Gusty Day, Three-Handed Jobs or Seven

The Ridge

On Wednesday, June 7^th, I’m flabbergasted where the week has gone. Already hump day! First off, thank you everyone for all your concerns for Bill. He is a trooper and although gets himself into some troubles now and again, (don’t we all!) after kicking himself he gets back on the horse and forges on. We don’t know where exactly this round will lead us but we’ll get through it. ♥

Good morning

This big Mama was distracted by us

and deserted the hole she started to lay in

We were all up before 7 to start the day. We had our tea and coffee and cereal together. It was a bit cool this morning, 7C/44F but the forecast was a better sounding 16C/62F. The sky is clear and there is quite a wind coming from the north. We discussed our day and Bill went out first to start rounding up the scrap metal we have on the property. We loaded my wagon to cart things down to the end of the lane where the gate is sitting.

This is the 'I'm ready to go home' look

So, 'we' checked out the pond reeds
on the way back

It meant taking a few things apart to remove wood and rubber etc. We will be calling a business in Flesherton to pick up when we’re ready. When that was finished, I watered the potted plants and Bill hooked up the hose to our water pump and rain barrel. I found a couple of places for my petunias and placed those. Right now, the vegetables are all lined up by the pond water pump for easy watering. I’m not sure if they’ll move or not, they get a good 6 to 8 hours of sun where they are. 😊

The pile of metal for pick up

We worked together where we could, my two arms, Bill’s one free arm and Gibbs’ four legs. What a team! Stopping for lunch, we each just had a sandwich and then we went out to offload the 10 bags of cement. I previously said 50-lb. bags but they are 66-lb. bags so too heavy for me to lift safely. Yes, he should have known better! However, between the two of us, Gibbs sat this one out other than to supervise, we slid and shared the weight of the bags and stacked them in the shed.

The cement is for his flag pole but now that will take a back seat. He has the time but not the muscle. He has an appointment for Xrays on Friday and an appointment to see the orthopedic surgeon in the last week of June. 

a new book I'm about to start

So, things are moving along fairly quickly but it still means he’s off work until things are taken care of. They also suggested he get in for physical therapy so he has a call in about that. He can work on his planes a bit but only if it doesn’t require his right arm to lift any higher than table height. That sure limits things for him! Bill and Gibbs stayed in for a snooze and I did a clean sweep in the Bunky to look for the missing puzzle piece as well as to clean the floors.

Gibbs is watching the birds 

and tries to find Chippy

 Chippy has been sneaking in to eat the bird seeds, leaving a mess. I ran M into town this morning and at one of his stops, I cashed in our winning Lotto tickets. 3 free tickets, woohoo! I also picked up a couple of scratch tickets so we shared those – to no avail. ☹ Bill went to the Hangar, Gibbs ran free and I got a new puzzle out AND a new book. M has asked me to work in the morning so I’ll enjoy my free time today.

The next puzzle should be easier

Gibbs and I went for our afternoon walk around 3:30 and met the strangest action of a bird that I’ve seen in a long time, almost ever. This dark brown bird with a long-curved beak squawking up a storm came up from pond side. He looked young, barely able to fly so of course, Gibbs to the rescue. I’m glad he was on the leash as I don’t know what he would have done. The bird fluttered awkwardly across the lane into the opposite side chanting along the edge of the water.

A cute little Virginia Rail

After retrieving the mail, we walked back and encountered the same noise in the same area. There were a couple of these birds so I captured the sound on my Merlin bird app and discovered it to be a Virginia Rail which is rare in this area. I was tickled with our visitors! Just before supper was ready, we had a call from our friends Lori and Roland and while that call was just finishing, our other friends, Loree and Ron called.

Some garden pictures

Corabelles/Bridget's Bloom

Jack in the Pulpit

Our biggest hosta

They were all just calling to check on Bill and offering support for what he’s going through. What a wonderful group of friends we have! Supper was Hamburger Helper with mixed vegetables added and it was quite good. Dessert was the pineapple cheesecake and now we have 2 meals of leftovers in the fridge. 😊 I cleaned up the dishes and Bill loaded the dishwasher. He went to the Hangar and I put a movie on that he recommended. My Secret Billionaire looked interesting. He called a few minutes later to tell me that Donna and Gerry called to offer the same best wishes and support. 💓

An easy but tasty supper
Good night!

