If Ya Start Me Up.....

Well, I have to say that last weekend was the best time of my life!! It's taken me a week to settle down long enough to even bother with a blog entry. As most of you all know, we spent our weekend touring around in Brian's car with our main focus being the Stones concert in Halifax.

Friday after work I arrived home to find Kim and Darcy on the deck (Kim had already consumed three raspberry-vodka martinis and was feeling no pain..ha ha!). The three of us hit the road to drop Mitch off in Black River and then back to our deck to await Scott and Brian's arrival. Scott was working till 5:00 and Brian was on his way from Ottawa. We blasted some Stones tunes, had a few beers and finally Brian showed up around 6:00pm. We gave him the grand tour of our new backyard..lol..and then headed off to pick up Scott. After a few stops, we were on our way to Jen and Aaron's in Riverview.

We had quite the trip..lots of fun actually! I won't get into much detail, but we made a few minor detours (eh Brian?), and we eventually found our way. :) When we arrived Aaron had a great fire going in the backyard and both of the girls were asleep. Of course we all migrated outside and spent the rest of the evening there. Here's a few pictures from that night...



It ended up not being too late of a night (much earlier for some of us..Scott!), we all knew what the next day had in store. The next morning we woke up expecting bacon and waffles for breakfast (Aaron had told us all about it the night before)..but he was in no shape to be cooking breakfast for anybody! Ha ha! Instead we all had some coffee and decided to hit the road and grab breakfast somewhere. Before we left, Autumn and Arianna were both coloring a picture, Jen was trying to get ready for their trip to Miramichi, and Aaron was in the fetal position on the loveseat..lol!! Here's a picture of the girls...
So, big thanks to the Martin Family for having us for the night. We all had a blast! We'll have to do it again sometime, except next time Aaron we'll be expecting those waffles! :)

So, we all headed to Steve's Finer Diner (I think that's what it's called) for some breakfast. This place is a 50's style diner, with one whacked out jukebox! After spending nearly an hour there, we were off to Truro to check into our hotel. Luckily we had no problems, our room was ready even though we were early. We had time to veg for a bit, change into warmer clothes and then make the trek to Halifax for the concert. And unfortunately, that's where I have to cut my story off! I have absolutely no pictures from the concert. Luckily our sneaky 'ol pal Brian snuck his camera inside, and he's gonna cover the concert part of our trip. So, if you're interested in hearing more you can check it out on his blog , whenever he gets it posted!

I may post more pictures and video later on, Kim has a bunch from her camera. Unfortunately Kim has been admitted to the hospital and is currently out of commission for a while. Hope your feelin' better soon Kim!

So, that's it for now folks! Lots going on ....Dean and Jade are home now, and Coll and Dan are home for the weekend too. So, till next time!

Cheers!

Liss

Some newer pictures!

Well, this is gonna be a short one! I figured I'd post some newer pictures of the deck door, the other ones didn't do it any justice at all. First up is a picture of Mitch and Trenton proudly posing with their new pistol BB guns. Anybody ever watch "A Christmas Story" (one of my all time favorite movies)? Well, they have both been warned..Here's a few shots of the new step and door, it looks much better with the siding replaced and the trim painted. Next up will be the outside storm door...


Well, that's about it! Not much to say...stay tuned for tales from Nova Scotia! Hee hee!

Lissy

It's Been Awhile!

Hi everyone! I know, it's been awhile since my last post, like Matt said, we've all been slackin' lately. So, we or I should say Darcy has been very busy trying to finish up the yard renovations. So much to do before the snow flies! Lots has happened since I last wrote; Darcy finished the front step, planted some sod on both sides of it, finished putting the siding on out front, removed the kitchen window and put the new deck door in, built a step leading from the door onto the deck, fixed up some trim (it still has to be painted), ah the list goes on and on! I honestly don't know where he finds the energy! Everything is finally coming together, and it looks like a whole new yard...I feel like I've moved to a new place.

Anyway, I've been taking photos over the last couple of weeks, but I've just been too lazy to post. I know, I'm pathetic! So, I guess I'll give ya a "looksy" as to how things are coming along.

