Last piece standing.....

I am starting this blog the same way I started it last week:  another week has come and gone and we are happy about that!  Cooper has completely recovered from his neutering and his e-collar came off on Friday, 9 days after surgery.  The week went by a bit slower than usual since there was not much we could do with Cooper other than keep him content but, in the end, all went well and we are happy it is now behind us.  Cooper had a lot of built up energy so the past few days have been a blast for him!  We treated him to lots of retrieve games, long walks, he did his "run like hell" around the house many times, etc.  He is totally back to his old self and he is happy about it.

On the log home front, as you can see from the picture, all the logs have been taken down and the tower is the only thing standing, waiting to be taken down this week.  I am including a picture of our house design to better link the tower to the house. It is official: the log shell goes up on the foundation week of March 5.  We will be there for this special event.  Very exciting times ahead.

The weather has been amazing. The storm that was to happen didn't materialize and I am happy about that.  I know that for those who love snow it was a true disappointment but for us, it meant better weather for Matt and his crew to continue the build of our house.  We are hoping for the same kind of weather all through March.

This coming week will be busy.  We will take Cooper for another grooming session on Wednesday.  He deserves a nice hot bath, with all the trimmings.  Thursday, we start his first class of Obedience 2 Level.  We think he will really like this training as it will involve lots of tricks and fun things to keep him busy.  Friday, we will go to Mount Forest to get a sample of our reclaimed hemlock barn board for our floors.  Once we have that, then we need to choose the stain for the interior of our log home.  We received the sample stain fan deck from the supplier, Sansin.  Lots to choose from...We also have to choose the exterior stain.

We now have to get more serious about getting our house ready for selling.  We will meet with an agent in a few weeks, and continue to purge....We hope to have the house up for sell by end of April.

So, it's all good.  I wish you all an excellent week.  My next update will be in March.....Spring is just around the corner. How do I know?  Our pussy willows in the back yard are blooming and the cardinals are signing their Spring mating song!

On the mend....

Another week has come and gone and we are happy about that!  Cooper's neutering is now behind us and he is recovering nicely.  The most frustrating part for Cooper is, of course, to have to wear the e-collar for ten days or so and the restriction in his activity level (no jumping, running, going up and down stairs).  It is frustrating for us as well as we feel helpless and cannot make him understand why we can't play with him and why he has to wear this thing around his neck.  Being the "mother hen and father rooster" that we are, we are spending all our time with Cooper.  We do not want to let him down so we do everything we can to make him as comfortable as possible, without overcrowding him.  We give him little massages, which he seems to like, and lots of hugs and kisses.  When he gets very frustrated, we place him on the front bay window seat.  For some reason, that spot really calms him down to the point that we now spend a good part of our day in that room.  We do not care as long as it makes Cooper feel good and relaxed.  The key to a quick recovery is for him to remain calm and quiet.  For a dog like Cooper, who is always full of life, it is not easy to just stay put but it will all be over soon. We really miss having him run around the house and jumping up and down!

Prior to the surgery last week, we took Cooper to Fur Babies in Port Credit for a grooming session.  They did a great job and he came out all fluffy and smelling good.

On the log home front, things continue to progress.  Matt and his crew are continuing to take the logs down, as you can see on the attached pictures. It's all coming together rather quickly. We met with Patricia, our interior designer, who is providing us with good input on many items.  We have chosen the interior lighting and ceiling fans.  It will be very nice.

Given Cooper's recovery, this week will be very quiet, so Russell and I will be using this time to just relax and take care of a few things around the house. As an example, today I plan on going through a huge duffel bag full of old pictures, going back to the 1980s..... I need to sort them out as we plan on scanning the keepers and put them on a disk. I also want to clean out some closets and donate old clothes and things....The weather will be nice so we will be taking Cooper out for short walks, just around the block, to get him moving a bit. I'm sure he will be glad to get a bit of exercise.

Those are my little news for this week's blog.  Not much else to report, other than we are glad that our little Cooper is on the mend.  Have a good week everyone!

02 - 12 - 2012....a very special date!

Today is Russell's birthday.  Russell got his first doggie birthday card from Cooper.  So cute!  I took the picture below of the two of them, cuddling, as they often do.  One of Cooper's favorite things to do now is to sleep under the kitchen table with his head on Russell's foot as if it was a pillow.

This past week was a good one.  We went to Collingwood to purchase the appliances for our new home. We bought them at Foleys.  They will be very nice.  We drove there on a beautiful sunny day with Cooper.  When we got there, Russell went in to ask if we could bring Cooper  (we never want to assume that we can so we ask first).  There was no hesitation on the part of the store manager and he even had a supply of dog biscuits and a water bowl.  Cooper received the royal treatment and was in heaven!  We understand why some stores would not allow dogs in but it is nice when some do.

