One more day on the funny farm!

Man, I can't believe how busy we are every day. Daddy is sure that this retirement stuff is gonna kill him! Strange thing is that things don't seem to look a lot different from one day to the next at this point. It's still all a mess. But they do say that it's always darkest before the dawn. Who are "they" by the way? Did you ever wonder?

Anyway, one of the pictures is when we went blueberry picking in our woods. There weren't many berries there because the sun doesn't get through the trees much, but we got a few. I think we'll have to thin the trees around the blueberry meadow and maybe then there will be more.

The photo with the petunias hanging from the porch was taken in Pugwash at the Hidden Jewel Cafe. Cozy little place where you can get a bite of lunch and a coffee, or buy a book (used), or get something in the little gift shop. Very cute place.

And then there is another reno picture. My art studio. The wall right now looks like altered art because of the four layers of wallpaper that I tried to pick off. Time to rent a steamer I think. I'm sort of thinking of lavender, soft apple green, cream....but I'm not sure, yet.

And in the last picture, you can see Ambra and Sierra in their lovely new paddocks. Notice my terrific fencing. No more chewed boards, no painting ever. It will always look like this. Cool eh?

Anyway, we're working on the guest bedroom right now, and also on the family room and tomorrow the insulation guys are coming as well as the new furnace installers. So things are moving along. I'm looking forward to when at least these two rooms are done, because then we will have somewhere nice to sit and visit with you guys when you come to visit us!

So bye, bye for now. Baseboards to sand.

Doesn't look like we got much done, but...

We've been so busy, something to do all the time and it's been hard to get to the blog. But at last here I am and I'll try and catch you up on what has been going on.

So far, we've pulled up all the carpet, Don has bashed out the woodstove backing brick, painted some of the trim and gotten a cement floor poured in the basement. We did that to try and fix the musty dirt basement smell that was coming upstairs and it has already improved tremendously. Someone here said their basement was like that and they'd gotten used to the smell, but we just felt that we didn't want to get used to it. That contractor also put jacks under and lifted the house just a little in the centre. It's not perfect, but it is kind of like doing a facelift to a 70 year old woman. She looks a bit better, but face it, the wrinkly neck and hands still tell you she's a 70 year old woman. So the floor still slopes a bit, but it won't go any further!

We bought our lawn tractor and now Don is my lawn man. I don't have a pool so I can't have a pool boy, but he can be my lawn man. We also bought a little tractor (just a little one) with a scoop and a woodchipper and a snowblower on it. The woodchipper will come in handy when we cut some trails in the woods behind our house. The one picture is taken from inside our woods. You can see our house in the background.

Ambra and Sierra got here safe and sound and stepped off the trailer as casually as if they had been here before and as if all the travelling had been nothing to them. The man who brought them said they were a pair of the best horses he'd ever shipped. Well mannered and calm about getting into the trailer each morning. I was such a proud mum. My girls didn't embarrass me by turning into monsters when I wasn't there to chastise them! This morning I took Sierra out for a little ride around the front of our place and even though she couldn't bare to leave Ambra in the barn, she was good and listened to me and didn't get all goofy anxious. Again, I was so proud! She's a lovely horse (I'd forgotten how pretty the two of them are). I just need to get them into a regular excercise program because they are looking a little flabby.

It is raining today and not good for doing outside work so Don and I are going to get busy pretty soon here and steam off some wallpaper. Then I will be able to paint, then we can get someone to re-install our woodstove wall to code, and then.....

The Difficulties of Posting...

My coffee sits on the table in front of me, steaming gently, my computer is beginning to warm my lap and I'm trying to put my thoughts down. But there is one small hitch and he insists on climbing into my lap and laying his head across my arm each time I sit down here. I think that Diesel is feeling a little bit deprived of the kind of regular cuddling that he used to get when we lived in the apartment. I had so little to do there that I spent an awful lot of time sitting and watching tv and of course, he was there, either on my lap or cuddled close beside. But since we've come here, I am constantly busy, either planting the trees that I bought, or getting Sierra and Ambra's stalls or paddocks ready, or pulling out carpet, or.... well the list is endless at this point.

Anyway, the minute I sit down with my coffee and computer in the morning, he is right there - looking at me with his big brown eyes, willing me to pick him up so that than he may climb aboard. Then when he has found his comfy spot, nose tucked down into the crook of my arm, his snoring starts. So spoiled! My computer told me I needed to plug in. Instead of putting the dog to one side, I asked Daddy to get my power cord and do it - so that I wouldn't disturb Diesel. Never underestimate the power over your heart of a pair of big brown eyes and a little wet nose!

Guess what the special day is?

So today, we wait with baited breath, glancing frequently up the road in one direction, then the other. Waiting til 11:00, then til 12:00, then til...and finally the sound of a low, low engine, coming up the road. Is it? Can it be...? Yes it is, it is the moving truck, hallelujah! Our stuff is here! We've been living out of one suitcase, and sleeping on the most horrible airmattress. I can't wait, I am so excited.

The moving guys were great and not only did they do a good job, but the boss was especially entertaining. And when we told them that the queen size bed was to go up into the barn because it would never get up the tiny narrow stairway of the house, he took it as a personal challlenge. And I couldn't believe it, but if that box spring had been 1/4" bigger it would never have gone up, but somehow, he managed to do it. No more air mattress, another reason to shout hallelujah!

Then because of the way it was packed into the moving truck, Don's motorcyle had to be lifted up two feet from a lower deck to the upper deck in the truck. Remember, that sucker is at least 750 lbs! No small feat believe me. But they did it. Just amazing. Like I said, those guys were great movers and we would recommend Atlas Van lines anytime.

But that is not all that makes this a special day! What makes it really special is that it is our 33rd wedding anniversary! And neither of us even remembered until the day was almost done. So we celebrated by going to see a movie in Amherst (pronounced Amerst by the locals). We went to see The Bourne Ultimatum and for our anniversary dinner, well what else but popcorn and Glossette raisins. Truly an anniversary to remember.

Now I will sign off, because the day has been long, and eventful, and we are pooped. So good night everyone.