One year ago.....

It's hard to believe that July 26 marked one year since the day we moved to Huntsville.  I honestly do not know where the year went.  The move brought many changes to our lives and many new happenings.  One year later, we feel completely at home in Huntsville and have no regrets about the move.  We are making new memories and new friends. Let's not forget our Cooper who has adapted very well to the country life and has also made new friends.   It's been good all around.  I include the link to a video that Russell made yesterday morning.  When we left Mississauga, I had taken some video shots of the actual move but never got around to making a video.  We thought this would be a good way to cap off the past year.  I hope you enjoy it.

Yesterday, Matt and Casey, and their young apprentices, Sam and Lazlo, built our shed.  Matt designed the shed with Russell in mind:  timber frame, lots of space to store tools and wood.  It is 10 feet by 20 feet.  The wood shed portion is open to allow the wood to dry.  It has a 3 bush cord capacity.  The tool shed portion will be enclosed with a sliding barn door.  The roof will be shingled.  It will be stained by Russell in oxblood red.  All will be completed in early fall.  Great job guys!  I attach a few pictures that we took.  Sam is Matt's son and Lazlo is Sam's friend.

We started this past week by celebrating my 45th birthday...(I wish).  We stayed home all day and relaxed.  Russell cooked chicken on the barbecue and we had S'Mores on the fire pit for dessert.  Yum, I don't think I had ever had S'Mores before.  They are delicious.  I had two.......We will not wait for a special occasion to have more, of that I am sure!

The weather has been somewhat cooler, with the nights dropping to single digits for a couple of days.  Good for sleeping.  I did a lot of gardening this week.  I planted 9 Crocosmia plants, deer resistant, of course :-)  I also planted 11 more Coreopsis and I have 23 more to plant tomorrow.  I will say that this is one plant that the deer have not touched.  I hope I am not jinxing it by saying this.  We do love this flower as it is a nice pale yellow, very feathery and blooms all summer and well into the Fall. We use it as a border along the front walkway.  I also weeded all the beds. In the next month or so, we will mulch all the flower beds.

Russell and Cooper are well.  Russell is of course happy to have "his" shed built. He will order the wood soon so that it is nice and dry for the winter.  Cooper is also doing well.  He has two more agility classes coming up and then we will be done for the season.  As Matt was building the shed yesterday, he sat on the front deck with Russell with no leash on.  Russell told him to "stay" and he did.  He spent a good part of the afternoon watching the guys and not once did he attempt to run away.  We gave him a chew toy and he was happy.

That's about it for this week's news. I wish you all a great week leading to the Civic Holiday weekend.

Wood shed/tool shed....competed by Matt and crew 10AM to 6PM.

Sam, Lazlo and Casey erect the frame.

Sam, Lazlo and Casey ride the shed beam!

Matt handing up roof boards...and awesome build by an awesome crew!

 

Havanese Galore!

I hope you are having a nice Sunday.  The weather is beautiful, sunny, not too warm, and the nights are cooler.  Quite a change from last week.

Our week ended yesterday afternoon with the 2013 Havanese Picnic in Brighton.  It was a lot of fun for both canines and humans.  I don't know how many Havanese dogs were there but there were a lot.  It was fun to see them all play together, free to run in the beautiful fenced in yard of Yvonne and Alex. Thanks to them and Darlah and Nathan for organizing a great picnic.  Unfortunately, Nathan wasn't able to attend as he had to stay home to take care of Spice's new littler.  We missed him but we were fortunate that Darlah was able to come.  It was so nice to see the people that we have come to know over the years and their Havanese dog (s).  Some have two, even three.  I attach some pictures that Russell took.  I am also taking the liberty to attach the group picture that Darlah posted on her blog (I think Steven took it).  Don't try to find us as. Unfortunately, we left before the picture was taken.  We had a long drive back to Huntsville to deal with....

