Getting Home Things Done

The Ridge

On Friday, July 24th I really didn't want to get up. I guess I really wasn't ready for bed at 10 when I went and tossed and turned until after 1.  Once I realized it was a no-cleaning morning, I was relieved and stayed put until 7:15. 

Good morning!
Bill walked down to the lane's end
to meet Billy.

Bill was getting a ride with Billy at 7:30 so he wasn't rushing around either. I was up to say goodbye and made my tea before having a shower. Showers are hit and miss for us, unless we are really working up a sweat (🫣🤭), a sink wash is often what we have. 

5 Moonflowers today in
two gardens.
I can't wait to add them all up!

Of  course, special occasions warrant a hop in the shower stall! It's usually when my hair is so obviously dirty that I take care of business. More info than you wish to know, perhaps? Oh well, there you have it. 

I braided my hair and went right out to see if 'Sputter Fly' is going to start for me. I plugged the battery in yesterday so it should be fully charged and ready to go. Well, it didn't start out too well but I managed to encourage it enough to finish all but one narrow strip of long grass. Then she died, full on died. 🤔🥺

I couldn't see Gibbs' eyes well
so I'm sure he couldn't see either.
I trimmed his 'bangs/eyebrows'.
Love the little sneer in his pose.
💗

We heard yesterday that our Ridge campout was going to be a success. Even though only one couple is coming with their rv, we totally enjoy this week. Bill has taken it off work and we have ordered good weather........starting Tuesday. 🤭

He is not fond of Stutter Fly either,
so stays well out of the way.
Plus he's on duty, you know. 😉

Because of their motor home, Bill and I have been watching the branches up the lane and ear-marked (in our mind) those that need trimming. He said 'we'll do it on the weekend'. Hah! I'm quite capable so put on my hat, grabbed the extend-a-pole trimmer and went down.

Once I start with something like that, it's hard to stop.  Much more than those we were sure of, got lopped off too. The lawn cutting took 15 minutes top before SF quit, but this manual work took me about an hour. I'm pleased with the job I did, patting myself on the back.

I did the hard work and look at
who is sleeping!
I guess, security guards need rest too.

By the time I finished and put the trimmer away, I was red-faced, in need of another shower (!) and walking on wobbly legs. There was no way I'd be picking up those branches today so I pushed them off the lane and sat in the shade with Gibbs at my feet.

No sooner had I sat down, around 1:30 and Billy and Bill drove up the lane. Nice that they were done early today too. Bill changed and hopped on the mower to cut the front field. When he ran out of gas at 3, he knew that he was done for the day as well.

I got washed - again - and made a cup of tea. Bill and Gibbs had their snooze before he did the same. We had to be at C the A for 5 pm and we were invited to Prez. Doug's place for a barbecue immediately following the draw. I have a salad to throw together to take along. 

Lot's of food at the bbq.

We had a hot day, but quite lovely, reaching 25C/77F by mid afternoon. Today, on my way home from town to get my tickets, I saw this cute little table in front of someone's home. Free is my favourite word, well, one of them, so I brought it home. I have a feeling it will be put to good use.

It might need a bit of sanding and
touch up on top but otherwise it is
perfect!

No win for us tonight but the Ace of Spades is still out there and the jackpot for who finds it is now just over $9,000. Wouldn't that be sweet? We left there and drove to Doug and Shelley's. They have a lovely home with mostly deck and pool for a back yard. I could handle that on these hot days!

It was very good!
I had a small piece of Darlene's
lemon meringue pie for dessert.

We enjoyed the meal and comraderie with Lion's members. Lots to eat and after the sun dropped below the horizon, it cooled off enough for me to put my sweater on. No one got in the pool tonight, like last year when two did. We left just after 9.

I was sitting with a perfect view

so watched the sun drop

The finale

Gibbs was eagerly waiting, he'd been alone for 5 hours. Such a good little house sitter. He piddled and did the vehicle tire check before coming back.. in. Bill was feeling zonked, no surprise, so he went up to bed by 10 and I followed soon after. We'd both worked hard today.

