Hank

Its been a very busy few days in August recently.   My Uncle Walter passed away.  He was my Dad's oldest brother, and my godfather.  If he would have made it a few more days he would have made it to his 98th birthday.  The funeral was in Wetaskiwin on Thursday.  It was good to see a bunch of cousins and relatives, but the circumstances could have been happier.  Although it was sad to say goodbye, when a person lives to almost 100, and was healthy most of their life, then there is really nothing to be sad about.

Then on Friday, Margarit and Annelise and I headed down to Calgary.  We went to my brother Wes's place and attended an East Coast Kitchen Party at his house.  My neice Simone and a bunch of her friends were there, including a young guy named Ryan, who was doing all the cooking.  There were also a bunch of friends of Wes and Barb.  We had a bunch of drinks and played guitar and sang songs all night.  It was a lot of fun.  Anna stayed with her cousin Simone but Margarit and I stayed at a nearby hotel.

Then on Sunday, after breakfast and helping tidy up a little we said our goodbye's to Wes and Barb and hit the road.  

Margarit and the girls have been badgering me for months to get another dog.  I was hoping that the animal population in our house would come down somewhat before we added any more.  We still have four rabbits and two skinny pigs, despite the fact that our two family dogs passed on recently.  But of course, my vote does not count in the slightest, and eventually the girls beat me down.  Margarit and I stopped at a farm near Bluffton on our way home from Nordegg a week ago to look at some puppies.  Of course once Her Nibs saw them, there was no turning back.  We kept it a secret from the girls, and on the way home from Calgary we took a slight detour over to Bluffton to pick up the puppy.  By this point he had had his last vet appointment, and had turned eight weeks old.  

I made four rules when I foolishly agreed to this and I'm going to try to stand firm on them.  We'll see how it goes.  Rule Number One is that I do not have to walk the dog.  Rule Number Two is that I do not have to clean up after the dog, and that the girls will.  Rule Number Three was that I got to select the puppy... and I did.  And Rule Number Four was that I got to name him.  I won on Rule Four... sort of... and got to name the dog, even though many of my names were rejected.  I really wanted a Mike, or a Steve, or a Bruce... but we ended up with Hank.  Hank is actually Hank Yarbo... named after the town Doofus from the TV Series Corner Gas.

Hank is part Jack Russel Terrier and part Cairn Terrier.  He came from a litter of eight... three boys and five girls.  The traits of the two parents were mixed in the litter.  Some had smooth coats while others were a little wiry.  Some had the longer legs of the Jack Russel, while others were shorter from the Cairn.  I selected one of the boys... with a wiry coat and stubby legs.  He's a tiny little guy and can't weigh more than a pound or two.  He sure is getting a lot of attention from the four doting girls in our house.