Whoever Draws The Sword...

As I write this, Ottawa is hit with its first significant snow of winter. After as green a Christmas as I can recall ever witnessing, we've got a solid foot of snow, if not more, coming down out there.

I rarely have the week between Christmas and new year's off, but this year I do, and judging from the chaos outside, I picked a good one to have off. As I recall, a co-worker of mine named Gail (Hi Gail!!) was emphatic that I should request it this year, to the point where I feared I would face physical violence. And so here I am, drinking red wine by the fireplace, listening to blues, and updating my little blog.

Making me feel more clever still is that my dad and I rode out to Crow Lake yesterday before snowmageddon hit. We dropped off a load of wood, took a peek in the bunkie in preparation for reno work there in the spring and made sure everything was where it was supposed to be. On the way in, we stopped in the Perth Home Hardware which inspired a few more decoration/renovation ideas and on the way back, we stopped at The Maples in Sharbot Lake for a delightful lunch.

I felt a little less clever when my pappy spotted something that required a little explanation. Last year, I posted about recreating Stonehenge using a concrete slab from the dock ramp and a couple of logs.

Well this year I inadvertently recreated Excalibur using another log and my wood splitter.

We were running a little short on firewood. That was one of the remaining logs from when a dead tree was cut prior to our taking possession of the cottage.

I thought I saw a crack across the top that had...potential. My goal, obviously, was to widen it and eventually cause the whole thing to split down the middle.

I was hammering away but seemingly getting nowhere until I heard a loud crack and my momentum damn near caused me to face-plant. After a moment to think "Finally!" I realized I wasn't as successful as I'd thought.

Thor would just shake his head at this shameful display. "Verily, thou art a dipstick", he would say.

Ah, crap...Well, still better than my wrists!

And now I can't get the splitter out. So screw it, that log has become decorative in our "Little Ol' England" spot alongside mini-Stonehenge. Yeah. I just thought of that now and I think we should keep it.

Christine was far more successful that weekend. Not only did she and Kathy combine to whip up some good Thanksgiving eats...

...But she whipped up this clever little swinging gate to prevent the wiener tots from running off the deck (well, one end of it for now, at least).

Ain't that something? I think the whole thing is built from wood we'd had laying around the place, much of it from our dismantled floating dock. Fantastic. Only three more of those and we can finally keep some control over the sausages.

We make such a great team. She builds stuff, I break things...We complement one another extremely well!

More Late Season Additions

These date back to August / September or so but I deliberately held off posting them for a reason that I will get into a little later, assuming that I am able to maintain a train of thought. This is never guaranteed.

The first is a birthday gift to both the three of us from Caroline and Asley.

Dramatization. Treats Were Involved

It's a doghouse (although you might have concluded that on your own)!

Kind of a neat deal. It was assembled in no time, easily. It was, in every way, the exact opposite of Frankenshed, may it forever burn in a hell hotter than a billion suns.

It's also quite light so easy to move around while we figure out exactly where we want it. It sat across from the bunkie until the end of the season but we figure it's more likely to get traffic nearer to the fire pit and picnic table. You know, where there are people to trip and/or steal food from, both common dachshund hobbies.

Here's something we may do for kicks: We need to buy paint to...huh...paint some tiles I've added to the outside walls in a largely pointless attempt to keep a variety of critter types out of the cottage. There aren't that many tiles to paint, so maybe we'll apply what's left to the doghouse to match the actual cottage and bunkie. That might be neat.

Regardless of whether that ever happens, Caroline also suggested this as an entertainment option.

If we ever manage to winterize...Deal!

Also, being a guy, I have to admit that I've stared at it for some time and thought to myself "Bet I could fit in there". The only thing that's kept me from testing that theory is the possibility, however unlikely, that I am mistaken and that Christine would have to get me out of there by unscrewing the roof. But it will continue to tempt me, I know it. I may attempt it, but only when she is within earshot.

Now as to why I waited a bit (I did it! I remembered!) before posting about it, not long after we received that gift, we also began to serve as foster parents for this little darling.  Meet Ladybug, those of you who have yet to do so.

Long story short (a rarity in itself), she'd had a rough go of it for a while and Canadian Dachshund (the hardest word to spell, ever) Rescue needed a home for Bugs while she went through some treatment. They contacted us, we agreed to give it a shot, and she's been with us since.

I'd planned on posting about her almost right away, and about how the doghouse would make for a nice "extra bedroom" for our new visitor, but a conversation with Chris underscored that we didn't own her as such yet so I held off in case she left as quickly as she arrived. Now that we're further along, she's responding well and we're closer to making her our own, I think it's safe to include her.

Those who met her early on might be surprised to see how much weight she's lost. She was, indeed, a bit of a porker.

She's a much leaner sausage now to the point that she was referred to as being "perfect" shape (as opposed to cylindrical) when Christine took her for her a treatment recently. She seems to absolutely love walks on the trails around Crow Lake so there's more of that in her future. Assume you'll be seeing more of her (and George) here, assuming things continue to go well.