A rant. A lengthy one. Some disturbing images...

Last week I took the dogs for a walk down to Torbay’s Big Beach. The sewage outfall pipe has apparently been replaced and I’d heard rumours (unfounded, perhaps) that the large, yet invisible, signs warning people away from the beach were going to be removed. I even heard word of a big opening ceremony. Again, the rumours may be nothing more than that. Rumours. 

So, there I was, walking the beach and very dismayed at my findings. I’m going to post the photos, as disgusting as they are. I’m sorry... but I think the impact of seeing it for yourself speaks more strongly than any of my words. 

A mini-pad. No wings... 

A diaper wipe

NOT a scallop... 

Another "disposable" cloth

This, for the guys who don't know, is a tampon applicator. Plastic

Another tampon

Add caption

Pink! Isn't it pretty!!! :P

Toilet paper,  I think.

This one looks like a kid's plastic toy trumpet

All these photos were taken during a 10-minute span of time. I didn’t have to go looking for any of the items, as they all stand out quite clearly. I don't know about you, but I read the package of tampons when I was fairly young and I'm sure I remember the instructions saying "DO NOT FLUSH" ... What is wrong with these women? Do they seriously not know any better?! You don't flush this stuff! While the fluffy cotton with is cute little string will eventually disintegrate, the plastic is NOT biodegradable!

There was a machine, affectionately called the “Muffin Monster” which was supposed to grind whatever came through the sewer pipe before it entered the bay, there to be spewed out and carried off into the Atlantic via the ocean current. I’d seen several examples of this machine’s failure to adequately chew up material ever since our arrival in Torbay. I thought I was looking at a scallop when I first saw one lying on the beach! We now call them “Tampy the Mouse.” It turns out that the machine isn’t even in the ground anymore. It was removed for repair (?) and it was advised (?) that it wasn’t truly necessary (?) as the new pipe was sufficiently far enough away from the shore to ensure that it wouldn’t wash back. (?!?!)

Apparently, that is NOT the case. I've been told that the "guys" go down and clean the beach "regularly" ... I'm sure it wasn't in their job description. I don't envy them. Apparently they pull a couple of bags of "stuff" out whenever they go down. 

Capelin are coming soon. Think anybody will be fishing in Torbay? 

Change of topic: 

I thought you might be interested in seeing the result of the work done by the owner of the property just west of Tapper's Cove. (78-82 Dunphy's Lane, Torbay) This is the area where the large appliances, etc. were being thrown (looked like the town dump) and I understood he'd been ordered to clean up the mess. (Update: An Environmental Protection Officer sent a letter to Torbay's Town Council indicating that this mess was to be cleaned up by June 22, 2011. Inappropriate items, such as metal products like duct work, metal piping, heating radiators, and an old trailer undercarriage, children's toys, domestic garbage, old appliances and an old wooden shed, etc. were to be removed and properly disposed of.) (I happen to know that there's a wooden boat hiding in that pile, too!) If this is what he considers "cleaning up," I'd hate to have him in charge of any major works in town! 


There's also a smelly sludge making its way down the hill, across the trail, and down to the ocean where you can see the murky guck swirling around against the shore. A section of the newly-minted East Coast Trail, just between the two sets of stairs (Tapper's Cove to Father Troy) is muddy, which isn't the worst problem. It stinks! STINKS! It smells like some sort of raw sewage is draining down. Several HUNDRED people walk that trail in a fortnight's period (Hello there all you Tely Hikers!), and each one of them must go through that section. I’d like to think that somebody else has noted the problem and informed the TECT and the Town of Torbay. However, most people seem to think that it’s surely somebody else's responsibility, or somebody else has already informed "somebody."

It's hard to see, but there's a sludge of black oozing into the water.

Is that a fridge?! There's a boat under the pile to the left... A dory, or something.

Clean fill? What's clean fill supposed to be made up of? Is this clean fill?

Aww... the dogs are trying to drink the water. There's usually a bit of a stream with clean water for them. What a disgusting disappointment. This is the trail that people walk through! It absolutely REEKS! 

The first image is of the garbage which has apparently been left under the "soil." Is that really appropriate "fill" material?! I've taken other photos over the past year and sent them on to the town. Has there been any monitoring of what he uses and how he cleans it up? Doubtful, based on the speed, and the fact that I took a small video not long ago where a dump truck was pouring soil over the bank with the appliance-pile still sitting nearby. It's disgraceful that property owners are allowed to do as they like with their land, no matter what the repercussions to anything else affected by their actions. 

