The Travels of the Agnew Family

Zaph did have a really good time on his mini holiday ---- he came home stinky after rolling in something he thought was wonderful, plus he hurt his dew claw on his front right paw digging in the dirt. I guess "dogs will be dogs".

This morning I decided to call the vet's office as his dew claw was sticking out at a funny angle and Zaph seemed to be babying it. I was told to bring Zaph in. After looking at the claw the vet decided that he needed to remove the broken part of the nail. It wasn't loose enough for him to just pull it off so Zaph was given a sedative. Zaph was snoring loudly when the vet removed the nail ---- hmmmm...... maybe I should think twice before I accuse Ed of snoring. The wake up shot didn't work as well as the sedative. Took about a half hour of poking and prodding to get Zaph to respond to "Want to go for a walk?" A very wonky dog stood up and headed for the door. By supper time Zaph was back to normal wanting his dinner, after dinner walk and after dinner treats.

The basement is progressing.

The drywall is up and the mudding and sanding have begun. Won't be long till I'm painting!

Jeff and Deana are in California on their honeymoon so Rob and Ellen are spending a week at Deana and Jeff's house cat sitting the "the girls" --- four of them. Rob and Ellen's car was packed full when they pulled out of the driveway and lucky for me they didn't have room for

it looks wonderful on my liquor cabinet.

Ellen and Rob's daughter Deana was married today. Ellen and Rob live across the road from us and we've become good friends in the three and a half years we've lived in Walkerton. The wedding took place in Owen Sound about an hour north of Walkerton so Zaph went to Anne and Victor's home in the country with the creek for an afternoon of fun and a sleep over. Pretty sure he had a wonderful time and I know we did especially since I didn't have to worry about him.

The bride was beautiful and the wedding was very nice. Luckily, all of the hiccups occurred before the big day.

The reception was held at Cobble Beach Golf Course about 15 minutes north of Owen Sound along the shore of Georgian Bay. You couldn't ask for a more beautiful spot and happily mother nature kept the temperatures comfortable and the air dry. Ryan, Ellen and Rob's son and the brides brother, was an amazing MC. I don't think I've ever laughed so much at a wedding reception. Do you think the fact that he writes commercials for a radio station might have helped?


Rob walking his daughter down the aisle.




Golf cart races ........ Not surprised that Deana was driving the golf cart.


Luckily it didn't rain but they came prepared.


Deana kept checking to see what Jeff's answers were in the newly-wed contest. The majority of their answers matched.

Our friend Jack is a very talented musician and I'm one of his biggest fans. Hmmmm...... think he owes me some "song of the month" songs. Hope he reads this and catches the subtle reminder. Back on topic, Jack and five other musicians got together and created a "Harry Chapin Tribute" with the proceed of the concert being donated to hunger relief following in Harry's footsteps. The concert was fabulous and it was fun watching the musician's really enjoying themselves as they played.


A fellow on keyboard and a woman on cello didn't make it into the photo. Jack is in the striped shirt second from the right.

One of those strange moments happened at the show. Ed and I enter the theater and found a couple of seats in the 2nd row beside a couple of empty seats that were being saved. A few minutes after we sat down, my old hairdresser and her daughter came and sat in the saved seats. It nice to catch up with Chris.

As with most renovations, Ed found a number of surprises when he pulled down the old paneling, drywall and ceiling. The correct number of studs have been put up and insulation put on concrete wall. He's been slowed down by the need to rewire part of the basement. The person who originally finished the basement liked junction boxes a lot. Ed is removing unnecessary ones and putting the bathroom on one circuit so he can put it on a ground fault. He's also moving some light switched and adding an outlet.

The Amish Auction was held today and once again we attended. This year our friends Bob and Gwen came with us as I thought Gwen, being a quilter, would love the quilt auction. By the way, I was correct.

The auction is a consignment auction with a percentage of the proceeds going to local Amish school. There were four rings --- farm implements, furniture, quilts and horses. Ed, Bob and Victor wandered around whereas Anne, Gwen and I spent most of our time watching the quilt auction. I did bid once but the items went out of my price range very quickly.


Kids will be kids.


Looking across the grounds.


Some of the horses that were sold.


I thought the quilts were exceptional this year --- a lot of them were in colors I like.

Zaph's friend Maggie spent Sunday afternoon with us while her parents went to the city (Toronto). Ed and I took the pair of them for a long walk (over 7 km) around Walkerton. In the evening when I headed out to walk with my neighbour Zaph and Maggie insisted on coming along. About a kilometer from the house Zaph dragged Ellen across the road and started home ---- guess he tired from his afternoon walk just wanted a short walk.


Maggie


Waiting for the ball to be thrown .... Zaph in his ready position and Maggie just standing calmly waiting.


A great catch by Zaph!!!! Maggie had already caught her ball.

The big project of the summer is tearing down the old paneling and drywall in the theater room, insulating the walls and putting up new drywall. As with all renovation projects there are little surprises.


Ed didn't think he would need to build the wall before he could put the drywall up --- there was a stud at each end of the old piece of drywall but none in the middle. Guess no-one read the building code.


The strapping still needs to be removed from the cement wall. The insulation Ed is using goes against the wall and has channels for the strapping. The studs in the end wall are on 20 inch centers so Ed will be adding some studs to get 16 inch centers. The utility room is seen through the wall.

Ed found a few surprises --- a wire that was attached to the main water pipe that went across the ceiling and was dangling down by the heating ducts; a cold air return that was covered by the ceiling tiles but nothing really bad.