In the Snow

Take a look at Scooby running crazily through the snowdrifts and Jonah scaling a mountain in his snowshoes. 

Snowy News

The news in this part of the world is SNOW. Long overdue, we got a huge dumping over the past 36 hours or so. We finally had to use the plow on the front of the ATV (I even used it!) and managed to get it stuck in a particularly deep drift in the driveway. But our trusty neighbour came along with his John Deere and pushed us out! 

Scooby loves the snow and it gets all stuck in his long fur on his legs and belly and he's wet for ages after he comes inside. A grooming is definitely in his future.

Busy as a ...

Today while I was walking Scooby around the pond and creek, I spotted something on the other bank, something big and brown and I immediately paired it with the bear tracks P had spotted in the back field a few weeks ago.  Excited, I ran back home, dragging a bewildered Scoob through the fresh snow. My younger son, who was home ill with a fever and cough but is on the mend, had his winter boots on in a flash and we quick raced to the laneway on the other side of the creek to spot the unidentified creature up close.  J was careful to caution me on how to avoid a bear attack if it was indeed a brown bear or a mama bear in full protection mode (play dead).  All of a sudden we spotted it, a slow moving brown animal more than twice the size of Scooby, with a rounded back and a small head.  Luckily, I had my trusty camera!

Wow! Even though this critter could possibly cause the total destruction of our farm by backing up the creek and flooding all 85 acres of our property, I still think he's kinda cute. And this close he looks nothing like a bear.  But my confusion was understandable, right?  Right?

Flushed Away

Finally we can use the upstairs flusher at will!  P cut the baseboard and painted it and installed it behind the toilet then HE SET THE TOILET!  Having one more place to "go" when there are four of us in this house is indescribable.  The catch is that there isn't a door on the bathroom yet.  All the doors for the upstairs have been ordered and should be delivered this week.  The only thing better than utilizing this toilet in the upstairs bathroom is being able to do so in privacy ...

Still to come:  the vanity top and marble sills for the shower area.  Expected someday very soon!

Scooby in the Snow

Scooby is settling in at HC Farm, sniffing all the animal tracks and adding his own. He's getting to know S & J and follows them from room to room. He's found his voice and does this eerie/cool whiny growly barky thing that sounds pretty funny.  

We're all getting more sleep and are a little less cranky (at least S told me this morning that I looked a bit less miserable.)  This adventure takes me back 13 years when newborn babies where the reason for monumental fatigue.  At least Scooby doesn't need diapers!

Puppy Pictures

Here's a few photos of Scooby's first days with us. He (and by "he" I mean "I") didn't sleep much the first night and a few hours more the second night.  His personality is more lively and interesting now; I suppose his terror in the first day wasn't surprising. He follows my every step and on occasion is the lucky recipient of my step.  He's making himself at home, running after S & J and playing peek-a-boo. Let's hope he's wearing himself out so he'll sleep more tonight.  Fingers crossed!  

Wheels for a Mousetrap

All Grade 8 students were challenged to build a mousetrap-powered car.  Then, they have to race them down a long school hallway to see which one travels the farthest.  S & P discussed design and physics for ages and came up with a car that releases the mousetrap after the wire comes to an end, like the space shuttle fuel tanks fall away mid-launch.  Here's the second try. 

A Valentine Present

We'd like to introduce Scooby, our five month old cockapoo. We went to have a look at him ("...just looking...!") and we simply had to bring him home.  He's really cuddly and can't pass a lap without climbing into it.  He weighs about 13 lbs and will get a little bit bigger. I'd say that he is the best Valentine present ever, but 21 years ago on February 14th a certain special someone asked me to marry him, and it doesn't get better than that.

Lunch on a Busy Saturday

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this burger which not only smelled like summertime, but looks gorgeous.  The chunks of tomato and cucumber are as thick as the meat patty, just the way S loves it.  

Downstairs Bathroom Update

I'm not sure if words can express how icky this downstairs powder room is.  Oh, it's perfectly functional, with a good flusher and a serviceable sink, but the walls are dingy yellow from 35 years of cigarette smoke (yep, in the loo!!) and there are cobwebby bits stuck to the old paint and the vanity is some sort of obsolete pressboard wood that's swollen and musty in places so the drawers sick and the insides are stinky and the floor is left-over tile muck stuck on groovy linoleum.  The view out the window is the only thing good about this room.  So, I enlisted the help of my good friend and second-born son and we got busy.

Here it is, the "BEFORE" pic.

First, we asked P to show us how to pull up that awful floor, and before we knew it, he had most of it done.  We pulled out the staples in the subfloor by hand.

Here we are, painting up a storm.  It's a warm beige colour, the paint that was leftover from the first try in the upstairs bathroom. It looks heaps better here.

Finito! 

It looks fresh and clean and smells much better. It'll do until we can gut and reno it properly. Now I have to convince the kids to help me move the bookcase back in!  I think they're on a break with a Wii remote in hand ... :-)

Upstairs Bathroom Update

The final few touches on the bathroom were on today's agenda: window trim and baseboard.

P and S worked for most of the day on these finicky things in the upstairs bathroom. They cut wood, measured (hopefully not in that order) and nailed it all together. S came along and filled the nail holes then P painted them over.  All done and it looks SPECTACULAR!

A New Look

Waiting for a call to work today supply teaching, I've been fiddling with the blog header.  

Let me know what you think!  

A Big Softie

As you may know, we are lucky to have lots and lots of water here at our new rural abode. It's ice cold, delicious and plentiful.  It's also chock-a-block full of minerals and other goodies ... like iron.  This is exceedingly obvious in the rusty toilet bowl mere hours after a good scrub, and in the stains on our white mugs.  And while iron is good for the body (I'm bench pressing 220) it can be treacherous on a multitude of residential items, like a brand-new bathtub for instance, if one were to have such a thing. 

To remedy this issue we bought a water softener back in the fall and are now at a point in the renos to have it installed.  I happen to know a guy who's pretty handy.

He used something called PEX PIPE (at least that's what it sounds like to my un-handy ears) which is flexible and looks white in the photos.  Apparently, it's surprisingly easy to work with.

VOILA!  A water softener!  And it works! The boys are happy that they can stack the dishwasher instead of arguing ... er, talking, about who's turn it is to wash. 

Let's hope the toilet stays white for a bit longer, too!

Windsor Knot Tutorial

In honour of S's upcoming graduation photos, he was the recipient of the Windsor Noose, er Knot, Tutorial. He got a haircut too, although I can hardly tell the difference between the before and after pics.  I'd like to see him with a sharp short cut, but my range of influence doesn't extend into the barbershop. (Wow, I'm sounding like my grandpa! I remember him slipping my brother $5 for a haircut back in the 70's!) In spite of the shaggy look, isn't he handsome?

(J wanted me to clarify that he is indeed wearing pants in the above photo!)

Light Up My Life

How do you like the lights in the new bathroom? Sconce-ish lights over each sink (we don't have the sinks yet) and pot lights in the shower stall and over the bathtub. FAAAAANTASTIC!