Long Weekend Begins, Morning ‘Chores’, Afternoon Fun with Family

The Ridge

I didn’t waste any time in the morning on Saturday, Aug. 1^st and neither did Bill. We were up before 6:30 and I was out the door with the dirty laundry by 6:40. Bill had his coffee and then went out soon after to start weed trimming. This is a time-consuming job and takes a lot of stamina and dedication. I get physically tired easily of this job and only do what I have to do, even when I'm trying to push myself. Bill goes until it is done. 😊

And there's my little Energizer Bunny

 After cleaning the Mat and folding our damp clothes into the basket, I drove to Foodland. We still had quite a list of food items we needed and because a trip to Costco isn’t going to happen over the next 2 weeks, I decided to bite the bullet and shop in our own home town. To drive to Hanover, 20 minutes, I'm using fuel that still wouldn't justify a few $'s savings. So, I didn’t pay too much attention to prices, within reason, and just got the items. The list was at home so I was going by memory and think I did pretty good.

I know it was very hot but he does make it look easy

After Foodland I drove down to the Esso station to buy a sheet of garbage tags. We have to pay to set our bags out and only had one left. While I was in there, I bought a Lotto 649 ticket and a Crossword scratch. No doubt, I threw that $ away but it was fun playing. On the way down Baptist Church Rd. I pulled into Graceland 2 to inform Mitch of my mix up on the dates. Things were locked up tight, it wasn’t 9 yet, so I called him and told him. He was very good about it and told me to go and do my thing. I knew if he gave me any grief that it would all be in fun anyway. He’ll see me this week one day, I think, to pay me.

Our little finches are enjoying the feeder

 Back home, Bill was still trimming and although he had completed quite a bit in our seating area, had a lot more to do. ☹ I put the groceries away and then had a cup of tea. My first. As I was making it, Bill came and had a cup of coffee with me before we both went back at it. I hung the clothes and with the oppressive heat and breeze I knew they wouldn’t take long to dry. It sounds like we are to be getting a lot of rain tomorrow so some of our company may be delayed until mid-week. Darn weather!

When Bill was done trimming, we had lunch and then he went out with different blades on the weed eater. Down the lane he was able to get a lot of the tall weeds with sturdier stalks. They are a pain. Inside, I did the dishes and  swept the floors in the Suite. Our hummingbird feeder was empty this morning and we are puzzled how that is happening. We haven’t seen but one bird in days. There is no way ithe liquid can come out by swinging in the wind (which hasn’t been extensive) and no other birds besides the oriole (which we haven’t seen recently) can access it. Puzzling for sure.

Over at the Acreage this afternoon, a challenging game of Scrabble
was going on

I filled both feeders again with the last of the food in the fridge and we’ll see what happens. There are no leaks that’s for sure! Bill put his stuff away and we both had our showers before sitting down to relax for the rest of the day. We were waiting to hear from my daughter as to when they will be arriving at the Acreage. It is Donna and Gerry’s family campout weekend. Something that is slowly dwindling. Everyone has stuff going on when a long weekend comes to our neighbourhood.

At one point I had some high point letters to get rid of

We drove over at 3:00 to join D, G, Gayle, John, Joanne and Ted who had arrived within the 10 minutes it took us to get there. The sun had pretty much disappeared but it was still quite warm. There was definitely humidity in the air because of the expected rain and thunderstorms. Us 4 girls played a couple of games of Scrabble and the guys shot the breeze. 

The guys enjoying a quiet drink
I should have got a picture of them working on the trike but I was too involved
in my game!

They helped Gerry fix something on his electric trike so he was happy. They use it to travel the distance from the pond area back to where their 5th wheel sits and to cart wood for the fire pit.

Supper was sooooo good

Around 6:15, who we were waiting for arrived. My daughter, Bridgette and her partner, Chris drove in. That puts a big smile on my face and then just after we got the forbidden hugs in, my middle grandson, Jake, drove in with his new girlfriend, Celine (pr: silynn). Yay! I secretly wish that Taylor was coming too but I know he won’t be making it this year.  We chatted with the new arrivals for a few minutes but it was time for us all to get supper on the go.

Driving back for the fire pit gathering
There were a few long weekend campouts in the area

Jake and Celine were staying the night in their tent so went to set it up before it rained. Bridgette and Chris had picked up a pizza in Durham for their supper so the rest of us split up. Bill and I drove home to bbq sausages. He had his on a bun and I had a chunk of sweet potato with mine. I cooked one cob of corn, which we split. I was feeling very hungry and I guess that is because we ate lunch earlier than normal. Supper was delicious, the garlic sausage was done perfectly on the grill.

John was the fire starter tonight
We sat at the small pit
Past August weekend gatherings have had at maximum 28 - 30
of us so we gathered around the huge tractor rim pit at the back

We cleaned up the few dishes and repacked our cooler. There was going to be a campfire at the Acreage and we had an open invite to join in.

John, Gayle, Joanne, Ted

Hosts Gerry and Donna appropriately in their King chairs

Chris, Bridgette, Wendy, Mike, Gerry

 My little sister, Wendy, had arrived and everyone's friend (and Bill's current boss), Mike, who had been out riding his new bike, had returned. It’s always nice to see him, it’s like he’s part of the family. Sitting around the circle, I counted 13 of us. It definitely wasn’t an unlucky number last night as we all had some laughs, stories and even some music performed by my talented grandson.

Bill, Chris, Bridgette, Wendy

Grandson Jake and Celine
who in this picture puts me in mind of the Queen of rock, Janis Joplin

The party broke up slowly, Gayle and John left first and then about an hour later, Donna was headed back to their trailer. Bill and I chose that moment to say goodbye. It was just after 11. 

Donna took this picture early in the evening
and I included it because I was actually in it

Of the remaining, Bridgette and Chris were the only ones not staying overnight so I don’t imagine they stayed too much later. I could be wrong! They are still in the younger, party-goer group. 😊 It was a fun night and as we stepped out of the car back home, a few light rain drops were felt.

I asked Donna to take this one for me as I didn't walk back
to see Jake and Celine's little tent

As Donna said earlier, ‘we are done working on the property, we are ready for company!’ I hope your day was as good as ours was. A cool down expected with the rains tonight and that’s okay too.

Jake brought his acoustic guitar so played and sang a few
songs for us
I remember the first time about 10 years ago when he played Stairway to Heaven
for us as a newbie player and he wouldn't sing
His voice is awesome

Thank you for your visit on this long Civic holiday weekend. This is a holiday in only 3 of Canada’s provinces/territories so very few working Canadians get the day off on Monday. Ontario is one of the lucky ones! 

Happy Civic Holdiay fellow Ontariens!
Good night!

Your comments are always welcome!