A Gorgeous But Cool Day!

The Ridge

On Thursday, Apr. 28^th I woke up from a rough night. I didn’t sleep well, having gone to bed last night with a sore throat. I had it on Wednesday when I woke up so spent the day gargling with salt water and it seemed to have abated by 10:30. Not so. Why is it when it hurts to swallow, I just keep swallowing. It wasn’t until I got up at 3 and rinsed my mouth out a few times that I was able to drop off, a few times at least.

It was pretty frosty this morning
Even the most shallow edges of the pond were layered in ice
King of the Hill ?

We were all up at 7:15 to greet the day. I gargled again and my throat felt a bit better. It was bright outside with full sun embracing the sky. It didn’t look like much wind and of course, Gibbs was anxious for his walk. I put on my heavy fleece coat and opened the door. I tucked his leash and treats in my pocket. 😊 At the end of the lane, I put it on and we walked to the west. We didn’t get very far and he stopped walking.

I do love pond pictures with the sun reflection

No encouragement helped but when I asked if he wanted to go home, he turned around and headed back to the laneway. What a goof! I took the leash off and after checking out the geese in the pond, he beelined up the lane. He wastes no time at all running up the stoop to the door ahead of me. Bill had made his coffee so I made my tea. It sure is nice to have the Keurig even though there is some adjusting to get a full cup.

My 2nd hand shoes were bought a few years ago
and this morning the soul is falling apart
Time to retire them

If this is a cold, I knew the saying ‘stuff a cold, starve a fever’ so I made myself a bowl of hot oatmeal with dried cranberries. It was good and hit the spot. We went outside with Gibbs and as we worked in the Bunky, he ran around the place. Not too far and always running back to see if we needed his help with anything.

I don't like the cold of frost but it makes for
lovely pictures

😊 We’re feeling more confident every day that he won’t run far but haven’t had the experience when a vehicle comes up the driveway – yet.

Our peony bush in the berm garden is
sprouting leaves 

Tiger lilies and Evening primrose up on the berm

Bill installed a bar in the Bunky for the clothes we store out there for the winter and then he removed the inside door. It was an added feature in 2016 when we changed it from a storage shed to a place for guests and storage, but the door has seen better days. It was falling apart and becoming more annoying than worth it. We haven’t had overnight guests in there for at least 3 years now so want to change it up, more for our own use. My use.

A strong rack for our heavy coats

Bill removed the inside door and I took what
I could apart and removed the small nails
Stay tuned for the next step

We came inside at noon and made a sandwich for lunch. Then we took a drive into Hanover. We needed to pick up some greeting cards and a small gift for Gerry. His birthday dinner is tomorrow night and it’s a special one. We want to take something for him. We stopped at Walmart for some milk, while in town, these trips are going to become fewer and fewer and more combined now that the price of fuel is so ridiculous. Diesel jumped .15¢ overnight. ☹

The grader make a few trips down North Line

Back at home, we were all ready for a snooze. I knew I was tired after that restless night and know I dropped off for at least 30 minutes. Bill was gone within 5 minutes of laying down, he’d worked harder than me this morning. We had a cup of tea together when we got up at 4 and then for supper, we had burgers rather than the leftover spaghetti. Was I surprised when Bill found one of my very favourite movies on tv!

This morning, I noticed ice from the drain pipe
into our water barrel
No, the whole pipe was not frozen, just a couple of inches
from the bottom

Bridges of Madison County never disappoints us, no matter how many times we’ve watched it together. ♥ Tonight was no different. It brings back wonderful memories of our holiday in 2011 to visit the town of Winterset and the Roseman Bridge. 

A normal evening sunset about to happen

This has been a beautiful day, temperatures reached 8C/46F. One more cool night and then we’re on the upward climb, back to spring. 😊

Our own memories on Roseman Bridge in 
Winterset, Iowa
Good night!

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A Bitter Cold Day, Not Much Going On Here

The Ridge

Tuesday, Apr. 20^th Bill woke to the alarm and was off to work by 7. I was up when he left, washed, had my tea and headed out for the Mat at 8. I was happy that it was empty with only one customer, Jamie’s cousin, doing a load of wash. I made short work of cleaning, wiping, emptying, sweeping and mopping before I left an hour later.

The sky looked like this all day

The wind today is nasty again and it is a bitter cold day. It was -2C/27F with no hope of a warm up all day. At least nothing else has fallen in our area and if our meteorologist is correct, we’ll hardly see any of the white stuff. When I got home, I was thinking of things I could do today and had in mind to finish the garden digging and hanging our laneway signs. My mind was changed as I rushed from Ptooties to the Suite. It’s an inside day today.

