Helping Friends, Glorious Sunny Day

Today is Tuesday, May 30^th. This morning my thoughts were with Bill when I woke up at 6:30. I was happy to see sunshine outside but just wanted to chat with my sweetie. We didn’t talk much yesterday because of the job he was doing. I knew he was okay as he would touch base really briefly during the normal times I’d expect contact.

Aunt Mary's house in Durham

Finally, last night at 9:50 pm he called to tell me he had arrived home from delivering the trailer to Goderich and bringing another one back to CanAm. In my car or in the company truck he doesn’t have blue tooth so chatting or texting is not possible. At least I was able to go to bed after 10 knowing he was back safely. Long day for him.

Secondly, on my mind was to get up, have my tea, do my reading and get some breakfast on the go. I offered to help our friends, Rob and Pat, as they clean out their uncle’s house. They have a huge job ahead of them and if I can be of assistance, I’m in! I’ll go over and meet them there at 9 to do what I can.

Setting things wherever there was a table top

 So, arriving at 2 minutes after 9, I was lovingly chastised by my ‘boss of the day’. Rob was at the door and told me I would be docked 15 minutes, standard procedure. Too funny and the day started off on a good note. After Pat showed me through the house, I began emptying cupboards of dishes and washing up those that needed it.

Aunt Mary was very talented, slippers, paper tole, embroidery, macrame
These fans made with plastic forks, so creative!

Things were set up on tables for an upcoming yard sale, Pat and I brought clothes down to the living room and Rob sorted through the garage storage areas. Lots and lots of stuff as is usual for our elderly. They were of the generation that you don’t get rid of anything. Hopefully, we baby boomers have learned a lesson.

Hair salon prices

We took a tea break around 11 and lunch around 12:30. I felt that we accomplished a fair bit but I’m sure it doesn’t seem like much to Rob and Pat. They have been at this for 2 weeks steady and it is difficult to see the forest for the trees. My brother-in-law, Gerry, met with Rob at the house today to do a walk through and an appraisal. Gerry works for ReMaX.

Bill called at 2:45 with the good news that he was done work and on his way home, no stops. Yay! That makes up a bit for his long day yesterday, he will be home for supper. I left the Aljoe’s at 4:10, a little bit past quitting time, Rob, just for the record. Pat sent me with some rhubarb and a few things we can use.

Finding the best use of space

Mary is/was a classy dresser but we're not sure how today's woman will appreciate her clothes

Clemson was a good boy all day, not an accident in sight. I was surprised when I drove the truck up the drive to see Mr. Snapper a way up here on the east side of the corral! I got out and took a picture of him. He was watching me out of the corner of his eye so I didn’t venture too close.

Mr. Snapper might have a nest up here somewhere to be so close to our living space

I prepared beer battered Tilapia loins and homemade fries for supper tonight. Bill drove in around 5:15 pm, good timing as usual. After dinner, we cleaned up the dishes while keeping in touch with Donna. Her and Gerry drove with Mike to pick up his ‘new to him’ trailer at Sauble Beach. We’re happy for Mike and anxious to see his new baby when they get it back here to The Acreage.

Mr. Painted Junior took a detour somewhere!

Turn yourself around and go find the pond, silly

I found out today that the meeting I was going to with Donna tomorrow is not until next week, so contacted Pat and offered my help for another day. It was accepted with thanks. I’ll be sure to be on time.

Beautiful sky show tonight

Reflections on Donna and Gerry's pond

 I think it was around 8:30 when we headed over to open the gate at The Acreage and start a fire. Since Mike would need to get the trailer hooked up, a small fire was in order to ward off the mosquitoes and the coolness by the pond. They arrived within 15 minutes of us getting there.

Peter Rabbit watching Bill open the Acreage gate

Mike lucked out on this 2014 Keystone Hideout, 27’ with 2 slide outs. An rv that had one previous elderly owner who had it delivered to Sauble where it sat for 3 years and used only 3 times. It is in pristine condition and quite a steal. He seems happy, tired but happy indeed. Bill was glad he could offer some ‘professional’ assistance tonight.

Bill starts a fire to take the chill off and the skitters away

We got back to the Suite at 10 and settled inside. The skitters managed to get a taste of Bill in that short time, prime time for their supper, I guess. I stayed closer to the fire than he did so I think I avoided being their appetizer. It was a great day today, I’m tuckered out though. It feels good to help someone in need.

