.... the Deer Whisperer....

 Well, the fall is here, the trees are changing colour, and the deer are making friends with my Jim... On Sunday evening as we were packing up the car to come home, Jim very quietly called to me, and asked me to come outside... and this is what I saw....  Mama deer, and three little babies.  Jim sat down on the bridge, and they made their way closer and closer to him... mama was not afraid... but the babies were a little skittish. . .

After a couple of minutes, they got big and brave - maybe it was strength in numbers, and they came really close to Jim and he shared several chocolate chip cookies with mama... she didn't mind at bit...

They were not afraid of Jim, and after the bunch of them came right up to the cabin, I've decided that Jim is the "Deer Whisperer"...  We were trying to hurry and get driving home, but after the deer made an appearance, we slowed down considerably and just visited.. I am hoping these are not the deer that ate all my flower bulbs... grrrr...

We bought another upper cabinet for the kitchen... We're almost done with that set of purchases... We decided we were going to get a cabinet and while we were driving to the store...  The decision was made and I was frantically placing the order on my phone.  As we were pulling into the parking lot, the order was completed and I got the confirmation number... It said it would be ready for pick up in 1 - 3 hours... I thought we were hosed, but just a minute or so later, I got another confirmation saying it was ready... 

And, here it is in the back of my Kia Soul..  The whole process took less than 5 minutes!!!  You would not believe the different things we have transported in this car...  Giggle.

The work of cleaning out the Conex is still going on, and the guys really put in two days of intense work this past weekend...  They got rid of a lot of stuff, and put a lot of stuff in the cabin.  I didn't remember we had all the ceramic tiles for the basement kitchen, and tons of miscellaneous this and that - that is going to be needed to complete the cabin... It will be nice to have that project over with...

But, this is what the inside of the Conex looks like now... Still quite a bit of heavy work to be completed... we have until the end of October - which seems to be creeping up on us quickly.

And, we seem to have sprung a leak in our water heater.  A couple of weeks ago, Jim noticed a little puddle of water around the base of the water heater and did some investigation...  It's was a brand new water heater when we got it a couple of years ago so it was puzzling that it was leaking.  We could not remember when we bought it, so I had to go back a couple of years on this blog to find where we bought it and installed it... and it was 4th of July weekend 2 years ago.  Jim went back to the place we bought it at, and there is an 8 year warranty of the water heater so, they will replace it.  This water heater cost us close to $2000.00 so I was in a little bit of a panic, but glad it's still warrantied and it's not like the warranty on the shower curtains... Delta's warranty means nothing... they don't honor it... These guys do... so, we are thankful.

I couldn't sleep past about 6 o'clock in the morning on Sunday, so I got up and turned on the tv... over in the corner, there was a little rustling, and when Jim got up, I told him that I thought we need to put a couple of live traps out because I think we have a mouse or chipmunk in the corner... He told me, it wasn't a mouse, but it was a bird, but he had opened the doors and thought it flew out... When Ben came over, we discovered, it had not left... and it was hanging out on the ceiling fan in the loft... Ben opened the loft doors, and the woodpecker decided he was going to hang with us a little longer and didn't want to leave... All I was thinking was along the lines of bird poop all over the loft... But, after a little wait and me planning the woodpeckers demise, he got a clue and left... really was a big freakin' bird...  

And, I bought some black walnut slab pieces this past week.  I thought they were really beautiful and I want to make some door signs with them... I am not sure what I would put on them... so, if you have a cute suggestions for something for Christmas/Thanksgiving/Summer/Whenever, let me know... I love the walnut wood, but, for this application, I'm blank.

Many, many years ago, I met a girl in Toronto who turned out to be my bestest buddy... She was an Osmond loving groupie - which I truly to this day don't understand, was so elegant and beautiful - just totally out of my league.  I didn't have a clue why we were friends and have told my husband and my friends that I always thought she took pity on me... We both were dating guys named Jim, I was her maid of honour at her wedding, and she was maid of honour at mine, and we both had daughters we named Crystal.  We have laughed and cried and stressed over so much together for years..  I never knew why I was a part of her wedding, as I thought there were others that were better suited.  Through the years, we have remained friends, and it seems whenever I am down and out and just about ready to give up, Lynn feels my pain over the miles.  The past couple of months have been challenging for me, in many ways... last week, a little package came for me from my Lynn... three little pumpkins that made me smile and laugh and remember why I love this woman... They now sit in my office as a reminder that I can make it through... Thank you, dear friend...  You make my heart smile.

Also this past week, I had a friend of our family from Toronto pass and Jim and I went to the viewing.  I sent flowers from my family... didn't know what to order... But, turned out beautiful.... amazing fall colours but the most wonderful thing was the cat tails... I think cat tails, and pussy willows have always reminded me of Ontario in the fall...and I think every Canadian kid has had sword fights with cat tails, and stuck pussy willows up their nose, and also licked something frozen (because it looked pretty) like the metal buggy guides outside the grocery store and had their tongue stuck... that one hurts...  It's just a part of being Canadian...

The next day, I sent a message to the family, just asking how they were doing, and this is the reply I got from one of them... made me smile...

Doing great thanks … it was so nice seeing you last night. Thank you for coming. Plus, Celine saw a flower arrangement and said, “that has to be from a Canadian” (because it had cat tails). It was from your family

On that note, I will end this week's episode of the blog, wishing everyone a Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, (October14).

Oh, and tomorrow, October 8th, is the opening day of hockey season... And, my Leaf's will be playing Montreal on Wednesday.. Let's go Leafs!!!

The adventure continues...

Love, Jim and Cheri