Sunday, August 5, 2018

A Wonderful Long Weekend Day, Early Walkabout, More Shed Building, Cookout at the Ridge, Visit to the Acreage


On Saturday, Aug. 4th I was awakened by the sound of my phone chirping that I had received a text. It was 6:45 and I wouldn’t have heard it if I had been still asleep. So, it really didn’t wake me. It was my daughter informing me of their imminent late afternoon arrival at the Acreage today. I would definitely get over to see her and Chris this evening.

All is quiet this morning on the pond

And the sun pops through the trees

I headed out the door before 7 and enjoyed a really nice walk before the heat started to set in. I returned at 7:30 to find Bill was still sleeping. I made my tea and took my laptop outside to enjoy some ‘free’ neighbourhood wifi. No, not from our friends, but instead someone down the road who has theirs open. I will gladly use it for reading blog posts and playing on Facebook games. If they don’t mind, I don’t mind!

Interesting cloud formations low in the sky
Bill got up before 8 and came out to sit with me for a while. Clemson was still in bed after an earlier 5 am piddle. A couple of minutes before 9, Donna texted from the Acreage to let Bill know that Mike and Gerry were on their way with the construction trailer. Let the fun begin! Bill is anxious to get back at the job, in the hopes of it soon being completed. They arrived minutes later and set to work immediately.


Clemson finally got up around 8:30 maybe to check out what all the noise was about. I’m sure he could hear some of it so he trotted down the hill to begin his supervisory duties. Typical supervisor, late on the job site. LOL  I sat in the shade and caught up on blog posts and emails before playing Scrabble and Words with Friends on FB. 

There is a song about Little Green Apples
These are crabby and never good to eat
I’m losing in all 5 games but that can change with a good letter swap at any time.
As I knew they would, the beautiful sunflowers from Pat and Rob have bounced right back. No flower is better, in my eyes, to greet me each morning. 

Beautiful!
My Dad’s sunflowers always win the prize for me. The day was warming up and I went inside and boiled some eggs up for egg salad sandwiches for lunch. These guys will need something hearty to keep them going. Bill is working too but on ‘liquid duty’ if they need water etc.

and the boys are hard at it by 9:15
With the sandwiches done, I knew I had to do something with the fresh peaches that I’d cut up the previous day. They are a fruit that needs to be eaten or at least ‘dealt’ with pretty quickly as they soften and brown really quickly. So, I plugged into power for half hour and blended them up with yogourt and milk or cream, making myself some smoothies. They won’t be sweet so Bill might or might not like them.

Supervisor Clemson, he can oversee the workers from here
Egg salad with a green onion from my garden
Clemson and I periodically did a walk down to the work site to make sure things were going well and the boys were keeping their fluid levels up. At noon hour, Mike had to drive back to Mildmay, a 45-minute drive from here to get another charger for one of his nailers. The work was slowing down because one had died. He wouldn’t stop for lunch first so Gerry, Rob and Bill came up to our patio and had a beer and a sandwich or two. That is the very least we can do for the work they are doing.

Peach smoothie

My breakfast, egg, zucchini, sausage, tomatoes and cheese
They were back at it in less than an hour and George and Rose pulled out with their motor home. It was very nice to spend time with them for a few days. 


See you guys later! If not in Ontario, in Lake Havasu for sure!
I settled into the hammock with my book. Why do I feel so tired, I’m not doing anything? I knew my eyes were drooping when I heard Bill call my name, “Patritia! Mike is back”. That was my cue to take him his sandwich and drink. I returned to my station to stay out of the way. At 2:30 I took them down a cooler of ice cold water and saw what progress was being made. Awesome! One side wall was completed.

One wall boarded and battened

And the back window in place
The boys packed it up for the day at 3, the heat of the sun was draining them. They enjoyed a cool down period here with a beer before Gerry and Mike left for the acreage. One more day of a few morning hours should leave the shed in a state where Bill can finish it on his own. Should, maybe, perhaps, possibly. 😊 I know Bill is very happy that Mike was able to accommodate his shed-building plans and he tries not to be impatient.

Rob setting up his cooker

First batch of wings 
Up at ‘camp’, Rob, Pat and George are beginning the preparations for the Ridge Cookout. Rob had his outdoor propane cooker all set up and the oil in the pot heating for the wings and fries while George had his Weber ready to fry up some trout or bass (?) for Bill and I. What’s wrong with us that wings aren’t our thing? Anyway, we all like different things and chicken isn’t Bills. I love chicken but when given a choice of wings or fish, I prefer the fish.

Wings done and we kept them warm on our Weber

Now the fries go down

Since I wasn’t contributing anything towards this great supper, I offered up my Cherry Cheesecake that I’d made up last week for dessert. I even remembered to take it out of the freezer on time for it to be thawed! The homemade cherry sauce was quite good, me having never made it from fresh cherries before. The whole meal was a hit and we sat on the south side of the Suite in the shade enjoying even more comradery of good friends.

And supper was good
Main course


Cherry cheesecake for dessert
I slipped inside and did the dishes up while the others relaxed for a bit more. At 7:30 Bill and I changed into long pants, took our jackets, drinks and chairs over to the Acreage to join the small family gathering over there for a campfire. We caught my daughter, Bridgette, and her sweetie, Chris, still eating and Gayle, John, Wendy, Joanne, Ted, Donna and Gerry just finished.



Rob and Clemson played their tag and then Clem jumped on his buddies lap to make up

His water dish wasn't handy so his buddy Pat gave him water in her hand
He's not treated well at all around here!
We enjoyed the campfire which John got going easily with, of course, my fire starters, and the talk flowed easily. Mostly, Bill and I listened not having much to add to the conversation this evening. Mike joined us too around the warmth of the fire. 

Bridgette, Donna and Gerry at the fire
 We watched the ISS (International Space Station) zip across the sky from NNW to SE at 10:15 and by 11, we packed up our chairs and returned home to our own settlement.

John and Donna looked after the fire tonight

It was another great day, smack dab in the middle of the long civic weekend. I hope you are enjoying yours too.

Thank you for stopping by. I love it when you have time to leave a comment.

11 comments:

  1. Lovely long weekend to get some work done, or not...whatever the case may be. I so envy you your "Ridge". I have been encouraging our son to buy some property where we can camp out for the summer. Enjoy your little piece of paradise. We still have not decided on Florida or Arizona for this winter. Gas prices and dollar rates are not in our favour!

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    1. Hello Dee and Mike! It has been a great week and weekend. So nice to have all of our friends here for a bit.
      Thank you, we hope to see you at some point this winter. We agree about the prices but diesel for us is better down south and we have determined to not let the dollar rates interfere with our travels. :)

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  2. P.S. Our son and DIL are doing a house/pet sit in Hanover later this summer. Maybe we will take a day trip up and pop in for a quick glass of wine??

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    1. Absolutely! Do that! We'd love to see you. Keep us informed at ptooties@gmail.com when you are thinking so I can advise you of Bill's work schedule. :)

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  3. I'm always amazed by people who can build buildings. It's certainly coming along fast!! The food looks great too!! Always a nice spread at the Ridge!!

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    1. Thanks Nancy, me too. I am a sitter and watcher person when it comes to building. Not even a good supervisor!

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  4. Bill's workshop is coming together nicely. Can't wait to see you sitting out on the front porch! Love the roofing! Dinner looked really awesome and your cherry cheesecake had me drooling :)) Love fire time!

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    1. It is and he is getting excited, as you can imagine.
      The dinner was great and we enjoy a fire here too.

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  5. What a fun time we had, thanks for hosting.

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