A Few Other...........

.......... chores that Poppa has gotten done.  He did a few little things for Denis & Liz that I would like to show you.....

....... he planted a few impatience plants in the front flowerbed..........

............ he cleaned the grout in the master suite bathroom.........

........ he installed some baseboard in a couple of places where it was missing....

,,,,, he put a new curtain on the door leading to the pool area.....

............ this is the outside picture - you can see the nice new paint colour - Denis & Poppa did that before Denis and Liz went back to Canada.

He trimmed up all the plants surrounding the pool area....

.......... so that they will thicken up and grow new foliage....and he planted a couple of new plants in there to add some colour.........

..........as well as replacing the hibiscus bush which didn't survive the cold temperatures last year, with a little baby hydrangea tree which should grow to about 5 feet and is a little hardier for that particular spot.  Now all we have to do is wait for it to grow!

A New Nose...........

............. looks like this!  Here is Squeegie with his new nose!  He also has new eyes.  He looks so handsome and his sense of smell has returned!  I'm not sure if this is good or bad, since the smell of food makes him hungry even quicker!  Taffy...........

.......... looks just the same - except her head no longer falls forward all the time!  She sits up nice and straight - and she got a new outfit before she came home!  She is happy to be home and wore this outfit to church on Saturday evening!  Poppa and I missed them a lot while they were gone and were more than happy to bring them home again!  While they were gone, Poppa was doing things to fill in the time.  He....

........... fixed the kitchen tap .......... I have no idea what he did, but it works like a charm now.  He also....

...... cleaned the brand new vacuum cleaner and did all the carpets.  He was quite impressed with the new vacuum and seemed to take a long time to do everything thoroughly!  Then....

......... he cleaned the garbage bucket - but I was a little late getting the camera ready and just caught him after he put it back in its space - oops!  Following that....

........ he took a look at this folding door (which hides the laundry equipment) and decided he just couldn't leave it like that!  So...

...... he took the doors off, then carefully removed the track they fold on and.......

.......... took it outside to do some work on it.  Once he had it straightened to his satisfaction, he......

.......... re-hung it, did some adjustments to make it hang perfectly and ...........

......... ta-da!  It's perfect now!  He did a few other chores as well, and then.............

........... once we had retrieved the bears...............

.......... he took a day off to relax and enjoy his birthday!

Happy Birthday............

............ to Poppa!  Yes - today is his birthday - and I don't even have a nice picture of him to post!   Due to an amazing response to my e-mail regarding this year's sock giveaway, I have no time for anything but knitting socks.  I have 15 pairs to knit for ladies, and 6 pairs for men!  I currently have 10 and 2/3 pairs of ladies done, so fairly soon the ladies will be able to pick.  The men will probably have to wait until I get home to pick theirs.

The bears are back home.  They are happy to be here.  Taffy no longer had a droopy head and Squeegie has his nose back and brand new eyes as well as some re-inforcement behind his fur to keep him in good shape!  I'll try to post pictures "soon".

From the back Squeegie looks just like this.

Back Home..........

....... after several minutes of silent communication and careful consideration.......

... Uncle Shaun and Gus decided............

.......... that they would bundle up and brave the bitter cold to go for a walk together!  My reports are that the snow was compressed by a short-lived mild spell and some rain........ but since then it has been too cold to snow!  Hmmm.............. the cooler weather we've been experiencing here suddenly doesn't sound so bad after all!

As you can see, it hasn't been too cool for the hibiscus blooms to be open and beautiful!  But, back home.......

  ....... Munchie is doing his best to be quiet and stay out of Mommy's road, since when he arrives home from school, she is still working (she works from home now).  So he is snack-shopping in the cupboard where he knows all the good stuff is kept!  Once he has chosen his snack-of-the-day he will take it downstairs and watch TV.....

... while he relaxes in his Lazy Boy chair that Poppa and Nanna gave him for Christmas.  If he falls alseep for a few minutes.....

..... he will probably wake up to find that his little brother, Curtie has arrived home from daycare and is having a nap too.  When Mommy is finished working and has supper ready....

.......... she'll wake them up so they can have a bite to eat before bath and bed.  Poppa has done a few chores here, but more on that later........

Breaking News!

I would like you to take a really good look at this.............

