And On We Go

Auntie Muffy has reported back.  She picked these socks.

She had picked this pair from the "group" photo and was happy to see they were still available!  Now on we go to Auntie Colleen!

Next Pick

Auntie Denise has chosen a pair that she thinks Miss Louise would like............

........they look like this.  Miss Becky had picked the ones she liked best from the multiple sneak preview picture I posted.  And, luckily they survived the draw until it was her turn.  She picked this pair....

Then Poppa picked a pair for Auntie Pauline, since she can't see the pictures on her computer at work. He chose this pair.....

Now the pictures are winging their way across the web to Auntie Muffy away up north.  This time it might take a little longer, since she will be at work - and she doesn't have internet access there!  But, we are actually planning a visit to her place next week, so we will be able to bring her choice in person!

The Picking

The picking has begun.  Gramma got her e-mail in right on time........and she picked this pair....

.....so I sent the remaining pictures to Auntie Denise so she can pick a pair for her friend Louise.  I'll let you know when she has chosen.

Take a look at this wonderful hanging plant we found at our local fruit market.

It is call fox tail, and those long red things are so deliciously fuzzy - it's all I can do to keep my hands off them!

And here is a poignant photo taken by Uncle Shaun...........

........which evokes several reactions..........here is Auntie Colleen's descriptive narrative.....
"It was a dark and stormy day (tm Snoopy) as they crept through the spiky weeds, through the vine encrusted trees, to the haunted remains of a once thriving homestead..."

Today...

............was a very busy day for us.  My car is in for repairs and won't be ready until tomorrow - so we were down to one vehicle.  This meant that Poppa had to drive me into town to take my Mom to meet her new Doctor.  Her old doctor retired, so I managed to get her in to see my doctor and he kindly agreed to take her on as a new patient.  The good news is that she really liked him!  So that mission was accomplished.

While we were in Florida there was a friendly little squirrel who tried to build a nest in the motor of my car.  He brought in shavings of some nature and a whole whack of nuts and acorns.  Poppa thought he had them all out of there, but as it turned out he had missed some.  The reason he missed them was that they were hidden inside the area where my heater/AC fan resides.  Hence, each time we turned on that fan, the nuts/acorns were preventing it from working properly - and its little motor burnt out.  So, a lot of money and two days later, I will have a new fan motor and no more nuts/acorns.

We are expecting Munchie and his family here on the weekend, so Poppa is doing double time to get the room ready for the little boys and I have been helping when I could.  He is still working up there as I type, but my part is done for the day. So.............

I finally got time to take pictures of those eight pairs of socks.  Gramma got first choice and she is considering her favourite pair right now.  Next will be Auntie Denise's friend Louise.  I believe Auntie Denise is choosing for her.....that will be fun!  Taffy's idea of having people wait until a given time so that everyone had an equal chance to get that first pick just didn't work.  Some people jumped the gun, so to speak, and e-mailed way ahead of time and a few waited as requested.  This whole situation made it very difficult to actually decide who should get first choice.  I reviewed previous blogs and tried to do it as fairly as possible, but not without some angst.  Gramma was the first to e-mail right at 6:30, so I gave her first choice.  However, in view of the problem, I chatted with Mommee - who I thought had a fabulous idea.  I will give you details after this giveaway is complete.

The good news is - the giveaway was successful as far as participation!  I had a good response, albeit a trifle early!  Thanks is due to all who took part!

And so to another day...

Remember the groundhog under our front steps.  Well.......here is the story.  Poppa and I spent a day and a half working out in the yard to get it looking ready for summer.

The trees in the planters on the front patio (remember that blog - Poppa spent about two weeks on that project) had not wintered very well, so Poppa bought two nice new trees to put in there.  If you click on the picture to make it larger you can see them...oh wait....

.......there they are.  What about the groundhog you ask?  Well, while Poppa was working on planting the tree closest to the steps, three of the bricks caved in!  Yep - you guessed it - underneath that deck was a groundhog tunnel.  The rascal had tunneled under the front steps and then under the brick patio. Poor Poppa - it took him a day and a half to dig it all up, fill in the tunnels, re-fill it, tamp it down and rebrick it again!  And.....it was a really hot day!  However, as you can see, he got it all fixed up as good as new - and then he cemented up the space where Mr. Groundhog was starting with that tunnel so he can't get under there again!

A few days ago I had a birthday and was delighted when the doorbell rang and there were flowers for me!

Aren't they beautiful!  This lovely arrangement which smelled so wonderful was from Daddee, Mommee, Munchie and Little Smiley!  Thank you so much my Dears!

The weather has been really warm the last few days.  Squeegie got out his tropical shirt and Taffy donned her blue jean shorts.

They both look kinda cute don't they?