Just when I think I've taken the
best picture of the night,
I see this view.
The moon directs us up our lane.
Good night!

It was a really nice day. The weekend has begun! Thank you for your visit.

A Beautiful Day! A Birthday Too!

The Ridge

Let's start this Thursday, July 23rd off by saying, this is the kind of day I'll take forever! It was a cool start; Bill ran the furnace for a cycle when he got up at 6 and continued to get ready for work. I came down around 6:45 and started my day too.

Good morning!
I can tell it is going to be
a good one!

Bill left first with Black Beauty and I wasn't far out the lane after him, making my tea to-go. I drove straight to Battery Pro to get a bottle of water. A couple of regulars were at the Mat when I arrived and a couple of new notes (scraps of paper) were left on machines.

One Moonflower today
and
one I missed from yesterday.

I texted Sandy again about dropping more off and when I noticed the office light still not fixed, I mentioned that too. I took a picture of the machines in need of attention and he called right away. The light is not an easy fix so he apologized for that. 

A hassock full of toys
dropped at Robins'

At least now I understand the delay. His office assistant will drop more notes off today. 🤷‍♀️ It was only 8:05 when I left there so Impact Tire wasn't open yet and I didn't want to sit and wait for 25 minutes so drove home. 

Gibbs enjoys his morning
teaspoon of yogourt just
as much as I do!
(and he's fussy just like me!)

On my way, I stopped at Robin's and dropped off the toys and other purged items from the Bunky. I told her I didn't want anything for them but she offered to sell them all the same. When I had returned home, she texted that she had the morning off and was going to Williamsford, saving me the trip.

Some things in nature are
nice. I'll take this pretty garter
snake over the bears some of my
friends are seeing in their yards!

Works for me! I wanted to cut the grass once the dew was gone. Gibbs was happy, as always, to see me and so we hung together for the morning. I decided to make another pair of earrings and then went out to test my mower. 

My Echinacea/Coneflower
are finally beginning to bloom.
I love how the petals form slowly.

It worked for about 15 minutes then died so we definitely need new batteries. They aren't that old so I wonder if it is just the mower itself? I enjoy the grass cutting si I was disappointed that I couldn't finish and get a 'clean' result. 

My Midnight Snack cherry tomatoes
are starting to ripen.
Bottom up!

I pulled my screen tent out of the storage shed and noticed how much it has deteriorated over the winter, even in it's storage bag. This will be the last year and I fought to get pegs in our stone infused ground in order for it to stand up. LOL 

The screen tent is up!
Celebrating its last year though.

Gibbs and I enjoy the shade it provides and sat there until lunch time. After lunch, scrambled egg and bacon on an English muffin, I sat and got lazy.

We enjoy our tent

I got caught up in watching Youtube videos. Watching Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga singing Shallow gives me goosebumps. 🥰

Whenever Gibbs does goofy things,
I call him his 'Daddy's son'.
🤭
It must feel cool with the nylon
over top of him. 

I made a tea after 3 and we went outside again to sit in the tent with my book. We walked to get the mail, of which there was nothing but it was a nice walk. A video of you know who follows:

Bill was home just at 5:15 and settled in for a snooze before supper. Sausages on a bun and the last of the cheesecake for dessert.

Hostas in bloom and the
Sedum is popping too.

He made his lunch and tally-hoed to the neighbours. He is getting closer and closer to completion each time he goes. Tomorrow I hope to finish cutting the lawn since I have no jobs outside the home on the agenda. I do have to make a trip in to buy our C the A tickets though.

An easy supper tonight.

It has been a dandy day, I even managed to empty the second drawer where our stove will be going. We had a lovely high of 21.66C/71F today so I ask for a repeat, repeat, repeat, please! 

Today, one of my big sisters celebrates her birthday. I can't show you the card since she hasn't received it yet. I'll see her on the weekend so didn't mail it.

Happy Birthday, Donna!
💖
Good night all!

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome.

 

Switching it Up, Exciting News!

