Rainwater Rambling Archive

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince

We headed out to Hamilton today to see the new Harry Potter movie. We went to see it with Melissa. It was good and the girls gave it two thumbs up. It was long, almost two and a half hours, but not long enough to go through a large bag of popcorn. Of the four bags we bought, I was was the only one who finished it during the movie, actually most of mine was gone before the commercials and trailers were done.

Afterwards it was back to Lori and Dale's for a swim.

This is Lisa's puppy, Kiely (sp?) is a cross between a Jack Russell Terrier and a Chihuahua. It likes to bother Nike and Mickey.

Angela blowing up the raft.

Angela floating on a package of weiners.

Nike.

New Family Member

Well we finally did it, we are getting a Cockapoo puppy. We will pick it up on August 21st, it will be 8 weeks old. Here is a picture of it on July 27th.

It is black with a white belly and it has white paws, does it look familiar.

It is a female, we thought we could call it Carl. The cat was a male and I called it Carla. I think "Fetch" would be a good name, but nobody else agrees. I also suggested we name it after Grandma and call her "Peggy", Grandma thought it was pretty funny. Here she is on August 4th.

Stay tuned for the Adventures of the Puppy.

Twizzlers

We found a box of Twizzlers at Costco this week. Here are the girls holding the box.

This was the same size box they were auctioning off in Vancouver. For 60 pieces, it retails at $5.79. The box at the auction went for $120.

First, Second and Third Cousins

It had been planned for over a year and on Saturday we all gathered at the Swiss Chalet in Scarborough for dinner. The restaurant had a separate room at the back which Mom had reserved for the dinner. The special occaison was to meet some relatives from the Tao side of the family who were on vacation. The Tao's are from the Nekoda side of the family, Bachan was a Nekoda. Janet who is married to Harry Tao (deceased) and her daugther's Rhonda and Teri and their families were the guests. Harry was Mom's cousin, his mother was Bachan's sister. Confused? That makes Harry and Janet's daugther's (Rhonda & Teri) my second cousins and it would make Teri and Rhonda's kids (Caitlyn, Tessa, & Christopher) Gillian, Angela and Claudia's third cousins.

From Left to right: Teri, Caitlyn, Mike, Christopher, Janet, Tessa, Howard and Rhonda. Janet is from Hawaii, Teri and her family live in Nevada and Rhonda and her family live in California.

Ther were 49 people at the restaurant, it was a chance to see some of our first cousins and we also got to meet some new ones as well. In order to help the visitors with the introductions we had everyone stand with their immediate families, not that they were going to remember 41 faces.

From the Imai family there was Leanne, Wes (her boyfriend), Cindy (from Brussels), Auntie Terrie, Joyce, and Jeff and Belinda.

From the Shinkoda family was Stephanie, her husband Ian and their son Kazu, next to them are Belinda and Jeff and Joyce on the left.

From the Tanabe's there was Mom and Dad.

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Melissa, Dale, Lori, Dale and Sara.

Emi, Danny, Alex and Carolyn

Representing the Uyeda's were Mark, Gaila, Jesse and Lisa.

There was Uncle Tosh, Auntie Margie, Julie, Raiden and Carey.

Ryan, Justin, Paul and Diane.

Howard, Rhonda, Dale, Mark, Lori and Gaila at this end of the table.

Carey, Paul, Julie and Diane at the other end of their table.

Dad, Uncle Tosh, Mom, Auntie Margie, Janet and Jesse at this end of the table.

Ryan, Raiden, Justin and Lisa at the other end.

Tessa, Christopher, Caitlyn, George Mike, Joey, Teri, Colleen at this table.

Danny, Alex, Emi, Carolyn, Claudia, Angela, Sara, Gillian and Melissa.

At the best table were Joyce, Susan, Auntie Terrie, Jeff, Leanne, Belinda, Wes and Cindy.

Here is my new first cousin, once removed, that is Kazu with his mom Stephanie and Caitlyn and Christopher.

After dinner we all went back to Carolyn and Danny's place for dessert. There was lemon merengue pie, peach pie, brownies, bana bread, cream puffs, jello, rice krispie squares and cake and more.

How Are We Related?

Wondering how we are related to Rhonda, Teri, Tessa, Christopher or Caitlyn? I found this cousin tree on the internet, it was the easiest to follow. Start with yourself in the blue "Self" box and work your way up.

This is how I'm related to them.

Gillian, Angela and Claudia are second cousins once removed to Rhonda and Teri. They are Third cousins to Tessa, Christopher and Caitlyn.

I'm working on putting some of our family tree information up on the website. I'll also make the data I have available for anyone who wants more details. I can do it by families or by decendants of a specific person. Stay tuned.

Puppy Update

We received some update photos of the puppy last night, she is almost 7 weeks old and getting big.

We bought a food and water dish tonight. We still need to pick up a few things and I have to plug a few holes along the one side of the yard and put some new latches on the gates.

