Summer Ramps Up

 The Ridge

On Monday, July 13th, things fell back into place of a work routine for Bill. He was up early, I was sound asleep so can't verify what time, but downstairs when I heard Gibbs bark. Bill had gone to get Jazz out of the shelter and bring her back to the patio.

Good morning!
3 more and still more buds to bloom.

His challenge today was to attach our bigger, hard shell cooler in my seat. The soft shell ones don't keep his drinks and yogourt cold enough throughout the day. He managed just fine and will be able to save a bit on fuel by riding the bike this week. 

Very few clouds in the sky
making it look like the sun is hiding.

Looks like no rain now until Saturday, so I will go up after supper and water my vegetables. Day to day that forecast changes so we count on nothing until the actual day before. 🤭 It was about 7:10 when I left for town, dropping the garbage in the green bin at the road on my way out.

Just one customer today and other than dropped dryer sheets and kleenex bits, the Mat wasn't too bad. I could have done the big dryers today but will wait until Wednesday to take care of that. Following normal routine, I found my dime 'from Daddy'. 💕 

I did stop at Rethreads before leaving town and found a few craft things but most importantly, a pair of identical 'crocs' to Bill's that have holes poking through the bottom. $3 and that will get him through the summer.

This Virginia Creeper Sphinx Moth was
camouflaged so well, when I was dead-
heading my petunias, I picked it up,
thinking it was a leaf.
It looks like a stealth bomber, no?

I wanted to do some trimming this morning and since last time, I cut my left arm enough to need bandages, I put a long sleeve shirt on and went out. The area behind the outhouse is horrible, the vine that strangles everything was not the only thing taking over.

I did the best I could cleaning up those invaders and tossed them in the brush pile. Before I finished, the '*&%@!!+*' loppers we just bought at Princess Auto in Owen Sound last week broke. This is the 2nd time I've used them and not on anything bigger than 1" thickness! The handle wouldn't stay on.,

Our robin is nesting now.
'DO NOT DISTURB'

They are the extendable ones so maybe that is the problem. We've thrown 3 pair of loppers out this spring already. 😡 Frustrated and already hot, when Bill and I messaged a bit later, he said go to Home Hardware and ask Josh for a good pair.

These should do the trick!

I had lunch and a coffee and decided to take him up on it. Josh was helpful as always and set me up with a pair of very sturdy Fiskars. I could tell looking at them that they would last and for  ceonly $40, I was pleased. The crappy ones were $25 on sale, money which we just threw away basically.

Back home, I redressed in the long sleeves, hat and gloves and walked down the lane with my wagon. A cedar tree on the outside of our fence had really low branches that make it impossible for Bill to trim under it so I started there. 

Gibbs was content to stay inside.
Oh my goodness, my heart melts
seeing him in this position.
💖😍

I know fall is the time to prune but the trees are of no sentimental or otherwise value to the property if by chance they don't survive my hacking. It looked better and these Fiskars are my new friend! We'll need to keep them sharp when the time comes.

First, the cedar trees lower
branches. They were dragging 
near the ground.
Bill is right, it is getting tall,
close to the hydro lines.

In the front field there was another tree, no idea of its variety, so it got a good trim so Bill could ride the mower under and around it without losing an eye. It offers nice shade so with the breeze early this afternoon, I was cool enough. 

Then to the one in the front
field.
Now he won't hit his head.

My arms couldn't reach them all but I did my best and it is a big improvement. Then I realized my water was still in the fridge. 🤔 So, with a wagon full from the evergreen, I just left the trimmings where they lay and started back. But wait...........!

Along the east fenceline along the end of the lane, that vine had me pulling and hacking some more. You know the routine, talking to yourself. 'Just this one bunch while I'm here'. Yah, well, another 30 minutes later and I'd made some difference but not a lot.

This tree got a haircut
and a cleanup around its
base too.

I had to stop for the day so pulled the wagon up to the pile and just left it for another day. There's at least 2 loads still to bring up. I had left Gibbs indoors where it was cool and he would be much more comfortable so sat outside in the shade until my body temp dropped to normal.

This area frustrates the heck out of
me. I can't get to where the small 'trunks ?'
meet the ground it is so congested.
I did my best and pulled much
of the vine away.
Another day, I'll do the next fence post.
The fence along there has never been good
but it would still be nice to see it.

When I came in, I wasn't going out again until after supper. I read, sitting with Gibbs, had my tea and waited for Bill. Gibbs heard Jazz first and had his little 'Daddy's home, Daddy's home' fit so I let him out to greet him. 🥰 He rested, Gibbs tried and I read.

We had a grilled supper. He had a double bacon cheeseburger and I had a smoked sausage on a bun with one on the side. Lunch today was a bologna, cheese, lettuce wrap and it was better than the fish one I had last Friday. 🤭 

It's a hot day and a few more still on the way looking to be the very same. Bill went to the neighbour's to do another coat of primer. He was happy to finish one coat in 2 rooms last evening. I didn't see him until 10:30. 

