Three years in Canada!

Yesterday was exactly 3 years since we landed in Canada. After a couple of nights in a B&B back in 2005 we moved into our 'empty' nest, the girls and I saw it for the first time! It took another four weeks for our furniture to arrive from England which is funny when we remember it now, a bit like camping indoors! Craig viewed 40 or so properties up and down the valley prior to our arrival and was lucky to find the house that has become our home that we all love and have enjoyed over the past months.

Last Friday we all felt a little 'empty' after saying goodbye to our family visitors. The lake cottage was vacant until Sunday so we decided to make the most of it all day Saturday, rather than let it stand empty. After swimming and boating we watched a late afternoon video called 'Fried Green Tomatoes'. I hadn't seen it for ages and had forgotten how sad it was - oops! Such an enchanting and emotional movie though, now I want to watch Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which I haven't seen before. Finishing the day with a final BBQ, before heading home to put Archie to bed. He is such a funny creature of habit and starts to get fidgety at around 10pm, wanting to go to bed! We leave him purring contently in the mud room with his little bedtime biscuit treats until 6am the next morning!

Funny little Archie

Craig was back to work on Monday, it was a beautiful day so I took the girls on a drive with a picnic lunch which we ate alongside a field of wheat! Amber had her camera with her and we took a few impulsive snaps. The rest of the week was fun too with temperatures still soaring to 30 degrees, we headed for the beach up at the lake a few times and both girls had friends over to visit them. I busied myself building up stock for my shop which is in a virtual comatose state at the moment, normal for this time of year.

Two of my good friends, Kathy and Keriann have recently taken this 'personality test', it seems to be doing the rounds on several blogs at the moment. My friend's personality summaries were pretty accurate so I decided to have a go myself just for fun.
This is what it says about me:
Hazel's personality type:
Quiet, kind and conscientious. Can be depended on to follow through. Usually puts the needs of others above their own needs. Stable and practical, they value security and traditions. Well-developed sense of space and function. Rich inner world of observations about people. Extremely perceptive of other's feelings. Interested in serving others.
Careers that could fit Hazel include:Interior decorators, designers, nurses, administrators, managers, secretaries, child care/early childhood development, social work, counselors, paralegals, clergy, office managers, shopkeepers, bookkeepers, homemakers, gardeners, clerical supervisors, curators, family practice physicians, health service workers, librarians, medical technologists, typists.Encouraging to see that I have delved into a few of my suitable career options at least! Have a go by clicking the link and see what it comes up with for you. Jemma and Amber had very interesting results I must say.
In the garden this week the white Hydrangeas are in full bloom as are the lilac and white Hosta flowers, with the heavy rain fall yesterday they are looking quite refreshed after a long dry spell over the past 3 weeks. This however is my favourite flower of the moment. A single beautiful blue Delphinium given to me by Tony, my next door neighbour. I am going to keep the seeds when it wilts and plant them in our garden for next Spring.

On the fruit and veggie front, the strawberries have been polished off, hand picked cherries have been eaten in abundance and we have been harvesting our home grown spinach, cucumbers, lettuce, Swiss chard, beet greens and spring onions on a daily basis for several weeks now. The 3 different varieties of tomatoes are looking promising and with a few more days of sunshine should be ripe for the picking in the not too distant future - yummy and ever so healthy too

Harvesting the last of the baby spinach
Poor Amber got stung by a bee on the instep of her foot on Friday - OUCH!! It was day before we were due to visit Halifax for Jemma's pre-birthday 'look and see' trip. Amber was adamant that we should all go, even though her foot was blown up like a balloon. Amber is allergic to bee stings, which is not dangerous as long as she doesn't get stung near her mouth, nose or throat. I managed to organise a wheelchair at the mall for her to sit in, as she really could only hop along, but she opted to 'hop' instead. Hence a somewhat disastrous venture for both girls (we live and learn as they say) Jemma has decided that she doesn't really need a cell phone after all and would rather wait until she goes to University next year. Her final AP Biology mark came in the mail a few days ago, she was expecting a 3, hoping for a 4 and ended up getting the highest possible score of 5!! Such a clever bean.
I had a 'tiny' windfall recently, winning a $50 Amazon book voucher for 'house of the week' on a photo website. It will come in very handy for Jems next lot of AP text books for Chemistry and Calculus plus a couple of other books, yet to be chosen.
My oh my I am rabbiting on this morning!!
If you're still awake I hope you have a good week :)
Hazel xx