The End of April but Not the End of the Cold

 The Ridge

On Thursday, Apr. 30th, I was awake when Bill got up and they went outside. It was 5:45. Too early for me. It is a morning to clean but I was waiting until 7:45 to go in. Then when I was finished, the accountant's office would be open.

Good morning!
My drive home.
Baptist Church Road.

It worked out perfectly. I parked Black Beauty in front of his office and waited the 15 minutes until they opened. I was FIFO. (First in, first out.) Bill owes big this year but at least I get a nice chunk back this year. It won't cover his but better than last year.

Bill's Hangar is lonely.

From there, I backtracked to the water store to get a jug filled. Mark and I shot the breeze for about 15 minutes until Lion Brian came in to fill jugs. Woops! Better get out of the way. 😀 I left there and stopped at Impact Tire to buy my C the A tickets from Jackie. She was busy........(teehee) in the back.

Gibbs is ready to go down to 
the mail today.

Then one quick stop at Robin's to drop off the plaques I made for her bnb's. I'm sorry I didn't get to see her yet. She's headed out in the morning. That was it. My morning jobs were done and it was only 10:30! Gibbs was waiting for me at home.

He has to be first back up the hill
too.

It was a cool morning but if you could stay out of the wind, the sun was gorgeous. Still too chilly to hang around outside though. Just ask Gibbs. 😀 A couple of times through the morning and afternoon, we walked down the lane. I'm trying not to be a wimp!

The run to the top and
then the rest.

I had lunch and started working on my winter trip book. Usually I wait until mid summer but Donna mentioned that Walmart was cheaper than Photobook so I thought I'd try it. It was, and they always are, tricky to get into it but I've almost finished.

Supper was good

Bill was home at 5:15 and I caught him up on the Income Tax stuff. He paid his o/s taxes online and I started supper at 6. Leftover meatloaf, reheated in Madame IP, corn in the microwave and rice on the stove. Thanks again for the reminder, it was great with mushroom soup added.

The clouds have filled the sky.

I cleaned up the dishes and Bill made his lunch. He'll be asleep in minutes. 🤭 I finished my blog then my book. 

So, not expecting a sunset.

It was a cool 8.33C/47F today and will drop to 1.111111111111C/30F overnight. Frost on the windshield in the morning, dear. 

My boys sleep together
So cute.
Good night!

I had a good day, and hope you did too. A shout out to my brother-in-law, Gerry today. Happy Birthday!

Thank you for dropping by.

Spring Has Departed - No, Wait. This is Ontario.

The Ridge

Right now, do I wish to have a little bit, just a wee bit of that Arizona heat. On Wednesday, Apr. 29th Bill was up with Gibbs at 6 and then preparing for a work day. It is cold, yes, but not raining, so they are able to work on their out-of-doors job.

Good morning!
This is how our day looked
until late afternoon.

I didn't have to clean this morning, so said my goodbyes from the warm bed. Bill had the furnace on, as most mornings he does for a couple or three cycles. It warms the floors nicely where the fireplace or Blue Flame heater do not. 

This is behind Bill's Hangar.
Remember the 'pond' Gibbs played in?
It's gone.
Soon, Bill will be able to get to those
broken branches, it will be dry enough.

Gibbs hung upstairs with me again, knowing Daddy was not downstairs. He watched him leave from our bedroom window and then curled up at my feet. I had my tea and then hopped in the shower. Today, I had a date! 😉 

Also, our front field is drying up.

I took Gibbs out for a piddle and sniff and then I drove B.B. into Pat's for a visit. This was the best day, so far, for us to reconnect. Yesterday, she gave me great news. She was able to attend the Ladies clothing exchange on Saturday after all! Yay! I'm pretty sure it will be all 3 of us 'musketeers' again.🤞 

This little cutie was entertaining.
So many of Gibbs' traits.

Pat, Bella and I had a really nice visit. If it was an outside kind of day, I would have taken Gibbs but decided to have a more relaxed visit this time. He and Bella would make a roller rink out of her house, methinks. 😂

Is this a bossy look?
you bet your *** it is!

When she dropped her bone,
I got a look. I know what she wanted.
😂She's a little cutie pie.

It was great to see her and after a cup of tea and wonderful chit chat with my Buddy, 2 hours later I headed home. I wasn't home 20 minutes, eating lunch, when I got the call that our Income Tax was ready. The same I.T. that we were clearly told would NOT be ready before the deadline of Apr. 30th. 

Bill will be working tomorrow, so I will pop in to pay the bill, have the staff e-file them and bring our paperwork home. I need to fit in a visit with Robin before Friday, so maybe in the same trip I can do that. She's heading to Manitoba for 10 days.