Keep Torbay Clean? I'm more and more disgusted. There's no garbage bins at Torbay Beach for people to put their trash into. Shortly after we moved here, I spoke to one of the Town’s “people” about setting out concrete garbage bins and was told that vandalism was more likely to happen. People would throw the garbage bins into the ocean, as had happened at the Gully. 

Should've taken a picture before the wind blew it around... Micky D's trash in a huge pile!

Well, gee whiz! Now they open their car doors and shovel their McDonald's and Tim Horton's garbage, cigarette butts, dirty diapers, etc. etc. etc. directly out onto the beach. Our family learned to take a plastic grocery bag on our walks so that we could pick up some of the debris found along the trail and on the beach. Pretty soon, the bags were too small for the job and we were lugging green garbage bags!  With the damage to the sewage pipe, I've been reluctant to touch anything on the beach, with good reason. I don't claim that garbage bins will be 100% effective, but who knows! It might help a bit! We can be taught!! 

Further to the Beach debris... I'm also attaching a couple of photographs of campfire debris. A number of teenagers from the high school were down by the beach last week and apparently decided that the beach was a good place to leave their trash. Garbage bags, half-empty bag of marshmallows, a bucket... Teens aren’t the only culprits. I’ve seen remains of campfires on the beach where adults have been just as negligent in picking up after themselves. Apparently, somebody else will clean up after them. Or the ocean will wash it all away and that’ll be the end of the problem. *snort* Ignoramuses... 

Cuz the beach needs another bucket...

Should've photographed this yesterday when the 1/2 bag of marshmallows was still there. 

And what campfire would be complete without the requisite plastic garbage bag?

Here’s a few pictures of metal debris. Apparently, they’re segments of the old sewage outfall pipe. They're rusting and sharp-edged. I hope you're all up on your tetanus shots! And just think, there was some sort of "Mermaid" photo shoot done at Torbay Beach yesterday afternoon. I wonder how those are going to turn out with all the garbage on the beach? PhotoShop, I suppose.

This is in the stream by the bridge...

and this tire rim is just on the other side of the bridge. This is the river that we helped the ECTA clean out last year! 

Despite the large, yet seemingly difficult to see signs, people still use the beach. Heck, why shouldn’t they?! IT’S OUR BEACH!!! We deserve for our beaches to be clean! Our oceans aren’t a dumping ground! If we don’t look after things, who the heck will? Some mythical authority figure? Psht... I haven’t seen much evidence of that lately.

Rant over. For now. Thanks for listening. Hope it helps in some way to raise awareness of the problem and to truly, keep our town clean.

Summer is AWOL, and we discover "Stinky" the Mink

“Another blustery Monday morning. Rain for everybody... a bit of fog, a bit of wind. Quite strong winds. About 3 mm of rain. And there’s moose. So, be careful behind the wheel today!” ...  That’s the word from VOCM this morning. 

A quick glance out the window corroborates the weather conditions. Yup. It’s raining and foggy. Again. *sigh* I thought it was heading towards summer.  It was dry and non-rainy this past weekend. The sun, while a bit washed-out, was shining. We actually sat out on our back deck for several beautiful afternoon hours, playing cards with friends. Somebody seems to have hit the Rewind button again.

Ah well. That’s the way it goes. I’m sure that once we have summer in our grasp, all pains, agonies, and suffering will be forgotten and forgiven. I can hardly wait!

Moving on...

Paul found a baby mink on Friday night! It was chirping miserably on the parking lot of the Torbay Circle K, attracting a lot of unwanted attention from a pair of circling cats. He watched and waited for nearly half an hour to see if Mama Mink showed up for a rescue. No such luck. He says that he squatted down and reached out his hand and the little thing scrambled over and crawled in for a rescue.

You know your rough, tough, he-man is a softie when he shows up at the door with a ragged little bundle of fur snuggled in the crook of his arm. A STINKY little bundle of fur! There’s a very good reason that ferrets are de-scented. This guy has his musk glands firmly in place, and when he gets stressed... whew! Imagine the very worst smelling underarm scent you’ve ever encountered. (think back to that hot summer day when you sat on the bus with the sweaty, smelly guy next to you!)  DOUBLE IT. You’re getting close. 

