Cooper and the Toad

It is Sunday, almost 6 pm, and I just realized that I forgot to do my blog today.  It's been busy....my parents are over and we are having a great time.  So this blog will be short with more news in next week's blog.

The weather is not cooperating too much for my parents' visit but we were able to sit outside for a while today.  Tomorrow, we are taking them to the Killarney Lodge for lunch, in Algonquin Park.  It will be very nice.

Cooper has been playing with our resident toad.....he has been captivated by it and it is really funny to watch him interact with that little critter.  Russell was able to take a picture, so this is the pic of the week.

Have a great week everyone.  Back to normal blogging next week.

This is my toad...I will love him and hug him and ooops bite him!

Cooper, Scruffy and Pepper playdate!

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of having Scruffy and Pepper over for a playdate with Cooper, with their human parents, Lori and Roger.  We had a wonderful time and the weather was perfect.  The three Havanese played well and had some good down time also.  It was fun to watch them interact.  Some interesting tidbits about them:  we like to say that Scruffy and Cooper are 3/4 related.  Not only do they share the same mother (Teaser) but Scruffy's father, Phantom, is Cooper's dad's son. As for Pepper, she is a Spice pup from Talemaker Havanese.  Pepper is a kisser through and through.  She is a real cutie.  She is much smaller in size than Coop and Scruffy but she sure holds her own.  At some point yesterday, she started barking.  We looked out and sure enough she was the first to spot a deer. Good for you Pepper! Of course, Cooper and Scruffy had to join in the barkfest.  It was fun to watch. As for us, humans, it was nice to share stories and experiences about our Havs. Thanks again for visiting us in Huntsville!

Another week has come and gone.  The Summer (if you call this Summer) is going by too quickly.  I saw the first back-to-school commercial on TV last week and I just about freaked out.  We are getting ready for my parents' visit this coming weekend.  First, we will go to Toronto to get our hair cut then continue on to Montreal to pick up my parents and bring them to Huntsville for a few days.  It will be a nice getaway for them.  I hope the weather cooperates, but if not, we will make the best of it anyway.

We had our last agility class last Wednesday and Cooper showed off his newly acquired weaving skills.  He is still learning and misses some weave poles but he is getting it.  Our trainer told me that we should be very pleased with ourselves, and we are.  We may have a few more classes later in August, depending on the trainer's schedule.  Muskoka Agility Dogs held trials this weekend and I got to attend some of it.  It was very good for me to watch and see what it's all about.  I don't think I'm quite ready for trials just yet, maybe next year....

So, this coming week is shaping up to be busy.  There are a few things I want to do before my parents' visit.  We are also having lunch with our friends tomorrow and someone is having a birthday on Tuesday. That day will be spent relaxing at home with my two best friends, Russell and Cooper.  The forecast is looking spectacular for that day.  Then we are off to Toronto and Montreal.  The Coop will be spending two days at Camp Talemaker.  He will have a great time as always.

Russell is doing well and is still getting deep tissue massages.  His last massage left him with two bruises.....not my idea of a massage but it seems to be helping somewhat.

This is it for this week's blog.  Have a great week and enjoy the photos!

The 3 amigos, Cooper, Pepper and Scruffy!

Anne has a full load of Havs in her arms, Scruff at 15 pounds and the Coop at 19.6, close to 35 pounds of dogs!

Lori and Pepper with Anne, Scruffy and the Coop...still for a moment.

Anne and the Coop working the weave poles. Awesome!

A rainy Sunday turned somewhat sunny

We woke up today to lots of rain, very heavy at times.  Then, just a little while ago, the sun came out for a bit.  It figures.  Today, we had planned on having Scruffy and Pepper and their human parents over for a visit.  Coop was excited at the thought of playing with them.  We all debated whether or not to postpone until next weekend.  In the end, that is what we did.  In hindsight, the day wouldn't have been a total wash out, but it certainly didn't look good this morning.  So, next Saturday, we will have our get together.  I ordered up some sun so we should be good.