Back home, after lunch,
I shelled one bag of pecans from
the freezer.
Thank you Paw Paws Harvest Host!

So, I sat and shelled one bag of the pecans (pe-cahns) 🤭 that I picked up from Paw Paw Pecan's Plantation. They've been tucked in the freezer. Out of one bag, I got 12 oz. of fresh, tasty nuts and that's a savings of about $20. I'm quite pleased that only about 10 had to be discarded.

Finally, we've seen Chippy at the seed block.
It is almost gone, piggy Grackles.

Before I made my tea, I made a pan of meat loaf for supper. Madame IP to the rescue again. One of Bill's favourite meals. He could probably eat my meatloaf and his fries every night of the week! 🤫 I have some potatoes to fry up for him as well and coleslaw to eat.

Some pictures around the pond.

I do believe she has a nest there. 

Gibbs and I then walked down the lane where he managed to sneak to the edge of the pond and come up with dirty feet. What a little mutt! Bill messaged before 3 that he should be home around 4:30. Well, that will be nice! Beats 6 o'clock! It was 4:15 when Ptooties came up the lane.

The Blue Jays make an appearance
occasionally,

We caught up on each other's news and at 5:15, I put the meatloaf in to bake. Bill and Gibbs dozed until it was ready at 6. Madame IP does such a great job, exactly 25 minutes baking plus beginning and release times. I fried up the leftover potatoes for Bill and mixed up coleslaw for our side.

This is a better picture from my
big Canon camera.

It was a great meal, with leftover meatloaf for a couple or three more nights. Funny thing, it has been dull all day, no real rain, no real wind, but no sunshine until about 3:30. Then the sky cleared right out to prepare for a very cold night. Great. 😢

Doesn't look like much but
it was filling and I had a keto brownie
for dessert.

I tried to reach Robin about a pop-in visit tonight but she must still be out and about. I won't get to see her before she leaves after all. She's such a busy lady! I'll drop off her plaques at her house tomorrow so she has them. 

We watched Survivor together at 8 and then I found a movie to watch. It has been a good day. It was so nice to catch up with Pat, she looks great. We reached a chilly high of 8.89C/48F, dropping to 1.666C/35F. Brrrr. The ****flurries were mentioned.

Good night!

Thank you for coming around.

A Warm but Wet Day - Videos, just because

The Ridge

On Tuesday, Apr. 28th I woke up hearing Bill downstairs on the phone. He was chatting with his co-worker, Billy, about whether or not they would be going to work today. They are working outside on a house in Guelph, so the present and pending rain has made them cancel the day.

Good morning!
There is a deep discussion here.
Daddy told me he was going to work,
yet, here he still is.
What's going on?

I was happy for Bill (& Gibbs) but it also meant that it would be an inside day for them here too. What did we do? Well, firstly, I headed into town shortly after 7 to clean the Mat. It was quick and easy and I was back home by 8:30.

I pulled out a couple of wood palettes
that needed my special touch.

The rain had pretty much stopped by then but we still just hung around indoors. Because Bill was up early, he and Gibbs dozed off in the chair. I sat at my craft table and worked on a new creation using one of my dollar store palettes. 

What do you think?

Sometimes my head hurts trying to come up with new ideas but not so much that I don't want to do it! 😂 This one turned out pretty good, I think. Bill did our banking this morning, since it was payday from the Government pensions. 

A walk down to the mailbox.
After the rain.

After an egg and toast lunch, he went down to the Hangar. While he was down there, I worked more on quilling and then Gibbs and I walked down to get junk mail from the mailbox.  

                            These are some of our 
                              Ridge sounds.

When Bill got a call that the chain for his chain saw (to cut those broken tree branches) is ready for pick up in Hanover, he headed out. 

                                                                   

I stayed home with Gibbs and turned a movie on. It was that kind of day. The movie was called New Life and I enjoyed it. Bill caught the tail end with me. 

Waiting for Mom.
It's always a race for him.

It wasn't quite suppertime so we started watching Freedom Writers. A true story in Long Beach, CA in the 90's. We both found it very interesting and I'd like to find the book. For supper, we had fish and chips and I opted for squash instead of the fries. What's wrong with me? I know, right?

                        Gibbs is quite the 'marksman'

                                  when it comes to Chippy. 

Tonight was NCIS night so we watched it together, listening over the harmony of the chorus frogs seeping through the windows. Bill's least favourite sounds. It was a good day, I made a couple of plans for tomorrow and the weekend and basically took it easy.

We reached 15C/59F on our last warm day for a while, dropping to 5C/41F. Up and down, we're all getting tired of this roller coaster. I hope you've had a good day too. Oh, and thank you so much for all of your kind words regarding my friend's passing. It means a lot.

