Cranberries make me jumpy!

Did you know that there are three commercial cranberry farms in Ontario and two of them are on the outskirts of Bala, a little town of about 500 full time residents located 60 minutes from Huntsville.  Bala is well known for its Fall Cranberry Festival, which attracts over 20,000 tourists every year.  The festival is always held after Thanksgiving weekend, which coincides with the start of the cranberry harvest.  So, on Friday, we went to the Bala Cranberry Festival.  It was packed with people and the weather cooperated for the opening of the Festival.  The sun was out and it was not too cold.  We walked the streets and visited the outdoor vendors.  Cooper had a great time, and as usual, he was stopped by people who wanted to pat him.  Two ladies were actually following us and then stopped to ask what kind of dog we had.  They both thought he was so well behaved and just loved his coat.

So, it goes without saying that there are lots of cranberry foods to be had at the Festival......tarts, loaves, sausages, candied apples, popcorn, cheeses, wine and of course juices. We brought home a few cranberry tarts which were delicious.  Bala is truly a small town..... we ran into our former neighbours from Mississauga, who have a cottage near Huntsville.  They were at the Festival with their great dane, Willow.  You may recall that they visited us a few weeks ago.  It was nice to see them again.

This past week was uneventful.  Cooper had his Lepto vaccine booster on Wednesday.  Again, as with the first shot, we were anxious to see if he would have a reaction but he did not.  So, a good job done and we feel good about it.  Russell's back is better, following his fall last Sunday.  We had a lot of rain this week so the leaves are almost gone.  The weather has been quite rainy lately except for a couple of sunny days here and there.  We hope the sun will be shining more as we approach the winter.

A few weeks ago, we ordered an agility set for Cooper and it arrived on Tuesday. It didn't take long for the Coop to get the hang of it.  He really enjoys it and it is good exercise for him physically and mentally. This morning, we had carpet installed in our basement so we now have a nice area for play and training.  I attach a couple of pictures taken a few minutes ago of Cooper in action in his newly carpeted play room.  I plan on doing a video of his agility skills soon.  We also moved his grooming station to the basement for the winter.  He will still have a nice view while being groomed.

On Friday, our new wine fridge was delivered.  The one that we moved from Mississauga stopped working and the broken part was no longer available.  Cavavin, the maker of the wine cellar, made us a replacement offer, as such, we now have a brand new wine fridge.  It came from St-Hubert , Quebec, and was delivered to our front door.  Yep, even in Huntsville things can be delivered to our house!

Not much going on this coming week other than getting our snow tires put on.  However, the week is starting on a good note, with my brother arriving later this afternoon.  He will be spending two nights with us.  The weather is not too good but we will have a good time just the same.  This will be his first visit to Huntsville.  Tomorrow, Cooper will go to day care for a few hours while we show Francois the town and have lunch somewhere.  We look forward to seeing him. Cooper can't wait to wake him up in the morning!

That's about it for this week's blog.  I wish you all a good week.