The Ridge

It was crazy unbelievable when we woke up on Wednesday, July 22nd. The clock read 7:10!! I did open my eyes at 6:45 and couldn't believe that but when Gibbs and Bill didn't move until later, I was amazed. We've not slept like that for ages!

Good morning!
My first picture of the day.
Our lovebug.
💘

Bill was off today so he didn't need an alarm to wake him, thank goodness. He doesn't sleep well at the best of times, and often it is in his recliner for short cat naps (sometimes longer ones too) that he gets his best sleep. I did sleep for an hour yesterday and still was very tired when I went to bed at 11 last night.

A peek of blue sky at
11:45.
The wind kept the flags
straightened out too.

No problem sleeping, obviously, for me. 😉 Bill had a couple of things he needed to do and one that he wanted to do so he made his coffee in a to-go thermos and went out to close up Mike's trailer. It is an old one so he pumped the tires, manually put the jacks up and hooked up to Black Beauty.

Mike asked if he would take it to a friend's place, (Murray's in fact - where we store our vehicles) for a weekend event and then he takes it for a vacation with his girls and their families. Bill is always happy to help. Within an hour he was back and drove over to pick Dot up.

Coming home
early afternoon.

They went in to the hardware to pick up more paint supplies so he could work on that this afternoon. I had my own plans with my Buddy, Pat. I picked her up at noon and we drove to the big downtown of Durham to West Grey Auto Parts. 

Two more Moonflowers today.

They had a big expansion to their building last summer and today was their Open House. The weather looked 'iffy' this morning but by 11 am, the sun came out as forecasted and they were able to bbq burgers and hotdogs outside. Everyone who attended filled out a ballot for a Blackstone bbq. 

Bill was prepared to go with us but at the last minute got a message that our stove was en route from Oakville.......7 stops away. He stayed behind and waited until 12:30 before he popped into town to enjoy a burger for lunch too. They were on the house.

We peeked at it but it will
stay in the box for now.
🫣

When he left, the delivery van was 2 stops away (we've never had that kind of notification before!) and by the time I dropped Pat off, picked up bread and milk at Foodland and returned home, I met the MyCarrier truck as he turned onto Baptist Church Road.

Bill was smiling at the top of the lane, happy that such an easy purchase took place after all the run-around from the first one. They offloaded it right into the shed for now and we will wait until next week to 'unwrap' it. 

The freezer fits perfectly here
in the corner.
I just shifted my desk down to
the window.

In the meantime though, I will start moving things inside from the 2 drawers that I am sacrificing. 🤭 That's when Bill told me about a 5 cu ft chest freezer he saw at the hardware with Dot that was on sale for a great clearance price. We've talked about one for the Bunky so drove in and brought one home.

He changed into shorts and went next door to do some painting before supper. Since this was totally unexpected, I had to do some rearranging in the Bunky to get it inside tonight. There are things I've been hanging onto.....kids toys, in case little visitors came. That doesn't happen often enough so out they go. 

I got the freezer inside, it is actually very light, and although it is still very crammed in there right now, everything is in its place and I can still walk in and work on a puzzle if the mood arises. LOL I need to get rid of 2 large bags of clothing that I've gathered for the exchange. 

The Bunky is still jam-packed
but it's neat at least.

I don't know that I can wait until the end of September so may take them to town. Not sure what else to do to make room. I'm sure I'll have more by the time Joanne, or whoever, has the exchange. I came inside around 4 for my cup of tea and had a yogourt cup.

For supper, we had fish and chips/onion rings. I got a text from Pat that she won an Amsoil tool tray from the draw today. That's a $55 win! She was lucky but neither of us won the bbq. 🤷‍♀️ We had an enjoyable time together for a little over an hour. It was very nice.

Bill got back home at 5:30 and had a wee snooze while I started supper. Fish in the air fryer first, then when they were done, onion rings went in. Bill was waiting until I gave him the word to start heating the peanut oil for his fries. I'm so anxious for our oven with meals like this! 😉

Supper was so good, it's almost better home cooked than store bought. We cleaned up, Bill made his lunch for work tomorrow and went next door for a couple of hours. This has been a great day. Time with Pat, time with Gibbs and time with Bill. I call that a great day!

