The ultimate test

Monday was Abby's first day alone in her new room.  No more pen!  But it was not a normal day, so it's extra exciting that she did so well.  Bright and early Monday morning a fleet of heavy equipment rolled in and chaos ensued.  

They began tearing up the street in front of my house and replacing water and sewer mains.   This is what was still going on today

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Most of that particular hole above is what used to be my neighbors lawn........... They are starting to fill in the holes now so hopefully that means they are almost done.  I haven't been able to access my driveway since 7am Monday morning.  I'm parked around the corner.   But with all the chaos and all the noise, Miss Abby did great.  I came home to no surprises and no destruction.  She was obviously too busy keeping an eye on the neighbourhood. 

Hello

Hi everyone, I have taken over Mom's blog tonight.  She's been so busy but I  heard her say last night that she finally finished her course!  She was pretty happy and now so am I because I won't have to share her with all those stupid books.  She wouldn't even let me chew on them.   She bought some big screw thing for the back lawn.  She tied me to it today and I could roam all around.   I loved it!  I felt like Dora the Explorer.

Mom kept an eye on me from her lawn chair.  She had a blue can in her hand.  Don't tell her I told you, but I think it was beer ;) Later she blocked me out of the back part of the house for awhile   I didn't like that too much   She told me to be patient, it was a surprise.   Boy was she right.  She made me a new lounge spot.

I can see all my favorite neighbors from 2 windows!  Oh boy, oh boy, the barking I plan to do.....

Mom says this is a test weekend and if I behave she will put the pen away.  Or as I like to call it "jail".  I'll have the whole back part of the house to myself while she is a work!  I better behave because this is a sweet spot.   And the best news of all is that I think I finally made friends with that little white dog next door.  She didn't like me very much but I persisted and I think I won her over.  

We played together on my lawn for while. I had so much fun.  I hope she will come back again.  She only growled at me once but Mom said I was impolite to jump on her head when she wasn't looking.  Oh well, live and learn.  Lol.  Thanks for listening.  Mom says she will be back soon.   Love, Abby xoxo

Now it's ON

Oh yeah, game on!  It's a full on war.  Me versus raccoon. Meet my new nemesis

This morning I turned the corner, feeling cocky that I had outsmarted the raccoon with my bungee cord.   This is what I found

Well he didn't manage to get the lid open (hahaha) but he was obviously mad enough to knock it over.  He must be a big one because this bin is quite heavy.   Tonight I've turned the bin around so the wheels are against the house.  I'm feeling confident.  I tell you if I was younger I'd camp out all night with a tennis racket and whack the crap out of this bugger.  I hate critters! Can't you just picture me hiding in the dark, wearing camouflage and hunting raccoons?  Lol   

My friend Cathy from Acorn Hollow blog recently found some "interesting" wall decor.......

Hmmmmm, stuffed and mounted squirrel butt.......... I'm thinking a stuffed raccoon butt on my garage door might send a signal to any others who might be eying my compost bin in the future.  What do you think?  😜  

Monday......

Ah Monday, thou art a heartless wench.   Let me tell you how my day started ........ I took Abby out and we walked around the side of the house and my compost bin was upset there was rotten food ALL over the driveway.  Grrrrrr and gross.  So at 6:45am I was in the driveway with plastic bags tied on my hands picking up garbage!   Tonight that bin is bungee corded down so whatever little critter thinks they are coming back for seconds better go somewhere else.

After that little pre-breakfast treat I settled in for a coffee.   I was enjoying my coffee, checking emails etc and thinking about getting dressed.   Everything was going fine and then I got a text message........."did you forget about summer hours?"   Damn, shit, frickety frack!!   Yes today we started summer hours which means we go in earlier - at 8am.   Well, it was 8:10am and I was still in my Jammie's.     Let me tell you, I was up those stairs like a flash and then out the door

I wish I could tell you things improved at work but..........

