Jude and I had the pleasure of visiting SAINTS last weekend when we dropped Yvette off at Carol’s. It was Jude’s second visit, and my first. I follow Carol’s blog religiously so it was a delight to meet and greet many of the animals. (I am so glad I met sweet Darla, cause she passed away a few days later.) Many of the residents here are palliative but don’t tell them that – SAINTS is generally a ‘happy place’. Every animal is well cared for, they’re loved and respected. I try to understand all the complexities and ideologies that go with a rescue like SAINTS but at the end does it really matter? It’s bad enough that they have to deal with the reckless and irresponsible people who abandon and dump their ‘pets’ but why is it other “rescue people” have to criticize as well? I was upset when I read Carol’s blog “I am in a rage tonight”. Why and how is it necessary to be so insidious? Why is it necessary to make these hurtful accusations? What is this person (or persons) trying to prove? If they can operate and maintain a rescue with a magnitude like SAINTS, and do a better job at it, than maybe their opinion might be worth a listen, but right now, I am sure they can’t, so their thoughts are worth diddly squat in most people’s books. Hurray for Carol and her wonderful group of caring and dedicated volunteers. Carol gives and gives and gives…..I wonder how does she keep her sanity? I (like the majority of us) have nothing but respect and admiration for everyone who keeps SAINTS going. So just a word of advice to those naysayers – best to leave Carol alone. Better yet, offer to volunteer, grab a shovel or pooper scooper, the barn always needs cleaning.

Yvette and Percy - he gave her a kiss!

Beautiful horses

Princess Ellie and her buddy Percy

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

For someone who rarely leaves home I am away a lot longer than planned - I was supposed to be home Friday at 1:30 pm. But I received two wonderful gifts that I could not refuse. One - two passes to Butchart Gardens which I and Stan thoroughly enjoyed. Tho I was a tad stiff at the end of the day! Now that is a wonderful place and really shows what anyone can do with a recycled area! How beautiful, peaceful,enthralling and breathtaking. Words can not describe the beauty and color and just awesome garden. Thank you Daphne.

And today I lived a lifelong dream - I went whale watching!! And I saw some too. Thank you Prince of Whales for the wondrous gift. Again I went with my #1 son Stan and we saw a humpback whale #1057, a pod of transient killer whales - a female and her calf, stellar seals, sealions, California seals and a pod of male killer whales. How cool is that?

I am leaving tomorrow - I will catch the bus here in Victoria, cross the ferry, transfer to my bus to Prince George and transfer again for my bus home at 1:30 pm Monday! A long trip but a comfortable trip home. I have to meet the newcomers and get ready for the new pound guys - another Nonie pup, a pom mix, a rottie mix and a husky. School is back and all the furry toys that the kids played with all summer are now following them to school. The animal control officer is very very busy!! It happens every year. This year we are ready and so are my veterinarians. These new guys have their speuters scheduled for their arrivals Tuesday. I better get home - Dave needs me to get them ready for new homes. I will be very busy until snow flies. But I feel spiritually, physically and emotionally recharged. This has been the best holiday ever!! From the welcome from Jude and Cynda, dinner with wonderful friends, the TG Raffle draw, the Hike with TG Reunion, rescuing Chico, the wonderful visit with Carol who also made me feel so very welcome at SAINTS (the gourmet meals - the best cheesy garlic shrimp ever!!), the ferry ride across to Victoria, riding in the horse drawn carriage, the wax museum, Butchart Gardens, and the whale watching - wow. This will last me a very long time. Thank you sons, and thank you to all the TG supporters. You have made my heart whole and full to overflowing to continue to follow my philosophy :”I am one, but still, I am one
I cannot do everything,
but still I can do something
And, because I cannot do everything
I’ll continue to do the something that I can do” (Edward Everrett)

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

This morning, Jude and I went to the Escapes.ca office to meet with theTG Raffle Draw grand prize winner - Patricia McLeod!
Pat was so excited about winning the all-inclusive trip to Puerto Vallarta - she said this was the first time in her life she’s won
anything!

Here is Chris presenting Pat with her travel voucher - lucky her!

