Menu

Year: 2

IMG_1562xx

Heart to Heart

, ,

My anniversary theme song dedicated to my husband for a wonderful  romantic adventure that continues.  Starship “ Nothing Is Going To Stop Us Now”.  Enjoy the music!

August is long gone without a blog update. I am amazed that while we are retired living in paradise that the time flies by so quickly.  Now September is nearly over. This month we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. How quickly the years go by it seems like just yesterday that Bill and I met at  the United Methodist Church Downtown Singles Group.  We were married in September and the following January, I was activated in the Army Nursing Reserves for Desert Storm. Our unit was a 1,000 bed hospital unit that ended up being deployed all over Germany. It was a difficult separation for us. Bill did come for a 2 week visit and a kind LTC and his wife let us stay in their upstairs maid quarters. If I only knew what the future had to hold for us! Now here we are retired in Ecuador living heart to heart.

Bill and I continue to  build our adventure and love  in little Cotacachi, Ecuador.  Once again I am studying Spanish and this time bound and determined to learn this beautiful language. I think the challenge of learning a new language is  difficult for me but the rewards will be so sweet. So for now baby steps.

Bill has been busy building a day bed for our converted storage space into a sun room for me! I had picked out fabric for the cushions with decorator Sandra’s assistance . But when they arrived the pattern did not match up. So this is Ecuador and no time for worries or stress.  I just throw a shawl over the  mismatch and no one else is the wiser. In the morning this little retreat is where I start my day with a cup of coffee,  the company of the dogs sometimes Bill wanders in and we start to plan our day.

  • Bill drew his own plans

IMG_1440

We had a guest returning for her second visit when suddenly my washing machine’s computer brain had a stroke. My front loading machine had an automatic door lock that could not be opened without the brain functioning. Of course, I had a load of wet laundry inside that the machine would not release. A repairman came out and stated the problem was with the mother board. I never knew my washing machine had a computer.  We learned that we should have had a surge protector on the machine. We had never heard of this and neither had our friends. Our options where to try to get a replacement part from the United States or buy a new machine. I was pretty stressed out since I needed to get the wet laundry out of the machine. So I kept trying and finally the machine would start the count down to the final 11 minutes. Just when it reached the last minute it would show F11 which means some sort of electrical issues. But I just kept trying and finally it  had at least one brain cell still functioning and coughed open the door for one last time.  Bill heard me yelling that the door finally release my laundry. I  will never buy a front loading machine with a door locking devise. So we ended up with a new washing machine that I really like. At the end of the cycle it plays a nice little musical tune! Go figure but the garbage trucks also play another little musical tune like the ice cream man from our youth.

Fiesta de La Jora Horse Parade:  the fiesta lasts from September 11 – October 3 the horse parade is one of the many events.

September memories with our dear friend Sandra

  • Just a swinging

Hugs to family and friends

IMG_1668-001

Texas Annie Ecuador

 

 

IMG_1117x

Take A Chance On Me

, ,

I have noticed on Facebook that there is a campaign in the United States to clear all of the dog shelters. This is close to my heart since I was a volunteer at Arlington Animal Shelter in Texas. So, I urge everyone to do their part and find a new best friend that may actually rescue you.  Turns out this a world wide problem.  Click and enjoy the music  Take A Chance on Me from Mama Mia. I hope you will listen to the the music which is one of my all time favorites and my theme song for dog rescue. .

Cotacachi Amici Cannis Neuter Clinic

A few weekend’s ago in Cotachachi and surrounding communities hosted a  non-surgical neuter sterilization clinic which this time was held for the male dogs.  A total of 82 male dogs where sterilized which will make a huge difference.  Recently, another clinic provided sterilization for the female dogs. So, this time is was the boy’s turn.  It was a simple procedure and the male dogs were given a light tranquilizer followed by  general anesthesia.  Then a substance was injected into their scrotum which would render them sterile. Each dog received a small tattoo near their scrotum that local vets would recognize indicating the dogs were sterilized. What the group realized was that a lot more education was needed since the owners of the dogs did not think the male dogs were part of the problem . After all they did not see the results of the puppies. So, there was not any cultural or religious reluctance involved  it was simply more education. The volunteers sat with the dogs as they recovered from anesthesia.

