Landscaping Again.

Poppa got really busy over the last week and a half.  He carried on with his landscaping at the front of the house, and continued down the side - which has never had any landscaping done since the house was new.  He started out by preparing the ground and planning the planting.

Then he laid some gardeners' fabric down, planted the chosen bushes, shrubs and plants, covered the fabric with red cedar mulch and stepped back to survey the results.

Feeling satisfied with the results, he continued down the side of the house.

This sounds simple and easy when I type it here, but it all took several days of hard work in the unusual heat wave we've had here lately.  Poppa came in each day quite hot and tired and ready for a nice cold drink!  The plants are all small right now, but we're sure they will grow as the season progresses and look better each year.  When he had these two spaces finished to his exacting criteria, we strategically placed some greenery on the patio on the driveway side of the front door and here is what it looked like.

The final step was to sprinkle some grass seed on the bare spots surrounding the new landscaping and give everything a drink.  Poppa finished that and stepped back to scan the project for flaws while the bears were waiting impatiently for him to come in.

Taffy had worked hard to create something unique for lunch.........but, I'm not sure Squeegie was overly impressed (which didn't stop him from eating it!)

Poppa carefully placed our most recent acquisition to the outdoor decorating, in this corner to welcome visitors.

These little fellows lend a bit of humour to an otherwise quite sophisticated look.  Finally Poppa came in and was greeted by a couple of hungry bears.

I wanted to share this picture with you.  It is a beautiful flower that Mommee brought me when they came up that weekend after Mother's Day.  Isn't it gorgeous?

It's actually a little past its prime in this picture, but it is beautiful and had a lovely, delicate aroma.

And another exciting photo to share with you...........this one from Auntie Muffy.

And here is the dialogue that went with it....."Here's one for the "Abandoned" series I think. Found this guy hiding in a bucket at our local No Frills store. We did not move it at all. It just sat there with it's Tim Horton's label showing so nice and clearly. "  Both my girls are enjoying the abandoned series, and are keeping an eye out for specimens in their territory.  It makes me smile.

And here is a photo from Auntie Colleen's camera........

...and the accompanying descriptive paragraph.  "Shaun took me to see the Hillsdale Mill. Wow! He told me it was really something but still I wasn't prepared for just how beautiful and huge this abandoned mill would turn out to be. It is close to the road and suddenly it looms before you. If ever a building appears to be haunted, it is this one. We both took photos and this is one I shot just after we arrived. I couldn't resist aging it to sepia. "  Awesome!

More Munchie, More Lace, More Blanket

So, a week ago, we got another call - Munchie's babysitter needed another Friday off....so could we look after him for a day.  That was all Poppa needed, we were in the car and off to Munchie's house in time to pick him up before bed the night before the big day.  He would be staying with us for two nights, then Mommee and Daddee would come to get him.  We arrived before Mommee got home, so we kept an eye out for her...and pretty soon Poppa spied her car coming up the parking lot.

Yep - that's her all right, she's got Curtis with her, and they look very nice together!  Can you see Curtis?

Where on earth did Poppa and Mommee go?  I'm pretty sure they headed down this long hallway...but I don't see them anywhere now!  Where is Munchie?

After I had waited for what seemed like an awfully long time, I decided to check that long hallway one more time, and I saw this.....

We decided we would hang around for a while and have a pizza with Mommee.  While we waited for the pizza to arrive, Munchie watched some TV.  I wonder what happened to that old notion that kids shouldn't sit (or stand on their chairs) too close to the TV screen?!?

Soon it was time for Munchie to get into his jammies and his jacket and head to Poppa's house for a couple of days.  After Poppa fastened him into his car seat he took a few minutes to have a cuddly reunion with Squeegie, who was waiting for Munchie in the car.

And shortly after arriving at Poppa's house it was time for Munchie to go to bed, right after Poppa lifted him up to turn on the ceiling fan and set up his bed.

The next two days were busy ones for Poppa and his little side-kick! They played in the sand box...

They wrestled in the parlour (aka toy-room).....

Then they took a rest together.....

Later, they went for a ride in Poppa's truck...

And came back in a while with a new toy...

