So long August!

Happy Sunday everyone! It's a cloudy day for us, hoping for some much needed rain later. Our grass is brownish and our planters look like the way they should at the end of a hot Summer. 

This past week was good and very hot. I think Wednesday was the worse day for us....too hot for me to even sit on the deck....that says a lot. Yesterday, the heat broke and I found myself wearing my leggings again! 

Yesterday, we celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. Our celebration actually started on Friday, with lunch at our favorite restaurant in Pointe-Claire Village, Le Gourmand. The patio is beautiful and the food is delicious. It was very nice. 

Cooper & Spicy are doing well. They both have their Wellness Exam this coming Wednesday. It will be nice to be able to have the consultation in person with our vet. 

It's a very quiet Sunday for us. We had a morning play in the basement with our pooches. I created a maze with the cones and lots of fun was had. My friend Lillian and her Havanese Blu-Belle were supposed to come for a visit this afternoon but given the weather, we decided to do it later this week or next weekend. 

I made a shepherd's pie for dinner....my mom would say it's a Fall meal. Well, it is the end of August, so why not 😂Russell will play some guitar after lunch. I will watch my new favorite Netflix series, Downton Abbey. Hoping to finish season 2. I can't believe that I waited that long to watch it. I love everything about it....the actors, characters, costumes, music. It is so well done. 

That's my blog for today. I wish you all a great week. Labour Day weekend is upon us!

Limelight hydrangea in full bloom.

Spicy and Cooper on squirrel alert.

Cooper loves his dental chews.

Spicy enjoys the maze and even finds
 time to relax during the run.

Game time and some retrieve for Cooper and
Spicy.

Spicy loves to retrieve and then take up her
position on the mat ready for the next
round.

Stinking hot!

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a lovely weekend despite the extreme heat for many of us. This morning, I read that the Old Farmer's Almanac is predicting Quebec will be in for a very cold Christmas followed by a warm New Year's Eve. I had to laugh 😂

All is good with us. Last week was quiet and very hot. We didn't do too much, a few early morning walks with the pooches, I had a couple of workouts with Cooper as my workout buddy. Spicy was being groomed while I was sweating up a storm. 

We had friends over for lunch yesterday. It was nice to catch up. Despite the heat, we ate on the deck and it was very enjoyable. We are really noticing how the UV glass of our awning and the shades keep the heat out. We have literally had all our meals on the deck since the start of Spring. This should continue well into Fall.

We were contemplating going for a walk this morning but decided against it. It's just too hot. We had a good retrieve game with Coop & Spicy. I also did a few fun obedience routines with Cooper. I skipped my workout, just didn't feel like it. Instead, I turned the oven on (I know, crazy on a hot day), made a double batch of granola and roasted some eggplant for a mediterranean salad for dinner tonight. 

That's my blog for this week. I leave you with just a few random pics of our pooches. Have a good one and stay cool!

Constant companions...

So many toys to choose from...this time
Coop picked his old rat

My workout buddy...napping on the job!

Cooper found this cicada very 
interesting but the poor fellow was on
his last wings. 

Snug as a bug....Spicy loves her comfort

Deck time under the table for Spicy

A quiet August Sunday

Hello everyone! We're enjoying another beautiful and peaceful Summer day. As I'm writing this blog, Russell is napping with Coop & Spicy. It seems to be a new ritual now, a nap after lunch. Nothing wrong with that. I'm on the deck, with the music on, my happy place.

This past week was good. We both had our physicals and both got a clean bill of health. Russell is due for a routine colonoscopy and I'm due for a bone density test. We will get those done in September. 

We had a few very hot days, one of them was actually quite stifling. We thought we would get rain or thunderstorms but nothing materialized. 

On Thursday, I went to Metro for some groceries and what did I see....Mums for sale! A sure sign that another season will be upon us before we know it. I bought a few to replace some planters that were done. It makes for some nice colour. 

The Montreal Ribfest is on this weekend, back after a year off due to COVID. Life is returning to normal, bit by bit.  I picked up some ribs for our Friday dinner. At the entrance, the volunteers made sure everyone used hand sanitizers. It was very well organized and the ribs were finger licking good 😋

Coop & Spicy are doing well. Spicy seems to really enjoy watching me workout. On Wednesday, I was doing some sumo squats with the kettle bell and each time I bent down in a squat, she licked my arm. She's such a funny girl. Of course, I had to stop and take a pic of her! 

That's my blog for today. I wish you all a wonderful week! 

A fine boulder along the lake side to sit on 
during our morning walk at Edgewater Park.

Fall must be around the corner...Mums!

My personal workout partner...Spicy!

Cooper loves his deck time and the vantage 
points it gives him to keep an eye on things

"Twas a slow week...

Happy Sunday everyone! It's a hot one out there and more of this heat on the way all week. It's been a very warm Summer for sure, with the exception of a few cool days. We're not complaining in the least about the weather, enjoying every minute of it. 

This past week was good but strangely enough, it felt like a long week. This "slow week" feeling doesn't happen often. Kinda nice in a way.

