We finally have internet

Well everyone, we finally have internet at the house. It was well worth the wait. It is soo nice to be able to do it from the comfort of your own home. I just love the convenience.
Sparky, the formerly, sad, little, homeless, and poisoned puppy, is doing just fine and living up to her name. I have not often seen, such a happy little dog. She is about the size of a coyote, and the energy of a fire cracker. Amazing what good food and love can do.
Isis however, is not coping well. How is it can a dog be sooooooo emotional. She is also a very vocal dog and tells by growling how she sees things. She has always been highly emotional, even as a puppy. Now with someone else trying to sleep on her bed, she is beside herself. It is like living with a permanent furry teenager. She and my daughter are quite alot alike in the teenager category but at least I can talk with the daughter, the dog is inconsolable, because she is no longer the spoiled only child, she has company with delicate little paws and sparkly eyes. I think that in a year or so she will be just fine. She is hilarious, in that she for the most part is very well behaved and trained, thanks to Floyd, of Birchdale Kennels is Salmon Arm but she is such a drama queen. There are some things that you cannot train out of a dog. It is her personality.
We have started training Sparky and she is learning a great deal from Isis. However, she got into the garbage, she is a street dog after all. But after the mouse traps snapping at her toes last night around the garbage can, for some reason she no longer is interested in it. Go figure. I just hope Sparky doesn't learn to be a drama queen. Three in the house would be just too much. I think it is interesting for the locals who might like to visit unexpectedly at night. Now there are two dogs with big barks.
There is construction happening around the house and we have several people here doing the majority of the concrete construction. This is an area where Rob or I have not alot of real experience . So we have to rely on the workers wisdom. Although we are enjoying the process, it requires patience.
We finally opened our new furniture, it was still packed in boxes. It was delivered 2 weeks ago, talk about procrastination. It really helped to put it all out. Here is the delio, we chose overstuffed brushed material in yellow orange, light blue and soft limey green. There is a dark black wood accents. Brave color, I know but it was a risk we were willing to take. I think it will pay off. The look is very modern and colorful. It was great to lay it out and see what the focuses of the living room should be. Happily, we have decided to take out the ugly fireplace and we are going to replace it with a propane stove/heater. Because of this, we will be changing the focus on the room to the fantastic and glorious views and now we have to change windows and keep going with the modern, comfortable feel of the house. We also will over lay the nasty tile with light woods. We saw a beautiful floor done in Eucalyptus, and I think we would like to do the same here. Problem here though, the guy who did such a great job is not that bright when it comes to safety issues and I understand he has a great number of stitches in his hands and won't be doing that kind of work for a while. Sad but true, people here do not often think about the future and this can cause them a great deal of issues, ie cutting you fingers with saws. They do treat them like war wounds and proudly display them. Rob was trying to get one of the workers who was demo-ing an interior concrete wall to use a mask and safety glasses and he used them as decoration for his hat. We paid for the mask and everything but to no avail. I just hope that his lungs will last, at least he doesn't smoke. In Canada, WBC would have a hayday, and it would not ever be allowed. But then one of the reasons we came here was to get away from the bureaucratic BS. However they have served very well in certain health issues, and some of those regulations should be applied here, just to encourage longevity of lives.
Here is an idea to ponder. Joe Public here earns, $15.00 in 10 hour day. And a gallon of gas also costs an hour's wage. In Canada on a well-average paying job, Joe Public earns 4 gallons of gas an hour, at least right now, who knows the future where the gas prices will take us. In actual fact, the cost of living here, is a great deal higher than it is in other countries, when you actually compare wages verses costs. But we still love it here and you have to give up some things for others when you leave your country of origin to have other adventures. (Like curry paste and jelly beans). Rob says he is happy here since he can get blue cheese, peanut butter, oreo cookies and a $5.00 bottle of Melbac wine from Argentina for him life is complete. We just don't like to sit with him when he is eating that smelly cheese with flavor crystals that smell like dirty feet. Yikes!
Thanks for all your time and Hope all is happening for the better in you world.
Robin

