It's confirmed...we're expecting!

We received confirmation this week that Treasure is indeed pregnant with 4 puppies ( to be confirmed with x-rays on Aug 30). Her due date will be around September 7. I attach a picture, courtesy of Nathan and Darlah of Talemaker Havanese (http://www.talemakerhavanese.com/) . Originally, we thought they would be born towards end of August but that was before the ultrasound, which was done on Monday. So it's official, we will be the proud parents of a puppy sometime towards mid-November. We will be following the balance of her pregnancy on the Talemaker's website. Very exciting news. This also means that we only have a few months left to enjoy the free time that comes with having no children or pets...

On the log home front, this week was busy. Quotes keep coming in, this time for the foundation and the well. The milling of our logs is going great. Matt is happy with the logs, beautiful and big he says! The site has been stumped and is ready to excavate. Septic is under way, the filterbed will be ready for inspection soon. Matt was going to submit the construction permit to the Town of Huntsville today. Next Friday, we will meet with Matt and Ali again to review a few things, then meet with the electrician to review his quote. It's all coming together.

Only 5 weeks left to retirement. Russell is patiently waiting....

Have a good weekend!

Birthday weekend

It's been two weeks since my last post. It's been busy, both at home and at work. Time to update everyone on what's been going on. On the log home front, we have spent quite a bit of time reviewing the house plans all the way down to the electrical blueprint. We are now done! Yesterday, on my birthday, we met with Ali and Matt to sign off on the application for the construction permit. We have also chosen the septic contractor. If all goes according to plan, Matt will submit the plans to the Town of Huntsville by end of next week. We are very happy with the way things are progressing. I feel like things are under control, and it's a good feeling. Matt and Ali have a lot to do with this. I know that we will most likely have to overcome some hurdles along the way, once the construction starts, but somehow, getting to this point was a bit overwhelming for me, being the detailed person that I am.

As mentioned above, we spent a good part of my birthday in Washago, with Ali and Matt. They asked us to stay for lunch and Casey joined us. Casey will be working on our log home as well. It was very nice and I was touched by the fact that they wanted to celebrate my birthday. They are truly down to earth people and we enjoy their company. I attach a picture of Ali, Casey and Matt, as well as Matt's cows ( no photos of the pigs, 10 roaming turkeys, ducks and honey bees )!

The rest of my birthday was spent a home, quietly with Russell, which is what I wanted to do. Although the weather was very hot, we were able to sit outside in the shade, with a fan on! Russell gave me a camcorder as a birthday gift. I will learn how to use it tomorrow and I intend to make many videos in the future, capturing special moments along the way. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Russell gave me a birthday card which, as usual, made me cry. This one was particularly special because of the words in it. Russell has a way to choose cards as if he wrote the words himself and the cards always seem to reflect a particular moment in our lives. I will cherish this particular card for a long time!

On the work front, I have been quite busy, actually busier than I thought I would be at this time. I have 9 weeks left before I retire. Time is just flying by and that is also a bit overwhelming but I will get there. Until the next post, stay cool!

Introducing 31 Forest Hill Lane

We now have an address in Huntsville! The rural number 31 was assigned to our lot last week. We met with Matt and Ali on Wednesday to review the house plans one more time. We are pretty close to the final product. Matt also prepared a project timetable, month by month, from now on until July next year, which is the anticipated move in date. We expect to file the permit application by July 20. I attach the drawing of our house, which still needs some fine tuning, but this is as close as it gets. It will be very nice and unique.

After our meeting with Matt, we went to our lot, had lunch and admired the beautiful view. The lake was calm and the only sound we could hear were of the birds and the rustling of the leaves. We nailed an old horseshoe on a tree, pointing up for good luck. We also hung up a windchime. Next week, Matt will start clearing the lot and get it ready for the foundation, septic, and well drilling.

I will post more pictures later. Until then, I wish everyone a nice Canada Day weekend!

Turtle breakthrough...we have logs and more...

Finally, we have logs! I never thought we could get so excited about something but we are - Matt was able to source our logs from another supplier near Sudbury, not affected by the turtles. They will be delivered to his yard in about one week. Matt is as excited as we are! We are now approaching the final design phase. This week, we received the elevation drawings, still need to be fine tuned, but they are looking very good. I will post them once they are final. We will have a very nice house.

I took possession of my new retirement wheels yesterday, bright yellow MINI Cooper S Countryman ( all wheel drive ), a few months sooner than I thought but, as they say, you have to strike while the iron is hot. It drives very nicely and it is quite spunky.

On Wednesday, we will be going to Washago to meet with Matt to talk about the next 30 days and what needs to be done in order to file the application for the construction permit. Lots to do but so far, we are on target. After our meeting with Matt, we will go to Huntsville to look at our lot, which has been staked out by Matt. We haven't been back since mid-May. It will be nice to see the view now that the trees have filled in. I will have lots to report when we return. Stay tuned!

It's all as good as it gets!

It's been one week since my last post, not much has happened since last week, except that we decided to get a second puppie. We will get Mac in January, then Max in May or so, from a different litter, same breeder. Russell and I both wish we could get the pups sooner but all good things are worth waiting for. M&M will be very happy with us!

On the log front, the turtles are in our way, preventing the logger from getting our white pine logs. Matt has secured other options. It appears that the Ministry of Natural Resources is really getting in our way and we have to question whether those turtles are in fact endangered based on what we have been told. Regardless, turtles have the right to live and if it means getting our logs elsewhere, so be it.

I now have 3 months to go before retirement. Time is just flying by, I have to start thinking about my retirement speech....lots of thoughts are brewing, just need to put them together - any ideas from anyone?

Another week is about to start, who knows what this week will bring :-) It's all good!