Sunday, July 9, 2017

Busy Productive Week, Pool, Pen, & More...

This last week has been one of productivity, with the widening of the laneway, topsoil being delivered & spread, the puppies pen installed, two screen doors installed, the deck skirting being finished, new gardens prepared & made, & the clothesline put back in place!
And of course, the enjoyment of beautiful summer days!

To cool off, on hot summer days,  Bridget & Baxter got a new pool.

 Bridget is coaching Baxter to take a dip, in the pool.

  Boston Terriers are prone to heat exhaustion & heat stroke, this will be a great place for them to cool down.

 I wish I had gotten a pool for Boris Loree, I think he too would have loved the cooling factor.

 Baxter loves the water in the pool & will now roll around & around, like a porpoise!

 The pool also serves as a very large, hydrating,  drinking dish! lol

 With toys thrown into the pool, the puppies are very willing to take them out.

 The black gravel in their new pen has cardboard & landscaping cloth, underneath the crushed black stone. I hope not to see weeds in there!

 Mine...
 It's fun to watch these two play together, they don't share well! Mine, mine, mine...

 Mine----
 Mine----
 No mine---- lol

 With the pups, jumping in & out of the pool, see how murky the water gets?

And by the end of a playtime, this is what it looks like. Thank heavens the garden hose is just outside their pen! Easy cleanup & hopefully the black stone will be on top & the gravel dust will soon be, underneath!

 Cats run, dogs drool. Those are the thoughts from the cats, that are constantly roughed up by the pups. This is a kingsize bed & look at the space these two occupy!

 Mr. Boots loves his Canada Day scarf & leaves it on. The knot has become so loose, if he was to sneeze, it would fall off. He takes no roughing from the pups because he has attached them, several times now. I had to remove one of his claws, from the top of Baxter's head. It reminded me of a fish hook, stuck in him. They will not move into his area!  And he knows it, so he'll sit in doorways to torment them. lol
 Good attention, bad attention, Rexton allows the two to rough her up?!

 For now, this is the 'alpha pet'. Weighing in at 22 pounds now, he has a gentle nature but no patience with those puppies! Sweet dreams, Mr. Boots.

Topsoil Is Delivered & Spread!

 This was a photo for prosperity, see the light spot, that's where the septic opening is. 14 feet out from the center patio stone. Hope I can remember when the time comes to have the septic tank emptied! lol

 Donny, arrived early & started dumping load after load of topsoil, then started to spread it down.

 You can really see the slope of the yard, from the angle of the new deck. All the skirting was finished this week too! Now just the black railing to install & that is finished! See the new screen door on the deck? The screen is on the top half only, perfectly safe from cats clawing the screen & puppies jumping on the screen. Great design from the old ones & use to have!

 There was a lot of dirt to be spread over the shale rock. I hope we have enough grass seed!

 There will be patches here & there to fix. In the end, it will be grass to the breaker wall.

 Each pile of topsoil is a dump truck full, Donny McDonald was here many times that day.

 I think it is going to look great when everything is green & the topsoil is just a memory.
 Those two propane tanks are going to have a white fence piece, placed in front. It will blend better with the fence, that's around the puppies pen.

 Mowing next year should be a breeze, with all the dirt gone & the pine roots covered!

 The fence had to be installed inline with the clothesline. The 4ft height would be too hard to deal with, hanging laundry.
 Bill installed the black railing on the laundry porch. So now I just open the door to let the puppies out to play & relieve themselves. The garage windows are in the pen area. There was a garden installed & a cement walkway from the opening, by the laneway by the garage. The gate for the opening to the shoreside was missing a part. It's in the mail. So, for now, we cable tied the black pen to the opening. I'm so glad that they have not been taught to jump over fences as they would be gone!
The white fence is safe as it's 4ft high! But that black fence is 1/2 the height. The porch is big enough for a bistro set, I sit & watch the pups or read a magazine. Outside in the summertime!

 Baxter & Bridget are getting accustomed to their new surroundings & activities going on. This weekend our neighbours had 14 campers come for the weekend for camping & singing. The pups have been so good, I think they're maturing nicely, they will be 7 months on the 19th of this month.
 So much better when it will be green!

 Bill moved dirt around, where Donny could not get into. My potting shed in the background, also got moved that day!

 This is what the fences look like. One done, one to go. I love the look of this dog pen! And I spend a lot of time at the clothes line, hanging laundry. It's a joy to be here & a garden of Lily-of-the-valley, 2 other plants, which I don't know the name to, are planted to the left of the gate. Now to train the pups to stay out of the garden!

 The stone covers one, of the two wells on the property. Very clever disguise!