much ado about nothing

Hi all
Well like the title says, there is not alot happening here. We are just waiting for Rob to go back to Canada. I have to admit though, I am a bit nervous. Here I am in a country with the language not being mine own, unfamiliar surroundings, etc. But I know that this is a good decision, it is getting far too expensive to hang out in Canada anymore, and here we can live for under $1,000.00 a month. Whenever Rob has gone away for a while it is nice because we all feel a little bit freer, Rob too, and then we all start to miss each other. I think that is a sign of healthy relations, you as a couple come together as whole beings and then you maintain that individuality that defines who you are. It is important to remember who you are and never loose sight of that. It helps when you both are whole and independent so there is a reality in the relationship and outlook.
We will also be continuing our spanish lessions and with school. I find myself starting to want to write in spanish now and I catch myself when I am on the computer. It is just another dimension of myself that I needed to learn about. I have always loved languages, and I finally can use this one and constantly keep learning. I an thinking that when I get fairly efficient, I would like to try to go to school here. I think it would be fun to learn something like being a lawyer, writing or something. But for now I will continue painting. I had laid out the primary drawings in Canada, anticipating that I would be painting and I have been. They are great but the dolphin is by far the most outstanding. The dolphin is on a dynamic background of blues, purples and yellow and greens with horizontal stripes, the dolphin itself is of whites, greens, blues and purples. I find it quite magical, and I find myself just staring at it in wonder. I guess that is really a reflection of how I feel my life is being right now. I will be having Scott August printing them off for me, and Ivy Mills from Creative chameleon putting them on the web site. I am hoping to have about 4-5 paintings ready for the process. Then I can start painting more wild life here, I am also hoping to get to the coast yet and do more painting and photo´s. The light here can only be discribed and a soft yellow. It is really nice and calming to paint in. The light is not the only thing that can inspire a painter here, the life, and life style are a big plus too.
I have now found where to buy canvas and paints, but I think that I would like to go to Quito for a shopping trip for more paint, books, and different foods. I think that I will have to go anyway as I have to start the ball rolling for our residency, and finishing the driver´s license. That issue keeps popping up. Eventually, we will have it.
Well that is all I can think of for now. Talk with you all later,
Robin

An almost sad story

Hi there all
Well, I thought that this blog would be a sad one but not so, this story has a happily ever after.
Ever since we moved into the new house in Baños, there as been this little dog coming and hanging outside the gate. She is a friendly lovely little thing, about the size and coloring of a coyote. She is sooooo happy to see us that her behind almost takes flight. The last several days she went into heat and of course all the boys in the neighborhood harrassed the heck out of her. Isis had taken it upon herself when allowed outside the gate , to put the run on the pests and protect Sparky. Poor thing. Now, unfortunately, like in most latin countries, the dogs are not necessarily treated well, awful really. She has no home, very skinny, and yet still so very loving. It is sooo sad. Often what happens is that the people like them when they are young and cute but kick them out when they get older. I think that is what happened with her. So there she was outside and way too young and skinny for a litter of pups. We had called her into the gate but she wouldn´t come. Secretly, Rob was feeding her in the morning, and I was feeding her in the night. We just found out that we were both doing this. It was like major confessions time for Rob and myself. Anyway, this day looked like it was going to be another day from hell for ¨Sparky¨. (you know that your in trouble when you name them.) But this day, the boys were starting to hang around and then sadly it looked like someone took the time to try and rid the world of more dogs, and poisoned her. She was foaming in the mouth, staggering, falling and all the while the males were pestering her. And then she disappearred. The whole day we were sad, and when we asked our worker, he said that she was poisoned and that she would only live for an hour. We were heart stricken and then that is when the confessions of feeding her and spending more time with her happened. Friends of ours from Aussie commented on her and that she was no where to be seen, everyone felt bad. At about 5;00 we all saw this little pup and there she was. I picked her up and took her into the gate, the worker looked at her and her gums and said she was just fine, no problem. SOOOOOOOOO, Much to Rob´s and my dismay we have another dog and the first thing tomorrow she is going to get the morning after shot , vacinations, deworming, a flee bath and a collar. We have another dog in the house, Isis is no longer the spoiled only child. Yikes, now we really have to buy a car , just for the dogs. I guess we are just softies at heart. But we just couldn´t let her have this sad life anymore. And so ends the story of ¨Sparky¨the happy little puppy finding a new home with the easily conned Canadian family.
Talk with you all soon and give your little furry loved ones a hug from me.
Robin