Sunny days ahead......

Happy Sunday everyone!  Today is a beautiful sunny day and there are more sunny days  in the forecast this week.  Somehow the sun is making us forget how cold it is.  Perhaps it is because it is getting stronger every day and feels that much warmer. Or perhaps it is because we are getting closer to our trip to Barbados and we don't care about how cold it is.  Either way, it is nice to see the sun for a change.  The days are also getting longer and it is that much more noticeable when the sun is shining.  Isn't it amazing how little things like sunshine and longer days can make us feel better?

We had a good week and got some shopping done.  We went to Toronto on Tuesday and spent most of the day trying to find summer clothes.  Silly us...we should have known that the stores don't carry the summer stuff until a few weeks before March break.  Nonetheless, we did buy things that we can't find in Huntsville but were a tad depressed about not finding summer shorts. When we picked up Cooper at Camp Talemaker on Wednesday, Nathan said "why don't you shop online"?  I thought, what a novel idea!  So, off I went shopping...online, and found the shorts we were looking for.  In a matter of two days, we had shorts delivered to our front door....well, to our mailbox down the road.  How good is that?  We have shopped online many times before for various items but never for clothes.  Now we have all the things we need for our trip.  I'm a happy camper.

I spent the past few days freshening up our bathing suits, T-shirts, sorting out what we will bring on our trip, buying sunscreen, all that fun stuff.  It won't be long now....12 more sleeps and 9 Bootcamp classes.

Not much else is happening.  We've been going to Arrowhead Park on a regular basis and really enjoy our walks there.  We went after lunch today and enjoyed the sunshine, although it was a bit cold.

This is it for this week's blog.  We will spend the rest of the day relaxing.  Russell and the Coop are actually having a nap at the moment.  They are two peas in a pod when it comes to napping in the afternoon. I wish you all a wonderful week!

Cooper and Anne on the trail in Arrowhead Provincial Park.

Blue sky and birch trees in Arrowhead.

Cooper guiding Russell on the trail.

The snowman of Forest Hill Lane

On this very mild Sunday, which happens to be World Snow Day, I decided that I was going to make a snowman.  For the first time this Winter, the snow is wet and sticky so I thought why not make snow balls and turn them into a snowman.....OK, I may not win a competition with mine but I think it looks pretty good, don't you think?

So, on World Snow Day, we have our first snowman of the season.  Russell also made lots of snowballs and threw them at Cooper.  He was having a ball trying to catch them.  He thought they were treats. It is actually nice to spend a bit of time playing outside with the Coop.  We are getting a one day reprieve from the colder weather so we are enjoying it.

This past week was rather quiet.  Russell was under the weather with a fever for a few days and went to the clinic.  He is almost back to his old self thanks to a dose of antibiotics and lots of TLC!  Cooper and I took good care of him. It was actually interesting to watch Coop who just knew that his human daddy was not feeling well.

Our trip to Barbados is less than three weeks away.  I started putting a few things aside for the trip but there are a few items that we need so we will make a trip to Toronto on Tuesday.  Cooper will spend the night at Camp Talemaker.  He will get to meet Jesse, a collie who is staying there for a few weeks. I can't wait to see how they interact.

The rest of today will be spent relaxing.  Russell will be watching the two football games that will determine which teams will be in the Superbowl.  I will read a book and listen to the oldies, while taking a peep at my snowman from time to time to see if it's still standing....and Cooper will just chill, play with his chews and patiently wait for his dinner.

Have a great week everyone!

Cooper says....hmmmm...arms made of sticks, tasty!

Look a snowman in our backyard....

It was a snow week

Happy Sunday everyone!  I hope you all had a great week.  For the Muskoka kids, the return to school after the holidays was short lived.  The kids around here had 4 snow days this past week.  Lucky them!  Unlike places like Toronto, snow days around here are nothing out of the ordinary but to have that many in a row is a little unusual.  The cold temperatures and the non stop snow squalls were the culprit.  I don't know how much snow we got, and quite frankly, I gave up trying to figure it out, but we got a whole lot in one week.  Oh Barbados....you are just a few weeks away!

