Friday, August 17, 2018

Ontario Humidity, Shed Work Continues, Recipes, Reading in the Rain, Winter Planning


This time, I was the one who had a more restless night’s sleep. I think I dropped off rather quickly but woke up at 2:30 with the need to use the facilities. Odd for me, but then I remembered that I hadn’t done so at 10 when I went to bed. My own worst enemy sometimes. Anyway, it was quite warm in the bedroom so I opened the window by my head and a lovely breeze refreshed us both.

The overnight rain weighed heavy on this
purple grass
I woke up at 6 on Friday, Aug. 17th and knew I was up for the count. The water was dripping off the roof into our rain pails so I listened to that for a while. Sure enough, at 6:45 when I thought I’d get up and go for a walk, an overhead cloud decided to rain on my parade. Oh well, I got up anyway and Bill followed soon after. We sat with our first morning brew and read some blog posts and eventually, the rain stopped. Bill went out to work on the shed and I headed out for my walk.
The work is going on down the road from us



There is an orange working zone sign at the front of the property and to the east of us, on North Line, the county is trimming trees. These machines make a real mess but the concept behind it is a necessary one. We’d complain if the trees hung over the roads now, wouldn’t we? I snapped a picture from a distance and then went the other way for my morning walk. The breeze in my face going west and south was quite nice but when I turned to return home, the humidity had closed in.

and my little Monarch companion was back again when I walked
This summer has been the worst I’ve felt with the humidity. Usually, it doesn’t get to me but this year has been horrible. I’m just not able to get moving out-of-doors as much as I’d like. Getting old, I guess, and I will not say that I enjoy the humid Ontario days. I’m looking forward to the hot days of the south and southwest without the annoying bugs and the unbearable humidity. When I returned, I stopped to see Bill’s progress and told him that I would holler when breakfast was ready.

And the oriole was also back

My sister, Aj, was right

Without the little plastic yellow flowers, an oriole will drink
from a hummingbird feeder
I came inside and with windows open, the breeze seemed to be coming in the Suite nicely. It was 73F outside but rising rapidly to 78F indoors. I made us each a toasted western, Bill’s on whole wheat and mine on rye bread. Yum, it was good. We cleaned up dishes and we turned the fans on to see if we’d need the a/c or not. The humidex is 90% so the chances are high that we’ll be turning it on soon.

this is the fat rugged organizer I've been stuffing recipes in

Since 1997 when it was given to me from a school secretary

this is the new $4 replacement
We gave Clemson another dose of his liquid medicine and are getting much better at it. I hold his head and Bill squirts it in. Clemson does the face screwed up ‘head shake’ and I offer him a treat. Maybe tomorrow will be the last day for it, we’ll see. There is no issue now going down the outside steps or jumping on or off the furniture with the exception of our bed. He can jump down but not up….yet. There is still a slight falter in his hind right side but he’s about 90% cured. Thank you all for you past wishes for his recovery.

Mom, you made a mess!

Everything in piles so I can make the appropriate tabs
 Bill went back out to work and I brushed my teeth and set about the project that I touched on yesterday. I have a very messy Recipe Organizer and it is the only thing that I grumble about getting out. I have some special recipes that I’ve kept over the years but I have also accumulated many that ‘hmm, this sounds good’. You know the ones. It has been a process of purge after purge since we put the house up for sale. I’ve down-sized my recipe books and this file a few times and now I need to do it again.


The old empty one on the left is even thicker than the new filled one
that = progress!

I find that my recent practice is to Google whatever recipe I want and save it on Word. Always accessible, even without internet I can open my Document and begin cooking. So, I made a royal mess on the floor and Clemson wondered what the heck Mom was doing. I was ruthless, let me tell you and have kept ONLY the very best, tried and true or at least WILL try recipes. I have 13 pockets and have labelled them to fit our meal choices.

Everything in its place and a whole lot less of it
When the rain brought Bill inside, we sat down and made some firm plans for our winter travels. Once I know the reservation is accepted, we will be able to relax and move forward. I poured myself a Soda Water with a couple or three dashes of lemon and caught up on my post. I offered Bill a taste, hoping he would learn to like it. Ha ha, he made the same face and almost performed the same head shake that Clemson does with his medicine. I guess he doesn’t like it. I find it refreshing though.

The cloudy sky during the rain
So, we relaxed inside while it rained outside. We had 2 episodes recorded on our PVR of America’s Got Talent so we watched those and Bill lit the Weber Q at 6. I’d pulled hamburger patties out of the freezer earlier for supper and a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. No point in it sitting in the freezer when we could be eating it. I have many bags of frozen rhubarb to make another pie or crumble when I need to. We were eating our loaded bacon cheeseburgers by 6:30 and dishes cleaned up soon after.