We didn't do much other than the usual stuff. Our garden is thriving, the grass is not as green due to lack of rain and my Veg Trug is done except for the basil and I have lots of it still.  

We finally got the balance of the refund for our December 2020 Barbados tickets. Back when we cancelled our trip, we got the refund for the tickets minus taxes, surcharges and all other lovely fees associated with a plane ticket. Air Canada has now refunded those charges. It took a while but it happened. Better late than never.

We booked Cooper's appointment with the GI specialist for October 5. The good news is that both of us will be able to do the consultation in person, with Cooper. Up to now, we had to wait in the car and have a telephone call with the specialist. It will be nice to finally meet Coop's doc in person. Speaking of the Coop, he woke up Friday morning with no appetite for breakfast. That was a sure sign that something was off with him. He threw up a few times during the day and was somewhat lethargic. First thing yesterday morning, we called our vet who suggested Pepcid AC for a few days. Since Cooper had no other symptoms, we all agreed there was no need to bring him in. Last night, he had a small dinner, bland food only, and it was well tolerated. He woke up this morning to his old self....he did his usual crazy face planting on our bed before getting up. That's how we knew. It must have been a bug or something. Cooper's GI system is rather fragile so it doesn't take much to upset it. Good to have our Cooper back 💖

Given that Coop was feeling good, we decided to go for a short walk by the lake this morning. It wasn't too hot and there was a nice breeze. As we were walking, we came across this young couple, sitting on a blanket, having coffee. They were in awe with our duo. They are actually contemplating getting their first dog so they had lots of questions about our breed and dogs in general. As we were chatting away, Miss Spicy made herself comfortable on their blanket. She was all spread out as if it was hers. The young couple thought it was totally adorable.

During one of our slow days last week, I started filling out a book that my nephew gave me a few weeks ago..."An Oral History, Preserve Your Family's Story". It's basically a journal designed to capture and preserve a family's story. All the prompts are organized into themed chapters, from ancestry and early life to milestones, celebrations and more. Quite fascinating. My goal is to finish it by Christmas and give it back to my nephew as a keepsake. 

That's my blog for today. Have a great week everyone!

A nice day for sailing out on Lake St Louis.

Spicy always the optimist...what 
you eating now?

Back at the table...Cooper has his
appetite back!

My constant workout buddy.

Just one more retrieve, I promise, says
Cooper!

Paws up on the BOSU for a treat.

Leggings kinda day

Hello everyone and Happy first Sunday of August! I woke up this morning thinking that next month we will go apple picking 😂Life sure does go by quickly. It's a cloudy day for us. We expected lots of rain but that has changed. It's warm enough, 20 celsius, but for some reason, I feel a chill in the air...thus the reason why I'm wearing my leggings, nice and comfy on this quiet Sunday.  My crew is having a nap now, another good thing to do on a cloudy day.

All is good with us. Our week came and went in the blink of an eye. Our generator was delivered on Friday. It looks good, same as what we had in Huntsville but three times smaller. Next will be the install of the transfer switch panel and connection to the propane tank. All should be completed in a few weeks. 

Our pooches are doing well. Their echocardiogram is now booked for November 27... yikes, already something on the calendar for that month. Cooper has been doing his walkabouts at night. I hear him leave the bedroom, walk to the kitchen for some water, he walks back and stops here and there, not sure where exactly, then jumps back on the bed.  I'm such a light sleeper that I hear his every move....it's actually kind of funny that he does that. Spicy is totally oblivious to this. She doesn't move at all during the night. A few weeks ago we heard her jump off the bed and we knew she had to go out to do her business. It's very rare. 

Russell and I are getting our blood work done on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, first thing in the morning, in preparation for our physicals week of August 9. We will also get an ECG, not a bad thing. 

Strawberries are still plentiful. I bought another crate this morning. I plan on making a rhubarb and strawberry crisp this week as well as another batch of compote. Yum!

Those are my little news. I leave you with a bunch of photos that we took this week. One of them I got from Darlah. It is of Spicy when she won Best of Breed 10 years ago. She completed her Canadian Championship at 8 months of age.No wonder she is a little princess 💖When Coop was a puppy, his breeder, Pocopayasos Havanese, had hoped that he would become a show dog but the Cooper had a growth spurt at 6 months, thus too large for the standards. Lucky for us, and him, I say 💗

Continued best wishes to our Canadians at the Olympics, you are making us proud. We've been watching the events at night, truly enjoying it. Have a great week everyone! 

Spicy and Cooper took time for an early 
morning photo opportunity in front of the
back flower bed. BFFs!

Back bed in full bloom with Black-eyed Susans, 
Zebra grass and a Japanese Maple.

A Monarch making its rounds on the Coneflowers.

The Monarch also likes the daisies!

20kW standby backup generator....waiting for the
first power outage.

Tai chi by the Lake at Edgewater Park.

It's my chair, no it's mine...OK, we can share!

Spicy, Best of Breed New Champion at only
8 months old.