Needless to say we spent a good part of this past week clearing the snow from the front and back decks, Coop's yard and the cars. We do have a small electric snowblower but honestly, it is easier and faster to shovel than to use it. Thank goodness we have someone doing our driveway. I snowshoed my way to the shed so that we could get the firewood and to the satellite dish in order to remove the snow from it.  Snow on the dish means no television.

Despite the bad weather, we both made it to the gym.  Call us crazy but Barbados is just around the corner.....Russell had his physical on Monday and all is good.  When we moved to Huntsville, we both registered with the Nurse Practitioner Clinic since we couldn't find a family doctor so this was Russell's first physical with the Clinic and he was impressed.  He had the most comprehensive physical exam ever.

As for me, I had my first eye exam since moving here.  It went well except for the fact that I drove home in a snowstorm with dilated pupils.  Not the smartest thing to do.  Now I wait for my new glasses.

Not much else is new for us.  We are kind of in a lull right now, waiting for the next snow storm and waiting for our trip......the latter sounds far more exciting!

Cooper is doing great.  He hasn't had too many walks this past week due to the cold and snow, although we did go for a walk on Friday and today, and he went to doggie day care on Thursday for a few hours.  But earlier this past week, he was going out just to do his business, in and out very quickly.  He is very smart.....he doesn't want to be outside any more than we do when the weather is bad.

That's about it for today.  It is a quiet Sunday. Russell is watching football, which is getting exciting at this time of year, or so I hear.  Cooper is having a nap and I just baked some yummy molasses cookies.  I include a few pictures that Russell took between snow squalls.  Have a great week everyone!

Cooper surveys the growing piles of snow!

Snow squalls moving in across the lakes.

The screened porch is open for cocktails and excellent views!

Happy New Year to all!

Here we are, at the beginning of a brand new year.  I wish you all a happy and healthy 2015!  This is day 4 of the new year and we've had two significant snow storms so far.  Having said this, when I look back at last Winter, so far this year, it's been pretty good.  We don't have the same amount of snow as last year and the temperatures are not as cold.  Last year, on January 2, we woke up to -31 C with a windchill of -42 C.  The temperatures will be very cold this week, everywhere actually, but still not as cold as last year and there is sunshine in the forecast.  Here's to hoping that the remainder of this season is kind to all of us!

We had a good New Year's Eve and day.  We managed to stay up until midnight, a first for us in quite some time.  I cooked a turkey and we ate the last of it today for lunch and the Coop will have the last turkey sprinkles with his dinner tonight.

Now that the holidays are over, all is back to normal in our household. The Christmas decorations are put away and our indoor Christmas tree is now outside, for the deer to eat.  Our next big event will be our trip to Barbados in 33 days....we look forward to it.

One late afternoon last week, our Muskoka doorbell, aka Cooper, heard a knock on the door.  It was Matt Davidson, whom we hadn't seen for a little while.  He came with a present....a builder's mallet,  aka the beater, the walloper, the persuader. There is a story behind this mallet.  It is a tool that is used in the log home construction to help shift posts or beams, drive in pegs, etc.  It is Matt's tradition to leave the mallet used to build a log home with each owner and it usually finds its final resting place by the fireplace.  The one used to build our log home was stolen back in 2012 before Matt could give it to us.  He was kind enough to make us a new one.....and it is proudly standing by the fireplace.  Thank you Matt!

That's it for this first blog of 2015.  I wish you all a great week, for many it is back to work or school tomorrow.  Bundle up and stay warm. I leave you with a picture of the mallet and a few winter photos that Russell took on New Year's day, after the storm.

Our 'mint' condition persuader in its place of honour!

Deer mice tracks lead to our home....they want in from the cold.

Cooper's run...neatly shovelled with paths...lucky dog...thanks Mom!

A crisp and clear sunrise after a night of snow.