A Change for Me and Losing Sight

The Ridge

On Sunday, July 30^th, as we approached the last couple of days in this month, I was up and on the way to Durham by 7:15. First in town, I stopped at the bank to get some cash out. Next stop was the Ultramar for fuel. Ptooties was near ¼ tank. The gas price was a ridiculous $1.66.9 and she took $62.50. Thirsty girl. Then I drove across the main street to the Mat. (be forewarned, the pictures do not always correspond with my writing.)

The sky went through a few changes
throughout the day
bringing temperatures all over the board toay

The clothes were sorted into two loads and although it was early for a Sunday, I was not the first to arrive at the laundromat. Two, no three, of the regular gentlemen already had their laundry in the machines. I took my two machines, we all seem to have favourites, and then set to cleaning. They don’t know my name but they recognize me and my routine, often making jokes. Especially the Newfie. 😊 I can hardly understand him and have to ask him to repeat, repeat and repeat.

Left: Just waiting
Want to go for a walk, Gibbs? 
Right: Absolutely Mom!

When I left there, my 4^th stop was the Water Store where I filled our 5-gallon jug. Then I headed home. I see Robin is home but she didn’t have her sale open today. Maybe the long weekend, next weekend, she will. Back home, I hung the clothes and was done just after 9. Gibbs and I walked to the corner and when we turned in the lane, Patty came out to meet us. Was I interested in going to church?

Working in the shade of the tree,
the boys install the solar panel

We’d talked about this over the past couple of days and I decided last minute that I would like to accompany her. I changed into capris and good top and we walked the 10 minutes (hardly) to the Glenelg Baptist Church for 10 o’clock service. We were warmly greeted and kindly asked where we lived etc. You know, the usual questions. I expected no less.

The Moonflower that Gayle gave me has
at least 2 buds on it already!

There were a couple of ‘stand-in’ pastors while Pastor Everett was on vacay, and I truly enjoyed the hour and 15 minutes from beginning to end. I’m not big on attending church, none of us need a structure in which to talk to God, but it is certainly a social outing that I may or may not partake in again. Put it this way, when the building didn’t crumble as I entered, I was good. ♥ I enjoy the songs, especially those that I can catch onto the tune of, and there’s nothing like singing your heart out to favourites like How Great Thou Art and It is No Secret.

Happy hour.
Gibbs loves his plastic bottle
He's had it since spring of '22

Bottom line, we had fun and I recognized a few faces. 😊 Laurie and her husband, Steve, from the 2^nd hand shop Going Once, Going Twice and Erma, Steve’s Mom, who with her other son, own the farm across the road from us. It was quite a nice venture so thank you Patty for the invite! Back home, the air felt cool as the clouds had moved over but I changed out of my white capris and with a light sweater, we sat outside to wait for the guys to return from the flying field.

Supper was a good Sunday meal

For them, it would have been a great morning but unfortunately Bill’s Cub airplane stopped responding to his remote commands in mid flight and came down. The corn fields are always a dangerous place to lose a plane, especially now that they are 8’ high, as you can’t see them from the ground. The planes, either nose down or flat, just disappear and you have to go by memory and walk to locate them. They tried but to no avail. ☹ They’ll take the drone back on Monday and hopefully find it.

Bella and Gibbs wore themselves out
Go go go

We had lunch and then enjoyed the afternoon together. One minute it was cool and cloudy and the next warm and clear so the sweaters (Patty’s and mine) were off and on off and on. Bill and Duncan had another little chore so they worked together to install Bill’s solar panel (he bought it in Arizona last winter) on the roof of his cargo trailer. This will enable him to charge his plane batteries while at the field, which is a great idea!

A brief rest and then the dance. 💓

Happy hour was on their patio, in the sun, and for supper we had leftover pork, potatoes and mixed veggies. I’m glad there was only enough for 2 meals, I get tired of that kind of pork (in a roast) quickly. Bill started a fire before 7 and our buddies, Rob, Pat and Bella, joined us all for a lovely campfire. The air was cool so it was needed and our entertainment, other than our avid conversation, was watching Bella and Gibbs. My, they had fun. That little mutt doesn’t stop for a minute!

An evening around the fire

A picture of the ladies.
Patsy, Patty, Pat

They left for home around 9:30 and we stayed outside until almost 10:30. We saw the next stage of the Waxing Gibbous moon, beautiful! And heard the playful yips of the coy-dogs off in the distance. They sounded so close as they chased an unwilling prey. I hope they didn’t get it, unless it was a skunk! Haha. What a wonderful day!

