Sunday, May 28, 2017

Where Did This Month Go?!

This month has just flown by!
Baxter & Bridget have been very busy puppies & on occasion, I just wonder were the whole day went! They are now 5 months old & their personalities have shone through.
Baxter is always in denial & has no idea what I'm asking him, if it doesn't involve food! Bridget just has the look of, 'I've no idea but it must have been Baxter.'.
This is the way it is,
 whenever I ask, 'Who did this?!!'

 My dusting brush had been taken out of the pantry & the nautical jute rope rug has a good chewing done to it ... Who did this?!!

4 o'clock tea, I just went into the kitchen to boil a kettle & get a tea bag out of the pantry... my very expensive ball of yarn was pulled apart. Who did this?!!
It's like the terrible two's that I experienced with my young toddler's, way back when!
Oh, how I love 8pm, it's their bedtime & finally my 'me time' but I'm just too tiered from the day with them, to get anything done. There's no burning midnight oil any more. I do get many laughs from those puppies & Bill has a good handling experience with them, they have better manners now.
Far from perfect but really what is? A stuffed Boston Terrier but the puppies got a hold of the stuffed ones & shredded them too! lol


Elizabeth, presented this to me for Christmas & I've had it in the pantry. I enter that room so often that I have decorated it with things that make me smile, when I'm in there. It is so true with Baxter & Bridget, they love giving kisses!

 To each other, they are very affectionate. On the long weekend, Mike & Sara, from Nova Scotia,  were here for a long weekend visit.

                                            The pups tried really hard to behave themselves...

                                              But as the sign said... Beware of kisses! lol

 Sara wanted to play with the puppies too, Bridget's tongue just wasn't long enough to give her a kiss!

                             These pups are Whopper's, it takes two hands to handle these puppies! lol

Lots of love was going on that weekend... this was on top of the Chapman's ice cream, when we opened it to serve it! How sweet was that?!

Truck Load of Precious Furniture~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the arrive of the trailer last Saturday, a lot of new things entered the house. Rexton was into everything! She is a very odd Manx cat.

The two curio cabinets, that once were at each side of the fireplace in London, have arrived safely, all glass is installed & in place!  Minus one curious, Manx cat!

Namama's Louis XV couch has arrived & the granite coffee table, are now in place in the greatroom.

My favourite piece arrived, it is the grandfather clock, that Bill presented me with nearly, 25 years ago for our 5th wedding anniversary. I am so happy to have it with me again!

It fit perfectly where we thought would be best, in the greatroom by the stairs!

It is viewed as you come down the stairs & the sound is so soft,  here in this large room with  a 20ft ceiling. The sound travels out & up, sounding so soft, so different then the London home it once started its life in. This clock has only stopped once on its own & that was the exact time my 86 yr old girlfriend died. It did not need a winding, it just stopped with her last breath. It reminded all of us in the house of that old grandfather clock song. I loved the poem that came with the clock, A time to live, a time to die. A time to laugh & a time to cry. And more... I'm so happy that we are reunited again! It gives the house such a soft 'heartbeat'. I love the Westminster chimes on it, I've tried the St. Micheal's chime but none of were liking it, the Westminster chimes it is!

The upstairs mezzanine has a cozy vignette that I was able to take a photo of with Rexton the cat off of the chair. This is one of her favourite spots, the puppies are not allowed to the second story.

More cabinets were added into the stain glass studio, thank you Mark! It's really coming together. Now with the elevator working, moving about 2,000lbs of glass into this room, will be easier! lol

Bill installed the flags & purchased the 150th logo one for Canada's birthday, I'll show that flag when the time gets closer.

Namama's walnut cabinet survived the Plaster Rock trek. Her furniture has come from far away, it crossed the ocean from Hungary in 1955. It now is at home in the dining area.

The walnut cabinet fits in the cove area & adds warmth to the stainless steel & granite.

Curio cabinet one was moved to the dining area, it just looked too dark & small next to the large mirror. So the Billy bookcase shelves were moved there, making a very good choice for the curio's.

Curio cabinet two, fit were the white cabinet was, you can see it on the left of the picture. The kitchen is an IKEA kitchen, so the Billy bookcases were a perfect match!

The dining area takes on a new expanded look with the patio door to the sunporch. The two dark curio's balance the room with the walnut cabinet on the back wall. I'm so happy everything is fitting in as it should.

This is the kitchen's new look with the white Billy bookcase units in it.
The blue & white dishes have now replaced the Friendly Village dishes. Oh summer, bring it on!

The counter looks really nice with nothing on it but then, life happens! lol

The green grass & water can be viewed from the dining area. I'm so glad not to look at all the white!

A Hoarder Among Use~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stop thinking of me & my sewing! lol

I cleaned outed Baxter's crate because the door would not close anymore...

                          The more I pulled on something, something else would come with it!