Fortunately, we’re not noticing it so much anymore. (It’s Day 3) Either we’re getting used to it (it’s not all that unpleasant in small quantities), or our noses have had their linings singed off. Considering our Saturday afternoon guests noticed a slight odor, but weren’t offended by it ... his quote was “I like it!” ... it’s not that bad. Actually, I kept circling the kitchen in an effort to discover the source of the horrid armpit stink, (yes, I’m weird), only to discover that the smell was coming from the package of fresh basil!  

We tried contacting the Wildlife people, to no avail. Did you know that Government services close down over the weekend?! The SPCA didn’t want anything to do with it. Even Heavenly Creatures, as helpful as Jessica was, couldn’t do anything for us. 

No worries. We’re going to feed him up for a week or so and then release him ourselves. He’s eating well. Very well. I wonder if they eat until they bust or if they self-regulate. Hmm.. 

Because he has such tiny baby teeth, we figure he’s just teething now. We fed him small bowls of evaporated milk mixed with water. A 1: 2 milk to water ratio seemed to be favored. Some canned cat food, using the sample of Taste of the Wild that I picked up at the NL Pet Expo last weekend. I started thawing the feeder mice I keep in the freezer for our snakes. I thought, since he’s a small critter, we’d begin with the smallest size available. I was impressed to see him chomping through a half-frozen hopper! I picked up a handful of minnows from the pet store, and he seems to have enjoyed the first one, once he found it. I guess it doesn’t have a strong odor. Their noses aren’t their strongest asset. 

We’re thinking that we should let him get some exercise so he doesn’t turn into a fat lump of furball with poor digestion (think of your last airline flight!), so we started releasing him into the downstairs bathroom for feedings. I’m planning to set a pan of water down for him to explore. Mink are semi-aquatic hunters and damn good swimmers, but the bathtub experience was traumatic. A smaller setting might be more appropriate. Tossing a pair of minnows in for good measure. Something for him to chase and catch. 

lol... which reminds me of last evening! Our next door neighbour has one of those live-trap mouse catchers. She caught a mouse and offered it to us for little Stinky. Let the fun begin.

Sequence of events:

Set trap in mink bin.

Slide open the trap door.

Mouse FLIES out.

Mouse zooms around mink bin and returns to trap.

Flies back out of back side of trap.

Decision is made to remove the trap so the mink has a chance to catch it.

Open mink bin.

Mouse flies out of mink bin and zips into kitchen.

Mook and I scream. I dance in place, my heart going pitter-patter. Mook jumps onto the couch.

Regina and Paul scramble after it, dustpan in hand. Paul laughing like a loon.

It took some work, but the dreaded mouse was soon clobbered and ready for re-insertion in the bin. 

BUT!!!  ... there’s always a “but.” ... There was a second mouse in the trap! Who knew?! It took advantage of our distraction with his compatriot and also flew out of the mink bin. (More screams from Mook and I.) This one stayed behind the buffet in the dining room. It took a bit more work to finagle it out, but again, the dustpan proved to be a good tool for sedating the damn thing. So, two adult mice, one live, one definitely deceased. 

Moments after putting the still-barely alive one in, I heard a startled squeak, cut off quickly and replaced with a sort of crunching noise. Apparently, Stinky starts at the head and works his way down to the tail.

Well, we know he’s capable of eating larger prey. Now we’re going to see if he can catch it himself. I’m not sure how to do that. I am sure I don’t want to go through the role of mouse-catcher again.

It’s kind of interesting to have a wild mink around. We looked on the ‘net and found that many people have taken them on as pets. Probably the domestic ones that are used in the fur industry. Apparently there’s a window of opportunity when they’re young where you can socialize and tame them. Ours is probably in that window, but we’re more keen on releasing him into the wild than turning him into a pet. With that in mind, we’re not handling him more than necessary. Leather gloves. Did I mention he was able to eat a half-frozen mouse?! I like my fingers just fine where they are. 

He strongly resembles a black ferret with a white chin-spot. Heavier headed, longer and stronger neck, and solid bodied. Soft, plushy coat. I can understand why people favor them as coats. But he’s got such an expressive face and I’ve watched a few of them cavorting in our stream over the last few years. They’re beautiful to watch! How could you peel the skin off and wear it? I don’t get it. 

Catching up a bit...

Hello again, all you wonderful Blog readers... lol... you know who you are. (Hi Mom and Schum!) :D

It's June 16, and spring may be here. Okay, it's PROBABLY here, but some days it's hard to tell. In fact, if it weren't for the dandelions and lush greenery (mostly on the same plant), it'd be tough to tell by the weather. It's been foggy for the majority of June. A couple of nice days. Tuesday was gorgeous! Sunny and almost warm. Wednesday (yesterday) wasn't too bad either. I took a walk on the East Coast Trail with Paul and the doglins in the afternoon. I wore mini gloves, but that might just be because I'm a wuss. Or not.

