FFF Nature Friday - Green

Wow, time is flying by and here we are at the last Friday and day of May. Today is Aunty-Yam's Final Fiction Friday and Rosy and Sunny's Nature Friday. We thought today we would share green. Lady realizes she shows the world when it is pretty and white and when it is the fall rainbow, but rarely does she show the green that surrounds us for part of the year.

The skies are bluer

The green leaves bring life and love

The glory of spring

The New Deck

 Hi pals,

Lady and Man have slowly been putting stuff on the new deck so they can use it a lot this s summer. They say if they are going to pay 87 million dollars for something, they are going to use it. 

Sometimes they are very rude and don't take us out with them and sometimes they do let us out, with limits.

As there is no gat at the far end around the house (maybe some day)

they are using a table and stool to build a barrier to keep us in the small part. 

Apparently we were annoying wanting to be out and then wanting to be in and then wanting to be out and then wanting to be in, so, 

because the bugs weren't too bad, they just left the door open, so we could go in and out as we like.

In spite of the limits, we must say, we give this deck our approval. 

Your pals Lee and Phod who are working on their tans. 

Wordless Wednesday - Love Bug

 

Travel Tuesday - Niagara - Gone To The Birds

 One of our adventures was to Bird Kingdom. This is apparently the largest indoor aviary in the world.

Here are some of the birds and one non-bird resident we met.

Mischief Monday - Traitors

Dear pals,

On Saturday our people left us alone for 87 million hours (editors note, it was about 5.5 hours) to go have lunch in the market and to go to the National Art Centre to see SIX the Musical. 

It is one thing for them to leave us to go to places, while we don't think it is fair we can't go to, because it isn't allowed, but what happened after is not acceptable.

You see, Lady and Man went with Uncle Chris and since he lives not too far from where they were going, an easy walk, they parked at his place. Then after the play, they stopped by his place for a few minutes to see cousin Emma.

Emma was very excited to see Lady and Man and show them her toys. We didn't get to visit. 

We don't think this is fair. 

Your pals the not so happy Lee and Phod

Nature Friday - The Apple Tree

Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event.

As we have been watching all the other trees bloom, we were really worried about the apple tree at the end of the drive way in MJ's field. It has been hit hard by some of the storms recently. However, finally, just last week, the blooms have arrived.

There are two things Lady wishes she could share via the internet. The first is the sound of all the bees happily buzzing around. The second is the fragrance. She could just stand there and smell the blossoms for hours. Enjoy!

An evening view from our driveway

See the bee?

Here is another one

Can we get on with our walk please?

Looking back at it in the evening

Clarification on The Goose Fence

 Hi pals,

Last week when we were talking about the mean person who has us fighting for our dock, we also shared about our goose fence and we think we confused people.

The goose fence with MJ's dock in the background - it attaches to the land at the furthest place in this picture, parts rest on the beach for the winter

It is a bit complicated.

Currently, our lake access is owned by nice neighbours we will call MJ. Our house, Callie's house and another house, have deeded access. MJ doesn't really use are part with the natural beach. They leave that to us (and by us most of it is Callie's people). To keep the geese from the beach, Callie's people have a goose fence, which is very easy to move and Lady and Man often do, however, sometimes Phod is too fast and jumps over it (when he shouldn't).  

Lee wading - this is about as far as she will go on

The problem the mean person is having is the bylaw states there can be only one dock per property. We have ours on the beach and MJ has theirs down the lake in front of their house. The mean person has been complaining a lot (like at least once a week for 3 years). She rebuilt right on the property line because due to changes in zoning it is the only way her place could be on the lake. She feels our dock  ruins her view, she can hear us (if you have ever been to a lake you can hear everyone on it) and someday Callie's kids may have parties that disturb her (she should be more worried about 40 years olds having parties).  Her mother, who is the actual owner, has made comment to Lady that they should have bought all this land years ago when Callie's grandpa did, so none of us would be here. Lady said nicely, but you didn't and we are here.  They feel entitled, as they have said things like, they pay more taxes and therefore have more rights. They have a lot of money and I believe, had a huge dispute with neighbours in England where mean Lady and her husband live. We don't believe the other 3 siblings share this view. They just stay out of it. At this point we don't talk to any of them, we don't wave and Lady actually turns her back if she sees them. 

