Wednesday, September 26, 2018

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


On Wednesday, Sept. 26th, 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.

10 comments:

  1. Nice to get some inside things done. On and cooler day, SAt lowest we did have some warm sunshine for a while and enjoyed it. Soon you be heading south again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I enjoyed the day, it was a warm start up and we know what's coming and why we're going. :)

      Delete
  2. When we bought Bentley I was so excited about the central vac. I was so disappointed. It hurt my back to use it so Dean started doing it. The vacuum did not have a roller on the head so it sucked to the carpet so tight you could hardly move it. Soon after I bought a new vacuum that I really like... well as much as anyone can like a vacuum. Lol! Does yours do that?
    I've often thought about buying an immersion blender. Do you use it for making cookies and such as well as for soups, your pnut butter, etc. I don't know much about them.
    Loved you and Clemson dancing together. I used to love doing that with my kids and grandkids... back when I could carry them.
    I think working an RV show would be fun. I remember you writing about that last year. We enjoy going to the shows to see changes in the new models but we've yet to find a floorplan we like better than Bentley. It's still fun to look though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you push and it tends to get jammed up sometimes. Exactly like that!
      My immersion blender was a cheapie that I got at a second hand store to try it and I don't use it often but yes it works when I am blending liquids mostly.
      Clemson and I dance together a lot. He just hugs right close to me and goes with my whims. :)
      We do enjoy the rv show. It does good things in boosting one's confidence too. I used to never be able to just talk to anybody but it is so easy at one of those things. Plus being older and not caring what others think of me, helps too! :) Bill sees me always striking up conversations with strangers. LOL

      Delete
  3. Love the pics of you and Clemson dancing:) I'll be making your cookies later today, once we hopefully get our electrical problems fixed here..(story for the next blog) :( It's hard to believe that you say you couldn't talk to anyone..haha. but yes as we get older we're not out to impress anyone. I mix the Adam's pea nut butter too and keep it in frig so it doesn't separate, but it just didn't work last time. Hopefully today and i'll use the fresh ground from Winco. Gosh hard to believe it's RV Show time again, how these years fly! Looks like a great day there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, I love cuddling Clemson.
      good luck with the cookies. I hope you like them!
      Yes, I used to be quite shy, believe it or not!!
      RV show does mean fall (or spring around here) we are looking forward to it.

      Delete
  4. That's cute dancing with Clemson.
    I wish that I could dance with Freddy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, a whole different ball game picking Clemson up than it would be with Freddy! :) That picture would be worth a lot!! :)

      Delete