September has been a month of animal highs and lows. We are very sorry to report that Harley (aka Mister Pink) has been lost and after almost a month of searching we are fearing the worst that he has been taken by the cougar which was seen in our neighbourhood the night he disappeared. That is the reality version of the story however, we like to take some comfort in thinking that he has actually chosen to move house and live with someone who will feed him fresh tuna and salmon, and allow him to drink regular milk!Here is our last photo of him taken a few days before he went. Poor old Harley we all miss him especially missed by his brothers Phantom and Oscar.
Another animal trauma this month was that Oscar had to go for some surgery. He developed a lump on his lip which within the space of a week grew to the size of a baked bean. He had to have an anaesthetic and have it removed and his lip stitched up. The vet did a great job and all that is noticable now is that when he smiles he shows his teeth a little bit more on one side.
We think that he looks like he is saying "Hello there Ladies........" he is still handsome and knows it. The surgery day was the day before Harley disappeared. The good news is that after waiting two weeks for the histology to come back on the lump it turned out to be non cancerous which was great news to get. The next bad news was the bill but lets say it is just a good job for Visa cards!
We think that he looks like he is saying "Hello there Ladies........" he is still handsome and knows it. The surgery day was the day before Harley disappeared. The good news is that after waiting two weeks for the histology to come back on the lump it turned out to be non cancerous which was great news to get. The next bad news was the bill but lets say it is just a good job for Visa cards!
All this happened just two days before we were due to go away on vacation, so not wanting to leave Oscar behind to burden our friends with his 'post op care' we took him with us.
We spent a lovely week in Jasper in Alberta. It was a 750km drive from Nelson kind of North East which took about 10 hours with stops. A beautiful drive! Oscar did well in the new truck and seemed to like standing up between our front seats watching what was happening. At one point we caught him asleep stood up!
We spent a lovely week in Jasper in Alberta. It was a 750km drive from Nelson kind of North East which took about 10 hours with stops. A beautiful drive! Oscar did well in the new truck and seemed to like standing up between our front seats watching what was happening. At one point we caught him asleep stood up!
We were fortunate to find a hotel that was dog friendly and we had a suite which had walk out to the garden. Originally we had planned on camping but leaving Nelson's microclimate of about 35 degrees the day we left and arriving in Jasper to a daytime high of just 13 degrees Celcius and -1 degrees in the mornings we quickly changed our minds!
We took a cable car ride up the Jasper Tramway and Oscar came too. The cable car took 7 minutes to reach the summit and there was a nice hike further along the ridge. The best thing for us was that there was snow at the top already. Here is one of the two cars heading down into the clouds. 
Rachael and Oscar at the top with Jasper townsite below.
Rachael and Oscar at the top with Jasper townsite below.
This photo below was taken at Maligne Lake.
Here is Shaun with Oscar at Pyramid Island on Pyramid Lake.
We did a couple of days of hiking and a couple of days of mountain biking around the Jasper area. This photo is after our ride around Patricia Lake.
Since we got back from Jasper we have been spending our spare time painting our decks ready for the Winter. We have also just bought our ski passes for 2009 / 2010. Yipppeee!!
