Yes, the puppies arrived on schedule, June 25th, but just! The first puppy was born at 9.30pm and before 11pm there was a total of five. The last two were born between 11 & 12pm giving a total of seven puppies, four males & three females. Mother & puppies are all doing fine!
Pour Cobalt went through a long labour and was very vocal about her discomfort. Regularly, she would come close to the window in the chalet and talk to me looking for comfort & encouragement. She was a real trooper with this being her first litter. The first puppy seemed to take forever to be born & you could feel her pain & frustration. But, after the first all the subsequent births were without incident. The first one was born in the whelping pen house, however, the next two were born outside in the wired enclosure. After hearing the puppies crying, they were placed in the house with the other puppy & then Cobalt got the idea of that was were the balance should be born. Cobalt did a great job with the births and quickly assumed the motherly routine. It is always a great relief when the puppies are born & there is no complications. 
Nature is amazing!  
The other dogs in the kennel are now starting to get used to the whimpering of the puppies and they welcomed them through song to their new pack.  
The weather here this week was beautiful with sunny warm days and clear nights. That all changed and we received, well needed, rain on Thursday, Friday, Saturday & into this morning. The forest was getting dry, causing elevated concerns regarding forest fires especially with the Summer tourist season just starting.
LIFE IS VERY GOOD HERE IN THE NORTHERN FOREST!
Until next week.......

Yes, the normal idyllic life here was interrupted with satellite problems for both the TV & the Internet. The TV problems were resolved after a week of no service due partially to shipping times (remote Location & Hydro interruption for three days) and then Internet problems that took 11/2 days to resolve. The internet problem becomes serious here as all forms of communication outside depends on it. No other phone service is available here and that coupled with the Hydro interruption, just complicated things more.
However, all is working again and life here is returning to normal.
We have had several beautiful days here and today is just about perfect sunny, cooler & windy. With wind, there is no bugs! PERFECT!!!!
Cobalt was moved to the whelping pen earlier this week, so she can get used to her new home before the arrival of the puppies. If all goes to calculation, it will be this coming weekend. She is getting bigger and also very affectionate.
She now likes talking to me when I am cleaning up the kennel. This is so funny as she sounds like a frog croaking when she talks to me.
The other dogs are getting used to her in the whelping pen as well and enjoying the beautiful weather. The younger dogs are still having fun hunting the Tiger Swallow/Tailed Butterflies when they fly through the kennel.
They jump around trying to catch them as they fly by.
Now, I am going out to enjoy the peace & tranquillity!
Have a great day.
Until next week.......

It was a crazy week here with little happening weather wise. The first of the week was warm & humid and Thursday a cold front blew through dropping the temperatures. Then rain on Saturday night into this morning.
The bugs are still here in abundance & the Mosquitoes are making an appearance with the warm humid conditions. It was only a mater of time especially with all the wet weather. In the early evening & the early morning, you can see them all lined up on the screen doors & windows looking for a way into the chalet.
All was quiet in the kennel with little happening. The exception is Cobalt, who is getting bigger with only thirteen days to go before the expected delivery date. She is becoming more attentive with her pregnancy and looks foreword to having her belly rubbed.
The other young dogs are amusing themselves chasing Butterflies & trying to catch them. It must be the hunting dog in them! 
Hydro Quebec was doing maintenance and updating the equipment on the power lines resulting in the shut down of electrical power from 7am to 7pm, three days in a row. This practically shut down all businesses in the area with the exception of those who rented large commercial gas generators. So much for the protection of the environment! 
The price of progress!
One good thing by this power interruption, it gave me time to sit back, relax and ponder the beauty & tranquility of the forest.
Until next week......

Yes, the Black Flies have returned & in abundance with the warm/sunny days.
They are swarming the dogs but not biting due the addition of Garlic Powder in their feed. I have been using the garlic everyday for the past couple of years and it seems to make a difference preventing the biting by the flies.
We also had a storm pass here on Wednesday with very strong winds. These winds continued through Friday, although with less velocity. 
The photo of the sunset was shot Wednesday.
Saturday was nice and calm, that gave me an opportunity to get the new Bradley Smoker in operation. The menu for the day was Hickory Smoked loin of Pork, Pork Chops and Chicken legs/thighs. The pork was dry rubbed with my homemade recipe and infused for 12 hours. The chicken was also infused with a homemade dry rub for 5 hours before smoking. The smoking process took 5 hours, all the time tantalizing me with the smell fresh hickory smoked meat. 
THE RESULT WAS WELL WORTH THE WAIT! (The smoke also helped keep the Black Flies away!)
Time to enjoy the Summer like weather.
Until next week.....