Supper was good.

Supper was delicious. Bill made his lunch and drove back over in Ptooties for a second coat and to do the cutting in. We had a high of  28.33C/83F with 73% humidty so quite warm. 

When I went up to water my
plants, Gibbs stopped in
Goose the Spruce's shade.
I was almost too late for a couple
of my tomato plants!!
I gave them a good soaking
and will go in the morning to
repeat and I'll check next door too.

I'm still waiting to hear from the Lion's club member who is looking after the Harvest Vendor Show. Do I have a table or not? My friend has not heard either so I'm calling in the morning. Maybe I'm being impatient but I'm a newbie!

So far. Aren't they lovely?
Good night!

It's been a great day. Thank you for your visit.

A Much Slower Day = Sunday

 The Ridge

It was another great sleep that I woke up from on Sunday, July 12th. I'm surprised that I slept through until 6:30 after going to bed at 9:30 last night. I'm sure I've caught up now from Friday night. 🤭

Good morning!
I almost missed them today.
There are 4 and still get counted
in my tally.

Bill was ready to leave for the field and was saying goodbye around 7ish. It was a lovely day coming up with little wind in the forecast and high temperatures again. He had hopes to fly his 15' (wing span) Telemaster and the day was looking perfect for it.

I had half-heartedly decided last night that I would take my craft to town today and see what came of it. I quickly stencilled in the centre of the frame before I had to leave. 

Not entirely confident in
the result, I printed on paper
and glued it to the wood backing.
It turned out quite good.

I was in there by 10 and should have known from the get-go that the day was a bust. I forgot my book, which is a big entertainer for me when sitting there for 4 hours, and my hat AND my phone charger. LOL

The hat and charger was not important but my book?? Come on! I had 3 stop-bys, no purchases but a very interesting almost hour long chit-chat with Elmer. I didn't know him before he stopped but in our conversation, which was enjoyable (not one-sided at all), we discovered a common interest.

All set up but eventually
I moved my sign to the back
of Ptooties. It was too far away.

M, who you can now know as Mitch, (aka Ivan aka Elvis around town) was a friend to both of us. We had a bit of fun at Mitch's expense (he called him Elvis) at which I'm sure he'd enjoy if he were here to know that. 🤣 

It was hot but it was more the boredom of the other 2 hours that caused me to pack up at 1 pm instead of 2 today. The vibe wasn't there, hardly any passersby and I was ready to go home. As I got into Ptooties, in my rearview I saw Bill's cargo trailer at the light.

Before supper, I went over and
watered Dot's vegetable gardens.
No rain expected until Thursday.

He didn't even notice us sitting there, forgot about me being there. 🤭😟 So, with one vehicle between us, I followed him home. Mike had vacated his trailer by then and while I offloaded Ptooties into the Bunky, Bill had a snooze.

He drove over to D & G's (Dot & Gord's, not Donna & Gerry's) to finish some sanding in one of the basement rooms he is going to paint. I drove over a few minutes later to water her gardens. My, they are doing so well! 

I think she'll be happy with the progress
when she returns home.

Once I was done outside, I was able to help Bill inside. He still has difficulty reaching overhead since he damaged his rotator cuff so used a 4-step ladder and a rigged up tool to manually sand spots in the ceiling. 

The LED lights are too bright to see the spots from the ladder so I held his phone flashlight while he sanded. I'm glad I went over, he was having quite a hard time. When I left him at 4:30, he figured another hour and he'd be home for supper.

There were 4 very ripe cherry
tomatoes so they came home with me.
She said I could!!
😁

I read my Reacher story, In Too Deep, for a few chapters and at 5:30 started reheated supper. We brought home some of the leftovers from last night so I cooked mixed veggies to go alongside. Roast beef, gravy on buns and some pickles that were bound for the garbage. 

It was delicious (again) and filling. We each had a bit of stewed rhubarb to finish it off and I looked after the dishes while Bill went back over to start painting. He was anxious to get at that tonight. It has turned into a bigger job than he first thought, not knowing patches needed to be filled first. 

A Sunday night meal on ...
guess what?
A Sunday night!!
😂

Gibbs and I stayed in the coolness of the Suite as I wrote my blog and I know Bill is at least in the coolness of their home too. He is back to work tomorrow so he'll be a busy man until our 'vacationers' are home. Robin on Wednesday and our neighbours on Thursday. 

I added some plain yogourt
to mine because we have no ice cream.

It was a good day with no profit for me but not unexpected. I hope you enjoyed your Sunday. We reached a high of 27.22C/81F again today. Look out, tomorrow will be even hotter! PS - Bill was able to fly his big plane today so is a happy man!

I thought our hummingbirds had
left us, so I was pleased she came back
refilled the feeder yesterday.
Good night!

Thanks for the drop by!