We Share Everything! (Huh?) Busy Morning, Jazz

 

The Ridge

On Friday, Apr. 26^th I woke up when I heard Bill telling Gibbs how good he was for sleeping in. That was at 6:30. It was another blue-sky morning and I knew it would last all day, according to the weather guessers. 😊 Good news! Sunshine just makes everything better. I got up just before 7, really, just a couple of minutes.

After getting washed and dressed, I made my tea-to-go. Today is government pay day for seniors so Bill was at his laptop taking care of business. On our first month back from the winter trip, we are always very anxious to get this first deposit into our accounts. I think the extra expenses on our return trip is to blame this year especially. I left the Suite at 7:30 and drove to Durham to clean.

The Foundry 1872
The fellow in the Mat told me that years ago it was
a restaurant of this name. Cool

I remembered to take a picture of the building across the road. It was in major construction last year, the outside parking area and building getting a makeover. Now, it is inside that the work goes on. A bar/restaurant should be really good for the town, we need a nice place to eat and to keep the locals from going to Hanover, Mount Forest and further. Not sure when it will open but it is looking very nice.

Today, was the first time a customer has come in since I’ve returned. He’s familiar, I don’t know their names, but he said “the Arizona lady is back!” It amazes me what people remember, he’s older than me! My memory is terrible. I had no issues today and finished by washing the floors again. Bill and I got changed and left for Hanover for our busy morning around 8:45. First stop was Healthy Computers to drop my laptop off. It is running ridiculously slow so we want an estimate.

Turning onto Murray's road, just one lone
goat in a field of horses

Tim assured us he’d call this afternoon, that we likely have a few options available to us. Then we went to the Hanover Medical Centre/Clinic. We talked to a nice gal about getting on a list for a new doctor in the area. It is a bit of a rigmarole because of few doctors available BUT we left there with things to think about in which way we want to go. So far, things were going good.

A horse for Nancy
Can't ride a goat, right?

From there, we drove to a motorcycle place where we can get Jazz checked out. Her fuel gauge is not working. It may cost a bundle so we have to again make a decision. How important is it? We’ll wait to find out the cost before ordering one. I think that was the last thing before we drove to Walmart for a few groceries. This is where I first noticed a hike in some food prices and opted to walk past a few things today.

On our second stop at Murray's
Jazz was ready to come home
Bill walks her out of the barn.

We picked up a couple of things for M and on the way home, stopped in to pick Jazz up from storage. Bill had all of his gear in the back of Ptooties. We are expecting rain for a week at least and this day, although windy, was the best day before the end of the month. Murray was generous and didn’t charge as much as we expected. 😊 Unfortunately, Jazz wouldn’t start. Her battery wouldn’t turn the engine over. ☹ She wasn’t ready to come home?

It's a heavy bike, much concentration
required after a winter's break.

Back into Hanover to Car Quest, we picked up a new battery (ouch!) and things went smoothly from that point on. I dropped M’s items off and met Bill back at home. He said it was a nice ride, not cold at all. ♥ I love seeing him on the bike and I love being on behind him too! Jazz is parked in her shelter and all the groceries were put away. 1 o’clock, time for a late lunch. Clam chowder from the cupboard worked well. I was starved.

It was difficult after seeing him in his
leathers, but I let him get back on Jazz. ♥

For some reason, we/I was especially tired. Last night’s 11 pm bedtime was a bad idea, getting up so early. Not my usual hours for sure. We had a snooze (Bill in his recliner and me upstairs) and I was surprised that I was gone for an hour! I felt much improved when I came down at 3:30 but neither of us felt like starting anything outside at the stage. The winds today were making the 13C/57F feel colder.

Here is Bill's Dad's birdhouse, repaired
and installed. Looks great!

Just chillin'

Our whirly-jig is up and twirling today!

I finished my book, it was so good, and at 5:15 Bill barbecued his famous burgers. Our first bbq since we left Park Place RV Resort. 😊 They were goooood, as usual and really sloppy. ♥ Bill went to the Hangar and handed over his laptop so I could write today’s blog post. I'm glad he was happy to share! The good news is that Tim called and is installing a new hard drive in my Lenova! Woohoo! He said my original (8 yrs old) was working at less than half what it used to. 😊

Gibbs found a goose feather
and likes to chew on the 'plastic' spine.
I tossed one away and it landed in this bush.
Eventually, the wind blew it down so he got it again.

