April or October? Good Grief, Charlie Brown! Exchange Day!

Priceville, Ontario

Bill and I woke together around 6:30 on Saturday, Apr. 27^th. It is April, isn’t it? As I looked out my window after opening the blind I uttered “Shit!” Bill knew what I was referring to without even looking. They did forecast some snow for our area overnight and with those 39 mph winds, we’re really not surprised that this crap blew in. Sorry, why don’t I tell you how I really feel, right? We got up and Bill turned the heat up a bit.

this was the surprise sunset last night after not having sun all day

We had our tea and coffee together and then Bill bundled up to go and get us some fresh water. We were getting low enough to warrant a top up. I chatted back and forth on texts from my chair as I went directly there with my heating pad and ‘blankey’. The wind was from WNW and coming right at my dining area window. Clemson slept on upstairs after another full night’s sleep. While he was gone, I had my shower and I was somewhat overdue with scraggly hair so it felt great.

My scales were my friend as well, my last 3 days of behaving has worked in my favour. I know I can do this!  When Bill returned with the water bladder full, he unloaded the trunk of the Rav of his blanket, sleeping bag and pillow. I, in turn, carried out the purged items I was taking to Hanover later. What a nasty cold day and the winds aren’t about to let up until around 8 pm tonight.

Here, let me move the day shade for you

More ‘Bill’ projects won’t get looked after today again but at least he can pick up the supplies he needs to look after the riding mower blades. I made us bacon and eggs and started my post before sitting with my book for a while. We couldn’t do dishes with the water being transferred, water from the tap was not accessible. Often, I forget it is in the process and turn the tap on. That shuts the pump off and Bill has to go out and start it again. It is best if I just stay away from the sink!

I mixed up some creamy Jell-o
this one is Black Cherry

When the transfer was finished, we had 62 gallons of water in our 100-gallon tank and that would last us for a week +.  At 11:30 Bill left for Mount Forest to pick up the blades and filters needed for the mower. 

I wanted to get my post started before I left

At 12:30 I pulled out of the lane and after picking Pat up I drove to Marl Lakes where my niece, Joanne, was hosting the clothing exchange. I forgot to get a picture of her house, well, I guess I was busy driving. Anyway, it is a beautiful large home and she had things all set up downstairs.

Lots of really nice clothes
And the bottom line = what is left gets donated to a good cause

My 3 sisters, Cathy, Gayle and Donna were already there and the amount of clothes donations was incredible. The price was certainly right and you don’t even need to bring anything. Joanne had a spread of food out for us to munch on, fresh veggies, fruits, cheeses and taco dip with crackers. Something else I didn’t get a picture of.  A couple more people arrived and as usual, no matter how many were in attendance, a good time was had by all.

There is some serious 'shopping' going on here
and the food is on the right hand counter

It was after 4:30 when Cathy, Gayle, Pat and I left. I dropped Pat off at her house and on the way home, I called Bill to let him know. He had a good day and was happy to show me pictures of his work on the mower. The mail box and post had blown over in last night’s wind (we’re still trying to figure the best way to make it work) so Bill had to build a temporary structure to hold it up. He had done that before I got home.

And supper was good

We relaxed for a bit and then I sautéed the spiced pork chops in Madame IP, added some chicken broth and in 15 minutes we were eating supper. Each time that I dish them up and try that first bite, I’m waiting for the old pork chop taste to come back. Instead, I’m still blown away with each mouthful. It was delicious. Even Bill says that the taste is improved when done in the IP. We had corn on the side and it was another successful meal.

Bill found the tail end (about an hour) of The Lion King on tv so we watched that while we worked at cleaning up the dishes. Off and on during the day I still felt my back complaining every once in a while, so when we sat down, I put the heating pad on it again. The temperature today never got over 40F/4C but by the time I’d returned home, it was definitely warmer than when I left. The sun was making brief appearances and at least by 7:30 I knew I’d see a sunset.

I decided not to move from my heated seat to get a snapshot of the setting sun

This was a great day for all of us. We accomplished some things and I had a fun time with the girls. I hope yours has been a good day too.

Thank you for stopping in!

Assessing and Cleaning Up Damage, Calm After the Storm, Clothing Fun, Pebbles

On Saturday, May 5^th we were both moving and up out of bed by 6:30. With a tea and coffee at our side we read blogs and saw or heard about no major damage among our blogger friends. That is great news. The damage we experienced was limited to small material things so also came off lucky. Bill went out to gather the metal from our table so I joined him for a few minutes to walk around with him.

Lovely sunrise this morning over the ponds

The air at 44F/6.6C was chilly but quickly warming up and by 7:30 already 50F/10C. So nice to see the sun and pretty white scattered fluffy clouds. That is a lot of adjectives for clouds but that is the kind of day I’m feeling, full of adjectives. Last afternoon and evening was a bit frightful, I will admit, the worst we’ve experienced up here on The Ridge but we held tight and came out unscathed. We were prepared to vacate if we had to but I’m glad it didn’t come to that.

