Happy Canada Day! {and snapshots from life lately}

I feel all out of sorts. I worked yesterday and even though it was a Monday it felt like Friday and now today feels like a Sunday because I’m off for Canada Day, but it’s actually Tuesday. Are you confused yet?

We’ve been watching people walk by the apartment all morning in their red and white gear and I couldn’t figure out where they were going, then I remembered it’s the Canada Day parade today! We’re hoping to meet up with friends later for some festivities in town and catch the fireworks tonight.

My main goal for this summer has been to get outside as much as possible, especially when I’m at my parents’ place. We spend pretty much the whole time we’re visiting out on the back porch, in the yard or out on the boat. After a long winter, it feels good to get the most out of our warm months when we can.

The dogs are loving it too and are always up for an adventure. Those cute doggie life jackets are a permanent fixture on the boat now that we know that Cola likes the water. We were all standing on the dock the other day and he just dove off into the duck weed (maybe he thought it was grass?!?). He couldn’t swim very well and I had to scoop him out, so that means this weekend we’re taking him out to the dog beach to teach him how to swim. At least enough so that he can get himself to the shore if he ever needed to. Unlike Whiskey, he actually likes the water, so it will be interesting to see how he takes to it.

So far Cola has been a pretty good pup. We think he is younger than we originally thought – maybe 8 months instead of a year old – which would explain some of the puppy behaviour. He has SO much energy and is running around like crazy, chewing toys and watching squirrels…and then he just crashes. I actually caught him sleeping standing up one day and he just tipped right over onto the floor and it didn’t even phase him. It’s hard to believe that we’ve already had him for a month today!

And how is Whiskey doing with all this? If anything I think Whiskey is better behaved than ever, almost like he’s showing off sometimes. He sits oh so perfect for a treat and patiently waits for his leash to be removed after a walk. I even find that he’s eating better these days. We always had a problem with encouraging him to eat or to chew bones to help clean his teeth, but now he eats everything in front of him, for fear that someone else will take it from him, haha. (FYI – That big collar on him is for the invisible fence at my parents place. It’s not a bark collar and all it really does is remind him to stay within the perimeter.)

We’ve been eating pretty good too lately. I made this Fudgy Skillet Brownie recipe from Martha Stewart last night when we had company over. The only thing I changed was less sugar and swapping out the bittersweet chocolate for semi-sweet chocolate chips…with extra on top, of course.

I served it up warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top. Yum. (I may or may not have had a little wedge for breakfast this morning.)

My big project this week is working on this glass cabinet. Last year I was on the hunt for a glass door cabinet and Garrett’s mom found this one for me at an auction. Lately it’s been storing my fancy bowl collection, party supplies (paper straws, bowls, etc), vintage tablecloths and fabric scraps – basically a catch all for anything pretty. Now it’s ready for a full makeover with some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in a fun turquoise/green colour. I’ve never used it before, but I’m excited to see the results.

Should I keep the original glass knobs? Or try something different?

Last week I planted this little cilantro growing greenhouse kit from the Target dollar bin and I’ve got sprouts! Now I don’t know what to do with them. Do I let them keep growing? Do I transplant them now?

Meanwhile…the rest of our herbs outside weren’t fairing so well…mainly because I kept forgetting to water them and I think they were in containers that were too small. I got up this morning and replanted them all into new pots and gave them a good soak. I also set a reminder on my phone to water them every day before work.

The mint was still doing well, so you can probably guess what we’ll be drinking this afternoon for a little Canada Day cocktail hour…mojitos!

Hope that you’re having a great Canada Day or gearing up for the Fourth of July or maybe just having a great Tuesday all around.