Rain Helps Water At Least!

The Ridge

On Thursday, June 20^th we wake up welcoming the Summer of ’24. Remembering childhood days, once summer arrived, it meant we were soon out of school and those dog days were for fun-filled days. I don’t ever remember thinking (not that I would remember necessarily) or shall I say that I can’t imagine thinking once ‘wow is the summer ever going fast!’ Things always seemed very slow paced for me.

Good morning!
this was the first morning in a while
that I sat out with my cuppa tea

Once I was of age to babysit, I had few paying jobs under that umbrella. I also had one collecting our elderly neighbours mail after school and then throughout July and August as well. She paid me kindly also including some freshly made date tarts (the best I’ve ever tasted!) and some dandelion wine for Daddy occasionally. 

Here I am, as an adult, and I think about it all the time – how time flies by. Once we hit July, we may as well be planning our trip south as it will be here before we know it! The heat has certainly arrived and although we’re indoors a fair bit right now, in the cool of the a/c, I don’t dare complain about any of it. The cool and wet spring days were getting monotonous!

After we dumped the black tank,
Bill puts the mower away.

There were no plans for the day so we lazed in bed until almost 8 again. We slept well with all windows open. We made our morning drinks and Bill fielded a couple of conversations with Billy, his work partner, inside while I took my tea out with Gibbs to the shaded patio. It wasn’t to be quite as warm/hot today but we closed windows and turned the a/c on for the day. It would still be hot and humid. 😊

So, we walked down to work at the front.

Bill mentioned dumping our black tank so I began that process while he finished up inside. He finished the job by pulling the blue boy over to the dump station near the outhouse. He wanted to do one more job so headed down the lane with the wagon and Gibbs (the supervisor) in tow. I joined him later and weeded the garden along the fence down there. Much better.

11:00, it said, is when the rain would start.
they weren't far off, it was about 11:20 when we got
rained on.

The dark sky moved over us and just when it seemed to have passed us by, we got dumped on. Bill was just finishing so we all ran up to shelter. Gibbs was looking like a drenched rat and I’m sure Bill and I looked no better. I don’t remember the last time I got caught in such a heavy rain storm with no where to go! We toweled dry and then relaxed until noon hour. Bill had his sandwich, made for work yesterday, and I had a few salad items with fried eggplant. Yum! 😊

We were pretty wet when we got to the Suite.
Bill was pulling the wagon with tools and ladder so
slipped into the Hangar.
Mom, you know I don't like the rain!!

Then I went out to the Bunky to work on the puzzle. I didn't make much progress, although a couple more border pieces were found. With the windows open, it wasn’t too hot in there this afternoon. I chatted with my dear friend, Sheila, and then fielded a call from Robin about working tomorrow. By then I was warm. It was 3 pm so I came inside to see my boys. Bill had turned the a/c back on and it was lovely in the Suite.

Bill barbecues our burgers.
Mine was really messy so I ate it with knife and fork
for the most part. 

I think the rain is done, we did have more sometime in the wee hours of the morning, and that means no hand watering again today. Yay! With our pump not working right now, I realize how spoiled I am. I use the rain water from the barrel and the pails under the Suite’s eaves. For supper, we had bbq’d bacon cheeseburgers tonight and soon, very soon, we’ll need to go for a meat stock up! Choices are limited.

My Evening Primrose and Dianthus.
Very different, like people, but beautiful together.

We cleaned up and relaxed for the evening. The air outside has cooled down since the rain, it’s a pleasant 25C/78F this evening. I hope you had a nice day as we did here up on The Ridge.

The finished product!
Just in time for summer and Canada Day.

The sunshine came out in time to set properly
but this is the last picture I took before settling in for the evening.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping by.

Things Changed in a Heartbeat

The Ridge

On Thursday, June 19^th we slept in – not getting up out of bed until 8. All of us and then, I was first. Bill and Gibbs had been out at 6:30 and both came back to bed. Yes, Bill didn’t go to work today. What I wrote in my blog yesterday was that we had a quiet evening inside the Suite. It didn’t turn out that way.

Good morning!
Okay, this was last night's sunset sky

We were driving so I had a few opportunities
of a good photograph

I was watching my program downstairs after posting and Bill was upstairs. He came down in such discomfort that at 9 pm, we ended up driving to the Hanover hospital, 20 minutes away. What you don’t know is that he has been having an issue with his right knee, since laying underlay and flooring at the house they’re working in.

