Fall colours, sheep and goats

Fall has always been my favorite season.  I love everything about it:  the colours, the smells, the decorations and the fun activities that can be enjoyed with our loved ones.  This morning, we took Cooper to Sandhill Nursery to take in their Fall Festival and their Christmas Open House.  What more can you ask for:   my favorite Fall and Christmas decorations, all under one roof.  In addition, they had a zoo with sheep and goats, and Cooper got to sniff a sheep.  It was a nice way to spend a beautiful and warm Sunday morning.

Yesterday, we went for a boat ride, our last of the season.  With everything going on with Russell's Mom, we will make arrangements to have the boat put away for the winter.  We did enjoy our cruise yesterday and Russell took many pictures of the Fall colours.

Another week has come and gone.  We spent a good part of it in Montreal, visiting Russell's Mom. We had a good visit and had some good chats and laughs.  She is more tired now and weaker.  We have noticed a change in her since the last time we saw her.  Her spirits are good though.  We will be returning to Montreal in a week's time.

Cooper is doing well and had a great time at Talemaker Camp while we were away. We do miss our little guy when we are away but are grateful for the updates that Darlah posts on her blog.  We get to follow his antics with his other Havanese friends.  We do know that he likes playing with the gals.  We also know that he pulverized a duck toy while at Darlah's place.  The joys of being a dog......

This coming week will be a bit busy.  We have a few things to do around the house.  I want to finish mulching and start cutting back the plants.  We will have to cut the grass once more.  We have a little bit of Fall cleaning to do in the house and I want to get the winter gear organized.  Cooper will be going to doggie daycare on Thursday and play with Brenna.  It's hard to believe that September is done.

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful Fall weather that we are having.  We have a nice fire going right now and it smells so good, both inside and outside.  I wish you all a good week.  Hope you like the pictures.

Fall color as seen from Lake Vernon.

More Fall splendour....

Anne and Cooper relax and enjoy the scenery aboard 'the Coop'.

Cooper nose to nose with a Jacobs sheep...four horns no less!

Soggy Saturday

It has rained all day so far, including all of last night.  It is soggy out there but nice and comfy in the house.  Russell has had a fire going since early this morning.  Cooper doesn't like the rain much so he has only ventured outside to do his business.  Given this soggy day, I thought I would include two pictures of the Coop:  one with his Tilley Hat, ready for the rain, and another one taken at the end of August by Darlah, when Cooper went swimming.  In this picture, he is posing with Roxie, one of his two girlfriends (the other one is Brenna from his doggy day care).  He is such a lover boy!  As for me, today was a day to do a bit of house cleaning and some baking.  Don't know why I'm in the mood for baking as I usually only bake at Christmas.  So, those of you who are getting some freshly baked cookies, consider yourselves lucky....  I normally only give out baking goods in December :-)

Russell's Mom was transferred to palliative care on Monday and he has been in touch with her daily since.  His sister has been by her side for most of the time.  As for us, we are going to Montreal tomorrow (hence Saturday blog) to spend some time with her.  Today, I made Terry her favorite cake, carrot cake.  I will bring her a few pieces tomorrow.  We will stay at my parents' house and get to spend a bit of time with them also.  We will drop off Cooper at Talemaker Camp, again.  He must think that he is spending a lot of time there lately but he loves it so it's a good thing. And, bonus, he will get to see Roxie again!

This past week was a bit quiet but good nonetheless.  We didn't go boating but we did manage to go for a few walks.  The leaves are really starting to change. It is such a nice time of year.  I also managed to get some mulching done.  I am making progress, slowly but surely.  The flower beds are looking nice and refreshed with the thick coat of mulch.

I don't have much else to write about.  Our lives are a little bit in limbo right now.  That is what life is all about sometimes.

Roxie and the Coop after a refreshing dip in the pool.

Cooper sporting his Tilley...ready for the rain.

Tomorrow marks the start of a new season.  I hope you enjoy all that Fall brings.  Have a great week everyone!

The Underwear Bandit strikes again....

When I woke up this morning, I was wondering how I would start my blog this week. I had in mind to start on a happy or funny note but wasn't sure how to do it.  Then, I saw Cooper going through the laundry basket and, once again, he was running away with my underwear.  He landed on one of his favorite chairs and was having a ball.  So I took a picture and voila!  No matter what happens in our lives, we can always count on the Coop to make us laugh.

It is cloudy today. For us, it is a day to sit in front of the fire place, read a book, listen to music or watch a football game. Russell has had a fire going since this morning. It is also a day to think about Russell's Mom, Terry.  We got back from Montreal yesterday, after spending some good quality time visiting with her. She was told that she has between 4 and 8 weeks to live.  We know it is not an exact science and only one person will decide when it is time for her to join her soul mate.  We had a good visit and, to quote her, "we got things done".  Terry has always be a very pragmatic woman.  So, despite her prognosis, she wanted to get certain things done now so that she can spend the rest of her time with her family without worrying about those things.  So, when we got to Montreal, Russell and I were ready to face the music.  We are also pragmatic and organized people so helping Russell's Mom get things done was fairly easy, albeit not without emotions.  I would be remiss if I didn't mention Darlene, Russell's sister, who has been a huge help to her Mom in more ways than one.  Lorraine, Terry's sister,  has also been by her side.  She will be transferred to palliative care tomorrow.  We plan on going back to Montreal next week.