I love these fluffy white clouds

Bill went up on the roof and discovered a screw was missing from one of our solar panels. We’d heard it rattling at one point but that screw could have been lost a long time ago. Clemson is still in bed so I got dressed and went out to rake up the glass. I wanted to rake the grass in that area anyway, so it killed two birds with one stone as the saying goes. It wasn’t as bad as I thought and filled two grocery bags. Any pieces that I may have missed were so tiny that they just got raked over the edge.

Bill talked to Gerry and they are meeting at the Acreage today to attack some trees so he went inside to get cleaned up and grab some cereal. When I finished I went in and emptied my kitchen compost into the outside composter. First time it has been fed since October! “Thank you” said Mr. Big Black Bin. Bill turned our inverter on and unplugged us from power. We were so fortunate that we didn’t lose power through all that yesterday like so many others did. Especially, since we didn’t have enough sun throughout the afternoon to sustain the batteries.

I don’t have to leave the Ridge until noon hour so grabbed a banana and continued to work on the lawn. It makes such a difference in the grass and easy to see why we should rake in the spring. I honestly don’t think I ever did that when we had our small property at the house. The only time I raked was to remove leaves or twigs. I guess at that time, I wasn’t looking for things to do after working all day and as long as our grass was cut and trimmed we were happy.

I'm sure it could do with another raking but that's not going to happen
I got the worst of it at least

I’ve never had strong upper arms so raking tires me out quickly. I’d do one section and rest, etc. so it would take me longer than probably most others. Around 10:00 Bill had loaded the truck with the chain saw, our old generator and whatever else he needed to cut trees with. I suggested he take the small cooler with drinks and put some macaroons in for a snack. He was gone by 10:15 over to the Acreage, just down two county side roads.

Bill had to straighten the mailbox after the wind tilted it
Even with all the heavy rocks!
We don't want to cement it in because we have to move it every spring and fall

I finished raking and loading the wheelbarrow and although I had no intention of showering today, after yesterdays, I was so ‘glowy’ (haha) from my efforts that one was definitely in order. The front yard looks better. I loaded the Toyota with the huge bag of clothes, boots, purses and belts, my food and finally my camera to capture special moments of the day. I was on the road by 12 noon and picked Pat up in Durham soon after.

Lots to munch on to keep us energized

We try things on and do a lot of catching up too

 When we got to Donna’s in Hanover, Michelle was already there with her little red car tucked up behind Donna’s in the driveway. I chose to take the ‘preferred parking’ (as M. called it). Michelle is one of Donna’s closest friends and was her Maid of Honor at their wedding. It was great to see her smiling face again. There were already quite a lot of clothes spread from the dining table to the sitting room, the living room and the downstairs bedroom. It was very well organized.

Michelle and Pat bagging shoes

Pat and I added our offerings to the piles and before long Gayle, our sister, joined us, Joanne, my niece, and two of Donna’s sister-in-laws arrived. With a total of 8 and donations from a couple of others who couldn’t come, we had no shortage of clothing to choose from. It was a great day all around. Donna had fruit, cheese, taco dip and spinach quiche as well with apple cider, water, coffee or tea to drink.

Any leftover clothes, shoes and purses will go to the Women's Shelter in the area
So, they benefit too!

Mother and daughter packing clothes up

It was around 5 when we started bagging up the remaining clothes and everyone left with new selections and happy faces. I, for one, left with much less than I came with and that is always the goal. I dropped Pat off at home and carried on home to feed Clemson. Bill returned in Black Beauty about 10 minutes later and we cleaned up before hopping in the car again. I drove us over to the Acreage to wait with Gerry and Mike for the girls to return. It was nice to see Mike again too.

Waiting at the Acreage I had to snap more pond reflection pictures

When Michelle drove in we said goodbye to Mike and went to Pebbles for dinner. It totally wasn’t necessary, but Donna and Gerry treated us all to the buffet. I had a full plate full, mostly of meat but some dressing, turnip and mashed potatoes as well. For dessert, I had a piece of heaven-sent chocolate peanut butter cream pie. Oh my! 

Haddock, ribs, beef and chicken

We all had coupons from the local flyers for a free 1/4 lb. of fudge or jar of jam so after checking out, we made our choices from a large selection and parted ways. Bill and I were happy to be home after a very fulfilling day and watched tv for an hour before hitting the sack around 9:30. That is rare that Bill goes so early but between the hard work and the 3 beer he had at the Acreage, he was done for.

Driving home from Pebbles restaurant, I asked Bill to capture the sunset

We had a great day here and around home and I hope you did too. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for whatever you wanted to get into, with sunny skies and 23C/73F.

Good night all!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by today for a read. I love hearing from you if you wish to leave a comment!