Funny Kind of Day Here, Another Family Birthday

The Ridge

On Saturday, Aug. 22nd, we were in for a real mixed weather bag kind of day. We were all (in this area) expecting a full day of rain, some thunderstorm and more rain. Not just today but Sunday as well. So, when we woke, all before 7, our plans weren't for outdoors.

Good morning!

We sorted laundry together, I made my tea-to-go and was headed into town at 7:15. This is the 3rd week of laundry that I will be drying clothes at the Mat. I was just unlocking when a 'new' regular arrived. This fellow stutters quite a bit but is very comfortable around me and talked a lot! 😉

That was it for the sun (mostly)
and it was swallowed up.

His stutter is quite challenging for him, and for me, sometimes but we had a decent enough conversation. He's new to town (2 years) and has no family so a bit of a loner. I was happy to hear him talk of a new lady friend who enjoys some of the same things. That does my heart good. 

Yesterday, there were 3 buds on this
container plant. Here they are!
5 more Moonflowers today.

When I finished cleaning the Mat and folding our dry clothes, I headed straight home. I needed to make no other stops in town but I did stop at Eckhardts Shell station on the outskirts of town, on my way, and picked up 7 tags for the fair entries. One step closer!

There is just something about a
sky like this that I love.
I do prefer clear blue but,
this is lovely.

While I was gone, Bill took a quick trip to Hanover to the Canadian Tire store. He needed a filter and bags for his shop vac and sanding disks for my table. 😊 I call it mine, only because I found it and struggled to get it home. We have a bond. He is, however, doing the work on it.

All done, ready for entry.

I worked on my Easter card before lunch and Bill popped over to the Acreage for a bladder of water. When our tank was full, we emptied the remaining water (about 12 gallons) into a pail of which I carried up to my rain barrel. Still only half full, but that's okay!

My entry tag

After lunch, he snoozed and I went back to quilling. The next card is a little more challenging......well, coming up with the plan was. The category for this one is the theme of the fair. "Pumpkins, Plaid and Scarecrows". 🤔 It was fun! Now I can move on to the last 3, which are not cards.

Bill went to the Hangar; for the most part, we still didn't get any real rain so he wasn't concerned about getting wet going back and forth. Our neighbour, Adam, to the west, is using the excavator so Bill walked over before supper to be nosy. They don't mind at all.

Bill was in the Hangar
and Adam was creating a lot
of noise next door.
His job here was important!

Before he left, Ann gave Bill another dozen eggs, on the house, for being a good customer. I secretly think we are her only customer. But that's very sweet and I won't turn fresh eggs away at any time! Thanks to her, I've been eating them more often again. 😉

So, for supper, we delved into new territory. Following Ken's recipe, almost, I made a batter and coated the Sole filets I'd bought at Walmart. Bill wanted his fries and I wanted onion rings so creative thinking was involved here too. Only one Fry Daddy.

We did good but I know
that there is a bigger, 2nd fryer
on the list - somewhere, someday.

First, we cooked the fries, turned the oven on low and when he put the fish in the fryer, I turned my air fryer on for the onion rings. They didn't seem to be cooking fast enough so when the fish was done to perfection (Ken, you would be so proud!), I dropped the rings in the peanut oil. Oh my!!

Everything was delicious! The directions for the onion rings does NOT mention deep frying but I don't know why not. That is how I will do them from now on. It all worked out and everything was hot when we sat down to eat. Thanks Ken & Kim for the tips!

After clean up, Bill went to the Hangar. The dark clouds are moving all around us, mostly to the north and east but at 6:45, it is almost dusk - way too early. I did notice last night at 9, it was dark outside. Boy how things have changed within just a few days.

That's a lot of heavy cloud
over there to the north.

We did have a warm day, around 22C/71.6F, and I didn't mind being inside with my craft at all. Gibbs had his own time, outside keeping watch and rolling in the grass. A couple of my 'black' (Midnight Snack) cherry tomatoes are red on the bottom so we'll see if they continue. They are very slow.

She loved her card, even
received it 2 days early!
The message inside was
personalized, of course.

I had a great day and before I go, today is another family birthday. My older sister (2nd oldest in the siblings) in Montreal is celebrating. She doesn't like her picture shown much but I'll include this one with her in it anyway. 🤭

It's from last year's Ladyfest 
and a really nice one of her
in the middle.
Happy Birthday, Audrey!
Good night!

Thank you for popping in. I enjoy your comments, keep them coming!

A Day off for Me, Half Day for Bill

The Ridge

On Friday, Aug. 21st it was a cool start again. What's with the single digits already? Well, it is late in the month, and fall is around a few corners. At least, the day warms up quickly enough. Bill left around 7:45 to walk down and meet Billy for his ride.

Good morning!
The clouds moved in for a while
this morning

Gibbs and I just hung loose here inside. I did slip out for the routine Moonflower picture. The rest of the morning was finishing my Christmas card and starting on an Easter one. It's fun having something to work toward, with ideas to start with.

2 Moonflowers in two gardens.
Look at the new buds in the left picture.

I stopped for lunch and it had warmed up considerably outside so Gibbs and I went out and puttered around. I checked the veggies, brought some more tomatoes and a banana pepper indoors and watered them. 

Love these clouds from my
craft window.

For lunch, I just had 2 fried eggs with some meat and cheese but it was too much. One egg is plenty, I don't know what I was thinking. 🤭 I took my book and read until Bill got home just before 2. Nice short day for a Friday. The sun was hot so I sat with my chair mostly shaded and it was perfect.

My Christmas card entry

Bill changed into shorts and he and Gibbs had their snooze in the shaded hammock. It was a perfect day for it with a nice breeze. My book is getting harder to put down but when Bill came in for a shower at 3:15, I came in to make a tea and to make a rhubarb sauce for my loaf. It is too crumbly to slice.

One egg would have been quite enough.

We got dressed for a bike ride and hopped on Jazz to go into town. First, we stopped to see if Robin and Andrew were working on their bnb and then carried on to Catch the Ace for 5 o'clock. We missed Robin but chatted a bit with Andrew and their worker, Gary.

My boys in the hammock.
It didn't take them long to drop off.
Gibbs loves the hammock.

It was a nice ride into town and although it was a no 'big' win again tonight (yay) a Durham resident won $538. Nice take home! Bill and I returned home for a Mexican meal of tacos and they hit the spot. I felt quite hungry. 

Tacos, as tasty and messy as ever!
🤭

I reheated the sauce I made (although it was really thick) and we had that on the crumbly, but moist loaf for dessert. It was good too. After dishes were taken care of, Bill went up to watch a movie and I worked on my blog post. I'll find a program of some sort to watch until bedtime.

And an equally messy dessert.
Rhubarb loaf with rhubarb sauce
and mine had added cream.
Yum.

We have been using solar for a couple of days without plugging in but with rain in the forecast all weekend, we reconnected with power when we got home. This has been a great day, around 23C/73F at its peak. 

A pretty sunset as Gibbs
can atest to.
Good night folks!

Thank you for stopping by.