Sometimes I use sayings
from other cards we've received.
This one now is really finished.

We received our stove, got a freezer and I managed to make some room for things in both the Suite and Bunky. 

Sometimes I write on the outside

I got a bit of quilling done this morning, finishing another card. This one could be entitled 'to the moon, Alice!' I suppose but that's not a nice birthday greeting. 🤭

We had a high temperature of 17.22C/63F and if you weren't in the sun, it felt quite chilly. I hope you enjoyed your hump day! I did hear from my oldest grandson today so I'm happy that Taylor (Tj) is doing fine. 💕

Such a good supper!
Good night!

Thank you for popping by.

Some Rain and a Cooler Day

 The Ridge

On Tuesday, July 21st I woke up a few times through the wee hours of the morning. A storm rolled through the area around 1:30, waking me off and on. At 3:15, I looked at the clock when I woke again, feeling very hot. I reached over and opened my window and a lovely (almost too cool) breeze wafted over us.

Good morning!
Last night ended like this.

Bill and Gibbs were up, out and back in around their usual time. Gibbs and I slept on. At one point, I looked at him and he was in 'dead dog' position, 4 legs dangling in the air. I tried not to laugh as it would wake him. 🤭 But it was hard not to rub that little tummy.

No Moonflowers bloomed in the
usual patch but I noticed
this one from yesterday.
It counts!

I got up myself at 6:45, washed, dressed and left about 20 minutes after Bill. He had work today but I can't keep track of where they are half the time. I hear about so many locations and my brain isn't good at recalling what job and what town it is in. 🤷‍♀️ In the big scheme of things, it doesn't matter, as long as we are in touch.

The gate garden.
The primrose are done but
the hostas are just beginning.
Gibbs appreciates the freshly cut
front field.

The Mat was empty and that is a bonus each time. I am getting frustrated with Sandy though. I've asked 2wice already for new 'out of order' signs. On Sunday, I messaged about the soap machine not accepting coin and about the office light that has burnt out. Nothing has changed today. 

The sky changed multiple times
today as did the temperature.

When I went in, I checked the ATM at the bank for cash but it has a sign on it. As I left Durham, I stopped at the Shell station to cash in lotto tickets that turned out to be duds. Oh well, bought 2 more, using even more cash. Boy, a winfall would be nice!

The pond is so overgrown,
you can hardly see the water on
these two sides of the lane.
A couple of cattails rise up
in here.

I did some quilling on a card when I got home and then Gibbs and I walked down to put a card in the mailbox before lunch. A scrambled egg (2 actually) on an English muffin was a delicious lunch! A little salsa added to it quite nicely. Bill was home around 1 or 1:30, he knew it would be a short day.

Along the Bunky fence,
hostas, corabelle, lilies.

And just over the fence,
my Shasta daisies.

The rain had stopped by the time I got up and although it looked threatening a few times during the day, only a few spatters managed to dampen the Ridge. The air was feeling cooler today, but still 23.3C/74F.  It will drop 'like a rock' (the dj said) this evening to 13C/55.4F and only reach about 19C/66.2F tomorrow. 

Well, well, well.
This is a surprise!
Our little lilac bush is
flowering again!

Still the roller coaster ride of Ontario weather. Speaking of our province, I haven't mentioned much about the northern Ontario fires but my prayers are with everyone involved. The firefighters, volunteers and dedicated citizens doing their best to help those in harm's way is truly something the rest of us can be proud of. 🙏

The flowering raspberry is
looking much better being
staked up.

Bill and Gibbs dozed while I worked on my card and he went to the Hangar to work on his plane build. Gibbs and I walked down to the mailbox to retrieve Bill's Princess Auto booklet. I teased him that we get one every day but that's totally not true. 😉

My lunch was yummy today.

We've had no movement on the stove/oven we ordered.......keep getting delay notices. When we ordered, there were 7 in stock. Now, we have no clue. After a non-helpful phone call, we decided to cancel the order and go with a Furrion that was better priced, with a discount. We'll see.