Although sometimes, 'things' got in my way!

It was swollen before the weekend but being the stubborn man he is, good thing I love him so much, since he wasn’t in pain, he made it through the weekend and went to work again Monday and Tuesday. By Tuesday evening, after not sleeping well Monday night, he knew he had to give in and go to Emergency Services. Our hospital and emergency services in Durham are undergoing the same staff shortages that many others are so it was not an option, only open from 7 am to 5 pm.

After 3 hours in the cool waiting room,
we were directed in here for another hour where
the doctor visited us.This room was very cold for me.

We registered and proceeded to wait for 3 hours in the waiting room, listening to the 5 patients ahead of us about their 5 hour (!) wait. Okay, we were in for a long night. Long story short from there, at 1 am we saw the doc, the only doc on duty. Nice young man, no complaints there and he was relaxed, not rushed, as he told Bill it was looking like Bursitis.

Remember those detergent commercials?
"Can you see the difference?"
His leg was very warm to the touch
and quite firm.

He wrote us a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and we were home by 1:45. Bill’s pain had eased after getting a couple of x-strength Tylenol from the nurse upon arrival. That was last night and so Bill is taking, at least, the rest of the week off work to look after it. He has been icing it and raising it appropriately but now with the meds, he should be able to get it under control. Yes, he is stubborn in that he hates to give in – now tell me your partner is different?

Leaving Hanover, the construction pylons look
eerie - the blur helps with that!

So, this morning, I left for Durham at 8:20 and it was pleasant to arrive at a very cool air-conditioned Mat. I appreciated it as it was already 23C/78F. I had the intention of making a few stops but because I took Ptooties instead of Black Beauty, I’d forgotten to move some things over before I left.

But the moon looked awesome when we got home.

I popped into Foodland for a few more of those weekly sale items and then dropped his prescription off before heading for home. The remainder of the morning, for all of us, was holed up indoors in the cool of the Suite. We had French toast for lunch, mine open-faced, and then Bill and I drove back in for the water bottle fill, a drop off for Pat, fuel fill-up and the prescription pick up. Once home, we ‘chilled’ for the rest of the day.

This morning's sky was cloudy and it looks like
there is a small sun dog here too.

We reached another hot 32C/89F today with only a slight drop in our upcoming overnight temperature. We’ll turn the a/c off at bedtime and open windows again. Bill did sleep better last night, it was a long day for him for sure. 

My lunch was tasty, it's been a while since we've
had these.

There may be some rain showers a couple of times this evening so I shouldn’t have to water – but I’ll see later tonight. For supper, we had toasted bacon, cheese, tomato and lettuce sandwiches. Tsk on the bread but that gives me no guilt whatsoever. 😉

Supper was also tasty and almost
too much food for me.

This has been one of the laziest days for all of us but it was enjoyed, since we were all together. It does feel like a weekend day though with my sweetie home. ♥

How is this guy? He's quite happy on the cool floor.
We were all in this position for a lot of the day but
Bill was on the bed and I was in my recliner. 😂
Good night!

Thank you for the visit!

Testing the A/C 😊

The Ridge

On Tuesday, June 18^th it is hard to believe we’re in the last half of this month already! With the last day of spring just around the bend, the heat wave is giving us a taste of what our summer may be like. Before Bill left at 7:30, we closed all windows (I slept wonderfully last night though!) and turned the a/c on in the Suite. I pulled blinds on the southeast corner and later in the afternoon, on the northwest side.

Last night, it was a normal but still pretty sunset

I don’t know whether to count on it but hopping on the scales before my shower this morning presented me with a nice surprise. I won’t jinx it by saying any more than that but it is the encouragement I need. I’m not trying to lose a lot, just a belly’s worth. 😊 Gibbs and I stayed indoors until I had to go at 10 to take M into town for errands. It was only an hour and I was happy to get home and back inside.

Gibbs wasn't used to the sound of the a/c so when it came on
he thought it was a vehicle outside. About 3 times and he soon realized
he was 'hearing' things. 😁

By then, the 31C/88F was like a heavy wet blanket outside. The humidity around 78%, very high. I’m glad Bill isn’t working outside, although being inside a small house with no a/c is not fun either. ☹ I mostly read my book, it is hard to put it down, swept floors and sat with my little furball. He gets too warm sitting beside me in the recliner (we squeeze in there tightly) so moves to the floor or up on the headrest.

