The Heat Returns, A Lovely Ride

The Ridge

On Sunday, July 31^st Bill was up and off for another morning flying. I was up and left the house before 8 to go into town to clean. Gibbs was on security duty and accepted the responsibility like a true home owner. 😊 The Mat wasn’t too bad but I had the need to test a couple of washers while there, in response to two new notes left. After finishing with a good floor washing, I headed back towards home.

In the Dead Tree, red-winged blackbirds
which are big next to a finch or chicadee

Instead of staying on our home route, I turned off to go to the Acreage. Gibbs’ blue saucer toy got left there last night but mostly, I wanted to see Bridgette and Chris again. They stayed overnight in the Ponderosa cabin and my niece and her spouse stayed at the Hilton, the cabin in the woods.  They were all sitting out in the sun/shade when I drove in. To each his own preference. We all had coffee or tea with us and enjoyed more chatter.

My lunch hit the spot

I knew Gibbs was quite fine at home and actually very tired still from yesterday’s adventures at the Acreage. He’d be sleeping so when everyone was eating or getting ready to eat, at 11:30, I drove home. Bill wasn’t home yet from the field and I was getting hungry so I made myself bacon and eggs. I made enough bacon for the two of us and would cook the eggs when and if he wanted them once he returned. 😊

Pictures from our ride
A water tower, corn crop and a
roundabout

He opted for a tomato, cheese and bacon sandwich, had a snooze and we got dressed for a ride on Jazz. We wanted to get one in this weekend and tomorrow looks like a wet afternoon.  We have ‘Ridge work’ in the morning planned. It was the perfect day for a ride and before returning home, Bill pulled up to Granny’s in Neustadt for an ice cream cone. Yay!!

Crops, buildings and clouds

The young server made the best cones for the price and we each had a double scoop which looked more like a triple! Wow! Bill had Black Cherry and I had a new flavour called Caramel Turtle Chocolate or something like that. Tsk tsk. It was 3 when we left and 5 when we arrived back at the Ridge. I guess we wouldn’t be needing supper tonight.

A field full of round bales
makes a pretty picture
Cirrus and Cumulus clouds share the sky

Did I say it was a lovely ride?
It was!!

We took Ptooties over to the Acreage to pick up Gerry’s utility trailer. They were about ready to eat so we hooked up and after convincing Gibbs into the car, returned home. You’ll find out tomorrow what we’re doing with the trailer. 😊 We had chips and cheese for a snack around 8. Bill watched a movie downstairs and after my blog was posted, I watched tv upstairs.

Our cones - dripping and delicious

Before we left Neustadt, this beautiful
yellow door caught my eye
Now I realize how lovely the house is too

The winds dropped to nothing by 7 o’clock and the air became very still. It reached a high of 28C/82F today so it could be a hot evening for sleeping. This was another great day. I hope you’ve been enjoying your weekend too. A shout out to my sister and husband, Donna and Gerry, on their 12^th anniversary and to our friend, Ken, celebrating a birthday.

Not much is sweeter than my two love bugs
together 💗💓💓
good night!

Thanks for the visit!

Getting the Holiday Weekend off to a Great Start

The Ridge

On Saturday, July 30^th we were full into our long weekend. I know my Sweetie was enjoying the time off work to the max and off he went for his 3^rd day of flying at the local field. He was having a great time whether he was alone or if his flying buddies met him there. 😊 It was a quiet morning for me around here with Gibbs and other than dust mopping the floors, I didn’t do much productive to start.

One of my purchases at the garage sale
Bill has often said 'we need a live animal trap'
For $10, we got a steal

It was later in the morning that the clouds started to clear and Gibbs and I went outside. He ran crazy for his ‘freedom’ spurt around the close area. I’m so proud of him and my ♥ does not go crazy when he disappears for a couple or three minutes. I know he hears me call or clap my hands and soon comes running back into my line of vision. It’s like ‘here I am, Mama!’ and he gets a head rub for obeying.

Gibbs and I walked to the front field and down
the road to visit the new neighbours
What is it with rolling around over another
critters feces?

It was mostly dried so didn't get on him
but it sure looks like he's in heaven!😂

I decided to take my long-handled clippers and go down to the back field and trim the 5 or 6 trees that Bill has to drive around when cutting the grass. This is usually done at the very least, once every 2 summers, so he doesn’t poke his eyes out if he should forget to duck under the low-hanging branches. I actually enjoy doing this and I find that I take off more than is really necessary, once I get started. My clippers can only clip a certain diameter so Bill will take his saw down for some.