We still have a couple of trees
that may cause problems for
hydro lines. We don't have a way
to get to them without outside help.
😧

Supper was chicken thighs in Rosy, mini potatoes and corn for Bill and spaghetti squash for me. Bill had a piece of cheesecake and I finished the last dish of rice pudding with my cream. It was all very good and another meal out of the way. I hate planning!

Supper was good and filling.

Bill popped next door to do some painting but before he went, Billy called that there was no work tomorrow. Good and bad news, right? I've had a good day, spending it inside. I think you'll get a kick out of the card I just finished. It seemed to come together at the last minute. 🤭

When the top of the card was
missing something, I
added the fishing line.

I did get a new book started called Ressurection Walk by Michael Connelly. It is Micky Haller (Lincoln Lawyer) and Bosch so a bonus for me!

I have no doubt this will be
another good mystery.
Good night!

Thank you for the visit!

A Non-Working Day - Kind of

The Ridge

We knew last night when we went to bed at 10 (Bill was actually in bed before me!) that Bill didn't have to go to work today. Billy called after supper. I didn't have a job today either so we could both sleep in. I guess we forgot to tell Gibbs. Hmmm. 🤭

Good morning.
Only 3 today.

He woke Bill at around 5;30 am and was politely told again 'it's not time, go back to sleep'. It was probably 5:55 when Bill moved and determined from the little guy's squirming that he had to go out. Bill stayed downstairs in his recliner until I came down at 7:15.

Bill tackles the dreaded corral hill
garden.
Yay!

His batteries are running
strong. 🐰

There is just a feeling of lull, relaxation and calm when we don't have to be anywhere at any given time. That's how my day went for the most part. Bill had his breakfast and then the Everready bunny got the weed trimmer out and proceeded to do our whole area up here.

Soooo much better and
I'm soooo much happier.

I don't know where he gets the energy! I walked around and pulled weeds from places he couldn't get to and gave him permission to totally trim the dreaded corral. The primrose were done flowering so I was ready to just see it all gone. We (he) will just have to do it on occasion.

Gibbs sits outside with me
while Daddy is next door.

When he finally stopped, it was lunch time and I had checked the vegetables, spread out the bags that I could to give the tomatoes more room to spread and then gone into the Bunky to work on the puzzle I've been neglecting. I won't show you, it's the mystery one but it is finished.

It was a perfect day to be
outside.
Dare I say it? No bugs!!

Bill went over to Dot's around 1:30 to do some painting since he was off work and stayed until 3:30. By that time, I had my gravity chair set up and worked on finishing the book that I started yesterday. It was a different type of story for me, from a dog's point of view - kind of. The story lead up to Jesus' crucifixion. I enjoyed it.

A different read for me.
Finished in 2 days so I'd say
I enjoyed it!

After the mail lady delivered Bill's rc radio at 2:30ish, I let Gibbs out to join me and he relaxed under the picnic table the whole time. It has been a lovely day, pretty much another perfect one in my books. 22.77C/73F with sun for most of the day and later on, clouds moving in.

You can see Bill's flag up
on the berm.
Windy enough but not
bothersome.

For supper, which I started around 4:30, Madame IP cooked some pork riblets with carrots and a large potato. Sunday meal on a Monday, I seldom get that right! 😂 Doing the browning on the Weber is not my strong suit so often we skip that step. The ribs are always so tender without it. Tonight was no exception. Yummy!

Everything in one pot and
it was really good!

We had cheesecake with sauce for dessert. We are looking at some possible rain and storms overnight but we'll see about that. Tomorrow and Wednesday could also be deluded with precipitation, on and off. 

We left Lila with Robin and
she is sure she'll sell easily. 💕
She needs someone to love her.

Robin offered to try and sell Lila for me so we took her over with our bike rack after supper. Fingers crossed. 🤞

The sun began its disappearing act.

And was pretty in its exit.
Good night!

It was a great relaxing day for me. Thank you for popping by!