Chillin' with Patsy: Working Morning, Mom Visit, Fresh Dinner

The Ridge

It was a frosty morning, Friday, Oct. 9^th, when we got up. A cold night below freezing produced windshields coated in paintings from Jack Frost. Upon reflection, I’m very happy that it wasn’t a laundromat day. I’d have been grumbling and you can bet that will happen a few times this winter. As long as by 8, the sun has melted it, I won't grumble too long.

Ptooties looks cold!

The clouds were pretty in pink

Bill left for work around 7:30 and I left for work before 9. There wasn’t any heavy duty work left on the F700 so it was an easy morning. I like that on a Friday and I like it even better on a Friday before a long weekend. 😊

When I arrived, I gifted Mitch with half of our strawberry cheesecake. A little birdie named Bill told me that he loves cheesecake so I thought I’d repay his nice gestures in a small way for Thanksgiving.

A pretty morning sunrise, looking at the frost on the cedar rails

He was thrilled. There was thin taping to do on the red parts of the truck where it met the white. Because it has just recently been painted, I was instructed to wipe the tape across my jeans first before applying it to the red. Then I blocked it in with the white paper. Newspaper could possibly leave a print and we didn’t want to take any chances. Besides the white paper comes on a large 4’ roll so takes less taping in the long run.

A nice thick Instant Pot cheesecake with
almond crust

Looking at the picture, I sure didn't cut it evenly
That's okay. Mitch got the bigger half

At 11, Mitch’s F150 was ready for pick up so I drove his Acadia and we went first to town for a few stops and then to McCrackens (I think is the name) to get it. By the time I followed him back home, it was 12 noon and time to ‘tour’, as he calls it. I just got in the door and was changing and getting washed when Donna called. Mom’s breathing was seemingly more rapid today so Amanda wondered if anyone was close to pop in. Taking precautions, really, when a change occurs.

The cows were on the move

I grabbed a snack bar and went in to sit with her. I didn’t notice much difference from yesterday but sat with her, watching her sleep. Donna joined me at 1 since now two of us can visit at the same time. Mom hasn’t eaten or drank anything since Wednesday when she consumed some liquids only. Audrey and Gayle arrived downstairs so Donna and I kissed Mom goodbye and let them have their visit. She was sound asleep but at least not in pain.

Arriving at the Acreage
Good thing there is no leaf raking out here in the country

Back home, I prepped our supper from one of the Hello Fresh packets. Tonight, we’re having Tex Mex Burgers with tortilla and chips. I’m sure Bill won’t care for the salsa and chips so I offered him a choice to have fries with his. He was home around 4:15 so had his shower and then at 5 we drove over to the Acreage to get a bladder of water. The drive over was as pretty as mine to town, in the other direction.

Slipping back to the back where the well is

Donna and Gerry had just arrived for the night, since it is going to be a warm one. Only a low of 16C/59F expected. Tomorrow, Bill and I will have a busy morning and then he’ll go over to help them winterize theirs and Mike’s trailers. We can shut the water off then too, since we shouldn’t be needing any more. Well, that just sounds sad, doesn’t it? ☹

As we were pulling out half hour later
The sun was setting across this field

Isn't it pretty?
sorry for the blurry photo

The road back home
Geesh! It's blurry too!

Bill decided to have fries with his burger and now I can report on our first ‘Fresh’ supper. The turkey burgers were delicious, with the Mexican seasoning. They fried up nicely. The Artisan buns that came with the package were large but very fresh and quite delicious. I recently have not eaten the bun of our burgers but wanted to give this the full on taste test.

Tex Mex Turkey Burgers

You see how the cheese didn't melt on my chips
I ate most of them anyway

The thing that didn’t work for me was melting cheese on the chips in a convection oven. Hmmm, I’m sure there is a way but that kind of spoiled the effect. With an oven, it would have been a whole different experience. I would make turkey burgers again as because of this meal kit, I’d never made them before. 😊 We cleaned up dishes but I was too full again for dessert. A piece of cheesecake was available if Bill wanted some.

My second favourite picture of the day
You can see how windy it was by the ripples on the pond

This was a very different day with emotions up and down. Two of my sisters are going to see Mom in the early morning so I’ll be interested to see how she is at that time. My sister, Donna, called Mom's air force friend out in British Columbia this afternoon. You may remember that she visited Mom last summer. It is important she knows about the change in Mom's health.