Owen Sound, Graceland 2, The Ridge and Losing Track of Days

The Ridge

On Friday, July 31^st I got up while Bill was in the shower around 6:30 and headed out for a nice walk. I had almost 2 hours before I had to drive to Owen Sound to pick up the truck part that Mitch needs. It was a lovely walk with low ground fog only in certain areas. I enjoy the early walks much better than mid-afternoon when the traffic is heavier.

The golden field of wheat in the foreground and the Pricevill sand dunes
in the background

People coming from work are not as considerate as the early morning commuters. Some slow right down and move over. Others, fewer of these, just keep on their lane and barrel on through. Rude! I know they see me. I always step off into the grass ditch if I see that they aren’t moving over. As I was heading back to North Line, I noticed that the fog was increasing instead of burning off. Where was that sun? The fog on our road was really thick, at first I could only hear Bill coming in Black Beauty.

Wait a minute! That's not sand, it's gravel!
Deceiving from a distance.

Bill said he got lucky yesterday on his way to work and saw a deer
laying here in the wheat field
Looks to me like there were more than one there last night
I wish I'd seen them

He reminded me that I should be wearing my safety vest and he is absolutely right. Especially on these early semi-foggy mornings. Note to self. 

Mitch's front flowers are doing great
No thanks to me, they always look this good

I heard Bill before I saw him but the fog had increased considerably
instead of dissipating

Have a good day, dear!
Gosh, the time and date is really off and I reset it

I had my tea back home and then at 8:30 drove the back roads to Highway 6. I found the directions that I got from Mitch and then clarificed by Bill to be easy to follow. I was able to get onto Hwy 21 in good time and into Peninsula Ford. Picking up the small part was quick and I used the washroom before leaving.

Sssh, Queen Anne is still sleeping
Isn't this awesome? How her flowers are tucked up so tightly?

Well, good morning beautiful!

Bill had asked if I would go a block and a half further to Staples to pick up an external dvd/drive for his laptop. It seems a lot of newer ones aren’t equipped with one. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open for another half hour so I called Mitch and told him I’d be delayed. No point in driving back another day to pick one up. When I got to Mitch’s I told him to deduct the 30 minutes from my time since he was paying me from the time I left home.

And once more I remembered to look at my Moonflower

They are so pretty, too bad they don't last longer

I helped him block tape and cover the tonneau cover and box of the F150 pickup that came in yesterday afternoon, or was it Wednesday? I’m losing track of the days, obviously, and proof of that follows later in my post. After 3.5 hours of work for Mitch, I left at 12:30 and came home for a bp coffee and a lunch plate. I was so close to finishing my photo book that I totally neglected working on my blog and did that instead. Well, I did get the write-up done on yesterday's post but that was all.

It was easy to find Peninsula Ford and easy to pick up the part he needed

As I was eating the last morsel of a fat bomb, Bill drove in. Yay! He’s done early and we are officially on holidays. He ate his packed lunch and had a brief doze before going out to tackle the grass cutting. He’s just happy to have the mower back as we have company coming this weekend. It needs to be tidied up around here before they arrive. Once my book was done and ready to be published, I sent it off to BookSmart.

My first clue that it wasn't open yet was the empty lot
Darn!

Lucky for me, I had a Promo Code that gave me 35% off if I published today. That saved me 25$ so my book was an incredibly good price. 😊 Bill stopped at one point for a cold drink and I’d been out pulling weeds from the gardens and watering the flower pots and vegetables. It sure was warm when you were working out there. I put the furniture and hammock back on the grass area once he finished cutting and that had me huffing and puffing!

The bullet proof coffee tastes better in my own mug
than the one that comes with the Bullit

A different lunch but still healthy
Dr. Drew says to eat fat bombs with my meal to increase the fat and fill me up
It worked!

He was still cutting grass when at 6 I started supper. I hadn’t planned anything. Some days I just don’t know what to have, so cooked some wieners and corn on the cob. There was a potato left from the other night so I added butter and warmed it up for Bill. I want to make sure he has enough to eat. We had a custard each for dessert and that seems to have done the trick. Our meal wouldn’t make it into any ‘good food recipe book’ but we were happy and filled without too many carbs.

Gayle asked us sisters last week if our dahlias had come up
I knew that I had this one (out of 6) beside the Bunky

but today, found that I had a second one along the fence
That was good. The rest of the bulbs must be duds.