This was a busy but wonderful day together. Thank you for popping by!

It’s Been Awhile

The Ridge

On Tuesday, June 6^th, Bill was up at 5:50. No alarm was set, WE’D decided last night that he wasn’t going anywhere today. 😊 There was no convincing on my part necessary and he had already texted Billy not to expect him. We lazed in bed a bit after he took Gibbs out and I know he dropped off again. He had a bit of an uncomfortable night’s sleep. I had a job to do, so left the boys at home and drove into the Mat.

Last night's sunset
The smoke from the fires is affecting the
air quality here too

It took me the usual hour to clean and when I was about to leave, a couple of Sandy’s boys had arrived to set up the two new water softeners. Busy busy.  They are sure piling money into the business, I hope it is worth it for them. I’m enjoying the extra benefits. I left at 8:45 and headed back home. Gibbs will be happy to have his Daddy home today but he was still happy to see his Mom come home too.

Sandy Hamilton's team
arrived to work as I was readying to leave

When I returned, Bill was dressed and ready to go to town. His shoulder/arm was no better, he still couldn’t lift it higher than a 45-degree angle. We went to the Emergency Dept. at the Durham hospital and this accentuates why a small town is nice. There was no delay with them taking him in after he registered.

It has been awhile since we've
been in a hospital.
I know I didn't miss it!

There was a delay for me, however, while I waited as they put him through the motions. That’s okay, I was prepared with my book. They had a/c running and, of course, it blew right on me wherever I sat. An hour and a half later, I moved outside to the step and continued to read. 😊

When Gibbs and I went for our walk,
these families were having a picnic, I think,
in the neighbours front field

They sure hustle when they see us
"Come along children, hurry!"

After an ultrasound they learned that Bill has torn a rotator cuff.  It wasn’t clear enough to determine what other damage has been done but the doctor thinks there could possibly be more torn ligaments.  Two hours after arriving, we left the Emerg. Really, that isn’t terrible. We went to the Pharmacy for a sling and Bill has a list of things he needs to get done over the next few weeks.

Chicken pot pie

An Xray, an MRI, an Orthopedic surgeon visit (in the event of) and physical therapy sessions. It will be a slow process for Bill, no matter how quickly things move. You all know that he doesn’t like to sit around. Unable to do much of anything, he’s going to go a little stir-crazy but it can’t be helped. We’ll just hope for the best. He called his boss and Mike was very supportive, wishing him all the best outcomes.

Quite yummy too!

I finished my book this afternoon, the one I started yesterday morning. It is a Stuart Woods story called Naked Greed. I couldn’t stop reading it, pages were just flipping by. 😊 Today was a cooler day but the sky still graced us with sunshine to charge our panels and we were unplugged from power again. Last month’s electric bill was less than we though after the rainy days we had so this should be another good one.

Dessert 💖

Because Bill has a hard time cutting food (it’s his right arm), let alone lifting a fork to his mouth so I decided to cut the chicken thighs up into an Instant Pot Chicken Pie. I was not sure how it would all turn out, the Bisquick topping instructions were rather ‘blurry’, however it was delicious! Bill enjoyed it as well and we have leftovers! For dessert, I’d also made the yummy No-Bake Pineapple Cheesecake.

Because I've run out of today's
pictures.........I'll share one of 
our Alberta grandchildren.
Easton having fun on the slide

I’ll be on cleaning up duty for a while since Bill can’t use both hands at this stage but he can load and unload a dishwasher and that is a big help. 😊 This was a good day and we’ve received one appointment for Xrays which will give us even more info. Being in the hospital today, waiting, is certainly something I haven't missed doing. It has been quite a while for either of us. 

Hadley with her award winning smile
Good night!

Thank you for the visit and thank you all especially for your concerns for Bill. We appreciate it. ♥