Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Windy Start, Bill Takes on a Job, Suite Clean & Faux Packing


Up On the Ridge
It was around 7 on Tuesday, Sept. 10th when we got up. We could hear the wind whipping around outside and could see only clouds overhead. No sun, yet. It wasn’t to be a cold day but definitely there were chances of rain periodically, about 50% possibility. We weren’t plugged in to power and the batteries were resting comfortably around 12.2 when we got up.

A pretty sunrise even though the sun didn't stick around


Bill had his coffee while I had a cup of tea and then he had a bowl of cereal. Today he was meeting Jamie at the Laundromat to start washing walls as a paint prep. I put a couple of cold drinks and snack bar in a cooler and he took that along with a thermal mug of coffee when he left just before 8. I read blogs and Facebook posts and then played my Scrabble games with 3 of my sisters. When Bill left, I plugged in as the sun disappeared soon after it rose.

And then it disappeared in the clouds
Now, I’m ready to start dusting the Suite and I see that there is more blue sky than clouds so I may reverse that plug-in action. I took the alone time and got the furniture polish out to dust the woodwork, and cabinets etc. upstairs and down. The sky is driving me crazy! I unplugged again when the sky cleared and within 15 minutes, it clouded over. I’m keeping an eye on the batteries and since I’m not using anything other than the Keurig and my Magic Bullet, I’ll stay unplugged for now. 

Our Roots back packs
 The dusting was done so I’d made a b.p. coffee and went upstairs with my new backpack. For our October trip, Bill says that we ‘shouldn’t’ need to take much more than our packs plus his small handheld suitcase that he takes back and forth to CanAm. That would be our checked bag. Hmmm, that would mean that we don’t have to purchase a rolling bag at all. I did see one at a very reasonable price in Walmart that would be perfect but we’d then have to store it for the in-between few times we’d ever use it. 

And my clothes will fit
I pulled the clothes that I’m 100% sure of for Cancun out of my over the bed cupboard. It doesn’t look like a lot to me but I’m sure to Bill – different story. I’m telling myself that I’m not being unrealistic in my choices especially after listening to his daughters on Sunday. They are all taking a normal size suitcase to check at the airport. Well folks, I surprised myself and have to admit that Bill is right. If he lets me use ¾ of the small bag (he says “I can get pretty much ALL of my clothes in the backpack”) I’m good with that!

I had a visitor this morning
I am taking my laptop and it will fit nicely in the backpack plus I’ll be taking a large bag as a purse on the plane too. We should be good! I would like to take a book, of course, so will take one in my ‘purse’ and also take my Kobo along which has a lot of books on there that I haven’t yet read. Doing this ‘packing exercise’ has helped me a lot and not only is it going to save us $50 but it has also managed to get me more excited.

Hello pretty fellow
Downstairs at 11, I sat and wrote in my post. At 11:45 the rain started. Darn! I’m not plugged into power! We are sitting at 12.4 battery power which is fine except that I wanted to make some Honey Nut Apple Muffins. I guess, I’ll do what I can and then in between the rain showers run out and plug in. Bill hasn’t returned yet and it is 12 noon so I expect to hear something from him soon. He may be home for lunch or they may eat in town and continue working.

I began the mix and then the topping and went out and plugged back in to power. I feel a bit like a yo-yo. I followed the directions exactly and yet instead of 12 muffins, I made 14. The large muffin tins hold 12 and I don’t buy paper cups so used my silicone cups, greased. Two of the cups had to sit on top of the baking tray so who knows how it will all turn out. Into the convection oven they go and boy do they look good!

The batter and topping ready to fill the cups
25 minutes after baking (the required ‘normal’ oven time) the 2 on top have spilled over (of course) and yet the batter is still very ‘uncooked’. Oh dear, I sure hope these turn out. See Nancy K? You aren’t the only one with bad luck cooking fables. I popped them back in for another 20 minutes and will just monitor them closely. The turntable has to be turned off since the muffin tin is too big to turn but that’s okay. That’s why that option is on the oven. They smell good, by the way!

Looking out across the pond
1:30 and still no Bill. I sure hope those boys are getting along! Ha ha. Maybe they decided to start painting. After all, it is a perfect day for indoor stuff. I know it wouldn’t take this long to just wash things down. Jamie is great for coming up with new ideas, even he admits that he sometimes drives Cheryl (his wife) crazy with all the stuff in his head. 😊 So, who knows what they’ve got up to. I’m just very anxious to see it all finished.

At one point, I took a chance on the sky and began to
walk down the lane
 When the convection oven beeped for the second time, I removed the muffins and my oh my do they look good! I removed them from the tin and let them cool for a few minutes before putting them in a cake storage container. It was the only thing I had big enough. These muffins are huge. Bill returned home around 2:45. He and Jamie worked until 2:30 and parted ways for the day. I wondered if Bill had eaten so he told me that Jamie treated him to lunch on Main Street.