Even though we’ve thanked Chris and Tomoko many times for donating the trip, one more time won’t hurt! This grand prize, plus all the
other fabulous prizes made this raffle event incredibly successful. Escapes.ca specializes in ’sun’ destinations but their knowledgeable staff books
all travel destinations as well. Everything can be done through the internet, emails and phone - no need to go to their office. In fact, almost all
their business is done through the internet. It is a busy busy office - this morning, I counted over 15 staff members on duty!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

I have been following Carol of SAINTS ’s blog about the saintly crew. I love her honesty and integrity and sheer love of the animals and respect for them. Real respect. They are special and are treated so. Yet they really are dogs or cats or horses or bunnies or whatever species they are. They are “allowed” to be the best they can be as they want to be.
She recently has a cat dumped on her - we at Turtle Gardens have the same problem. Animals are dumped on us but often they are dumped just down the road from us. There is a reason why we have to say “no, we are full” It is because we feel we have all we can care for with our resources, money in the bank or lack of, time and how we feel. We want to give the animals in our care the best possible advantage and when we are stretched to the max we say “no, we are full at this time” Please call back in a couple of weeks. For us it can change - we may get a large donation to pay off our vet bill, or we may have perfect matches for adoptions or we just may have a renewal of spirit and the energy to do the work well is back. But to dump an animal and hide him so he won’t be found right away - how cowardly and unthinking is that. And it happens. Dave has a new arrival. A brother to a fellow we had - remember the red heeler pup we got in? And fostered to adopt so quickly? Well his brother came in yesterday. Too much dog for them - he needs a job. They knew I was away so they just came down and showed him to Dave. They made it seem that I had already given the ok to come in. That is another form of dumping an animal on a rescue. Stretching the truth to suit them is dumping. No two ways about it. They took advantage of Dave and it isn’t fair. But he is safe now, will be neutered asap and will find his perfect match. Just like Crayola(Roy) and Abby Rose and all the other Turtle Gardens Alumni. The funds will be there to vet check, vaccinate and speuter the new arrivals. The energy and renewal of spirit will ensure they are given their opportunity to heal and become dogs again - to feel good in their fur; to be well grounded ,to be dogs! They will learn to play, learn boundaries and restraints and learn to be great family companions. They will learn to trust, to love and to be companions. That is what Turtle Gardens does. Turtle Gardens welcomes another red heeler!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

What a wonderful day today - perfect weather, perfect things to do, perfect people to do them with - PERFECT! But first here is some pictures of a few days ago:
Jude, Cynda and I at our meeting in White Spot.

And here is Sharon too:

This is the Raffle draw at ESCAPES.CA

First off is Chris of escapes.ca - your vacation specialist who donated the grand prize with Jude, Cynda and I.

Chris who drew the tickets was blindfolded!

Next the winner was written down, the time drawn - what a lot of meticulous detail!!

Cynda then called each winner:

This is the camera man for Japanese TV!! My brain went totally blank when he clipped the microphone on but I managed!

We then dashed to Everett Crowley park for the Hike with TG Reunion!!

For dogs lots of dogs:

Meeting Ellen and Cheryl!

Cynda with Teya!

Meeting Jean and her wonderful dogs!

Dogs loved the treatman - Peter who adopted Kona - Maya, Peaches and Rosa begging!

The longest time adopter was Masako and Annie - adopted almost 6 years ago!

Jude and beautiful Maxine!

There are several pictures I would very much like to see - the group picture and the Nala Family pictures. Please if you took pictures please email me or post them on facebook. Let’s all enjoy them!!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

What a wonderful visit. I had met Sadie and Princess Belle at the reunion but Charlie had stayed home. She is a beautiful girl with such an expressive face. Allie the tortie said hello too and Jean had made Coffee - oh joy! Then the highlight of my visit - the piggies. They liked me! what an honour and a priviledge. They let me scratch and scritch and pet them but the absolute wonderful thing - Scotch rolled over and let me give him a belly rub!! What beautiful, wonderful sweet beings. I was so thrilled and tears came to my eyes. They are such expressive smart little beauties. Thank you Jean for introducing me to your very special little guys. I also met Martin the alpaca but he was on guard - he saw a strange animal walking the trail - his chuurrs and chucks were fasinating. Jean expalined that it could be either a deer or a bear. The next door llamas were on alert too. Wow. All of this greenery and so close to the city too. I have to think about it for when we retire!!

Today is travel to Victoria day - Thank you Carol and Jean and all of the volunteers who have made me so welcoem. I appreciate it so very much. Eva is taking me to breakfast soon - yay coffee!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

We went to the bus depot today to find it clsoed - no going home today. But that’s ok - I can enjoy another day with Carol and all the fabulous animals. And the wonderful volunteers that frequent Saints.
What a great place to unwind and rejuvenate. Thank you Carol for having me.