We finally have Hydro at our lot in Huntsville.  I will not go into all the details as to why it took so long, what's important it that we have it, finally.  It will be needed once the log shell is erected on the foundation in a few weeks, so we were getting quite anxious for that to happen. Next is getting Maw Bell into the act with some live telephones lines.

On the log home front, all is going well.  Our house doesn't look so much like a house now as Matt started to take down the logs, getting everything ready for shipment to Huntsville.  I attach two pictures taken by Matt last Friday. He has built the eyebrow dormers, named Mr. Perkins, and the adzing of the logs continues.

We enrolled Cooper for another round of training, this time it will be for four weeks.  This course will not only be to continue training but to provide us with a routine of mental exercises that we can use on its own or blend with physical exercise.  Cooper is a dog that is full of life and likes to keep busy!  The better equipped we are to meet his needs, the better off we will all be.

Yesterday was super cold but we went for short walks anyway.  Cooper truly loves the snow and he was being crazy, jumping all over.  He has a new winter coat and it works well and is easy to put on and keeps him warm.  We did get the K9 Top Coat and it fits him well but we are keeping that coat for extreme cold weather (as we are bound to get in Huntsville).  During our afternoon walk, we ran into one of the two great danes that lives on our street. Her name is Willow.  Huge dog and she truly looks like a giant next to Cooper,  but both dogs seemed to get along quite well.  It was actually quite nice to watch.

Late afternoon sun beams down on our home in the Davidson Yard in Washago

This week will be somewhat busy.  Tomorrow, we meet with our interior designer who will help us with some of the decorating details for our new home.  Patricia has helped us decorate our house in Mississauga and we look forward to getting ideas from her for our home in Huntsville. Tuesday, being Valentines' Day, we will be taking Cooper to the groomer for a full bath and nail clipping. Russell and I will have lunch out during that time. Then Wednesday, 8 am, we take Cooper to the vet for his neutering. We will look forward to having Cooper back home later that day.   I mentioned in an earlier blog that we got him a soft e-collar, which he will have to wear for about one week after his surgery.  It turns out that it was a bit too small and we couldn't find a bigger size. So, on Friday, we made it our mission to look for another soft e-collar.  We bought two kinds and we will see which one works best.

That's it for this week's blog.  Today will be a nice relaxing day for us, and we will celebrate Russell's birthday all day long!  Have a good week everyone.

Eyebrow dormer, one of two that Matt has hand crafted...he calls this Mr Perkins

Logs are tagged.....

Amazing progress on our log home! As per the pictures below, the logs are now tagged and are ready to be taken apart.  We went to Matt's yard on Friday and were truly amazed.  We were literally able to see and walk into each and every room of our house, with window and door cut outs.  It now feels like a real house is about to emerge.  The plan is still to erect the log shell on our foundation week of February 27.  Very exciting!  Matt and his crew are working hard to make this happen.  This week, the crew will adze all the logs.  Lots of manual work. The weather has been cooperating and will continue to do so this coming week so we're in luck.  We then went to Huntsville to look at the site.  Below is a small video showing the foundation ready for the log shell...and the snow.  Lots of snow in Huntsville!  This is the last video before the log shell is up!  Next video will be worth watching....

This past week was quiet.  Cooper was a little bit under the weather, so we had to take him to the vet on Wednesday. He took some medication and all is back to normal now.  He also had his blood work done for his upcoming neutering.  He certainly doesn't mind going to the vet.  The doctor wasn't sure if he would be able to take his pills so he gave him his first dose using those little "pill pockets" made of chicken.  Needless to say that Cooper swallowed those pills in no time flat!  We decided to skip Thursday's Obedience class as we didn't want to upset his stomach by feeding him all of those high value treats.  We now have one class left this coming week then we're done.

We continued our long walks, which Cooper loves.  Yesterday, we ran across two teenagers who were skateboarding in a skateboard park.  This was Cooper's first exposure to skateboards so he was a little afraid of the movements and the noise, barking up a storm, so we asked those two young guys if Cooper could step on one just to feel it.  That did the trick, and Cooper felt much more comfortable after.  From time to time, we come across objects or things that he has never seen before and he gets a little scared, so we expose him to those things so that he doesn't feel threatened by those.

Today, we will take Cooper to an outdoor, fenced in area that is close to home, in the backyard of a sports centre.  We are not sure what this area is used for, as no one ever uses it but it is not locked so we thought, why not try it out.  I'm sure Cooper will enjoy playing outdoors, leash-free. The weather will be nice again today, sunny and not too cold.  Gotta love this winter!  Tonight, Russell and Cooper will watch the Superbowl and I will read a book....but not before we have a wing fest (baked not fried).

On that note, have a great Superbowl night and indulge if you feel like it!  Have a good week and enjoy the small video below.

Anne, Cooper and Matt making an inspection.

Matt builds with skill, pride and passion!

Matt swinging his adze!