We are Canadians and we love hockey!

With our relocation back to Canada has come a renewed interest in many things Canadian - ice hockey for example and, well, pretty much any sport played in Canada or the US (we are broad-minded). We were starved for hockey games while in Australia but have enjoyed many hours of catchup already and the season has only just started. We've also been glued to the baseball World Series - last and deciding game the other night saw our favoured team (Texas Rangers) lose to the St Louis Cardinals).

MapleGum Canada has experienced its first attack from the machine that is Brian! He has cut the first hole in the pristine walls so now it's game on for other changes. We worked all morning to install a small TV in the kitchen so are now able to monitor life on the outside on a regular basis. We had to get the feed from the room adjoining the kitchen which meant fishing a wire from above the upper kitchen cabinets - tight quarters to work in. Our "big" TV is downstairs in the family room so not so handy especially in the mornings. We have breakfast now with all the recaps of the previous night's hockey and baseball ... Oooohhhhh Canada!

TV installation in progress

The leaves continue to fall and our water view continues to broaden - even with raking the leaves, our yard work here is so much less than at Rickard Street living under the monster tree. Temps are now ranging from lows of 2-6 deg C to 7-9 deg C highs. Not much of a temperature spread but still quite tolerable.

Yesterday as we were out mowing, raking, etc. we met two more of our neighbours - one to the left of us who advises us that a strip of land at the rear of our property is actually his - yeah right! So, that will prove to be interesting as we tactfully move forward to resolution. We also met the fellow across the road - on the water - who is the owner of the big white catamaran which serves as a landmark for our driveway. He and his wife are both doctors and live in the States so this is a several times a year vacation spot for them and their children - nice guy.

Last week I endured probably one of the least fun days this year - tax day! I couldn't put it off much longer. I had made a start many weeks ago but lost interest and as it is a day ahead in Australia, I was really feeling the pressure. Anyway, all done now and submitted thank heavens.

Our other interesting experience at the moment is observing the change in behaviour of the deer population. We have been used to seeing the females stroll through our front yard and feed on anything that takes their fancy; and occasionally we've seen them gallop through if they've been startled. We are now at the beginning of the "rut" - the breeding season. The bucks are out and about in force and have only one thing on their mind! Apparently their behaviour is quite erratic so it means we are going to have to be more careful even out in our front yard. I've decided not to wear anything brown for a while and no perfume so that I can't be mistaken as an item of interest!! I wouldn't be surprised if we are treated to front row seats for some of the action before November is over.

Hmmm, where are they hiding??

I thought we were moving to a small city, not to the bush!

Remember last week I said that we were going to ignore Halloween? We'll, Brian caved and brought home a big box of individually packaged potato chips...just in case! Traitor! Anyway, as the day went on, we were beginning to get mildly excited at the thought of having some trick or treaters, BUT NOT ONE CAME! How disappointing was that? Worst thing is that now we have a zillion packets of chips to tempt us!

Besides continuing to fine tune his garage storage, Brian has also done a project for me in my sewing room. As I don't have any built in storage or hanging space in there, he has created a shelf and hanging rod just inside the door and out of sight. It could be upgraded to an actual closet down the track but for now it's very handy. The shelf is one of the ones we collected off the sidewalk in front of The Bay department store many weeks ago. Now I feel ready to launch and have finally turned on the sewing machine.

Storage for works in progress!

There was a request for a few photos of some of our other spaces...

The guest room

Living room from hall

Upstairs living/dining room - kitchen through doorway

Front entry looking towards family room

Family room downstairs (my sewing room through the opening)

We are having our first dinner party tomorrow night so we are really looking forward to that. Also next week I'm off to the quilt retreat so hopefully next post I will have some photos of what is apparently a very beautiful area!