Here's the new front step. It really looks different from that big porch, it takes some getting used to! I really love it though, and Darcy put our solar lights around the front (thanks Dean and Jade..they look better here than at the camp). The path to the backyard gate has been widened some too, we needed some extra room for the four-wheelers, ski-doo, etc.This was taken when the window was being removed, along with lots of pieces of siding.....
Here's the new door from the inside view. Right now, my kitchen is a freakin' disaster zone..I can't stand that! All part of the renovating process, but I hate the chaos. It's only gonna get worse from here because we have to move our fridge, stove, washer and dryer, heaters, everything! We haven't got to the "moving" stage yet, but that'll all take place this coming week. Fun fun!And, here's the door from the outside view. When I took this picture, the new step was not built yet (it's really nice). The siding is almost replaced now too...I'll take more pictures later when it's all done. We also have another storm door that's being put on this coming week, it's really nice. It's just one whole pane of glass, or a whole screen. That'll be nice in the summer, and when it's on it'll brighten the kitchen up. I have to say that since the door has been in, the deck really feels like a deck now. It's so great to just open the door and let the dogs run, or go out there for coffee in the morning with my PJ's on (without being viewed by the public)..lol!
So, this has been Darcy's third weekend in a row on-call, man do I ever miss the camp! It sucks to be home every weekend, I'm really lookin' forward to this coming weekend...the Stones in Halifax! Woo hoo! We are heading to Moncton on Friday night to stay at Jen and Aaron's place (thanks for having us guys!), and then heading out the next day for Truro (where our hotel is)..and then to the show! I'll be posting about that adventure I'm sure..I wish they'd let us bring cameras inside.

Last night after talking to Jana, we decided to have a quiet evening sipping on some beers by the fire. Well, the mellow evening turned into quite the last minute get-together! We had been sitting around (Jana, Darcy and I), enjoying the fire, just vegging out really. A little while later Kim showed up, she was just getting off work. I knew that Coll and Dan were in town, but I also know that Friday nights they usually just stay at her Mom's, so I wasn't expecting to see them. Anyway, about 10:30 we could hear people outside in the yard and a knock at the gate. We were surprised to see Melanie, Jody, Ben, and Daryl P and his girlfriend. I haven't seen Daryl in years and years...it was quite the surprise! Since they had all arrived, I figured I should phone Coll and invite her and Gammy down. So, they showed up about 11:00...turned out to be a pretty great time. It was great to see everyone again! Sometimes things we don't plan turn out to be the most fun! Anyway, I managed to snap a few shots...here's Melanie, Colleen, Jana, Kim and Kate sitting around the non-existent fire..ha ha! We had run out of wood..sorry guys but we weren't expecting a late night!
Here's Gammy, Daryl and Coll all standing to one side of the fire, on the other side Melanie, Kim and Jana are about to dig into the chip bowl. Ha ha!I did get some other pictures, but they weren't that great..oh well! Good times, lots of laughs...and most important great friends! I know I sound like a sap, but I consider myself blessed to have had such a great group of people to hang around with all these years. Not many people can say they've had the same friends since they were a teenager!:)

Well, that's enough for one day folks! On to bigger and better things...till next time,

Lissy :)

Family Get Together At Nan's

Hi again! I really didn't plan on doing two posts this weekend, but what the heck! Yesterday we were invited to my Nan's house for a family get together. My uncle Tom is currently home (he's been out west for the past couple of years), and my uncle Peter and aunt Jan were also home from Halifax. Tom is a chef, and he was cookin' up a feast for everyone, so we just couldn't pass it up! Plus, it was a chance to see everyone before we all head to Ottawa for Matt and Karine's wedding.

