Adding a little Spicy to our lives

Happy Sunday everyone! To all my Quebec blog readers, I hope you are enjoying the St-Jean Baptiste holiday weekend.

This past week brought the newest addition to our family, Spicy.  We picked her up at Darlah and Nathan's last Thursday, with the Coop in tow.  Russell and I couldn't be happier and Cooper is adapting very well to sharing his Kingdom with her. Let me give you a little bit of her background (thanks Darlah for this).

Spicy was born on October 27, 2010.  Her registered name is Talemaker's Spicy Chipotle. She completed her Canadian Championship at 8 months of age. She has had the most beautiful puppies over the years.  She is outgoing, fun loving and very playful, a true combination of her mom Wasabi and her dad Katsura. She is also very agile.  Oh, and she loves giving kisses. She is a serious licker, and I'm not exaggerating. Darlah had warned us about her being kissy kissy and waggy tail but we never thought in a million years that she would be so kissy!  Every morning, before we get out of bed, Russell and I both get a face bath, literally, and we laugh our hearts out. What a beautiful way to wake up in the morning. Oh, we also get kisses from the Coop. So double the kisses!

We weren't sure how Cooper would react at first although he knows Spicy well. Darlah & Nathan knew that they got along having observed them play together at their house. This match would not have happened otherwise. Having said this, you never know how things will go until you're home. To our great pleasure, everyone is getting alone nicely. There are no issues whatsoever. Sometimes they play, sometimes they do their own thing. Spicy has already found some favorite spots in our home....one of them happens to be Cooper's so they share it (the photo below of them sharing the blanket on the living room couch). Very heartwarming to watch.  We do believe though that getting lots of attention and being spoiled silly is helping with the transition :-)

As with Cooper, I plan on doing some training with Spicy. Today, I found some basic agility equipment that we had in Huntsville. In the next few days, I will try it out with the Spicy.  I think Cooper will also enjoy getting back into it.  We make sure that we give equal amount of attention to both Cooper and Spicy.  We had some little rituals with Cooper that we decided to continue.  One of them is to "play with the balls".  Each morning, we fill two treat balls with tiny pieces of cookies (I mean tiny) and put them in a ball that he rolls around until the treats fall out.  So far, Spicy doesn't seem to care for this little game but that's OK. She is happy to watch the Coop push a ball around. We will come up with a little ritual for Spicy.

I could go on and on about our new family. We love them both to pieces and feel truly blessed to have them in our lives. Our family is complete. Twice the love, twice the fun. Some people will say twice the work, we don't see it that way. Even if it is work, it is good work. Russell now brushes two sets of teeth in the morning and two full Havanese coats.

Our little in-home boarding venture will still happen. We have to update our website to add words about Spicy and we will wait a few weeks before launching it. We want to give ourselves a little time to get into a routine with our two pooches.

I'd like to say that not much else is going on with us but that's not the case. While we were in Toronto last week, my mom fell and fractured her hip. She has been in the hospital since waiting for surgery tomorrow. This couldn't have happened at a worse time, 10 days before their move to the retirement residence. Such is life and the move will still happen. I suspect that my mom will be in rehab for a few weeks so, as she said to me today, she will not get to see their current condo anymore. Her spirits are good though. We are praying for a successful surgery and recovery.  My dad is also a trooper and managing the best he can. All will be good.

I leave you with photos of...you guessed it, Cooper and Spicy. I wish you all a great week, leading up to Canada Day weekend.

Spicy has settled in at the table on the
back deck!

Spicy says...OK, I will pose but where are the treats.

OK...I get it, for one more treat the other profile.

Coop and Spicy, chant we want treats, come on Mom.

Spicy and Coop love "change the bedsheets day"...or
as they call it, let us nest for awhile!

Cooper and Spicy love to settle in to a good
chew along with some Aislin cartoons. 

Spicy says, see I told you Coop, there is
room for two on this blanket.

Homeward bound departing Camp Talemaker
with precious cargo...two awesome Havanese.

Happy Father's Day!

On this beautiful sunny and very warm Sunday, I want to wish all the dads out there a very happy Father's Day. A special loving wish to my papa and our thoughts are with Russell's dad who is no longer with us.  Of course I can't forget my hubby who is also celebrating this special day.... Cooper couldn't ask for a better human daddy!

All is good with us.  This past week was sort of busy and went by rather quickly.   I really want time to slow down. Next weekend will mark one year since we moved to Quebec. Honestly, I don't know where the year went.

Our gardens are doing very well.  Just when I thought I was done planting, I found another spot that needed to be spruced up. I took care of that yesterday. I think we're done now.  We're thinking of getting a VegTrug for the backyard. It is a raised garden bed and we could grow herbs, lettuce, vegetables. Darlah has one and it's already full of yummies.  Next time we go to their place, we will look at it. Something to think about for next year.

My parents came over for dinner yesterday and spent the night at our house. We had dinner outside and actually stayed out until 9:30 pm. There were no bugs, it was a really nice Summer night.

Today will be a quiet one. It is incredibly warm out there, actually too hot for a walk with the Coop. It's not even noon and it is 32 C already. So we will just take it easy. It's good to do nothing sometimes. I wish you all a wonderful day and week ahead!

Cooper wishes his human daddy and all dads a
Happy Fathers Day.

Me and dad share a Fathers Day hug
on the back deck.

Cooper was giving my dad some
doggie affection.

Peonies in full bloom in the side yard!

Could Summer have arrived early?