A lovely fire tonight
and a lovely moon. 
Good night!

Thank you for your pop by.

Rainy Start, Clear Finish

The Ridge

On Saturday (or is it Friday or Sunday?), July 29^th, I think we were all confused about “what day is today?”. We woke up to the sound of rain. Overnight rain, yes that is what we all hope for BUT we also hope that it stops by 7 am so we can enjoy the day outside. Especially a weekend, our working children would say. But, it didn’t.

Gibbs snuggled in behind me as I sat at my
laptop. LOL
Looks guilty, doesn't he?

Bill had his wings clipped because of the precipitation that didn’t end until after lunch, around 1:00. He and Duncan had planned to go flying this morning. As it turned out, we all stayed indoors and then finally, after we had lunch, we emerged from our homes and ventured out. That was it. After a walk to the Baptist Church, separately, the boys set to work again to ‘almost’ finish what they started yesterday. 😊

It had stopped raining by 1:00 when I walked
down to the church. Gibbs wanted to stay with
Daddy today, Mama's boy, eh?

Patty was testing out her oven in the new rv and baked a cake to reward the boys for their hard work. How sweet! It tasted wonderful, I know because I indulged! The rest of the afternoon, we all relaxed together. Patty and I take our books outside but we find too much to talk about so end up closing them anyway. 😊 Gibbs was outside with us, finding shade and yet with the temperature drop from yesterday, we found we were moving our chairs out of the shade into the sun.

The Echinacea are starting to bloom
They are so worth the wait as they stretch
up over a 2 week growing period.

I love these and may have to add more to my
gardens. Do I say that every year? 

We reached a more seasonal temperature of 20C/69F today and when the sun took over the blue sky, it was gorgeous! At 5:30, I came inside to season the pork loin and begin supper. Madame IP would be cooking the roast and potatoes while I cooked the sprouts and mixed vegetables in the microwave. A simple but tasty meal to prepare. It was quite good and just the right size roast for one meal of leftovers.

While sitting out for Happy Hour (?)
Patty brought us  piece of her delicious cake.
Blueberries were baked on the bottom. Yum!

Always lots to talk about when we have the same
interests that we do.

We shared my rich Caramel Cream dessert from the restaurant and then cleaned up the dishes. The boys were tired again from the afternoon work so Bill stayed inside and watched one of his movies upstairs. I finished my blog and at this point, I haven’t decided whether to watch tv or read more of my book. I haven’t told you about it. It’s by Alex George and is called Setting Free the Kites. It is good, right from the very first page in the Prologue.

Oooey Gooey Good!
I couldn't have eaten the whole thing in one sitting
so had to share with Bill. 

This has been a great day. This morning, during the rain, I made up an Excel table to record our expenditures from each winters’ travels since we started in 2016. It is quite interesting to see how those figures have gone up and down. I do need to start writing the book of last winter so got that information ready for the next rainy day! I hope you’ve enjoyed your Saturday. By the way, at 7:30 as I'm close to finishing, the clouds have started to return to the sky. At least no rain is in the forecast for Sunday. TG.

From inside, you can see how clear the sky is.
The clouds filtered back along the horizon.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping around.

What's it Gonna Be?

The Ridge

We weren’t quite sure what the day would bring when we woke up Friday, July 28^th. Again, rain, possible rain, chance of storms, were all in the forecast so we just keep our eyes on the sky before any concrete plans are made. We knew it would be another hot humid one regardless, so Bill and I closed the windows again early and flicked the switch for the a/c to come on when needed.

What's it going to be?
rain, cloudy, sun?

I was up and on my way to Durham by 7:10. It was a normal cleaning after a first bit of confusion. As I drove in I noticed that the Mat chairs were sitting out on the curb. ??? My assumption was that someone had moved them out so they could sit and watch the ‘de’struction across the road as the front end loader picked up the concrete slabs and dumped them into the bin. Why wouldn’t they put the chairs back though? Grrr.

Three new chairs
You can see the old ones out the window

As I walked in the back door (armoured up, haha) I noticed 3 brand new chairs sitting at the window. Sandy had put the 4 old ones out with a FREE sign on them. 2 were left. One customer and I got a laugh together over that. He’d seen that I was on a mission when I entered. 😊 Nice chairs and it was time for replacement. I love how this new owner is sparing no expense to bring things up to par where Jamie simply couldn’t afford to do so. (I still miss Jamie though).

