A new Focus

Happy Sunday to all!  It is a beautiful Summer day, nice and hot, just the way we like it. This past week was super hot though, much too hot to do anything outdoors.  The humidity was unbearable at times.  I was almost wishing for Winter....just kidding.

All is good with us.  We are still busy getting stuff done but our focus has changed.  First, this coming week, we will start checking out the few places that have been recommended to us for the occasional overnight boarding.  This is a big priority for us.  We need to find someone that we can totally trust, who will care for Cooper the way we do, and the way Darlah and Nathan do.  We are only looking for home based boarding.  We know that we will not find another Camp Talemaker, but we are hopeful that we will find a place that we can feel comfortable with.  Having said this, Coop will return to the Talemakers for all of our extended trips. It will so be worth the drive to Richmond Hill!

Our other focus now is to get some serious gardening done.  Today, I spent a good 6 hours weeding all the beds and making space for new plants.  Next, I need to draw a sketch for each flower bed and figure out what to plant and how many plants we need to buy.  I've been keeping an eye on the sun/shade so I have a pretty good idea of what to get.

On the topic of focus, we got ourselves a little Ford Focus SE.  When we got rid of the Mini Cooper a few years ago, we decided that we could live with one car.  We managed very well in Huntsville but now that we live in an area that has so much to offer in terms of shopping, running errands, etc, we thought it would be best to have two cars.  So, our little Focus arrived on Friday.  It is cute and drives well.

My biggest challenge so far in Quebec has been to have to deal with the Quebec Law that says that women must keep their maiden name even if married.  The law to that effect changed in 1981 and we got married in 1982. Even though we got married in Quebec, we were living in Alberta at the time. The Albertans couldn't pronounce my maiden name properly (Pelletier) so I decided to change it. Now that we are back in Quebec, this decision to change my name to Duncan is coming back to haunt me.  Enough said on this topic but it is a bit of a hassle.... but it will get sorted out.

Other than this, the three of us are doing really well and have adjusted to life in Beaconsfield. Cooper is a happy dog.  He will go to his new Vet tomorrow, Dr. Stiles.  He will have his first bath on Tuesday at Spawsy's. We took him to DoggyDay in NDG for the first time last week and he will go back this week for half a day.  It is a very good place and we think that it will be good for him to have a play date from time to time.  As for Russell and I, we both went to the gym twice and enjoyed it.  I tried out two classes, each very similar to the Huntsville Bootcamp with the exception that each class lasted one hour instead of 30 minutes.  Twice the workout.  This week, I will try a Cardio Box class, a combination of martial arts and boxing.  That should be interesting.

I leave you with a few photos of the Coop on his deck.  He now has figured out how to spy on the neighbour, Peter.  He also loves watching the robins.  We also took a pic of him sound asleep on his back....that's how you know that a dog is comfortable, when he's in his most vulnerable position. Finally, a pic of the Focus.

I wish you all a great week.  It's hard to believe that we are entering the third week of July.  It will be another busy week for us but we will take the time to have a little celebration on Friday for someone's birthday.

Cooper says, I spy with my little eye the neighbour...
Peter...think I'll woof, woof a little!

Ooooo...look a robin...no woofing!

Four in the air...no better feeling of comfort and security.

The new Ford Focus SE.