Interesting Day and Evening

The Ridge

On Tuesday, Sept. 14^th, Donna and I had plans to meet in Durham and drive to Owen Sound for a Value Village stop. Mostly for a drop off since both of us had ‘stuff’ to go. I was quite pleased with the trunk load I had of household things, some garden items and also about 15 items of clothing. I got ruthless – again. I have it in my head that I won’t be working at the auto shop after the fall so there could be more 'self-designated work’ clothes that go.

I love the colours here looking across this field

Bill was off to work and it looked like a great day coming our way. Gibbs and I hung out together with a couple of short walks and inside I did more purging, cupboards and closet. Bill called and asked if I could bring him a coffee since he forgot to take his travel mug. We delivered to the work site and I was pleased with their accomplishments on the big shed. I'll just show one photo here, since once more, it is Bill's story. 

It's a long winding lane to the work site

I got cleaned up after lunch to leave. I heard mention of a storm brewing off Lake Huron (again, what is it about Tuesdays?) and the words ‘tornado watch’ near O.S. Good grief! I was all ready to go and after texting Wendy who lives there, I called Donna. Because it was so clear here, we decided to meet anyway and start out, keeping an eye.

I thought it was cute the way Gibbs watched until
Daddy was out of sight as we drove away

As it turned out, we encountered no weather at all indicating anything would turn us back and arrived at Value Village by 1:30. We spent about an hour and a half in the store; 30% seniors day drew a fair number of shoppers as usual. We were both happy to drop off our purged accumulations and only came out with a small bag each. Neither of us ‘really’ looking for anything. I did find a few things, of course.

New to me 'like new' shoes $6

They are so soft and comfy

I picked up a 5 x 7 picture frame for our family pictures, a couple of books, 2 long plain tops and a sweet lightweight sweater that was calling my name. I’m so pleased with a couple of the items so just may have to model them for the ladies! 😊 Donna was happy with her finds as well and when we walked out the blue sky (with only a few white clouds) encouraged us to drive across the street to the Mission Store.

The long light 'lacy' sweater

I like the back detail and flare

Their prices are better still and I found another summery long top (these are important for wearing with my many coloured leggings), a pair of slip-on shoes and another frame. I think I may have enough now for all 6 families and although not identical, they are all are plain black frames. I had debated on re-donating a pair of my own shoes but now for sure, these ‘new’ ones will replace them easily. See? Already, I’m starting a new donation bag!

A better look on the hanger

I love it for the $6.00 I paid

I got home around 4:30ish and Bill was already at the Suite with Gibbs. I figured it would be close that we both arrived home. We relaxed until 5:30 when I spiced our chicken thighs and cooked them in Rosy along with our individual choice of veggies on the side. They were good but supper was a bit dampened by the constant storm/tornado watches and warnings that came blaring off the radio and our phones. Here we go again!

Everything in this magazine cover meal
tasted yummy
The nerves over the weather were a distraction though

These weather systems are so unusual, the storms no so much but tornadoes? Not wanting to jump the gun and get in the habit of ‘rushing off to Hanover’ when it isn’t really a threat, we finished eating and cleaned up the dishes. When Gerry called to extend their home invitation again, we decided to at least pack our essentials and keep watch. It was the warnings more than the looks of the sky that had us pulling the slides in and hopping in Ptooties.

The rain began before we left the Ridge

And increased the further under the clouds we got

The rain was extremely heavy for about 5 miles as we drove to Donna’s and as before, we were entering clearer skies in that direction. The black sky and clouds were overhead and then behind us. ☹ We prayed that the Suite would be fine and hustled into their home for shelter. 

We're seeing some clearing ahead of us

When we both had our noses almost to the glass to see the road,
the picture doesn't indicate the same vision
It wasn't even this good

The storm continued, then slowed, rained, then calmed, making it difficult to know exactly what was going on. Bill watched the radar over our areas constantly and it wasn’t showing relief until 10:30 or so.

He knew something was going on and climbed up on our laptop
bags so he could see out the windows

Gibbs is getting used to their place, slowly settling down so I’m pleased about that. He still gets very excitable and really likes jumping up on Gerry for playtime. Something about my b-i-l gets him hyper. 😊 We packed up and headed home, driving only through rain and sheet lightning this time. When we turned into the lane we were immediately stopped by a tree along the fence line had snapped at the base and was completely across the path. ☹

Last thing we expected after arriving home
that tree was heavy!!

It was raining but between the two of us in our rain coats, we managed to drag it, with much difficulty I might add) off to the side so we could get by. There must have been one strong gust of wind that caught it since it wasn’t a dead tree, that we knew of. LOL I panicked then, wondering what things would be up at the top of the Ridge but no other damage was apparent. I couldn’t stop shaking or the tears of relief so Bill calmed me with his hand and told me to sit tight while he opened slides. I’m grateful for his control, so many times. ♥

This morning when I went out, I stopped
for pictures

Bill hopes his chain saw's blade is sharp enough
to take care of this tonight

Inside, we got settled and were in bed by 11:30. As if we don’t have enough to be concerned about right now, let’s throw in a few tornado warnings! We are grateful to be home, safe and sound, and extremely blessed to have family close enough to offer a safe haven. Life is still good even with the challenges! 😊

Snap! Maybe the tree was dead inside
and perhaps they all need to come down.
good night!

Thank you for stopping in! I hope you didn’t have to deal with anything severe in your area.