Easy Going Days, Summer is Here, Clemson's Haircut, Birthday for a Special Girl

It was the alarm that woke me up this morning but I knew it was a ‘wake-up’ call for Bill, not me or the pooch, so I lifted the covers and Clemson crawled under the sheets with me. He’s my second favourite cuddle mate. Sometimes, I’m his #2 as well. Bill had his breakfast downstairs and either he was very quiet or I still had my ear plugs in. I can’t recall. Bill had turned the furnace and fireplace for a quick boost of warm air since it was cool in the Suite. While he was eating, the bathroom warmed up for him to have his shower.

My morning walk didn't take me too far but it consisted of pretty views

I got up to use the facilities and to say goodbye to Bill. Maybe I’m better staying in bed until he is ready to say goodbye, it seems I’m a bit of a distraction as he’s gathering things up. He almost forgot his coffee. Although the one day I didn’t get up, he left without taking his sandwich and supper meal. It’s all about frame of mind, I think, what he’s thinking about at 6 in the morning. I know I was thinking about going back to sleep with my snuggle bum.

As I sat at Rob and Pat's, the school kids were on a field day

After Bill drove off, I slipped out of bed again and turned the furnace off. The temperature inside the Suite had risen from low 60’s to 72F. I wasn’t long in bed when at 6:30 I got up. I was fully awake and didn’t want to lay there. Our available wi-fi is down considerably, we kind of blew it this month, so I didn’t go on line to read any blog posts. Life goes on, whether I read them right away or not.

I got cleaned up and was ready to head out the door at 8:30. Clemson was getting the royal treatment today. “Shampoo and a Haircut, badum-dum”. Bill texted just as we were about to leave to let me know he’d arrived. I had my laptop already out there, grabbed a water, my phone and some flyers from our local grocery stores. I wasn’t about to drive home in the interim, it only usually takes an hour at Bath and Biscuit.

He still looks like he is half asleep! :)

 Remember earlier I said ‘it’s all about frame of mind and what ‘we’re’ thinking’? Well, I turned off Baptist Church Road onto Hwy 4 and realized I didn’t grab my purse. That meant no license and no money so I turned around and took care of that. It was pushing on 8:50 by now so I called Kate at the ‘salon’ and let her know I would be a few minutes late. I hate being late, the word just isn’t usually in my/our vocabulary but when I breezed in at 9:05 it was as if I was right on time.

Clem is modelling his new hair cut

I drove around the block and pulled up in front of the Aljoe’s homestead. I texted Pat to let her know that Black Beauty would be sitting in front of their house for a while, seeping their unlimited wi-fi. It was an offer she made if we ever needed to use it, so I decided today was a good time to take advantage. Thanks buddies! It allowed me to read our friend’s blog posts and make my own comments. I nipped back around the corner to pick Clemmy up at 10:10 and he was ready and waiting. Kate does a great job!

This pile of rails was stacked pretty high
We're glad Donna and Gerry can use them for their fence

I drove to Foodland and grabbed a few groceries, mostly sale items but especially the Chapman’s Premium ice cream. It was on sale for $3.99 a tub. Yes! We’ve not had any in the freezer for a few weeks. Back home, after putting things away, Donna texted to say they were coming over with Gerry’s truck to gather some more cedar rails. They are able to rebuild fences at the Acreage using the collection over here. Any broken, unusable pieces we can cut up for firewood.

After they left, I pushed my mower up the berm and cut the little bit of grass that got left a couple of days ago. I had lots of battery power today. Then I went at the area out front where I spread some grass seed. With my small hand rake, I was able to gather more of the small stones and level it out a wee bit. I spread the seeds around and watered it down. Hopefully, we’ll get some rain over the next couple of days. Some is the key word here. Not days and days of it.

Rhubarb was my excitement of the day

Inside, I warmed up a bowl of my pork, vegetable barley soup for lunch. I have a sink full of rhubarb to wash and cut up. Most of it will go in the freezer and some will get stewed for an evening dessert. I figure 4 cups of chopped fruit in a baggie will be perfect for pies or crisps. There is nothing like a rhubarb dessert when we are in the throes of winter………..in the desert. 😊

With it all chopped, 6 cups went into a pot with 2 tbsp water and 1 cup sugar. It simmers for 20 min. and voila! Stewed rhubarb. I will cool that and package it in baggies or containers. I don’t have a lot of small containers so I will play it by ear. I’ll definitely have to keep some out of the freezer for Bill tomorrow night. Rhubarb topping on ice cream. Yum! There are approximately 26 cups of chopped fruit so what I don’t stew will get divided and bagged for the freezer.