The dogs got all-over muddy, as usual. The trail is somewhat wet. I wonder why?! ;p I've discovered a great way of pre-washing the beasts before letting them in the house. The stream! I stand them in the stream and give them a little rinse. Yes, it's cold. No, they don't like it. Do I care? No! When they've got mud all the way up to their elbows, they need the pre-wash! Have you ever tried carrying a pair of 15 - 20 pound dogs up to a shower? At the same time?! No? Well then...

Today is a rainy rainy day. Paul drove in to work with Alia instead of riding the motorcycle. I guess it's not comfortable standing around in wet clothes in the cold basement at the hospital. Nope.

I'm putzing with my drawing of Karen and Sean, Alia's cousin and cousin-to-be. The wedding is on July 9th, (my Sean's birthday!), and I'm sure they'll love it.

Family  members... shhhhhh!!! It's still a surprise!!!

I went to the NL Pet Expo this past Sunday. I'd hoped to see the Newfoundland Agility Demonstration, but sadly, I missed it. I stood in the arena, listening to some guy introducing a bunch of dogs in a ring. I didn't hear the announcement for the Agility Demo being held outside. I spoke to a lady on Tuesday who said the fellow at the demo wondered why there weren't many people watching... Bad acoustics? Yep.

It was a fun event nonetheless. I met a number of people with Cavaliers, and one woman (Hi Mel!) who's anxiously waiting for her first Cavalier to arrive! One of the little Cavvies, a 7 month old, looked exactly like Niki! No, I didn't get a photo of her, but believe me... the face was identical! Cute and pretty.

There were a number of vendors at the show, food samples (I prefer the Taste of the Wild), pet treats, (I discovered a new treat for the beasties... Freeze-dried Beef Lung! Yeah, I know... yuck... but hey! They love it) a pet groomer, NL Pet Finder, The Doghouse, Little Angels Doggy Daycare... many more!

One of the vendors was a pet portrait artist whose name completely escapes me! I have one of her cards somewhere around the house, but I can't seem to be able to find it... I'll be keeping my eyeballs peeled. She does really good work. She's been in business for about a year and doesn't advertise on Facebook or Website or anything. Just word-of-mouth. She says she's doing pretty well. I'd love to get in touch with her, so if anybody reading this blog knows her name or has her contact info... please let me know! "Dana" Something...  (She and her mom at their booth in the background)

Here's Niki and I with another purple-apparelled, black & tan Cavalier owner. 

They had a Pet Fashion Show and a Pet Walk where they talked about the different kinds of dog breeds. (Miranda walked them on their tether... Igor fell off the stage... funny!) Niki and Igor wore clothing borrowed from The Doghouse for the fashion show. Igor wore an adorable xoxo's jacket, while Niki wore a very amusing red snowsuit. (I don't think she was amused.) The winner of the Fashion Show was a Great Dane wearing a homemade Batman costume. Not a surprise. It was a fabulous outfit! (bad photo, sorry, he twitched and the camera isn't the quickest.)  Ferrets, rabbits, rats, dogs, cats... All kinds of pets were in attendance!

Igor's trying to get out of the ring.

Niki's not too keen on wearing the snowsuit. I can't blame her... It looked pretty funny. 

Oops... He sort of fell off the stage. Miranda had her hands full with these guys!

A rat in a flower costume

Bat Dog!!! 

A pair of ferrets and their girls

Little Niki got a piece of hair bling at the pet groomer's. It looks so sweet on her. I like it and if I can figure out where to get the metal beads that the groomer used to crimp the feather to the hair strand, I'm definitely picking up a handful! Very, very pretty!

Hair Bling for Niki

Miranda's getting fitted for some mouth metal this summer. She had her orthodontist appointment this past week. They put the mold material in her mouth and she nearly gagged (breathe through your nose, honey!) ... not too much fun. Then they took photos of her teeth (very funny), and her jawline, some x-rays. Several girls in her class have braces already, so she knows what to expect. She's not very thrilled, but rather resigned. Here's a picture of how they took a photo of her teeth. Enjoy!

And just to wipe away the memory of that picture, here's a few more that we've taken over the past few months.

Crazy Hair Day

Bun Hawk. Super easy to do!

Fuzzy hair as a result of wearing a Bun Hawk

Pretty hair

Knotted hair into a pair of pigtails. Very charming.

