Time to Head Home, I Was Missed

The Ridge

On Friday, July 30^th once more I woke around 6:40 and Donna was already up and out of the room. As I finished my stretches, she said they were all going to have a hot tub. I was keen for that so didn’t take time to make my tea, just put my swim suit on and joined them. Rub a dub dub, four girls in a tub. 😊 Ha ha, couldn’t resist saying that. It was a bit crisp but we didn't have far to go to the deck. That hot water felt wonderful and I often wish I had more access to a hot tub or bath.

This is the Pink Room that Donna and I share
Nice and roomy

Then I made my tea and eventually worked on and finished my blog. I packed up a few things and we puttered around with our own thing until 11. It was time to head out for lunch. Today, we were going south to Williamsford to Great Books, The Mill and Restaurant. I’d never been there. I loaded Ptooties with my stuff and the other sisters hopped in Donna’s car. I would be heading directly home afterward.

Gayle has a green thumb
Her Rose of Sharon is in bloom with
umpteen buds yet to blossom

They're so pretty and i wish they
liked our Ridge

A view from the car
We had access to our room along the left side of the garage

We placed our take out orders, since there was no room for indoor dining, and then wandered around the store. I don’t recall ever seeing so many books in one building. It just went on and on and on and on. 

The owner seemed a bit 'harried' but he
was friendly and told us almost to the minute how
long they would be before ready. 😃

I found a couple of books that looked interesting by authors I’m not familiar with so hope it was $ well spent The books weren’t cheap but all under $10 at least. My meal was a Breakfast Burrito, loaded with 3 eggs, peppers and onions. It was delicious and so were the home fries that came with it.

There were likely 5 little rooms like this
full of paperbacks, all organized and alphabetized
by author
I could work here!

It was wonderful and so was the hot apple cider

We had a nice spot in the sun

Perspective

I left the girls chatting after I was done, said ‘goodbye for now’ and drove home to my baby. 😊 

A quick snapshot as I drove by towards home

I knew Bill wouldn’t be home yet but Gibbs would be in his crate hoping for release. It was around 1 when I arrived and got greeted with happy ears, a wagging tail and some piddle dribbles from excitement. Just what I hoped for. I missed his little antics and cuddles in between our busy adventures! We sat together after I put my things away and received a lot of kisses.

There's my little fluffy sweetheart

We walked out to meet Bill
and in our front field, I let go of the leash
He is carrying his retractable handle in his mouth
Not easy but sure cute!

A very interesting, large fungus on our tree
by the road

Bill texted just before 2 that he was on his way home from the job site at Wingham and it was about an hour later when he pulled up the drive. Gibbs was just as happy to see him too and I think their time together without me around was a very good thing. Bill spent all day Wednesday at home, working outside, and Thursday Gerry, John and Tom dog-sat him at the Acreage from 11:30 until 5 when Bill got off work. How nice! That saved Bill a big worry and it kept Gibbs from being stuck in his crate for way too long.

We had sun, clouds and wind in the forecast today

A quick, easy, tasty supper tonight

I’d had that big lunch so asked Bill what he felt like for supper. He was content to have grilled cheese sandwiches so I began making those. Bill cut the cheddar cheese and I added onion slices to mine. After dishes, we took warm clothing and Gibbs’s blanket over to join the Acreage gang. The guys stayed together out there during Ladyfest and Bill popped over after work for a campfire a couple of nights. They also enjoyed supper out on Thursday.

We headed to the Acreage for a campfire
around 7:30

Gibbs is starting to pay more attention to the road as we drive

This weekend is Donna and Gerry’s August long weekend campout so we’ll be popping back and forth to see whomever shows up. 😊 It used to be much bigger when our children were younger and they didn’t live so far away. Saturday is usually the best day for gatherings when family just comes for the day and possibly a campfire. Gibbs is always an entertainer and very excitable for the first hour when everyone arrives and gets settled. He was a good puppy, emphasis on puppy.