A special shout out of thanks to Heather and Phillip Steyn, DVM from Colorado who brought all the drugs from the United States as well as the local vet’s and volunteers that participated.

IMG_1140x

I had volunteered to help but turns out that Bill did more than I did since since I had a leg injury. Here he is pictured with a pit bull recovering from anesthesia with two young boys that were the owners. Apparently, they had owned the dog for just three weeks. But here they were trying to wake up this sleeping giant by pulling his tail and blowing in his ears.

IMG_1152x

All turned out well and all three were soon on their way. Kudos to Bill since we are afraid of pit bulls after he and our little Cavalier King Charles Spaniels were attacked in Arlington by this breed.

So now, it was Texas and Dallas’ turn to be spayed. Yesterday we took all five dogs to Dr. Lara in Ibarra. Our three Cavalier King Charles Spaniel’s for their yearly immunizations plus grooming. The two pups for spaying. We were surprised that the spaying cost was  $150 each which seems more like the cost back in the States. We decided that taking all five dogs to Ibarra is just to much! So next time we are going to use the new vet Dr. Richardo Rodriguez, Happy Animals, Cotacachi for Kitty, Texas and Dallas. The poor pups just to stressed going for a ride in the car. Plus Dr. Rodriquez will make house calls. We used him when Lucy ate a chocolate bar. He was at our house within twenty minutes and charged us $20.

Dallas was not feeling herself this morning after her surgery and wanted to stay in her dog house.  But both are now up and bouncing around and just ate their first post op surgery breakfast.

July 4th Celebration

images

Yes, the expat’s celebrate the 4th of July in Ecuador! A nice gathering of a few of the neighbors and good food.

IMG_1027-001X

IMG_1009x

Yikes!!! We furnished the hot dogs but why on earth did the cook prepared them to look like grande Ecuadorian worms? Guess he wanted everyone to eat his hamburgers instead.

IMG_1030x

Another Parade! It is always a surprise.

  • So dressed up!

What is a bodega?

  • 8 water leaks in bodega that a joined a bathroom

The bodgea is like a storage building and home to our washer and dryer as well other items we had for storage but oh so small. The bodega backed up to one of our bathrooms. Suddenly, the bathroom wall was wet and the stucco coming off. So the workers investigated and turned out we had three water leaks in the wall  that finally ended up to be eight. Since they had to tear down the wall to make the repairs we decided now was the time to enlarge a new one and has ended up to be a man cave for Bill. So the 4 week project turned into  10 weeks. All this occurred during Inti Ramyi Celebration! Whenever there is a holiday celebration the workers do not show up. If you live in Ecuador this is a general expectation and we understand.  During this time I did not have access to my washer and dryer! I used the community center washer and hung the clothes out on our clothesline. The community center washer was so dirty and only had cold water so I hated using it. Plus it took me all day. Kudos to my neighbor Dian that came to my rescue and letting me start to use hers.

I ended up repairing the stucco plaster in our bathroom!

  • 8 water leaks in bodega that a joined a bathroom

After updating this blog I realize I have so much more to post but it will all have to wait until next time!

So many folks ask us how we like Ecuador. The Ecuadorians are welcoming and  have patience. But who you have to watch out for is the Expats. One of my pet peeve’s are Expats that want to make the community into a little United States. They have packed their emotional baggage with a  hurry up attitude, health problems  and really should find another place to live. We are guests in this beautiful country and should not inflict our stress, timelines and attitudes on the locals! It made me sad that some of the Expats fired workers simply because they did not show up to work during the  Inti Raymi Celebration. Cotacachi is a small town and I guess they never think that everyone is someway related to each other. So when you fire a worker you are firing someone’s uncle, brother or sister. There  are some Expats that contract workers and then when it is completed refuse to pay stating it did not meet their expectations. Well it is Ecuador and these folks are trying to support their family. On an average they make about $400 a month. I think this is where the term Ugly American came from but not all the Expats are American and some come from other counties. So I guess it should be coined Ugly Gringo or Expat.   Enough said!