From the front field, I caught a large
and small turtle on camera
I was going to zoom in but I like the picture as it is

Tree trimming
Bill should get under these easily now

When Bill returned from flying around noon, he let Gibbs off his leash and walked down to meet me. We walked into the area that I have admonished him for cutting (& getting stuck, as you may have read in his latest post). You can read about his ‘oopsie’ (oft repeated, I might add) here at On Our Way. I hadn’t eaten more than a bit of cereal so we came in for lunch. I think we had toasted tomato sandwiches. Geesh! That’s what happens when I don’t write daily!

Those will be my last two to trim

After he had a snooze and a shower, we all packed Ptooties and drove over to the Acreage for the rest of the day and evening. I didn’t take many pictures at all so will just talk about the day. We sat for a while with Donna, Gerry, Harvey, Uncle Jerry, John, Gayle, Ted, Joanne and Mike. Within 10 minutes, my ♥ Bridgette and her spouse, Chris, arrived. I’m always thrilled when our family gatherings bring my children to our neck of the woods, well my daughter usually each time.

An easy supper on the bbq

We sat for a while and once I suggested our Bocce Ball game, Bridgette glanced at Chris and smiled. I think he’d been forewarned and he was delighted. 😊 They formed a team and Gayle and I played the opposing team. It was a lot of fun; I’d much rather do that or something active than sitting all afternoon. It killed a nice chunk of time with Gayle and I coming out the victors by a single point! Yay! Close game and a lot of laughs. ♥

Gibbs took the opportunity while we ate
to rest his busy little bones
He hardly stopped the whole time

A bit more sitting around and then most of the gang disappeared to the back to cook their meals. That left Bridgette, Chris, Bill and I at the front so we had two tables all to ourselves. 😊 Bill cooked the cheeseburgers and reheated the corn I’d cooked at home. It was a nice meal. Gibbs got tethered while we ate so we could enjoy our meal without watching where he went. He’s even pretty good over at the Acreage now, he’s been there enough.

The pond reflections are always so pretty

Bill started a campfire when we were all cleaned up from the meal and the rest soon meandered back up. Lots of chatter and at Mike’s request, Chris got his guitar out and the ‘crowd’ strong-armed Bridgette into singing a few of our favourites. Gayle and John didn’t bring their trailer this year so they left first for Chatsworth and we left shortly after. It was 10:30 when Gibbs and I crawled into bed.

Settling in for the evening
Gibbs found a piece of wood - of course

It was a lovely day and evening. The weather co-operated just like we requested it to so Donna and Gerry were pleased. What a great Saturday! ♥

A few campfire tunes 💖

Good night!

Thank you for stopping around.

 

Seemed Like a Saturday, A Wonderful Day

The Ridge

On Friday, July 29^th I was busier than if it was a regular work day for me. Bill left, pulling his cargo trailer to the flying field. I was behind him by a few minutes, with the laundry in the back, an empty water bottle and a shopping list a mile long for groceries. 😊 Okay, half a mile. Gibbs was in charge of the house until I returned and he took his reward like a good little house-sitter.

I was up in bed last night and saw this out my window
so got up to take a picture

I could tell Jamie had been in to the Mat, it was mostly clean and I quickly learned that all of the machines had been emptied of their change. I had none to retrieve to do my wash loads. Woops! I, of course, had bills in my wallet in the car so I put a $10 bill in the coin machine and proceeded to start the washers. THEN, I retrieved my own $8.

Gibbs got a new rubber frisbee toy

Here, he is barking with it in his mouth

I finished up by washing the floors, leaving the place spotless for the new owners to take over sometime today. After filling our water bottle, I drove to Hanover’s Walmart for groceries. $200+ later, everything was crossed off my list with 2 exceptions so I drove to Dollarama and then Giant Tiger to take care of those. By now, it was 11:15 and I’d left the house before 8. Gibbs would be anxiously waiting.

Told you the clouds were white and fluffy

My shovel dahlias

So pretty!

When I backed in near the Suite and opened the hatch, I heard Bill coming up the lane. It was a surprise that he was back before noon hour. Apparently, there was no one else there this morning so he got some flights in and when the wind increased, packed up for home. 😊 It was almost noon when I had the groceries put away and I needed something to eat.

That kind of day

This teeny little guy found his
way onto my sandal

We called them inch worms when I was a kid
but I'm not sure if they are worms at all

A simple lunch of yogourt, apple and cheese along with a coffee fit the bill. Then I went out and hung the clothes. There were white fluffy clouds in the blue sky and it was a lovely day. When the sun disappeared though behind a cloud, the air cooled off considerably. We reached 22C/72F today and there is no rain in sight for a couple more days.

Jumping to supper
Yummy!

Tomorrow is to be a duplicate of today
but I hope there are even less clouds

I was exhausted but when Bill dozed in his chair, I couldn’t do the same, so I went outside and tried to relax on my lounger. Gibbs was running free and was quite obedient, staying close to me or Bill. ♥ He’s getting better every day. An idea came to me so I moved into the Bunky, put Gibbs on his rope and did some more painting. Just puttering mostly. I made my cup of tea with the Keurig out there and that was nice.

