Where did the Day Go? A Special Birthday

Park Place RV Park

On Thursday, Jan. 15th I was up by 7:30 and Bill had just hopped in the shower. It feels good to sleep in, not having any place to be until 9. The sun was popping over the mountains by the time I opened blinds.

Good morning!
My boys touring the park.

Bill and Gibbs walked over and hopped on the cart to do their rounds. I headed over to the clubhouse before 9. There were a number of calls, a couple of drop-ins and a few new reservations made. Three reservations previously made were expected today.

Poppy is still in one piece.
She is a bit thinner now but
still looking pretty good.
She is loved.

I worked on the puzzle in between the busy-ness, I think Sue was grateful for the help in the office. It can get quite hectic in January. Last minute inquiries for the show; people who just can't seem to plan ahead and then think our price is too high. That makes us laugh as our park is one of the lowest priced in town. 

Sue helped me finish the puzzle.
However, there is one border piece
missing! 

By the end of the day, we'd had our lunch and Bill had taken Gibbs for his walk. Only 2 of the 3 expected guests showed up which is frustrating because Bill was late going to his night flying - as we waited. 😓 Show some consideration, people!

The mountains are a brilliant
pink in the east.

We had clam chowder for supper, a quick meal and we departed ways by 6. I joined the 5 ladies at the clubhouse for games night and fun ensued. Playing Rumnicub is fun and we get a lot of laughs throughout the evening. It was 9 when we said goodnight.

Now the sky is pretty in pink too

This was a great day, reaching a lovely high of 79F/24C again. I read conversations back home of another snow day with schools and roads closed and can't be more grateful for the path our road took to come to Arizona in the winter. 💕

Arizona sunsets are the best,
even when they're not.

Today, is my oldest grandson's birthday. Bridgette's first child turned 31 today. I remember the proud day he was born so well as I had a wee hand in bringing him into this world. 😍 Here is a collage of pictures his Mom posted on Facebook.

Happy 31 years, Taylor (Tj), my
handsome grandson.
Good night!

Thank you for your visit today.

A Full Day in the City

The Ridge

On Monday, May 13^th the day presented something totally different. First off, I woke up just before 7 and Bill was coming back up to lay down. With his co-worker unable to report to work, they decided to take the day off. The job they are doing now requires all three employees. It was supposed to be a decent day until late afternoon so he didn’t mind so much. Because I was driving for a lot of the day, pictures are minimal.

My day was also a change from the norm. I had my shower and at 9:30 left Bill and Gibbs to drive to Hanover to pick up my sister, Donna. I had a doctor’s appointment in London, 2 ½ hours away, and she kindly accepted my offer to ride along and keep me company. 😊 Things work out well, sometimes, that meant Gibbs didn’t have to be left alone for an 8-hour stretch. He could spend it with Daddy.

Bill had things to do at home, weed trimming being one and cutting branches being two. I hope he has time to do some of his own stuff too. Donna and I had a good drive only hitting construction when we got to our destination. We left ourselves plenty of time so we were able to grab lunch at Tim Horton’s when we arrived in the city at 12:15. We each had the farmers sausage wrap and a steeped tea. They were good! I was happy to be able to pay for it all on a prepaid card from my former boss, Jamie. Remember Jamie? ♥

The tops are fine..........

From there, we located where the doctor’s office was and nipped down the street to my favourite London thrift store, Talize. We didn’t have more than 20 minutes but we each lucked out with one purchase each. Being over 65, a discount of 10% added to our smiles. 😊 My running shoes, that I’ve worn daily for one thing or another for a couple of years are finally showing wear. The tops look great but a hole in the sole and worn tread is making them uncomfortable.

Not so for the under side.

These have added support with an 'air' sole
and I love that they are slip-ons

A steal at Talize merited me a new-to-me pair of Sketcher’s for less than $5! I removed the laces and insoles from the old pair and tossed them out, tout suite. After my appointment, to which I was pleased with – especially the weigh scales! – we drove through some construction. London is always a mess but I am fairly familiar with the main streets and we drove to our friend, Brenda’s, home in an older community. The homes are so interesting, hers included.

My hair was done, Donna's turn.

Brenda obliged both of us with a hair cut on her day off which included a wonderful 2 hour visit at the same time. 😊 Brenda and I have been friends for about 15 years and it is a beautiful relationship, even though we see each other only once or twice a year.♥ 

Homes in this part of the city are very close but Brenda and Randy's
back yard is a beautiful private space that they've made their own.

Wind chimes and many personal touches give the
feeling of serenity

From the back deck, this is the walkway to the street

We left her place at 5 for the long drive home. Through the heart of the city and plenty more construction, we returned home following the route Bill and I take. The drive down was following Donna’s route which may have been a tad shorter. We were on no time limit, which made it nice.

A professional cut after my winter hack jobs. 😁
Hey, that's who I am!

What a lovely visit.
Thank you Brenda! 💖

It was 8 o’clock when I returned home to my boys, after dropping Donna off, and he had not eaten. ☹ An easy late supper was a couple of eggs on toast and that fit the bill. We watched some tv together and I was falling asleep before 10 so Gibbs and I went to bed. It was an awesome day! The weather for us all day was 25C/77F with sunshine until we were about 40 minutes from home, when it started raining. 

A late simple but tasty supper.
Good night!

Thank you for popping in.

Go-Go-Go, Much to Do and Much Done

Thursday, Oct. 19^th I woke up a couple of times through the early morning hours but only because I could hear Bill coughing. I feel horrible when he is sick and actually he isn’t complaining about it all! Huh! I think he is trying to ignore it as much as possible so it goes away. We slept in though until after 7 so that was a good night’s rest.

