Hickory Dickory Dock

The weather here has been very hot!  How hot you ask?  It has been so hot that Aunt Peggy wanted her air conditioner in the window.  Of course, Poppa obliged and she is more comfortable now!  It has been so hot that ....

... Squeegie and Taffy have their summer outfits on - it must have been Tuesday - that is orange day!  Aside from the heat wave, there has not been a lot going on here.  I finished this book ....

... and I have started another Jack Reacher (written by Lee Child - Jack Reacher is the hero in this series - and yes I'm currently on a roll!) novel........ they are quite gripping.  Poppa has been working in the yard.........

.......and has it looking lovely.  It has been an excellent season for....

... the peonies.  It's a shame that they don't last throughout the summer - they are so gorgeous and put on such a beautiful show!  Our little boys.....

......... are seemingly practising..........

.. their Chippendale dancing, but Curtie seems to have gotten a little shy and is leaving the room........gasp!  

Apparently Munchie is NOT so shy........oh wait........ Mommy is trying to tell me something......

....... it seems they were just getting ready for a tubby!  Whew! Tick, tock, tick, tock....

.... how does that old nursery rhyme go????

At Long Last....

..... I find myself with a few minutes to write a few words.  I hope I can remember all the things I wanted to talk about.  Let me see................

.... this is Daddy working on the front porch at Munchie's house.  It looks like a lot of work!  It has taken me so long to post this picture - the cement is all removed now....and there is more work going on... I don't have pictures yet.  But - the drive way looked like this.....

.............and you can see the front of the house looks quite different than it did!  By the time Poppa went down to work on the garden, the dumpster was gone and the mess was cleaned up.  I'll send more pictures as they become available.   Meantime, Munchie is still exploring avenues available for his career choice when he grows up.  His latest ambition...........

........ is to become an artist!  Here you can see a sample of his talents and skills!  We're quite proud of him!  Way to go Munchie!  And - as you may have noticed from the picture at the top of my blog page....

.... Curtie wants to try his hand at carpentry and/or construction.  He was quite....

... interested in keeping an eye on whatever Poppa was doing.  More news about the little boys and their careers later!  On another note.....

.... Uncle Brian got a new van!  Sharp hey?  He looks quite rightfully, proud of his new toy!  And there will be more news from Auntie Denise and Uncle Brian - coming soon to a blog near you!  Let me see - what else..........oh yes!

Poppa has the house all decked out for the summer (and he's washing my car in the driveway!).  It looks really nice.  The side yard (Phillip's Park) is also.............

.......... looking very flower-ey, don't you think?  I love the way the fuschia looks in the birdbath!  Of course, the birds are all dirty, but I don't think they really care!  Taffy is all decked out.........

in her pretty pink sundress, and Squeegie.....

......... oops!  Squeegie is sitting in the truck waiting for Taffy and me to get in, so Poppa can go to Home Depot.  Gotta run!

Old Friends

Last weekend Granny was visiting an old friend and we went out for dinner with them....

.... this is Granny, Mary and Marilyn. When our nephew Sean was born, our local hospital was a teaching hospital for aspiring nurses.  Marilyn wanted to work in the neo-natal unit (newborns) and as part of her training was assigned to Granny to follow through the pregnancy and birthing process.  After all these years (about 40+) Granny and Marilyn still enjoy getting together for a visit.  And, each year Marilyn's class of nursing graduates get together to reminisce and catch up on what is happening currently.  Mary is a member of that graduating class too.  They were kind enough to join us for dinner....

.

..... at a local restaurant and we had a very nice time.  Both these ladies are still nursing currently and have interesting stories to tell.  Thank you ladies for letting us join in the fun!

     Poppa is at Munchie's house.  He went down yesterday afternoon and is coming back tomorrow afternoon.  Squeegie and Taffy are missing him a lot.....

.... and anxiously awaiting his return!

At Last!

     Things seem to have calmed down here - thank goodness.  Poppa really needed a break.  Now - I'll try to catch up.     Poppa was working on a project.  You see, there was this area at the end of our driveway where the water would lay after a rainfall.  This drove him crazy.  He had made this nice cement curb - all re-inforced with rebar to keep it strong - along each edge of the driveway.  Then he had the driveway paved and it looked lovely.  Of course, after a long cold Canadian winter the driveway heaved where the culvert runs underneath and after it settled, this low spot appeared.  Eventually the rain water started making an incursion between the cement curb and the pavement - hence eroding the soil underneath and the low spot got even lower... and so on.  I missed pictures at the beginning of this project, since I didn't know it was even starting.  So - Poppa broke out the necessary cement curbing, chipped out the pavement from an area around the low spot and dug out that area - including a spillway along the outside edge for the water to run away.  Then he put  .......

.... cement into that dug out area and shaped it into the desired contours, and left it to dry for a few days until it turned whitish and he declared it to be "cured".  Next, he bought some black pavement stuff and coated it all......

..... here it is all finished - but the picture doesn't really show it very well.  You can see where he broke off the cement - and the new cement forms a little sluiceway for the water to run down.   Of course, he now has to repair the end of the curbing to make it pretty again - but this is as far as he got before......

.... Poppa's Aunt Rita passed away.  This is a picture of her at her 95th birthday party, sitting beside her brother - Uncle Bert to us.  This picture was taken on October 16th, 2011.  We were sorry to have her leave us - and our hearts to out go to her children - Leon and his wife Janet; Denis and his wife Liz.  Two days later we received the news that Poppa's cousin..........

.... George had died.  Here he is with (from left to right) Poppa's niece Tracy, Auntie Denise, George, Aunt Grumpy and Aunt Jeannie.  Poppa had been helping tend to George's needs (with help from Denis & Liz) for a long time and I know he will miss George in his life.  Thank you to Auntie Denise for both the above pictures.  The birthday party took place when Poppa was recovering from meningitis so we could not be there.  And, Auntie Denise had stopped in at the nursing home to have a visit with George on March 24th of this year - this picture was taken then.
     On the brighter side of life.....

     .... the spruce trees are growing.....

.... the rose bushes are sprouting (and a few weeds - oops!).........

... and I even have a couple of lupins blooming!  Oh yes - flowers!  I did finish.....

... Auntie Colleen's tea toque.  What do you think?  She seemed quite pleased with it and wants one for her smaller teapot now.  I'm working on an idea I have - but haven't been able to get back to her house for a couple of weeks - I have to measure the other teapot.  I think it's the same size as Poppa's teapot - but I want to be certain!  So, while I've been thinking about the next one....

.... I made a few dishcloths.  I gave these two to Auntie Colleen when I took the tea toque to her.....and I have a few more.....

.... if anyone would like a couple (or a few - they are free since I am using up my stash so I can buy new yarn!), just let Taffy know at taffy.robert@gmail.com  or if you like - just give me a call!
     One last thing.... early this morning I received e-mail from Aunt Muffy and Uncle Brian, wishing me a Happy Birthday.  After Poppa and I returned home from breakfast, I recived a phone call from Granny and Gramps  - so nice to hear from them - thank you!  Then later, Mommy and Daddy and the boys called......and while Poppa was chatting with Munchie.....

....this arrived at the front door - from all of them.  Just in case you can't see the bottom very clearly.....

.... it looks like this!  Isn't he adorable?  Thank you to Daddy, Mommy, Munchie and Little Curtie!