A hot Summer day!

Dare I say it's too hot out there?  No way,  but it is hot, +30 Celsius.  Can't remember the last time we had hot weather like today.  Love it!  Thunderstorms are in the forecast but the sun is out now and there is a nice breeze.  I must say that we've had very nice weather for the past few days and a lot of rain last Tuesday.  Can't complain, it's all good no matter how we look at it.

Well, Huntsville is alive again.  According to Randy, the owner of Robinson's Independent Grocer, this is the busiest weekend of the year.  School is out, cottagers come up for the Summer and Huntsville gets really busy. I mean really busy.  Line ups in the stores, at the gas stations, a traffic jam on Main Street and lots of people walking the Main!  It's fun to see the tourists walk around our little town.  On Tuesday, there will be lots happening downtown for Canada Day.  We will be there to take it all in.

Yesterday, we went for a nice boat ride.  We had lunch on the boat, in a little bay.  The water was calm, the sky was bright blue and we watched an osprey catch a fish and bring it back to its nest.  I was able to take two pictures, despite the boat rocking gently on the water. There is an osprey nest in that tree every year.  We saw it last year.  We can actually see the tree from our house if we use binoculars.  There were lots of boats on the water and the OPP marine unit police were out in full force.  We didn't get stopped.  I was kind of hoping we would.  I would have loved to show my boating licence.

Coop and I had another good agility class last Wednesday but we only lasted 35 minutes.  There were too many mosquitoes and the field was soaked, following the heavy rain from the previous day.  We were both tired anyway.  The objective of that class was for me to use body language, rather than verbal, to direct Cooper to the various obstacles.  The Coop did really well and our trainer was impressed with both of us. Well done Coopster!

Russell had his first deep tissue massage last Thursday.  It was somewhat painful but he is already seeing a difference.  He will continue for a few weeks and hopefully his stiffness will be gone for good.  I have been going for my fitness walk every single day, and even went once with Cooper.  For a small dog, I will say that he walks pretty fast.  He can easily keep up with me.

My parents' house is now officially on the market, as of yesterday.  They have accomplished a lot in the past few months to get to where they are today.  The next big step, once the house sells, will be to move to their condo.  Exciting times ahead!

We are taking it easy today.  We went for our walk with Cooper this morning before it got too hot.  We will spend the rest of the afternoon on the deck and enjoy this beautiful weather although the skies are a little threatening at the moment. Cooper has been napping for almost two hours.  I guess the heat is getting to him.  I hope you are enjoying this long weekend.  Happy Canada Day to all!

First and Second mates aboard the pontoon - The COOP.

Osprey nesting high atop an old pine just returning with dinner.

Longer perspective on the osprey nest complete with chicks.

The Captain and his Second mate on starboard watch.

Happy Canada Day....woof, woof!

I always smile...it is contagious!

Cooper, Brie and Colby playdate!

Today, we had the pleasure of having Brie and Colby over for a visit, with their human parents, Jane and Mark.  It was fun watching the dogs play their hearts out, well mostly Brie and Cooper, while Colby was perfectly content to stand back and watch them play.  It was interesting to see the interaction between the three Havanese.  Colby is the quiet one while Brie likes to be part of the action.  She found her match in Cooper. Having said this, Colby was all set to get his treat as you can see in the attached picture.  We wanted to take a group picture.  Colby and Cooper were cooperating but Brie was too excited and wouldn't stand still for the picture!  All three have a unique personality. Jane and Mark brought yummy cupcakes and a couple of toys for the Coop.  Thanks for coming over.  We had a great time!

This past week was a good one.  I had a good agility class with Cooper on Wednesday although we cut it short a bit.  The mosquitoes were at their worst, with all the rain that we had the previous days.  I applied all the tricks that Lynda, our trainer, showed me, and she was impressed at how focused Cooper has become.

I planted many more plants and I think that I am truly done now.  I know I say that all the time and somehow I always find a spot to plant more but this time, I think I am truly done.  The deer have not touched any of our plants in over two weeks and they have been around.  The Bobbex deer repellant seems to work.

The pollen season is still in full swing, at least in our area.  According to what I've been reading, it should end in a week or so.  I gotta to tell you that every single day, we have to sweep the deck, the outside furniture, the inside furniture, floors, etc as the pollen is everywhere.  Of course, if we kept our windows shut, we wouldn't have this problem, but who wants to keep windows shut when the weather is so nice.  Even Coop's paws are yellow.  No wonder why my allergies are so bad.

On Monday morning, Russell noticed a luna moth on our front porch light.  It stayed there for a full 6 days and finally left yesterday morning.  According to what we read about luna moths, it completed its transformation over 6 days and departed to complete its lifecycle.  The things we see and learn.....