We will continue to enjoy our dock free access and take some joy that every time we go down, we are sure all the cameras she has on our beach send her notifications that we are here, and it probably ticks her off. We will continue to explore our options to get our dock back.  We will not let this mean woman ruin our lives. 

Now back to the goose fence. Does it work? The geese aren't at the beach, they are in the field, so yes, it seems to work!

Wordless Wednesday - Shake

 

Travel Tuesday - Niagara - The Food

Last week I shared the falls. While my friends aren't as active as I am, they do enjoy a good meal and were very happy to work around my gluten and soy allergy.  Today we will talk about some of the food we enjoyed. 

Before I share two special meals - Niagara is a very dog friendly place. At a pub we ate at, I noted this on the menu:

The first special meal involved a winery.

There are over 50 wineries in the Niagara region and we visited this one twice, because it is one of my friend's favourite wine. The first afternoon was for a wine tasting and the second was for lunch.

I am not a big drinker, but enjoy the occasional drink. If I am going to drink wine, it is going to be red.

My favourite was the Merlot followed closely by the Pinot Noir.

For our meal we had charcuterie board, flat breads with fancy stuff (I could not eat the bread, but ate some of the toppings!) and salad:

Fancy food pictures courtesy of a friend who had fun playing around 

The vineyard

The second special meal was all about me. Anyone who has watched the show The Bear. may be familiar with the character Neil Falk. Neil, is played by Canadian chef Matty Matheson. Matty, went to high school with one of my friends and she has known his wife since kindergarten. She was able to arrange a reservation at Rizzo's House of Parm.  

I don't know if you hadn't heard about it, if it was the type of place you would rush too. From the outside, while busy, it isn't fancy and the vibe instead is very casual. However, if you didn't, you would be totally missing out. 

The food was fantastic. I want the salad dressing recipe (they grow a lot of the ingredients at a farm not far from the restaurant).

Our appy course

It was the best gluten free pasta I have ever eaten, and they don't up charge for a gluten free substitution. 

The service was flawless. Anyone who has watched the show may remember them talking about how the diners should never see the staff communicating, and we never did. Apparently one of the secrets to this (because I know someone who knows) is to overstaff.  Two of my friends had not watched the show and both had worked as servers and were also blown away by the food and the service. 

The price was great. We had an amazing 3 course dinner, for 4 people, with enough leftovers for a meal the next day, with one drink each, and a very good tip for about $290 Canadian/$213 US. To compare five of us ate at a moderately priced chain the following night, one drink each, appetizers,  and one dessert to share, the food was not as good, the service was not good and it cost $450 Cdn/$330US.

I am not usually a big celebrity follower, however this was a fun and delicious experience. It was fun to play 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon!

Mischief Monday - Old Dog Style

 We have had lots of mischief.

First up is Miss Bug. On Friday, even though she was out a lot, she managed to poop 2 times in the house. Lady believes what is happening is sometimes she doesn't know she needs to go until it is too late. On our walks, she seems to be caught of guard sometimes. Also, Lady wonders if, since Lee is being very barky lately, she is barking all the time at all the things,  that Lady may be missing her asking. Man thinks she is just being a brat. This is becoming a more common occurrence. 

Phod managed to hurt one of his back hips doing a race down the basement steps to join Hailey with barking at the cat at the patio door. Lady has been trying to rest him. However, he is still making choices like digging in his hole to France.

These are the signs of aging we live with and monitor every day. 

Nature Friday - Flowers

 Dear pals,

Because I responded to Lady's call outside, I get to share some spring flowers with you when I would rather be rolling.

Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event. 

your pal, who was punished for listening Zaphod

I'll Do What I Want - by Lee

 Dear pals,

Lady and Man told me I shouldn't be climbing on the retaining wall that Callie's Man made us a number of years ago. They said, especially since I am more tippy it is not safe.

Well, I didn't listen to them and climbed on the retaining wall. Chipmunks live it it, so it always smells good. 

Looks totally safe to me

Besides I was a little ticked off with Lady at the time, because she had just got home smelling like cats! She went to celebrate cousin Troy and Aunt C's birthdays. 

Uber

Loopy

If Lady can do what she wants to, I can do what I want to.

you pal, the mountain goat Hailey Bug