The Ridge
On
Friday, May 22nd, I was up out of bed first and that doesn’t happen
often. I opened blinds and then got stuff out for our morning drinks. It was a lovely
14C/57F outside so I slipped on my Arizona hoody and trotted on down the lane.
Bill slipped into the shower, I’m sure anxious to get the film of OFF off. Teehee. It
was a beautiful morning, clear blue sky and gorgeous sunshine.
Because I don't have a lot of pictures today, I thought I'd share these that came up on my phone from 4 years ago. So, our first year up here. Notice how small the spruce trees are |
I can't believe the change |
I wasn’t
prepared for the black flies though as I never had any on yesterday’s walk. They
weren’t terrible but bad enough that I kept my mouth closed while walking as
much as possible. I know they are drawn to the carbon dioxide we exhale when breathing. Good grief! I refuse to stop doing that! I was covered from head to foot with the exception of my
head and hands so hopefully they didn’t get me.
A different angle of the garden |
this was another picture from 4 years ago Donna and I realized we had the exact same top on I thought it was fitting for today since she was on my mind a lot |
Back
home, Bill was sitting with his coffee so I joined him at the table. He covered
up, head to toe, with protection and went out to cut the back field. I’m sure
that disturbed their grass sitting and explains why his hands were bitten. He forgot
to put gloves on until part way through the cut. Inside, I leisurely had my tea and read friend’s comments and blogs.
A view out the clean window at the back |
I told
you about the window cleaning yesterday and I’m happy to report that through the
sun, the windows are much better for my efforts. I got out the Windex and
cleaned the insides and then the bedroom and bathroom mirrors. Aaah, much
better! Sitting at the table, it is awesome to see and be able to take pictures
without any additional streaks from dirty views.
A view out the side |
I have
the fun job in the mornings deciding what to have for supper as I need to get
meat out of the freezer. Bill is helpful sometimes with this but not always. I was torn but found chicken thighs and pork chops and
got a pack of each out to thaw. Bill likes the chops, I like the thighs so I
will cook half of each pack tonight and then on Sunday night, do it again. We
have leftover lasagna for Saturday night to share with a salad and rolls.
Our peony bush up on the berm is happy |
That
decided, I went out to water the repotted plants. I needed the hat with netting
while at the water pump, the bf’s were thick around me. Then I rushed into the
Bunky closing the door behind me. I swept it out and sprayed well with Raid to
kill the critters that followed me in. I opened the 2 windows and liberally
sprayed the screens. I may as well be as close to the outdoors as possible and the fresh air coming in was wonderful. I got my rocks and paints out before vacating it for 15 minutes.
One of my healthy evening primrose |
When I
returned, it was a fresh air room with no bugs that greeted me. 😊 Bill was puttering around and eventually ended up in his bug-free
environment inside the Hangar. At noon I made our lunch of b & e and after
dishes we were back at it. I remembered to put the awnings out this morning, ‘before’
the sun got around to the north side of the Suite. Well, the northwest. This
will help keep the interior a moderate temperature.
I made the birds happy today by filling the 2 feeders up here and putting out orange pieces for the orioles |
After
dishes, we sat and made a phone call to our travel friends in Tavistock. We
want to keep in touch and weren’t surprised to hear they were enjoying a couple
of days at their cottage. We were surprised to hear that they were under
overcast skies with the possible chance of rain. It was nice to catch up and to
hear that they are doing well. Before saying goodbye, Jo-Anne promised to give
Higgins a hug for me. He's such a sweet cuddle.
Time to
head back out. Wait! It is only 1 o’clock and the mail lady just drove by. Good
grief, her schedule is sure willy-nilly these days. I’ll cover up and walk to
the mailbox to see if she left anything before settling back in with my
painting. I might have forgot to tell you that my Purolator package ‘did’
arrive yesterday. It was shoved in the mailbox sometime in the afternoon and I
didn’t see it until I checked on our out-going mail this morning. Glad I did or
the mail lady wouldn’t have seen the cards way at the back.
My t-shirt and 2 buffs plus stickers |
So, this
afternoon went from good to bad. When I was down retrieving the mail at 1:30, I
was juggling mail, my phone, sunglasses and the stupid bug hat and dropped my
little Canon camera. Oh no! Oh yes. ☹ Of course, I was trying to take a picture when it fell so the lens was out. The lens won’t close and the camera won’t turn on. I’m just sick about
it. It is like my right arm and I haven’t had it that long. I walked back all
teary-eyed trying it over and over, shaking it in case sand got in it but it
just won’t work.