And here's a few pictures from my recent walks.

There. Did I wipe out the memory of the lip spreaders? :D

*sigh* I just want it to stop...

What's that? I want the g.d. harassment to stop. My neighbour down the way is still irked about the way the Dominion Hill issue went. Obviously. It's not even THEIR issue, but it's her brother's. Ah well. They do say that blood is thicker than water. Apparently other things are also thick.

I've been sick with a lovely flu bug for the past 3 weeks, and have been doing small perambulations with the dogs whenever the weather permits. Usually a 15 - 20 minute walk, down the road, down and around the trail, maybe as far as the beach, then back up and around on our hillside. The other morning, after sending the Mook to school, I decided to walk the dogs. I paused briefly at the neighbour's place to pat their dog. He wears a shock collar, so is unable to go as far as the end of the driveway, so I walked about 4 feet up the driveway to visit with him. He was happy and wriggling his entire body as only a border collie can. Suddenly the neighbour's voice boomed out, "Do you MIND getting of my PROPERTY?!" I paused in my patting of the dog and said, "Sure." (not happy about that, because the dog looks lonely and unloved.) Then he went on with, "No PSYCHOS allowed!" ... um... huh?

My first thought was, "Well, YOU'RE sure in the wrong house." The second was, "Ooooh... He's learned a new word!" ...

What a slack-jawed putz! Seriously! Other people stop off to pat the dog all the time. I've seen them! He's never yelled at any of them to get off his property. AAAgh!

Psycho? I'm not a psycho! I may be crazy, but I'm NOT a psycho!

Anyway... my day proceeded along its merry way with no other problems. I fetched the Mook home from school at 3, and decided that since the sun was out, I'd go for another little walk.

As I approached the end of the street, I noticed the missus standing outside. With a camera! She's pointing it at me, and I suppose she's taking pictures of me walking down the road with my *gasp* off-leash dogs!!! I continued my walk, ignoring her the entire time. (I thought I did very well... I didn't stick my tongue out, nor did I shoot her the finger.) I was wearing my sunglasses, so she couldn't tell if I was looking at her or not. She stood there, camera to her face, until I finally turned the corner.

I'm waiting to hear from the Animal Control guy (it's a new one again) to tell me that there's a leash law in town. I'll smile and nod. Agree that there's a leash law. But you know something? My dogs are actually very well behaved and typically don't wander more than 8 feet away from me. If I'm on a main street, they're on a leash.

However, Moore's Valley is a dead end street with a grand total of 5 houses on it. 4 on one side, ours on the other. We own 3 acres, and that encompasses a pretty huge chunk of frontage. From our fence line, down the road, and then down the trail, it takes @ 2 minutes to stroll back to our hillside property. Speed limit is 30 kph. (the only people who go faster are the odious neighbours themselves.)

I've also seen a ton of people walking their dogs on the trail. Off leash! Do I have to start taking pictures of them? I sure don't want to... I like the idea of letting my dogs get a bunch of exercise while I enjoy the great outdoors. I think well-behaved and under-control dogs should be allowed their freedom on the trails.

But you know, I can't help but wonder when these people are going to step over the line into actual harassment. I mean, they've already written a letter to the town indicating their displeasure with the idea of me running a home office in the form of a pet portrait business. Yes, really. She wrote that she's concerned about all the traffic my tiny (mostly online) business will bring to the neighbourhood. She also tried to get me in trouble by pointing out that we're already known to be running a B&B in our home. (No... we don't.)

She talked about how we had 4 vehicles, only have 2 now, but when my son comes to visit there's 4 cars. AND since we have the B&B, our guests are vying for parking. She mentioned that people park half on the street, half on the boulevard. There's no sidewalk here so our cars come straight out onto the street. (huh? How's that relevant?) ... well, her math is skewed, (2 + 1 = 3). Strange for a teacher, you think? AND, take a look around at ANY house in town when there's a party going on. EVERYBODY parks on the side of the street. *grumble* ...

The town granted me my business license, but they indicated that they will be keeping an eye on our parking lest it become a problem. Believe you me, the next time they have a party down the way and somebody parks on the street, I shall be photographing their g.d. licence plates and reporting THEM to the "proper authorities." *grumble grumble*

It isn't going to accomplish anything. We're not leaving. Like it or not, we live here, dammit. Sure, they're getting under my skin, but I don't let THEM know that! So why? Why? Hmm???

End of rant. Thanks for listening. Again.