I’m so happy! The cost will be about $600 less than a new laptop – at least. This has turned into an awesome day. Now if I can manage to download pictures into my post, I’ll be feeling pretty great too!

Taking the opportunity to grill supper.

To this, I added pickles, onion and tomato.
Real messy - real good!

Happy birthday to my sister-in-law, Carol, today. We had a few laughs during our phone call this morning. ♥

Because I'm on Bill's laptop, I don't have access
to my gallery of pictures.
This is an old one of Carol from Bill's collection but it defines her
powerful giving nature. ♥
You deserve a wonderful day, Carol!

Good night!

Thank you for popping by!

This is Perfect! We Took Advantage

The Ridge

On Thursday, Apr. 25^th I slept in until a few minutes past 7. When I woke, I got a face wash and cuddles from Gibbs and I could hear that Bill was sleeping downstairs in his recliner. I knew they got up at 6 for Gibbs to go out. I remained where I was and likely dropped off because the next I knew, it was 7:35. 😊 I stayed up until 11 last night again, watching a couple of Survivor episodes.

These were Wednesday night's sunset views

Today is the day we’ve been looking forward to. The winds were minimal ALL day, reported as ‘calm’ on our forecasts (unheard of!!) and we wasted no time getting out there. After my shower we had our morning drinks with our choice of breakfast. Cereal for Bill and Baked Oatmeal (not oatmeal, Bob 😊) for me. Bill was out first with Gibbs and I dusted and vacuumed before I joined them. We did have to layer up as it was a bitter cold of -4C/24F.

I wish our pond was really this blue
but alas this is the sky reflection.
Still beautiful.

Bill put our berm hill flag pole and flag up first and then went about straightening the storage shed. It was quite messy. First thing I did, was fill a big bird feeder to make the flying critters happy. In the course of the day and early evening, it worked. Chickadees, sparrows, wrens, a brown thrasher, a blue jay visited the area and an eastern meadowlark and Wilson’s snipe sang from the trees. They never visited the feeder. My Merlin bird app picked them all out today. ♥

I love to see the Thrasher visit.
It's rare up here.

I won’t go into too much detail of what we all did today but the finished product was a cleaner, more organized Bunky, same for the storage shed, old cardboard, paper, knitting patterns burned in the fire pit and a few signs, solar lights and bird houses hung and set out. The Ridge is slowly coming together and we are so pleased. From 8 am until 4 we were all outside. 

Gibbs had me laughing as he was sure there was
something in the wood pile.
He wiggled, squirmed, poked, sniffed and barked.
I saw nothing. 

Gibbs rested a lot.
Supervising is really tough!

We took a break for lunch and Bill took time to take his chainsaw down the road to Northline Service & Repair for 2 chains to be sharpened. It wasn’t long, before lunch, and our outer layers were being removed, one by one. I managed to get another small garden raked and cleaned up, giving the Evening Primroses a chance to reach the sun.

Boy I love to watch my man work.
He's fixing my bird feeder pole that was damaged
by the broken branch.

Our tall flag pole went up first.
Looks like a lot of wind up there on the berm
first thing but it died right off by 8 am. 

I’m being ruthless and I know Bill is too, as we go through our buildings. If we haven’t used it for a couple of years, we don’t need it. We have made plans for tomorrow, although the Jello jiggled from the original. We first thought M needed a new phone and were going to take him with us to Hanover so we could all take care of business. However, his phone is fine today and he heard from Bell that over 6,000 Virgin+ customers had a problem yesterday too. Phew! Saves him some $.

Twice, I walked down the lane.
Tough choices were made. Gibbs stayed behind
the first time so he was in between Daddy and Mom.
Second time, he followed me to check the mail box.

So, Bill and I will go and do our own thing. My laptop needs help so I’m taking it in for an evaluation (free estimate) and then we’ll decide what we need to do. It is 8 years old. I may be writing my blog on Bill’s for a week or two. I sat by the fire after we were done working and when the sun disappeared behind the trees the cool air brought me indoors. For supper, it was simple. We love these! Toasted bacon, cheese and tomato sandwiches. Awesome!

