Sunday, July 26, 2020

Slow Sunday, Feeling the Heat


The Ridge
On Sunday, July 26th we were up at our normal 6:30. Slept out, I was, since I was in bed last night at 9:30. With the clothes sorted, we drove into Durham. I loaded 2 washers and Bill noticed that the coin machine wouldn’t take his 20$ bill. Oh-oh, that isn’t a good thing to come in to. Unfortunately, that meant contacting Jamie or he would have a lot of unsatisfied customers. So, I texted him.

Don't you love watching men work?
They crawled around working on this machine and then the floor
got incredibly wet
Woops!
Bill opened the big dryers and removed the lint and I set about doing the same for the smaller ones, washing down machines and cleaning the toilet. Jamie arrived within 15 minutes and got the coin machine fixed up. It got busy and after Bill did the floors for me, they set to work fixing a machine that wasn’t draining water. This took longer than they both thought but I left them to it and drove down to Foodland for some groceries.

Bill had the floors all cleaned up but then an influx
of customers came and it was dirty from theirs and our shoes
I took a rag and went over it again 
It was a couple of hours at least before we left the Mat. I suggested that Jamie wait until the end of the month to pay me, since we were only a week out. He agreed and asked that I carry on through August. 😊 Back home, we were both good and ready for our morning drinks so sat together and had those while reading some blogs and comments. Bill went out to the cargo trailer for a bit and I hung the clothes.

Doesn't he look comfy?
I knew they would dry quickly with the hot day and lovely breeze. Thank goodness the sky was a mixture of sun and clouds today as it was a scorcher. We had an Akumal omelette (flatter than my normal ones) for brunch and that seemed to fill us up. After that, we didn’t do much. I did open the ‘basement’ at one point to get out the folding ottoman and noticed that we’d had a visitor or two under there. Hmm.

These little goldfinches and chickadees love the feeder that is theirs
and theirs alone
The poop was too big for the little mouse, which we do think we’ve taken care of.  So now we’re thinking Chippy. He’s been eating the green poison blocks that Bill put in there as one is gone except for crumbs and the other one has been nibbled on. The weirdest thing though. Bill had an open packet of Werther’s candies sitting on the hutch at our dining table since Sunday.

Bill emptied the compartment to the right as they'd been in there too
That's where he found the candies
There were 3 down in the basement on our slide-out tray. Now, that is the mystery. How would a chipmunk not only get in (that could be explainable) but get up onto the cupboard 3 times and carry the candies still in the wrapper ‘downstairs’? I know they can stuff their cheeks but seriously? A total mystery. We emptied the tray and Bill vacuumed up all the evidence. We did wonder where his candies went as he was having 1 a day and there were 10 in the pack. LOL

That is the second block and some turds


The heat was getting to us both and we had no desire to do ANYTHING! It wasn’t  comfortable sitting inside with no a/c so we sat on the patio in the shade and in the breeze but it wasn’t a steady breeze. Soon Bill moved the hammock into the shade and stretched out for a snooze. He was able to drop off quickly and dozed for close to half hour. I envied his ability to do that as he was obviously cool enough.

The finches eat right out of the holes
but the Black crested chickadees put the food in their feet and
eat it from there
When he got up around 2, he drove over to the Acreage to get water so he wouldn’t have to think about it all week. I brought the clothes in off the line while he was gone and then sat with my book, still in the shade under the awning. They weren’t open all the way because of the occasional gusts of winds coming from the west. After he came home, I blended us each a strawberry daquiri and we enjoyed that outside together. I'm sure he felt it as he'd had a beer with Gerry.

Two at a time, perfect!
Eventually, he walked down and put his planes away and closed things up. When he came back up, he found the hammock again. It looked cool in the shade of the tree so I closed my book (it is so good!) and joined him. He dozed again but I couldn’t get comfortable enough to drop off so I read until he woke. He would end up on the ground if I got off otherwise!

Done!
Trying to get cool, I went into the Bunky and finished my puzzle. There was a nice breeze coming in the windows and the fan helped relieve my body heat somewhat. Then we came inside. Bill worked on a Word Search from the local paper and I dozed and read and dozed and read. We both just felt like, well, I think I called us a couple of lug nuts. There should be some relief this week so that will be nice. Since we'll both be working, we will appreciate it. 
The pretty sky when we walked down to the end of the lane
My lilies are really tall again this year
I texted back and forth with Kim a bit about some upcoming plans for our Ridge campout. Glad they are still coming. What’s for supper? Not hungry. A half hour later. Are you hungry now? No, not really. So, at 7 I opened the package of Caesar salad I bought this morning and cut up the leftover chicken thigh adding some into each bowl. That was it and that was plenty. That’s just crazy! Anyway, after dishes, still needing to cool down, we walked to the end of the lane and back. Slowly.

Too bad these didn't mature into real grapes
I was surprised to find our very own choke cherry bushes along the front ‘boulevard’ (what do they call it in the country?) and it was laden with berries soon to be ripe. Yay! We walked up to the garden and I showed Bill the pumpkin with flowers. We may get 2 or 3 off the plant, it has come to life! 😊 Before coming inside, Bill picked up the shovel and did a bit more gravel moving since he’d probably be working every day and he wanted it done. I couldn’t watch, just told him to be careful.

Look at all those healthy cherries!
I thought it was a good time to sit in the hammock but the teensy tiny biting gnats were all over my sweaty neck and head. Grrr! I moved inside to finish a post. Then I sat with my book AGAIN. I’m sure drinking a lot of water but having a good supply beside me at all times makes it easy to keep hydrated. This was just one of those days. Got what we had to do done this morning and the afternoon was pretty much shot. I hope you had a good Sunday!

Good night!

Thanks for popping in!

8 comments:

  1. I'm betting that was a rat rather than Chippy. Those things can slip through a half inch hole!! Thanks for the idea ... I'm now trying to figure out how I can attach a hammock to my patio!! Chokecherries? I have no idea. Nothing like that where I come from but I have heard of chokecherry jam.

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    1. I'd like it to be a rat - I think, but the scat was quite big.
      We love our hammock. It was my birthday present in 2002 and it is still in A-1 condition. Of course, it has been painted once. :)
      Choke cherries make a really nice jam so I'll be picking more soon!

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  2. It's certain that Jamie appreciates the work you do at the Mat.
    If the temperatures would just stay at seasonal we'd all be happy and be able to accomplish more chores.
    Certainly there are recipes On-Line of what you could make with the Choke Berries.
    Be Safe in the heat and Enjoy nature around you.

    It's about time.

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    1. Thank you, I think Jamie does appreciate 'me'. It's the lower revenue that held him back for April and May.
      You're right about the temperatures, just a happy medium would be lovely!
      I will be making more choke cherry jam and when that fails, syrup. :)

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  3. Oh my, I hope that Chippy hasn't harmed himself with eating the poison. Mind you, whatever it is, it should stay out of the basement.

    Hope you get some cooler temperatures soon. Take care and stay well!

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    1. I know, I hope it isn't Chippy too. I did see Romeo since then so it isn't him. Phew!

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  4. The puzzle is beautiful. Will you keep it? Jamie is lucky to have you both.

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    1. I may keep it to do again, or pass on to someone I like. :)
      thank you, Jamie is easy to work for.

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