Thank goodness Monday only happens once a week.   Time to play with some wool and wind down 

Progress

A short post tonight but I did get some more hooking time in today.  Not as much as I would have liked but at least I am hooking again.  I'm working on "Tree Birds" from Red House Wool Studio

Now looking at it I see some things I want to change with the leaves.  Just like Saundra!!  Tweak, tweak. Lol. I am still undecided on the border so once that is hooked in it will make a huge difference.  After over a week of rain we finally had a sunny weekend.  However today was so windy it was impossible to enjoy the backyard.  It was like a hurricane.  And after supper I heard a loud crack and a huge branch off the tree across the street is down.     Hoping for a good week.  I find it hard to stay positive on Sunday nights with Monday morning just a few hours away.    

 

Away, and a magic bus

I'm back!  Did you miss me?  I had to go away last week for a short work trip.  Does anyone else get completely neurotic when they are going away?  (Please say yes). I'm not sure why we feel the need to have absolutely everything in order, house cleaned and totally put together.   I'm was only gone 3 days but you would have thought I was leaving for 3 months!   Miss Abby went to stay with one of my friends.  She looks excited to go to the "camp"

I think she had a good time but she has been "Velcro dog" since I got home.    Although the I did miss the little bugger, I did manage to have a little fun.  We spent a few hours on the "magic Bus".  The Magic Wine Bus to be exact.  

A vintage double decker bus that tours wineries.  Does it get any better than that??  We toured and tasted at 4 wineries in the Annapolis Valley.  My favorite was the newest, Lucketts Vineyard.  

In the middle of the vines is an authentic British phone box AND you can call anywhere in North America from it for FREE!  Pete, the owner of the winery is a tremendous marketer and personally quite a charming character.   Every corner of this property is beautifully thought out. 

And of course a few of these bottles came home with me

 

I'm particularly anxious to tast the "Buried Red".  The barrels are actually buried 8 feet deep for a year or so until the wine is ready.  It was a teeny bit expensive (ok, it was more than a teeny bit pricey) but it sounded so special and unique that I couldn't leave without a bottle.  I'm saving it for a special occasion.   This was the area where I went to university so I had to take a nostalgia drive though town and the campus.  So many memories.  This was the house I lived in for a couple years 

Strategically located across the street from the Student Uinion Building.  Obviously it's had some work done.  30 years ago it was a dump!  But it was the best time.  My roommate and I had the bottom floor and our friends rented the top floor.  Oh the parties we had in this house!  Ahh, to be young and carefree again.   Now it's back to reality. Lol

Things got busy

Karma's a bitch isn't it?  The minute I got excited about rug hooking again and started a new project, things all around me went nuts.  

Issues at work that required extra work in the evenings and that stupid course I'm taking had another assignment due and a paper.  I had to take the afternoon off to finish the paper.  I just hit the button to submit and cracked a beer to celebrate .

.With a week of rain my lawn is knee deep in weeds so tomorrow I'll have to tackle that

So hopefully sometime tomorrow I will be able to get a little more hooked on my project and post an update.  I have already pulled half of what I hooked out and re-hooked it.  Whether or not that was worth it remains to be seen. Lord knows when you will see this post   It seems lie, lately my new posts are not appearing on anyone's timeline for hours and hours after I post   It's driving me nuts.  Is this happening to anyone else?   Well time to relax for a bit and try and forget this week  Hello weekend, oh how I've missed you

Finally......a hooking post

It has been so long since I have felt the urge to pull a loop.  But I've been lured back to it.  An envelope arrived yesterday.  The latest pattern from Red House Wool Studio, aka the lovely and talented Cathy G. from the blog Orange Sink.  I just love her After an hour of searching for where I hid the red dot I finally got it drawn out

And since I love this pattern so much I have done something I never do.....I pulled all the wools out in advance.  Typically I just pick something random and then try and work around it.  (P.S. That almost never works out) Here is the potential pile

I can't wait to get at it!  Abby is wondering what took me so long to pick up the hook again