Mike arrives at the far end of the pond

I hope your day was a good one too. Clemson finished off his Dental Chew this morning before I left for Durham. I’m going to look into the bone marrow suggested by Bonkers in my last post. He was feeling some of the effects from his two needles today. They were given right at the top of his ‘shoulder’ bones so whenever we picked him up, he whimpered. Poor thing, they should be better tomorrow.

All settled in our old spot, Nice!

Night, night, thank you for reading today, your comments are welcome.

All About Clemson, All About Me, Long Winded Again

Monday, May 29^th has arrived and Bill has left. I heard the alarm……. early………but that was it until I heard Bill downstairs around 6. From my perch in bed, I could see he was already dressed and had heard him making trips to the car with his bag and cooler. Clemson was down on the couch with him so I knew he’d been out for his piddle.

There is the little bed potato, getting up on his own sweet time

The sky is overcast and windows appear spotted so it must have rained overnight. Me, with my ear plugs, I don’t hear a thing but Bill said it was a good rain with some thunder. I got up for my own nature’s call and gave my man his goodbye kiss and hug and went back to bed at 6:15 when he pulled out the lane. I wasn’t missing much this morning, it was quite foggy down at the road too.

I enjoy watching this little bug go by daily

I'm thinking our teen neighbour owns it and drives
very slowly on the gravel road to keep it pristine
First car?

Clemson joined me, snuggled up on the window side of the bed next to my tummy. I got up at 7:15 but the little bum must have been sound asleep as he never budged. I loaded the garbage bag and 2 recycle bins onto the back of the truck and drove them to the road, came back and made my tea before reading blog posts. Many people read the news, I prefer to keep in touch with my blogger friends. It is all good, nothing depressing and nothing too sad usually.

From a full gray sky, this was 90% of my day

By 9:30 I hopped into the shower and made myself a coffee. Bill called around 8 from St. Mary’s and said the sun was making an appearance and within minutes, it was here too, in and out of the low clouds. The day won’t be a wash-out, good!

Clemson has an appointment at his new vet in Durham this morning at 11. He needs his heart worm and tic meds and a needle today too. Sssh. Distemper and possibly his rabies. He is due before we leave in the fall.

The Veterinary Clinic was hopping today, 3 cat visits and 6 dogs all in the 45 minutes I was there

I did okay, didn't I Mom?

The winds today are relatively calm again and that is lovely. Right now, I think Clemson and I need to go and retrieve our recycle bins since the truck has gone by already. Out my window I see the first blue jay of the season up here. They are so pretty, I remember how they fought over my feeder last year.

Our little red maple from The Yates' is doing really well!

I bought a Niger seed bell yesterday hoping to keep the finches around but need to pick up more regular bird seed for the chicadees and wrens. I’ve been thinking about how to create a shelf like Al from The Bayfield Bunch has but need to get creative against the usual winds up here. The seeds kept blowing off my first attempt and then it collected rain water. Hmmm, still thinking.

So, by 12:15 we were back home. Clemson has been poked and probed, oohed and aahed over (as were many other cutie pie pups) his private parts invaded and jabbed with 2 needles. None the worse for wear, he was a good boy and will now be healthy for the next year with his rabies shot and heartworm medication.

A nice neat garbage/recycle person
Stacked our bins instead of just throwing them like London did

The rest of the day is mine. I planted my little Lady’s Mantle closer to the Suite at the base of one of our little trees, beside my Sunflower decoration. I sure didn’t need it in the flower garden! Too funny, but at least I know I should recognize it in the future.

I'll get a picture of her new home tomorrow
These water drops are still from the overnight rain when everything else is dried up

I spoke briefly to Bill before leaving the clinic to find out that he did the orientation on a Mobile Suite this morning. These people had owned one previously so it didn’t take him long walking them through this one. This afternoon, he has been asked to deliver 

another rv to Goderich for CanAm. 

A zoomed in look up at our home

I had a quick bite to eat. The vet gave me a sample of a Dental Care Chew because of the tartar on Clemson's teeth. We’ve known that it is getting worse but he will not let us get a finger in there let alone a doggie toothbrush! Dr. Kent Charlton said these work for his sheltie where others didn’t. 

