A New Day, A New Venture, New Neighbours

The Ridge

Sunday, June 28^th once more (3 days in a row!) we had no real need to get up early. No need for an alarm and it was nice. So, this is retirement! Ha ha, I know, we’ve been ‘retired’ for 4 years and what do we do but go find outside work. Well, yes, this is true and we teased Donna and Gerry for doing that after they retired. Now, we’re doing the same thing. Anyway, it is what it is and if $$ wasn’t such a big deal right now, we wouldn’t be doing it.

The clouds were interesting last night after I posted my blog

I wanted to go for my walk this morning but with the heavy white fog all over the land, that wasn’t to be the case. Bill came downstairs for his coffee and I got into a nice hot shower. It was around 9 when the fog lifted yet still no sun yet to speak of. 

A very foggy morning

I could feel the heat of the day arriving and our thermometer was reading 16C/61F when I headed out the door and down the road. I wore my rain slicker as the air felt very damp.

Took a while for it to burn off and then there was so much dew
Bill had to wait to cut the lawn

As I passed Mitch’s (Elvis) house, I heard him call out. “You need to walk faster!” Hah! My pace was pretty good already so I retorted that it was too hot and this was as fast as I get. 

And then it started to burn away

I was rewarded this morning for walking this way and at this particular time. There were no deer in the field (a way over there) but up ahead on the crest of the hill just past Turbine Lane, there he was. He/She was standing perfectly still, looking right at me. So, I stopped.

Can you see him? He's just looking at me here
I can't include the video, I have too many pictures

With only my phone, I snapped a still picture and knowing it would soon cross the road, hit the Video button and recorded the next moment. Aah, so pretty! As I approached that area, I searched aimlessly, with my eyes only, down into the forest of trees. I knew it would have to be a pretty strong poker hand of luck to see him and I didn’t have it. But, I was still thrilled to have seen it cross safely. Within a minute, a vehicle came my way where he’d been. Maybe that is what spooked him.

I love when the turbines are hidden in the sky

It's like an awakening for them too

After hitting my mile marker on my Fitbit, I turned back and headed for home. Feeling quite happy. No achy muscles or joints this morning and it felt great to stretch my legs. There is a tree down from a previous storm, I think I wrote about it a few weeks ago. It is still there, laying across a portion of the crop. I wanted to get a sideview photo of it so cut into the field at the farmer’s entrance.

The tree is definitely dead now!
Mitch said he was going over to cut it up

Again, the voice from Mitch’s place. “Why are you cutting through the field?” He was just trying to get my attention. When I turned around Mitch was waving me back to his place. I like Mitch, he chats a lot sometimes and his language always consists of a few expletives but not every other word so I wandered back. We chatted for about 20 minutes and I knew Bill was busy cutting lawn so wouldn’t miss me. In the course of our conversation, I was offered a job. No kidding!

Bill was cutting the front field when I walked by
Later he put his hat on (!) and took his shirt off to cut
the back field and our area

Back and forth about what it would entail and how much I expected to be paid etc. etc. I left there with an extra skip in my step. So close to home, simple meaningful jobs to help him with deadheading his many petunias, cleaning out his 2 ‘taxi’ service vehicles and maybe even taping for the paint jobs after his car repairs. All things that he’ll guide me on (other than the flowers of course) but as many hours as I’d like and at a  good fee. Yay!

The geese weren't too bothered by him in 'their' playground
until I walked in and then they moved

It isn’t as if I was looking for more work but helping him helps us and I can walk to work. I’ve yet to see if Jamie needs me after Tuesday so this is a nice backup. I’ll go and chat with Mitch again on Thursday or Friday to get started. Things happen for a reason, don’t they? If it doesn’t pan out, or after doing it for a bit if I don’t think it’s for me, I’ll tell him and move on but I'm feeling positive about it.

Inside, this morning I made some of our Keto custard
I wanted to try it in my silicone muffin cups to see
if they would come out when turned upside down

It was tricky setting them up in Madame IP
but they cooked well
Unfortunately, they still don't come out of the cups
So much for that idea but they still taste good!

Back home, I was happy to share my news with Bill and he was fully supportive. The sun had pushed its way through the clouds and was giving us a gorgeous Sunday. Bill had finished cutting most of the grass when I called him in for lunch at noon. Bacon and eggs for him and a plate of my fatty stuff for me. It was very filling and I offered to clean up dishes while he went out to finish the cutting. When I came out to the patio to read, he suggested we walk over to meet the new neighbours.

Sitting at the table, i had pretty little visitor

She was curious about my bookmark

A young couple with 5 children between the ages of 20 (she lives elsewhere) and 4 and 2 beautiful Golden Doodles. There was definitely one cat at least still inside. They were a pleasure to meet. The Dad was attempting to cut down a tree in a very awkward spot at the back of the house so Bill offered his chain saw. After maybe 15 minutes, we said goodbye and Bill went back over. Long story short, after the saw wouldn’t start, once it did back home he slipped back over and cut it down while they were in town.

Who knew butterflies could read?

I’m glad we did that, it is nice to know and feel comfortable with the people who live around you. With that done, Bill levelled the ground under our bird bath (finally, we’ve talked about it a few times) and then he went to the Hangar.

I wanted to get our Bocce Ball set out in case
we felt ambitious on Canada Day

 I filled the small bird feeder and the finch feeder and hope the birds can make it last. I don’t have much wild seed left and want to fill them on Wednesday before company comes. It is always fun to watch the variety of birds who frequent them.

This isn't the right area to play, not long enough, but I was testing the balls
and my right arm :)

The sun is hot, it is a summery 25C/77F but lovely in the shade with the breezes. Nice to be up on the Ridge today! I sat with my book, part sun, part shade. I heard, then saw, our neighbours return to find the tree cut down and wasn’t surprised at all when a few minutes later, Dad,  rode over on their Cub Cadet with son #1 and son #2  in the wagon on the back. We knew they were coming just to say thank you. That was nice too.

Dad and his sons on their way home

I texted Donna and Gerry around 4 and told them they were late for Happy Hour. They popped over for an afternoon visit around 4:30 and stayed until 6:30 before supper.  It has been a while since they’ve come over to just sit and visit and it was really nice. After they said goodbye, Bill lit the Weber and grilled our Italian sausage. Bill will try his split in a hot dog bun (since that is all I have) and I will have mine on the plate with our leftover veggies.

While supper cooked, we had another visitor

She was up here when Donna and I were sitting together too
and came back
I think she knew that I didn't get a picture the first time

It tasted great and was filling. The rest of the night was just relaxing. Bill decided not to make his lunch for tomorrow until morning so we enjoyed a quiet evening. 

A reader asked me why the lilac flower was called
Google says it is a 'tufted Vetch'
It's quite pretty

We are in for some great weather over the coming week and that will be nice. Lawns are trimmed and cut so other than some grocery shopping this week, it will be business as usual. This was a wonderful day with a few new ventures.

Simple supper but a tasty one
We do long for a true farmer's sausage some day
Hope you had a good day!
Good night!

Now, a good friend sent me an email with many senior quotes
I decided to try and remember to share one each day
Some are crack up belly roll laughs

Thank you for taking the time to see what we’re up to!