Our flag dances quite well to the wind music
and never seems to tire

Not being out meant few pictures so it will be a short boring blog post instead of a long boring blog post. 😊 I had some lunch, basically a plum, cheese, a keto cupcake, yogourt and pepperoni stick. None too appetizing to you but it is all that I felt like and it filled me up. I got some tips from Patrick and Donna in texts and Google online on how to download music to my player, with no success, and after giving up, settled in my chair with my book.

That’s where I stayed for the afternoon. At 3, I pushed myself to bundle up and walk down to the mailbox to see if the mail lady left anything. There was one envelope for Bill from yesterday and a new one today so the walk was worth it. Back inside, I made my tea and returned to my book. Supper is planned, in my head, and now it is just a matter of waiting for my sweetie to come home. I’m glad, and I think he is too, that they were able to continue on their reno.

I watched some NCIS reruns and then remembered that I had about 3 episodes of This is Us on our PVR. I clicked on the first one from Mar. 30^th. Bill was home by 4:30 so I finished watching it before turning the tv to FBI. At 5:30, I preheated the convection oven while I coated two pork chops (large not thick) with Shake ‘n Bake, sliced the leftover potatoes into a fry pan and prepared broccoli and corn. The chops came out great, as did everything else. We finished the pie for dessert.

I have never done shake n bake anything in our convection oven
But now I will do it more often!

After dishes, we did what we do every evening. Found some tv and enjoyed our evening together. Watching CTV news, London was getting snow and more tonight. It looks like our county might just get missed but I won't say that too loudly - in case the Jell-o jiggles. 

This is as far aas we got Apr. 20, 2018
and we had to call in the troops to help us straighten
the Suite out

It took Rob's 4 x 4 Ford to pull us out

We parked here for 2 nights before we were
able to get up the lane
Fun memories!
Good night!

Thank you for visiting today.

Cold November Day, A Busy Laundromat and a Lot of Change!

Paisley, On

On Monday, Nov. 16^th we have slid to the good side of the month. I say that for obvious reasons, no? The end of the month means we are that much closer to April? Golly, gosh, gee, wasn’t it me who just said in a previous post that we should just enjoy every day that comes? A girl can change her mind, can’t she?😛

The sky this morning was cloud filled but the
roads were clear

This morning, Bill needed to drive to Mildmay, Billy wasn’t going in to work today. They go to Mildmay first, where Mike (the boss) lives, and pick up the tool-filled cargo trailer. He met Mike at his home this morning and left Black Beauty there for the day. Bill drove Mike's truck pulling the trailer to the work site in Neudstadt where Brian met him. Phew! I’m not confused at all! I got up around 7 and went down to make a tea, my drive being much simpler.

Arriving in Durham to a skiff of snow on the ground

While I was in our little kitchen, I packed a banana, some cheddar cheese, water and prepped my coffee before bringing my tea upstairs for an hour. There isn’t a specific time for me to leave but just after 8 means I miss the school buses. Today was no different. It started to snow as I walked to Ptooties but it didn’t last any more than a couple of minutes.

And just when you feel yeuchy because of the cold weather
you encounter this.............(check the next photo)

The roads were clear and as I approached Durham, cars coming from that direction were white with overnight snowfall. Only one person finishing up in the Mat, someone I've chatted with before, and after he left, I noticed another ‘visitor’ at the front. I’m not sure if it is Renee, the same homeless gal as before but I didn’t think so. Her hair was dyed jet black and this lady seemed to have some issues as she talked to an invisible 'someone' a lot of the time. That makes me uncomfortable.

A horse and buggy and two cold passengers
Brrrr!

I did my job but kept my distance and didn’t approach or speak to her. You may think that is rude but when I hear foul language for no reason, I don’t need to add anything to her attitude by asking her to move. I skipped those 3 washers and mopped around her chair and boots as best I could. About 15 minutes before leaving, the place filled up. Along the main aisle, every washer (10) were filled by 3 people who came in together. Laundry day!

After finishing at the Mat, and after stopping at Walmart
I'd decided to go to visit Bill
Isn't this a beautiful entrance sign to the town?

They were all very nice and raised eyebrows at the lady perched at the front but no one said a word. The coin machine light was on meaning no change (crap!) so luckily there was enough change in the same row of washers to which I do have access. I opened about 5 machines and give out just over $120 in loose loonies, twonies and quarters in exchange for their paper money. I’m glad I was there or they would have been quite upset. I notified Cheryl, Jamie’s wife about the machine. It’s tough to keep on top of it.

When I left, I texted Cheryl once more and said that whoever counted the change at the end of the week, they can thank ME for the easy job! Jamie responded with a huge thank you. 😊 Cute.  I debated popping into the Going Once…Going Twice store but instead headed to Hanover for a Walmart stop. Seems I’m always picking up food but it is better to pick up a few things at a time than a big stock up and we only needed a a handful of items.