Elle-Scott is back in place
in our big periwinkle garden.
Kermit in the background,
he got left out all winter.
Woops!
Good night!

Thank you for the visit.

A Confusing Day for Someone and Not What I Was Expecting

The Ridge - It's a long one today

On Monday, Apr. 27th I woke at 4:30 and knew that Bill would be getting up in 30 minutes. Yes, today, he starts working for Mike again and this will be the longest day for him. Not only long because he is committing to 8 hours after 6 months off but long because it is about an 80 minute drive to the location.

Good morning!
Last night's beauty.

He will be driving to Billy's place first in Listowel (60 min.) and they'll drive the work truck from there to Guelph. This makes a 2 hour drive for Bill each way. 🤔 That is a long day. Anyway, he'll figure out what works best for him.

One little boy doesn't
want to come down yet.

That explains why he was up at 5 and on the road at 6.  I, on the other hand, didn't get up until 6:45. I wonder if Gibbs knew at that point that his whole day would be 'off'? I did my usual stretches with the little guy's kisses and cuddles already out of the way. 

This is the good morning photo

When I got up and made the bed, Gibbs sat on the step rather than going downstairs. No Daddy, meant no reason to go down. 😞 He usually sits with Bill once I get up. They are so smart and I knew he'd miss him today.

Eventually, he came down to join me while I had my tea and breakfast. I caught up on blogs this morning and boiled eggs for sandwiches for Bill this week. Madame IP still makes the best hard boiled eggs! So easy to peel. I used up the last 7 from the dozen that was in the fridge.

When I was searching for M's brother's
address, this areal view of our property
came up. Love these photos.

I know my regular followers (blurkers) are familiar with M, who I worked for in his auto shop for 3 years and then have been driving into town for the last 2 years. I messaged him when we returned home, having not heard from him since Mar. 4th. 

🤔No response, which is unusual, so I called and his number is no longer in service. I know he was still having issues with his legs and had also contracted a bad batch of shingles. Finally, this morning, I searched on 4-1-1 (which is a 'find people' app) for M's brother, Jim.

I called and left a message for him to call me. When he returned my call, I asked about M. He was very blunt, which frustrated me, and said he was 'dead'. I was shocked by his lack of compassion as he told me but I knew they had their differences over the years so brushed it off.

The news hit me hard. I mean, I just assumed he was in the hospital still and that his phone had run out because of lack of funds. I didn't expect this. I feel terrible that I didn't get to say goodbye and I even worse that he didn't get to say goodbye to me either. 

I know he appreciated me, my help, my friendship and so I hope he knew I wasn't home yet and that's why he never saw me. It was April 6th. His brother is cleaning his place out and his children have his ashes, so I feel good about that. He didn't have great relationships with all of them either. 

He was a bit of a complicated man, I know that. He drove me crazy, often, but such was our relationship that he knew that........because I told him! I have to think of the better times, but I'm still sad. I wanted to share that, he was a part of my life for the last 8 years, which means you knew of him. 

Good thing that I have a few cards
made up in advance for special days.
May is a busy month.

This morning, Gibbs and I went outside a couple of times to drop cards in the mailbox. It is a windy day but sunny and mild. I disconnected from power and switched on the inverter. May as well use our solar as much as possible. 

Pond pictures with reflections
are always picture worthy.

I wasn't hungry for lunch after my 11 am coffee but that isn't unusual. I'd eaten a banana and cream for breakfast. Often, I eat lunch just because Bill is here and it's what we do together at noon. LOL Not a good habit, I know, but sometimes I AM hungry.

Gibbs moseys along behind me.
Such a cute little bum!

My afternoon tea will suffice until suppertime with some yogourt and cheese in between. I have a keto, low carb, no sugar brownie mix in the cupboard so decided to try it in Madame IP as well. I may not have an oven in here for awhile so thought I'd see how it bakes.

So, today, I dismantled the broken section
of fence. Now my rhubarb will get more sun.
Plus, it looks much neater again.

As for the brownies, they didn't turn out half bad! They are very moist and I'm not sure if that is normal for this mix. I wouldn't call them 'chewy' as the box says but they will be a treat for us. Gibbs went outside again and took another walk down the lane before sitting on the patio.

Some of these cedar posts were
long and heavy so glad I didn't have to
carry them too far.

The sun is gorgeous but the wind is cool. I got out my gloves and started moving cedar posts that had fallen down over the past summer and winter. They look very messy so I finally moved them, threw them alongside the brush pile for cutting up and raked the area. Much better!

A different angle with the fence
section gone and leaves raked.
I added one of the posts at the corner.