After cleaning up the few dishes, Bill reminded me that I wasn’t only off work for 1 week, but two. “What?” I had lost track as I said above of the days and didn’t realize that on Tuesday the 11^th my LadyFest begins. Oh crap! That means I’ll only be working for Mitch on the Monday and then off again. I felt really bad as he has two vehicles in that he needs to work on. I’ll have to stop tomorrow on my way home from the Mat and let him know.

Bill is happy when he cuts the grass

Even though it doesn't look it
I'd be worried if he drove around grinning now wouldn't I?

I might need to duck my head when I tell him! Not much I can do about it but I do feel terrible leaving him high and dry for 2 weeks. With my book done and yesterday’s blog finally posted, I started this one for today. I got the new finch feeder filled today and put out another orange for the orioles or ants and flies. Whatever. I’ve only seen one hummingbird since I filled their new feeder but hope they come back and drink it up.

We've trimmed the lane but it is interesting how quickly it fills in
Looks like we're driving into a forest
Have a good night!

This was a good day here on the Ridge. Thank you for stopping by.

Gearing Up for the Weekend, Getting the Cub Cadet Home

The Ridge

On Thursday, July 30^th I woke prepared for a busy morning. I left the house with my tea before 7 for Durham and had a good experience cleaning. No visitors and no customers. I don't mind the latter. Jamie had the glass replaced in the front door so that was nice. It wasn’t too dirty in the Mat, making up for the mess on Tuesday, perhaps. I was out of there at 8 and headed home.

I didn't walk in the morning so later in the day, I took advantage of the breeze
and walked to Turbine Lane
The soybeans in the fields are really growing
soon harvest time!

We needed a few grocery items but I had already planned to go back in to town after lunch. I sat for a few minutes, reading online to see what our friends were up to. Within 45 minutes, I was ready to go to Graceland 2 so showed up at 9. Mitch asked me to clean up the petunias, not just deadheading, but snipping off the dead branches and leaves. Not a job I enjoyed and I whined a lot to him.

I remembered to fill the bird bath although it is more  of a drink station for them

After about an hour, I continued to whine and he offered me some cheese to go along with it. LOL It just seemed that the plants weren’t looking any better. Thankfully, he got the hint and set me up removing the glue that was under the decals on the old truck instead. With the paint thinner, it was easy and I didn’t mind that job at all.

When I was done work and running around, I poured myself
the last grapefruit water drink in the fridge
I'm not terribly fond of it but it was refreshing and cold

Then I worked at cutting up rags for using when we’re sanding and the other jobs. I usually have one in my pocket when I’m working. That was easy and I enjoyed that too. At 12 noon, after 3 hours, he told me he would not ask me to work on the flowers for longer than 30 minutes next time, other than to deadhead which I also don’t mind. Before I left, he paid me for some more hours and then asked me to start my day tomorrow by driving to Owen Sound to pick up a part he needs. Easy!

Back at home, I made a coffee and my lunch. Then I got busy again working on my book. I needed a break so cleaned myself up and took Ptooties into town. I stopped on Main St. and first went into the LCBO to get some wine, rum and a bottle of cream liquer. Not Carolinians but similar. A sipping drink. Next, I popped into a couple of the little shops just to pass the time and then I drove on down to Foodland. There were quite a few people inside.

Now our wine cupboard looks full, even if it isn't all wine
I finally got some Pina Colada mix too. 😊Yay!

After getting a few things on my list, I checked out and drove further down to Home Hardware. I had my eye on a new finch feeder so popped in to pick it up. While in the store, I saw a metal one I liked better for 5$ more. Perfect! 

I love this one and Chippy shouldn't be able to get on it easy but the small birds
should be able to

Then I scooted the back streets to get out of the busy town quickly. Bill had asked me to go down the road to Northline Sales & Service to pay the bill on our Cub Cadet but I forgot. Too many things in my head, I guess. My mind was on getting the food and booze put away.

Hard to believe this is 9 pm

I carried on working on my book until Bill came home around 4:30. When he asked, ‘Did I pay?’, I couldn’t apologize enough but it was early so we drove down to pick it up. Bill drove the mower back home and parked it in the storage shed. It was all I could do to convince him that he didn’t have to hop on it and cut grass tonight. He'd had a full day of work already even though cutting grass takes no effort really. So, he says.

