and windy.

So beautiful.

At Cranberry Point were the trail end, we finally came out of the wind and

decided to enjoy the winter sun for a few minutes, while the dogs

played "catch-me-if-you-can".

View towards the southeast. Way back at the horizon island Grand Manan.

Dixie and Beau waiting for a treat.

Remember - the "road block" - it was still there!

and: YES

we both crawled under the tree.

(That made the "headline")

Hahaha!

source: South Carolina Living Magazine

The last view before we started back towards our car.

 Upper Duck Pond.

Another enjoyable winter afternoon.

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Translation

Da es immer noch ziemlich kalt ist fuhren wir wieder zum südwestlichen Teil der Insel.

Heute aber waren wir in Begleitung von Dixie's Freund Beau und seiner Besitzerin Joyce.

Am Strand hatte der Seenebel eisige Muster gemalt und auch auf dem Weg war

stellenweise alles gefroren. Beide Hund sind ziemlich gut getarnt.

Zurückblickend sehen wir die Stadt Lubec, ( Maine, USA).

Obwohl eine Bank an diesem schönen Ort zum Verweilen einlädt 

wandern wir weiter, hier sind wir noch dem eisigen 

Wind ausgesetzt. 

Erst als wir am Canberry Point ankommen sind wir in der windgeschützten

Ecke angekommen. Dort geniessen wir für ein paar Minuten die wärmende Wintersonne.

Die Hunde spielen derweilen "Fang-mich-doch" im Gras.

Kleine Inseln vor dem Hintergrund der Insel Grand Manan.

Dann gab es noch ein Leckerlie für die beiden Freunde.

Vielleicht erinnert man sich and den blockierten Pfad.

Genau.

JA- wir sind beide drunter drunter her gekrochen!

Hahaha.

Ein letzter Überblick über den "Upper Duck Pond" 

bevor wir uns auf den Weg zurück zum Parkplatz machen.

Last walk with friends

Fall is nearly over 

and last weekend's strong storm tore all leaves off the trees. 

It looks more like winter now.

The swell was still high at the southern end of the island in the morning.

I made a 13sec video clip, see here:

Liberty Point, Campobello Island, NB

A fresh breeze blew from the west.

By afternoon everything had calmed down considerably and

I enjoyed a nice walk along the beach with "the girls". 

They just love to run along the edge of the surf.

Group recall and dealing out lots of treats.

The "girls" are Dixie's best friends.

 Rosebud, (Dixie), Summer, Acadia, their "mom" Deborah and "auntie" to Scarlet.

It might have been one of the last walks for all of use together.  

By now nearly all our summer friends have left for their homes in the South. 

In about a week they all will be gone. 

That is a bit frustrating, I have to say, because 

we have finally time off from work. 

But nothing we can do about that.

We will make the best out of the winter to come. 

Lots of walks with Dixie, going on birding hikes, 

taking photos and just enjoying the peaceful country we live in.

Doggie Dates

These days we have been busy with doggie dates. 

One neighbour, who owns a beautiful Golden Retriever, asked me if I could think of 

walking our dogs together for an hour a day. 

That way her dog could play and run off excess energy. 

"Beau" is about a 10 month older than Dixie and was already 50 pounds when we got her in October. 

She was way too small at that time to match up to him. 

Now they are better suited. Off we went for our first play date. 

And many days have followed after that. Beau and Dixie are best friends now. 

Sometimes it does not look like it. All part of the fun!

She even followed him into a pond.

But then had some second thought.

Dixie: "You go swimming -I am not a water loving retriever!"

Beau: "Chicken!"

After our play date today I had another lined up for Dixie. Her girlfriend "Summer", a standard poodle, returned from Florida to spend her summer on the island. 

Summer is 5 month older than Dixie and she was also much taller

when they first met in October. 

Of course, this has changed.

Summer: "Hello it's me again!" 

Dixie: "Do I know you?"

A few minutes after:

"Shall we play?"

They were rough for a while.

And winding down together. "Good to meet you again!"

After all that exercise Dixie will be totally "exhausted", I thought.

Dixie: "Nope! Not at all!"

More play dates to come. That is for sure.

And more dog friends to arrive soon.

Translation

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Hunde brauchen viel Bewegung um glücklich zu sein. Eine Nachbarin fragte mich neulich ob ihr Hund nicht mit unserem spielen könnte. Wir haben es ausprobiert und es hat wunderbar 

geklappt. Der Golden Retriever "Beau" ist jetzt Dixie`s bester Freund.

Heute haben wir dann noch ihre Pudelfreundin "Summer" vom letzten Oktober wieder

getroffen. Damals war Dixie noch viel kleiner. Nach ein paar unsicheren Minuten ging

das Spielen wieder los. Auch sie sind nun wieder "Busenfreunde".

Danach dachte ich dass Dixie nun wohl total erschöpft wäre. "Pustekuchen!" 

Na ja, weitere Spielstunden sind geplant und es werden auch noch weitere 

Hundefreunde dazu kommen.

Family Day

Today they celebrated "Family Day" in Alberta. 

A grey day, with a few flurries. 

Not necessarily the best weather to go outside, but

Molly and I made it through the snow towards the Golf Course.

Lots of families and kids had gathered. 

There was a "Tobogganing Hill" 

an "Ice Rink" and "Horse-Sled" rides 

( they just turned the corner 

when I arrived, therefore no photo of that).

At least they all seemed to have lots of fun. 

(All photos were "shot from the hip".)

We couldn't linger either, I had to get back home. 

I was scheduled for work later this afternoon.

At the intersection where we turn towards home 

I had to just walk over to drop 

the "bag" into the special container. 

So I casually told Molly to "wait". 

When I turned

I saw this: 

GOOD DOG! 

She was not moving at all!

At home waited a cookie for her.

For myself: a nice piece of cake with cherry ice cream.

Monday afternoon Delight!

Thus fortified it was "Off to work"!