Bear, deers and wild turkeys...all in one week!

We had a great first week in Huntsville and we are settling in quite nicely.  Our lives are somewhat back to a 'new' normal. I say this because we had workers in the house every day of the week, from 7 am to about 5 pm, including the landscapers.  The work is almost complete inside and the landscaping should be done by end of this week.  Having workers in and out of the house means that we've had to mop and dust every single day as we are now living in a dust bowl.  Being the neat freaks that we are, it's been a challenge! It has also been somewhat unsettling for Cooper to have people constantly come in and out of his Kingdom.  We managed to stay out of the way of the workers and spent a lot of time outdoors in Cooper's dog run, which he loves!  He is also adjusting to the various noises inside and outside our house.  When you live in the country, the noises are completely different.  No planes or car noises but lots of bird and wild animal sounds. The house itself is very quiet but the wood sometimes checks (cracks) due to the moisture in the wood. It is an adjustment for Cooper and for us.

We are currently hosting a few uninvited guests, Mickey and Minnie.  This was to be expected and I am not freaking out (truly).  We have hired professionals to take care of this little problem.  Enough said about this.  We do have a lot of friendly animals that come and go.  We always have deers on our property or driveway.  Friday morning, when I woke up, I looked out our bedroom window and saw four wild turkeys walking on our septic berm.  They are ugly and huge but really funny to watch.   We also have some not so friendly animals such as a black bear, though we called him "Yogi".  As we were going up our private road Friday afternoon, we saw a black bear cross the road.  He was a cub, probably one year old, which means his mother was not far away.  Since we were in the car, we were not concerned.  The bear looked at us and carried on with his business.  Luckily, Cooper was napping in the car so he did not see the bear.  When we got home, I immediately asked one of our electricians (who is a hunter) for advise as to what to do if we happen to walk and come across a bear.  We also bought bear bells today, which I will always carry with me.  So, we are not freaking out about the bear either although we do have to be careful. I must admit though that I did not expect to see a bear so soon, or ever......

We have enjoyed sitting on the back deck every night and watching the view.  Our sound system is up and running throughout the house and outside.  Our television is not installed yet so we haven't been able to watch the Olympics.  Our phone was finally installed last week.  Our phone number is different than the one that was given to us back in June.  We still don't have an email address.  We have decided to switch to Bell for email and Internet and they came to set us up last Tuesday.  It was working fine until they left.  It has not worked since.  Bell is coming back tomorrow to see what the problem is.  We hope to have email by then. In the meantime, we are still using the Rogers Rocket Hub for Internet.

On Thursday, we went to Home Depot to buy a few things.  We took Cooper with us thinking that he would be allowed in the store. What we didn't know is that, in May, they changed their policy to disallow dogs in the store. The manager came running after us to let us know that Cooper had to leave. At the same time, she thought he was soooooo cute that she wanted to pat him.  We said "not so much" and left with what we needed.  We then went to the local Home Hardware store and sure enough they love and welcome dogs.  They even have treats for them.  This has become our favorite hardware store.

Friday, we had the pleasure of seeing Nelson and Steve, who came to visit us on their motorcycles. It was a great run for them and the weather was perfect.  I am still amazed that they drove up the gravel road on their bikes.  It was really nice to see them. Their next visit will be with their spouses.  We are looking forward to seeing them.

Yesterday, we went to downtown Huntsville for a walk.  This little town was busy with visitors and cottagers.  The downtown stores are all dog friendly. Our two biggest challenges were to find parking and to keep people from patting Cooper....he now owns Huntsville!  When we got home, we hung up a beautiful Woodstock wind chime that Ben, our Mississauga gardener, gave us.  It sounds amazing!

Last night, we continued our tradition to smoke ribs on a long weekend.  We bought the ribs at a local butcher recommended to us by our landscaper Dan ( see the link, they do amazing work) - Big Daddys.  They were delicious.  This time, however, we had to bring the grate and smoke pouch into the house so that bears would not be tempted by the smell...this is something we have to do from now whenever we smoke or barbecue.  No big deal.  It is all about ensuring that we leave nothing tempting for the bears.  If we do, they will leave us alone.

It is now Sunday morning and it is dark and rainy.  It's been a rough night:  we had the biggest thunderstorm that we have ever seen and it lasted most of the night.  The lightning show was something else.  We have french doors in our bedroom that lead to the screened porch so it is all windows.  The room was lit up most of the night.  As a result, we did not sleep well, neither did Cooper.  He was, and is still, unsettled by the storm.  He did not want to eat his breakfast first thing this morning but he seems back to normal now. All I have to stay is thank you Russell for suggesting that we install a lightning protection system on our house.  Our house is six hundred feet above Huntsville on rock.  No need to say more....

This coming week will be busy.  We have workers coming back on Tuesday and Wednesday.  On Thursday, our friend Margo will be visiting us and staying overnight.  Later in the week we will be going to Brighton for a Havanese picnic organized by Nathan and Darlah and Alex and Yvonne (other Havanese breeders).  From there, we will be going to Montreal to pick up Russell's mom. She will be visiting us in Huntsville for a few days.  I may be late writing my next blog but no worries....I will write it.

Until then, have a great Simcoe long weekend everyone! I include a few pictures of the inside of our house taken by Russell this morning. Enjoy!

Great room.

Muskoka room and fire pit beyond.

Foyer elk antler chandelier.

Muskoka room.

Great room.

Dining room and bedroom beyond.

Great room.