Looking After the Fort, Winds Bring Rain, Peaceful Day, Baking and Clothing Decisions

On Wednesday, Sept. 26^th, Bill’s alarm woke me but at 5 am it is easy for me to go back to sleep. Next thing I knew, he was crawling across the bed to kiss me goodbye. He was on his way to London for one of his last few working days for this year. I rolled over and went back to sleep until a few minutes before 7 when I got up, checked to see if it was raining and headed out the door in just a lightweight long-sleeved tee shirt and my vest.

It seemed darker than it should have been because of the clouds

It was quite mild and quite windy. The clouds were giving me some doubts as to how far I would get this morning, thinking I’d only go to the corner again. I didn’t have a hoody on and didn’t want to get caught in a downpour. 

Wasn't sure how far to go

As I approached the corner, I checked my phone for the first chance of rain and it indicated 7 am. Hmm. Then I looked up and saw a couple who walk quite a bit (usually later in the day) pass the corner in the direction I was going. I know where they live now so figured, they might know more than me about the weather so I followed them.

Can you see the couple up ahead of me?

I kept my distance, we were all moving about the same pace so the 100 feet between us was comfortable. I still watched the clouds and looked for a shelter along the fence line just in case. Yup, I’d dodge down in the ditch to stand under a tree if I had to. I managed to get all the way to Turbine Drive and the couple carried on up over the hill. I’m sure they would walk all the way to #4 highway. Some day I’m going to do that, come hook or crook, but not today.

Got to Turbine Drive and turned around for home

The darkest clouds had blown off to the southeast and by the time I’d returned home, I noticed they were even darker off to the northwest coming my way. My sister, Donna, did the same thing this morning in Hanover. Dodged clouds. We walk ‘together’ most mornings which is very nice, I think, and quite encouraging for both of us. I believe even my sister, Audrey, just started ‘joining’ us in her area of Terrasse-Vaudreuil, Quebec.

My petunias are mostly done so I've pulled them out

I made my tea and sat and read our friend’s blog posts.  The sky opened up around 8 and it rained steady for about 10 minutes before dwindling off. Once I was all caught up reading, Bill called me to say he arrived, right on time after a good drive. By 9:30 the temperature here had dropped from 64F at 7 to 55F. It is a cozy 70F inside the Suite so I’ll likely spend most of my day indoors.

These are hanging on much better

Since we are plugged into power anyway, I will get the vacuum out and do a thorough ‘sweep’. Not my favourite chore, ever, even when we had the house. The central vac is nice but still not easy to maneuver in my opinion. I’m also thinking I will make more of the peanut butter cookies we liked. Clemson is looking quite content curled up on my afghan on the couch. I think his Dad’s t-shirt from yesterday is in there too.

All cuddled on the couch this morning

Where to begin? Well, first off, I ran through my written commentary on our winter travels and added a few more pictures. I think I’m ready to begin going into Blurb.com to start my book. The library in town offers free Wi-fi so when I’m ready to get at it, I’ll venture in there. Maybe tomorrow after my visit with Mom. So, I made up two batches of cookies, giving me 3 dozen cookies.

2 dozen cookies cooling while the rest bake

Today, I used the all-natural peanut butter that we got from Marilynne after Dad passed. She never eats it and had 2 unopened jars of it. Bill would never try it, loving his Kraft smooth regular and so I use it for baking. 

It has the oil on top, I think Shirley wrote about one brand she had. I opened the jar quite a while ago and used my immersion blender to blend it and, in the fridge, it has remained that way. Yay! I had one jar years ago that kept resettling with the oil on top.

Breakfast similar to a poached egg on toast
it was delicious!

While the cookies were baking, a cookie sheet at a time, I got the vacuum out. All the scatter mats we have laid out for Clemson get picked up so he remains in one position, on the couch, while the job gets done. The vacuum and I actually got along just fine today. It is an awkward position for my lower back and I believe that is my biggest grief about it. I used to like my upright that we had years ago except for doing our stairs in the house.

Unsettled sky all day long with brief patches of sun

Still baking, I then dusted the lower extremities of the Suite and then removed the last batch of cookies and washed the dishes up. Clemson and I took a walk down the lane to collect the mail, knowing that at the very least, the local flyers would be there to collect. Clemson ran way ahead of me with more energy again than he has shown for a couple of weeks or more. On the way back, he still jogged along ahead of me and beat me back to the mat.

He won the race today

Down and back

This has been a crazy day for weather and even now at 6:15, it is wrestling between blue skies, dark and then white clouds. Soon enough the sun will go down but I’m not sure what I’ll see of that performance. It will depend on what that black cloud to the west does. It is encouraging to hear Julie, on CTV News London, say they have lovely clear blue skies.

When Willie Nelson's Always on my Mind came on the radio today

Clemson and I shared a dance

I chatted with Bill at the end of his day around 5:30 and we both said goodbye to go off and fix our own suppers. I had some leftover hot roast beef sandwich with gravy so warmed that up, and sliced a tomato on the side. It hit the spot and was quick and easy. I then had a serving of warmed rhubarb crisp before getting the dishes out of the way. I’d sent some with Bill too, so he’s doing the same thing tonight.

Someone knew my roast beef (wrapped in tinfoil) was on the counter

I have a program on PVR to watch and the rest of the evening, I will be reading the next Jack Reacher story. I finished Worth Dying For yesterday afternoon so moved on to another one. Bill is reading Void Moon by Michael Connelly and when he is finished that, I will loan him my Kobo to catch up on these Lee Child stories. It is persnickety sometimes so a lesson on how to ‘treat’ Mr. Kobo will preface that.

It has been a good day, with some exercise, some cleaning indoors, some baking and I have even chosen the 3 outfits I’ll need for working the Toronto RV show next month. I need to find comfortable clothes and shoes for warm or cool temperatures since we never know what the complex will be like until we get there. I hope you’ve had a good day too.

This will work for a sunset picture
Good night from The Ridge

Thank you for reading today. Your comments are always appreciated.