The Guitar Man

Hello everyone and Happy Sunday, the last one of April! How can that possibly be? I honestly don't know where the time goes. One would think that during this pandemic, time would go a little more slowly, not so much. 

We had sun this morning but it is now drizzling. We managed to get a nice walk in with the pooches before lunch. They are now sitting with me on the deck, just pondering life.

We had a good week and it started with Russell getting himself an electric Fender Stratocaster guitar. It's something he's been thinking about for quite some time and he decided to bite the bullet and go for it. Russell played when he was young so playing the guitar is not a foreign concept. He says it's almost like riding a bike. He did sign up for online lessons...so far so good. Now, if I spent more time practicing my piano, perhaps we could perform a little duet together in our backyard this Summer!

My week also started with the beginning of an eight week Fuel Your Fitness challenge. So far, the nutritional component has been very informative. It is based on Intuitive Eating, a concept that is new to me but the more I read about it, the more it makes sense. It's basically about listening to our hunger cues. ... eat when you're hungry, stop eating when you're full. It goes without saying that healthy eating is predominant while indulging in something not so healthy should be done without guilt. The workouts have been great and more intense than what I've done so far. On Tuesday night, I had my first weekly Zoom meeting with the coaches and participants. It was interesting to hear how everyone has been dealing with their nutrition and fitness since the start of the pandemic. Needless to say I'm enjoying this challenge.

Russell got himself another toy...this time one for the lawn as in a Lawn Dethatcher. He used it yesterday and it works amazingly well. Our grass has never been more raked. We filled five bags just in the backyard. Our lawn needed this badly. Well worth it.

Our weather has been nice for the most part. Last week, we almost had a snow event....thank goodness it didn't materialize. Yesterday was a beautiful and warm day. Summer is almost here.

Cooper & Spicy are doing well. I didn't do too much with them last week in terms of "fitness".  I was busy doing other things. It happens. This coming Tuesday, Cooper will have his quarterly check up with the internal medicine vet as well as blood work to check his protein levels. Fingers crossed for good results. He's been doing good on all fronts. I can't believe that he will be 10 next month 💝

That's my blog for today. I leave you with a few pics of our garden bobbles, one of them we got from Etsy last week. We are waiting for a wrought iron wall ornament for outside that we ordered a few weeks ago. It may come this week. I also ordered a snuggly bed cave for Spicy (thanks Wanda 😉). 

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and be well!

Russell strumming a few chords on his new
Fender Stratocaster...rock on!

Suncatcher and humming bird
stained glass ornament 

Dragonflies and humming bird in their 
heart shaped hanger.

Cooper in a candid moment on the deck.

Spicy daydreaming on the back deck...it is a 
dogs life.

Spicy and Cooper by the lakeside
on our walk at Edgewater Park.

The daffodils have emerged in the front bed.

Just another Spring day

Hello everyone and happy Sunday! Our weather is quite nice, a little cooler than last week but enjoyable. I'm writing this blog outside, with Cooper keeping me company. Spicy is napping with her daddy. 

This past week was good. On Thursday and Friday, we finally had some much needed rain. Our grass is quite green now and the flower beds are growing nicely. I'm amazed at how everything seems to be popping up faster this year, especially the Daylilies. Our daffodils are also doing well and will be in bloom soon. Interestingly enough, they didn't come back last year, not sure why. 

Russell cleaned up his Big Green Egg and painted the base. This week, he will change the gasket. We look forward to smoking some good ribs on the BGE next month. Russell's ancestry project continues to go well....he keeps finding more relatives.

I finally finished watching the Netflix series Scandal. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I find myself missing it. I also miss the almost daily exchanges I had with Pat as we were comparing notes. Now we need to find another good one. I tried watching Homeland but I just couldn't get past two episodes...it made me very anxious so I stopped. 

Tomorrow, I start an eight week Fuel Your Fitness Challenge designed by Angie Aldridge, personal trainer from Huntsville, and Jennifer Northcott, Angie's nutrition coach and RD. It will be a unique learning experience, focusing on how to dial in our nutrition in order to better fuel our workouts. It will be comprised of eight online nutritional education modules, three workouts per week, weekly group Zoom calls with the participants (I believe 13 in total) and access to the EatLove app to help plan meals. It will be something different and no doubt very informative.

I don't have many photos this week other than a few random shots of our pooches. The one of Spicy under the blanket is quite cute.....yesterday afternoon, she went into the den, jumped on the couch, threw the cushion on the floor and burrowed herself under the blanket 💖 I am also including a photo of the gate stopper that we had made for our deck. We found it on Etsy. It is perfect!

