Inside Work, Surprise Short-Term Visitor, Winter Returns

The Ridge

I was up out of bed at 7 on Friday, May 8^th. My turn for a shower. I’m glad we have the little electric heater in the bathroom as that is one place in particular that I like to feel warm, stepping in AND out of the stall. Bill got up as well and made the bed before going downstairs for his coffee. I soon joined him but sitting at the table with my laptop, my feet felt so cold. I should have stayed over in my recliner now that the cool weather has returned.

This was last night's sunset

Bill and I played a few hands of our online Scrabble game together and it reminded me that before I woke up, I was dreaming. The dream made me smile but sad at the same time as our dear friend, Mark, who we lost last April was across the lunchroom table at our former workplace asking me if I wanted to play a game of Scrabble. What a special memory. Mark and I used to do daily crosswords together. He was a wonderful friend.

also last night, Bill noticed that they were spraying the fields
behind us
Getting ready to plant

Since it was a frigid day of only 1C/33F for today’s high (what the??) Bill said it would be a good day to fix the brackets for our pantry cupboards. His job, his posting. I’m sure he’ll write about it at On Our Way. My job, while he went out to collect his tools, was to empty the cupboards, so I did that. I made myself a tea and that's when I looked out the back window. My heart raced to my throat as I saw a visitor in our pond. One I’ve never seen before.

I started emptying the shelves
You can see the old brackets in place but they don't last forever

Food from the top two shelves

Dishes from the bottom

Giving no thought to what I had on my feet, afraid of missing an opportunity, I grabbed a jacket and my camera and ran out. 

It was worth running out in my slippers to get pictures

After taking a few pictures of a beautiful white swan, I ran down to the Hangar and told Bill to come see who was in our pond. 

I like this picture because it shows the size of the swan
in comparison to the geese

He was as excited to see her/him as I was. Well, maybe not quite as much. My excitement level is way over the top, it’s hard to match. 😊 

The girth as she/he swam towards me is huge!

Inside, I got out the binoculars and our big cameras with zoom lenses. It was fun watching a visitor we've never had before.

Of course I'm going to take a lot of pictures
I may never get the chance again

When Bill came back in he worked away inside on the project and I got out of the way, sitting with my book and laptop. By the time an hour was up from when the swan appeared, it was gone. Darn! We missed the departing flight. Now, I can’t tell the difference between a tundra or trumpeter swan so it could have been either one. It was huge, especially in comparison to the large male geese who live here all summer.

When Bill finished, he cleaned up the mess and I put what I could back into the cupboard to clear the stove top. We had bacon, eggs and toast and after dishes, I put the rest of the food stuff away. It never hurts to go through that practice from time to time. The dishes get rearranged and I get to take stock of what canned and boxed goods we have. Good to know! Yesterday, I did the same in the freezer so it will help plan meals.

They didn't mind each other's company

Donna texted me and asked if I wanted to meet her at Rockwood Terrace at 2. She was picking up a gift that all of my siblings bought and dropping it in the lobby for Mom. It would need to sit for 48 hours and the staff would deliver it on Sunday. It will be sad not seeing Mom on Mother’s Day but even sadder because of the long stretch of 6 months I’ve missed. I sure hope this is over soon.

The top number you see is the wind speed - mph
The bottom on the right is the outdoor temperature - Fahrenheit
This was the high at 3:30 pm

Donna had some more puzzles for me from my sister, Cathy, so with this weather, I’ll be back at those! We didn’t hang around outside long, it was too cold, and after a forbidden hug, we parted ways. 

a gift for Mom
She will love the stuffed bunny
The flowers are silk and we think she'll enjoy them too
Donna put a picture of all of Mom's kids with names in with the card

Within 30 minutes of returning home, the winds picked up and as they swept across the Ridge blustery snow accompanied them. Yes, you heard me, snow. I was saddened not to see our goslings on the way in or out but after feeling this cold weather, maybe Bill is right and Mama has them tucked safely in a warm spot.

I followed these stately geese up the lane but no babies here
See their size? Now remember the swan in comparison.

The rest of the day was in isolation. Not because of the virus, because of the weather. No way did either one of us want to be outside. I read, we each had a snooze and we watched some television. Bill had vacuumed after his earlier project so the place was clean. For supper, at 6 I began cooking our vegetables and in turn reheating the gravy, roast and potatoes. The microwave and stove top were the appliances used tonight.

No matter the weather, birds have to eat

That cleaned up the leftovers as well as the last of my squash from the fridge.The picture is almost identical to last night's supper so I didn't include it. As I’m writing this, it isn’t determined whether we need dessert tonight. Need or want. There is a bit of apple crisp and there is ice cream if we want it. 

A small white patch of snow behind the tent

And over by the Bunky

Looking across the road, you can see the poor visibility

Back and forth, sun, clouds, wind and snow

This was a very slow day but Bill did manage to get a couple of jobs taken care of that he wanted to do. We are expecting very cold temps overnight and the blowing snow that hits us every so often doesn’t give me much hope for green grass in the morning. We’ll see!

Yeuch, winter is back
Good night!

Thank you for your visit.