Christmas morning

Iain and I still can't help but get up early on Christmas day; in bed at 11 and awake at 5:30!  Finally got out of bed at 6, anxious to get into our Christmas stockings.

Jezebel checks out the gifts...

...as does Onyx.

Open gifts are even better than nicely-wrapped ones, of course!!!

Cats and boxes...

...go together perfectly!

Everyone enjoys the morning.



Snaps inspects the paper pile.

 

Stitches enjoys the tree.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Tired but happy kitties!

Christmas lights

Iain made a lovely job of putting up the lights in the backyard tree.  Here he is, hard at work.

And here is the resulting beauty at night!

Wingscape Birdcam!

As I mentioned in the previous post, I was using pictures taken with a wildlife camera.  It's a Wingscapes model that was a gift from Iain's mom a couple of Christmases ago.  The usual use is for getting shots of birds visiting the feeders, but we have used it for other spots as well, most notably as a time-lapse of a few of our camping trips.  The camera is only usable in daylight hours, which is a minor drawback, but we have enjoyed it a lot.

Our camera quit working this August; I thought it was case of depleted batteries, but new ones made no difference, and when I ran a test the display showed an error message.  So I decided to contact the manufacturers, an American company, by email.  I hoped they would tell me where to take the camera to be repaired, if it could indeed BE repaired.  I went to their website, http://www.wingscapes.com/ , and wrote them a short "help!" letter.

I received a nice email back from Kim Creel, their customer service manager, and she explained that the error code meant there was a software problem, and the unit would have to be replaced.  She asked for my model and serial number, so they could send me a replacement.

Now, when I sent the info off to her, I thought I'd get an email back saying "Okay, now send money".  But I didn't.  They just found one like it at their factory, tested it to be sure it worked, and sent it off to me.  Gratis.  I had the replacement camera (which they sent with new documention, bungee cords, cables, and remote control, even though I already had these things) delivered by courier to my home in less than 2 weeks!

And because I'm in Canada and sending the camera back across the border would be kind of a hassle, they said "nah, never mind returning it; enjoy your new camera".  Absolutely outstanding customer service!

So if you ever plan to buy one of these cameras, don't pass on the Wingscapes because they are a little more expensive.  They're worth it.

A picture of Onyx enjoying the window seat... 

 ...and a picture of Snaps, enjoying the same spot!

The New Cat Tower

My friend Debbie is a very talented lady.  When I heard she was making cat trees, I asked her to build one for us, and she obliged!  In the first picture you can see the top 2 levels of it; and strung across the top like a little roof is a cat-hammock she macraméd!  There are a couple of hidey-tubes further down, and lots of twine and carpet to scratch at.  I'd like to get a few shots of them using it, but the camera hasn't been handy at the right time.

 I set up the birdcam - and there's a story about THAT which I will share next time I write - next to the top shelf.  We have our old one snugged up against it here, because it needs to be bolted to the wall, and we haven't had a chance to do that as yet.  Jezebel is sitting on the old one.

I was also rewarded with a shot of Onyx checking out the situation.

And here he decided to have a look out the window from this ideal vantage point. 

I think they like it!

Visiting with the Rotors on Sunday

It's no fun, saying goodbye! But we were glad to get the chance to visit with Elaine and Dave before they head out to the land of Oz.

We also had a chance to see Dak and Rob, and meet some other fine folks. And to see the house looking very empty, which was sad and kinda awesome at the same time.

We'll miss you guys!

Summer's end, and settling in for the winter.

We closed up the cottage on the 16th; and so another summer draws to a close. I took only a few pictures on the trip, and here they are:

Not a great shot, but it was a lovely sunset, and the last one we would be seeing up there for a while.  Taken on the Friday night as we headed up to the lake.

On our way home, we paused for a moment at Mud Lake.  I'm always a bit verklempt on the last day up there; I miss the place and am always anxious to go back, come springtime.

And now, a little insight into our Saturday and Sunday mornings, where we sip coffee and play on our respective computers.  The Boarder has claimed the top of the loveseat recliner as his territory.

We had him, Jezebel and Snaps all to the V-E-T on Saturday morning, and I'm pleased to report that all are well.  I'd worried we would have a hard time with Onyx, and warned Dr.Al that he had a reputation as a biter, but there were no problems.  Onyx was a perfect gentleman, and enjoyed the treats he received as a reward.

Update on Snaps fitting in....

Just a little proof that the kitties are finally starting to settle down and live in something approaching harmony. Okay, I exagerrate; they are nowhere near harmonious, unless"yowling in unison" can somehow be thought of as harmony. Things are slowly improving, though.

Everyone except Stitches...who has eaten and ran!



Jezebel would like to have some of what's left on that plate.





I'll just help myself!



Finishing the shed

Ok, finally found a minute to blog. *sigh*

I don't think the problem is so much that I am very busy; I just find lots to do to fill my time.

Anyway, I wanted to post these pics of the shed which is mostly complete now, after Iain puttering away at it most weekends this summer. There's still lots of work to do, but it is user-friendly now.

This is the add-on Iain built for the garden/lawn care tools.

Starting work on the additional cabinet for paint etc.

