Wash Day, Aunt Mary and Mom, School Days – Golden Rule Days

I couldn’t believe that I slept in until 8 o’clock this morning but I still didn’t get up right away when I heard Bill sleeping so soundly. I wanted to let him sleep as long as possible so crept out at 8:15 and closed the door to downstairs and let Clemson out. I made my tea and had settled at my laptop when he got up a short while later.

 It was apparent that we would be getting some rain today and the Wunderground Network said around 11 am. Well, woops! At 8:45 the rain was coming down gently and only to get worse. My plan to do laundry today wasn’t ‘hampered’ (play on words there) as I would be drying them at the laundromat regardless. I left for Durham around 9:30 or so and went to Rockwood Terrace first.

One of the nice sitting rooms at Rockwood

With time on my hands, and no deadline, I walked down the west hall to see Aunt Mary. She was delighted to see me and I can use that word because I saw her face when she saw me. I asked if she recognized me with my short hair because she seemed puzzled after we said hello. She smiled and nodded with her familiar words which I took as ‘thumbs up’ from a talented stylist.

Mom lines up the shot

Mom made a good shot
the blur again, I was trying to be sneaky

I chatted for a while and then she maneuvered her chair over to open a drawer, bringing out a photo album for me to look at. We flipped the pages together and I commented on pictures of her, Charlie, Rob and Pat and their family. I love seeing the reactions on her face when I say something complimentary or comical. After all, her face is where her biggest accomplishments come from now.

This was so special seeing her out of her room playing games

When I said goodbye I told her I would bring some of my pictures to share with her and she seemed pleased with that. I walked past the games room and peeked in on the way to Mom’s room. Doing a double take I recognized Mom in there playing crokinole with Jean, another resident. I was so surprised so snapped a picture. Not wanting to disturb her, she has a habit of stopping what she is doing when we visit, I carried on alone to her room and waited for a few minutes.

I soon went back and sat beside her, watching the game. She was having fun and they played a couple more while I was there. This is good to know that she is getting out and about more often, the staff are quite pleased with how she is adapting to her home now. Donna arrived around 11 and after a few minutes I said goodbye and went to the laundromat.

The road through Varney is long and lean

It didn’t take more than an hour and a half to wash and dry my two loads. The rain had stopped when I left and the sun came out at home. Still not convinced I could have dried them at home with the lower clouds all around. Bill said it had gotten quite windy while I was in town and heavy rain. 

The view from Mom's window isn't too great but she doesn't seem to mind

This morning it was a wakeup call as to the time of year when the school bus went by before I left home. Oh yah, first day of school! I’m sure there are a lot of mixed feelings out there in parents and students of all ages Some students will be excited, some bummed out, some parents sad and then others breathing a breath of fresh air at the closing of the door. Let’s be honest.

I hadn’t eaten anything so when I got home at 12:30 and we put our clothes away, I made a second tea and warmed up the last of my breakfast casserole.  It was a bonus that with added butter it tasted even better on the third day! Bill had showered and vacuumed when I was out so that is another tedious job done. Not hard, just one of those things we ‘have’ to do that isn’t a favourite.

I’m glad it is his job. One day when our carpets are worn out, we may replace them with the tile running through the kitchen, hall and bathroom but that won’t be for a long time. I do prefer sweeping, always have even when we had our house. I like the vacuum for getting in crevices along the shower and under the fridge and cupboards.

After we got cleaned up a bit we drove to Hanover to pick up a few groceries. The fridge was looking bare and the dairy is priced best at Walmart. I was surprised to see that Neilson’s 18% cream was on sale for $3.49 at Independent and that is an awesome price. We got 2. Their whole milk on the other hand was ridiculous at $6.79 and it was $5.13 at Walmart. We opted for a 2 qt. container instead and Bill will pick up 3 bags at Costco on Friday for $4.

This location in Varney always has various classic cars on display
I can only assume they are all for sale

From there we headed to Varney to West Grey Butchers. We have a few guests coming throughout the month of September and like to have options for meals. We stocked up and walked out of there $100 poorer but loaded with fresh pork and beef products. Wow! Now I just needed to find room in the freezer. I pulled everything out when we got home and I made a list to put on the fridge door. This will be a running list to keep track of our usage so we know what we’ll need to purchase in October before heading south.

Sorry for the blur but that is a mess of meat!

Before leaving Durham we stopped at The Beer Store and I took the last couple of months worth of cans and bottles in for my refund. 5 and 10 cent cans gathered up along the side of the road contributed to the $2.90 I walked out with. 

Beer store drop off

The sun is beautiful this afternoon and although it hasn’t reached 20C today, it has come really close. Not a bad day at all. With an hour before dinner time, I caught up on my post and then sat in my recliner with my book. I just need to focus on the pages and not let my eyes drop closed.

Some friends of mine think that all I do in my free time is read. Even though when I was working and could only read on my break and lunch periods and all I wished for was more reading time…………I find I seldom sit down and just soak myself into a book for long periods of time. Sometimes, yes, I have all of the perfect scenarios and I can read 8 to 10 chapters in one sitting. But I still find the need to get up and do something else. Habits I guess, formed in my 31 years on the job.

This is a great life, being healthy in our retirement. We are able to choose for the most part what we wish to do, when we wish to do it, where we wish to go and how we wish to go there. Any one of us at this stage of our life, has choices. We are all different and have a multitude of options at our fingertips depending on our own financial and physical circumstances. How did we get so lucky?

My bracelet

At 6 o’clock or close to it I started making supper. Tilapia loins and homemade deep fried diced potatoes, one of our favourite meals. Bill cuts the potatoes, skins on after I’ve washed them and I get the oil heated up in both the fryer and the pan. I mixed up the last of the Fish Crisp batter and dipped the fish to coat them. It all took less than 30 minutes to cook to perfection and we were eating dinner at 6:45.

Fish and Chips for supper

The cleanup took a little longer because we still had some breakfast dishes in the sink. We hate when we do that! After dishes, we sat at our laptops and I wrote more while Bill searched on line for something Donna and Gerry were interested in. The tv is on as background noise but other than a glance now and then, we aren’t paying it too much attention.

The sky was changing out there and before I closed my blind, I stepped outside and snapped this pretty sunset. It has been another great day up here on The Ridge and I hope you can say that you enjoyed your day to the fullest.

Thank you for taking the time to read today. Your comments are always great to read.