A couple of pond pictures

For supper, we had leftover lasagna and finished it up. It was just as good, if not better, the second night. After dishes, I could tell Bill was very tired so wanted to get up and cut some grass. Once more I encouraged him to go to his Hangar instead. He didn’t really want to fall asleep this late in the evening. ‘We’ (!) have time to cut grass before Sunday.  I worked on my blog and was fighting sleep myself. It was a busy day but the nice thing is that the temperature is very comfortable. As you can tell, the blog was put on the back burner.

The time on this pictures has me all messed up
So, I've reset my camera
This was taken mid-afternoon

We reached 23C/73F today with enough of a breeze to keep the awnings from being fully extended. Sleeping is easy now with the less heat and humidity and with windows open. This is what summer should be like. We watched Crocodile Dundee 2 tonight, me in the Suite and Bill while puttering in the Hangar. We didn't know the other one was watching it! This was a great day and one more to go before the long weekend begins. I hope you’ve had a good day too.

Sunset picture through one of our few big trees down by the Hangar
Not very exciting pictures today
Good day!

Thank you for your visit.

Putting in the Hours, Comfortable Day, Fall Supper

The Ridge

Wednesday, July 29^th brings us one day closer to the end of this summer month. It zipped by. We woke to a nice-looking day. Bill was up and doing his normal routine to get ready for work. I decided last night that I was NOT going to get up early specifically to go for a walk. That’s what I’ve been doing every other day and I’ve been finding it too much. Instead, I got up at 6:45 and sat with Bill having my tea.

Bill heads off to work

It felt kind of good having time to myself again before having to be somewhere. Bill left at 7:30 and I finished the blog I didn’t get done last night. Then, I read the blogs I’ve missed for a couple of days and commented where I felt the desire to do so. At 8:30, I finished playing my online games and washed, brushed my teeth and changed into my work capris. It wasn’t going to be a hot work day and that was good.

The fenders and other parts of the Plymouth
that I was trying patiently to sand 'lightly'

When I arrived at Graceland 2 at 9, I finished deadheading the last 3 flower boxes. His petunias are probably the prettiest collection I’ve seen around and because he gets a lot of compliments, he wants to keep them that way. At 9:20, I went inside to see what he had for me to do today. I worked on covering the Plymouth windshield and touched up a dented spot he had filled. It needed to be smoothed out.

The big Ford was our next project in between working on the old car

Then I worked on smoothing the fenders and hood that Mitch had filled and primered. However, he didn’t show me how much pressure to use and I took it down too far. Oops! I knew that couldn’t be right. I showed Mitch and sure enough I’d taken too much off. No worries, I learned how to prime and that was pretty easy using a spray can.

The decals needed to come off

Decals are all gone

 I was a bit nervous because with a spray can of paint, I’m terrible. He gave me direction and I managed to get 3 coats on to cover the spots in between sanding the other pieces. He teased that maybe I will be painting the Plymouth and laughed at the look on my face. After sanding, I used a utility knife blade to remove the decals on the big Ford that is the next project. That was fun and I did it outside in the fresh air.

Lunch

It was 12 noon when I finished and said goodbye. While I was there, he had two new customers come in for estimates on their vehicles. It’s a private business and he does little to no advertising in any manner other than word of mouth. Interesting that one came from Markdale, referred by the owner of the last F150 we finished. As easy as that. Speaks volumes of his work and his pricing.

A pretty sky toda

Back home, I cleaned up, changed and had a coffee and a tasty lunch with chicken hearts, veggies, yogourt, lettuce and radishes. It was good. The next few hours were deeply involved in my book and perusing winter pictures at the same time. I got distracted with some pictures but it was a good distraction. I got quite a bit finished and decided to extend the length of the book by a few pages.

I was testing the zoom on my camera
Can you see the tractor up on the hill?

Now, on the 24X Zoom

 At 3, I decided to take my walk since it was such a nice day. I was in no hurry and walked as far as Turbine Lane and turned around for home. 

And I can zoom in on our turtles again
Aren't they adorable?

Inside, I got back at my book and had warmed up considerably. There was more humidity out there than I first noticed. Bill was home by 4:30 and at that time, I was just finishing up watching a movie, Look Who’s Talking Now. Cute one, of course with dogs.

I need to add water to the bird bath

We had lasagna in the IP for supper and it was very good. I should have made our tea biscuits but maybe it is just as well that I didn’t. The meal was filling enough. For dessert we had a peanut butter fat bomb. 

My lasagna is always messy but it tastes wonderful

The evening was quiet, making plans for the upcoming week and looking forward to time off work. 😊 I made up some hummer food and filled the feeder. Within minutes, there was a visitor as if he was waiting for me to fill it.