Easy, delicious supper.

I finished my blog, watching the birds ransack the feeders and then did another run through of my Word documents cleaning the old ones out. I need to do it more often but don’t. ☹ This has been an awesome day! 

We love our new fence adornment.

Oh! I almost forgot that we went down to the new gate and ‘installed’ our Mexico purchase. It looks great too!

I had some relaxing time after our work was finished too.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping in. Thank you to those of you who sent the warmer temps and especially the sunshine! ♥

Snow, Clouds, Sun and Always Wind

The Ridge

On Wednesday, hump day, Apr. 24^th I didn’t get up until 7:15. It is nice that I can go to my cleaning job at any time during the day, my own schedule. Now that I don’t have to go to M’s for 9:30, I feel so free. No rushing. 😊 I made a to-go tea and hopped in Ptooties at 7:30. Brrrr! It was/is nasty out there today! A brisk 0C/32F this morning and a crazy high of ………wait for it……2C/36F. It was snowing and blowing when I left although not sticking to the ground.

Good morning!
Yesterday, I mentioned the dead tree that had
a huge branch blown down.
This is the tree in the left hand picture.
It needs to be cut down.

When I walked into the Mat, I wasn’t sure if I was in the right place. It was almost spotless! Very little recyclables (3 containers), very little garbage (dryer sheets only), and all the machines were clean and free of dirt. Whoa! I did my usual walk around, removed those things into the bags in the back room and decided to go through the Lost and Found box. I needed to see what was there so in a week, I know what to launder and pass on to the thrift store.

Unless you look close at the black wall
of the Mat, you may not see the snow.
It looks like evening driving home on Baptist Church Road.

5 or 6 items were tossed, damaged in some way beyond saving and set everything else back in the box for another day. I emptied lint trays in the dryers, which only 2 had been used, wiped the top of the machines and then dust mopped the floors. Lastly, I got the wet mop out and washed the floors for good measure. I was filling in time. After driving in, I wasn’t going to turn around and go home. I marked my hour on the calendar in the office and drove to the Ridge.

Right now, the drive up our lane is pretty
dreary too but soon leaves will enhance it's summer beauty.

The snow had stopped by this time but our front stoop was crunchy with it. It doesn’t get sun on it until about 2:30. We hung out inside. First, I worked diligently on deleting old documents and videos from my laptop (of course, I had to look at them all first) and then I worked on the tenant’s lease for M’s apartment. He has a new tenant moving in on May 1^st so I want it to be in order. Speaking of………M dropped over requesting help for his phone.

Sitting inside, reading, I noticed these lovely
prism colours on the floor and across my laptop.
My dear friend, Sheila, gifted me this little Angel
before we left Quartzsite. 💖💖

We had lunch, then popped over to offer our assistance and to show him the documents. That was an hour we’ll never get back. LOL. We returned home to Gibbs at 3. By now, the sunshine was ruler of the blue sky and it was lovely BUT the winds have not abated and it is terribly cold. I know that our friends in Quartzsite are dealing with the exact opposite, looking for ways to cool off. If only we could share. 😊

We finished up the leftovers tonight.
Yummy and easy!

I made a tea and started my blog. Bill went up to watch a movie until supper time and at 6:30, we had leftover brisket, potatoes, carrots, gravy and our own vegetable. Yummy! Another one of those Sunday night meals……….on a Wednesday. We loaded the dishwasher and settled in for the evening.

While blogging, I noticed the Chickadees
were enjoying the Niger seed.
Tomorrow, I'll get out the other bird feeders for them.

The good news is that the winds have died down a bit and the sun is still pretty high in the west sky. We’ll drop to a ridiculous low of -4C/24F overnight but we’ll be 12 degrees warmer tomorrow than today, with minimal winds. Yay! I think 12C/53F will feel springlike again. ♥ This was a low key but good day. Bill went to the Hangar tonight, with some heat on. He's happy to get back into that. 

Last night, I began watching Season 46 of Survivor. Used to watch it years ago when it started but lost interest. I enjoyed the first episode. It's the challenges that I like best. Bill joined me and we watched 2 episodes of Sullivan's Crossing and then 1 or 2 (?) of The Voice. We were both falling asleep and went to bed at 11. 

