A Self-Induced Friday

The Ridge

On Friday, Sept. 29^th we can feel the end of the month chomping at the bit. It’s crazy how fast the days are whizzing by when you look at them as a whole. Yet, each individual day doesn’t seem to be going fast while I’m in the moment. They seem quite perfect, actually. 😊 So, today, I had no outside work, no reason to drive into town and that was kind of nice.

What a great morning for a walk.

Gibbs and I got up to say goodbye to Bill at 6:30 and crawled right back into bed. It wasn’t a late night for me, but it was sure a dream-filled morning. Between 4:30 and 6:30, they just seemed to bump into each other. Stupid ones, with odd choices of participants. People I hardly know. Weird, weird, weird. I dropped off again after he left and my last hour was pretty peaceful.

I love our fields when they have been freshly cut.
Bill cuts between the fence and the road too,
making it look even nicer.

I had my tea and we went for our walk, past the corner this time staying on North Line. It was a lovely morning, only 10C/51F, but that is pretty pleasant for a walk. 😊 Back home, I cleaned up the flies at the door and window ledges with my little handheld vacuum ($3 at a garage sale!) and then dusted downstairs. There wasn’t much to do, which was nice.

The walk up the lane makes e
appreciate the shade

Next on my agenda was a fun project. I printed off a couple of family photos for framing. We’ve been trying to get 5 x 7’s from each of our kids, and it has been a challenge. It’s hard when they don’t live in the same house plus when there is so much going on. I understand but I did get 2 more in frames today with just 2 left to go. ♥ I can always swap them out down the road but we finally want to have them hanging in the Suite.

Hibiscus #20

Gibbs and I sat outside and he and I were entertained with a baby red squirrel under the trailer. LOL I felt so bad for him as he certainly seemed lost. Where is his Momma? Gibbs was very good and stayed away (after the initial toss & play) and the little baby was just fine. Eventually, after I got a 5-minute video, his Momma came and they both disappeared. Good, I hope it wasn’t up into the belly of our home though! Only time will tell.

This is hard to see but it is a piece of red
tape that has come loose under the trailer belly.
The little squirrel was either playing with it or
trying to climb it. See him in front?
My video showed him running to catch it,
around it and jumping at it as it blew in the wind. ♥

I thought it was a baby Chippy until he came and rested on the mat.
He looked exhausted and slept there for a while.
Now I know it is a baby red squirrel.

Later, we heard his Momma come looking for him.
She searched under the stoop and even up to our door.
I hope they have run off somewhere together. 

Bill was home around 3 and after sitting for a while, we all went over to the Acreage for a bladder of water. 

Gibbs and I sat out and enjoyed the
lovely day and entertainment until Daddy came home.

Fish and chips for supper wouldn’t take long. I let Bill have the chips and I reheated the last of the spaghetti from the other night. It isn’t a ‘blendable’ meal but I’m the one eating it so as long as I’m happy! Plus, it cleans it up from the fridge when there isn’t enough for 2 meals. 😉

A mishmash meal but a filling one none-the-less.

It all tasted just fine but we had no room for dessert. This has been a nice day for me although Bill had a rather nasty job today with Billy. Cutting a hole in a cistern, 41"w x 55" h x 8.5" thick, is tough and he came home looking quite the worse for wear – enough that he removed his clothing out on the stoop! A good reason to live in the sticks! Monday's job will be breaking that chunk of cement up into pieces. 😟 I hope your day was much better than that!

I didn't want to miss the sky tonight
so left is facing east.
the right photo is facing across the pond to the north.

This one is across the berm to the farmer's field
and turbines to our south

And my favourite is from up on the berm
facing across our lot to the west.
Good night sunshine!

Thank you for stopping around today.

A Bit of This and That, Call Re: Black Beauty

The Ridge

On Thursday, Sept. 28^th there are no known birthdays to report. That’s a switch! 😊 Bill was up and on his way to work by 6:30, his normal departure time. I wasn’t too far behind and left with a to-go mug of tea at 5 to 7. No one appeared at the Mat this morning so I did an extra job on the dryers. Below the lint trays, fluff gathers and it’s messy so I’m glad I was able to get it done with no one needed to use them.

Last night's sky was very interesting.

This did take me an extra 20 minutes so put down for the hour and a half. I cleared out the Lost & Found today, there were about 6 items of clothing to go in the bag and I brought it back. Next time I’m in town, I will drop it at the second-hand store. Before leaving Durham, I stopped at Foodland for a few things we don’t buy at Costco and then headed back to the Ridge.

And the sun came up behind me on the drive into town.
this is the sky that I looked back at once I arrived
at the Mat.
Interesting too!