More patio sitting and Gibbs finally decided he wanted to snooze inside. He went up to the bedroom immediately. 💕 I get it. The whole day is different for him. At 5:15, Bill messaged that he would be home around 6 so I began slowly prepping supper. It's like Gibbs knows, because he's sitting with his nose pressed to the door. 

Almost as if he read Bill's message.
At 10 to 6, he sat here, nose pressed
to the door screen.

Bill drove up at 6 and boy, did we have an excited puppy! Within 20 minutes, we were eating chicken thighs (way too small!) fingerling potatoes and our vegetable. Bill had a brownie for dessert and approved. 😉 He made his egg salad sandwiches and packed his lunch. 

Supper was good but I was
disappointed the thighs were so small.

Back in the routine, he had a good day. So did I. We reached 18.889C (🤭 Jim)/66F so no complaints here! Going down only to 10C/50F tonight so we shouldn't need heat on. Good. 

Clouds moved in tonight,
possible storm coming,
so these are from last night as well.

Good night!

If you're still reading, thank you for stopping by.

 

Getting Good at Being Home

The Ridge

Happy Sunday, Apr. 26th! We woke to a frosty morning but just a light frost was evident on Ptooties windshield by the time I was ready to take her out. It was around 7 when I got up and moving. Bill and Gibbs had been out and back in already.

Good morning!
A picture on Baptist Church Rd.
at what I call Turbine Lane,
on my way to work.

I made my tea, grabbed a banana and some yogourt and went in to clean. I took our towels and bath mat in to wash so they wouldn't need to be done on next weekend with everything else. There was only one customer in the Mat when I arrived, Dollar Store Dave.

A pretty sky, a lovely day

Two others arrived and left during the hour and a half that I was there. I emptied the L & F and washed those items as well. It was a full load. LOL I also grabbed the dirty cleaning rags that Ron had continued to throw in the 'to be washed' pail. 18 of them! I guess doing laundry isn't on his list. 😂

I weeded the front garden before
my plants got going too much.
Bill hung our Mexico purchases
on the gate wall.

I put down my 90 minutes and finished drying the clothes and bagging them. They didn't completely dry so some came home to hang on the line with our towels. 

Also, along the fence before the
tiger lilies went crazy in their growth.

It was another beautiful day here on the Ridge. The wind was cool this morning, early, but the sun was so powerful that we didn't notice.

Gibbs saw our neighbour's
from this vantage point, so we waited
and watched as he protected us.
😂

We bustled around bringing a few more items out of the outhouse for hanging and Bill began working on the pump system from the pond. He's  determined to get it working this summer so we have water to wash vehicles and water plants. 🙏

This little piggy went
back into the pond for drinks
today.
What a character!

We stayed out for a lot of the day, Gibbs doing his usual supervising and security duty. I did go through the Bunky again and brought a few of Bill's work clothes in and checked out what books I had out there. 

A couple of rhubarb patches
are coming along.

In the Suite, we have a 'book' cupboard that is full of books, cd's and dvd's. Bill and I haven't been reading as much over the winter as we were at the beginning of our travels so I removed most of those and stacked them on my shelf in the Bunky.

Bill is happy on the days he
can hang our flag.
Our new neighbour, Adam, drove his
quad over in the field behind us.
What a unique way to 
introduce ourselves! 
😅

It was around 2:30 when we both said, that's it. We were done for the day, time for more enjoyable things. Bill went to the Hangar and I came in and finished my craft project. 

Should I say that he was
a very nice man?
Remember the chickens?
He brought us a dozen eggs.
Obviously, some of his chickens
are Easter Eggers.
I learned something today!

Bill came up at 5:30 and began grilling sausages for supper. I cooked a piece of pepper squash and mixed up some coleslaw.

This is the healthiest snapper
we've seen yet on the property.
Very prehistoric looking, right?
Gibbs stayed well away from him.

Bill had his sausage in a bun but I stuck to veggies with mine. It was very good and filling. The dishwasher cleaned up for us and we watched the episode of Sheriff Country that we missed on Friday night. This was a great day, a few more things off our list.

Bill worked for a while on
the water pump connections.
I have faith he'll get it working
soon. 

Bill made a lunch as he is back on the job tomorrow for one week to start. One of Mike's employees is on vacation so asked my sweetie to start a week earlier than he'd planned. No worries, things are coming along here. Gibbs and I will miss his presence around here,.

The turtles were enjoying
the sunshine today, too.

We reached 18C/64F, dropping to 6C/43F overnight. Goodness we need it stay warm for longer than that! Today is Bill's sister,is celebrating a birthday today so we called her this afternoon. 

My supper tonight.

I hope her card, the one with the lady in the dress, arrives before too long. Happy Birthday, Carol!

I finished my first canvas
board today.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping by.