The completed back of the shed; the centre area is storage for firewood.

Iain had to refit the doors and build a ramp.

Working area and relaxo-chair (with cup/bottle holder).  Great ideas start here!

The work/canoe storage area; lots of room to move, now!

All in all, a very happy conclusion to the project!

Last Weekend of August

I had meant to mention the very nice birthday day I had, thanks to Iain, who spoiled me!  It was the last beautiful cottage weekend, and we took full advantage by spending as much time on the deck as possible.  Not great swimming weather, as the week of cooler weather and rain had made the lake slightly uncomfortable (it was hot enought that I got in up to my knees, but that was it).  We went for a lovely boat ride and lazed about on Saturday, and then in the evening had a fantastic roast of beef that Iain cooked on the smoker.

Getting it ready.  It was absolutely perfect when cooked.

Getting the charcoal ready always takes a while; usually about one beer's worth of time.

And getting the charcoal out of the chimney can be tricky.

Dinner, gifts, drinks, and family (not everyone is in this pic, but
doesn't the food look delicious?).

And Dodie made a most excellent trifle.  I love trifle!

Cats on vacation

Jezebel, Onyx, and Stitches joined us at the cottage, and they had a pretty good time as well.

Jez was happy hanging around outside, threatening to catch the birds and chipmunks (and not succeeding).

Onyx found several curl-up spots to his liking, and since we didn't let him go outside, he contented himself with a bit of bird-watching out the kitchen window.

Just one of many cozy spots.

Stitches...well, she did what she usually does on vacation. Aside from a few rips around the cottage each morning, and the obigatory trips to the food dish and litter box, this was how she spent most of her days.  Yes, that lump is her.

How I spent my summer vacation, part one.

Actually, this started back in the spring, when we decided to lift our poor sinking shed.  It was getting beyond use - broken floorboards, leaking roof, and water up to the gunnels.  It's hard to give you an idea of what it was like, without having pictures of the interior mess.  It was totally overrun with squirrels (something we won't allow once it is all fixed up).

These boards were on the floor, stacked up. Someone decided it made a pretty nice dining table!

To lift the shed, we first had to empty the shed. Hmmm.  A lot of stuff.

A good part of the junk removed from the shed.  Not everything.  A lot of this is destined for the local dump, too.

Iain spent most of his weekend time in early April removing the shed floor.  We'd hoped orginally to salvage some of it, but it all had some rot on it due to sitting in water for most of the last 20 years.

After the floorboards and joists were removed. Messy.

Just about every weekend leading up to our August holidays was devoted to redoing the shed, once it was lifted.

Working on the new floor.

You can see in this photo how much higher it is; on cement blocks, it should stay high and dry, even though there is usually some water under it.  We were lucky in this being a drier year than last; it would have been much harder to install the new floor if we were working in four inches of puddle.

Iain tells me his next move.  See the large board attached to the inside wall?  That and a matching one on the opposite wall were used to lift the shed.  They fed a large steel girder right through the building and jacked it up.  We weren't around for it, as they worked during the week.

More to come on this in part two....

Ahhh, the good, quiet life.

Blogging from the cottage isn't something I do, so this is the only post I'm likely to make until our holidays are done.  Why?  Well, at 45.2 kbps, uploading pics is exceedingly long to do, and I like to accompany my words with photos.  So nothing doing until after next week.

I will say we are having a lovely time, though.  The cats are enjoying the new scenery, especially the chipmunks, squirrels and birds.  Even the neighbours' dogs are interesting, though not on the feline social calendar.

Iain and I are reading a bit, when not puttering about.  I'm re-reading Dickens' "Hard Times"; picked it up to read while camping, as the other books I brought along are borrowed and I didn't want to risk them in the canoe.  Now that I've started it, I'm finding I am enjoying it, so I'll be finishing it before moving on.  The afternoon sleepies do seem to occur after a chapter or two, though.

Pictures of camping and cottaging will follow, eventually!

Never bother to argue with a cat

Since The Boarder has become a permanent resident, he and I have had several serious discussions over his laying squatter's rights to the dining room table.  Not that Iain and I eat there a lot; we are fans of watching tv while we eat dinner, usually, which calls for folding tables at the loveseat downstairs.  But I like to have the table looking nice, anyway, JUST IN CASE we have guests.

This is his response to my concerns:

Laid out, totally relaxed, and completely unconcerned.

"I'm sorry, were you speaking to me?"

"Hmmm, Jezebel appears to be stretched out in the hallway.  Wonder if I can get a rise out of her?"

Yep.

They are getting along fairly well, though.  No injuries in their spats, just some tufts of hair (Jez's, mostly, and she has lots to spare).  Don't feel sorry for Jezebel, she instigates it, mostly.

In case you were wondering about Stitches, she mostly is staying out of the line of fire.  She and Phantom used to have epic battles (mostly consisting of her yowling as though he were killing her while he stood and stared at her, probably totally confused), but so far she and Onyx are ignoring each other.  If he gets too close, she'll hiss, but that's it.

Stitches relaxing in the cool of the rec room.

This weekend:  camping a la trailer.   A bunch of us, wedged into a trailer.  And it will be hot.  I'm hoping to have a lot of fun!