My mind, Bill’s mind and I’m sure everyone else’s mind who have plans to make for something or other, is going in circles. Thinking of things I can do to help us in the long run to ready for departure. Bill informed me last night that we are down to 3 weeks today and we’ll be pulling out. It seems every year that our time at home goes by faster than the previous one. I guess it all depends on what’s going on.

My dinosaur tree with its red coat seems to be
spewing out the clouds

So, back home a little later than normal, I had only 45 minutes before I had to leave for M’s. First, we did some more banking (he truly is not good at the online stuff and with my help, he doesn’t have to call and bug the bank) on his phone and then took a run into town. I had forgotten bread this morning, duh, so had to go into Foodland again, which is one of his stops. 😊 I’m on his dime so I try not to make stops for me.

We took pictures of his 2000 Lincoln and
posted it on Kijiji
It is his 'Elvis' car so he's sad but knows he
can't keep it sitting there.

Back home, we worked together to finish the clean up around the old trailer and  that part is done. Separating things into recycle piles and burning what he can, it is disappearing – slowly. Now, he can at least get the weed eater out to get rid of the weeds and that will neaten up the area, plus his property at the same time. It looks junky enough, this will help a lot!

It's a pretty car for sure.

I only worked a 2-hour shift and was home for lunch, on time for once. I refried the leftover French fries from A & W the way George taught me and they were yummy! We sure learned a lot of tips from him. 😊 Gibbs and I went out for a walk to the mailbox at 1 and as we returned up the hill, Bill turned in the lane.

Gibbs and I walked to check the mail.
Good little man, minding his own business
as he walks beside me.

Another early day which gave him an opportunity to get the grass cut before the weekend. The grass has slowed down with its growing as we aren’t getting as much rain. That’s good, maybe one more cut up here in my area and we’ll be done with that too. We’ll see. A took the rake down with Gibbs and while Bill cut the front field, I raked a pile of gravel leftover from the gate building. There are holes to fill.

Bill get the front field done first.
He got the trimming done the other day
so it will be good for the rest of the year, you
can see it is quite low at the fence line.

Then we just sat in the grass and watched as Daddy finished the field. I made contact with a few businesses in the area trying to find the best price for top soil while I waited. We have a few areas that need it badly and a garden that needs a fair bit. We still haven’t decided but to get a load in from Alex (Sandy’s dad’s business) it is higher than what we expected. We’re still debating on that. Speaking of Sandy, he called me today to tell me he was putting my pay in the office (I hadn't even asked yet!) and if he's figured it wrong, we'll add it to next month's. 😁

Gibbs and I wait and watch.

It isn’t an overly warm day but that’s only because the sun and clouds can’t decide who’s the boss today. I unplugged from power after lunch when the sky seemed more blue than white but at 4 pm, it has switched around. We still reached a high of 18C/65F but I’m not sure how. We do have a heat wave a-coming, a stretch of about 7 days above average temps. Get out the shorts again! 😊

I sorted through puzzles and books in the Bunky
while Gibbs was on security detail.

For supper, Bill grilled sausages and because I picked up buns and potatoes today, we had a choice. In a bun or not? I knew what Bill’s answer would be. They were good although a bit spicy. We had a piece of warmed apple pie with cheese and that was great! With the dishwasher loaded Bill made his lunch and fixed the end of an extension cord.

We have a mystery. Can you see those dead flies?
Every day, at least twice a day, they land here at the door.
We're not sure why. It has been a long time since I've sprayed
the screen with Raid..........it's crazy, but we're happy too.
This was just this afternoon's collection.

He hooked the tv up to his laptop so we could watch a couple of episodes of the Voice on CTV. Because we don’t have a service provider, we can’t get it on our Firestick even though it is free. One of the sacrifices of giving up our satellite dish. This was a good day with a few more jobs done. We’re hoping it will be the last grass cutting but never say never.

We did get a call from Dave at CarStar this afternoon. Black Beauty is done as far as they can go for now, with the hood and front bumper replaced. We could pick her up if we chose to. However, the grill, that is on order, could be in within a couple of days, or early next week so we decided just to leave her until mid-next week. That will be a quick install once it arrives.

A good simple supper
Good night y'all!

Thank you for the visit.

A Full Day and Full Cupboards

The Ridge

On Wednesday, Sept. 27^th Bill had the day off. The work is slowing down a bit so they had a break today. I didn’t have to clean the Mat but I did have to work for M at 9:30 for my 3 hour shift. Bill and Gibbs were able to sleep in a bit more and at 7 or so, I got up and had my shower.

Bill was out trimming before I even left
this morning at 9:30.
This is behind the Suite where i didn't pick up the apples.

As Bill prepared to go and begin doing some weed trimming up on the berm (no apples to deal with now!) and down to the front field, I said my goodbyes and drove around the corner. I had my secretary hat on for the first half hour and then we tarped his small back storage shed. It has a particle board type of roof and it has begun rotting in some areas. He keeps his riding mower in there so it needed to be sealed better.