We had quite the thunderstorm on Tuesday.  We sat on our front porch and watched it happening.  At some point, we literally felt the ground shake.  Cooper was a tad unsettled but we made no fuss about it.  He got up, walked around the deck, then settled down behind our chairs. That was his way to find refuge.  Cooper does like to be on the front deck though.  He likes to watch the chipmunks and it takes everything in his power not to run after them.  That is because we tell him to "stay" and we no longer put him on a leash while we are on the deck with him.  That is an improvement from last year where we always kept him on a leash.

All is good with Russell and I.  Russell keeps going to the gym although he has modified his workout.  He has some joint stiffness which prevents him from doing certain things.  He will start having deep tissue massages this week and hopefully this will help.  As for me, I decided that I didn't want to be cooped up in a gym during the Summer months so I go for my fitness walk every day.  It is a 4.8 km walk.  Sometimes I run into one of our neighbours so we walk together.  Otherwise, I walk alone, with my bear bell and walking stick.

My parents' house will be listed most likely by the end of this week.  The real estate agent took pictures for the listing and was very pleased with how the house looked.  Now we wait for the house to sell.  Russell and I thought that they could use a little break so we will go to Montreal towards the end of July, pick them up, and bring them to Huntsville for a few days, then drive them back to Montreal.  It will be nice to have them over.

That's about it for this week's blog.  The sun is shining and it is so warm. Nice!  Cooper is now having a nap, being quite tired after his playdate.  No doubt Brie and Colby are also having a nap!  Have a great week everyone. For my friends in Quebec, Bonne Fete de la St-Jean-Baptiste!

Brie...says....where are those treats!

Colby says.....where is a nice cool place to relax?

Cooper, Brie and Colby line up for a treat and we almost got everyone to say cheese!

The Luna moth....resting up before the next leg of it journey.

Happy Father's Day!

I wish all dads out there a happy and fun filled Father's Day.  A special loving wish to my dad.  He is lucky, he had a birthday last Sunday and another celebration today.  Also a special Father's Day wish to Russell's dad who is watching us from up above.  Finally, a warm and loving wish to Cooper's human dad.    Russell sure got his share of licks and kisses today. As I am writing this blog, Cooper is having a nap with his daddy.  Gotta love it!

This past week was busy with all kinds of stuff.  Agility was cancelled due to heavy rain last Wednesday.  I was actually happy as I wanted to get some things done around the house.  Nothing like rain to force people to do some things that they wouldn't do if the sun was shining.

Our trip to Toronto was good, as always.  Cooper also had a good time at Talemaker Camp.  We returned home on Friday afternoon to find out, from our neighbours, that we missed some excitement while we were gone.  A bear was spotted at the bottom of our private road on Thursday morning, sniffing our recycling bags.  Yogi did more than sniffing, he tore a bag apart and John was kind enough to pick up the mess in our absence.  What we didn't notice until Saturday morning is that the bear took another recycling bag and hid it in the forest, about 6 feet behind the metal garbage bear bins.  If it hadn't been for another neighbour noticing some blue plastic in the forest, we wouldn't have known that there was a bag there.  That bag was the jackpot for the bear:  it had the plastic container of a chicken that I picked up for dinner on Wednesday.  Not any chicken....Swiss Chalet chicken!  I guess I didn't rinse it properly so the bear went for it.  Needless to say that we cleaned up his mess yesterday and from now on, we will put out our recycling bags on pick up day.  One thing is for sure, those bear bins that contain the garbage sure are bear proof. No doubt about it! 

Too bad we didn't get to see the bear but according to the neighbour who saw it, it was probably cub size. We are not sure if it's still in the area, probably not.  Having said this, I went looking for the bear bell that I bought when we moved here two years ago.  It was kind of a funny thing to do then and I never used it.  Yesterday, I went for my walk, on my own I might add, and I had my bell with me and a walking stick.  I will say that I am far more afraid of Cooper being quilled by a porcupine than me running into a bear.   Whether I would feel the same way if I did run into a bear, I'm not sure....

As if that wasn't enough excitement, a doe gave birth to a fawn sometime between Friday and Saturday morning on our neighbour's lot.  John & Terri woke up Saturday morning, looked out and there was the doe and her newborn. They took this beautiful picture.   The doe left with her young one a few hours later and wandered into the forest.  We haven't seen them since and hope they are both doing fine.

So, this is the middle of June and the weather hasn't been that great.  We've had some warm weather but the past few days have really felt like Fall.  We've been waking up to single digit temperatures.  I get that this is better than Winter but it would be nice to have some real Summer weather.  Oh well, nothing I can do about it so might as well enjoy what we have.  The sun is finally out now so we will sit on the deck and enjoy it.

This is it for this week's blog.  I wish you all a great week.

Happy Fathers Day.....

A newborn fawn and her mother...wonderful!