Back and forth with the sky
but still a really nice day

Bill asked if I would check at the hardware store for some washers Josh was going to order in for him and while there, I decided to splurge on bird seed. Yikes! $70 later they will have full tummies for the month. It’s either bite the bullet and buy it or say goodbye to my feathered friends and I really don’t want to do that. Back home, I filled the feeders and was NOT surprised, since there was no visible rain under that cloud-filled sky, to see Duncan and Bill hard at the ‘project’.

Gibbs wanted to be out with us so
he stayed in the shade too

Soon, folks, you’ll know what that is. It’s worth the wait, I promise. Patty and I had been ‘hired’ to help for about an hour once I returned and then we were done for the day. We really had no energy nor desire to get too physical. The boys kept going like Everready bunnies until 4:30 when they called it quits. Us ladies and Gibbs sat in the shade of their awning, reading, chatting and keeping the boys hydrated and snacked up. 😊

I little bit of gravel digging and he had himself a cool spot

They wanted to provide our supper (surprise!) so of course we accepted the offer to join them for sous vide corned beef, potatoes and cabbage. It was an Irish meal for no reason at all but it was delicious. I cooked some corn for Bill but he actually said he enjoyed the cabbage too. I didn’t know what ‘sous vide’ was so Duncan showed me the technique and the cooker machine which he used in a small Coleman cooler with a hole cut out of the top. He’s creative alright!

What a lovely meal!
A few green grapes and dark chocolate
pieces for dessert.
Perfect!

While sitting inside their home, our good buddies, Rob and Pat arrived for an evening visit. Of course, Bella came to play with Gibbs and play they did! Last time, Gibbs really didn’t want anything to do with her but this time they had a whole mess of fun chasing each other. ♥ We’re so pleased that R & P feel welcome enough to drop in on us like this, as we would tend to do that to them. It’s what great friends do, right?

The conversation
"Shall we play?"

The whispered plan
and a wee kiss

"Who's chasing who?"

They left around 9 with a promise to return soon and since our boys were kapooped we retired to our own living spaces. I wasn’t up long, and didn’t even feel like writing my blog. Bill followed Gibbs and I to bed soon after. It was a fantastic day, a lot got accomplished. 

It's always great fun when we see our buddies. 💖

Bill can’t thank Duncan enough for his help with this project and I’m sure fell asleep with a smile on his face. They work well together. We never got any rain and the weather today was a mixed bag of sun, clouds, occasional breeze and constant heat and humidity. We reached a high of 30C/85F. 

The Waxing Gibbous phase, 77% visible,
to the south

It was a pretty night.
Good night!

Thank you for the visit today! Your comments are always appreciated.

A Mixed Bag of a Day, A Good Finale

The Ridge

On Thursday, July 27^th we were all up by 7. I had a few things to take care of, one was to pay our rent (since our gov’t pensions came in), another was to renew my drivers licence and health card, I had to run M into town and lastly I had a long list of grocery items to get this afternoon. Again, because our cash flow came in. 😊 I took care of the first two things online and then drove around the corner to pick M up.

Sitting with Patty, our home looks
quite welcoming.

It took longer than I expected but he paid me well and I returned home to the family and our guests. It was 11 and Bill and Duncan were working around the place together while Patty sat under their awning and read her book. I grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed off to Hanover and Walmart. Stopping at Giant Tiger first, without having any success finding what I was looking for, then I nipped into the Dollarama.

A chit chat before I left for work

Here I found some clogs and sandals for Bill, cheap, just something he can slip on quickly when stepping outside. At Walmart, I checked things off my list as I put them in the cart and lastly, remembered to pick up a package of 250 Wiggly Eyes for my Worry Worms. So cute. Dollarama had them but they were large and one would have completely covered his little face.

While I was gone the boys
took care of a few things

They make a good pair
They both like to keep busy

I was home by 1:30, famished and with a headache. I’m sure it is because I hadn’t eaten well yet. Bill had waited so we had lunch together. I had a tortilla wrap and Bill had his sandwich before we sat in our chairs for a snooze. Of course, mine only lasted a few short minutes but at least I rested and felt better when I got up. We joined Duncan and Patty out under their awning until it was time to get cleaned up for dinner.