After my morning work, we left for Guelph
around 1:45.

With that taken care of, as much of my help that he needed was done, I went back to the old trailer. Not inside, it’s done and we’re filling it up slowly, but outside. The ‘person’ who lived there was not a good tenant – well, she paid the itty bitty rent M asked her for to stay there, but she left things in such a mess. I can’t begin to describe it but things were left everywhere around the outside of the unit. LOL

Pictures were scarce today so they are not 
in any order
Our A & W lunch.
We got gas at Costco and paid $1.52/litre
much better than at home here where it is $1.59.

Anyway, there are things we can try and sell next spring to get him some case from all this, and I did what I could in the time I had left. I’ll finish up tomorrow morning, hopefully. I don’t touch anything without gloves and am very careful walking around the area. I left for home at 12:30 and Bill and Gibbs were waiting for me. 😊

Some more fall pictures
on our drive home.

Bill was all cleaned up and had eaten so once I had some toast and honey, we left Gibbs in charge and drove to Guelph. He was tired from all the trimming, nice job too, so I drove most of the way to Costco. It is time to start stocking up on the things we need for our winter down south. The prices for the bulk packages seem high but when it lasts us through 2+ winters and summers, we know it pays off for us. And we have lots of storage in the Suite.

Soon the leaves will be gone.

When we got home almost 4 hours later, Gibbs was happy to check things out for us before we even got it unloaded. 😊 On the way home, even though it was early, we stopped at A & W for supper. The Uncle Burger combo with fries and root beer is still my favourite and very filling. I brought the last of my fries home, they are too good to throw out.

This large colourful tree is in front
of Robin's school house. 

With a spot for everything, Bill went up to watch some tv and I worked on my post before I watched some as well. I’ve started the series called Justified and before I finish The Handmaids Tale (only 2 episodes to go!), I’ve found I’m caught up in this new one to me. It looks like it is also into its 5^th season so that will keep me busy. I’m not in a rush to finish Handmaids as then I’ll have to wait for the new season to come out like my sisters. Ha ha.

I love how this one turned out.
On Baptist Church Road,
a true country scene out here in West Grey.

This has been a good day. More stuff done and another step closer. Bill will be returning to work tomorrow and so will I. Both the Mat and M are on the agenda. We had a bit of a chilly wind today but still reached 19C/67F under mostly sunny skies. With a drop off to 10C/50F tonight, my plants can stay outside again. 

Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law, Bill. I hope it has been a great day for you! I saw that cheesecake! 💖

Anything for me, Mom?
good night!

Thank you for stopping in.

A Pretty Easy Day for Both of Us

The Ridge

On Tuesday, Sept. 26^th Bill was up and gone to work by 6:30. I was up on time to give him his goodbye kiss (I’m sure his day will be off kilter without it!) and since it was still pretty dark out at that time, I waited until 7 to leave for Durham. The days are sure shrinking from both ends. The Mat took me my regular hour to clean, including a spot wash on the floors.

the sky this morning offered various
views for pictures

I met a lady today who also goes south for 6 months; however, her destination is Merida, Mexico. It is a city in the Yucatan Peninsula. We had a nice little chat and certainly both understand each other’s needs to get the heck out of Durham (Dodge) once the weather changes. As I was finishing with the floors, my regular customer arrived. It was almost 8:30 so I couldn’t help but ask him if he’d slept in. He’s always there before or at least by 8 o’clock. 😊

After I got home, Gibbs and I walked.
He has a mind of his own and decided
to just hang out instead of coming in with me.

He laughed and said, “actually, yes, I did!” Too funny. I had only one other thing to do so nipped into Foodland to pick up a greeting card. Our daughter, Jess, and her husband have had a loss in their family. Matt’s Mom lost her battle to cancer and since March has been in and out of the hospital. It is so sad because she can’t even be as old as we are. ☹ At least, they are living in Alberta, where she lived, so he is close and has spent some quality time with her over the last few years. ♥

Rather than let more apples go to waste,
I picked these and made 2 pies today. 
They turned out perfectly!

So, back at home, I wasn’t sure what to get into today but soon settled on baking. It was a lovely day, again, so I knew even on solar power that I could use my convection oven without having to plug into power. I had picked another bag full of apples from our tree yesterday so made pastries for 2 apple pies. It felt cool inside this morning so having the oven running wouldn’t hurt. I put in my two favourite cd’s (Joshua Kadison & Blue Rodeo) and sang along as I worked.

Up on the berm, I would never
have thought that such a small tree
could produce so many apples!
They aren't very good though, lots of worm holes.

We were surprised when Bill came up the lane around 1:30. A short work day for him today. 😊 Usually, he likes full days to get the hours in but it is that time of year when he is ready to slow down. Gibbs and I are always happy when he comes home early. They had their snooze up on the bed and I read more of my book to stay quiet and let them sleep.