Back to this past week.  We had a good trip to Montreal.  It didn't take long for Cooper to feel at home at my parents' house.  He had the run of the house and the backyard.  He ran along side the pool without going in.  On Thursday, Russell helped his mom move to her new apartment.  The move went relatively well with just a few glitches.  The weather was not the best, with extremely high humidity which made it harder to unpack and put things away, especially with no air conditioning.  While Russell was moving his mom, I was at my parents enjoying the visit of my aunts, which I hadn't seen for 7 years or so.  My sister Lynn and her sons, James and Sean, were also there, as well as my brother Francois.  It was a very nice family reunion.  It was good to see my sister and brother, which I don't get to see often.  On Friday, we had a relaxing day, again while Russell was helping his mom get organized.  I wished I could have helped but my job was to look after the Coop.  I have to say that Cooper was extremely well behaved during our stay in Montreal.  My parents hadn't seen him in almost a year and they noticed a big change in him in terms of "maturity".  He had his moments, thank goodness, but for the most part, he was a very well behaved dog.  I was especially proud of him when he displayed calmness when my aunts arrived. No barking, no jumping, just a little "welcome licking" on the hand.  Kudos for Cooper for being such a good dog.  My brother made us a nice dinner on Friday, Greek food.  It was delicious.  It was a bit of a family celebration for someone who has a birthday tomorrow.

Today was a quiet day.  We wanted to go boating but decided to stay home and do a bit of clean up outside as in cut the grass, dead head  plants, or whatever plants are left after the deer had a feast while we were gone.  Yep, they sure ate well during our absence.  Oh well, plants grow back.....There is probably no such thing as "deer resistant" plants, however I will say that, so far, the deer have not even come close to the Lavender, Coreopsis and Ornemental Grasses.  Yay!

That's about it for this week's news. Have a great week everyone!

Lori, with Scruffy and Pepper, Cooper looking up at them.

Little girl patting Cooper.

Brie and her pals.

Cooper and Bailey...exchanging greetings.

Havanese lovers every where.

Cooper exploring the human crowd!

Cooper and his "Mini Me"... Magic!

Havanese always have time to stop and smell the roses!

Happy Sunday!

Happy Sunday everyone!  Hope you all had a great week.  Ours went by in the blink of an eye.  We finally got some much needed rain on Wednesday although not nearly as much as Toronto.  Wow, we couldn't believe what we saw on TV.  We feel for those who were flooded as a result.  We also feel for the residents of Lac Megantic who are trying to pick up the pieces one week after a terrible tragedy.

All is good with us.  There was no agility class this past week due to thunder and lightning.  It was actually nice to take a break.  We are taking another break this week as we will be going to Montreal for a few days to visit our parents.  Russell's mom is moving to a smaller apartment this coming week.  Russell will be on hand to help out any way he can.  As for me, I will be staying with my parents and keeping Cooper busy.  Our families haven't seen the Coop in almost one year so it will be a nice visit.  I just finished packing his "stuff", toys, treats, agility kit, etc. 

Russell and I went to Toronto on Thursday for our hair cuts.  We had forgotten that it was Indy weekend so the backup on the Gardiner and Lakeshore was terrible.  We are not used to this kind of traffic so it was a bit stressful to be on the road, bumper to bumper for almost one hour.  We made it to our appointment 30 minutes late.  Oh well, such is life.  We had a nice dinner at One restaurant in Yorkville. The food was good but the service was not at its usual high standard. We did eat outside as the weather was so nice.  I will say though that we sat next to a table comprised of three couples.  The wives sat at one end and the husbands at the other.  We couldn't help ourselves but listen in on the "Housewives of Yorkville" and their tales. It was quite funny to listen to what they had to say.....