Three little pictures that I love almost as
much as I love to dance! 😀
Good night!

Thank you for the visit!

Not Much Happening Today

The Ridge

On Tuesday, Apr. 23^rd I was surprised to see mostly blue skies out my bedroom window. My forecast for today showed clouds and rain. By the time I got downstairs at 7:15, made my tea and chatted with Bill, it all pretty much changed. He had a busier morning than I did. It was still windy, a Ridge tradition apparently, and now that the clouds had covered the sky, it was cold. The 11C/54F we reached today felt nowhere near that. Brrr.

This is what a lot of our day was like.
Bottom picture, he's on the step, Bill is upstairs
and I'm downstairs in the kitchen. 

Bill was outside long enough to go and fill our water bladder (thank you Rob) and to get another propane tank filled. Both were bordering on empty yesterday, one completely and the second one absurdly close. Now we’re set for a while but it still needs to warm up. Our Blue Flame heater is our main source of heat, with the furnace only running for a couple of cycles first thing in the morning. This warms our floors up and the under belly as well.

I only went out once, after lunch, and that was to cart my 4 containers of paints and small rocks from under the bed out to the Bunky. Bill set up my folding table that I bought last winter. I’ve decided not to use the round table, it takes up so much room in there. Hopefully, this one will work for any puzzles I want to do. The rest of my day was basically a lazy one.

Baked keto oatmeal, for a few breakfasts
for me.

I researched a tenancy agreement for M, who is ready (finally) to rent out his front apartment again. It took forever to get the last ‘non-paying’ tenant out and Bill and I have offered to get him set up properly this time, with regulations and an agreement in place. With that tentatively done, I made a batch of my Baked Keto Oatmeal for my breakfasts. We were both wimps this afternoon and didn’t want to be outside. A good day to rest up from yesterday’s surge. Although, I must say that my stretching last night seemed to help. I felt pretty good when I woke up.😊

Two good meals out of a $5 brisket.
That's pretty good in my books.

We had corned beef brisket for supper with potatoes, onions and carrots. No cabbage, I don’t have any and Bill doesn’t like it anyway. Boy, was it good! It was so tender, the whole meal was cooked in Madame IP. She did a great job!

We didn't see the sun since first thing
this morning.
This was the closest we got.
Good night!

I took very few pictures today but have a couple of my lazy little boy and one Bill sent me of a broken tree branch from down near the pond. It’s a dead tree that we plan on taking down this summer before it falls on the Hangar. The winter removed this branch for us, thankfully, in the right direction. I forgot to download that picture,  so will include it tomorrow. 

I hope your day is warmer than ours and if it is, you can consider sending some our way. 😊

Thank you for popping in.

 

A Beauty of a Change! Go-Go-Go

The Ridge

On Monday, Apr. 22^nd there was no dilly-dallying. I was up at 6:30. I could see a clear blue sky out my window and wasted no time at all. I started sorting dirty clothes into two piles, came downstairs and made my tea in my to-go mug. Bill busied himself by getting the garbage emptied since today was our pick up day. He loaded Ptooties with the basket and empty water jug. I had a few errands to run but first was laundry and cleaning.

Good morning!
Bill took this for me
Sunday night's after sunset sky

I arrived at the Mat at 7:30 and I guess today was initiation day for me. ☹ The floor was littered and the garbage container and recycle bin were terrible. There are things that need to change in there and I guess I’m the one to push for them. Sandy, the owner, needs to either buy larger garbage bags to fit the container or he needs to give me the go ahead to do it for him. I’m sure he will. Because they are too small, they get pushed down in and added trash ends up all over the place.

When Bill took the laundry basket out to
my car, Gibbs rebelled. He's pretty good
at handing them over (Drop it or Give Daddy his slipper)
so we know it is an attention tact.

I’ll deal with that and the recycle bin in due time. I loaded our 2 washers, retrieved the $7 to pay for them from his cash bin (my laundry is included in my wage, which is great) and then swept the floor clear off the dryer sheets, papers, and everything else people drop. With the sunshine today and a stiff breeze, the clothes were going to hang dry at home. 😊

A beautiful morning but chilly
Exhaust from BB and pond reflections as I go down our drive

I left the Mat at 9:00, popped in to Foodland for milk, stopped at the Water Store to fill a jug and then lastly, dropped off our Income Tax forms at the accountant’s. We are always late so never expect it to be filed on time, April 30^th. Not a big deal for us. Tim is very good at processing our returns and doing the necessary exchanges from American/Mexican receipts into Canadian currency. I just wish it wasn’t so expensive to have him do them. We’d miss some key benefits otherwise.