While in Montreal, we stayed at my parents' house and Darlene stayed at her Mom's place.  It was nice to visit with my parents, although I wish it was under better circumstances. During our absence, Cooper was having his usual fun at Talemaker Camp.  We picked him up yesterday and he showered us with kisses.  We missed him while we were away.

This coming week will be a bit busy as we want to get a few things done around the house before we go back to Montreal.  If the weather is nice, I may be able to finish mulching. I also need to prune back some plants. Who knows, we may even get a boat ride in if the weather cooperates.  That's about it for this week's blog. I wish you all a good week.

Cooper on one of his favourite chairs....with what else, undies to chew.

Dark Skies

Huntsville, amongst a few other cities in Muskoka, has dark sky friendly street lighting, which means that the city lights face down, not out or up.  This means that the night sky, which is often washed out by city lights, dazzles with constellations, shooting stars and the Milky Way.  When we bought our exterior light fixtures, we made sure they were dark sky friendly.  What a great opportunity for Russell to practice night photography.  He did just that this past week, on a couple of clear and cool nights.  He took his "night camera" gear outside at about 10 pm and took pictures, two of which are attached.  He plans on doing more of this as the sky gets much clearer when the weather is colder.

This first week of September went by like a flash.  We did more work outside but not as much as we would have liked.  On Thursday, although it was a beautiful day, it felt like the dark skies that Russell likes so much were all around us.  We received some bad news about Russell's mom.  She is now in the hospital, battling a cancer that has literally taken over her body.  Even though she has had cancer for some time, it had been under control.  But it came back with a vengeance in the past week.  Russell's sister has been with her mom since and we are going to Montreal this week to be with her.  We do not think that she has that much time left so we will do our best to spend quality time with her.

We are lucky that we can leave Cooper with Darlah and Nathan while in Montreal.  We don't know what we would do without them.  They are such a big part of our lives and Cooper's life.  The Coop has been sensing that we are sad and wants to cuddle more.  This afternoon, as I was attempting to mulch a little bit, Russell was sitting on the front porch with Cooper.  When I saw them sitting together, I went inside to get my camera and took the attached picture.  He sure loves sitting on his daddy's lap. He brings us so much comfort during difficult times.

I don't have much else to report.  My thoughts right now are with Russell and his mom.  I hope you all had a nice week and are enjoying a nice Fall weekend.   I wish you a great week ahead.

Just a few steps from the door....the Milky Way beckons.

So many stars....so little time.

The Coop and his Daddy pretending not to watch me mulch.

Watching from the Rainbow Bridge

Yesterday, our good friends, Darlah and Nathan, lost their beautiful Golden, Terra.  She was 10 years old.  She was, as they call her, the Havanese Socializer.  Over the years, Terra was introduced to the small pups as a way for them to get used to bigger dogs.  She was a wonderful family member and our Cooper got to play with her when he would visit Talemaker Camp.  All of us who have become part of the Talemaker Family over the years are feeling the pain of their loss.  Terra is now watching over her family and furry friends from the Rainbow Bridge.  I am taking the liberty of attaching two pictures of Terra that Darlah posted on her blog.  Pictures are worth a thousands words.

Today is September 1 and it feels like it.  Although the weather is sunny and very warm, the leaves have started to turn and even fall, from lack of rain.  Russell will have to blow the leaves soon otherwise Cooper will bring them all in the house.  Yep, the fun season of pulling leaves out of Cooper's coat has started.  But we don't mind.  It is part of the joy of having a full coat Havanese.

We had a great trip to NYC. The weather was sunny,  hot and humid.  We walked miles and miles.  We didn't buy anything except a few dog toys and a dog clock which is pretty original and it fits nicely in our home.  We ate at nice restaurants and tasted some good wines.  We saw Mamma Mia for the 5th time and we thought the cast was the best we had seen.  We went to the Top of the Rock and admired the view of New York City.  Pretty impressive.  It was a fun few days and a nice way to celebrate our anniversary.

As usual, while we were away, Cooper was on vacation at Talemaker Camp.  He had a great time and even ran in the mud with Kat.  He also went swimming with Roxie.  Darlah took many pictures of his exploits.  I attach a few, including one that she took of Cooper after she gave him a full bath, which was soappreciated by us.  It was a thoughtful gesture on her part.

We are still doing some hard manual work outside:  on Friday, 12 cubic yard of mulch was delivered.  Today,  2 bush cords of wood was delivered (equivalent of 6 face cords).  Russell and I put it all away in the wood shed. It took us about 5 hours.  We should have enough wood for a couple of winters....  I will start mulching away in the next few days.  I have a bit more planting to do first.

This is a short blog.  I will be honest.  After putting away all this wood, I am totally spent, so is Russell.    We have no energy left.  It was hard work.  I hope you are all having a nice long weekend.  I wish you  a nice short week.

Terra and Andy

Lola resting on Terra's head

Cooper navigating the pool...a natural swimmer.

Shake it baby......after a nice swim.

Cooper behaving as best he can post bath...the treats keep his attention.