This is the house they're renovating
It looks big but the rooms are divided up as old homes were
making inside appear small

I bought a set of 2 T-fal fry pans while there as I only brought my medium size one. Susan said she had lots but hers are not simple fry pans but bigger, heavier double handled pans and I’d just rather use my own. The price was right so now I have them and will use them in the Suite. Before leaving Hanover, I stopped to fuel up at Pioneer because I forgot to do that in Durham at Esso. I could have got points added to my PC Optimum there. Bill has the only Pioneer card on him which doesn’t help me.

I didn't think I'd caught him working, but I guess I did

Leaving Hanover, I took a detour 5 miles out of town to see where Bill is working and couldn’t believe that it is a full renovation! The house in Neudstadt is gutted and he and Brian were working away to strap, insulate and prepare for drywall. I chatted with them for a while and headed out for home. I instructed 'Greta' GPS to take me home but she wanted to take me on a dirt road that ‘does not get winter maintenance’. No thank you, I turned around back to the main highway, gave her a talking to and let her take me the proper route.

Downstairs is all insulated, needing vapor wrap and drywall

Wes had just backed in the driveway ahead of me, so he had a short work day – morning. He was still home when I left at 8ish and it was 12:15. After unpacking the groceries, I came upstairs with my only intention of reading or crocheting. Funny, but a walk wasn’t appealing for some reason. I’ve got to get better at preparing myself for the chill winds if I’m going to get my exercise over the months ahead. There is a treadmill in the games room……………hmmm, but it isn't the same experience at all.

Mike's business sign
Need work done?

I set to work with the yarn, read, crochet and repeat process. I was intrigued to read that our friend, Elva, knew the story that I was reading. That’s neat! The book is quite enjoyable. I was debating going down for a cup of tea around 2:30 when Bill texted that he would be home in 30 minutes so I waited until I heard him downstairs. While waiting, I decided to call my other boss. Mitch answered fairly promptly and sounded great. Sadly, things haven't picked up for him so still no work but we had a nice chat. 

After leaving Neudstadt, I had to stop to take a picture of this beautiful
OLD gate that I noticed on the way in.

He was happy that I called to check up on him and even commented that it was good to hear my laugh. We do laugh a lot when we're working together. 😄 No doubt, he is feeling bad that he can't offer me work right now. Back upstairs, I was surprised that he didn’t lay down but instead sat at his laptop watching video clips on FB. I stretched out on the bed with my hobbies.

They just don't make them like that anymore!

I think it was just before 5 that I couldn’t keep my eyes open so I rolled over for a siesta myself. When I woke up 15 minutes or so later, guess who was on the bed behind me? 😊 At 5:30, I went down to start supper. Spaghetti and meatballs in Madame IP tonight and this was the best outcome I’ve ever had. So much simpler than I’ve done it before. Literally, one pot dish with no prep at all.

I followed Greta's directions through Carlsruhe
a burp of a villa

And then she led me astray down this country gravel road
The blue lines point out very steep hills and even though it was
about a mile and a half before I turned, I was concerned

We did dishes, Bill made his lunch, all routine stuff, right? Upstairs in position at my laptop, I worked on my blog post. Bill placed a small Amazon order and went down to watch some tv. I will join him at 8 to watch Private Eyes. This was a cold bitter day, the thermometer registered 3C/37F but the real feel was -2C/28F so a good reason that I didn’t get out for a walk after all! It’s the winds that get me.

This spaghetti and meatballs was wonderful!
The12-pack of juicy plump Italian meatballs were on sale for $3.75
how could I go wrong?

PS - I stayed downstairs with my sweetie and watched Chasing Classic Cars until 10 so delayed my blog posting. Priorities, you know! It was all about the 170+ classic cars at the Tupelo Car Museum being auctioned off. Any chance to relive memories of Elvis, I'm all for! I just wish we'd known about it when we were there 2 winters ago.

There was someone right behind me but next time through Carlsruhe,
I want to stop and get a better picture of this church.
Sorry for the blur.
Good night!

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C-C-C-Cold but Still Happy with Sunshine, More N’Orleans

Richards RV Park, St. Bernard, LA

On Wednesday, Nov. 13^th we woke around 6 and remained in bed for a chit chat about the days leading up to today and beyond. Last night before coming to bed, we discussed how we felt about going back to visit New Orleans again. There were a couple of things on the ‘we’d like to do list’ that we didn’t do. We’ve said all along that we’ll do Café du Monde – but didn’t. We’ve said we’d like to experience a bit of night life – but haven’t. We said we wanted to hear some jazz music - but missed that.