.... photo of our little Squeegie.  You can see that his fur is getting rather frazzled, his nose is wearing thin - and though it is difficult to see in this photo, his eyes are worn from being in the dryer.  Hint: click on the picture to see a larger image.  Then.....

...... take a look at this little lady. She is in pretty good condition (but, she is only 5 - Squeegie is 13!), but we noticed her neck is a little floppy and perhaps needs a bit more stuffing.  So........... after much thought and consideration........... they both went yesterday to the Teddy Bear Hospital and Spa for some tender re-conditioning.  The doctor there is called Margie and you can see some of her projects on her web-site - http://www.margiescuties.com/home.  We expect the "kids" to be away for about two weeks, which should get them back home just in time for Squeegie's birthday on Feb. 14th!  The really good thing is that Dr. Margie lives in Lakeland, FL which is only about 40 minutes away from the villa.  We are missing them madly as you can imagine, but..........

........... little Minnie is trying her best to fill in for them - and for such a little girl is doing a pretty good job.  One day down and 13 to go!

Florida...........

......... is a most wonderful place to be in the winter.  Although......

.... it has been cooler down here the last few days - Squeegie was trying on Poppa's jacket - we haven't had any below zero (F) temperatures and not one flake of snow!  Meanwhile up north of the border it has been frigid and snowy!  We are sooooo happy to be here.....

.... as you can see!  Back home in Canada, our little boys......

.... are staying indoors where the temperatures are warm and away from the snow and cold - apparently watching Star Wars on the TV!  Before I get too carried away about the weather though, I should show you.....

..... this beautiful floral arrangement which was delivered shortly after our arrival here.  Believe it or not it is still looking very much alive and well!  Thank you to Gramma and her gang!  We noticed a big change in the kitchen...........

... when we arrived!  For those of you are fortunate enough to have visited us here, you will probably notice that we have all new appliances in the kitchen - stove, fridge and microwave.  Just look at that fancy fridge!  I have so much fun getting cold water and crushed ice - I find I am drinking just for the fun of it!  The stove is quite similar to mine at home - with the ceramic top and warming centre - except, of course mine is white and this one has a burnished stainless finish!  I finally used the microwave the other day - again similar to mine, so no problems figuring out how to operate it!  I feel so spoiled!!!  Just before Denis & Liz left to fly home to Canada, I prepared.....

.... one of my typical casseroles for them.  And, since there were more dishes than usual....

.... I even tried out the new dishwasher!  It is wonderfully quiet and did a great job on the dishes!  What a life!  Great weather and fun indoors too.  Poppa is apparently.....

........ having fun too!  As you can see, he is gathering together his cleaning bucket.......and Squeegie is ready to be his assistant!  Meanwhile..........

...... I have organized my yarn supply and...........

........ in the evening once we all get comfortable.........

......... I do some knitting!  Imagine that!

Happy New Year!

But, before Happy New Year, came Christmas Day in Florida!  We .....

..... carefully set up the cards from our relatives and friends - we received these at the Villa and it was so nice to know that people were thinking about us!  Then we.....

..... put up a really cute Christmas ornament that we had received.  This is a knitted replica of Santa's entire Chirstmas wardrobe to keep him warm while he is delivering presents all night!  So adorable!  After church on Christmas Eve (At Corpus Christi in Celebration), we retired to bed with the bears feeling quite excited about Santa coming.  When we got up in the morning.....

.... sure enough Santa had found them and left them each a present!  Inside they found a chocolate bear  and a chocolate bar for each of them and....

........ they each got a pair of slippers!  They were so excited, they insisted on putting them on right away and wearing them all day!  After we had breakfast and tidied up, we went over to....

.... spend the rest of the day with Liz and Denis.  We had a most wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings and a very enjoyable evening.  As it turned out.....

.... the bears each got another present!  Of course, after that all Squeegie wanted to do was go back to the villa so he could eat pretzels and peanut butter cups!  Thank you to Liz and Denis for a great Christmas dinner and the presents!  Take note of Poppa's nifty Floridian shirt!  After dinner we went.....

........... out to admire the Christmas lights in Florida.  It always surprises me how much people decorate for the season in the warm climate...................

............ but as you can see............

........ they most certainly do decorate and the lights are gorgeous!  So..........

........ we are hoping everyone had a wonderful Christmas and wishing you all a Happy New Year and all the best of everything in 2014!