I also hope for some nice weather towards the end of next week as the agility trials will be going on at Muskoka Agility Dogs from July 18 to the 20th.  I have volunteered a few hours of my time to help out and I will use that opportunity to see what it's all about.  Cooper and I are not quite ready to participate in trials yet but we may be one day so this will be good exposure for me.  On that note, I am spending a few minutes each day trying to teach Cooper on how to weave.  I have downloaded a few videos to help me figure out the best way to teach this agility skill.  It can take weeks, sometimes even months, for a dog to learn how to weave.  There is no big rush but it would be nice for the Coop to have this last agility skill under his belt.

This past week was relatively quiet.  The weather wasn't the best, some rain, some cool weather, a little bit of sunshine.  I spent the better part of two days weeding a large area near the septic burm.  I literally weeded, on my hands and knees, and pulled every weed there was to pull.  We then put down some clover seed.  This morning, I looked out and I could see a small patch of green.  I didn't think that the clover would grow so quickly.  We will put down more seed this week.  Our goal is to have that whole area covered with enough clover to choke out the weeds.

About a year ago, we had a woodshed built.  The barn doors to the shed were made and installed last month.  Russell stained them yesterday.  It is looking very good.  I thought it would be fun to post a picture of what the shed looked like one year ago and what it looks like today.  I can also see how our plants have grown since last year.  They are coming along nicely.

Not much else is going on other than hoping for nicer weather.  I wish you all a great week ahead.

Basic 10' by 20' woodshed/storage shed in rough cut pine.

Same shed one year later, stained barn red with sliding Z doors and lots of plants!

July already....

Happy Sunday everyone!  I hope you all had a great week, being a short work week for many people either celebrating Canada Day or July 4th holiday.  It is hard to believe that we are into July already.  I sure hope that the next few months go by ever so slowly.....Not ready for the cooler temperatures yet, although when we woke up on Thursday morning, it sure felt like Fall.  The temperatures didn't go past +11 Celsius that day.  For a second there, I thought Russell was going to turn the heat back on in the house.

We started our week by having John & Terri over for dinner on Monday.  We had a great evening.  Russell smoked a side of salmon which was enjoyed by all.  We had enough leftovers for a few days.  Cooper was a gracious host, as always. It was a fun night.

On Canada Day, we went downtown Huntsville to take in the festivities.  It was nice and there were lots of people.  We watched the fireworks from our deck that night. We also got to see the fireworks that some people across the lake had on July 4th.  It was about 12:15 am, we were in bed sleeping, and I heard them.  All we had to do was sit up in bed and watch them from our bedroom window.  It was beautiful and kind of neat to watch from our bedroom. To our surprise, Cooper didn't wake up.  He must have been really tired....

Yesterday, we attended the 2nd annual Rotary DockFest in Huntsville.  It was a lot of fun and the waterfront was packed with families.  The bathtub races were fun to watch.  The weather was perfect and quite warm.  There were a lot of dogs and children on the dock so it was good exposure for Cooper.  He is still a bit skittish around young children so we used that opportunity to do a bit of training.

Today is another beautiful day, although quite windy, so we decided to go for a walk instead of boating.  We just got back and Cooper is now having a nap.  He seems tired today for some reason.  It could be because he was awaken at 5 AM this morning by the sound of a deer snorting at a wild cat in our backyard.  We looked on as the deer was trying to chase the cat away but the cat couldn't have cared less. So, the snorting went on for a good 5 minutes.  We eventually all went back to sleep and woke up at 7:30.

What else is going on....well, our plants are growing nicely.  We keep spraying them with Bobbex deer repellant.  It seems to be working.  Russell had his second deep tissue massage and he is starting to see an improvement.  Skyhills Road, which is the city road leading to our private road, is finally going to be paved.  Since we've been living here, that road has been full of pot holes, year long.  I actually damaged the front rims of my car as a result.  So, it is nice to see that our tax dollars will be put to good use.  The road work should be done in a few weeks, just in time for my parents' visit!  We so look forward to having them over.

That's it for this week's blog.  We will spend the rest of our Sunday relaxing. Have a great week everyone!

Anne and Cooper watching the very intense bathtub races!

The balloons on her tub didn't help with buoyancy.

The new finger docks installed just in time for race day.

Huntsville Fire and Rescue pumping water onto the first buoy.

A crowded starting line...great fun for all.