Those are our little news. I wish you all a great week. Stay well and safe!

The perfect gate/door stopper from Etsy,
a website with uniquely crafted items.

Cooper inspected and approved the stopper.

Spicy found a way to burrow 
perfectly under a blanket.

Cooper says what did you say, treats?

Deck buddies enjoying the view and the comfort
of the new outdoor area rug.

A Summer week in April

Hello everyone! I hope you're all enjoying a nice Sunday. Ours is quiet, just the way we like it. We went for a nice walk before lunch and we are now relaxing, each in our own way...including our pooches. They are in the den with Russell having a nap. I'm on the deck enjoying this beautiful weather.

We had a good week and our weather was simply spectacular...very warm, sunny and it truly felt like Summer. Russell spent a day or so sanding and oiling our teak bench. It looks brand new, great job Russell!. He also spray painted a few wrought iron ornaments and planters. I got a lot of yard work done. Our flower beds have been raked and I can now see all the plants that are starting to grow back. I also added fresh organic soil to the VegTrug. Sometime next month, I will plant our herbs. I may do tomatoes again this year. The trees are budding, I bought pansies, it's all good.

Our former house in Huntsville is for sale. We've looked at the listing photos a few times...we've been a little curious to see what the people that bought it from us did in terms of changes. Now we know. It looks just as nice although they put curtains in most of the windows.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes to sell.

We continue to follow Barbados and how it's doing with the pandemic. As if they didn't have enough to deal with, ash clouds have been hovering over the island for the past few days due to an erupting volcano in St-Vincent. Russell found this photo taken this morning of "our" beach, covered with ash. No one is allowed outside and the airport has been closed for two days now. 

That's my blog for today. Not much else is going on with us.....like everyone else, we are in a holding pattern. We live for the present. Tomorrow, I will go for a walk with my brother and sister, social distancing. I haven't seen them since mid-December. It will be nice to catch up.

Have a great week everyone. Be well and stay safe!

A splash of bright yellow with the pansies in
the freshly painted planter on the deck.

Spicy curled up in her chair on the 
back deck.

Cooper in a moment of thought  

25 year old teak bench, nicely weathered.

Thick volcanic ash blankets the Dover beach and
all of the Island of Barbados.

25 year old teak bench refreshed, a little
sanding and a few coats of hand rubbed teak oil.

Cooper and Spicy on the front porch, love to 
supervise yard-work while doing their
neighbourhood watch duties.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Sunday everyone! We hope you're all enjoying this special day. For us, this holiday represents a time of renewal and reflection. This year, however, it also brings a sense of much needed hope and better things to come 💗

The four of us had a great week. We continued our Spring cleaning, this time in the garage. Everything is now neat and organized, just the way we like it. We vacuumed the floor and threw away all the knick knacks that we never use. We put away the Winter "stuff" such as salt, crampons and boots. We even stored our shovels in the back corner of the garage....we actually did that the day before we were supposed to get a huge dump of snow. Did we get snow? A few flakes, that's it. The weather guy that we follow on Facebook was royally wrong this time!

Russell also power washed the back deck. It was long overdue. Our timing was good as our outdoor rug was delivered that day. We are very pleased with it. It adds a nice brightness to our outdoor space. 

Cooper and Spicy started their fitness program last Monday. We do it three times a week. It involves three exercises focusing on flexibility, stability and muscular force, exercises changing weekly. It's quite fun and very good for them. This morning, they both got four legs on the black side of the BOSU, with a blanket on it to make it less slippery, while I was holding the sides. It is a bit wobbly so it works the core.....working on getting a six-pack perhaps 😆

Last week brought some sad news. Spicy's sister, Brie, crossed the rainbow bridge. She was only 9 years old. Much too young. We met Brie on a few occasions but we specifically have fond memories of her visiting us in Huntsville in 2014. The photo below was taken during that visit. Doesn't she look like Spicy?

On this Easter Sunday, we are cooking a turkey. I don't think I've ever cooked a turkey for Easter before but we both craved it so we thought, why not!  As always, I bought a huge one for leftovers...for us and the pooches. I just put it in the oven. 

Our weather today is lovely. I'm writing the blog outside while smelling the turkey...and I'm not the only one.....Cooper & Spicy have their noses pointed towards the screen door 😃

I wish you all wonderful Easter and a great week. Stay well and safe!

Spicy and Cooper want to wish everyone
a Happy Easter!

Easter traditions, a homemade carrot cake, bright potted 
plant and a bunny decoration.

The new outdoor rug brightens up the deck and
Cooper and Spicy like the comfort.

Brie will be greatly missed