We snuggled for a while too, he's so soft,
I love his cuddles. 💕💕💕

I don't know if you can see that little
speck in the lane back there, but that's as far as he got
before finding his treasure. See ya, Mom!

We started for the mail after lunch but he found a large goose feather and that was his cue to turn around and come up for shade. There was no mail anyway but I was sure warm when I got back. 

He was enjoying the spine of the feather

The a/c had a hard time keeping up and we don’t like to hear it run and run and run so I’d bump it up every so often so it would shut off. When it was 89 outside and 86 inside, funny the relief we’d still feel. We only keep it a few degrees lower than the outside temperature. I don't want to have to put a sweater on!

This garden is so lush with greenery.
I don't know if you can spot two of my garden frogs.
One is almost completely hidden on the left.

Bill was home at his usual time of 4:45 and after his shower, I sent him upstairs to have his snooze. Better to stretch out up there than in his recliner. 

It looks pretty bland but tasted good.
Yum, cauliflower.

We had cold shrimp for supper tonight, (the freezer is looking bleak), with rice, mixed veggies and a serving of cauliflower for me. It was good but my plate wouldn’t win any magazine awards for attraction! 😊 We cleaned up the few dishes, and stayed put inside. It was quite comfortable in here by then.

When Donna from Hanover asked if we got the storm,
I watched it move off to the north.
Just wind and a couple of thunder dunders here.

Bye bye storm, be kind!

This was a good day with threats of a ‘storm’ coming from Hanover but it veered off to the north and we heard some thunder and saw a bit of wind for 10 minutes. Maybe we’ll get some rain later tonight. I did water my plants this morning so they are good for today. Thank you all for the concern for Gibbs' foot. I didn't bathe it today as he hardly licked it and it looked better. I will tomorrow, just to keep it cleaned up. 💗

There was some sky grumbling after supper
so we'll see if anything comes from it tonight.
Good night y'all!

Thank you for popping by. Your comments are welcome and fun to read.

Then it Got Hotter, We Both Found Shade!

The Ridge

On Monday, June 17^th I woke from a deep sleep to Bill calling to me at 7. “Are you awake?” He was leaving earlier than usual as he was going to get some blood work done, as a routine check, before going to work. I kissed him goodbye and then, slowly, made my way to total wakefulness by getting washed and dressed. Gibbs was sitting at the window as if to tell me that Daddy had left. 😊 

Good morning!

The mat outside our door was quite wet so it was obvious we had some rain overnight. I wouldn't need to water today. It was a bit later when I headed in to town to clean the Mat and soon after I arrived, one customer came in. Today was the day to clean the big dryer lint and that usually means an hour and a half clean. That was the case again and, on my way home, I stopped at the I.D.A. Pharmacy for a container of Epsom salts for M, since he’d given me his. They are on sale so I should pick up a full container for us too.

I opted for shade, wherever I could find it today,
seeing Gibbs' side for once. ♥

That was it for my work day and I was glad for it. The heat was rolling in, already a heated 23C/72F at 9:30. I pulled blinds but did open windows as the breeze was nice coming in. 

We watched this baby and mama red-winged blackbird.
She'd squack for food, and then watch as mama went for more.

We watched the group  of 5 Chippys
but Gibbs mostly just watched. Too hot to run.
A couple of times, he played the stealth hunter and crept
slowly before making a mad dash for them. 😂
After a nice Epsom bath, his foot is looking better
again today. Puzzler for sure.

There is no real ‘perfect’ way to keep cool inside, we just do what works for us until we’re ready to turn a/c on. That may happen tomorrow as the heat is with us for a few more days. Gibbs and I spent most of the day outside in the shade, on the patio, under the trees and in the Bunky. 😊

I read some of my next book.
It's a good one, caught me on the first page!

I worked on the puzzle for a while, breaking my cardinal rule of working on the easiest part first. The border wasn’t even completed! I figure the missing few pieces are skinny little things that I set aside because it was hard to tell what they were. I’ll find them eventually. The breeze in the Bunky was quite nice and I was very comfortable. Around 4:30, we moved outside to the shade again and that was when our time-keeper sat on the top of the corral hill.

I admired my Primrose gardens.
Finally colour at the front gate! ♥ Yay!

