A Birthday? Yes! Roofing, Gardening, Relaxing with a Book and a Terrific Supper

Well, it seems to be standard for me but it was again 10 to 7 when I got up on Sunday, Sept. 23^rd. The ring of that reminds me that it is a special day for me. I will never, ever grumble about a birthday. The number that indicates our age is not a big deal, it is just a number, but without a birthday, where does that leave us? Not here, that’s where. So, I welcome them and continue to rejoice that my age today is not how I envisioned it when my parents were the same age. I don’t feel 64.

Heck ya! Happy Birthday to me!

Bill was first to wish me a Happy Birthday and I bundled up against the chilly 39F/4C and went off on my walk. Today, I walked across Baptist Church Road and continued on North Line for a change. 

A change of scenery, a change of pace and a change of direction. I didn’t think there would be any traffic at 7 am on a Sunday. I was wrong. I met 2 early risers in their vehicles and another one passed me. Everyone was very considerate on the gravel road and drove slowly.

I snapped this before the duck (in the middle) knew I was there
Usually, they fly off immediately

When I returned, I was warmed up quite thoroughly again and stripped the layers off as I stepped in the door. We’d had the Blue Flame heater on overnight, turned low so the Suite was a moderate 60F. 

I'm not sure if this was a result of the last wind storm we had
but this camouflaged car shelter got the worst of it

After making my tea, I had 5 birthday cards to open that had either arrived by snail mail (post office) or hand delivered and I’d kept them for today. Bill and I don’t always buy each other cards, it just doesn’t make sense when we can say Happy Birthday with a kiss. Much preferred and no $ spent!

Bill went out after his coffee was finished and started puttering around. His projects today consisted of getting up on the Suite roof to check the solar panels. We were missing one or two screws up there. He wanted to top up the air in the trailer tires, fixing the flag pole, cleaning the bed of Black Beauty and washing the old generator for selling. I had things on my own list too but before I got out the door, Bill’s sister, Carol and Brian, phoned to wish me a Happy day.

What a beautiful start to my day

Through our conversation, Carol told me that they had 2C overnight and woke to frost. Eeek! They live southwest of us just outside of Stratford, only an hour away. I’m glad it didn’t get that cold here because obviously a couple of degrees makes a difference to the damage to a garden. I’m not even in that frame of mind yet, to cover my plants. I will pay more attention going forward and keep my sheets handy.

My garden is looking fine

My projects were related to the garden as I went up with the hoe to weed between the vegetables. I barely got to the top of the berm when at a few minutes before 10 my phone rang and my daughter sang Happy Birthday to me. Too cute! We had a lovely long conversation, something we don’t do often enough. It was a nice catch-up chat and after “I love you’s” back and forth we said goodbye. Now time to get to work although I thought how nice to get phone calls rather than texts or FB messages.

this is the corner I found for the rhubarb patch

I got halfway through the garden and at 10:30 Bill and I discussed breakfast across the lot. Me on the hill and him down by the Suite. I was hungry too so I came inside, made us each a coffee and started frying bacon and eggs. I had some cold meat that needed to be eaten up too, so I tossed that in the pan. It was a nice addition and cleaned up another couple of containers. Bill started the dishes and sent me off to the garden again saying he’d clean them up. Another birthday gift!

Hard at it

The angle using a hoe is not the most comfortable so a lot of time was spend on my knees, just to get the job done and I felt great when I finished once more re-staking some of those heavily laden tomato plants. I pulled one carrot plant just to see if they were even producing and in the picture you can see what I got. Just a tiny little guy but a couple of nice onion bulbs (tasting like green onions) were unearthed as I dug.

Fingers crossed that they take hold in the spring

I have been trying to decide where to transplant some rhubarb crowns. Two that Donna gave me and 4 or 5 that I’d planted up on the hill 2 years ago. They weren’t growing very well up there so I came up with another couple of locations. Hopefully one of them will take root and in a couple of years produce for me. This was working with a garden spade and surprisingly it was much easier on the back. I guess I stand straighter. I was digging up rocks and actually enjoyed the work.

and the second location

Getting into the dirt to pull the weeds and stones out felt good with the sun on my back. It wasn’t a hot hot day, only getting up to about 20C/68F, but it was the perfect day to work outside, or to sit outside with a book, which I found out when my work was done. 

Clemson takes walks all by himself
down one side of the corral and up the other side

Bill joined me later and we had a cold drink together around 2:30 and he worked on the flag pole that is continually giving him grief. Jack Reacher was keeping me enthralled but we both enjoyed the afternoon together.

I laid these 3 veggies on the counter when I came in and immediately
noticed the face they created
Minds out of the gutter now, laugh at it for what it is :)

At 5 we came inside, Bill fed Clemson and I started my post. Unusual for me not to have written something by then. I had put a beef roast with carrots and onions in the crock pot this morning around 9 and with our windows open, boy did it ever smell great! 

Bill lit the firepit and cleaned up some wood pieces

At 5:30, I removed the roast from the pot and began making gravy with the carrots, onion and liquid. We had no potatoes per say but I did have some hash browns in the freezer so I fried up enough for 3 servings. Always thinking of leftovers so Bill has a supper meal for working this week.

Bill relaxes in the shade

And I relaxed in the sun with my book

Supper was wonderful and we had a glass of wine for dessert. Perfect birthday supper and the crock pot did most of the work. We cleaned up dishes right away and settled into the rest of the evening. 

We watched American Pickers and although they were reruns, we hadn’t seen them before. It reminded us that they not only have a store in St. Claire, Iowa, but they also have a store in Nashville, Tn about 1 ½ miles from where we’ll be camped for a couple of nights. Yes!

Relax and enjoy the day
We certainly did!

I couldn’t have had a better day, with no obligations to anyone but Bill, Clemson and myself. Thank you for popping in to see what we got into today. If you’d like to leave a comment, that would be very nice.