It Snowed!

Ouch!  We are supposed to be living in the "tropical" part of Canada, but it is not the case of late!  It snowed last night.  Janet put on her Bogs and took us down to Fireman's Park.

Noodles decided to make a snow dongel (that's a doggie version of a snow angel!).

We were joined by our new buddy Riley, who lives at the end of our street.  Riley is only 7 months old, so this is her first experience with snow.  She made Janet laugh and laugh as she kept snow surfing, head first.

OK, enough already, Riley!  This blog is about us and you and your cute puppy antics are stealing our thunder!

Phil went to Lethbridge on Thursday, so Janet is on an at home vacation.  She is living the good life!  Imagine, if you can - everything is in it's place, the house remains tidy and no one is making dinner "suggestions"!

She still has some room for improvement, but check out the mitered corner on the quilt she is finishing up.

While you're at it, check out her lame photography skills.

Janet worries a lot about Noodles.  She forgets how tough Noodles is.

She thinks Noodles is too skinny and that her face has an unhealthy look.  It has now become apparent that Noodles drags her back legs as both paws have really short toenails.   Toenails?  Pawnails?

I'm super cagey.  My signature move is to approach people with a toy and then back my bum into them and taunt them with my toy.  Turns out the people aren't that interested in the toy, but they humour me anyway.

Phil says - give it up Pashy.  I declined.

After all the frolicking in our Winter Wonderland, we are exhausted!

Good night Teddy Bear and Prairie Pal.

One Year!

Can you believe it?  It's been a whole year since I came to Camp Canada!  I felt it prudent to have a small chat with Noodles and let her know that she isn't going to boss me around anymore and that we will need to share the toys.

Well, that is share them when I don't want them and I will take the bed, thank you very much.

 Noodles was going for lots of walks until the rainy weather arrived and she slowed down again.  On Saturday, it was sunny so we trooped over to Willows Beach.  Noodles seems to be getting slower although Janet swears up and down that it's not physically possible.

C-R-E-A-K!  Noodles scaling up what may as well have been Mt. Everest.

On Sunday, Janet and Phil drove out to Long Arm Quilt Lady, Arlene.  On the return, they did something they don't normally do at home - they stopped to see inside a church.  Not just any church, but St. Stephen's Anglican Church.  It was built in 1862 and is the oldest church in BC in continual use.  Janet had never been here before.

They stopped at Brentwood Bay Inn for lunch.  Not up to British standards, but good never the less.

I almost always whip my puppy dog buttcrack to the front door when they come home, but Noodles not so much.

Her ear is all askew and she's wearing her tired face.

Guess what Janet discovered?  Left overs!  She will eat them for breakfast or lunch, but has always refused to eat them for dinner.  Last night, she didn't have a dinner plan and wanted to do something else, so they made some rice and had Pork and Pine Nut stir fry from a couple of nights ago.

This is ground breaking stuff at our house!

Janet started to assemble her British farm fabric.

We Actually Get On The Sand!

This is huge when walking with major anal pants easy going Janet!  We actually got on the beach! She didn't plan it, but here is how it unfolded - we went to Willows Beach Park for Noodles favourite walk.  Janet let her off leash and Noodles strolled along the side fence until we arrived at the playground.  All of a sudden, Noodles picks up her pace (who knew she had it in her!) and starts trooping over to the stairs to the beach.  Noodles whipped out her "I'm a deaf doggie card" (if interested, she could also sell you some pencils with her little doggie sized deaf card) and bolted.  Of course, I also had to join in on the sandy fun!

The sand quotient is quite diminished by the amount of seaweed.

Nice roll, Noodles!

I'm going to enjoy eating this kelp as quickly as possible as I know Janet will call the party to a halt.

Yesterday, we went to Fireman's Park, and again Noodles plays deaf.  They are digging big trenches for underground sprinklers.  She boxes herself in and her only option is to jump across the trench.  Noodles mind might be 8 years old, but she forgets her body is almost 13!  In an effort to save themselves many dollars of Vet bills, Phil gave her a hand.

Noodles In Air!  Dollar Wise Phil could see the potential credit card damage!

What's Janet cooking these days?  Broccoli Cheddar Soup.  Yummy.

Pioneer Woman recipe.

Butter Chicken Schnitzel from Vij Home Cooking Cook Book.  Janet said also yummy.

Janet's "studio" doesn't have enough floor space to lay out a larger than baby size quilt, so she has to put it on the living room floor.  I just love to help.  In fact, I think it might be one of my favourite things!

Janet, this backing is to die for!

And the batting appears to be of a high quality!

This photo is after I was actually dragged off the quilting project but still felt the need for some involvement.

