Tuesday, October 6, 2026

Frosty Start, Strong Finish

 The Ridge

On Tuesday, Oct. 6th I was up around 6:30, but with no desire to get out of bed! Gibbs was extra affectionate too so he was in no rush to move too far either. Bill was downstairs with the furnace on for a few cycles. 

Good morning!
The sky was amazing!

He'd forgotten I had to clean but when he told me it was frost(y) everywhere, I slipped out to start Ptooties. I let her run for 10 minutes to clear the windows and warm up. It was a chilly -1C/31F but we were toasty inside with just the Blue Flame heater on low.

And up there the moon
nestles with Jupiter.

I walked into a mess, oh brother! People can be so inconsiderate but I've said that before and won't go on about it. The pictures say it all. 🤷‍♀️ I'm glad no respectful customers arrived before I had time to sweep up the mess throughout, although maybe they would appreciate my job more too. 🤭

And down here, the frost is
pretty heavy.

One new customer came in, her washer died in the middle of a cycle so she was a bit fumbly, Seemed like she's never used a commercial laundromat before. I helped with her questions and left the place clean and her with her clothes in a dryer. 

The colour was amazing
all the way to town

Bill was just getting his work boots on when I got home. He had things to do around here. He called our motorcycle shop in Varney about a filter and oil for Jazz and then headed over to pick it up. He changed the oil, at some point during the day, once it had warmed up. 

I waited until about 11 to go out to the Bunky and Bill had brought the Cub Cadet over to the Suite so he could wash it down for the winter. We use the outside tap/hose for situations like this. We have an almost full tank of water. 

Because of the debacle with our clothes line rod in the bedroom closet.......was that last year?.......Bill kindly suggested maybe I could put some of the clothes I won't wear during the winter months in the Bunky. I never even thought of that before. Duh!

They should be ashamed.
I swept the floors first again, this
time because it was absolutely
necessary.

So immediately, I place an Amazon order for the vacuum storage bags and took him up on his suggestion. They bags weren't scheduled to arrive until Thursday but I had gone out to pull the old ones (that don't work anymore) down from the loft. They are strong plastic and still kept the mice out by closing the ends with strong tape. 

I looked out from the Bunky
to see what Bill was doing and
saw this.
Adorable!

I sorted through my paints, to take to Pat's, then sorted through my quilling materials. What would I be able to leave home and still have enough stuff to continue making my craft? It was going pretty well and I noticed Bill had put the mower, the recycle bins and the round plastic table in the shed.

And even more adorable
right here.

He was making good progress too. The sun was warming the day up, and he was in a t-shirt while my light jacket came off too. It was good to be focused so much that we were late for lunch! 🤣 Not wanting to sit too long, we went right back out after a sandwich.

I was surprised when both of
my parcels arrived today.

Gibbs was out as often as we were, supervising, of course. At 1:30, Bill told me that one of my Amazon orders was arriving by Canada Post today so I wasn't too surprised when Carly (?) drove up the lane. When she handed me 2 packages, I was thrilled that my vacuum bags were included too!

It was a good day for a fire.
We kept it going all afternoon.

Two days early, I just love Amazon! I started a fire to burn up the cardboard and paper from our recycle bin....it builds up quickly and we won't have any more pickups before we leave. It was a great day for a fire! With my new bags, I replaced old ones and bagged blankets, quilts and a couple of pillows.

These bags are incredible!
They came with a little hand pump
this time but a vacuum was so much
faster and easier!
They all fit up in the loft.

Then, I moved inside and removed the items I wouldn't wear in Arizona. No need for my dresses, fancier sweaters etc. and I ended up vacuuming 6 bags. They are flattened and all fit up in the loft of the Bunky. I covered the coats and jackets, including our motorcycle leathers with bags as well.

Bill still needs his chaps and jacket until he takes Jazz in for storage. He'll pick the best day for that. Gee, it's so nice to have him home now so he is free to make those decisions. He took the shelter down, the cover after 2 years is already ripping from the weather. 

Bill had the shelter down and 
while I was in sorting the closet,
he had the shelf dismantled and
set up in the Bunky.
We're almost done!