Bill set the mousetrap with cheddar and before putting it in place, he vacuumed up the dirty little mouse turds. There were quite a few back behind the drawer with the garbage pail and a few in the actual drawer. I hope the little varmint is hungry tonight and we hear a **SnAp!** tonight! It can even wake me up and I won’t mind as long as we get him.

Bacon cheeseburgers for supper
We sat together and watched some television and I read my book. Friday night is not a great night for programs so I’ll get a few more chapters read. I got my recipes sorted and I’m very pleased with that $4 purchase. Bill managed to get some work done on his shed today, once more at a standstill until Mike comes in the morning to make the doors. I forgot to get a picture today.


We only have one more day at home before we have to pack up and take the Suite to CanAm for some scheduled repairs and checks. This has been a good day, even with the repeating bouts of rainfall. We were finally able to leave the a/c off for a whole day as the temperature never got above 74F. The humidity, however, still made it feel 8 degrees warmer. I hope your day has been a good one too.

And guess who made it up onto the bed, all by himself!?
"How did I do that, Mom and Dad?"
Thank you for stopping by. I love reading your comments if you wish to leave one.

18 comments:

  1. I started retyping all my recipes into Word before we sold our house and now I am so grateful to have them all on my computer ... it sure takes up less space :-) I bet it feels good to have yours sorted and organized into a smaller space.

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    1. That's a great idea too! I still have hard copy cookbooks, you know the Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens for standby recipes like pie crusts. Oh, plus a few school ones from the grandchildren.

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  2. Take pics of your recipes. Then save on Word documents. Easier.

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    1. I don't mind the hard copy of some things, then my laptop doesn't have to sit open on my island. Limited space there too! :)

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  3. If the little guy gets away Scott-free with the cheese try Peanut Butter smeared on the Trigger Pin.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. It took a while for Bill to remember how to even set the old mouse trap! It has been forever since we've used one! Thanks for the tip.

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  4. Glad Clemson has been righted. Like the recipe ideas.

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  5. Well done Clemson!! Love the recipe folder idea. Going to do the same thing. I like to have an actual recipe on paper in my kitchen with I cook.

    FYI, we catch our Mexican mice with peanut butter.

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    1. Yes, Clemson was so proud but confused. :)
      Thank you, this accordion folder worked perfectly and holds a lot of recipes without bulkiness.
      Peanut butter, eh? Do your mice need it with salsa? haha Thanks for the tip!

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  6. Good job Clemson! Glad to hear he is doing so well!
    I like having a written recipe to refer to when I cook... I've whittled mine down to a 3" binder that I keep in the storage area of one of our dining chairs. I can't part with handwritten recipes from my mom, friends, sisters, grandparents....
    My aunt put together a family cookbook (mom's side). It's in the binder. Then I added sections for all of the other recipes I've collected over the years. Of course every year I end up adding a few... but they have to be ones I use often. I save many "someday's" to Pinterest.

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    1. Thank you, Clemson is back to his old tricks, trying to manipulate us. :) ha ha gotta love him!
      I like the written recipe too but refrain from printing the ones I find online and instead save those on Word. I, too, have special 'well used' recipes that are hand written or from old 4-H cookbooks. I've just torn the pages out for those. I only add now from online sources when one is a success. :)

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  7. I had cupboards full of recipes , now all saved as a scan our retyped on my computer as well as some also on the blog.
    Peanut butter on the moose trap sticks better than cheese we found it works much better. We also found when we had a mouse in our coach, they would jump ship when we got back on the road. Maybe he will do the same tomorrow. I love my soda just plain find it so refreshing.

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    1. We seem to get to a point we use the same recipes over and over. I'm sure you still have some stored in your head to, George!
      I've told Bill about the suggestions, he is the one setting the trap! I like the idea of them jumping ship when we drive off tomorrow. :)

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  8. It is nice to hear that Clemmy is almost back to his normal self. Soon he'll be ruling the roost again! A lot of my recipes are filed away in my head. I should put them on paper I guess since that filing system could go awry easily and unexpectedly! I do have a pile of torn out pages, scrap paper with jotted ingredients, computer print outs etc. which could use purging. Maybe that will be MY next rainy day project. Thanks sis for the push!

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    1. Thanks Donna, Clemson is still the Master of this house. Not spoiled at all!!
      I can't remember recipes so won't trust that system at all!
      Good luck purging them, it is easy once you start.

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  9. So glad that Clemson is doing better! Love what you did with all those recipes! I find i'll see something, cut it out and years later think "Why did I want to make that"...lol...Hope you got the little culprit..gosh I hate mice!! Ken uses peanut butter, guess cause it's sticky..I don't care what he uses as long as it's gone!! Luckily we haven't had many..

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    1. thank you Shirley. Clemmy is much better.
      I had so many cut out recipes that I'd never make and 3 and 4 of a similar one. I just chose the one I'd tried and got rid of the rest. I threw out a lot!
      If Bill will share his peanut butter we'll try that for sure. :)

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