When I got tired of standing on the inside of the fence, I texted Bill to see how close he was. Another 30 minutes of waiting so I sat and Gibbs went back and forth a few times with the sound of each vehicle coming down the road. He was very good when Bill did finally drive in the lane and ‘stayed’ and ‘waited’ when Mom asked him to. I’m proud of how that training has sunk in – mostly. ♥ It was later so Bill started bbqing sausages around 6:15.

The wait - it was a long one today.

The reward - how sweet it is!

Who feels like eating in this heat? I had nothing for salad fixings so he had his on a bun and I had mine with a vegetable. It worked. The evening will be a quiet one, I might be sitting outside after my blog is done for a little while. This has been an easy day and I expect tomorrow to be the same. Robin paid me this morning for my weekend’s work so that is nice in our winter account. It helps a lot to build them up over the summer months.

We have to eat but some days..........
we just don't feel much like a big meal.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping around. We reached a humid high of 32C/89F today and that is very warm for us.

A Lovely Father’s Day! The Heat is On!

The Ridge

On Sunday, June 16^th, first off, Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there! I hope this has been an awesome day filled with laughter, hugs, kisses, cards, phone calls rather than texts and or gifts, whichever makes you smile. We woke up to 10C/50F with a cloud covered sky. The weather people said a high of 25C/77F so we’re looking forward to that. It was windy and by 10:30, the sun was out in full force.

Bill and the guys had decided to go to the flying field this morning, despite the windy forecast, even if it just meant a social coffee time. 😊 I thought that was pretty neat, indicative of their friendship. So, he left Gibbs and I around 8:15. I couldn’t remember that I was going to cut the grass this morning so got comfy with the little bum in ‘our’ recliner. I played my Wordle games and drank my tea.

I've probably showed you the Air Bnb I clean but
since my sister asked for a picture, I'll share it. 

At 10:45, Bill returned home, just as I was making my coffee to go clean the house at Williamsford. After he got his cargo trailer parked down by the Hangar and was greeted by Gibbs, he decided to go get a bladder of water from the Acreage. Gibbs went with him and I followed a minute or two behind on my way too. The bnb was in really clean condition, that’s twice in a row! 😊

It's a sweet little house.

Unfortunately, the washer wasn’t working properly, between yesterday and today something went wrong. I informed Robin and I ended up bringing the dirty sheets and towels home to her house. She was on her way home, at the airport when we chatted, so I put them in her washing machine knowing she would be home soon to pop them in the dryer. She has more guests tonight so things are a-buzz for her!

I'm glad I remembered to cut the lawn.
It looks so much better and now with the heat wave coming,
I won't have to think about it.

Bill had a couple of small jobs to do so while he did that, I decided to cut the lawn. Duh! I totally forgot earlier. It was a hot day but the winds up here made it just perfect. It didn’t take me longer than 20 minutes and now everything looks tickety-boo. My sister, Gayle, and her hubby, John, were coming for a short visit here and then going to the Acreage to visit Donna and Gerry.

A short visit but it was nice to see Gayle and John
today.

They stopped by around 2:45 or 3 and were on their way within 45 minutes. Short and sweet. They are no longer just 40 minutes away, more like 70 minutes so they try to make the most of the trip. It really isn’t that far, in the scheme of things, is it? After they left, Gibbs and I fed the birds and watered the plants (or was it before they arrived?) so all critters are happy now. 😊

This is my next puzzle.
Pretty picture.

I’d bathed Gibbs’ foot again this morning, thinking it was improving, but he has been limping on occasion (except when chasing Chippy or running to guests!) and licking it more again. Darn, he may be going to the vet after all. I laid in the sun for a while since Bill and Gibbs were having their snooze.

I got a lot of the border done before I stopped for the day.
It was time get supper started.

After 30 minutes, I started another 1000-pc puzzle. This one will be hard, I think, muted colours around the border and some odd-shaped pieces. Oh brother, and the challenge of having pieces on top of each other for a while will keep me sharp or make me nuts! We’ll see which one. 

This is the hairy part!!

For supper, I had spaghetti squash and Bill had spaghetti noodles with our meat sauce. Yummy and guilt-free for me. It was a nice change; I had a hankering for that!

it was good and there is some meat sauce left
for on toast for another night. 

After cleanup, Bill went to the Hangar for a bit and after my blog, I will watch some tv. Together, last night, we watched The Adjustment Bureau. We love that movie, quite an interesting plot if you haven’t seen it.