We decided to remove the whole frame as well, he will take it to Robin and add it to their metal dump run. In the spring, we'll come up with another plan. With much of the storage taken care of, and plans for the rest, we called it quits just before 5. We both can feel muscles we'd forgotten about!  😉🥴

Bill and Gibbs dozed and I started my blog. At 5:30, I wrapped all of the leftovers in separate foil packets and set Madame IP to 'steam' for 20 minutes. When she beeped, everything was sufficiently warmed up and it was a super easy supper! Reheated bread pudding for dessert, yum.

Leftovers, so easy.
So good.

Tonight, NCIS and NCIS Origins starts so we'll rest until they start. We did reach 15C/59F this afternoon with a fair bit of sunshine. We kept moving so the wind didn't deter any activity or make us feel the coolness of it. It will be a warmer night tonight, tg.

This particular Bread Pudding recipe
is probably a very close first to my
favourite dessert. Oh my!
The fact that the bread is low carb
is a bonus too!
(not to mention the rum.)
🤭🥰

It was a very progressive day! One final note: 

Happy Birthday to our friend,
Kim!
Good night!

Thank you for popping in.                                                    

Monday, October 5, 2026

Get up and Go, Some Meal Prep, Company

 The Ridge

On Monday, Oct. 5th it might have felt a bit odd for Bill not to be getting up for work. Maybe not, he's had enough days off this summer, it seems. We were both still up early, before 7. I didn't have to clean the Mat today but we did have appointments in Hanover (20 minutes away) to have bloodwork done. 

Good morning!
A great way to start.

It was a slow start and we left in good time to be 10 minutes early. However, as often can happen, they were running behind so our call ins were about 10 - 15 minutes after our slotted time. No worries, we had no where to be and others had to wait an hour to be called in order. 🤷‍♀️

A couple of pretty fall pictures on
our drive to Hanover.

We have doctor's appointments (standard procedure before travel) in London next week so want this done ahead of time. From there, we drove to the Walmart mall and I dropped Bill off at First Choice Haircutters for a haircut. His curls were showing!! 🤭 I went over to start on some grocery shopping.

For lunch, I made us egg omelettes
on English Muffins.
Yummy.

When Bill came to meet me, I was almost done and we checked out together. A stop at the Independent Grocers for Gibbs' and my yogourt and then the Dollar General for a few things we found to bring home. We really wanted some 'formed' paper coin rollers but having a hard time finding them.

My Dahlias aren't ready to give
up yet. Soon, I'll have to dig them up,
ready or not.

We scooted home for lunch and Bill and Gibbs snoozed upstairs and I began making a Bread Pudding for dessert. I'd promised him one for his birthday and we had some bread we don't like......perfect way to use it up. I had to dry the cubes in the oven.

The bread pudding looks good
before baking.

It looked pretty good by the time I finished and since I'd taken a 2 lb. pork tenderloin out of the freezer last night, began searching a way to cook it in the oven. Remember, I'm relearning that whole process again! I found a recipe for pinwheels, stuffed rolled loin so that's what I went with!

When I started pounding and rolling, I realized just how much meat there was!! Holy cow! Bill was outside, after getting us water at the Acreage, now cutting grass for the last time. I ran out to see if he minded having company for supper. 

Before cooking, I seared
each pinwheel in oil for 3 minutes
each side.
They only needed 20 minutes in
the oven after that.

It was 3 pm and short notice for anyone but I called my sister, Donna. She was out until 4 but called back and they happily accepted the free meal offer. Not having to think about supper is a bonus for any of us! I'm glad so prepared potatoes, cauliflower and corn. 

Donna and Gerry enjoyed
the meal.
We enjoyed their company

Our company arrived shortly after 5 and I had the food on the table 15 minutes later. Everything was done on time but I forgot to get a picture. The pinwheels were excellent and the bread pudding, oh my, with that rum sauce? Dee-lish-us!!

I forgot a picture before
we'd all had a piece!

When Donna and Gerry left shortly after 7, we'd had a nice meal and conversation together. Bill washed the pots and I dried with the dishwasher doing its job on the rest of our dirty dishes. This was a good day even though we had bloodwork done. It wasn't a dentist! 😉🤣

Nor a picture of these
when they came out of
the oven.
I'll make them again.

Today was a truly bitter cold day. The wind was gusty all day, strong enough to mess any head of hair and send hats fluttering through the leaves. We only reached a high of 11.11C/52F and looking at a low of .55C/33F. Brrr.

A pretty sky again tonight.
Good night!

Thank you for your visit.