For supper, Bill reheated/grilled the Smokies and I opened a bag of Caesar salad for our side. Nice and simple but they tasted great in the fresh Villagio buns. 😊 I added sauerkraut and mustard to mine and Bill had his own additions to suit his taste. We brought the clothes in off the line together, (I’d forgotten them!) and took turns emptying the basket as we put them away.

I bought ice cream today so that was our dessert. It has been a long time since we’ve had any in the freezer. 😊 I closed things up in the Bunky, the air has cooled off and the windows were open. Inside, I wrote my blog and downloaded pictures. I’m feeling pretty tired so not sure how late this gal will be up. This has been a great day and the weekend has begun! PS – Bill is off until Tuesday as well. ♥ Yay!

The lovely day ended with a lovely evening sky
Good night y'all!

Thank you for popping by.

The Weekend Begins! And it’s a Long One! ♥

The Ridge

On Thursday, July 28^th I was the one to leave the house for work. Bill was up at his usual time and was eating his cereal when Gibbs and I came down at 7. He’d received notice that he wasn’t expected in to work, this morning at least. So I got dressed in ‘home’ clothes and after Bill went out to start cutting the fields etc., Gibbs and I went for a walk down to the corner. 😊

While we were sleeping, it rained
a nice rain that left the trees sparkling in the sun
as it rose

I admired them out the back window

It seemed cooler and I only had a summery, sleeveless top on so I slipped on a long sleeve cotton shirt. Well, before we got to the corner, I had to remove the long sleeves. That sun was incredibly hot on my back! Lovely! There is no humidity, so it makes a huge difference in how we accept the heat. Also, there was a nice breeze that only increased as the hours passed.

Gibbs did too 💗 from his perch on my chair

Again, I wasn’t positive what I’d be doing at M’s, thinking red Datsun dust again, so I wore the same jeans and shirt. He was waiting for an installer from Explornet to arrive so after removing paper and tape from the 2014 Ford (he’d finished painting it last night – yay!) for a few minutes, I drove into town for an errand, returning within half hour. Mr. Explornet was working away which was good in case M needed my help with the e-transfer. He did. 😊 No surprise.

We may be doing something to improve
our view of the pond along the laneway
next year ✌

I finished removing the paper and then used a new razor blade to scrape overspray from the windows. It seems the tape he’s bought is not doing the complete job of protecting the windows. Grrr. It was an easy 3-hour shift and the time went quickly without me even getting dirty. Bonus! Back home, I found out that Bill wasn’t needed all day so he was just finishing up cutting grass in the corral, everything else was done. Great job, sweetie! ♥

Bill cutting the grass out by the road

We had lunch, he ate his sandwich and yogourt and I made a peanut butter, tuna and lettuce sandwich for myself with my own yogourt. While Bill and Gibbs had their snooze, I went out and cut my areas. Boy, did it seem to get hot! I persevered, without stopping, and finished everything just before my battery (well, the mowers, not mine persay!) began dying. It only lasts about an hour, it’s quite a few years old.

The birds were calling a meeting

Mostly chickadees and finches but I think
a few starlings too
Meeting is in order!

My turn for a rest, I was tuckered and very hot. As I sat with Gibbs, Bill had found enough energy to do some weed trimming. I wish I could say I dropped off for a snooze but that doesn’t happen often. At least the rest helped and I cooled off nicely before we went back outside. I puttered a bit and Gibbs ran around, sticking close to where we were. I swear he is getting better every day. Too bad he’ll have to be on a leash down south but he is even good when we tether him. ♥

A beautiful morning

I swept our patio mat off, lots of small stones gather from a particular little 4-legged monster. 😊 Sadly, it was the last of the Sweepa rubber broom heads we have (bought 2 at the Q show in 2017) and it finally split. We were unable to buy more last winter because they did not have a booth this year. ☹  So, I found them online and ordered a replacement head. They are great brooms for outdoors or indoors.

If you're squeamish, sorry
but we did manage to catch the little
guy sneaking into our hall close.
Who doesn't love peanut butter!

We came inside together around 4:30 and I made my cup of tea. Bill had a cold drink and Gibbs drank water. I started my blog and at 5, began making a rib rub for supper. I will cook them in Madame IP, she hasn’t been used much in the last few months, and finish them on the Weber. We haven’t had them for quite a while. I think I have potatoes to bake on the side as well.

Our delicious supper!
The ribs were perfect!!

