Saturday, December 10, 2011

You know those forwards that people send out....?!



Just received one which said: hope you aren't too busy with Christmas but....I have to forward this to twenty people...(I noticed that I was the only one in our 'school' group to be so honored)...and you will get a flood of recipes back if you sign your name and put up a recipe...(now that I think of it, my friend must have thought I'd have a recipe or two running a B&B)....so, declining politely I explained my day, which included a run to the pet store to replace the deer antler that Annie is so devoted to and which I wish I'd known about before she chewed through my kitchen cupboards and my expensive antique daybed replica....but I placed her deer antler somewhere and for the life of me, can't remember where...so $28 incl. tax later, she had another deer antler. I continued to list my exciting life here in the small town and country...running around town doing my chores, going to Curves where five other women and I shouted obsenities at each other around the circuit (actually, we were hooting in laughter), then dropped into the Credit Valley dog show...one of the last on the CKC circuit for this year...and a big one. I took Annie into the show, leashed (that means she was constantly straining at the leash and not walking as a trained show dog would), where she promptly sniffed the butts of every manicured, perfume-sprayed dog she could find to come into contact with while their handlers looked on in horror, or she was jumping up at passersby (why, I don't know other than there was a building full of dogs yapping and she was a tad overexcited). I kept apologizing and saying: she's just a puppy...well...she's nearly a year old but...puppy sounds better...) and so when I thought about my day and whether I was busy or not and wanted to join in on exchanging recipes with multitudes of other people whom I did not know, I declined. Am I busy...well, I'm not on a social whirl of cocktail parties, I can tell you that. Having to put pantyhose on was something I did twenty three years ago when I moved up here and haven't done since.


So here is Annie around five months of age. She's a great kisser. Actually, she was sniffing to see what I'd had for lunch.


Rosey

Friday, December 9, 2011

snow

Yes we got snow. Fortunately, it did not stick, as we were in the middle of the state mandated tests. It's a nightmare if anything messes with that schedule! The snow totals for this year are ridiculous...

Re:Season

That a beautiful quilt Marion. What a lot of work.
I am so late this morning. I'm in training to sleep later in the morning and it was a successful one today.
We have three more singing engagements and then it will not matter so much,but today. OHHH.
Yes Celia, I miss your comments very much.
Must say that when we drove through N.B. this summer you where constantly on my mind
Hope all is well with you.
Got to go now. Catching up
Grace

Marion in NZ - your Xmas wall-hanging is lovely! Such a perfect place for it, since you don't use the fireplace in summer.

LAURA IN AL - Did you receive any snow on Wednesday? It fell in large flakes, but thankfully did not stick anywhere.

CATS - I have never lived with a cat, but enjoy others' cats. Rosey, thank you for posting the pic of Celia's tortoise shell kitty. She is gorgeous.

It's so much fun to see the dogs and cats of the WWQP Chat Board. :-D They are all such beauties. I don't have any recent pics of Sophie, and I think you've all seen this one of Sophie, the Predhead:

It's the season....

(Shall we could run a competition to see who can come up with an amusing end to that statement? I can think of a few myself !?! )

This is the first time, since we got the new computer, that I have been able to post a photo. I'm so pleased it worked, wish I had chosen a different photo now, but it was all trial and error and I didn't think it would happen ! At least it's seasonal ! I made the quilt years ago and it just fits the fireplace, so that's where it went last year.

Celia, I'm sure you'll be reading the BB page to see your lovely cat featured ! We do miss you. Isn't it time you came back to us ? I can admire your furry friend even though I'm not a cat fancier at heart !

So pleased that it's Friday. It's been a very busy week and I am looking forward to a "sleep in' tomorrow morning. We have to help somebody move house over the w/end. Just hope they don't want to make an early start in the morning ! I'd like a hour or two in the garden too. The growth out there is amazing. The lady who helps me occasionally has only been twice since Sept. and it shows ! The sweet -peas are lovely though. I have a large bowl near the desk and their scent takes me right back to my childhood.

Enjoy the w/end.

Marion.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

With Celia P's permission




Here is Autumn, Celia from New Brunswick's beautiful cat who she adopted from the SPCA in Oct., of 2009. She had been found abandoned, starving and pregnant and was in foster care until her 6 kittens were born & weaned, then she was spayed and brought back to the shelter. That very day, Celia went in looking for a companion for the naughty Molly. Celia says she is the most gentle, affectionate little thing God ever put in a fur coat. Celia lost her beloved cats to wild animals several years ago so Molly & Autumn are indoor cats but Celia's DH built a clever arrangement whereby the cats can go outside a special door into a large two story outdoor caged in area where they are safe. Coyotes are awful marauders of small animals; we lost our cat MacDuff who was somewhat the same colour as Autumn though not as pretty, when he was 11 and insisted on going outside at night. I walk outside now with all our animals and Miss Annie is leashed at night. Living in the country, these things happen.
Rosey

PS: I can't resist a crack here Celia.....some wives may object and think they were the most gentle, affectionate little things their husband's ever put into fur coats......(bad Rosey!!) I can't help myself. Celia needs to come back on the board. I miss her British sense of humour.