Happy Birthday to my Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday so I start this Sunday blog by wishing him the very best on this special day.  We celebrated his birthday when I was in Montreal a few weeks ago and posted a picture that Russell took of me and my parents in last week's blog.  My dad didn't like himself in the picture because he wasn't smiling.  No problem, I am including another picture that Russell took, only this time my dad is the only one facing the camera and he is smiling.  Here's to you Dad!

This past week went by like a flash. I finished all the planting that I wanted to do. Unfortunately, the deer came by last night and had a feast in the flower bed in front of the house and I have the pictures to prove it.  It looks like their midnight munching was just what they were looking for as they ate most of the cranesbill geraniums and some of the lily of the valley.  From what we have heard and read, they do not like the flowers of the lily of the valley.  No kidding, they ate the leaves and left the flower stems behind.  Thank you deer!  Today, we sprayed all of our plants with Bobbex Deer Repellant.  I don't know why we didn't do this sooner as this stuff works.  We used it last year but forgot all about it this year.  It does not smell good but the smell will go away in a day or so.  I also replaced a few plants with three Barberry shrubs.  It is a known fact that the deer will stay away from those as they have sharp thorns.  They are a nice looking plant nonetheless and produce a nice pink flower in the Spring and beautiful colours in the Fall.  Got to do what you got to do.

Last Wednesday, Coop and I went to our agility class and we had a breakthrough.  I learned a few tricks to increase Cooper's focus and it worked.  He has no issues with the obstacles but sometimes his focus is a little off.  When that happens, he runs away from me and just wants to have fun.  That's okay too but a tad frustrating for me.  Those little tricks that I learned are all about getting Cooper really excited and motivated before we start running a circuit.  Once that happens, then his focus is totally on me as he wants more of what I have to offer him in terms of excitement and motivation. Ultimately, we are doing this to have fun and whatever we can improve can only make him a better doggie.

Our boat was put in the water on Friday.  Yesterday, we had our first boat ride of the season.  It was a beautiful day and quite warm and the lake was calm. Today, the weather is overcast but still warm.  Not much rain in the forecast.

We are off to Toronto this coming Thursday for hair cuts and stuff.  Cooper will be at Camp Talemaker for one night.  He looks forward to it.

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

Happy Birthday Dad!

Think I'll eat a little of this and....

...a little of that. Those Duncan's are such thoughtful gardeners!

ooh deer..... truly love Lilly of the Valley leaves NOT flowers.

Stump, flowers and more...I mean S'Mores

I knew that one day we would find the perfect pot to put on top of the huge stump that we have in our backyard.  And we did find it in a little Antique shop in Huntsville.  Now we have a beautiful flower arrangement that brightens up Coop's dog run.  We also found three gorgeous hanging baskets for our front porch at the Windermere Garden Centre.

It looks like Summer is finally here.  The leaves are out, it is looking very lush and green out there.  The weather today is sunny and +27 Celsius.  It feels good.  We have some mosquitoes but not too many.  The thing about living on top of a hill is that there is always a breeze, even on the hottest days, so we are spared the worst of the black flies and mosquitoes.  I am making progress with the gardening.  We still have a number of areas that we need to fill in with plants. Today, I planted 6 ornamental grasses and 5 yarrows.  We are sticking with the plants that the deer truly seem to stay away from.  Catmint and Astilbes are also plants that they haven't nibbled at since we planted them almost two years ago.  I will be planting more of those in the next week or so.

Our trip to Montreal was very good.  We accomplished a lot, maybe not as much as I would have liked, but we got a lot done just the same.  I have to realize that my parents, although young at heart, are no longer spring chickens (neither are we for that matter).  There is only so much that they can do and that we can impose on them.  Nevertheless, their house is almost ready to be put on the market. While in Montreal, we celebrated my dad's upcoming birthday.  I bought a little cake which was divine.  We had a nice and relaxing evening.  It was nice to see my parents again.  We also had dinner with Auntie Lorraine, Russell's aunt.  She is a lovely and fun lady. We had a very nice evening.

While we were away, Cooper was at Camp Talemaker.  As Darlah said, it was a "boys" week.  He had fun, got very messy, and went swimming many times.  Next week, I will post a video that Darlah took of Cooper swimming.  He had a great time as always.

Last night, we had another camp fire and had S'Mores......  Russell couldn't resist taking a picture of me eating a S'More and I thought, why not post it.  It was good, we had fun and that's all that matters.  Life is short, so might as well enjoy it.  Cooper was oblivious to all this and slept by the fire pit.

That's about it for this week's blog.  I wish you all a great week.  Enjoy what seems to be the beginning of the Summer, finally.

Cooper 'chilling' by the fire pit...it is a dogs life...at least his is!

One of 3 hanging baskets that grace the front porch.

Nice splash of color.

Oooey gooey fun...s'mores anyone!

Stump all decked out....perfect pot and plant.

Happy Birthday Dad with maman and Anne!