Oh What a Day! Birthday Wishes

 The Ridge

It was 6:45 am on Friday, July 31st, last day of this summer month when I heard Bill talking to Gibbs. "We slept in!" I did have to clean the Mat but, as I've mentioned before, it is on my own time schedule. I did my stretches while they went out and then got washed and headed out by 7:15.

Good morning!
No Moonflowers today,
but a cute picture of Kim with
Gibbs close by in the only shade
off the patio. 😍

Bill didn't go flying this morning as he had an appointment with Impact Tire to get 2 new front tires on Black Beauty. Ouch! So, that was more than we expected but we know we are not steered wrong with Jay. The old ones were 3 years old and had 75,000 kms on them. Everything is more expensive.

Gibbs is quite comfortable with
our friends.

Since plans were made for our little get together today, I had stopped at Foodland to buy extra burgers, buns, salad and watermelon. At home, I began pulling things out of the cupboard once I had a final tally of guests. 8 plates, forks, napkins etc. etc. 

I put our round table up near the
Suite, by the bbq.
Condiments, buns, salad and
watermelon!

We didn't  need lunch since we were eating at 2 ish, but because I'd only had some yogourt earlier, I cut myself some cheddar. I love the old cheese and Bill eats the medium. He had a yogourt to tie him over. 

Our first guests arrived around 1, Donna and Gerry and Gayle and John, coming from over an hour away, arrived around 2:30. So our meal was a tad late but Bill had the burgers and sausages ready soon after. 

I had my little tripod set up
but it didn't capture everyone
at the table.

The sun was following us around the patio and we were all squeezing into the shade as much as possible. If we'd thought enough about it, we could have put our sun shade out but.......we didn't. It all works out and we ate around the picnic table, using Ken & Kim's table as an add-on.

John, on the right, was missing
from the previous shot.

Everything was delicious, great job Sweetie! We shared a strawberry cream cake from Walmart to help Ken celebrate his birthday. It was all very good. After clean up, we sat in the shade around the fire pit until our guests said their goodbyes and headed home.

Happy Birthday, Ken!
Cute picture of you two!

Ken, Kim, Bill, Gibbs and I sat out until about 6;30 and called it a night. Seems early, I know but the heat 30.55C/87F really took a toll on us. I heard that G & J got home safely and they, and Donna thanked us for the invitation. I still forgot to give Donna her birthday card!!! 

This guy was really pretty good
in that heat.

We all felt at least one
drop of rain around the same time
and this was above us.
That was it.

We had the Suite closed up all day so it was quite comfortable for the times I was in with prep etc. 

I love this picture.
Gibbs knows Ken will play
ball, (or give him fries) so sits
there and just stares at him with a
wagging tail.
💕
It's like 'Hello, Ken!'
Good night!

What a wonderful day! Thank you for sharing the last day of July with us.

What a Lovely Day! Making Plans

 The Ridge

On Thursday, July 30th I woke from another decent sleep. Bill was up with Gibbs and stayed downstairs. I kept dropping back off to sleep, finally making my move around 7. Gibbs and I did our stretches and got up. Ken and Bill were going flying and it was looking like a perfect day for it.

Good morning!
The boys are off to the field.
They'll be the only ones there,
on a weekday.

I needed to feed the birds and add water to their bird bath from the rain pails so did that. I hadn't seen Kim yet, so got the Dirt Devil out and vacuumed the Suite. We met outside later, sitting with the sun at our backs. It got chilly last night.

One more Moonflower.
Yesterday's was trying to finish
opening too.

Thank you for the comments about our new stove, I'm excited. What's first? Maybe cookies.....or lasagna. Kim and I cover a lot of topics when we sit down together and today was no different. Food is a big topic of discussion which we both can contribute to.

Such a beautiful morning.

She offers some ideas and I share my own insights on what I do. We passed the time until shortly after 11 when I needed my coffee and rejoined her. 

I'm so thrilled that our
lilac is blooming again.
Who knew?

Our books, that we took out to read, weren't touched, not necessary. 🤭 Gibbs found solace under our chairs or in his bed on the shaded patio.

He is in the shade but is still
keeping an eye on us.

We've all talked about a get together with my sister & Gerry, Pat and Suzie but the weather is a big factor. So, some tentative plans were made for Friday, since the weekend weather 'could' be a washout. Bill and Ken returned just around the noon hour and we parted ways for lunch.

First use!

I was encouraged by my chat with Kim so fried 2 eggs with shredded cheese (no meat this time) on our new stove! My favourite thing right now is that it is LEVEL! The old cooktop has never been level, which was a challenge with frying certain things. This is wonderful!

Chef Ken is all set up to
cook supper.

After firming up plans for a barbecue tomorrow, Bill and Ken worked on his big plane down at the Hangar and Kim and Gibbs and I hung out over by the fire pit. In enough sun but also partial shade to be comfortable, we discussed winter plans.

Bill sets the table.
Well, this is really nice!

We got our Happy Hour drinks ready and Bill and Ken joined us. The Wilson's were treating us to a 'promised' fish fry tonight. Last winter when we all bought peanut oil, Ken made the offer so tonight was the night. 

Not giving away any
secrets here, but I've learned
how to deep fry fish today!

I have never deep fried fish so this was a learning experience for Bill and I. With 2 FryDaddy's and 1 GrandPappy fryer, Chef Ken took care of the meal. It was as good as any we've had in a restaurant and now we're spoiled for life. 😉🤣

Oh my! Delicious!
Home cut fries, df haddock,
cole slaw, Ken's mustard pickles.

It was all delicious and Kim and Bill cleaned up. I really did nothing to help...hmm 🫣, so I took the picture. 

Couldn't decide on which one
was better.

Being outside all day is tiring even if you are doing a whole lot of nothing, so when Kim went in to finish clean up (we put the dishes in our dishwasher), we soon after said good night.

Speaking of being tired.
This little guy will sleep well
tonight. 

Such a good day together with a lot of stories and even more laughs. Inside, I watched the sun set behind our trees at 8:35. Perfect ending. Gibbs was very good too, outside with us all for the whole of the day. He will sleep well tonight! We reached a high of 25.56C/78F with varying winds throughout.

Good night!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by!