every blog needs a gorgeous hunk, right?

Yeah, I think so too. One of my favourite subjects to photograph is my gorgeous hunk of a virile husband. How about some of him roofing? Did I mention he's drop dead handsome ~ in that capable, muscular, handy and talented sort of way? The first time I met him he was driving a pick up truck, wore a shearling lined winter denim jacket and cowboy boots. Be still my heart ~ when I saw that smile I knew I was done.

The house rooftop is finished, just this area left to do.

"What...?" he didn't realize I was in the upstairs window taking his picture.

"Ah, it's you."

We've lived here for 15 years. We're the second owners of this 24 year old house. The original owners didn't upgrade anything from builder basics so pretty much the whole house needs work (read as spend lots of money doing repairs and maintenance). Amongst our current projects are the backyard, which is a construction zone right now, and the roof. The shingling is almost done except for the kitchen breakfast nook portion on the back of the house. It's got 5 different slopes and 4 seams that need capping. There's a lot of shingle cutting to work the angles.

And then more cutting. For a little area it's a deceptively large amount of fiddly work. Our house is north facing. We have a shady, cool front yard. When everyone else's snow has melted we still have a mountain of it up front that has lasted in to May and sometimes June. Handsome husband has to pile it a storey high with the front end loader when there's a lot of snow so we can park the trucks in the driveway. That used to really excite our kids when they were little.

The sun rises to the left side (east) of the backyard and sets to the right side (west). The back side of our house is a hot pit with full sun all day and the tall wood fence around the pool. The wear and sun damage on the south side of our house is significantly more than the front.

That's a long way down.

And not a bad view up.

Here he's telling me to stop taking his picture already...

Consider this last shot the "before" picture. I almost didn't show it because it's got so much that needs to happen there and it's a mess right now: finish the roofing, build new stairs for the still under construction new deck, and enclose the bottom portion under the deck with planter boxes, cleaning up all the construction tools and stuff. Lots to do before the snow flies again. We have had snow by the first weekend of October (many times) and that's not that far off.

It's rained all summer. We only have time to work on projects on weekends. The few dry weekends have been used up baling and putting up hay for our in laws cattle and our horses. The farmer idiom of 'make hay while the sun shines' has definitely been true this year for us. Working on our yard projects hasn't happened as quickly as we'd have hoped, but they're getting there.

My handsome, charming, loving husband is the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm seriously lucky. He's my true love. The first time I ever saw him he made my heart do a flip. He still has that affect on me each and every time I see him. Sounds corny, doesn't it? It's true though. Some times I have to pinch myself to be sure I'm awake. I take a lot of pictures of him since he's always doing something interesting and well, who wouldn't want to take lots of photos of a gorgeous guy with that smile, with those deep, dark blues eye and that... oh, wait... getting carried away, sorry.

We always have a lot of projects on the go. I'll try to make a point of showing you what we're up to around here and add a bunch of gorgeous hunk pictures while I'm at it. He has the best smile. :)

Happy Halloween

When the kids were younger Halloween was a major event. We carved pumpkins, played spooky music and decorated the front porch. A lot of thought went into deciding what customs to create. Halloween shows played on TV the week building up to the big day. We loved to watch "Home Improvement" with Tim the Toolman Taylor and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". Don and I took turns touring the neighbourhood Trick or Treating and staying home to hand out candy.

Now that the kids are teens it's scaled down. This year Nicole is babysitting and taking those kids out Trick or Treating. Ryan hands out the candy. I decorate with sugar pumpkins so we can use them for baking instead of carving. Halloween shows have been playing on our tv all week - that hasn't changed.


How precious were they?! That was one of the years we made costumes from boxes. Ryan was a robot and Nicole wanted to be a present. A bigger present then a robot. She couldn't get herself up stairs with the box down past her knees so we'd scooped her up and deposit her on everyone's porches.

This year I'll be knitting, surfing Ravelry and visiting my favourite blogs. I've had a busy few weeks around here and I'm looking forward to spending more time at home and knitting. I might even get caught up some on the laundry and chores. Happy Halloween from our house to yours.