He seems to be enjoying it

We’ve also bought those Denta Stix but our fussy little scamp doesn’t have the patience to sit and chew on it long enough to get any goodness out of it. Once he did get into one, he ate the whole thing and proceeded to be sick later in that day. I gave this sample to Clemson and held it for him, long enough that he could nibble into it. Then I left it with him. Check out what he has left in this picture.

Saved enough for another day

I plan to do nothing for the rest of the afternoon with the exception of reading my book and maybe a walk or two. I changed into sun-tanning clothes and perched myself in my lounge chair on the patio mat. There were just enough clouds and just enough wind gusts to cool the air when I started feeling that I was over-heating. But let me tell you, it felt awesome!

Thanks to the winter we just had in the southwest, I have a nice colour base and don’t have to worry as much about sun burn. So far, when I think about it, From November until now, I’ve only been deprived of sunshine for a couple of months. Nice! I like this lifestyle!

Snuck up on these guys

So, after sitting for a while, I tried coaxing Clemson into coming out for a walk down to get the mail with me. For some reason, he was acting very timid about going down the steps of the Suite. Every once in a while, he does this. He gets stubborn as do I and I refuse to baby him by carrying him down as well as up. I put the leash on him and he prances down with ease.

At the midpoint of the lane way, Mr. Snapper slipped down into the water before I could snap his picture. On the other side in the west pond, the log was inhabited by about 6 painted turtles. I had my zoom lens in preparation and stopped well before they heard me. Through the brush you might be able to see three of them as they sit there unawares.

ding dong, Avon calliing

All things on sale from Avon

Avon had sent my small order in a pouch package this time so the postal service delivered it instead of UPS. I wasn’t expecting it until tomorrow so that is great. I don’t buy often, just enough to keep my status active as a representative. Today I ordered my Far Away body cream, a mascara and another collapsible dish for Clemson. This one will stay in the Corolla.

The sky starting to change

I stayed outside until about 4:30 when the skies started to look weird. I didn’t realize we were supposed to get a storm, guess I forgot to check this morning. Inside, I fed the little Master and pulled out stuff for my salad. Then I checked the weather network and discovered a warning for severe thunderstorms with hail and strong 90 km winds for the better part of the evening in Durham. Yeuch.

The darkening sky and the darkening pond

It was up to 22C outside and the Suite was registering 26C so I opened more windows and turned on the Fantastic Fan in the kitchen area. By the time I got changed and wrote a bit the temperature dropped and the sky turned dark quickly. I closed windows as the temperature dropped and the rain started. The Fantastic Fan took care of itself.

I’ve never seen such a strange sky, within minutes the blue was returning from the west at the same time as the rain was coming straight down. A really nice rain, to tell the truth. I knew this meant a rainbow in the dark sky to the east so ran outside up on the hill to capture it. Beautiful! It lasted longer than any I’ve seen in a long time. It was worth getting wet over!

Beautiful full rainbow in a dark sky
The white turbines and green foliage makes a striking contrast

As the rainbow finally disappears so does the warning for this area. Just like that, they’ve changed tonight’s forecast. Good, I can relax now. All is well and I realize I’m hungry. I’m falling back on the same chicken salad for supper that I had last week. It is a healthy choice, easy to prepare and very filling.

Nice steady rain is hard to see in the picture

I was waiting to hear back from Bill, knowing that he is usually done work around 6 at the latest. Trying not to be concerned, as I’m watching CTV news report on accidents around the area, he finally called. Just a quick call that he is still in Goderich trying to get the delivered trailer into the spot and set up. I can breathe easier about that worry too.

And during the downpour, the sun...........

Winds stopped completely for about 10 minutes

 I’ve written enough here today so will sign off before the sun sets. I can pretty much guess that you have all had a good day, if you had the weather I had. As one blogger friend said in a comment <I’m going to stop worry about the rain and the cool and instead enjoy the greenery>. I know that isn’t a direct quote but that is her way of dealing with crazy weather. I love that!

And by the time I finish this at 7:30, the clouds are white, fluffy and clearing out

Thank you for reading today. Your comments are welcome and appreciated.

It’s Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Summer!