The sunset from the Ridge seen through my camera's eyes
Good night!

Thank you for stopping in.

Taping and Blocking, Good Surprise, Wearing my Author Hat

The Ridge

On Tuesday, July 28^th I was up at 6:30 and out the door at 10 to 7. Bill wasn’t leaving until 7:15 but I wanted to get in and out of the laundromat as fast as possible. Yesterday, I found that I drank my tea in between walking and working at Mitch’s too quickly. After half hour at Graceland 2, I had to excuse myself to come home briefly because of an upset stomach. It's okay to feel that way when I know what the cause was.

I have been publishing my blog post before the sunsets
So, this was last night's sky but it never looks as pretty
on camera

So, today, I took my tea along to Durham instead of water so I could drink it slowly and be done by the time I headed over at 9:30. I was about half way through cleaning when Mitch called and asked a favour. He needed cigarettes so I stopped at the variety store to pick them up on my way home. Donna calls me his Girl Friday. Well, I’m more like Girl Tuesday and any other day. But I seriously don’t mind since I’m on his clock.

The drive  into town to clean
Look at the horizon, reminds me of mountains
but they are low lying heavy clouds

At Graceland 2, I deadheaded for 30 minutes and then drove to Durham once more. This time to pick up a couple of things for Mitch once the drug store opened. I was back pretty quickly. Then he got me taping the windows and covering them completely with newspaper. 

Side and back windows plus front grill covered for painting

I can’t do that with gloves although I do wear them when I’m hand sanding. The newspaper print had my fingers pretty black in no time but I finished all but the front windshield and I also covered the chrome and black grill. I added 3 hours to the calendar.

Driving in from Mitch's I noticed that Bill had drilled a hole
and hung the Sunflower scarecrow board that our
friends, Bill and Sandy, gave us a couple of years ago
Such a sweet couple. Rob and Pat's daughter and hubby 💓

At home, I was ready to eat but had my shower first because I felt pretty grubby today after leaning up against the Plymouth. Then I put together my lunch plate and went about the rest of my relaxing day. I had no other plans but to stick close to home and work on putting my book together. It’s all on my laptop but not actually ‘online’ until I’m ready to publish it.

My log planter flowers didn't look too healthy over the last
two weeks but they've come back in bloomed
Again, the colour isn't as bright in this photo
as they actually are

That’s a very good thing because it takes a long time to decide what font, theme, colour, style and then organizing the layout of each page for pictures and text. I do enjoy it though, or I obviously wouldn’t do it each year. There are various websites to do this on but I’m used to BookSmart and have just continued working with that one. There are frustrations here and there, as in most online stuff, but that’s to be expected.

I had an email early stating that my camera had been shipped and expected to arrive by post on Thurs. July 30^th. Cool! Before I had been sitting too long at my laptop, around 2, another email came in that had great news. 

Our desert mailbox shines again
and I love the red flag up

As I walked down, I'd hoped that it wasn't just a card to go pick it up
like last time but a small package fits in the box
(I guess I need to wipe the inside of the mailbox too!)

I wasted no time at all and was out and down the lane to retrieve my package. How excited I was! It was like finding a lost friend. Because we may get the purple one repaired, depending on the cost, I ordered this one in silver so we would each have a different one.

Bill came home early today which was very nice for him. I think it was around 3:30 when he drove in the lane. With this and that, the rest of the day passed us by and at 6 Bill came up to see what I’d planned for supper. We had shrimp sautéed in butter with French fries in our Fry Daddy. The temperature today was perfect. I didn’t notice the humidity at all, although it was still quite present in the air. The Suite remained very comfortable too.

Even Lulu (who holds my glasses is happy!)
Isn't she pretty!!
Yay! Zoom again on a pocket camera

We watched some tv in between doing the dishes and Bill spent the evening down in the Hangar. I couldn’t keep myself awake and interested enough to write my blog so sat in my chair instead. He came up at 9 and I had just finished watching the tail end of a sad but good movie. One Good Thing with William Hurt, Meryl Streep and Rene Zellweger; all good actors. By 9:30 I gave up and went to bed.

First picture on my new camera

It was a great day though and I had a surprise early delivery as the hilight.

Then Bill took a picture of me showing an
exaggerated happiness. 😀

Good night everyone!

Thank you for checking us out today to see what we’re up to. Comments are always welcome.