Life is about learning

Seeing my family happy is my richest reward. 10 years ago my brother married the wrong person. He did very little smiling after that day. That's Nicole he's holding up, she was the cutest flower girl ever and Ryan was a very dapper ring bearer. I'm the blonde bridesmaid(matron?).

His divorce was official this past Friday. He smiles again. Life is about living, learning and having the strength to make changes when things aren't right. It's about maturity and aquiring wisdom. I am proud of my brother.

To give you an idea example of the type of humour he's exhibiting... he's been singing the song, "Ding Dong! The Witch is Gone." Maybe sometimes you don't just have to grow up, but regain some of the immaturity of being a kid to lighten the load and celebrate being happy again. Welcome back, Rick!

The Men in My Life

My husband is wonderful. He's supportive, loving, talented and a hard worker. He's been in my life longer than not. Many years of dating and 20 years of marriage he is my heart and soul. Handsome too! I'll post a picture of Don in future posts.

My son Ryan is 17. He's finishing his last year of high school and is an athletic guy with a brilliant mind. His hobbies are running cross country and triathlons, power fit, martial arts, gaming and he is a history buff and avid reader. He's a huge help around the house and farm, be it mowing acres of grass, helping with the horses, haying, roofing, you name it -- he willingly pitches in. He makes us proud and has a super sense of humour.


The four legged boys are both standard poodles. Chase is a 3 year old show Champion with several performance titles and is training for many more. He's my constant companion, coming to the office with me and is one of those very precious once-in-a-lifetime dogs. He even has his own blog. You can find his Chasing Hearts link on the side bar.


Lastly there's Hunter. Apricot standard poodle, house mascot and general entertainment committee. This dog has more personality than any one creature needs!


So that's the whole family. You'll have an idea whom I'm rambling on about now that you've met them. Be well!

Meet the Girls

I'm a complicated, diverse, creative sort of person. My day job is in the family Tool & Die/Metal Stamping business where I deal with numbers. One very defining thing about me is that I love my family and critters! Today I'd like to introduce all the girls. My favourite girl is my 14 year old daughter. Nicole is beautiful inside and out. She's the youngest, talented, energetic and dared I say -- sometimes moody? She's an avid dancer, martial artist, music fanatic and loyal friend. Clothes hound... did I mention that?? Very particular about her hair, clothes and her daily presentation. She's a great kid and loves dogs, cats and horses. I love my daughter, although some days she'd probably like to trade me in for a different model.


The other girls in residence all have 4 legs. Piper is a beautiful standard poodle who is also a performance dog. She excels in obedience, rally and does some agility with me and now Nicole. She's started to track, which is a passion of mine. I participate in CKC Tracking which is a for sport event where the dogs learn to follow the foot steps of a stranger over a plotted path unknown to the dog and handler to find lost articles. It's the zen of dog sports. Very fascinating and humbling to train and test in. It makes one realize that in some aspects of life, people are definitely not the superior species. I have to add at this point that I am staunchly against crossing poodles with other breeds. It's a thorn in my side and all that talk about hybrid vigor is a crock. Just stepping on my opinionated little pedestal there for a moment, I'll do that from time to time but will try to rein myself in. If you desire a mixed breed there are many dogs in need of homes at local shelters, please save one of them.


Bonnie and Shelby are registered Appaloosa mares. Not heavily marked with typical Appy colour they look and act like American Quarter Horses. I have a long history as a Quarter Horse girl and this Appy thing is not typical for me. I prefer QH geldings for show but these mares are a couple of really sweeties and strictly for pleasure riding. My days of competitive horse showing are over unless we win the lottery... then Nicole and I would be back with a vengeance! "The Girls" as we refer to our horses are kept just 2 km away at my parents farm. Location was the biggest buying feature in our house. 14 years ago this was the closest house we could purchase to the farm and my parents, horses and laying hens. By the way mentioning the farm -- another thing about me -- I'm an egg snob. I despise store bought eggs and get all Martha Stewart-y about having my own hens and fresh eggs. There really is a big difference in farm fresh same day eggs! Below is another picture of Nicole a few years ago with one of our laying hens. Yup, they're girls too! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.