glorious weekend

a weekend filled with lots of bike rides, dog walks, fall colours and poutine!

with the super crisp autumn air, it was a perfect fall weekend.

happy 1 year, petey

today marks the one year anniversary since petey came to live with us!

when we were still fostering everybody kept on saying how we would never let him be adopted and that we would eventually keep him. i guess all those people - friends and strangers - were correct!

thank you, petey, for teaching us:

• to let sleeping dogs lie
  
• that it is possible for dogs to sniff each other on the sidewalk without an altercation
  
• to respect and be mindful of dog body language
  
• that with positive reinforcement anything is possible - even teaching you a bite inhibition

we are so happy that we will be your forever home - we were always a bit worried about what would happen when/if you bit your new owners.

andre, duke and i are looking forward to growing older with you.

we love you!

happy belated valentine's day and chinese new year!

scrum-diddly-umptious vegan cupcakes from omg bakery just a block south from us. don't let the vegan part fool you, this is one rich, delectable cupcake!

according to some reading i've been doing this year is the year of the white tiger. apparently the tiger's main element of wood can potentially clash with the metal element of white. this may mean that aggressive nature of the tiger can turn ferocious and cruel when suppressed by metal, creating tumultuous events. so take caution this year!

the little boots report

i forgot my camera for the little boots concert, so i decided to draw a little report instead.

sadly her très cool tenori-on instrument malfunctioned and we couldn't see her use it live, but none the less the show was super fun.

what totally bugged me, though, is the number of people who insist on taking sh*tty photos with their iphones or use their flash with their point and shoot cameras. do they think that if they keep on trying to take photos without changing the setting of their camera, they'll magically get a different result the next time? excuse me, but you are totally obscuring the view for the vertically challenged!

i tried taking one photo with my cellphone and realized the futility of it:



anyway, i consider little boots an electronica genius of sorts. here is she is covering hot chip's 'ready for the floor' and recreating every element of the song except the vocals on her tenori-on:



and then!! check her out on jools holland, where she manages to play the baseline and other song elements all the while singing the melody of her song 'meddle' and play the piano. it's pretty amazing:

our crab apple tree

what used to be a wretched and evil looking crab apple tree, with branches growing in all directions and suckers sprouting from the base and all over the trunk, quite literally blossomed into a showy spring tree! for the past 2 weeks it has been, hands down, the prettiest tree on our street.

most of the blossoms fell off earlier this week with the wind storms, but andre's trimming work has paid off and our crab apple tree that looked like something from a tim burton movie now has a beautiful silhouette. the blossoms were SO fragrant too.

her morning elegance

a facebook friend posted this lovely video that i wanted to share. such imaginative and enchanting animation.

have a great weekend tout le monde!

elmo the foster beagle

cross posted to baying beagle

an overcrowded shelter in ohio asked for help with 14 of their dogs that were to be put down. the grassroots rescue organization that we adopted duke from, barlee's angels rescue network, made a plea for help on their website and through facebook (see it's not all that evil).

with duke adjusting very well to his new neighbourhood and home, andre and i decided to take the plunge and apply to foster one of the two beagles that were listed as urgent. we were lucky enough to be approved to foster elmo.

sure elmo is still probably scared and learning to adjust to his new life (he was found as a stray), but so far he is far less anxious than duke was when duke started his new 'urban' life with us.

things i love about elmo:

• he is still very much a puppy and looks at things in wonder
  
• his sudden bursts and happy jumps during our walks
  
• he is clingy, but that makes him sweet and snuggly
  
• he gives kisses
  
• for a 1 or 1.5 year old, he's super laid back
  
• he's very much a beagle, nose to the ground, a serious investigative sniffer

i get so furious, frustrated and sad to think that someone gave elmo up. if barlee's didn't work hard to find foster families, elmo and the other 14 dogs would have died last week. in fact, due to the pit bull ban in ontario, one dog was put down b/c she couldn't be brought into the barlee's program.

sad. sad. sad.

... but i have to look forward. elmo is going to be the first of many beagles that we would like to foster. and the thought of bringing love to future beagle parents helps counter the negative, sad feelings.

macca!

andre and i drove out to quebec city for the free paul mccartney concert that he put on to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the city.

after recuperating from a 10 hour drive, we explored the city and small neighbouring cities for a day and half before the concert. quebec city is so charming! and the locals are patient enough to hear us muddle our way through ordering and small talking en français.

for the concert, andre and i agreed that we would be happy just to see paul (yes, we are on a first name basis!) as a speck on a stage from far away. so when we entered the plains of abraham we walked right to the hills away from the crowds... not that there weren't any crowds on the hills either!

the concert, even from farther back, was so awesome! paul sang for 2.5 hours straight and surprisingly his set list was comprised of a lot of beatles songs. i was an immensely happy beatles fan. i was also touched when paul dedicated a song to linda, and sang 'something' for george and a 'day in the life' and 'give peace a chance' medley for john.

paul has temporarily usurped george's title as my favourite beatle :)

--
more photos from quebec coming soon! with a move and a new baby (andre is an uncle now!), things have been very hectic, but also very exciting.