Such a beautiful Fall day

Happy Sunday everyone, the last Sunday of October! It's hard to believe that my next blog will be in November. What a beautiful Fall we've had so far. Last week brought a few days of rain followed by a hot Summer day on Friday. It's cooler now but lots of sunshine on the way this week except for tomorrow.

Our week was good. During those few rainy days, we just took it easy. I must say that I really enjoy the odd rainy day. It forces me to just do nothing other than read a good book, watch an episode of something on Netflix and have some fun with the pooches in the basement. I typically do not nap in the afternoon but Russell usually does, rain or not, accompanied by Cooper & Spicy. 

Russell had a physiotherapy appointment on Friday for his knee...not the new knee but the old one. Nothing mechanically wrong with it, looks like arthritis. He has a few stretches to do that should help. He doesn't expect to have physio treatments for too long, maybe a couple of weeks. 

Cooper had his wellness exam on Saturday. Our vet thought he was in very good shape and is happy with his teeth. Thank you Russell for religiously brushing their teeth each and every day. We are repeating his liver enzyme blood work and should have the results in a few days. Some of his enzymes were high when he had blood work done in August so he's been taking liver supplements ever since. We are hopeful that the supplements will help reduce his enzyme levels. 

Our awning is scheduled to be done week of November 2, weather permitting. It is a one day job. Once that is done, we will replace our deck railing with clear tempered-glass panels. All things being equal, this will also be done before Winter sets in. The company we chose to do the work is on standby, that's also a one day job. 

Not much else is going on with us. Quebec has been in a semi-lockdown since October 1 and the number of cases has been stable or down for a few weeks. We will find out this week if the semi-lockdown measures will remain in place for another few weeks or not. It really makes no difference to us one way or another but we do feel for the businesses that are affected.

Russell continues to keep close tabs on places like Barbados and Italy, our two favorite places to visit. Maybe again one day. It's really hard to tell how some of these places will survive, economically. Time will tell.

That's my blog for today. Russell is watching football, with the cardboard cutout fans. The games are just as good. I made a pate chinois for dinner, a Quebec version of Shepherd's Pie. Yummy! Not much on the agenda for this coming week other than our little princess Spicy's birthday on Tuesday. She will be 10. We have pup-cakes and a fun filled day planned. 

I leave you with some Fall photos that Russell took early this week. The leaves on most of those trees are now gone. I wish you all a great week. Stay safe and well!

Sugar maple on our street...was on fire, leaves are now gone.

The morning sunrise from our deck kissed the maples and the
larch...awesome colours.

The front yard in full Fall colour.

Edgewater Park poplars in full 
yellow hues on our walk today.

Lake St. Louis was calm on Friday.

Pup-cakes for a special birthday girl...Spicy!

All snuggled in for TV time...Spicy is a riot.

Cooper with his chews...TV time 
rituals.

BFFs lounging. Spicy saying, what 
time is it Cooper...snack time?

A quiet October week

Hello everyone! I hope you're all enjoying a nice and relaxing Sunday. Ours started out sunny but it's clouding over. We raked more leaves after lunch, lots more to fall still. Cooper & Spicy were on the front porch, secured with their leashes, watching us and occasionally barking at a cat crossing the street. 

We had a good week, another rather quiet one....I suppose all weeks are quiet when not much is happening...thanks to the pandemic. Quiet doesn't mean we are bored,  just means that we don't go out much. That's OK. Not complaining. Our weather has been quite nice and warmish. Thursday was particularly nice, with a whopping 21 celsius. 

Russell got his flu shot last week, I'm getting mine tomorrow. I would think that the odds of us getting the flu or even a cold are pretty small given that we are not in contact with anyone and wear a mask when we go out but one never knows. It doesn't hurt to get a flu shot, even though we fully understand that we may not be covered for all flu strains. It's a personal choice. 

On Thursday, I went to our local outdoor market. I discovered a new apple, Rosinette, very nice, juicy and crispy. Honey Crisp used to be our favorite but we got tired of it. I also stocked up on my Delicata Squash and got a beautiful purple cauliflower and some leeks. 

Today, I bought some Halloween candies, specifically mini chocolate bars....I was going to wait until the last minute to avoid any temptations but they were on sale and I thought, why not. So what if we indulge in some before Halloween! I also bought individual treat bags and will get those ready this week. Our street seems to be ready for the big night, many houses are decorated. We will buy a pumpkin next weekend. We plan on putting our treat bags on a table, probably on our driveway, with the pumpkin alongside. Kids can help themselves. We will be watching from our living room window. It will be different but nice for the kids, we hope. Time for a little bit of normalcy in our lives. 

All things being equal, we should hear this week about the timing for the installation of our awning. Fingers crossed that the weather cooperates for an install by the end of the month or early November.

Russell has been taking photos of the beautiful colours on our street. I include some of the pics he took this week. Yesterday, I also took a photo of Russell and our pooches while we were out for a walk. You will notice that Cooper seems very focused on something....he was watching a family of ducks on the lake. He thought they were quite fascinating!

That's my blog for today. I wish you all a great week. Stay safe and well!

A little break from the walk, at the
shore of Lake St. Louis with Russell
and his buddies.

Spicy saying to Cooper, I know that 
cat is over across the street.

Leaves are really turning colour and dropping 
fast in our front yard.

The maple that graces our front lawn, 
a vibrant golden colour.