Ptooties' shadow on North Line gave me a smile.
Look at her ears!
Beautiful Baptist Church Road

Back home, Bill was finishing up with the shelter. It’s really a two-person job but, of course, he did it himself. He was trying to get it up before the stronger winds hit, which they did, late-morning. We need to do something with that shelter this summer, the covers only last a few years and are costly to replace. They aren’t easy to install either. While I finished up, I hung our clothes on the line and Gibbs ran around between us, making sure we’re doing everything right.

Look at that sky!
A view of our summer home from the hill top

We just kept going, from one thing to another and emptied the Bunky and the storage shed. It felt good to have the weather to work in, although I admit to being double layered in hoodies against the cold wind. It wasn’t even 10C/50F yet. I moved on to the gardens and surrounding areas, now that I had access to our leaf rake. I started with my big garden, moved to the corral garden and corral. Boy, was I out of shape! I needed to take numerous breaks and moved back to the Bunky in between. I warmed up though and removed my top layer while I worked.

Gibbs keeps watch over us
The rhyme 'I'm the king of the castle' comes to mind.

Bill went into town and got a propane bottle filled, and got right back into work when he returned. He hopped on his mower, attached the harrow and did the gravel area that we park on. There were no weeds and the gravel was soft so it was a good time to do it. He cleaned up some branches that he’d cut last fall, on the west neighbour’s fence line. Mostly evergreens. The trees are on their side but they reach across the fence impeding our ability to cut grass along there.

From the top of the berm looking to the corral
My garden along the lane
Our gravel lot all harrowed.

We did stop for lunch at noon, I was famished, although I regretted sitting as soon as my butt hit the chair! It felt too good, so we pushed some more and got out there again as soon as we were done eating. 😊 I know, we’ll feel it tomorrow, at least I will, so I’ll do my yoga stretches tonight before bed. Lastly, Bill hooked up the little wagon to the mower and we loaded up the 6 or 8 piles of leaves and dumped them in the brush pile.

The shelter is up so we moved tires,
bike shelving, mower and wagon inside.
The wagon comes out when Jazz comes home.

Wow! Things look so much better, my gardens never get such early attention! The leaves end up mixing right in, I’m sorry to say, but not this spring. It was 2 o’clock when we put things away and came indoors. Bill snoozed and I played my first Word games, after missing the morning’s run. I didn’t feel tired, yet, but sure felt some soreness in my arms, lower back and thighs. I realized that I'd been on my feet since 7:30, unusual for me. Bill had his shower when he got up and at 5:30, he left for a pre-scheduled MRI at the Owen Sound hospital.  I brought the clothes in off the line while he was showering so they are all put away.

Where's Daddy going now????
this little bum melts my heart.

This is a follow-up, if you can believe it, from his rotator cuff injury last June. They aren’t planning surgery anyway but booked him in so who was he to argue? It’s just stupid, in our opinion, but perhaps he’ll see from it, just how well it has healed. It sure isn’t back to normal, which wasn’t good to begin with (his upper arm strength has been poor since doing custodial work for 9 years), and he still can only lift his right arm so high without discomfort. ☹

While waiting for Bill, the sky
put on a show.
Our Canada flag on the hydro pole flies proudly

We had the last of the stew/ghoulash for supper but it was late as I waited until he returned around at 8 before we ate. It was easy to heat up, at least. I didn't take a picture. It looked the same as the first and second night we had it. I did make up a small batch of 5 more biscuits to eat with it though. I had sprouts, Bill had corn. 😃

We reached a high of 13C/56F but only felt like 10C/51F with the cold winds. We are very grateful for the day, as we got a lot accomplished. We had a very low key evening, both too tired to do much else! Ha ha. We watched our NCIS and NCIS Hawaii programs live. For the first time since we got home, we were able to use our solar power to charge batteries and save a bit on hydro/electric. Bonus!