Gibbs loves everybody and Gayle likes
to hold him for a while, as long as he'll allow it 😍

We were home shortly after 10 for bed and we all dropped off really quickly. This was another great day coming to an end.

The mosquitoes weren't around until around 10
and didn't last long but it was a dampish night
Donna kept a great fire blazing
Good night!

Thank you for your visit! Happy long weekend!

Day Three, Farm Tour, Mixed Media Class

The Ridge

On Thursday, July 29^th I woke at 6:33, exactly the same time as yesterday morning. Twilight zone or what? Donna was up already but just recently, I think, and was doing her exercises. I did my stretches in bed and crept upstairs so as not to disturb my sisters. Gayle and John have a full basement with 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. Our room has patio doors out to the back yard and deck area. It is quite comfortable. Upstairs, is another bathroom, a large open concept kitchen, dining, living and tv room and their master bedroom with ensuite. Plenty of room to house guests. 

It was a wet morning to start
Looking out their kitchenette window to the lane

I opened the curtains but didn’t open the door since it was raining. Darn, quite steady too. The forecast was not in our favour for an outside farm tour, which we’d planned for around 10 am. We had our morning drinks and I focused on finishing another late posting from the previous day. The Scrabble game was on-going but it was obvious Donna was taking the award, spinning wildly ahead of us. 😊

The Gibson's store

Wendy arrived shortly after 9:30, as planned, and we decided to go down the road to Gibson’s bee/farm anyway. Pam and Derrick have a little store that at the very least, we could peruse. What a treat this was! The weather was not appropriate for visiting their 450 honey bee hives, they are only happy on sunny days. Derrick explained that they would be grumpy and it would be a bee explosion if he opened the hives today. We sure didn’t want that so will do that on another visit.

Gray hens

Guinea hens

He's huge!

Silkie hens

However, it had stopped raining by this time and was heating up enough to dry things up quickly. This meant we could tour their small farm. My older sisters and I were initially raised on a farm so I guess a part of that remains in the blood. Wendy loves animals so she enjoyed it as well. Lots of chickens, a stately rooster, Silkie chickens, Kunekune piglets, which we’d never heard of, a small herd of goats of all ages, one lone cow and two hungry Alpacas greeted us. 😊

They are so cute with beautiful eyes
Wendy offers a handful of food
I wanted to reach out and touch their heads

And then the goats!
Look at this little face

This was so much fun and when I picked up Potato, a 2 or 3-week-old ‘kid’ goat, I fell in love with the little sweetheart. Oh my. I’ve never held a goat before and it was a real treat. The Alpacas allowed us to feed them out of our hands but Pam said they didn’t like to be petted. Only because they weren’t raised to be touched from birth. She seems to have ‘inherited’ a few of these animals and has names for the obvious ones.

They love the leaves

Meet Potato
He might be 8 lbs.

Gayle holding another baby and Pam

Potato was hard to leave

the Daddy's stay in the front field at the road

We did some shopping in their store before heading back home. I drove today. Once more, our lunch feast was set out and after clean up, we waited the arrival of Heather, our teacher for the art class. This is hard to explain so simply I will say that it is canvas painting with personal picture attachments. Gayle had us set up to take the class on the deck under their pergola and it was perfect in the fresh air. After a bit of confusion on exactly what and how we were arranging our own personal pieces, we were off and running. 😊

Getting right into it

Heather poses for a picture before we say goodbye

I know that each one of us was thrilled with our finished picture but I can’t show them since a few of us made them as gifts. The pictures are some that Heather took for me of ‘work in progress’. We all really enjoyed testing our creativity and will definitely put the new knowledge to use on projects of our own at home. Heather is a patient lady, a friend/neighbour that Gayle met on her morning walks. How lucky is that when we were looking for a craft project?

When she left around 5, we took mine and Wendy’s cars down the road to Rockford Diner. This is another restaurant that we always have good food. It seemed different this time, new owners perhaps? The meals were still very good and I slipped out of my comfort zone and ordered Fettucine Alfredo w/shrimp, something I don’t make at home because we try not to eat too much pasta but also because Bill doesn’t care for it. One thing about it, is how filling it is, so half of it came home with me.

