Project patio hole...

The people who lived here before us had a very odd looking water feature in their backyard. It was an ugly head spouting water from his mouth, set in the stone work patio. they took the feature with them (thankfully) but that left a hole with a piece of wood over it. When we lifted the wood we found stagnant water and hundreds of dead worms

Step 1 - shop-vac the water out



Step 2 - fill with dirt





Step 3 - with Grandad's help, position plant (Clematis brought from old house)



Step 4 - sweep up dirt



Step 5 - add obelisk,water plants



Step 6 - water dog also

Return of the Huds

We were so sorry to say goodbye to Hudson when he left us recently to be assessed for his potential to be a seizure response dog. We were very excited when the organization called and asked if we would like him to come and stay for 3 weeks. He was not selected for seizure response but is now being considered for the seeing eye dog program but the trainer is not available for 3 weeks. G drove the 4 hour round trip to collect him shortly after the surprise phone call. He was so pleased to see us that he was squealing and making Scooby-Doo sounds.

We're so happy to have him home with us again



I think he's pretty happy too

Fun at the zoo

Yesterday before some crazy weather hit, we enjoyed half a day at our local zoo.



T2 insisted on bringing along her 'my first animal book' to identify the animals





T2's favourite



T1's favourite



Of course it's great to cool down before heading back to the car as T1 demonstrates.

Oops I forgot.....

When you're a girl of almost 4 years and you graduate from preschool - what must you do??? Grab your diploma and twirl of course : )

Rocks 2

We haven't quite finished yesterday's rocks - need to add a couple of features but I did make use of some more rocks using acrylic paint and a permanent marker

Our new digs...

We love our new house, the backyard is awesome but the best part is how close we are to.......





I could hang out there every day. It's the perfect distance to bike ride (T1 is not a fan of walking) with T2 in the bike trailer and T1 and I enjoying the breeze through the few strands of hair not encased in our helmets we can be there in about 1o minutes- not many people seem to use this stretch of beach which is perfect. I love the beach : )

Fun with rocks 1

Today I decided it was time to pull out the paint. Hmmmm now what to do for our first craft project in this house? I know decorate some of the many rocks in our new back yard.....









Today they may be red rocks but tomorrow they will be something totally different - any ideas?

A brand new Niece

I became an Aunt for the second time during the night. My brother, his wife and my 6 year old Niece Emily welcomed baby Alice, born at 32 weeks, weighing 3lb 3oz and breathing on her own. We knew the early arrival was imminent and everyone was as best prepared as is possible. Sadly I won't get to meet her anytime soon because they live 3,500 miles away but I'm hoping to see pictures later today. My Niece chose her name - she's a big fan of Alice in Wonderland and she was hoping for a sister. I am both thrilled and a little nervous. I hope the next few weeks for baby Alice will be filled with many more ups than downs : )

Hudson the wonder-dog

We had to bid a very sad farewell to Hudson last week. We fostered him in September and knew he wouldn't be ours forever but knowing that didn't make it any easier to let him go. Hudson was recalled for training to be a seizure response dog. Due to his sensitive nature, it was felt that he would be better suited to that task then being a seeing eye dog. We should know soon whether he's been accepted into the training program. If he isn't, we'll adopt him : ) It is hard because we know his job is an important one and how great he would be, a great companion and would make a difference in someone's life but selfishly we kinda hope he fails so he can come home to us once more. He loved our new back yard with all it's new exciting smells and sounds and so much more space to frolic - sadly he didn't have many days to enjoy it.

We miss him so much and hope he'll be very happy and share his happiness with those around him. T2 now wants a rabbit......

Settling in

We've been the new house 2 weeks and are fairly settled and enjoying exploring our new town. This coming week will be our first proper week - no unpacking keeping me busy and no trips back to our old town for appointments or anything.
Also this coming week, I'll begin a homeschool trial. We have decided to register both kids for school for September (we'll bike to the school tomorrow (aah the joys of biking places - loving it, although my butt is complaining!) with all the paperwork)but we will give homeschooling a trial run over the summer - nothing too intense - it is the summer after all! If T1 responds well to it, then we'll keep going. He's off his ADD meds and doing really well without them. He notices the difference too - he's less argumentative and bossy and where he was constantly correcting the three of us on everything we said - he is hardly doing that now. I'm hoping that if we homeschool that we'll be able to keep off the meds which definitely helped him in the chaotic classroom environment but shouldn't be necessary when it's just us working at his pace and allowing thing to go in the direction that works best for him. We haven't decided what to do about T2 and whether she'll be starting K or not.
Hopefully we can get back into some fun activities this coming week - can't wait!