Documentary on Uncle Tak

I came across this on the internet today, Catharine Chesterman, an independent broadcast producer is currently directing and producing a documentary for CTV/Bravo on Uncle Tak. It will air on Bravo this fall as part of the,

"GREAT CANADIAN BIO-SERIES – New (Original Canadian, 8 x :60) Bound together to form a new Bravo! series, these individual documentaries are stunning and in-depth features of some of Canada’s greatest talents. Well-known Canadians include Glenn Gould, Yousuf Karsh, Ian Tyson, Gordon Pinsent, Denny Doherty, Des McAnuff, and Takao Tanabe. Each episode provides a look at the lives of Canadians who have left their mark on this country."

Here are the girls with Uncle Tak during a visit to his house this summer on our trip.

Couple of More Days

Only a couple of more days until we pick up the puppy, I don't think we have settled on a name, but leaning towards our earlier choices. Pretty sure it won't be "Fat Moron Pig".

Here are our puppy progress photos for this week.

I plugged the holes in the fence this past weekend. We went to PetSmart to buy a crate and some chew toys.

Storm Video

Here is a flash video of the lightning storm on Sunday August 9th, it was looking out at the backyard.

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How Did You Fare?

How did you fare in the storm that brought tornado watches and warnings from Environment Canada. We only the got the heavy rain and some brief periods of high winds. Our power went out briefly, just long enough to mess up the digital clocks. Here is a picture out the front door.

Within a couple of hours, the sun was out and the worst was heading to Vaughn.

Introducing....

Chloe!!

We headed out this morning to pick up our new addition. We had to go to Aspley, north of Peterborough, the traffic across the city and north was good. Once we saw her we decided that Chloe was a suitable name. The lady said she was her favourite, but I'm sure she tells everyone that. Here is Angela and Chloe.

We had to stop for a coffee and gas on the way back. Here she is with Claudia.

We stopped in at Grandma and Grandpa's for some lunch and a break from the long drive.

She was pooped after playing and had a sleep.

She has been very good so far, she plays and she sleeps, when she has fallen asleep we have been able to move her into the kennel and she stays in it for her nap. We'll see how her first night goes.

Here she is sitting with Susan.

Then she decided she wanted to lay on her head.

She likes to run around the backyard. I had to cut the grass because she was tripping in the long grass.

Life With Chloe

Today was Chloe's first full day with her new family and she was making out just fine. She loves the atention and running around the house. The challenge has been having to learn to watch out where we step. Here is Gillian with Chloe.

She doesn't seem to mind her kennel, I had to add an insert to make it a little more snug. She naps and sleeps at night in her kennel.

Here is her Kong Wubba that came with her package. She loves to chew it and run around with it.

Here she is trying to chew the front hall carpet.

She plays around with the tennis balls and she can keep herself occupied for awhile with it.

She likes the hall mirror, she likes to sneak up and attack herself.

She is making out better in the grass after I cut it.

Chloe sticking her tongue out.

She also likes this Kong bone.

Chloe and the Girls.

Me and Chloe relaxing after dinner.

Blog Hiatus

I'm heading back out to BC today for work, I'll be in Richmond for a couple of days and then going to Saturna Island for the remainder of the week. My Chloe updates will be back next week. I'll try and update the work blog which I have neglected over the past few months. IF I get it updated, I'll post the link here. Have a good week.

Chloe Chronicles

Back from the west coast and happy to be home. According to Susan and the girls, Chloe did pretty good this past week adjusting her her new home. I could see a difference in her size from last week. Chloe went to the vets on Wednesday and she checked out okay. She goes back next week for her second shot and then she can start going for walks a week later. We're still puppy proofing the backyard, one night she managed to get under the deck and create havoc for those on the deck. They coaxed her out with some treats and Lars, Grandma and Claudia were able to block off the holes.

More Chloe Updates

Chloe's house training is going pretty good, she has the odd accident, but we are all learning.

She loves the backyard, and loves running into the back garden much to Susan's dismay. We keep carrying her out.

Her is Chloe carrying the watering can.

And her she is with her popcorn pail.

She is a good puppy and fitting in just fine, or should I say we're fitting in just fine with her.

Angela's Teeth

Angela is having four teeth pulled today in preparation for her braces. Just as Gillian is getting hers off, Angela is getting them on. I'll let you know how it goes this afternoon.

Angela and Chloe

Angela did well at the dentist, she had a few tears but she was brave. Here she is after coming home with her puffy lips and cheeks. Some Tylenol and some Chloe cuddles and she was on the road to recovery.

When Chloe can't find the girls, she thinks they are upstairs, so she'll sit at the bottom of the stairs and bark. I made a gate for the stairs to keep her on the main floor. She hasn't ventured through the hole in the door to the basement, the odd time she will poke her head through, it's only a matter of time.

Whenever I get down on the ground to take her picture she comes running for the strap on my camera.

Besides pooping, peeing and playing she likes to sleep and she can sleep anywhere. Here she is stretched out on my legs.

She also has no trouble curling up or stretching out on the couch.