My little worms are going to be able
to see into their future

We left the Ridge at 5 and met Donna, Gerry, Gayle and John at Tommy D’s in Hanover. This was the belated birthday dinner for Donna and it was nice to get out for a meal. 

We enjoy this restaurant

Our waitress's 8 year old daughter, Tilly
had her apron on and was helping serve meals
and clean up tables

I found her after we were finished and 
slipped her a tip of her own.

It seems like it has been a while. I had a chicken stir fry with a lemonade and dessert (to go) and Bill had fish and chips, lemonade and a salad. They were great meals.

My stir fry wasn't the best
but filled me up nicely

When we got home, we were tired and just sat and watched an old movie together. It was a good day and although the day started out hot, cloudy and rainy, it ended up being hot, humid and clear. I hope you enjoyed yours!

The dessert that came with my meal
also came home with us. 
Good night!

I hope you enjoyed your day too.

A Lazy Day and Jello Plans

The Ridge

On Wednesday, July 26^th I was up and on my way to town by 7:00. The Mat was empty when I arrived and in normal condition, which is always good. There was one dirty, no, filthy, washing machine that I needed to run through not once but twice! Really bad but I left it clean. I finished the hour, marked on the office calendar and let myself out with 2 ladies inside. Ladies, for a change.

It was a hazy sun this morning.
Not smoke, but humidity

Before leaving town, I stopped at Foodland for a package of ground coffee and cream cheese since it was on sale. Can never have enough of that fridge addition. 😊 On the way home, I stopped at Eckhardt’s Shell to cash in our scratch tickets. Surprising to us, we won $17 on them, when we expected only $8 so isn’t that nice? I bought 2 of the same and some numbers on tonight and Friday’s lotto draws too. Can’t win if you don’t play.

Across from the laundromat, the whole
town is curious what this old shop is going to be now

Today, they were digging up the asphalt

Back at home, Bill and Gibbs were outside but although he still ran down a bit to greet me, he stayed beside the car as I pulled into my spot. There was some puttering around and then Bill got the battery mower out and cut as much as he could around our patio area as he could before it died. It is old, at least 8 years so we’ll have to order new ones from Mark, in town.

I walked up to our shovel on 
the berm.
My first gladiola this year
and these dahlias aren't far behind.
I should plant everything in
back hoe shovels!

Then, Bill, my ‘can’t stop me now’ kind of guy, got out the weed eater and trimmed, trimmed and trimmed some more. Gibbs and I waited in the King chairs for him to stop but he’s like the Eveready Bunny and he’ll stop when HIS battery runs low. 😊 That was around 12 noon so it was a good thing, I’d planned bacon and eggs for lunch, he deserved a hearty meal. He hopped in the shower while I prepared it.

Gibbs and I are watching our Bunny

It was then that I noticed a text from Patty and Duncan who were arriving tomorrow. They had a problem with their Harvest Host for tonight and wondered if they could arrive a day early. Absolutely! By 1:30ish, they pulled in the lane and after meet and greets, they got set up for a few nights. It is always good to see them, there always seems to be lots to talk about.

Yes, it seems funny to light a fire on 
a hot day but, we had wood pieces to 
clean up and cardboard.
I'll clean it out tomorrow or Friday
so it is ready for campfires. 💓

We sat out for Happy Hour, for them, mainly just a much-needed rest. They’d been on the go since early morning. Actually, so had Bill so we all enjoyed a drink together. It was a hot, muggy day but we were blessed with a wonderful breeze, quite gusty at times, and we welcomed every breath of it.

Supper was good and
we cleaned up some leftovers too.

When it was time to come in for supper, I fried mini sausages along with the leftover rice in beef broth. For our vegetables, Bill had corn and I had Brussel sprouts. It was quite tasty. We finished off the raspberry cheesecake and left the fresh blueberries P & D brought us from this morning’s (or yesterday’s) pick. 😊  After dishes, the sky had darkened a fair bit, with the threat of rain – again.

I laughed at this blue jay
It looks like he is reading my sign.

Gibbs and I walked quickly down the lane to get the mail and by the time we were headed back, a few drops found us. Run, Gibbs, Run! So, we did. We reached a high of 28C/82F by this afternoon and will only drop to 18C/65F tonight. If the rain doesn’t make it a challenge, the windows will be open again this evening. The a/c ran all day and we were grateful for that. Our friends remained indoors, as did we, for the evening. I texted them a good night with the rain pattering softly on our roofs. What a great day!

Welcome friends!
Good night!

Thank you for stopping by.