 The Tall Ships sailed past Miramichi Bay. These are the best photos with the telescoping lens that I had on my Canon.
 It was a breezy day, so the sails were down, making them almost disappear.

 Chatham & Newcastle are going to be very busy this weekend.
 Diesel Llyod was so hot, he walked into the water to cool off. Or he was trying to get away from the deer flies, he had sores on him & I bet they were from those deer fly bites! The top of my head has sores from them too!

 Bill was using his tractor to fill the wheelbarrow with topsoil for the new pen garden.

 So much easier than shoving by hand! This tractor has been used by all of us. This is the one I use to mow this property.

 Nicholas was watching the Tall Ships through Bill's gizmo.

 As I was walking from the shoreline, after taking my photos...

 Diesel Llyod followed me too, Nicholas was trying to take photos too. The deck had movement with big Diesel Llyod walking around, so Nick went inside to the sun porch & captured these photos. They're are so much better than mine!
 Just as he was seeing it through the glass!
 The ship is now on the other side of Bay du Vin Island.

What a sight to view! Look at all those flags flying!
The ships were late getting into Miramichi,  traveling through the night, the ocean swells were 20 feet!
 This side of the house is finishing off nicely, with the puppies pen & the moving of my potting shed.
The opening is where the other gate will be installed, for now, a cable tied fence.

 A bench was moved in for them to relax on. This was Boris' favourite bench, it never got dirty like it does with these two!
 Perfect place to sunbathe.

 Diesel Llyod wants to come in too. The puppies will be safe to chew bones now, Diesel's growling & bearing teeth, was making me nervous with the young ones.

 The deck floor finished off beautifully! It is so spacious to sit on & the view...

 Oh, how I love the view! And next year with the green grass, blue water & blue sky with fluffy white clouds, it may become my favourite spot!

 The large evergreen branches, reach right out to you & you feel one with the natural beauty around you. Bill's having tractor time, leveling out a few more spots.

 The old patio set that we've had for over 20 years! Costco opened in London in 1992 & it was purchased just after that time. We moved it from London to our Florida property, back to London, & final destination, here. It fits perfectly on the new deck & so does the matching gliding loveseat!
This end of the deck will overlook the Anniversary Garden.

 The deck, wraps around the wrap around sun porch & finishes off the corner of the house beautifully & will have such an outdoor function for entertaining & watching the sunset.

 The Anniversary Garden is doing well & the peonies are stunning this year!

 The Blue Muffin Bush, on the left, survived the winter with a sandwich board, that Bill made for it.
Sheets of ice would fly off the steel roof & that poor bush would have been sheared!

 I now have black mulch & will freshen up the garden. It really paid off doing all the paper mache & then the mulch because last summer I was not able to touch the garden or water it, with all the construction that was going on & the water turned off! I lost all but one of the lavender plants.

 And the one that survived looks get!

 The original driftwood & the driftwood that Lorine & I would carry up from the shore last summer, look great together, as one structural piece!

 Mitchell would take the tractor down & bring up this trunk beauty. It will be the new place for the anchors. He had to cut it down as it was a huge tree that had washed ashore.

Over time, the textural beauty will soften in colour.

 You just can't go wrong with nature's beauty, thank you, Mitchell! Rather appropriate for our 30th Anniversary! XO


 The gnome garden has flourished with the plants that Jocelyn dropped off for me & Bill planted last month. Thank you, both! And Mitchell with the tractor, digging a spot for more plants to be planted!
I like a little whimsical fun in the garden & this garden is viewed, when sitting on the front porch!

Well, my posts are turning into near chapters, I love using my camera & I try to capture what I'm seeing & feeling to you. I hope, those that visit see & feel it too!

Again this weekend,  the Hardwicke House will be filled with more family again.
So glad the clothesline has been reinstalled!
After everyone else goes back to Ontario, Madison aka Maddy will be staying with me for the rest of the week. I don't know who's more excited, her or me?!

Have a great summer week, mosquitoes, flies, ants, & all the sunshine you can take in, with sunscreen of course!

Cynthia



2 comments:

  1. Wow is all I can say. You and Bill never stay idle and get so much done each time he comes home. It takes me years to get any thing done here. I'm envious. Your place is a real beauty.
    Now the puppies are on their own while you have piece of mind with knowing they are safe.

    A lot of work done in 2017 and the year is only half gone. Thanks for sharing your progress.
    Enjoy the beautiful day. Hugs, Julia

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  2. Love the Gnome garden - too much fun. Lucky for me my lavender plant made it through the winter and I've had a good crop this summer. Your views are wonderful and how lucky you are to see the Tall Ships!

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