A Real Halloween!

We had more than 2 kids!

We gave away all the candy we bought!

Juno was a trooper - and now she's pooped!

Our first 'real' Halloween.

(via)

Hope you enjoyed a great evening too.

Test Pots

One thing I haven't blogged about is our very 'retro' kitchen at the new house.

In addition to the matching blue lightbox and blue chandelier that completely remind us of the pizza dinner scene in E.T., pink and purple shaded track lighting above the sink, and greenish-blue remote control undermount lighting - our kitchen now also has three strips of potential paint options, courtesy of three itty bitty, super cute test pots, in three different spots around the room.

Enter the contenders: (all in our favourite brand, CIL Dulux)

Chelsea Fog

Reflecting Pool

Canadian Sky

Also in the running is our favourite green from the old house - no swatch, sorry - it was a custom mix the previous previous owners came up with - that we liked - so much so that we used it for the kitchen, basement TV room, and laundry room.

And I know, I know, the colours all look pretty similar. Even the paint supervisor at Home Depot said so. But they're not so alike once they're up on your kitchen wall!

And with plenty of trim, cabinets, windows, doors, etc. to paint around in this kitchen, we'd really like to do this just once.

We'll keep you posted!

Conversations with the Vet

In between yard maintenance and errands this weekend, we got to talking about our dog's first stay at the vet a few years ago.  That first conversation with the vet went a little like this:

Vet: "Well, Juno is fine. She did great in surgery, slept well last night, went for a walk this morning, and ate all of her food at breakfast."

Us: "Oh, that's great! So we can take her home?"

Vet: "She also ate the bowl."

Us: "Oh, ok."

Vet: "Um, I'm not sure if you heard me...she ate the bowl."

Us: "Ok."

Vet: "Uh, that doesn't concern you?"

Us: "We're concerned, we're just not surprised. That sounds like something she would do."

Vet: "We've made a note in Juno's file - stainless steel bowls only."

Us: "Oh, ok, that's great, thank you."

"Labrador Retrievers are prone to chewing objects, having a well-known reputation for appetite, and some individuals (see Juno), may be highly indiscriminate, eating digestible and non-food objects alike." - Wikipedia
N.B. I added the 'see Juno' part.

Down by (in) the Bay

Last night's torrential rain and wind were fun.

Sleeping in a bay window was less fun.

(Minor) casualty count: 1 ripped canvas deck awning cover (kicking ourselves for not having taken it down last weekend!)

Currently: Battening down the hatches. This is supposed to last a few more days!

 (via)

Collector

Juno is making herself right at home in this new house; she has already cultivated a new collection of 'lost / abandoned treasures' gathered during her walks and park runs.

The collection currently has one large previously-enjoyed stick, one medium new stick, and one fuzz-less tennis ball.

The large stick lives at the back gate to the park...

The medium stick lives on the back porch...so Juno can pick it up, allowing her to multi-task on her just-before-bed pit stop. Seriously, this dog needs to have something in her mouth when she 'goes'...

And the ball, as I mentioned in this post, lives in the mail box so she can feel 'useful' on walks that start out from the front door.

I'll update as the collection grows.

So glad you feel at home here, Juno. We do too.

"A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine." - John Grogan

Unplugged

In transferring all our services to the new house, we made the big decision to cancel cable.

Our reasoning was two-fold - we weren't watching much TV, and it was costing too much for something we weren't using.

Our evenings have since become pretty productive.

We have been indulging in fairly regular movie nights though - but only after the dinner clean-up is done, any errands are run, bills are paid, laundry is done, etc. during the week. And we're watching movies we already own.

And because we start the movies later into the evening, after all the 'work' is done, each movie has been lasting us two nights. So it may just take us until Halloween itself to finish the boxed set of horror classics we've been making our way through this week and last!

Tonight is the conclusion of 'The Terror' with a 26-year old Jack Nicholson (!).

Pass the popcorn :)

(Image from here)

Closed for the Season

That's it! We're closed for the season!

And here's Juno after a long day of watching us close the pool - it took all she had to 'just watch' and not 'help'.