Meanwhile, Mommee took the little boys to a zoo near their new house.  It was located on a farm where there were lots of trees to help keep them cool on a hot day.

Munchie had a great time and tried riding every critter he found.

While Little Smiley looked on happily ....

........but I think Munchie was a little leery about this big live specimen......

........when they had finished their trek through nature and visited all the creatures, they headed home.  After supper Munchie told Daddee all about his exciting day and so the day ended....

.....with both of them sleeping soundly!

Uncle Shaun is still out exploring the region with his camera in hand.  Isn't this pretty?

Auntie Colleen thought so too.  She said, "There are many reasons I like this shot Shaun took while walking in Scout's Valley."


Tomorrow at 6:30pm Taffy will turn on her e-mail to receive any request for the sock giveaway!  All e-mails she gets after 6:30 will be put in order and socks will be given out in order of requests.  Uncle Brian - please alert Auntie Denise since she put in a special request for you to notify her - since apparently she doesn't follow the blog much - or check her e-mail.  I will be sending out the e-mail notification to all those people who have previously participated.  However, anyone is welcome to join us!  Taffy's e-mail address is taffy.robert@gmail.com


Here is a sneak preview of the socks available.

Sorry...

..........for the long delay.  We've both been under the weather, and then very busy............there will be a post tomorrow for sure!  Picture for you.......

.............guess who went to a zoo!

A Few Noteworthies

Here is a really interesting picture from Uncle Shaun's camera......

....how intriguing!  Here is Auntie Colleen's commentary regarding this shot...."When Shaun was out wandering last weekend, he discovered a new species! He was shooting a dilapidated old house out near St. Columbkilles when he spotted this creature on the roof. Now, it may look like a typical groundhog but please... who's ever heard of a groundhog on a roof?" She calls this shot Roofhog - too cute!  We have had a relative of this fellow around our property for quite a while now.  He/she/it keeps trying to burrow underneath our front steps, and Poppa keeps blocking the entrance in an effort to keep he/she/it out.  He is afraid that the critter will undermine the concrete steps and cause a serious collapse!


Here is another nifty picture that I took one day at Aunt Peggy's house.  When I arrived there at my usual time, to prepare her supper - her cousin Tommy was there for a visit.  These two had spent a lot of time together in their younger days - cavorting around doing things that young people did - which included hitch-hiking to The City which was about 85 miles south of where they lived!  Quite an undertaking - a person sure wouldn't want to try that nowadays!  Anyway, here they are....

....still enjoying each other's company!  


Now I wonder what Poppa is doing in that bedroom for the little boys????

Hmmm.......looks like he is measuring for some reason?????


We had a 12 hour power outage the other day.  Someone hit a hydro pole on the highway.  Fortunately they were not hurt - but the power lines that came down were major high-voltage lines which required a lot of careful planning by the Ontario Hydro workers to make the environment safe enough for them to work on replacing things so that power could be restored.  The power went out about 3pm in the afternoon and came back on about 3am the next morning.  Poppa was worried about the sump pump - what with all the rain we've had lately - it was running fairly often.  He got the generator from his workshop and got it up and running.  This gave us the opportunity to keep both fridges cold, the sump pump running - AND - a light so that I could work on socks.  I now have almost seven pairs ready...

.....here are the first six pairs, carefully tucked into a plastic bag to keep them fresh and neat.  About 12:30 I set my knitting aside and went to bed with a flash-light.  Poppa, however, stayed up to watch things.  About 1:00 am he headed up to talk to the workers and inquire about the status.  They told him the power should be restored about 3-4am, and described the accident and the consequences to him.  He enjoyed that part of his night, even though he was getting tired!  Finally after the power came on, he tidied up his cords and put away his generator and went to bed.  After a sleep-in for him, he was still thinking about what that power outage might have affected and went out to check his hot tub...

..........which was just fine!  So we headed off to the donut shop for a coffee.  I took pleasure in this view....

...of the little Lily of the Valley flowers peeking through the railing and spreading their beautiful scent for us to inhale!  We had our minds all set on a breakfast sandwich at the donut shop - only to discover that Poppa had slept in late enough that they were no longer serving breakfast!  So I told Poppa that a bagel would be nice and headed off to snaffle a newspaper for him to read while he sipped his coffee. 

There he is waiting to pick up the bagels - and when he arrived with mine he said "I got yours with cream cheese, is that ok?"  Bless his heart, he has obviously been married to me far too long - it was delicious!


Remember Auntie Denise's new car?  I posted a picture while we were in Florida.  Well....she had problems with it and now has another new car!  Here is the latest edition of "Auntie Denise's Car".

She looks quite pleased and the car is very pretty!  


Please take a moment to participate in the little survey located just above the counter to the right of this blog to help me prepare for the next giveaway.  Here is another glance at that plastic bag full of socks - just to pique your interest!