And soon it was time for one last game of "where is Munchie's nose" before bed - the last night before Mommee and Daddee came...

And sure enough, the next day, Munchie looked up and this is what he saw..........Mommee!

Yes Mommee...that is what you look like from a Munchie's-eye-view!  Hee!  Incidentally, that is not Mommee's best angle.........here is how she looks from Nanna's-eye-view.

Pretty top hey?  So off we all trundled to get some breakfast.

And once again, all too soon, our little family was headed back home, and we settled into our usual routine for another while.  Oh yes, what about the lace and the blanket you are asking....well here is what Curtis' blanket looks like as of today.

I have one more square to make and then I will start the construction project..and hope that it is as large as I want it to be... or maybe make more squares...we'll see.  And, here is some rosebud lace in the pastel pink thread.  I've finished the daisy piece and will post pictures when I get it starched and pressed.  This new rosebud lace is in No. 30 crochet cotton and made on needles even smaller than the other lace.... you can see it is smaller around than my darning needle!  It makes the work a little slow, but just as fun as ever.  And I needed something dark to put it on so it would show to its best advantage, so I picked an item that I knew Auntie Colleen would like, as much, if not more than the knitted lace.

A Stroll to the Donut Shop

Here is a chronicle of a typical morning walk to the donut shop for coffee.  We try to do this each morning so that we get in a bit of exercise every day.  Of course, Poppa gets lots of exercise as he works around the yard, but I'm usually inside. 

On the way out, I stopped to snap a shot of the bleeding heart in the corner of the flower bed...it is flourishing and the whole corner is full of it.  Somewhere buried in the centre of that mass of bleeding heart is a peony - I guess we'll see more of it later.

The lily of the valley is also in bloom in this flower bed, and as we walk up the path, the aroma is heavenly...I really love the lily of the valley...they are tiny, but they smell wonderful!  While I stopped to take pictures, Poppa was heading out the driveway without me, so I had to get moving.  I'll get a picture of the lilies another day.

We went and had our coffee, then headed home again.  I guess we were still sleepy on the walk up, because on the walk back home we noticed all kinds of things we had missed before.  For instance, here was another picture for the abandoned series, floating in the little creek.

Then, as we got closer to home, while passing the stream (a larger one that the little creek flows into), we noticed that the wood ducks were there.  We hadn't seen them for quite a while - we thought due to the lowering of the water level - but after quite a bit of rain - they were back.  We haven't seen them since though.

If you click on the picture to make it bigger, you can see them away up there.  When we were almost home, it occurred to us that the trees were mostly leafed out and looking green and summer-ey.  What a treat to see our house between all the trees.

Of course, as soon as we got home, Poppa found something he had to do.  This time it was cleaning the filter in the hot tub.

Of course, while he did this, Squeegie wanted to watch.  It was very sunny out there, and bright sun is not good for teddy bear fur, so Poppa came up with a solution that allowed Squeegie to watch without getting fur deterioration.

This just made me laugh!

Abandoned and Knitted Lace

I've fallen somewhat behind with the abandoned pictures............and I really love them, so I thought I should try to get up to date..........Mommee took this one!  She has joined the ranks of the abandoned series lookouts and discovered this one sitting on the counter at the office where she works.  Apparently it sat there all day........until someone finally gave up on finding the owner and disposed of it.

And then there is this one..........I'm not sure where Uncle Shaun found this one, but I'm sure it must have been the Coliseum in Rome........or someplace like that..........looks like an old stone building.

Off topic, here is a wonderful picture of Murfee the Wonder Dog..........Auntie Colleen titled it Wild Thing..........

isn't he cute?  Doesn't look too wild to me...but apparently he was spying on photographers in the area!

Now, finally, here is a picture of the pink knitted lace.  I pinned it out the best I coule on Poppa's chair and took one picture - this is it.

Great Gramma's 84th Birthday!

That same day - the day Munchie went home with Gramma - Great Gramma had a birthday party.  Poppa and I were a little late getting there, but we did make it in time to see everyone and wish Great Gramma a happy day.  Here are a few photos....

She got a lot of cards...and they were all different and all lovely.

Everyone had a cup of tea (or the drink of their choice) and a nice visit.