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

What? Dog pics?




You know you can't say that without me posting pictures of Alex Chickasaw Dykehouse,
the joy of our lives! First a picture I took of him the other night with a cool setting on my camera.
Then the real Alex with his big smile! Still working on a Christmas picture since he didn't enjoy
his Santa visit. Just so the cats aren't left out, a picture of Bruiser, aka The Big B, our feral cat that
has been visiting indoors a little during the cold weather (he's in heaven)

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

More puppy pix

Just got back from a few days with DD in California. This is Ruger, the Rottweiller pup. He's just over a year old and has discovered that if he gets right in front of the automatic garbage can in the kitchen, he can make it open up long enough to check what is inside. They have had to turn off the automatic opener.



This one of Murphy was taken just after a visit to the vet over Thanksgiving weekend. He had a cut foot, and the vet jokingly said that if he didn't leave the bandage alone, we could put him in a full body cast. Murphy took that to heart and immediately came back to the cabin and put his "owie" paw higher than his heart. He's normally also one of those ADHD dogs...half Lab and half Chesapeake. Fortunately at age two, he's finally beginning to be rational.




Kathi




Love the dog pictures!

The dog pictures are great. What's with the cupcakes? Was he looking to eat them, or did he already have some?
I took my 2 to get pictures with Santa last Sat. morning. They should be ready on Tues morning. Found a mobile groomer who is good, she came over yesterday to give the girls a trip and a bath.
Working on cutting fringe on polar fleece for blankies for a nursing home that several of us are visiting tonight. One of the GFs works there. We are providing decaf coffee, goodies, and hopefully getting the ladies to tie the ends of the blankies together. The polar fleece really dulls the rotary blades quickly. Luckily got several last week when Jo-Ann's had a big sale.
Other than that decorating the house. It is taking much longer this year. Some of the lights in the artificial tree are burned out, I'm trying to figure out how to get more on it, or rearrange the ones there. Very warm here, over 70 or 75 for the last few days.
Just checking in, it's been a few days since Comcast would let me sign on. I missed the yoga class today, so think I'll go do 30 min. on my own if the dogs don't jump in with their own "downward dogs".
Sara in Fla.

Monday, December 5, 2011

dogs


I love the dog pictures! I can't remember if I posted this one last year, so here goes... The black lab is Schuyler (sky-ler) and the labradoodle is Lucy. FYI, the stories about labradoodles being ADHD is true... The dog books call them "high energy." DH calls it AD ooh squirrel...LOL Schuyler, on the other hand, is the "good" dog. If I can make him understand what I want, he energetically and perfectly performs it :)

You'll notice, Doris, Stain is a blue merle Aussie



And does he look just a bit guilty?? or not??


Here is our Geordie, at 14 1/2 years. He's now over 15 and in pretty bad shape but still breathing...and still able to go outside to do his required business so as long as that is in place, J, who will be making the decision with this one as to when to put him down, does not want to let him go and I can't blame him a bit. They are buddies. But the Aussies are full of mischief in their earlier years and full of energy too.


Another rainy day here in Southern Ontario but it's better than snow.


Rosey

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Stains the counter-surfing dog


Here's a picture --- the expression on this dog's face is half the fun. LOL

Coming up for air !

It's a busy time of year ! Not helped here by some very hot days, but most of the mail has been dealt with and most of the parcels wrapped..

What a treat to see those beautiful photographs on the page. The one of the mountains is spectacular, and the one of "Annie no" showing her on her on her best behaviour, made me smile ! We have got our friends Beagle, staying here this week, the two dogs are having a very busy time chasing imaginary rabbits and hares around the property. No need to take them for a "walk." They are exhausted at the end of the day.

We went to a performance of Handles Messiah on Saturday night. It's almost the traditional start to the Christmas season here.. It's usually held in the auditorium at the Town Hall in Christchurch. With that facility "munted" in the earthquake, this year it was held in a school hall..It was a very hot night, no air conditioning there and the seating consisted of school benches.. ! Must have been even more uncomfortable for the choir and orchestra, all dressed up for the occasion , but they put on a great performance and were rewarded with a long, standing ovation, at the conclusion.

Bee, say "hi" to Fran for me ! She was one of the first BB members to contact me too. That's going back a bit ..! I hope their trip goes well. We'll be up in Auckland for Christmas but I think they will have left NZ by then.

Busy with "end of year" things this week. Most groups take the month of January off so Dec is full of morning teas, lunches and evening BBQ's. All need baking for or buying for so that's my focus today. Looks as if it's going to be hot again but, hopefully, not around the 30 deg that we had over the w/end.

Have a good week.
Marion.