Routine Stuff and Some Non-Routine Stuff

Wednesday, July 19^th I woke up to the familiar sound of Bill’s alarm. Back to work for my hard-working guy. I said to him before I went to bed last night that Clemmy and I haven’t been alone for a couple of weeks! My girlfriend, Debbie, came last week for a sleepover while he was in London.

Lazy bones comes for a walk with me

 This is fine though, it has become part of the routine of life up here on The Ridge. The break is very good for both of us. Sure, I wouldn’t mind if he was home all the time but time alone gives me the opportunity to plan my day with things Bill doesn’t enjoy doing. If the weather holds off this afternoon, I might venture in to the beach at the dam.

Not crazy packed but busy for a Wednesday afternoon

At 9:30 I left the Suite and went in to Rockwood to see and help Aunt Mary with some things and at 11 when she tired, I walked down to the other end of the hall and visited Mom. Mom was not having a good morning at all and broke into tears when she saw me. Rob had seen her walking in the hall at 9:30 so I'm not sure how upset she really was. She soon calmed down admitting that she just woke up in a down mood. It happens to the best of us so we fluffed it off and started working on some puzzles in her book.

I said goodbye to her at lunch and she was all smiles again as if nothing had been different. Good, because leaving when she is upset is not nice at all, we try not to do it. Not sure what set her off today, she has been so good for the last month. I left the home and drove over to the beach to see what the water was like. There were a few people there, spread out but only a handful. I might come back with my swimsuit, chair and book.

When I went back at 2pm, 5 people turned into 25.

I got back and realized that I hadn’t eaten and was probably hungry, hence the headache. The morning was a little bit stressful but mostly I had to draw on my dependable patience. I changed into my swimsuit while boiling a few eggs. I had some garden salad left over that I would add one to for lunch.

It is definitely a humid day so thankful today for the breeze up here on the hill. I didn’t get my book finished as I’d hoped last night so today is the day. Bill has slowed down considerably on his reading and I have almost caught up to him. I have one left to go and I will be into his pile.

this little darling was getting her first taste of the water and loved it

Clemson and I took a walk down to the mail box to pick up whatever the truck left today. Junk mail and a Home Hardware flyer. That’s okay we needed the exercise. I actually had to pick the little bum up and put him on the top of the grass hill to motivate him. Lordy oh Lordy. He doesn’t need the motivation on the way back though.

I’d decided that I was going into Durham again to take advantage of the water and beach area. It is finally the type of weather where I can enjoy it. I took a blanket, my old lawn chair and a bag with ice water, towel, camera and book in it. Oh, and I wore my sun hat that I purchased in Arizona. Love it!

Okay, so shouldn’t have been surprised with the crowded parking lot or the crowded beach area but I actually parked Black Beauty along the bush side where another car had parked. It wasn’t until I came back to the vehicle 2 ½ hours later that I realized just how smart that was. The sun had moved to the west and the truck was sitting pretty in complete shade. Nice and cool.

This beautiful dog was watching the minnows

I debated getting wet, so many little people but when I saw other adults slowly inching in the cold water, I dipped and returned to my chair. Once I was able to secure a flat grassy area, I lay my towel down and tried that for a while. I left the blanket in the truck, I had enough to carry down the many steps as it was.

so cute seeing this performance

I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy myself, by myself, but it is interesting watching other people, people with kids mostly and some people with dogs. I enjoyed watching this pooch following and trying to catch the minnows. No one abides by the rule “All dogs must be leashed” it seems but if they are well behaved, extremely well behaved I don’t mind.

Dog paddle, I'll bet. :)

 So, I did enjoy the time I spent there and will definitely go again. I had a couple of dips to cool off and floated around a bit. Donna said she would join me there sometime too so that would be really nice. Someone to talk to and swim with. The water is pretty clear and the river bottom is sandy so I was quite comfortable in it. I never go deep anyway, I need to be able to touch bottom.

When I got home, I hung my towel out and watched Clemson make a beeline for the truck under the shelter. Aaah, he was looking for Bill. That broke my heart, he seemed so excited and had to settle for ‘just’ me. He will appreciate me after dinner when I sit in my chair. That is when I’m his favourite.

An old Mill but now part of it is an Art Gallery

I have a small amount of spaghetti and lettuce salad left over so that will be my supper. I’ll fry up the spaghetti so no need to plug in. What a gorgeous day! Yay, three in a row. I’ve been waiting for more than one for so long! I’ve finished my book and moved on to James Patterson’s Cat and Mouse. Nothing like catching me right from the get-go. It appears to be a sequel to Along Came a Spider.

I’ve had a Fitbit Charge HR for a few years now. Maybe coming up on 3. I love it and have from the moment I got it. I bought it from our work swap shop and it was 2 months old. She didn’t like it so I won in that deal! It is the type where you cannot remove the band so once it goes, it goes. Bill also bought one shortly after and his has fallen apart too.

Getting beach ready

We’ve glued them so often and now mine has just stopped working. I have always said I will replace it when it dies and now is the time. I have been waiting for my Sister’s week to pass and see how much money I will have left to buy one.

I'm excited to get a new Fitbit, new style

Some things work out even though they are not planned and we’ve found a little extra ‘play’ money in our personal savings accounts. I don’t have to wait any longer. 

Tomorrow I think I’ll check these little devices out at The Source while I’m in Hanover to pick up bread. I feel weird without my Fitbit and it certainly does make a difference in how much I push myself to walk during a regular day.

By 4:00 most had packed up and left so I went for one more dip

Clemson was fed at 5, don’t want to upset the ‘man’ of the house and I heated up my supper. I toasted a crust from the bread we buy and really like. Bill doesn’t care for the crusts the way I do. I sat for a while in my recliner with our boy before doing the dishes and Bill called to check in about his day.

There were a couple of ladies settled with this tent, chairs, blankets and food for the whole day
I think there will be some pretty drastic bikini lines tomorrow, yikes!

I have a program recorded that I turned on to watch but needed to finish my post first. I’m going to leave this here as the sun is considering dropping out of sight. It has been a wonderful day and the sky is as blue and clear of clouds as I could want. I hope your day was great too.

This great day comes to an end with a blast off beauty

Thank you for stopping in. Comments are welcome and appreciated.