One last memory picture from May 2016 I think this was taken at Rock Glen, our home park in Arkona |
Putting
that behind me and knowing we bought a warranty for it (which may or may not benefit) I moved on to more rock
painting. I didn’t get any completed so no picture. Speaking of pictures, what
I took up until 2 pm is on the SD card in the camera, so you get what I took on
my phone and my big Canon since then. I will just avoid taking ‘sky’ photos or we’ll all be
seeing spots. When Bill came in, I sadly told him what I did and he felt my
pain. His magic fingers couldn’t do any more than mine did.
Bill and I watched NCIS, naturally, and this time the shots taken in New Orleans had more meaning We've been up there! |
At 5:30,
I started Madame IP and sautéed chicken thighs and Bill’s chop. They
took 10 minutes of cooking and 10 minutes release time. It was during the
release that we remembered we were unplugged from power. The batteries were
still an impressive 12.7. On the side we had Caesar salad. Both the chicken and
the pork were done perfectly. I need to remember those times, supper was delicious! We finished the last little bit of ice cream for dessert.
We've seen this view |
And there are the coach rides that we walked by |
After
dishes, I worked on my post and then took a short walk out to close up the
Bunky. I could leave the windows open but we don’t like leaving the outside
door open. We watched some tv while I finished posting. We'd heard from Gerry
around 4:30 and then I texted Donna when she was in her room. Things went well
so I can relax now (sometimes you just never know, you know?) and she can too. Hopefully, she'll sleep, the best cure-all.
This looks like dark clouds but they really weren't |
This was
a great day. I do wish we could have actually been outside more instead of in
refuge in our sheds. Soon we hope. The temperature reads 25C/77F. I do believe
we lost spring somewhere and jumped right into summer. I hope you enjoyed your
day and are all still remaining healthy.
Supper was wonderful! good night all! |
Thank you
for stopping in. Your comments are always appreciated.
Mother Nature sure has been fickle this season. We haven't had any rain here East of Algonquin in quite awhile. Forest fire season has started in earnest.
ReplyDeleteIt seems we've gone from one extreme to the next this season for sure.
DeleteI was looking at pictures and 14 days ago we had snow!
I'm glad your sister is doing well. It is fun when you are watching a show and see place you have been.
ReplyDeleteWe've seen the show a few times without it having any meaning. It was fun yesterday!
DeleteThank you for the sentiments towards Donna. :)
DeleteGlad to read your sister is doing well.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the weather there has definitely made a turn for the better. Never fun when those little black flies are out. Truly hoping they are gone by the time we get back north. Nice pictures.Take care.
Thank you, I was relieved once I heard Donna was in her room.
DeleteI hope the black flies are gone too. They were thick yesterday.
Nice you chatted with JoAnne and Bob (Higgins too) they are really nice people! Nice to hear Donna is doing well. Hopefully she's up and about soon! I love seeing places on tv that we've been before too! Your black flies sound horrible! Hopefully they'll be gone soon! Dinner did look yummy! Too bad about the camera, hopefully the warranty covers it!
ReplyDeleteThank you Shirley. You always manage to touch on everything. I can't remember what I've read half the time although I enjoy the read!
DeleteI hope they can fix my camera under warranty too.
What a relief Donna is doing well. Glad to hear it. Those black flies, are they gnats or big like flies. I hate those no-seeums around here. You never see them, but you feel their bites itch for days. Sorry to hear about your little camera. That's so frustrating. Hopefully the warranty works!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Nancy. The black flies are like baby house flies. Their bites don't itch until the next day and then if you touch them, they are worse.
DeleteFingers crossed for my camera.
Glad Donna's procedure went well, and I wish her a speedy recovery.
ReplyDeleteDarn those black flies - it must make it pretty darn uncomfortable to be outdoors. Thank goodness for the bunky and Hanger.
Thank you Maebeme. Hoping the flies are gone soon.
DeleteSo much in this post.. first, I'm very glad things went well for your sister.
ReplyDeleteBlack flies...I hope never to experience them from all I've heard and read about them? Is there a season for them, will they move away at some point?
Good idea spraying the screens to keep them away.
Im so sorry about your camera. I do hope you might have some coverage with your warranty.
I think we mumight have been watching the same show... did they show Cafe de Monde?
I tend to ramble. :)
DeleteI hope you never experience black flies either! Usually mid May for a couple of weeks here in our area.
Yes, we were watching the same show! Cafe de Monde and she left some beignets on her plate!!