Auntie Denise was doling out large pieces of scrumptious, decadent birthday cake - and apparently sampling it as she did. 

Aunt Bonnie rushed around so quickly she got blurred, while Poppa ate cake, and Uncle Brian looked on - wishing for a second piece I think.

Aunt Smiley (the Aunt formerly known as Aunt Grumpy) and Uncle Ernie smiled for the camera.

And so did Uncle Brian - this is such a good picture of him!

And I'm still knitting - here is a preliminary picture of the blanket-in-progress for Munchie's little baby brother - I should have it finished well before his due date of August 22nd.

I'm still working on some pink lace, but I haven't got a picture yet.  I'll do that soon!

Gramma and Munchie

After that busy week, we were looking forward to Gramma's visit, along with little Munchie of course!  They arrived safely on Friday morning - both safe and sound.  Gramma looked like she was happy to get out of the car and turn the little guy over to Poppa for a while.

While Gramma was having a cup of coffee to revive her from the drive, Munchie had coerced Poppa into letting him wash his hands to refresh himself after the long drive.  (Munchie looooves to play in the water.)

After some time spent visiting, and playing with Munchie to wear him out and get him tired enough for a nap, Gramma and I decided to go for a little tour around the area to acquaint Gramma with Mommee's old stomping grounds.  Of course, we took a stroll around the park to get the mandatory photo of the visitor at the Champlain Monument.  Here's Gramma!

We toured around the area for a couple of hours - showed Gramma the houses Mommee had lived in and the local schools and some other highlights.  Meanwhile, back at the house, Munchie had gotten up from his nap - quite refreshed and ready to get into action again.  Poppa took him outside to check out the new sandbox.

He enjoyed it immensely and played there for a long time.  But, eventually he got hungry and climbed out to come inside for a bite to eat.  After some more play time...he decided he was worn out and we got him ready for bed.  He paused to say good night to all his favourite toys....

....he headed off to  bed and a while later the rest of us followed him upstairs.

Early the next morning he was wide awake and eager to start another day!  He urged Poppa to help him with a little project he had in mind.  C'mon Poppa!

So, Poppa lent a helping hand and pretty soon the mission was accomplished!

Look!  I did it!  The light is on!

When Poppa and Gramma stopped for their morning coffee, Munchie decided he needed some too - and did the Dip 'n Sip with his sucker........it was very cute!

As soon as Kev-Inn got up, we all headed to McDonald's for breakfast - we chose McDonald's because we thought they had a tent full of plastic balls, but apparently they had taken the balls out........but Munchie did find a nice little girl and some buttons to twist and turn.....and he had a good time as well as some good breakfast.

By the time we arrived back home and Munchie played some more with Poppa, Squeegie, Taffy, Pooh and the toys...he was starting to get a little tired.

He found Nanna's jacket and put it on - it seemed a tad chilly in the house.....then he also put on Squeegie's hat and trudged around looking adorable.

I thought he would get rid of that big jacket in a short time, but he went trekking around for quite a while - looking like a poor, little hobo....but smiling all the while.

We knew he was getting tired, and he laid down on the floor and covered himself with Nanna's jacket..........we all glanced at each other - worrying that he was going to fall asleep right there in the middle of the parlour floor - and we were trying to tire him out so he would sleep for Gramma in the car while she drove back to his house.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera ready when, a few seconds later, out popped a little blond-haired, blue-eyed boy saying "Pee-Boo!" and laughing with glee.  We all got a good laugh.

Eventually though, he grew impatient with us, for not noticing how tired he was getting, and he went and got his jacket - hoping, I guess, that we would get the hint.

Then he went and got Nanna's shoes and handed them to her.

After a brief snuggle with Taffy he went to ask Poppa for some assistance.   He had decided he would like to keep a souvenir of his visit - and chose one of Taffy's ear ribbons.

We convinced him that Taffy and her ribbons would still be here when he came to visit us again.........and since he looked ready to fall asleep, we finished getting his gear packed and helped Gramma stow it in her car.  All too soon, they were heading up the road in the rain to take our baby back home.  We had such a good time with Gramma and Munchie, we're hoping they will both come back to see us again soon.