Hugs to family and friends!

IMG_6852  Texas Annie Ecuador

IMG_20150509_095357959_HDR-2

Rescue Me!

, ,

Please enjoy the music: Rescue Me: Chess Soul

Amici Cannis  Association is located in Cotacachi, Ecuador and  supported by volunteers providing services to spay and neuter street dogs and cats. They frequently sponsor fund raising events and one of the prizes was a dog house and lots of goodies. Dr. Heather Steyn and Dr. Philip Steyn, two Colorado veterinarians donated the dog house for the event. But as luck would have it they won the dog house back in the drawing.  They decided to give the prize to the first person that adopted a street dog. So I entered the contest on Facebook and won! Bill and I had just looked at dog houses for Dallas and Texas so this was perfect and we are so grateful.

  • Dallas and Texas in new Casa

Amici Cannis Association partners with volunteers and local veterinaries as well as some veterinaries  from the United States. I recently read about a program that had a medication that would sterilize male dogs with just a pill.  Amici Cannis is excited to be hosting a non-surgical clinic for male dogs in July. This is a USDA approved study currently being conducted in the United States and Amici Cannis was approved to participate! I never dreamed that this would be available in little Cotacachi. They will be receiving enough medication to neuter 300 male dogs in 5 different  area communities. The clinic will provide $2.00 non-invasive sterilization to the Ecuadorian families that could not afford to sterilize their dogs. Just think of the impact this will have on reducing the population of unwanted puppies such as Dallas and Texas and their 4 litter mates.

  • Everyone sits in chairs to avoid the puppies....even Kitty

If you would like to learn more about Cotacachi  Amici Cannis Association you can visit their Facebook page.

Our wonderful Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are finally starting to adjust to having Dallas and Texas outside. At first there was plenty of stressful drooling but I made sure our trio knew they were still top dogs in the pack! They do set their limits when the puppies are too wild and nip. Dallas and Texas love to play a rough and tumble chase game with each other. I think the 2 puppies entertain each other and so fun to watch! Dallas and Texas know their names and come when called and have learned to sit on command. Texas does well walking with the leash but as Bill says Dallas is like a pull toy but is slowing learning. I train with rewards of treats and belly rubs.  Actually, Dallas is a funny looking dog. Bill thinks we should have named her Phyllis after Phyllis Diller since her fur sticks out everywhere. She is small and so sweet. Since she does not have thick fur like Texas I got her some sweaters  to keep her warm at night and early in the morning. Hard to believe but I found darling little crocheted dog sweaters on Leather Street in Cotacachi.   Texas is going to be a beautiful dog and they both have started to bark when someone comes to the gate.  This is their job to guard the yard. Wow do they eat! I  wonder if they will ever be full. I asked Dr. Lara, IMBAVET Clinic  (click on the link to view the clinic website) how much I should be feeding them and he said 1/2 cup three times a day. I have to feed them separately since Texas inhales her food and then runs to get Dallas’ food.  Apparently, this is the nature of street dogs. Winky does the same thing maybe because he was a puppy mill rescue. Maybe someday they will understand that they will always have food.

 

  • Everyone sits in chairs to avoid the puppies....even Kitty

I did find two of the other litter mate puppies. They are living with an Ecuadorian family on the same road where the puppies were dumped. As the story goes someone just placed the puppies in their back yard. There is a little boy that plays with them. Every time I walk by I check on them since I know they have not been treated for fleas but I guess they do not know any better.  At least they are being cared for and not hungry. I have no idea what happened to the other two puppies.

  • Two of Dallas and Texas litter mates

Hugs to family and friends!

Texas Annie Ecuador
Texas Annie
Ecuador

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Load More