God’s Heat Turned Off, Bill Gets an Early Start, Rockwood Visits, Pat’s Projects

I was still in my dream state when Bill woke me to say goodbye at 6:10 this morning. At least I think that was the time. He was set to go and continued to make his ‘travel’ coffee and drove off. It was warm inside under the covers but without any source of heat turned on inside The Suite, I wasn’t keen on crawling out yet. I won’t pretend that the temperature in here of 15C is warm but instead of turning the furnace on right away bundled up when I did get up.

Going to be a mixed bag in the sky today

We neglected to hook up our Blue Flame heater last night and I’m thinking I might need it this morning or tonight. We’ll see if the forecast drops below last night’s 9C and whether I need to rely on the furnace later. Once the clouds show promise to move away, I can at least unplug from electric to save in that department. We haven’t used the panels for 5 days and this has been the longest period of time that we’ve relied on a/c  since living in our sticks and bricks home.

The sun is giving the clouds in the west a nice pink glow this morning

Yesterday Bill and I discussed how we would go about seeing ALL of our children and grandchildren before we leave on Oct. 23. At this early stage of this winter travel lifestyle, it is important to us. Last year we visited with each family mostly on an individual basis. This year we decided that wasn’t the best, lots of travelling around for us trying to schedule etc. Bill suggested we pick the date WE are available and invite them all out to a communal meeting place for dinner.

This little skinny old man was shivering this morning
He has his sweater on and is in the sun

One date, one location and hope for the best. Last night I sent out an email to our offspring with a survey-type thing. No point in us planning this if only 2 or 3 can make it. The results are great! So far only one family decline, which is disappointing, but our fingers are crossed that even that one works out. It will be our only opportunity before we pull out.

The sun has come out and I’m facing a true-blue sky with very minimal low lying clouds on the horizon. I poured myself a second tea and popped the furnace on for 30 minutes to warm the Suite up a few degrees. Clemson is just shivering like crazy! He has now found a sunny spot and I’ve put his little flannel jacket on so I’m turning the heat off.

I took the time this morning and downloaded my countdown timer for heading south into my blog. At first, I was discouraged but had chosen one that isn’t user friendly. Now, I’ve got it in there and surprised myself seeing it in writing that we are pulling out in 24 days! 

Arranging stuff like we did yesterday is a huge accomplishment at least for Bill and I. Remember we are still new at this U.S. travel thing and we are still testing some waters, lots of waters actually.

Around 10:30 I readied myself and drove into Durham to visit my favourite lady. I’m hoping to catch Mom in as good spirits as Pat and Rob saw her in last night. She captured the most beautiful picture of our Mom and she looks so happy and young. 91? Unbelievable! 

I'm so proud to say this is my Mom

Today I caught her sleeping but she woke up gently with her lovely smile at seeing company.

Blue ladies

Dressed in blue today, we both laughed at that and I had to take a picture of us. It was a nice visit until it was time to walk her down to lunch. I missed Aunt Mary though, she wasn’t in her room or anywhere close. After saying multiple goodbyes to Mom, I stopped to speak to her at her table. With a promise to catch her in her room next time, she said bye bye.

I nipped into the Home Hardware to pick up some foam paintbrushes for my little job. These are great because after using them we can throw them out. I was looking at picking up maybe 3 or 4 a couple different sizes but at minimum $1.39 each, at $9.97 this made much more sense. We will definitely use them for one project or another.

Good deal!

When I got home the clouds were still dominating the sky and the wind was quite chilly. However, I had a job to do so I changed out of my good clothes. Even though the place I wanted to work under the car shelter was in the shade, it was also out of the wind. I finished staining the shelf and left it outside to dry for the remainder of the afternoon. It wouldn’t take long and it looks great!

Back inside I went and called Ridgeview RV Resort in Bullhead City, Az. My sister thought it might be fun to stay in a rental unit for a couple of nights while they are there with us. It will give us all a break during their 9-day stay. The price was very reasonable so we booked it for them. We will still be together every day to take advantage of their time in Arizona.

Bill's handiwork

Around 5 I put the shelf away in the shed and cleaned up the brushes etc. I have one other thing to stain and can do that tomorrow. I didn’t hear from Bill all day which usually means he went from one orientation to another and was too busy to call. At 6 pm he made contact and we chatted briefly, me filling him in on what things I have taken care of and him telling me about his day and where he is sleeping tonight. He sounded just a bit too excited over the beautiful Airstream he helped with today.

This dark walnut should be a close enough match to our woodwork

I had unplugged early this morning but needed to take advantage of our electrical hookup so I could nuke my leftovers from Tuesday night’s supper. Supper was good and filling. I'm pretty sure I’ll need the furnace to keep us warm tonight. I've pulled our bedspread out from under the bed so at least it can be kept on low and we'll still be toasty. When my normally reddish pink birthmark turns purple, it means I’m cold and it takes a while to warm me up.

Now Bill can install it after he is home

While watching my recorded programs, The Good Doctor and This is Us, Bill called to say goodnight. He informed me just after 8:30 the International Space Station was going over. He was standing outside in London looking up at the stars. I was too comfy (lazy) in my chair after just being out with Clemson (in the dark) so told him to view it for me. The wind had died right down though, which was nice.

Purple means Patsy is cold

It was a good day for me up here on The Ridge. I hope you have enjoyed your day too!

Just a plain but pretty sunset tongith
Goodnight!

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