Our Ladyfest attendees for 2021

We said goodbye to Wendy and returned to Gayle’s for the evening. Some had some wine, but I opted not to tonight. We had finished our Scrabble earlier so worked on an on-going crossword and then played Euchre. Tonight, it was Gayle and my night to take the win but only after a rubber game. It is always fun and us being so tired made it even more so. We were in bed shortly after 10 and I read a couple of chapters of my book before turning off the light.

Another yummy meal
Good night!

This was yet another fantastic day! Thank you for stopping by.

Day Two, Leisurely Morning ‘STRETCHING’ Into Mid Day

The Ridge

On Wednesday, July 28^th I woke to different surroundings and could hear a rustling of covers and feel movement in the bed beside me. Oh yah, that’s my sister. Now I know where I am! It took me a while to get to sleep last night, about 30 minutes, which is unusual for me, but then I slept well until 6:30. Aj joined us, we all woke around the same time and we chatted before moseying upstairs.

A beautiful morning awaits us

I had yesterday’s post to finish so set to work while the other girls talked about things that mostly ‘lost’ me. 😊 That’s okay, I’m not into everything they are nor do I understand a lot of it. With the blog finished, I went down to give my chosen ‘exchange’ clothes a second perusal. I managed to swap out a couple of items but was quite happy with everything else.

I enjoyed our lunch again

We had a Scrabble game on the go, the real hard copy game, so we take turns playing that. In between that, Donna surprised us all and brought out some Tarot cards for fun. We each took a turn at having our cards read. Interesting how some things were bang on and others totally 'out there'. It was around noon when we started pulling the lunch food out of the fridge and set up for another round of unique tastes. 😊

Ready for Espe

Isn't she a bright little star? 😀

It was 1:30 when we were all dressed and Donna drove this time to Hanover. We had a 90-minute class booked for Yoga with Espe and she was all set up on her outside deck for us. Now, in case I haven’t mentioned before, yoga isn’t really my thing. But my sisters love it and seem to benefit from it so to keep the group together and the cost down, of course I said yes. My niece, Joanne, joined us in place of Cathy. It was okay and I really enjoy Espe’s energy. No regrets but………still not my thing. (sorry yoga lovers!)

She has a nice place at the Yoga Barn
and it was great to be in the fresh air for our stretches

We came home immediately after the class and had about an hour before we had to leave to meet Wendy at Mudtown Station in Owen Sound for supper. I made myself a cup of tea and I think Gayle and Donna did the same. The girls had showers and we loaded the excess bags of exchange clothes in Donna’s car and at 5:30 we were on our way. Wendy arrived soon after us and we had about 30 minutes to wait for a table. We were soon seated at an outdoor picnic table.

Mudtown Station
Our picnic table was on the grass
but the place was busy

We chatted, laughed and caught up while waiting for our meals and boy were they worth the wait. We never, I repeat, never, have a bad meal there and tonight was no exception. I had the Whip Burger and soup of the day. Delicious! 5 plates have never been so clean after a meal. Excellent! We paid and tipped Carter for the service and said goodbye to Wendy. We’ll see her in the morning for another fun day.

Audrey and I were watching the changes in the west sky
Nice car too!

The menu is always different and I thought I'd
try the pizza but it was just sold out

Instead I had this Whip Burger with Peppered onion and garlic soup
Oh my! Both were amazing!

After dropping off the clothes at Value Village, we drove home to relax. I had a glass of Arbor Mist and we continued to take turns at Scrabble. Four sisters and an opportunity for a game of Euchre opened itself to us. We teamed up and played 2 games. I was on the losing team but I’ve missed playing the card game that we grew up with so I didn’t mind at all. 😊 It was approaching 10:30 and we were all tired and ready for bed. Another busy day tomorrow.

A little change in the view
Good night!

Thank you for your visit.