I want to be best buddies with these guys!  I love flying leaves.  I am more relaxed now but I used to yank like crazy to chase leaves in the wind.  I was super excited and started to pull Janet to the pile they were blowing.

This is Janet's latest quilt project.  I think we told you before she bought the fabric in the UK and it was a British designer with the fabric made in the UK.  Janet says it was a bit pricey, but WTF she wanted the UK aspect.  She didn't want to make Phil wait, so she didn't check to see how the prices compared to fabrics from home or the U.S.

Playing with the pieces.

First Things First

You may want to stop here.....this is going to be a really boring post!  If you read on, buyer beware!  Absolutely nothing is going on in Janet's life (and by extension, our lives!) so she has almost nothing new to report. In addition to her incredibly boring life, her "ear issues"  appear to be returning and she is starting to feel a bit poopy and won't be able to rally up any snappy repertiore!

We want to apologize to our legion of fans!

Jack - time to get rid of the lawnmower.  No longer needed:

This little guy was by him/herself tending to Jack's grass.

A few days ago, Janet and Phil took us down to Willows Beach and this unusual sighting had all kinds of people watching.

They can't ever recall seeing a fishing net on Willows Beach and while it looked really heavy being pulled in, it wasn't obvious there were any fish in the net.

Almost all the leaves are off the trees down at Willows.  Janet thinks we had the tree in the front yard cut down in the nick of time!

Noodles likes to wander around the park on her own and without fail always heads to the fence on the far side.

Proof of Janet's state of mind - she has absolutely no clue why she took this photo.

Nice glass of ice, Janet!

Jacket Potatoes are very popular in pubs in the U.K.  They come with a variety of fillings.  Janet and Phil had Nachos the other night and there was leftover ground beef, cheddar cheese and olives.  Janet added some sauteed mushrooms and onions and turned them into Jacket Potatoes with salad.

We are best buddies and love each other!

In addition to loving each other, Phil is making our dinner and we felt it necessary to put a united front forward to expedite the task.

Good night.

Some Loose British Ends And We Are Home!

Janet and Phil had the chance to experience two Daylight Savings Times this year - one in the UK on 22 October and one at home on 02 November.  The one in the UK went off without a hitch but Janet was seriously worried about the one at home.  Due to jetlag, she was waking up at 5AM and feared it was now going to be 4AM!  She doesn't like getting up so early but says it's shocking how much a guy can get done before noon!

This is the fireplace that was in their room at the last pub - Dundas Arms.

There was a very cute village close to the cottage they stayed in - Stratton Audley.  They had a lovely church, but was locked so Janet and Phil were only able to wander around the grounds.  Phil found two beer glasses that Janet insisted he return to the pub across the street, but Phil brought them home.

Why don't you swing by for a pint?

 

 And it that wasn't enough, he so admired the cider glasses at The Old Thatched Inn that he shamelessly asked if he could "purchase" one.  Not just once, but twice!  They were kind enough to turn them into gifts.

 Janet finished sewing the bindings on her quilts and was desperate for an airplane project.  She purchased this little teddy bear kit to knit.  She says the yarn quality was dreadful, so purchased some better quality yarn.  Where Janet gets her knitting knowledge from, is beyond us.  After she purchased the little kit, she noticed the instructions said for ages 7 and up!  She decided there must be a lot of brilliant 7 year olds in the UK as it was completely somewhat challenging!

Turns out Knitter Extraordinaire left the instructions on the plane!  Even a 7 year old would have known better!  The company was kind enough to email Janet the instructions.

First thing I did when I got back to Camp Canada was rally up some toys.

At Janet's volunteer job, they have hired a receptionist for some continuity for the busy Christmas season.  As a result, Janet now goes upstairs to work in the admin office on Friday mornings.  She was super nervous!

She got all dressed up in her version of  "office" togs.   Janet bought the top in what she considers to be one of the coolest department stores.  To the best of their knowledge, there is only one and it's located in Newbury.  It's called Camp Hopson.  Phil is responsible for this blurry photo!

Look what happens when doggies takes a three week leave!

Tree in the front of the house - gone!

Lovely new sidewalk along the far side of the house.

Janet and I went for a big walk on Monday morning and discovered a new sign in Uplands Park.  We doggies...make that I, love this park.  Noodles doesn't want to walk that far anymore.  We read the sign and learned the park is a Garry Oak Ecosystem of which there are only about 1% left.  When it rains heavily, the bodies of water that collect in a few spots are vernal ponds.  Rockers loved to lie down in the muddy water in the ponds.

Rockers having the time of his life being adored by a tiny fan.