When the sun came up this  morning, it was a cold 32F/0C
but no frost anywhere

With encouragement from my brother and daughter, we’re tempted to go back. This morning, I made omelettes but even though Bill enjoyed his on rye toast, I had no appetite at 8:30. Mine is in the fridge for my lunch. We continued the conversation and decided to mention it to Bob and Jo-Anne. They were thinking the same thing, expressing a bit of ‘that’s all there is?’ from Monday’s jaunt to the popular city. Great!

Morning walk in the park

We all agreed to forgo the Natchez sightseeing cruise, which we’d all tossed around for a warmer day, and instead go to Café du Monde for beignets (ben-nay), a couple of shops and then a pub for a drink and some live jazz. We’ll drive.  Bill came back home and reserved a parking spot for Black Beauty online. During the discussion, we discovered that we may not all want to do the same thing. We’re all different, so that is perfectly fine, but it gave me the idea that maybe we should split up.

One delay was the bridge had to rise to let a large vessel through

This went over well, and it seems to be the best for all of us. Perhaps, we’ll meet up for the drink and music later. We’ll keep in touch by texting and probably aim for the parking lot by 8 or 8:30. I bundled up a bit against the chilly 43F/6C and took a walk around the park. Behind me, I saw Jo and Higgy so walked back to meet them and we finished the walk together. The sun is gorgeous, it is just the breeze that feels cool. We’ll just have to bundle accordingly before we head out.

I was ready today to take pictures of some of the wonderful murals
as we entered down town

It was 3 when Jo-Anne texted to say they were ready to go and we were too so headed out a bit earlier than planned. Good thing, as we got snagged in traffic waiting for a slow train and a freighter/ship to pass. The nice thing about reserving the parking spot at one of these Premium lots is that you don’t have to be there on time. We arrived a few minutes after 4 and there were lots of spots available. One of them was ours, our choice so Black Beauty got a spot just like Bob’s Dodge did the other day. Easy!

They do love their colourful homes
These duplexes do not seem any wider than our Suite
Narrow and long seems to be the norm

While waiting for the train, I saw this sun dog
Rain tomorrow, no doubt

We walked to Café du Monde and there were no lines to get in. Choosing a table for 4, we were informed that someone would come and take our order. Bill and Bob had hot chocolate while us gals had Café au Lait and we each shared an order of 3 beignets. I didn't expect them to come right out of the oven. We laughed at the powdered sugar that ended up on our faces, fingers and dark clothing but my oh my, what treat! We could go home now and be content. Almost.

Bucket list item crossed off
Look at the mounds of confectioner's sugar
Most of it falls off onto the plate or yourself

We stayed together down Decatur St. popping into a few shops. I found a N.O. purse that was a good size for the quick things I like to carry with a long enough strap for crossover. Perfect and under $20. Eventually, we split off and went our own way, Bill and I heading for Bourbon St. and sauntering down the strip. 

I saw this elaborate glass chandelier through the window
of an unused store - gorgeous!
Cat's Meow for my little brother, Michael
Karaoke bar but just a bad singer was on the stage at this point

It still seemed pretty clean and not crowded so that added to the comfort of the evening. We listened at the doors of a few pubs but it wasn’t until we found the Legends Café Beignets outdoor bar that we stopped. It was the only music playing pertaining to New Orleans.

The bottom two pictures made us slow down and do a double take
A mannequin was actually swinging in and out of the window

It was around 5:30/6 so I got us each a roast beef Po Boy and diet Coke for our meal. There were a couple of blues/jazz groups and we listened to a few songs from each while we ate. The air was cool but we were dressed for it and had found a table near their large heaters. It helped. I was surprised that my feet and legs were warm, just around my neck I felt chilly. When we left and walked on, Bob and Jo-Anne came up behind us.

Bill and I had a bite to eat here and listened to some music
this lady had a unique old time voice and could play the trombone quite well

They had had a bite to eat as well and we agreed to head back to the truck. I think this was what we needed, another opportunity to experience New Orleans and especially Bourbon St. at night. The truck was parked in a well-lit lot, manned by security to the point where anyone who hadn’t paid the fee was not allowed. We saw three, at least, with ‘boots’ so knew they’d overstayed their welcome. That would be a hefty $90 just to free their vehicle.

Posing at the Legends Park

Walking back on St. Ann's Street
Jo-Anne and Bob pose for me

Back home, we downloaded pictures and relaxed. I felt too tired to finish my post but pushed myself to at least get the writing done. Wonders never cease! This was a wonderful day and I’m very happy that we all decided to go back into the city. It has left me satisfied, fulfilled. 

Our last view of New Orleans - for this year anyway

We came, we toured, we drank, we ate, we walked and listened to some good tunes as well. A great New Orleans adventure. Tomorrow will be laundry and cleaning day, our last one in the park.

Smartest thing we did was to reserve parking before we went
Such a mind ease
Good night from New Orleans!

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