The limelight hydrangea is full Fall colour in 
the front flower bed.

The early night sky was on fire just before sunset
in the backyard and the trees matched
the fiery glow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Sunday to all! We wish all of you a Happy, Healthy and Safe Thanksgiving. For many of us, this holiday is very different this year thanks to the pandemic .... Russell and I, and hopefully most people, are doing our part in helping flatten yet another curve by limiting festivities. Kind of sad but this will pass, one day. In the meantime, we are thankful for what we have, most importantly our health. 

This past week was good and quiet...do I sound like a broken record? Our weather was great for the most part. Wednesday was a rainy day so it was a productive morning in the kitchen. I made a double batch of butternut squash soup and spaghetti meat sauce. We ate some and I froze many portions, for another rainy day. I also made another apple crisp with the lovely apples that we picked a few weeks ago. I caught up on Suits and finally finished watching Season 2. I have 7 more seasons to watch.  I also want to watch Away, a science fiction drama about a Mars expedition. I love anything that has to do with space so I will give it a try. I'm also reading a lot of books lately. I discovered another author and I've read 5 books so far. I love reading. 

I must say that our Fall has been very nice so far, yesterday was spectacular and so warm. We have enjoyed being outdoors and have made good use of our patio heater. Until just a few minutes ago, we were sitting outside but the wind picked up and the heater doesn't work so well with strong winds. So, we are inside now, although not a bad thing as we are smelling the turkey that is cooking away. 

I haven't done much on the training front with the pooches but things will pick up soon, when the weather gets colder. There will be plenty of time to spend indoors when the snow flies.

Today, we got some yard work done. I cut down some of the perennials, not all. Russell cut the grass and we also blew the leaves that fell from the rain last week. As of October 1, our bylaw states that we're allowed to use a leaf blower! Yay! We have 8 bags of yard waste for tomorrow. 

That's my blog for today. I leave you with some of the photos that our photographer took last week. She did a great job. We are hoping to do a Winter photo shoot at some point, that would be so cool, no pun intended! Cooper & Spicy are waiting for their dinner, and also for a tiny taste of our turkey later. I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving! I also want to wish our Havanese friend Blu-Belle a wonderful birthday tomorrow, she will be 7. Can you believe that she is related to Cooper! Many happy returns BB!

A Fall pumpkin centerpiece waiting to be placed
on our Thanksgiving table.

Cooper and Spicy wish everyone a Happy
Thanksgiving...thanks Erika for a wonderful
photo shoot.

Happy 7th birthday BB!

Fall colour on our front door step.

Cooper and Spicy romp in the falling 
leaves.

Spicy on a carpet of Fall maple colour.

Cooper looking awesome in the Fall colour.

The dynamic duo in the Autumn woods....

From our Home to yours, we 
wish everyone a Happy 
Thanksgiving.

The Colours of Fall

 Hello everyone! What a beautiful Fall day we're having. We're outside, enjoying yet another afternoon on our deck. I hope we have many more of those. We're not ready to hibernate yet.

All is good with us. This past week went by in a flash and is a blur to me, as all weeks seem to be these days. Our weather was a bit rainy and cooler but we also had some sun. On Monday night, our basement freezer broke down. Luckily, all I had in the freezer were three Butterball turkeys that I bought two weeks ago for the upcoming holidays. I figured I would stock up....hahaha! Anyway, we only had room to store two in our upstairs freezer so I thawed the third turkey and we had it for dinner on Wednesday. It felt weird to have a turkey in the middle of the week. It was delicious. I cooked it on its own, with no stuffing or usual trimmings, just some aromatics in the cavity. I'm saving the bells & whistles for Thanksgiving. We froze some for the doggies....we always add a little minced meat to their kibble so turkey will be a nice change in the coming weeks. Our freezer got fixed on Thursday, an easy fix I might add. All is good. 

We've been going through some things that we have which we no longer need, such as a Celestron telescope that we bought when we moved to Huntsville in 2012. Russell used it then as we had the perfect dark skies. We no longer have those skies so Russell decided to sell it. He put it on Facebook Marketplace and within two hours he had a buyer. The easy transaction was completed on Friday, easy peasy, while respecting sanitary measures in the safety of our garage. Next on the list to sell is Russell's  Canada Goose parka, also bought for the cold Winters in Huntsville. No doubt there is a buyer for this coat somewhere!

Our plans to go to Montebello this coming Wednesday had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. We are very disappointed but it is what it is. On a better note, yesterday we drove to Maxville, Ontario, for a lovely Fall photo shoot with our pooches, including some family pics with a Christmas display. Erika has been doing our Christmas photos for the past few years. This year, we all thought it would be best to do outdoor shots. We haven't seen all the photos yet except the one below posted by Erika this morning. We just love it! Cooper and Spicy are great models if I say so myself .... our "sit, stay" training, followed by a few treats, also comes in very handy during these photo sessions. Thank you to Erika A. Photography for a great photo op yesterday!

That's my blog for this week, leading up to Thanksgiving weekend, wow, already! I wish you all great week and stay safe!

Cooper and Spicy in Fall splendor, thank you
Erika.

Vibrant Fall colour right outside our front door.

...the backyard colour did not disappoint either.

A lonely spider in his secret garden.

The Limelight hydrangea turning a wonderful
shade of pink in the front yard bed.