Full steam ahead...

Rainy Monday....better than snow...so far we have been spared the white stuff.  As much as I hate this kind of weather, there is nothing I can do about it so it is what it is.....a slow day for Cooper since we are not going out for walks, a slow day for Russell and I in a matter of speaking.  We are taking advantage of this down time to take care of some necessary items.  Today, we met with a moving company in order to get our first quote for the July move.  Looks good and the cost is quite reasonable.  We are getting a second quote on Wednesday.  No matter how we look at it, and given the distance to travel to Huntsville,  it looks like it will be easier to load up the truck one day, then unload the truck the next day. We are now looking at moving on July 25/26. We will need to board Cooper for two nights during that time so that we can move and get organized without having to worry about Cooper being unsupervised.  Lucky for us, but most importantly lucky for Cooper, we will be able to board him with Nathan and Darlah at Talemaker Havanese.  Speaking of Talemaker, we are invited to a Teaser Pup reunion this coming Saturday.  If you remember from a previous blog, Teaser is Cooper's mom.  The reunion will be with the 4 puppies from her last litter and Cooper from a previous litter.  We (I mean all three of us) are very much looking forward to this reunion. It will be a lot of fun for Cooper to play with his siblings and for us to watch!

Another thing that we did today is order our new bedroom furniture.  We ordered it from Pioneer Handcraft.  It will be made from white pine logs.  It will be beautiful and go well with our new house.

Back to yesterday.  It was a full day in Huntsville and the weather was great.  We arrived at our lot at about 11:00.  As we were driving up on our private road, we saw two deer right in the middle of the road, blocking our way, so that they could protect their babies who were about to cross the road.  This was the first time that Cooper saw deer, and so close (literally outside our car doors).  Needless to say that he barked up a storm!  He will get used to seeing them on our property.  Once we got past the deer, we made our way to the lot and we were, once again, impressed with the progress since our last visit.  We walked through all the rooms and we were able to totally visualize where our furniture will be, even more so than last time.  That is how we landed on our bedroom furniture actually and were able to place the order today.  We also met with Doug Spiller, President/Owner of Peerless Security, and confirmed where all the speakers and security pads will be located.  We will have enough speakers to blast our music clear across Lake Vernon! We might even reach downtown Huntsville if we point the outdoor speakers in the right direction...they will love our Christmas music selections!

We then met with Matt and Ali at their house.  We had a great meeting and covered of a lot of items.  We are now at the stage where details are very important and a lot of decisions have to be made.  As we were driving away from their house, we saw their cows and horses being fed.  They were so close to our car that, once again, Cooper barked up a storm.  The cows are actually quite impressive when you look at them closely, they are very big and totally black.  So, yet another new experience for Cooper.  He also didn't quite know what to make of the cat that Matt and Ali have.  I wouldn't say that he is afraid of cats but he doesn't quite know how to approach them now....so it was a full day for us and also for Cooper.  He slept all the way home...on my lap.

So, what is happening this week on the log home front?  The windows are going in, the fireplace will get started, work for the lightening protection system will begin.  The plumbing and electrical work is almost complete.  Ali will be measuring for the cabinets, both in the kitchen and bathrooms.  Matt has sourced all the interior doors and they will be made by Mennonites.  At our end, we will finalize the order for the lights (indoor and outdoor). We are also in the process of getting quotes for landscaping.  We now realize that landscaping will be a bigger job than we originally anticipated.  Most importantly, we need to have a secured area for Cooper.  There is a lot of wild life out there, and Cooper would be the perfect bait for any wild critters.....fishers, coyotes, wolves....etc.

Lots on the go, the next three months will just fly by. The rest of the week will be busy with all kinds of appointments and Cooper's training on Thursday.  Tomorrow night, a good friend and former colleague is coming to our house for dinner.  I look forward to seeing her again.

Anne & Cooper as viewed from the loft.....they are in the muskoka room.

That's it for this week's blog.  I have to get the Coop's dinner ready soon.....Have a great week everyone! I include a few pictures taken yesterday.

View from muskoka room looking at the deck and screened porch far end.

View up the driveway...tower in full view!