Four weeks today!

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope you all had a great week.  Ours was good and it brought the first snow fall of the season.  It was all pretty when we woke up Monday morning and the texture of the snow was just perfect for the making of snowballs on Cooper's coat... yikes.  Coop really enjoys the snow and takes great pleasure in doing his "run-like-hell" around the back yard.  Russell and I just watch him, smile, and take great pleasure in removing those snowballs :-)  I am happy to say that the snow is all gone now, so back to grass and muck.

We're slowly getting ready for Christmas. I looked at the calendar just a few minutes ago and realized that Christmas is in four weeks today.  I haven't started my baking yet but my outdoor Winter pots are done and they look nice. Hopefully they will last well into March.  After I finish my blog, I will do the Christmas tree in the living room.  It is my tradition to always put up our tree the last Sunday of November, with some holiday music in the background to put me in the mood.  This year, we have two special ornaments for Cooper. I will have to take photos of them when they are hung up.  I'm sure he will love them to pieces!

Last night, we had my family over for dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday, which is tomorrow.  It's the first time in a very long time that Russell and I  actually get to celebrate her birthday in person so it is very special.   I thought I would include a few photos of her in my blog.  The group photo is somewhat blurred but a nice memory to have anyway.

This coming week will be a busy one for us.  We are off to Toronto for a little getaway on Thursday.  First stop will be at Camp Talemaker where Cooper will be spending three nights.  It will be nice to see Darlah and Nathan again and for the Coop to spend time with his Havanese buddies.  Russell and I will be spending the night in TO.  Friday, we're off to Niagara-on-the-Lake.  We will take part in the annual Candlelight Stroll through the historical town and stay the night. NOTL is such a beautiful place at this time of year.  We look forward to it. We will cap off our getaway by having dinner with my good friend Eve on Saturday night.  It will be nice to see her again.  Sunday, we pick up the Coop and drive back to Quebec.  So, a busy but fun and festive few days ahead.

That's about it for this week's blog.  Gotta go trim the tree!  Have a great week everyone et Bonne Fete Maman demain!

Happy Birthday Maman!

For the great cook she is....oven mitts.

Blowing out the candles on her birthday cake...

First snow of the season...Cooper loves it, us not so much.

We're ready...for Winter

Happy Sunday everyone!  Not a pretty day out there, raining cats and dogs with a little snow on the way tonight.  Oh well, it was bound to happen.  With just about 10 days left in this month, I think we're doing quite well, weather wise.

This past week was a good one, kind of busy but in a nice way.  The weather was simply beautiful and we took advantage of it.  We cleaned up our garage, put the patio umbrellas away and our shovels are ready to go.  I got our Winter gear out of the basement closet, boots and all ready to be worn if need be.  Even the Coop's Muttluk's booties are out.  We're not sure what Winter will look like in La Belle Province, compared to Huntsville.  I assume less snow and not as cold but who knows.  We are still in the habit of looking up the weather forecast in Huntsville.  It's been pretty good, just like here.

I went to my new gym three times last week.  I really enjoy it and the workout is totally different than what I'm used to.  It's a combination of cardio and weight training and the workout changes every day...that's a good thing, I tend to get bored easy with the same routine.

On Thursday, mom and I went out for lunch.  It was a nice outing for both of us and we truly enjoyed it.  My mom's birthday is coming up so it was a little early celebration.  On that note, Russell, Coop and I are hosting a birthday dinner for mom this coming Saturday.  It will be nice for the family to get together for such a special occasion.

Cooper and I continue to enjoy our Obedience Training.  We do our homework during the week and it's paying off.  I will admit that most of what we are learning is nothing new to us but it's good to reinforce the basic commands.  Graduation will be on December 10.  We will ask Russell to come and maybe take a photo or two.  I include a photo that I took of Cooper yesterday afternoon after class. He was totally whacked out!

That's it for this week's blog.  I leave you with beautiful photos that Russell took of the Super Moon last Monday.  He, and about 80 other people, gathered in Pointe-Claire by the waterfront so that they could capture the moon in its glory.  Have a great week everyone!

The sun about to dip below the horizon on Lac St. Louis,
the evening of the Super Moon.

...and now the sun has dipped below the horizon.

Super moon just emerging above the skyline
of Montreal.

A little higher and a distinct haze blankets,
Montreal. 

The moon clearly above Montreal...St Joseph Oratory can be
seen to the left and downtown lights in the center.

A tired dog is a good dog...so says the Coop post
training.

A beautiful November day!