I'm proud of my petunias mainly because I've kept them alive
so far

I’ve had full blue sun filled sky for part of the day, then some scattered clouds but a nice temperature around 73F/23C all day. Now that I’ve turned the burner off, I can move outside with my book. I have been too busy to even start my new mystery! I took a walk around the property, checking out plants, deadheading petunias and watering those in need.

The situation with no rain is playing havoc with our rain barrel. It is only half full and unfortunately, currently, that means it is below the spigot from which I fill my watering can. There is another ‘tap’ about 2 or 3” from the bottom but I obviously can’t fit it under there. So, I’m holding the can and tipping the barrel towards me just to get water. We need rain. Bill is working on a solution, it is one of his projects and now I can’t wait for it to be underway!

Now that I've turned the first few pages............the first 7 chapters
went zzzip!

Then, I rested. I took full advantage of the lovely day and sat in a gravity chair up on the hill looking down over the lane and the corral. Some sun, sun shade and some breeze. It was really quite nice. I got good and well into my book and it is another page turner for sure. I took a walk down the laneway just to see if the mail lady dropped anything in our box. I’d missed seeing her today. Nope, no news is good news.

Bill will appreciate these pictures
I do believe his baby robins are still around
(He had to remove them from our a/c unit before we left for Rock Glen)

Since I had my camera, I wandered over to where the cedar rails are so I could show Bill how the pile has gone down since Gerry was here. As I walked back, in my flip-flops, I startled a little 12-15” garter snake and needless to say, he startled me. He looked at me briefly and curled his way back to the woodpile. I must have just missed stepping on him the first time. That would have got a squeal out of me!

And here is why we can't use the kayaks in our pond
Already, weeds are so overgrown

I closed up the door to the storage shed, all things put away for today. I don’t think we are expecting rain but I do like things closed up when it is my job…….just in case the sky opens up unexpectedly. The wind has been quite gusty today but it has kept the temperature around 78F. Without it, it would be quite hot. Back inside, I poured the 3 cups of stewed rhubarb into a sealer jar and put it in the fridge. There was about ½ cup left in the first pot so I will add to that one.

a nice cozy sitting area

With 18 cups left, I decided to make another batch since I found more jars in the bunky that I can use. Clemson sure sleeps a lot these days and we’re finding that it takes a loud noise to disturb him. I basically had to shut the door loudly so he would wake up for supper. Maybe his sense of time is faltering as well, or his sleepiness just wins out over his tummy.

Half in his bed and half out
sound asleep
Nancy K. that is my attempt at a quilt under his bed
The back side is denim

So, at 5:30, I pulled out the cooked liver that I had in the freezer and prepared to fry it up lightly for supper. Butter in the pan and just a couple of flips of each piece. I know there were a few pieces of potatoes left over from last night with some corn but decided instead to leave that for Bill tomorrow night. Today, in town, I picked up one of my favourites, spinach. I like it steamed and with some cherry tomatoes, that should do it for me. Of course, there will be dessert.

I wrote a bit more on this post and put it to rest while supper cooked slowly. I haven’t been on-line on our wi-fi today, trying to conserve the last few gigabytes. When I post, it will have to be a fast one. 😊 I was fooling around with Picassa today, after chatting with Pat last night. I found one of my favourite pictures of Bill and I from 2012. It was before the major decision in our life was made, when we were taking a week’s vacation in Mears, Michigan with Ken and Nancy.

Before I get to the bottom of this rambling post, I want to wish a very special Happy Birthday to our oldest granddaughter, Chelsea. She is 11 today and I’m sure very excited that school is almost done. What a great age! They are in London so it is perfect timing for Bill. Chelsea is his second daughter’s first child. Have I confused you yet?

this little cutie pie has grown up into a special little girl

Supper was good, there were 3 pcs of liver in the pack so just a tad too much for one meal. I did, however, give Clemson (our mooch) a few small pieces. I did up the dishes after pouring the rest of the stewed rhubarb into jars. 

Looking outside, I could see Mrs. Yertle on our front ‘lawn’ near the firepit. She has been there for at least 20 minutes already and from her movements, I would have thought she was laying eggs. Nope, she’s moved on and there is no change in the grass area.

I think she was just trying to dig a hole
What a waste of time for her

Bill called at 5:40, just touching base. He has finished work so having his supper before going around to see Chelsea. He reported that it has been pouring rain since 2 pm this afternoon. Oh, how we need it but by the looks of the weather on CTV News, it might not arrive until tomorrow. Our sky does not have the appearance of anything dropping from it tonight.

My last picture is a hint that maybe we need
Geese crossing signs too!

I’m going to settle in and post this before it turns into a book. It has been a nice quiet day. I hope you have had a similar one. Thank you for stopping by. I love it when you leave me a comment.