Raking them up was the best idea.
6 full pails later, it was all cleaned up
- for now.

Bill had some work down at the gate to concentrate on so Gibbs and I went to rake and gather apples up on the berm. Remember the apples all over the ground and garden I showed you the other day? Yah, well, raking was the best way to deal with them, short of straining my back. It worked really well and I filled 6 pails and the small tree hasn’t shed them all yet. We just toss them over the fence as it is quite a distance before the farmer’s field starts.

Hibiscus #19

I came in for my tea around 4:30 but Bill was still outside working. Gibbs was back and forth, of course, such a helper. ♥ The pies are done and look wonderful. One will be kept for Thanksgiving and we’ll have the other one for ourselves. For supper, I made spaghetti, or rather Madame IP did. Nice and easy. Everything tasted delicious!

The clouds moved in enough to
give us a pretty sky tonight.
The sun sets behind all those trees
so I am unable to get pictures. 

I’ve started a grocery list, two actually, one for Walmart and one for Costco. We need to begin our stock up for things that we take south with us. We’ll make a couple of stops at Costco, one at Guelph and one when we arrive in London in October. 

Madame IP outdid herself!
this was the best spaghetti
made in our kitchen in a long time!

And the pie? I'll take full credit,
thank you very much!

This has been a nice day. The winds were a little too gusty for my liking which made them a little cool but it was a good ‘working outside afternoon’. We reached 19C/67F and we’re not done with the warm days yet. Yay!

Our sincere condolences to Matt, Tom and Jess
for the loss of this lovely lady.
RIP Darla, you are now pain free. 

Good night!

Thank you for stopping by!

Continuing with the Summer-Like Days

The Ridge

On Monday, Sept. 25^th Bill was up getting ready for work at 5:30.  I slipped down to say goodbye at 6:30 and went straight back to bed. I didn’t have to get up yet. It was an hour later when Gibbs and I decided it was time. 😊 I had my tea and then we went for our walk to the corner, well almost to the corner. 

Good morning!
We get two suns today!

Before I forgot, I took the time to wash the inside of Ptooties, she got her bath yesterday but the windows were terrible for our drive to Drayton. LOL With that done, I played my morning online Wordle games and just before 10 made my thermos of coffee and left the little guy in charge with his milk bone treat.

No peeking, we're taking
care of business here!

A quick run into town for M and then I worked on the Datsun 250Z for 2 hours. It’s an ’81 by the way, but no, it isn’t on any of the taillights nor the identification plate. Bill says maybe because it is a Japanese model. I finished the sanding under the hood and for the last half hour, we emptied his small shed of tires and Rubbermaid buckets. It has a corner with some rotting wood so will leak over the winter. We’ll tarp that on my next work day.

Sauntering back home

All things, including winter tires for his vehicles are now stored in that trailer I cleaned out. Gee, I did a great job! 😊 I was home by 1:05 and made my quesadilla for lunch. Always such a nice reward to come home to! 

This one has avocado and lettuce
with salsa.

Of course, is always there for me as well. We wiled the afternoon away puttering and I even got some reading done. I found being on my feet all morning tired out these old legs today.

Where did my puppy dog go?

Something intriguing down in there,
I guess.

On my way back home from M’s earlier, I stopped to pick up the 2 recycle bins after the pick up and so around 2:30 or 3, Gibbs and I started walking down for the mail. I saw earlier that the flag was up. That was when we saw the red truck at the end of the lane so Gibbs ran down to meet his Daddy. Bill was picking up the brush pile that I left the other day. Nice to have it cleaned up and tossed in the big brush pile up here.

Of course, Gibbs had to run to meet him.

The boys dozed and I read my book while having a cup of tea. The book is called A Long Time Gone by Karen White. Looked like a good story and so far, I’m not disappointed. We started supper at 5:30, pork kebabs with fries to share and broccoli for me. I overcooked my broccoli but I still enjoy the flavour regardless. 😊 We cleaned up and Bill went to the Hangar.

Supper was good, mushy broccoli
and all!

I watched a movie last night that I’d give a 5/10, maybe a 6. It’s called Darling Companion with Diane Keaton but her characters are always the same so I think another actor would have done the role more justice. Just my opinion as I do like her – usually. I’ll probably watch a couple more episodes of The Handmaids Tale tonight, I’m almost caught up so don’t want to rush them. You know the ‘hurry up and wait’ routine?

A nice night, calm with some
pretty cloud activity as the sun sets.
Good night!

This has been a good day and the weather has still been good to us here as we approach the end of September. We reached a pleasant 20C/69F and going down to a comfortable 13C/55F overnight. Good for sleeping for sure. ♥

Thank you for stopping in!