There is two new arrivals at TG Dave told me. He isn’t sure what breed they are - a mom and pup but he says they are little. The pup is playing with all our small guys while mom is insecure and staying close to Dave. Dave says all is well - School starts tomorrow! And it is speuter day as well for the pound guys. Good luck Dave and Bear who has to drive to TG and be there by 8 am!!

I will be in Victoria tomorrow for sure - pictures soon.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

Yvette did 2 interviews today! Japanese TV (not sure even what channel they are on) did quite an in-depth interview and filmed the raffle draw at the Escapes.ca office. Two hours later at the re-union at Everett Crowley Park, CTV (they stayed for the entire time!) also had an interview with Yvette – she’s getting to be a pro at this!

The hike/re-union was a blast, I’m guessing about close to 50 TG dogs came out, and with friends joining us, there were easily over 60 dogs. What a great experience, it’s something I will cherish for a very long time. There were so many warm and fuzzy moments - way too many to count! I’m sure those who were at the park this afternoon can attest to this. What a wonderful afternoon for Yvette to see all her happy and healthy furbabies. She never stopped smiling, Yvette was ‘glowing’ all afternoon (and did you notice she was wearing lipstick, Cheryl? )

Thank-you so much to everyone who’s supported the TG raffle draw, it was huge success. Because this was our first event, your support was particularly special for us. Thank you for all your kindness and generosity. Ok, how much did we raise? Unofficially, we’re just a shade over $14,000!!!

Here’s the list of winners, congratulations to all.

1. 7 day trip to Mexico – Patricia McLeod, North Vancouver
2. getaway to Victoria - Vadie Bond, Terrace
3. $500 gas cards – Anita Lee, Vancouver
4. $500 Home Depot – D. Munro Vancouver
5. pet portrait by Deborah Strong – Kevin Goodbody, Vancouver
6. $100 Bay/HBC card – Dove Cresswell, Burnaby
7. Dental whitening package – Sharon Giguere, Chilliwack
8. Van Houtte Coffee & Purdy’s basket - June Dinning, North Vancouver
9. Avon basket – Susan Finlayson, Bowser
10. Telus Pay & Talk cell phone – Jarmila Tegart, North Vancouver
11. Telus Pay & Talk cell phone – Brigitte Watts, Thornhill
12. Pets & People goodie basket – Miriam Lenting, Richmond
13. handmade jewellery - Graham McTavish, Burnaby
14. handmade doggy themed quilt – Tim Little, Surrey
15. $60 Chapters gift card - Sharon Bandstra, Terrace
16. 4 bags Starbucks coffee – Ola Hiltz, Telkwa
17. $50 Earl’s gift card - Sabrina Vandenbrink, Chilliwack
18. $50 Swiss Chalet.Milestones card – Greg DeBloime, Vancouver
19. $50 Starbucks card - Joanne Fan, Vancouver
20. $50 Starbucks card - Bonnie Jung, Trail
21. Snack food basket - Margaret Macloed, Perow
22. 4 movie passes + A& W card - Pam Rutherford, Port Moody
23. 2 movie passes + $15 Tim Hortons - Adrienne McCann, Burnaby
24. $25 Starbucks card – Peter Ukai, Vancouver
25. $25 Starbucks card - Eleanor Busse Klassen, White Rock
26. $25 gas card - Jo Caple, Victoria
27. $25 gas card – Carmel Briskor, North Vancouver
28. $25 gas card – Verne Scott, Nanaimo
29. $20 Tim Hortons - Diane Cunningham, Vanderhoof
30. $20 A & W – Eliza Fry, Kaslo

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

So I have access to a computer. What an incredible weekend so far!! I had a wonderful seatmate on the bus - he was 7 years old and small so I had a lot of room. When we switched buses in Prince George - he sat beside me again - his mom was in front with his baby sister. He cuddled up to sleep and so did I thank you Eric - what a very nice well behaved little boy.

Jude picked me up at the bus depot (we found a coffee kiosk right away!!) and drove me to her home where I freshened up - had more coffee and breakfast and then Cynda arrived. She and Jude has gone shopping for me and bought me some wonderful outfits!! My favorite is a soft fleecy purple vest with a matching shirt. And the most wonderful, youthful capris. How very nice of you!! Jude gave me a haircut and my confidence was boosted for the BIG day ahead. But first we had dinner at White Spot with Sharon - a long time supporter of TG and very good friend.