While we were in Toronto, Cooper was at Nathan and Darlah's, aka Camp Talemaker.  He played and played non stop with his furry friends.  He even woke everybody up at 4 am on Friday because he wanted to keep on playing with Boo, his buddy.  Naughty boy.  I want to take this opportunity to include the link to the Havanese Breed Magazine, of which Nathan is the editor and publisher.  This magazine is issued 6 times per year and offers a wide range of very useful and educational information for all Havanese owners.  The magazine also has fun stories about the owners and their dogs.  If anyone is interested in subscribing to the magazine, simply click on this link http://www.havanesebreed.com/subscribe

This coming week will be busy with our trip to Montreal and a few things to do prior to leaving.  On our way back from Montreal on Saturday, we will stop in Brighton for the annual Havanese Picnic, hosted by Nathan and Darlah and their friends Yvonne and Alex.  Not sure how many Havanese dogs will be there but there should be a whole lot of them.  It will be nice for Cooper to see many of his friends and for us to see the many people who are part of the Talemaker family and with whom we have become friends, if only through blogging or email.  We look forward to it.

So, this is it for this week's blog.  We just got back from a boat ride.  Cooper is having his usual "post boat" nap.  Russell is having a nice cold beer (as the saying goes, "water on the water, beer on the pier") and I'm about to do my nails.  Have a great week everyone!  I attach a couple of pictures that I took yesterday while sitting on our deck.  Enjoy!

Fire-pit and the lakes in the background....who has the marshmallows.

Cooper...the poser is smiling away in his backyard.

Cooper will do just about anything for a treat..including dancing!

It is a dogs life...what could be better than a nice cool lawn to relax on!

Hot and humid but no rain yet...

I hate to say it but we need some rain.  It seems as if we haven't had any rain for quite some time and it has been quite hot and humid.  No complaints from me although rain would be nice for the plants and grass.

This week started with the Canada Day celebrations in Huntsville. We watched the local jazz band play fun songs on Main Street, we walked around, sat on the downtown docks surrounding the Muskoka River and even ran into my music teacher.  It is a small town after all, so it is very easy to run into people you know. It was a wonderful day and it was especially nice to see the town of Huntsville celebrating Canada Day in such a nice way.  Monday night, we watched some of the fireworks from our Muskoka room.  It didn't bother Cooper as much as we thought it would.  He was on high alert for a few seconds but quickly went to sleep.  We didn't make any fuss about it and that was that.

We had a good week with the usual stuff that we do.  There was a new dog that joined the agility class on Wednesday so everyone had kind of an "off day", including me.  We could have done better but no point in beating ourselves up about it.  We had fun just the same.

On Thursday, we went to Steve and Tanya's cottage on Three Mile Lake.  It is about 30 minutes from our house.  They live in Mississauga, around the corner from where we used to live.  Their great dane, Willow, was there and played with Cooper.  I attach a picture that we took of the two dogs.  It was a nice afternoon and it was good to see them again.

Yesterday was the perfect summer day, sunny, very warm and no wind.  Perfect day for a boat ride with lunch.   As you can see from the pictures, Cooper was patiently waiting for a few crumbs to hit the deck....After the boat ride, we went downtown to watch the "bath tub" race, an annual event in Huntsville.  I attach a picture courtesy of Algonquin Outfitters. There was quite a crowd and it was fun to watch.

Today is cloudy and humid.  We decided to go to the Arrowhead Provincial Park to get our annual pass, check out the summer trails as well as canoe rentals.  As I was paying for the pass, I was reading about the latest sightings at the Park:  a moose on June 23 and a bear on July 3.  We saw nothing today...boring.  We did, however, walk a trail which was a tad messy for Cooper.  Needless to say that we had to brush him  and give him a bath when we got home.  He is good as new now.

This coming week is busy with a few medical appointments as well as a trip to Toronto for our regular hair cuts.  Cooper will be staying with Nathan and Darlah and having a great time.

I wish you all a great week ahead.

Cooper waiting for his 'lunch' treats..Russell's crumbs.

Positioned perfectly for anything that might fall.

Willow and Cooper dockside...at Willow's Lodge.

Bath tub races at the Huntsville town docks....great fun!