An Early Start before the Heat

The Ridge

On Thursday, Aug. 5^th, Bill and Gibbs were up around 5:30. He’ll be glad when he’s done this Wingham job; he won’t have to get up so early. He drives from here to Mildmay, 30 minutes, and then it is 30 minutes from there that they drive together to Wingham. Today should be a short day, and they could be done at that location. For a while. LOL Every job seems to go so far and then could be delayed because of waiting for materials. Which means they have to return. I'm not sure about this one.

Thursday morning pond view

Bill is counting down the days until his precious ‘freedom’. The money is sure nice but yes, he has an end date in sight. At least with this job, he took it on himself for something to keep him busy, not as a sole means of financial support like our careers were.  I’m happy and fully support his decision, he is wearing down with the pure physicality of it. 😊 Not to mention having no time for himself for his hobby. A part time position, with less physical expectaions, would be ideal.

Let's talk perspective or should
I say optical illusion?
These are pot holes in our road
but they look like bumps
Note to our visitors: Go slow once you turn
onto North Line

The day was starting out warm already but I never checked the temperature. When Bill left, I was dressed and had Gibbs harnessed up for our walk. Today was the day we were walking to Turbine Lane. I knew the little guy could do it and he was game to give it a shot. I could tell. We had a couple of vehicles pass us on our road and I step to the side and have Gibbs sit and wait until it passes. He started out at quite a clip but once on Baptist Church Road he soon slowed to a nice walking pace.

He doesn't go far without checking on me

The sun makes the wheat field glow
Notice the dead tree in the background
is another bird haven

We made it to our destination and I picked him up to get a selfie as proof. If you could see his mouth, he was grinning, as was I. When we returned, he had a nice big drink and I made my tea. Once he’d rested a bit, I gave him his breakfast. I was good last night and had finished my blog post so this morning was free time to do with as I pleased. When my tea was done, I left him inside and went up to the berm to move the hosta.

A goofy selfie at Turbine Lane

That earth up there is nice but the rocks hidden in it are not! Finally, I managed to dig a big enough hole to move the plant and get it grounded. It is about ready to flower so I hope I didn’t disturb that process. Bill needs the space for his flag pole which he hopes to get accomplished this coming week – with some help. 😉 Then I moved over to the vegetable garden. Yeuch! It hasn’t been weeded and this is the worst I’ve ever seen it!

The hosta on this end was the newly transplanted
one from the middle

There was quite a lot of grass and another plant that looks like purslane (aka hogweed) so I used the hoe first and then squatted to remove it all. Luckily, both the grass clumps and the purslane pull out easily. I have a lot of the long Hungarian peppers and quite a few tomatoes but the actual tomato stalks look really pathetic. I pulled the lower dead leaves off the plants. I don’t know why they are different this year, I’ve babied them as much as usual. I guess it just wasn’t my year.

Weeds all gone

It was 10 when I finished and was happy that I’d started early. It was already quite hot. I made a coffee and Gibbs and I sat outside on the shaded patio. He was up to no good again, digging in the gravel, chewing on rocks and whatever greenery (or brownery) he could get in his mouth with the reach he had. I was trying to relax and read but you know that didn’t go over too well.

I could hear him from my seat on the other
side of the stairs
"what are you doing?"

"Look at that hole!"

"You should hide your face!"
I tried not to laugh when he plopped in his creation

Finally, I stopped watching him and moved out to my lawn chair for some sun-sitting. He could see me and just sat looking for something to gnaw on. LOL After 30 minutes of that, it was noon hour so we came inside and I fried up the toppings I’d kept from the pizza I made. 

Who needs a crust or a tortilla?

There was pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, carrots, black olives and my plan was to roll it in a tortilla. That wasn’t even necessary, it was a plate full just as it was and tasted yummy.

I moved the leaves and caterpillar from this container
Boy, they poop a lot!

Bill texted around 12:15 that he was on his way home, done for the day, so that was just as he’d expected and hoped for. I’m sure he and Gibbs will be ready for a snooze when he gets home. That is exactly what happened and the two of them slept for about an hour. I think. I was outside in my chair, with my book. Bill gave me the good news that he’s off now on holidays. Next week is our Ridge campout and it is nice that he has 10 days off beginning this afternoon. 😊

I moved him here, it has air holes in the bottom
and a loose lid on top

Is this a step towards the J shape for a cocoon?

At 4, he went down to the Hangar and Gibbs and I stayed put inside. The little guy must have tired himself out from all his digging, as he slept and slept and slept. It was 5:30 when I closed my book and got up to start warming up supper. We took a walk first and then I put the leftover casserole in Madame IP. With vegetables ready to pop in the microwave, I waited for the 10 minutes on Steam and then texted Bill, giving him a 5-minute warning.

Good time, while the boys were sleeping
to do my toenails

I didn’t make a winning casserole in Bill’s mind but I told him to put ketchup on his when I saw he wasn’t particularly enjoying it. LOL It’s the base of shredded potatoes that he didn’t like. If I make it again, I’ll use either mashed or diced potatoes and see if that works any better. I just wanted to switch up a sausage meal in the hopes it would ‘pass muster’. It didn't but I won’t stop trying!

Since I've taken his bed away, when i folded his
blankets up, he curled up on them and went to sleep 💓

After dishes, Bill returned to his Hangar and Gibbs and I went for a bit of a run around. He ran with his leash while I put my lounge cushion away and closed the shed doors. We may get some overnight rain. He’s obviously been eating grass again (surprise!) as he had to stop to toss his ‘invisible’ cookies. It sure doesn’t slow him down much but we certainly hope that this eating everything phase will pass. Clemson never did this so it is all new to us.

Sausage and potato casserole and veggies

The evening went quietly and I did a final check on my teeny caterpillar before staying inside for the night. Donna’s full-sized caterpillar changed at noon hour today, and now a lovely chrysalis hangs in her jar. 😉 I hope your day was a wonderful one as mine certainly was!

Dessert
Good night!

Thank you so popping in today.