It was much prettier in person but I hope
you enjoy it from my pictures

Thank you to the ladies who offered suggestions for my sweater disaster. I think I’ll try Nancy’s as it was something I wondered if I would be able to do. It is nice wool, IF, and I hope this isn’t the case, IF all else fails. 😊

Now, to the west.
The waning gibbous moon lights up the sky.
It is 21.08 days old today.
Tomorrow, it will be full. 

PS – Gibbs has been outside with us all day too. Not once did he stray from our sight and only a couple of times did we hear him bark – not sure at what – but he is being the best little guy up here. He is happy. ♥

Good night!

Thank you for the visit!

Blowin’ in the Wind, Warm Sun Though

The Ridge

On Sunday, Apr. 21^st we were both in a bit of shock when we saw sunshine rising in full view out our back window. We also knew that it wouldn’t last long because there was a large presence of cloud hovering just above it. Last night, or the wee hours of the morning, we dropped to a chilly 0C/32F and that’s about where it was at 7. I was up at 6:45 as I seemed to be slept out after my 8 hours of blissful slumber. 😊

Good morning!

I joined Bill downstairs and we sat and had our morning brews together. Tea is still my go-to drink first thing. Lots of cream and a tablespoon of coconut oil tops it off nicely, giving me the fat to keep me full until my mid-morning coffee. Sometimes, I have yogourt but not every morning. Although cool/cold outside, we both were anxious to get ‘something’ done today since there was to be no precipitation of any shape or form.

Front and back put up
That's a start

Bill went out before it got too windy and began covering the shelter. This houses our Yamaha, Ptooties winter tires, the shelving unit for our bike boots & helmets and the new riding mower. He said he’d call me when he needed my help so I stayed out of the way. I did bundle up myself though, in long johns under my jeans, before putting Gibbs’ coat on and grabbed my winter coat from the Bunky. Then we went out to greet the day. Brrrr.

The outhouse is the first to get
cleaned out and decorated

The sun was certainly warm but the clouds were making a game of hiding it just as we were feeling the heat. Out, in, out, in was the game. 😊 Bill managed to get the ends on the shelter only, and I did help a wee bit holding them in place while he did the hard part of bolting and attaching the metal joints. We leave the frame up all year but it is still a pain to get the covering in place.

Bill got the firepit out and
burned some cardboard.

We were hoping to have it all covered so we could move those items out of the sheds but it was too cold and windy to finish. I got my trowel and managed to get another small garden weeded.  We emptied the stored items out of the outhouse aka Ridge Restroom and I swept it out and hung a few things outside. We’ve learned from past years not to leave t.p. on the roller so I retrieved one of those as well. The mice like it too much to leave it out.

I'm very sad about my sweater
Any great ideas out there for you crocheters?
Or is it a lost cause?

Speaking of mice. I did find one on the floor yesterday in there, dead, and although we place the poison blocks in the sheds, they also found my hand crocheted sweater in the Bunky. ☹ I said a few choice words that I won’t repeat as I have no illusion that it can be fixed. It was perfect for campfire sitting, long enough to keep my behind warm too. It’s the only item of clothing they touched – so far – but the most important. I should have packed it in the Rubbermaid tub. Darn!

The goldfinches and
chickadees are happy I put the feeders out

Bill went to the Hangar and hung his solar light and wind sock and Gibbs and I came inside. My feet could not get warm! It was only 10 am, we’d been outside for a couple of hours, so I sat with Gibbs and started another book. This one is called The Good Girl by Mary Kubica and it’s a page turner. It won’t take me long to read. 

Across North Line
the cattle were headed out for their day

We had sandwiches for lunch and Bill went up to watch a movie and/or snooze. Gibbs was back and forth between us, seeking cuddles where he could get them. ♥

We hung around for the rest of the afternoon, still too cold to be outdoors for very long. The clouds mostly moved out, which means we’re in for another c-c-cold night.  It seems that the warm weather is in the provinces to the west so we’ll just wait until they are done with it. We can wait. 😊 

Simple but good.
I actually had some popcorn later. 😋

For supper, we had sausages on a keto bun and they were very good. The buns were too small but I like more meat anyway!

We’ve had a good day, despite the cool temps and look forward to starting our week with the promise of a change.

Good night!

Thank you for stopping in.