It was a beautiful day, so I roamed around taking lots of pictures, of course :)! This is one of Nan's many flower beds..I wish I could have got a better picture of Peter's new car! It was sandwiched in with all of the other cars, so this is the best I could come up with..it's a 2006 Nissan Maxima, leather interior, man this car has everything! Really nice...Nan is in the process of having a new barn built in the backyard (my uncle's Harry and Tom are constructing it). Here's how it looks so far..they are waiting for the siding to come in.
Here's a pic of Nick's girlfriend Kari and Darcy relaxing on the deck...
Everytime Mitch goes to Nan's, he HAS to bring a toy of some kind with him. This time he chose his "XMOD", which is a really small remote control car. All of the guys were in the driveway taking turns playing with it..too funny! The only sucker who I got a picture of was Nick! LOL...
Here's Mitch (Mr. Serious) and his uncle Nick...
Everyone on the deck, you can see Darcy's legs on the swing, Mom gabbing to Darcy, Mitch showing Peter his car, and a piece of Kari..lol
Nick took this shot of Mom, Kari and I. I finally have a picture of the three of us!
Anyway, we all had a great meal..and some even better desserts! It was a nice break away from housecleaning and yardwork, so thanks for having us Nan! Till next time,

Liss

Labour Day Weekend Is Here Already!

Hey everybody! It's been a while since I've posted, I've been slacking big time! I was talkin' to Dean this morning on the webcam and after seeing all of his posts (he's been drivin' 'er), I kind of felt guilty. I can't believe that the labour day weekend is here! Summer is almost officially over, man it flew by quick! I'm excited for the fall though, it's my favorite season.

So we've been busy the last week! Still working on the yard, and trying to get Mitch ready for "back to school". He's excited to go back, the last week he's been bored out of his mind! I'll be glad to get him back on a routine, and actually have him go to bed at a half decent hour. He's a nighthawk (just like his Mama!) :)

Mitch has been slacking in the blog department too, so I should mention that his hamster, "Lois Griffin", has now become "Peter Griffin". Ha! Ha! Apparently baby hamsters don't develop all of their "parts" right away. This makes me think that George was probably "Georgette" all along, since he was lacking in that area. Live and learn folks, live and learn!

Today our rabbit Emma died..Mitch discovered her while we were talking to Dean. We certainly aren't having much luck with our animals this year! I'm not sure how long rabbits are supposed to live, but Emma was 4 years old, I think she had a pretty long life. Mitch had his friend Dakota spend the night last night, and the two of them had Emma running around Mitch's bedroom for a few hours. She usually stays in the cage (because of the dogs and Teddy), so they feel guilty because they think they gave her too much exercise. I told them not to worry about it, at least she had one last "hoorah" before she went out. :)

Since animals seem to be my "theme" here, I should mention the squirrel troubles we've been having. Since we put up our bird feeder in the back yard, we have a squirrel who eats ALL of the seeds. He actually opens the feeder up, dumps the seeds on the ground, then proceeds to pig right out! He drives Jake absolutely crazy! He's quite the chubby little fella, here's a shot of him..So, after a week of dealing with the bugger, Darcy decided to get a live trap. We don't want to kill him, just capture him and relocate him somewhere else..lol! So, we set up the trap (filled it with bread and seeds), and put it right underneath the feeder. Here's a picture of him sitting beside the trap..
So, you see the little door that's raised up? The squirrel walked up to the trap, stood up on his hind legs, and pushed the door down! Smart or what? We tried to reset it lots of times, but he just kept closing the door. So, I guess we have a new pet now...he'll make up for the ones we're losing! :)

Anyway, Friday night was pretty mellow. Scott and Kim came over for a few beers, and we decided to have a fire in the backyard. It was really cold that night, but the fire helped keep the chill off. I took a few pictures of them sitting around the fire...
Yesterday was a beautiful day, much warmer than Friday! Darcy spent his day painting both concrete steps and the basement of the house, and building rails on the front step. I stayed in and cleaned ..fun fun! I was thinking, last year on the same weekend everyone was rockin' out at the Stones concert in Moncton, and I was home cleaning! Next year, I have got to do something better! Last night Jana came over and we had another fire outside. It was a much warmer evening, so we stayed out pretty late. It was another mellow night, but we had lots of laughs.

So, that's about it! I think I've raved on long enough. Today Darcy is putting sod out front beside the new step, and I get to finish cleaning...I'm procrastinating! I took a few pictures of the step this morning, so I figured I'd put them on....

I can't wait to get the siding on the front of the house! That'll be this coming weekend...I'll probably post more then! Take care everyone! Hope you all enjoy your long weekend!

Liss