Then it was a very good night’s sleep and THE BIG DAY - the Raffle Draw. The complete list will be up shortly - Cynda will email me here at SAINTS and I will post it. What an incredible amount of work they have done to get to this point. THANK you Jude and Cynda - we are so thankful for all your very hard work. And a very big THANK YOU to Chris of escapes.ca for the GRAND Prize. And to all the other donators of fabulous prizes.

Then it was to Sullys to order a take out sandwich and drive to the Take a Hike with TG at Everett Crowley park. We set up a table and sat down to eat - I took two bites and TG Alumni started coming up the path. That was the last time I sat down until we drove home! I saw Annie from 5 years ago. I saw Peaches and Poppy - sisters who met again after 4 years!! All of Nala’s family was there - Gryphon, Teya, Ella, Sage and Bailey from Bowser!! Bailey is Nala’s sister! There was Nell and her son Truman to meet again. Two of the Sherriff dogs - Maya and Mackenna - they knew each other and me too. My beautiful Nonie gave me kisses. There was three Nauticals - Rosa(Bonnie Lassie) and Oro (Buccaneer) and Kuma (Sailor). There were over 50 dogs and their very happy families. Some pictures are here http://mylifewiththecritters.blogspot.com/2008/08/yesterday-was-awesome.html Thank you Jean!! It was so awesome to meet you after “knowing” you so long in cyberspace. I met Lynda, Cheryl, Ellen, and so many rescue friends. It was INCREDIBLE!! I also met Shelley from CTV and yes we were on TV at 11 last night. Thank you so very much! I will post pictures when I get to Dave’s tomorrow - well maybe the next day and tell you all about today’s adventures too. Just a hint - we rescued a dog!

I am visiting Carol at SAINTS today and tonight - what a fabulous place. Then I will be off to Victoria to see my sons and grandson before heading home again.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

Today is “T” day - my greyhound leaves at 5.35 pm! Yes I am taking the bus - several reasons - It is way cheaper - less than half the air fare!! (more for the dogs spay/neuters) and less get there travel time. The airport is almost 2 hours away and we need to be there 2 hours ahead so Dave would be away a lost 6 hours!! The bus picks me up at the corner - I could walk! We are less than a minute from the highway. Besides both trips are at night so I will sleep or read. No problemo!

Annie arrived - a failed adoption after almost 5 years! She was 7 months old when she left here. She has fears of thunder storms and she bolts. She has been picked up twice by animal control and they can no longer afford the fine. So Annie returns. She is a calm girl with people but is territorial - she is part maramma . Turtle Gardens welcomes Annie:

Then we received a call from Char - the Burns Lake Pound. She has 5 dogs in the pound. They had their vet visit scheduled - Thank you Burns Lake Vet Clinic!! Dave picked them all up and what a nice bunch of dogs!!Turtle Gardens welcomes them all - no names - yet!!
This is the littlest pound pup. She is a female, 6 to 8 months old, weighs 13 pounds and is super friendly - she is already following us and sleeping under out chairs in the kitchen. What a sweetie!

Next is Nonie2!! She looks just like Nonie and acts like Nonie and is the same age as the one above and Nonie!! They must be part of Nonie’s family!!

Then a beautiful, striking aussie mix - a 4 month old blue eyed, female who could very well be Abby Rose’s sister - except aussie and border collie aren’t grey - are they? She is super bright, very very active and what a friendly, good natured pup! She plays plays and loves to play.

And then the other 4 month old pup - a lab mix, male - oh so gentle. He has already been adopted! Jerry and Lindsay lost their Rusty on the 11th - he was adopted from TG 11 years ago when he was just over a year old. They were devastated and came here to look for another companion - Lucy caught their eye but she has a home in Squamish. I told them that I would call as soon as a lab pup came in. Well this little guy looked like he could fit the bill so I called when he arrived. 5 minutes later - it was a done deal. Tears and hugs and he was part of a his new family.

And las but not least - a adult, akita/husky mix, another male, with a blue eye - what a nice boy he is. He fit in so easily with the group and slept under the table all night long. Someone will have a treasure with this boy!

Well it is off to finish packing and the start of my big adventure. I am so looking forward to seeing my furry friends again and meeting their families and rescue friends too. See you soon!!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.