But I had to dodge for cover under Bill's Hangar porch
when it started raining
Apparently, the wall washing got taken care of and they moved on to painting one wall. Plans had changed, (told you!) and now I was even more excited in the paint job. It’s going to look awesome! They agreed to meet in the morning again so Bill will go in with me at 7 and I’ll go back and get him when he finishes up for the day.

My chicken supper

Bill's pork chop dinner
I chatted with my girlfriend Brenda and her partner, Randy in London for a bit. Sadly, she can’t make it for the clothing exchange so it is going to be a very small crowd on the 28th. We like to see these two each summer, at least once but it doesn’t look like it will happen this year. We all get too busy. I did lay out plans with Brenda to do my hair the week prior to us leaving for Cancun. Not sure what yet, but something.  It won’t be pink though; I can guarantee that.

I took a peek in the Hangar while I waited for the rain to stop
Hmm, Bill keeps a clean house!
Bill had his shower and then we shared an apple muffin. They are so good! I might have to make a batch to take for Thanksgiving dinner. At 5:30, I began preparing supper. A very thick pork chop for Bill and a nice sized chicken breast for me. I sautéed them each in Madame IP and then added corn on the cob to the inner pot with our last 5 baby potatoes. We were eating within 30 minutes. Supper turned out great and we decided to finish off the Apple Crumble for dessert.

Clemsons rock has found a place in the little garden he visited late at night
for his last piddle before bedtime (sorry but it's true)
 The bad news is that our microwave stopped working. I cooked earlier with the convection oven and when we went to warm our dessert, the countdown worked but not the oven. Hmm, we got out the manual and began checking online. We also need to dig into the warranty manuals. We ate the crumble cold and I added some cream to mine. It was still yummy!

And the muffins are a hit!
As has been usual during much of the last week, the sun came out late in the afternoon.  Nothing to get excited about as we know that tomorrow is supposed to be another unusual day with some rain and clouds again. Laundry will wait until Thursday when I can hang clothes on the line. There is forecast to be some sunshine. Today, it got to a lovely 73F and even though I was busy inside most of the day, I enjoyed having the outer door open.

Someone else was as confused as I as about today's weather
After we cleaned up dishes, we sat for the evening. I downloaded pictures from the day and focused on finishing my post. This has been a successful day for me and for Bill. Tomorrow, aside from cleaning the Mat, I just need to vacuum in here and the Suite will be sparkling again. How was your day?

The clouds moved away by the time we finished supper
Good night to all of you!

Thank you for dropping in for a visit!

11 comments:

  1. Sounds like you got things done and Bill having fun painting at the Mat. No rain here just a couple of drizzles but very warm A/C in the car and relaxing in the shade back home again. Good luck with your microwave.

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    1. Thanks George. We hope to get the microwave working.
      It was a very warm day with nice rain.

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  2. Your muffins look extra yummy! Nice if you can get everything you need in the back packs and little bag. How many days are you staying on your trip? Luckily it'll be warm and not the middle of winter, otherwise that would never work! Been working on trying to get caught up on blogs since we got back. I just have to say little Easton is just too cute! The shower looked like fun and it's always nice to get new things when starting married life! :)

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    1. Thank you, the muffins are good.
      We are staying in cancun for 7 days so you're right. Good thing it will be bathing suit weather! :)
      Jess got nice things and the rest of us said we all need 'showers' like that every 5 years to get new stuff!

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  3. I know your muffin pain ... but they turned out beautiful! I can smell them from here!!
    I think you will find you have plenty of clothes in the small bags, and it saves so much money on luggage, not to mention not having to wait for your bags, or lug them around everywhere.
    Bill's hanger? WAY too clean!!

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    1. ha ha, they were somewhat messy but taste good. :)
      Yes, I will have lots of options to wear and even though taking one checked bag, everyone will be waiting to gather them at the airport.
      I know, he is a bit anal. haha

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  4. You do know that by rolling up your clothes instead of laying them flat you get twice as much into the bags, don't you? BTW the rolled up clothes are not wrinkled at all when unrolled. Bill's hangar is neat in more ways than one.

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    1. Thank you, yes I learned that trick a long time ago and it is absolutely true! :)
      Bill keeps a clean shop for sure.

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  5. Jamie is lucky that you came into the laundromat back in the spring. He's certainly found a good employee and helper as you both care about his business.

    The muffins look positively delicious!

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    1. Thanks Maebeme. Not only do we have a good boss too, we made a new friend. :)
      The muffins are yummy and I used some apples!!

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  6. Hey sis, you should be able to get Bills small carryon suitcase in the overhead spot on the plane. You are each allowed one for the overhead spot plus one carry on (backpack). It is a pain standing in line waiting to check luggage....especially for one little bag.

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