Sunday, May 28^th and as we approach the end of the month, we also can really tell we are approaching the month of summer, finally. What a beautiful day! I was up just after 7 this morning, not wanting to continue the habit of sleeping in until 8 or 8:30. I got into a rut this past week and put it up to not feeling well. Enough of that nonsense, we found the days were half over before we really did anything.

This was the kind of morning it was
Coffee in my king  chair, shorts and Clemson snuggled beside me

So, up early it was lovely to open blinds to sunshine and few clouds. The thermometer read only 12C but it rose quickly and within a couple of hours it was 15C. That is about 60F for our American friends. The sun fought for control of the sky but it didn’t win although it was quite lovely all-day long.

My Outhouse, er, Restroom Irises have bloomed

Feeling 90% back to myself, I read blog posts with my tea until Bill got up after 8. We chit-chatted about our day’s plans and he headed out to work on his plane. He had a ‘dead-stick’ landing yesterday that created an oh-oh. Minor repairs and I didn’t see him for an or so while he worked in his cargo trailer.

The first of many to bloom for the first time here

Around 10:30 I made him some toast with peanut butter and took it out to him. I was getting ready to go to visit Mom, yay! And he was going to drive me in so he could fill up the car and pick up an electrical receptacle for the bunky. For some reason, the one he plugs his c.t. into wasn’t working all of a sudden. Things that make you go ‘hmm’.

Clemson says "Are you my Grandma?"

And when Mom says "Yes" he snuggles closer
She looked so pretty in her skirt, top and beads

So, I decided that it would be nice to take Clemson back in to see her since Bill would be there to carry him out at noon when we say goodbye. If I was alone, I wouldn’t be able to carry him and walk her to her lunch table at the same time. It would not be appropriate having a dog in the dining room with diners ready to eat.

Add caption

Clem and I were in at 11 and Bill joined us at 11:30. Mom was so happy to see all of us. She even got all of our names right! Wonderful! Unfortunately, she didn’t remember seeing 5 of her granddaughters yesterday though. ☹ We had a nice visit and chatted with the fellow across the hall for a while too. Nice man. As usual, Clemson was a hit and had to be taken over to a few ladies for a snuggle.

This corner house in Durham is very interesting

 When we got back, Bill replaced the receptacle and I made up bacon and eggs for lunch. With this cold, I’ve noticed a have a pounding headache almost every day but a nice hearty breakfast or lunch seems to keep it at bay. Who feels like eating much when your head is stuffed and your throat tickly?

Oh, yes. Clemson gets a home cut

I was anxious to get outside in the garden, I showed you a picture of that nasty ‘goutweed’. Thanks F.G. for naming it for me. So, with gloves on and shovel in hand, I dug enough to lift the soil and mulch to get as much of the root as I could. I know this will be a summertime chore but I’m a determined ole gal! Bill popped over to The Acreage for a bit to help Gerry with their new awning.

A little less scruffy, at least

While he was gone, I finished digging until I got every last sign of that darn plant. It does give me a sense of accomplishment, even when I grumble at it all through the process. It was a perfect weather day for this kind of job. Tonight for supper, Bill bbq’d 2 steak and 1 chicken breast and I boiled potatoes inside the Suite.

Now, I'm definitely going to have to buy more  mulch

Tomorrow morning my sweetie is off to London again for another couple of work days. At least when he comes home Tuesday night, he’ll be home for the rest of the week and that will be really nice for all of us. The extra steak is for his dinner Monday night.

I deserved this taste of my Mexican Kahlua

We set about packing his lunch, drinks, breakfast and supper meals and he put his clothes together. At least this time, I’m feeling normal again and the weather is co-operating. Clemson and I won’t be stuck inside because of rain, at least not an all day, every day stretch.

And this book with my feet up

As the temperature starts its decline, I’ve moved inside while Bill has his shower. Shorts and a tank top aren’t enough clothes on a southwestern Ontario evening in May, apparently. The sky is getting ready for an evening or overnight rain by the looks of it, perfect time!

At 4:30 I said to Bill "where are all the geese today?"
I should have been sitting outside at 7:30 when they all came back home
One day I'm going to capture their in-flight landing

I hope your day has been great. I do believe we have turned a corner towards the dog days of summer. Enjoy! At the peak of day, we reached 22C/71F.

Goodnight, Mr. Sun

Thank you for this wonderful day

Thank you for kicking around with me today. I would love to hear from you if you have the time and inclination to leave a comment.