 The cushion Baxter is sitting on & protecting from my pulling out & vacating all his 'things', is what he started with, that & his teddy bear. The rest was taken in by this hoarder! lol

 Bridget is having a talk with Baxter, her crate is neat & tidy, nothing like her brothers! lol

We were all at the vets last Thursday & the date of June 13th has been set to have the surgeries of neutering & spaying. The vet said it would be best to get them done together as they would need 10 days of nothing & to have one out running around would not be good for the other. To have them both done would be easier on them & me. Oh my, Bill will be in China at that time too.
The vet is nervous that Bridget my come into her first heat before her surgery but we're all having our fingers crossed. The puppies will be 6 months on the 19th of June. We are cutting it close but I have a feeling everything will be all right.

Sorry for such a delay in posting, it has been busy & with Bill & Nick here for such a wonderful week, time did really fly by! Not to mention those puppies! lol

Summer is coming to the north east coastline, my tulips are now going to open. I'll take some photos to show how late we are with our spring. It is still cool here too, last night was 2C, tender plants are not ready to be planted yet. Grass was cut for the first time, thank you Nicholas & Mike!

A hardy zone 4b here, one that you could preserve yourself in! lol

Have a great week, wherever you are! Wishing you health & happiness!
Cynthia







Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Canada Eh Quilt Done! And Puppies Are Bathed

With so much muck from the rain Baxter & Bridget are getting quite smelly, so we tried out the laundry room sink & both were bathed in Johson's Baby shampoo & tea-tree oil . They both smell so much better!
                   They still love me even though I put them through another bath time! lol

 Bridget is such a girly dog...

 Baxter is a handsome Boston, just not as quick as her. All in good time, things come to him.

 This week I taught them to shake a paw, Bridget was quick to learn... Baxter has finally got it! lol

 Bridget seems to always have her tougue out when she's relaxing, maybe when her teeth are all the way through, she'll stop that.

 Baxter loves to teeth on the large beef bones that I par boiled in carrots, celery, turmeric & ginger. I then placed the bone & juice into a empty yogurt container & frozen them.
 It fits in a loaf pan & the licking begins... for hours on end. Keeps him busy & out of trouble!

 Bridget just wants to sleep. I had them outside running & it was a warm day. I'm going to have to watch them in the summer, on those hot 'dog days'. Bone Popsicle days for sure.

                                                          Baxter is so food driven! lol

 Sleepy eyes...
 Snoozing in the bay window, with the sun on her, oh so comfy till...

                                          Baxter jumps up & takes her spot to chew a bone.

 He's starting to get sleepy too...

 And soon just flops down on her, she really looks impressed with him, still chewing the bone! lol

 The other night I washed their bedding & was waiting for the dry load to finish & that way they would have warm blankets & toys for their beds.
                                           They were so tired & just wanted to go to bed! lol

Talking on the phone...

Too quite in the kitchen, I could not believe what I was seeing with these two!!

 I was washing windows earlier that day when the phone rang, it was Bill's call from China.

 They were both guilty with this mess! Oh the trouble they find when left alone!

Next Day...
 Next day let's start fresh! Good morning Baxter Loree!

 Big stretch to start the day...


 Good morning Bridget Loree! She stretches & yawns, with the tongue out of course!

 They greet each other & we're on our way outside, every morning around 6am, this is the ritual. lol

 This was the sky this morning, I knew it was an odd morning, seeing pink everywhere!

 The Miramichi Bay was all pink too!

 It really gave a lovely silhouette to all the trees & a odd feeling seeing everything pink!

Pleasant Surprise!
 I love parsnips & my neighbour/friend Isie,  gave me a feed of them, fresh from her garden.

 They were so different from here harvest last year. I washed them up & I'm going to boil them with potatoes & them mash them up, to a whipped texture to put on a shepherd's pie. Yum! Thank you Isie! She is remarkable, it was day three after her chemo & she took me to the garden & we dug parsnips together! Isie you never stop amazing me!

Sewing Complete!
 From the upstairs mezzanine, I took this photo of the quilt. I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

 I added the maple leaf corner stones because I would have had to piece the plaid across the top. I thought that this would add more interest.
Off to the machine quilter next week & it will have to be a custom & I'd like to use it as a wall hanging in the foyer area.

Basket Aprons

 I've been making reversible basket aprons for the garden sale at the EBH Garden Club on June 3rd.

 It has a canvas material on one side & a Kaffe Fasset fabric on the other. You pull the center toggle  & pull on the twill tape to the desired size & then button it to the center button on the apron.

 This was my first one & with showing it to a friend... it was sold. I'll be making more for sure!

 It could be used for clothes pins too or anytime you want to carry shells home from a beach walk.

                    It looks like an apron until you pull the toggle in the center! How cool is that!!

With rain all this week, it will be best done with sewing!
The puppies are clean today but with all the muck around the outside of  house, I don't know for how long they will keep clean. I think I'm going to keep walking them up & down the gravel lane way.
They need to run fast & hard to wear them down. So much energy, I wish I could bottle it & use it for myself! lol

Have a great week, wherever you are!
Cynthia