Duke 3.30

We have had the craziest spring. While today is sunny, yesterday (this photo) it was gloomy and dreary. The weather has been changing by the hour, much like Romney's campaign. Speaking of Romney and dogs....Duke could care less about the weather and loves to take a walk in the woods.

Flakes

Just when we think spring is here, large snowflakes fall from the sky. In case you wanted to know, the translation for "large flakes" is Gros Flocons. Large flakes sounds better.

the Daily Duke 9.20.11

Duke didn't get the memo that it's Fall here in Canada. This didn't stop him from taking a dip in my friend's pool. But then again, he doesn't have an issue with cold water.

the Daily Duke 9.8.11

We're enjoying some beautiful sunny days. Although, it's easy to tell that fall is in the air with cool mornings. Duke is loving the dog park. It's hard to believe that in a matter of months this place will look like this.

the Daily Duke 3.23

This crazy dog is pretending he's resting on a pile of warm sand, not a pile of snow in March.

In the air

If you can look past the snow on the ground, the temperatures hugging freezing and the crater-sized potholes, we believe, based on what we recently saw in the back yard, spring might be in the air.

Change of seasons

We decided it was time to take down the Bears flag.

the Daily Duke 2.15

Duke really, really likes snow. He attacks a snow bank in the yard as if it's a giant cone of gelato.

the Daily Duke 2.2

Duke is in his usual spot in the morning looking out the window. Today he's watching the snow fall wondering how his dog friends back in Chicago are taking care of business this morning in the blizzard.

the Daily Duke 2.1

Duke is exhausted from watching the Weather Channel all day long. He's borrowing a phrase from the Sarah Palin word salad, playbook and is having his own "WTF moment." He's all...WTF -- What's the Fuss? It's winter. It snows. He is a Canadian Field Labrador after all.

We're sorry...

As they say in Canada quite often, "we're sorry." We're sorry to our neighbors down south that you are getting some nasty weather...we're not. While our Chicago friends are getting ready for a blizzard, we're not. It's a bit cold, but it's Canada. To celebrate the weather we are not getting, here's a very funny clip from last week's Rick Mercer Report, one of our favorite shows. Bundle up, stay warm, enjoy the snow day tomorrow. Again, we're sorry.

the daily Duke 1.27

Duke really doesn't understand what all the fuss is about with the snowy weather. He's okay with it and thinks it's kind of cool...and he means that literally.

the daily Duke 1.26

Let's just say it's been very cold here in Montreal and Duke has spent about a week on the sofa. He has a lot of energy and he enjoyed every minute of a walk in the woods. If you could only see his tail wag in a still photo. He was so happy, he gets two Daily Dukes today.

the Daily Duke 12.14

I was trying to capture a cool photo of the sunset in the background with the light of the snow and all...but the dog was in the way. He spends most of his winter days perched on this sofa thinking he's a cat. The squirrels, who torment him eight months a year, are being tormented by him as he's thinking, "suckers, I'm warm, I have a sofa and I have all the food I need for the winter."

Random photo 12.1

This was the view from our kitchen window a couple of days ago when it snowed. That snow has now been replaced by millimetres and millimetres of never-ending cold rain. We prefer snow, merci very much.

the Daily Duke 11.28

We had our first somewhat significant snow fall yesterday morning. On the first snowfall Duke usually runs out as usual in the morning, stops in his tracks and is all "wwwaaaaiiiitttt a minute, what the?" Actually he loves the snow. It usually means he starts leaving his impression on a different plant. The start of winter also means the beginning of oh so many gifts he will leave behind from now until the thaw in March. See, around here, once it starts snowing, it just accumulates, accumulates and accumulates. The snow and other things.

The American representing Quebec...in America

Danielle left this morning on her way to New York City (actually they are staying in New Jersey). She's part of the Quebec Rugby team and will play in a 7's tournament on Saturday in the City. We reflected on how strange it is to have this American kid, representing Quebec, playing in America. This is her second time representing Quebec in rugby. She loves the game and is certain to have a nice time visiting NYC for the first time.

When we woke up this morning Montreal was recovering from a bit of a freezing rain storm. Since we're not quite ready for winter and can't find our winter provisions, Louis did some improvising getting the car ready to take Danielle to meet her team.

It's beginning to look a lot like winter

The weather today was certainly not winter-like, but the signs of winter are here. Literally. These driveway markers are multiplying like Republican house seats. Different snow plow companies get permits for driveway plowing and once you have paid the bill, up front, they put these markers at the bottom of the driveway so employess know which driveways to plow after a storm....up to several times a day.  It seems like a luxury for us as we tend to be more "do-it-yourselfers" but, with the amount of snow we can get, it's worth every Canadian penny.

Speaking of "do-it-yourselfers"....Paul insists on cleaning the gutters himself, along with help from the kids. Me? I look up and thank God we have good healthcare coverage.

the Daily Duke 9.23

No, this dog does not care that the water is now cold. However, if he ever decided to become a hunting dog, we still say he would require a heated duck blind with a nice, warm down dog bed.

"I'm almost fluent" word of the day 9.3

This is one of those words that most English speakers would probably figure out after a few guesses...


climatisation


Which means....air conditioning. Which is...something we have been without for the past four days. Which makes....the mom of the house very cranky. 


Finally the "part" is in the the repair man is in the house. In a few minutes I'll be presented with a facture which means invoice -- however each time I see the word facture it reminds me of fracture which is usually what it's doing to the checking account. Today though, if lots of loonies means nice cool air, that's okay. Just in time for the start of fall. Hopefully the heater is working.