Hello everyone! Well, the hot temperatures that we have all been craving for have arrived, finally, and it looks like they are here to stay, at least for the next 4 days. If it wasn't for the strong breeze, I would say it's almost too hot to sit outside...but we are outside and enjoying the +30 temps.

All is good with us. Our trip to Toronto was wonderful. Of course, the highlight of the week was the Neil Diamond concert, his 50th anniversary tour. The Diamond didn't disappoint. His voice is the same as it was 50 years ago. He sang for 130 minutes non-stop. Great concert and one that we hope to see again at some point down the road.

While in Toronto, we shopped for some Iceland gear: hiking boots, waterproof pants, jackets and comfortable, warm socks.  We're ready for whatever weather we get. Our trip is just three months away. We have a little more planning to do but otherwise we're ready and looking forward to it.

Cooper had a blast at Camp Talemaker. He had his first swim of the season. We are told that he is a strong swimmer but doesn't like to get in the pool on his own.  Nathan was all too happy to pick him up and get him in.  I am including a few of the many photos that Darlah took. So endearing.

This past week not only brought my dad's birthday but they also sold their condo.....they are moving to their new retirement home one month sooner than planned, July 5. So, lots to do in the next few weeks to get ready for the move.  They are truly happy and are looking forward to a new chapter in their lives.

The three of us just got back from my brother's place. Frank hosted a birthday lunch for dad and made his famous Shashlik, otherwise known as pork kebabs,  but not your ordinary pork kebabs.... after doing a lot of research, he replicated the shashlik that we used to eat when we were kids at a restaurant in Ste-Adele called Qui Di Vidi. That place doesn't exist anymore but the first time I went there, I was still in my mother's womb....some 59 years ago...yikes!

This coming week is looking up to be busy. We both have dentist appointments, back to the gym, I will help my parents pack and on Thursday, I have lunch with Diane and Norbert. Looking forward to it! Oh, and we will fine tune our doggie boarding website.

That's it for my blog this week. We will spend the rest of the day on the deck, in the shade and enjoy the weather.  I wish you all a great week!

Cooper safely in Nathan's arms as they get wet.

Cooper does not just jump right in...he takes his time.

Cooper hates getting his hair wet...and he is a
strong swimmer.

After a few laps, Cooper was in the 'swim' of it.

Cooper finds the stairs...Nathan always teaches
dogs to find the stairs to get out...first order of business.

Cooper enjoys the drip dry approach to apres swim.

Neil Diamond's 50th Anniversary Tour at the ACC.

Neil's voice as strong as ever at 75 years young.

A great story teller and showman.

Such stage presence.

Row 9 seats 19 and 20 front and center.

Looking awesome. Happy 84th birthday Dad!

Off to the see the Diamond!

Happy Sunday! Today was nice and quite warm but the clouds are rolling in. We might get some rain tonight. That's OK, our freshly planted gardens will be happy, and so will I.

This past week was good and I was very busy planting.  My goal was to get everything done by end of day Friday. Sure enough, goal accomplished.  Between going to the gym, walking the Coop and doing some house chores, I spent most of the week gardening, driving to the garden centre to get plants that were missing and buying mulch...29 bags of it. I must say that at the end of each day, I was pretty tired. It's a lot of work when you start from scratch but we are very happy with the end results. We only planted perennials, some of them we had never heard of before such as Ligularia Little Rocket, Tricyrtis Blue Wonder and Cimicifuga Hillside Black Beauty.  We have a very nice selection of plants/shrubs and they all compliment one another.  We can't wait to see how it all grows over time.  So, we're done except for a little edging I want to do in the back bed. I must say that I quite like our little rock garden.  When we bought this house a year ago, the rock garden was overgrown with shrubs that had been planted some 20 years ago. We removed everything last Fall and started fresh this year.  Even our neighbour likes it....oh and I spotted a bunny this morning who also seems to like it, maybe a bit too much. So far, he hasn't eaten anything but I suspect he may give it a try. We'll see.

While I was busy planting, Russell was busy working on the website of our new doggie daycare/boarding venture.  This is the first time that Russell has ever created a website so it was a bit of a challenge (albeit a small one) but he got it done. He was able to incorporate a calendar which will show our availability and also created a Facebook link.  I must say that I am very impressed with the website. A huge thank you to my hubby for doing this. We will test it with a few people once we return from Toronto. We expect to be open for business soon after that.  It will be called.....you guessed it...Cooper's Kingdom, Dog Daycare and Boarding.  Small dogs only. More in a few weeks.

So, after all the hard work of the past week, we're off to Toronto tomorrow morning. The main event of the week...the Neil Diamond Concert at the ACC on Wednesday. I cannot wait!  We saw him two years ago and what a show it was. We will take lots of pics of the Diamond! While we will be enjoying a little bit of R&R in our old stomping grounds, Cooper will be at Talemaker Camp. We will drop him off tomorrow afternoon.  I hear his friends are anxiously waiting his arrival. He will have a great time as always, thanks to the Talemaker gang!

This is it for my blog this week. I want to wish my dad a very happy birthday on June 8. We will celebrate next Sunday at my brother's place.  Have a great week everyone!

Front of the house and a view of the elevated bed and an
assortment of shade/sun tolerant perennials.

Front long view of the elevated bed.

Front of the house with planters and hostas on display.

View of the front for the circle bed....with hostas and daffodils.

Backyard bed complete with Japanese maple,
an assortment of grasses and other perennials.

The rock garden,
a lively planting of day lilies, jacob's ladder and
other delights.

Cooper ever alert on the back deck...he sees all, knows all!