The start to Thursday was wonderful

 We got up and had our coffee and tea while reading blog posts. It was 11C outside and the wind was picking up as we sat at our laptops. The sunrise was pretty and we were happy we’d decided to do laundry today. With the sun and the wind, they would dry quickly. So, by 8:30 we were arriving in town at the laundromat. At 10 to 9 Bill drove to the other side of Hwy 4 to the Bath & Biscuit Dog Grooming Salon.

We were the only ones there so got our pick of washers

The girls were just opening up the door and took their first ‘puppy client’ right away. We needed more laundry change so Bill stopped at the bank before joining me to finish loading 5 washers! That is the largest pile of dirty clothes we’ve ever had! Two consisted of a duvet and sheets so we won’t count those. I knew I only had so much room on my umbrella line so we dried the sheets and duvet before bringing them home.

We were finished at 10 and went to pick the little spiffy fellow up. He was just getting some finishing touches, yay! I got to see him on the table. We’ve always wondered how the heck he sits so still for the girls and not for us. He was getting the full treatment and all for an awesome $50. Now he is already to travel to the warmer temperatures.

The Royal treatment

Someone feels pretty good

Daddy loves his little guy

After getting home, we had another hot drink and I made up omelettes for breakfast/brunch. I made an extra one for each of us so tomorrow will be another good meal without a lot of hassle. Before doing the dishes, we went outside to get to work. I hung the clothes but was doing a fair bit of grumbling. The clouds had completely taken over the sky and they weren’t nice fluffy white ones.

the river through Durham

The wind was strong around 24km so cool without the sun. I persisted and hung the clothes anyway. It was only supposed to be a 10% chance of rain this morning so once more I put my faith in that. 

Bill had a few projects on his list so he put my wagon in the bunky, then cut some grass around our Goose the Spruce tree on the hill. He wanted to get him and our baby red maple covered for the winter, so managed to finish that. 

Next, I cleaned out the firepit of ashes so we can put it in the outhouse before we leave. All sheds get locked up so we make full use of the storage space at the end of the season.

Started out with a great sky but it didn't last long

When I finished that Bill pulled the old vacuum out of the shed and I started vacuuming the car out. We like to put it away clean and I had left some dirt in the trunk from my sunflowers a month ago. One of those things you mean to get at but it gets put on the back burner. It is done now. While I was doing that, Bill hooked up our little wagon to the back of his riding mower and went down the lane to bring our mailbox up. It will also go into the outhouse on Sunday.

No more mail delivery this year

The mail lady turns around

 From one project to the next, I got my small battery mower out for the last time and cut the grass up on the hill and around my vegetable garden. I was feeling warm so also did around the main area in front of the Suite one last time. I wasn’t noticing the cool wind so much and by this time, the sun had returned in full glory. Now, for sure, the clothes would dry in decent time.

My wagon is the last thing to go in the bunky

Bill just finished bringing the mailbox and post up when he pointed down the lane way. The mail lady was driving up to see us. We forgot to put Mom’s name on our request to forward mail, which started today, and she had one today for her. My, that was silly! Usually, any mail for her comes c/o me but from the bank, of course not. She was quite nice about it and we told her we’d take care of that. When we came inside, Bill went online and updated it so it won’t happen again.

What next? Well, Bill had enough gas in the big mower to do the front field and the corral so he went to do that today. He can get more gas in the morning and do the back field and hillside tomorrow. I, for one, was exhausted from the go-go-go today and by 2 o’clock I was calling it quits. Well, almost.

Everything in its place

I checked the clothes on the line first but only a handful of things were completely dry. The duvet still has some damp spots in areas so when enough of our clothes come off the line, I will hang it out to blow dry the rest of the way. I came inside and made the bed and Bill started doing the dishes. At 2:30 we were done for the day, and all things outside were put away.

With another dose of cough syrup Bill and Clem settled in the recliner. I sat here to start my post. I feel whooped but not enough to snooze so will take my book upstairs. We don’t have a warm enough, sheltered sunny spot to sit outside and read but I love my indoors just as much. I decided to plunge on with the Michael Connelly book since so much of it is lost in my memory anyway. It is still good.

Our firepit sure got rusty this summer
But it is cleaned out at least

So, after reading a few chapters, resting and even dozing a bit, I got up and Bill and I went out to bring the clothes in. It was a battle up there on the hill (we are The Ridge!) with the strong winds. We know if we were in a more communal place with neighbours and buildings and trees all around, it wouldn’t be so cold, but this chilly wind is making us even more ready to head out on Monday.

Once clothes were brought in and put away, it was 5 and time to feed Clemson. He actually waited until 5 tonight, partly because we weren’t in our regular spots in the recliners.  Otherwise, he would be sitting staring at us for food. With the wind gusts over 30 km I’m going to bake my chicken breast inside and we can warm up Bill’s butt chop the same way.

This tasted good but what a bland looking meal!
I forgot to add my little tomatoes for the picture

We are avoiding purchasing too much right now, especially fresh veggies which are questionable going across the border. We’re out of green leafy veggies and potatoes. Hmmm. There was some rice left from last night for Bill and I’ll steam cauliflower for my side dish. Oh wait! I have a box of Stuffing mix in the cupboard. That will be nice for a change.

So, my chicken in the convection oven took a shade over 45 minutes but that was okay. We were eating by 7 and it was very good. With dishes cleaned up it was time to relax for the remainder of the evening. The outside temp is dropping, already sitting at 10C from 14C today. Sorry, that is 50F and 57F for our American friends. The wind died off completely before 6 and for half hour it felt nice out there.

We accomplished more today and the list is getting smaller. Tomorrow is another day. I hope you’ve had a great one.

Thank you for reading. I love hearing from you.