It was a great day today; I’d say darn near perfect! I hope it was for you all as well! Bill heard from all of his girls and my daughter, plus my son called (!!!) ♥ Ha ha, we were both very impressed with that! He also had a message from our dear friend, Colin, in B.C. He never misses a special day. Of course, we miss our own dads today, they are forever in our hearts.

When I came out of the Bunky,
there he is. Can you see our perfect little gentleman?
On that note, Good night!

Thank you for the visit.

Whoa! June is Stepping Up!

The Ridge

On Saturday, June 15^th, I had a busy work morning scheduled. Not hard work, mind you, but paying work. 😊 Bill and I left the Suite at the same time. With a laundry basket of dirty clothes in Ptooties, I was headed to the Mat to ‘launder’ and clean the facilities. Bill was on his way to hook up his cargo trailer and headed to the flying field near Hanover. He was a happy camper now that the weather is finally straightening up. It is supposed to be windy later so he’s hoping for some early flights.

Good morning!
Now that right there is perfect
clothes drying weather!

There was no one at the Mat when I arrived but halfway through my cleaning, a nice older gentleman came in. He was a chatterer but very nice, curious about my lifestyle in the rv, Arizona and such. Not that he has any endearing thoughts of either but still, he was pleasant and interested. 😊 When I finished cleaning, I semi-folded and placed our damp clothes in the basket.

I'm sorry Mrs. Dove for a scare again but my
clothesline is up here! It allowed me this photo though.

I debated popping into Rethreads (2nd hand store) to see if they had any decent 500-pc. puzzles but it was 8:55 and the Closed sign was on their door as I drove by. Nope, I scooted home, and Gibbs came out to help me hang the clothes on the line. He keeps watch, you know, for Chippy. I was sitting inside with him when Robin from Nfld that her guests had checked out of the bnb. It was only 10 so that was nice that I could go earlier than usual.

you've probably noticed that I have a 'thing' for some
trees in the area. This is yet another favourite
down Baptist Church Road to the north.

It was 10:30 when I pulled out with some nibblers to get me through the lunch hour. I like getting in and out asap since she has other guests coming after 3. The place was left in really decent condition! You’d hardly know anyone had stayed there, they took such care to ‘leave(almost) no trace’ with beds made up and garbage neatly bagged and the firepit empty of unburned items. 😊 That’s nice.

Some Potato Vines with a Dichondra
(or Silver Ponysfoot)
will make a nice drooping planter

I stripped the two queen beds and set everything in the machine to wash while I worked. I was done, with the sheets and towels in the dryer, by 12:30 so a 2-hour job. I stopped in Durham at the Foodland to check out the sale prices in their garden centre. I didn’t think I’d buy more but with such great reductions, I couldn’t resist and the plants are almost better than they were two weeks ago. I’m happy I stopped.

My flowering Raspberry is blooming too.

Back home, Bill had arrived home around noon, had eaten lunch and snoozed. I was glad about that since I didn’t expect him to wait to eat with me. I had a bit of cheese and ham with yogourt and that filled me. He was happy to get 3 flights in this morning before the winds made things too scary. 

Gibbs slept while he could hear the trimmer running.
When it stopped he had to go find Daddy.

We all went outside and that’s where we remained until 4:30. Bill got all the weed trimming done up at this end of the property. Gibbs and I were lazy and just relaxed in the sun/shade. ♥ My grass is growing so fast, now that he’s trimmed, it looks worse, so in the morning I’ll give it a shorter cut. 

My chariot awaits 💕

We discussed supper plans and hopping on Jazz to drive to Jenny G’s, our favourite truck stop, made us both happy. They weren’t open on our last ride when we stopped mid-week. I ordered just deep-fried halibut, Bill had a cheeseburger and we shared medium fries. I didn’t want a whole order, neither did he. It was perfect and finger-lickin’ good! I'll do that again.

A picnic table in the sun was nice so
we took our jackets off.
But on the highway, we sure needed them.

Yummy!

We had noticed the air was cool, only 16C/62F on a motorcycle does not a warm ride make. Sitting at the picnic table to eat was hot enough to take our jackets off. Funny how much wind you have when riding. We headed for home. It was a great ride for just over an hour, with 40 minutes of that on the bike. 😊 Bill hopped in the shower and I finished my blog post for the day. We only got as warm as 18C/65F but with no clouds and moderate winds, it felt hot.

We love our rides, long or short, and hope to have
lots this summer but returning home safely, to our little bum, is also something
we love. 💖
Good night!

What a wonderful day! Thank you for the visit, your comments are welcome.