Supper was later than it usually is but it was worth it. I cooked the ribs in the IP for 20 minutes, let them release naturally for 20 minutes. I slipped in our last 3 potatoes, under the ribs, so they could cook all at the same time. When the time was up for both processes, I wrapped the spuds in tin foil and took them and the ribs out to the bbq. Bill’s favourite sauce is sweet and sour so I coated them and let them brown.

Because of a shortage of pictures today,
let's take a look at some visitors we had in 2017
on this day

Inside, I cooked broccoli for me and corn for Bill. We were eating at 7. It was delicious! There were 4 soft cookies left, so without a touch of guilt over a keto dessert, we finished those off too. ♥ When the dishes were washed and/or in the dishwasher, we relaxed for the evening. We’ve reached a high temperature of 24C/75F today with some clouds, some sun and even a rain shower around 11 this morning. A lovely day.

there have been a few changes since then,
but these were wonderful times and great memories
Bill, Clemson ♥, George and Suzie
This was the beginning of our Ridge campouts 😃

Clemson loved Suzie and visa versa

Get ready for a long weekend! It’s called Civic Holiday and is celebrated on the first Monday of August in some of Canada’s provinces. Ontario is one so yahoo for holidays! I’m off until Tuesday, maybe Wednesday and perhaps Bill is too. Mike’s text in the morning will confirm that.

Told you!
Good night!

Thank you for your visit.

Days Continue to Fly By, A Little Rain Must Fall

The Ridge

On Wednesday, July 27^th Bill left the Ridge at 6:50 for Mildmay. He took Ptooties because it is a 40-minute drive. After he was gone, I had to leave as well. I wanted to see if my adjustment to the timer at the Mat made any difference. ☹ It didn’t, the more I fiddled with it, the worse it got so I had to use the Bypass so I was able to use the lights anyway.

this is the kind of sky we bounced around
all day

Before I left, I texted Jamie, even though I hated to bother him at this unsettling time for him. I asked if he could stop in today as the doors weren’t unlocked unless the timer all of a sudden came to life. I left the door propped open. He responded later this morning that he would pop in. I should have left it alone. Back home, I remembered that I was going to get a water jug filled but forgot. Another day.

The cows across the road are huddling
under the trees before the rain

At 9:30, I was around the corner starting work. M was on his way out the door so assigned me to a job and left for about an hour. I jump around at different jobs according to what M has in mind so I guess you could call me a Jill of all Trades. 😊 I got myself covered in red Datsun dust first until he returned and then did some ‘secretary’ stuff, e-transfers and phone updates, before I returned to the hand sanding.

Our apple tree out front is
very lush and full
There aren't many apples though

These yellow wildflowers give our
laneway etc. some colour

This is the first thing you see when you drive into our lane

He paid me for the day at noon and disappeared so I finished my last 30 minutes and drove home. The day has been partially sunny, partially cloudy and it looked like it could rain a few times. After I got washed, free of paint, I made myself bacon and an egg for lunch. Gibbs and I sat in our chair and played Wordle resting until 2:30.

The chickadees and finches are loving
their seed

I was going to get my sewing machine out for a project but decided tomorrow is a better day for that and I took Gibbs out to the Bunky. With my paints already out on the table, I proceeded to paint rocks. Just a solid colour for now, I’m not in the creative mood quite yet for anything more than that. The clouds darkened, moved on and then returned off and on all afternoon.

A frog jumped in so Gibbs had to try and catch him

This is what you do

Then this stretch is important too

I didn't help, other than keeping Gibbs
occupied and taking pictures

The light rain wasn't a distraction
I'm sure it was refreshing for Bill 💕

Bill drove in around 4:15 and suggested we all go over to the Acreage so he can finish building the boxes for the gazebo. You’ll see what I mean when you look at the pictures. 😊 Bill worked the drill and screw driver while Gerry and Donna offered the assistance he needed. Gibbs took a partial dip in the pond and then ran around in their top soil. He was a muddy little mess by the time we left at 5:30.

And here you see what they are actually building
Donna and Gerry will fill them with top soil
and she will plant annuals each spring
You can see the top soil that Gibbs ran through with wet paws

The few brief spatters of rain didn’t help but he is our little mess so we brought him home with us anyway. ♥ He let me wipe his paws and he ate his supper and fell asleep – as did Bill. I was in no hurry to start supper and gave them 30 minutes before I started warming up the leftovers. It was just as good tonight as it was last night.

The finishing step, after eating, of course

Amazingly, he dried off nicely and the dirt disappeared

With the dishes loaded, we relaxed for the evening. I’ve enjoyed the day but cannot believe that tomorrow is Thursday already! Where has this week gone? 

Supper was good and we had a cookie for dessert

I did water my vegetable plants and flowers today so that will help along with the rain we’ve been forecasted to receive overnight and tomorrow. Get it out of its system before the long weekend. Our Civic holiday is Monday. 😊

Good night!

Thank you for stopping in!