Happy Sunday everyone!  Here we are at the start of another week, hopefully one that will not bring the same kind of turmoil that last week brought.  For those of you who like to play cards (we don't), I guess you can relate to the power of the trump card.  Needless to say that the US election results were a shocker for most people.

On  a better and more refreshing note, today is another beautiful day.  We couldn't ask for a better November.  More of the same on the way this week.  We spent a lot of time outdoors today, doing a last cleanup before Winter sets in.  I planted daffodil bulbs for the first time ever.  I look forward to seeing those little beauties in the Spring.

We had a nice and quiet week.  On Tuesday, we decided to go up North and retrace our steps to both my aunt Rita's chalet and Russell's grandfather Watkin's cottage.  We first went to Ste-Adele and sure enough found my aunt's place which she owned well before I was born.  She sold it a long time ago, before I met Russell.  I remembered there was a big rock by the water and it's still there.  It brought back a lot of wonderful childhood memories. Then, we drove to Lac des Iles, Ste-Marguerite,  and found Russell's grandpa's cottage.  It looked like Russell remembered it, more or less.  Wonderful childhood memories for Russell also.  It was a great day for a trip down memory lane.  On that note, last week marked five years since Coop came into our lives. The best years! I thought I would include this photo of the Coop and I at puppy training back then.

Yesterday, we had Russell's auntie Lorraine over for dinner with her daughter Valerie, who is visiting from Calgary. Val and Russell hadn't seen each other for over 40 years.  It was so nice for me to finally meet her and for Russell to be able to talk about the good old days.

So, we've been here a little over 4 months now and I'm on my third hairdresser.  I think this one is a keeper. I hope so. I am so darn picky! I'm also on my third gym.  I just joined Orange Theory in Pointe-Claire.  I wasn't challenged enough at Gold's Gym and Energie Cardio (another gym that I tried) is closing.  I think Orange is the way to go for me.  I've had two classes so far and it seems to be everything I'm looking for and more.  Let's hope so.

That's about it for this week's blog.  I leave you with a photo that Russell took of a Larch tree that we have in our backyard.  So beautiful to look at from our kitchen window.  We also took a few photos up North. I wish you all a great week!

Our larch finally decided to change needle color!

Anne's Aunt Rita's chalet in St Adele.

The famous big rock at Rita's chalet in St Adele.

Grandpa Watkin's cottage, he built it all himself at least
70 years ago!

Anne and Cooper at puppy class 5 years ago...
he is a keeper!

Fall back time!

Hello everyone!  I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday.  It is a long day somehow, with the time change and all.  I get that we gain an extra hour of sleep but does anyone actually sleep that extra hour?  I was wide awake at 6 this morning and finally got out of bed at 6:40.  It was nice though to have all that daylight.  I just love the sunshine that we get in our kitchen in the morning!

What a beautiful day we're having, and a few very nice days on the horizon.  It's been a great Fall.  I just hope that Winter is as nice.  The three of us just came back from a nice walk along the waterfront in the Lachine area.  Some trees still have lots of leaves on and they smell wonderful.  A beauty of a day for sure.

This past week was good.  Halloween night came and went with about 50 kids trick or treating.  Coop managed the evening quite well.  Towards the end, I was rather generous with the candies.... I didn't want any leftovers.  Later in the week, we had my aunt's funeral service which was lovely.  Yesterday, Cooper and I had our second training class.  We did our homework and were prepared.  Cooper was a good boy for the most part.  He gets antsy while we wait for the instructor to explain the exercise so my challenge is to teach him patience.....having said this, Cooper takes after his human mommy in the patience department.  Perhaps I'm the one who needs to learn patience :-)))

Not much else is going on with us.  Time is just flying by and like everyone else, we will soon get ready for Christmas.  Even better, in three months today, we are off to Barbados for our Winter getaway.  Can't wait!

This coming week will finally bring a close to the US election, or so it seems.  Who knows what will happen on Tuesday night.  It promises to be a very interesting night on TV.

I leave you with only two photos, one that Russell took of the Coop and I during our walk today and one that I took after Cooper's grooming last week.  He was under the kitchen table and gave me a look that I thought was priceless.  I call this photo "Those Eyes".

In closing, we are sending positive thoughts to Darlah & Nathan and their beautiful Havanese Adele. She is expecting a litter any day now but is having complications and has been at the vet since yesterday.  We are following Darlah's blog and hope that all ends well for Adele and her litter.

Have a great week everyone!

Anne and Cooper in the leaves at
Summerlea Park in Lachine.

Cooper says who you looking at with 'those eyes' of his.