Fall Weather Day Up Here, Getting Things Done, Birthday Dinner

Up On The Ridge

On Thursday, Sept. 26^th, Bill was up ahead of me by 10 minutes. He had to go into the Mat for the morning at least but I didn’t have to move. I got up and joined him for a tea. After he washed up and had a bowl of cereal, he left for Durham to meet Jamie. I finished my tea, checked the sky and went for a walk. Oh-oh, probably should have taken an umbrella the way the sky was looking. I had a rain/wind jacket on under my bright vest and a hoody under that. I’ll be fine.

There were some pretty interesting skies all day

When I reached the corner of Baptist Church Road, I could see huge blackness off to the north and then I heard thunder. “It’s not going to rain on me, not today”, I chanted and after I turned the corner, I could see the clearing coming from the west. Voila! That worked like a charm. Before I knew it, the blue sky was overhead. I didn’t see anything too exciting on my walk although every driver who met or passed me (with one exception) was considerate and moved way over. Nice.

As I'm walking, I'm focusing on these 2 blue patches

This one kept increasing in size which was hopeful

Off in the field, I had to zoom in to see more turkey vultures. My, they are huge! I really thought I was seeing deer. At Turbine Lane, I had reached the mile marker so turned back. 

Big fat turkey vultures

Only one pretty tree worth taking a picture of
It's the same one I've been watching since early September

And the sky was like this for most of my walk

Mitch aka Elvis has some interesting cars on his lot

I didn’t need another tea so sat myself down to see if I could finish my photo book today. I was having much better success with BookSmart so will use that from now on and delete/uninstall all signs of BookWright. Stupid thing. Around 10:30, I made myself a b.p coffee and had a sliced peach with cream.

BP coffee and fresh peaches and cream

That was yummy. I finished the book and now all I needed to do was order it and see how much and how long. Later today I would check that out. Outside, there were some pretty strange skies happening. Clear, dark clouds, thunder, lightning and rain and then it would start all over again. My sister would text me from Hanover to let me know what was coming. Funny thing though. She never did get any of the rain and each time the black cloud moved over me, it dropped buckets.

And the sky changed again off in the distance

But I still had sunshine

This went on for 2 hours and I debated each time whether I would have to plug back into power. I didn’t. Bill texted at 1 to let me know that he was on his way home from town. They could have worked longer but he has things here to do with only 4 days to do some of them in. 

If you look to the left of this tree and to the right
It was like night and day sky

He hadn’t eaten so when he arrived, I made him bacon and eggs and refried my quesadilla. It was a nice lunch. I don’t have to worry about supper tonight, 6 of us are going to Kettles for mine and Bill’s birthdays.

The country drive to Kettles is lovely during the daylight hours

I did get a couple of packages of frozen apples out of the freezer as I feel like baking something. Maybe a pie. After I got dishes out of the way, Bill sat down with our Sam’s Club and Coast to Coast information. Just a few questions that he’d like to ask them before we make too many plans for our winter travel. I sat across from him and wrote on my blog before hopping in the shower. It isn’t very warm outside, only going up to 61F today. Now that is definitely FALL weather!

The sky was nice as we approached the restaurant

Around 3 or so, I had my shower and then soon after, Bill had his. We had time before we had to leave. It was time to bake something with these apples so I made a double pie crust. That went well so I put together a very full apple pie and wrapped the crust edge with foil. By the time it was all ready for oven, I realized that I wouldn’t have time to bake the pie. Most especially not in a new oven where I had some things to learn, so I left the baking until we returned home.

Kettles, a really good family style eatery

It was around 5:15 when we left for Kettles and 5 minutes to 6 when we arrived. Donna, Gerry, Gayle and John were already there and seated at a table. Woops, the birthday couple were late! Not really, they were actually early. 😊 The place was busy, as most times when we go but the food is always good and worth the wait. Prices are reasonable too for a family style restaurant. I ordered a country ham meal with baked potato and cole slaw. Delicious!

I'd never ordered their country ham dinner before and it was wonderful

Cards were given out and we chattered through the whole meal. It was a nice dinner out with my siblings and b-i-l’s. Before we paid the bill, Gayle invited us all back to their place, which we passed on the way here, for a birthday drink together. We enjoyed each other’s company a little more and then we left for home around 8:30.

Gayle, Donna and the birthday girl

The birthday boy, Gerry and John

After turning off Highway #6, Bill drove the back roads, the same way we’d gone, but it is so different in the dark. He drove relatively slowly as we watched for eyes on the side of the roadway. We made it home safe and sound and scooted inside the Suite. It was chilly out at 46F so Bill turned the Blue Flame heater on. It would be a much cooler night than last night so a little heat to warm the sheets is a good thing.

Waiting for the finale

 Bill plugged us into power just so I could bake my pie This would be a good test for the new convection oven. It is pretty smart, if you choose ‘Fresh Pie’ on the glass front pad, it preheats the oven and then tells you when to place the pie in and selects the cooking time. Saves me having to think a lot but I found myself thinking ‘does this thing really know what it is doing? Ha ha. Half way through cooking, I removed the foil around the edge so it would cook the crust properly. In the meantime, we watched the recorded episode of The Voice and Still Standing.

A beautiful sunrise taking place on our drive to Gayles

By 10:45, the pie was done and smelled delicious. Now we could go to bed. First, we split the little pocket that I made with leftover dough.  I remember Mom using the dough up after she made pies and she filled it with either brown sugar or jam. I fell off the wagon and buttered it, spread brown sugar and crushed walnuts on it before folding it and baking it. That was tasty!

The treat from leftover pie dough was yummy

This was a great day and I got my 65^th birthday celebration in style with my sisters, their hubbys and my sweetie. What more could I ask for? I hope you’ve had a good day too.

The pie looks apple-packed and awesome!
Good night!

Thank you for stopping in for a visit. Your comments always give me a smile.