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.

Crazy Spring Day – Is it Going to Rain?

The Ridge

So, Sunday, June 12^th was a questionable
weather day from early morning, when it was raining hard then lighter, up until late afternoon into evening. We slept in a bit, later than on the normal week days and Bill took Black Beauty to 6 & 6 Auctions where he’d bought a couple of items.  He was very happy to have won on his bids within a reasonable amount of $$. They were open at 8 for customers so he was out the door early.

There's the strange sky we saw off and on all day

Gibbs and I had a couple of hours to bide our time. I had my tea and played my games while he was gone. Gibbs waited until Daddy returned and then he ate his breakfast. ♥ We wanted to go to Hanover to pick up a few grocery items at Walmart, make a stop also at Canadian Tire and then to Pioneer to get diesel. The rain had pretty much stopped at 10 as was forecasted so maybe we’d see some sun later?

Gibbs and Daddy had their afternoon snooze

sometimes the floor works just as well

I know there are definite increases in food, as well as other things, but I still am quite surprised when we walk out with 4 full bags of groceries for $125. Dairy products, cereal, sausages, cookies, bread, vegetables and some canned and jar goods. We were okay with the bill today. 😊 When we got back, we had toasted tomato and cheese sandwiches for lunch and Bill went to get another bladder of water.

The goldfinch are so happy with their food
I've never seen so many and they never leave 💓

The Orioles are still around but still prefer
the hummers food to the oranges

He also wants to go to the Hardware but it wasn’t open until noon and we came through at 11:30. We both agreed that sitting half hour to wait isn’t in our genes. The weather has changed again. The humidity which brought heat this morning has dropped and it almost feels cool inside the Suite. It’s hard to know what to put on when you go outside. I wonder if this spring’s weather will ever straighten itself around?

Bill came back from 6 & 6 auctions
with a very dirty Black Beauty
so we went to the truck wash in Hanover
while we were there

Toasted tomato & cheese for lunch

Gibbs smells something on the ground and has
to roll in it
What a goof 💕

M popped over to ask me to do a small job for him in the morning before I go to work. I’ll do after I clean the Mat. I texted Jamie this morning to tell him what we’d done and he had been in Saturday night and was very pleased. That’s good to get a thumbs up from ‘the boss’. 😊 I went out to the Bunky to put one puzzle away and decide what to do next. I chose to redo the planter that we bought in Lake Havasu a few years ago. It had dirt, stones and some real baby cacti.

The project begins but it took some 'thinking'
on how to keep the painted cacti in place

It was certified by a sticker on the bottom that allowed us to bring it across the border but they never even knew about it. The cacti died over the next couple of years but we kept the themed container and I painted little cactus rocks to sit in it instead. They were glued in until 2 little grandson hands discovered them and pulled them out on one of his first visits. ♥ I decided to fix it one day and today was the ‘one day’.

I added a few red stones before
placing it back on the coffee table

It was a bit of a challenge but with some plastic out of the recycle bin, I managed to make a half-a** job of it and now it sits back in the house where it belongs. 😊 Then, I got another puzzle out. This one is only 500 pc. and with large pieces but it is 24” x 31” so fills the table. I had to sort pieces by colour, leaving some in the box that I wasn’t going to be working on. I hate this way of doing a puzzle but it is a necessary evil on this table. It works.

At this point, I never know how big the border will be

I was pushing the limits of the table
with this one

Bill hopped on Jazz and went into the hardware store for a chain, he had checked weather for rain and was sure he wouldn’t get wet. When he returned, he hooked up the harrow that he got at the auction (he’s been wanting one for a few years) to the mower and went crazy. 

Cleaning up some of the weeds
down the centre of the lane

Adding a little weight pulled the weeds out of the
parking area too
Gibbs approves

I had a cute video of Gibbs following Bill's tractor

but for some reason, my videos won't load anymore.

                                                  

This is a good purchase for the property.
We'll do this every few weeks to keep the weeds at bay.

It worked well on the parking area, pulling the weeds and doing the same down the lane. As long as he’s happy, is what I say. 😊 Gibbs, of course, had to supervise and check his path each time he went by.

After some sunshine, there's that 
threatening sky again

I came in at 5, it was getting downright chilly! There was fog for a while and then it disappeared within half hour. Strange weather, I say again. For supper, I made up a goulash of some sort with ground beef, veggies and corn on the cob on the side. Also, a batch of Pillsbury biscuits for dipping. Yum. Ooh, it tasted wonderful! Bill reminded me that we had strawberry chiffon tarts for dessert so of course, we each had one of those.

I never knew what this would be until I
got started at making it.

Bill had his shower after turning the dishwasher on and I sat to finish my blog. This has been a good day, busy enough but mostly with hobby things. 😊

There is probably going to be a great
sunset tonight but I'm not waiting for it.
so
Good night!

Thank you for your visit.

Rain? Stormy? Sunny? Hot? Make up Your Minds!!

The Ridge

On Saturday, May 21^st, Gibbs had Bill awake at 6 to go out for his piddle. That’s what happens when Bill has to be up through the week before 6. They came back to bed and at 7, I was ready to get up. Gibbs and I left Bill sleeping and slipped out for our walk. I closed the bedroom door when we left. We walked down the lane, it was a lovely mild morning, 15C/63F or so.

Morning walk

By the time we turned onto North Line, the black flies found me. They’ve never bothered me down that far, especially not on our walks! We didn’t get far and it was me that stopped and turned for home. It was wet out, from whatever rains (storm?) we had overnight, so I had to wipe Gibbs’ feet when we came in. He’s so good, lifts each one on cue. 1, 2, 3 & 4. ♥ Bill taught him that, like he did for Clemson.

Got my little mower back! 😃

Then after a suitable period of foot drying, I opened the door and told Gibbs not to bother Daddy. He didn’t, instead laying on the side of the bed where he was close to him but could still keep an eye on what I was doing. I had my tea and played my word games, quietly. The day looked like a mixed bag. It could rain, it could shine, it could storm, no one really knew. When they came downstairs after 8, Bill made his coffee and went out to install my lawnmower blade. 😊

Test run

You wouldn’t think I’d be excited about that but I love my little battery-operated mower. I like feeling that I’m participating in the outside duties and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, complicated about this mower. Charge the battery and she’s good to go. I get exercise too so it’s double duty! Bill decided to cut the front field while he had time before rain (?) and before his meeting at 11.

It looks great now!

While he did that, I cut the area up here that is harder to get with the riding mower. My machine does a much better job. The battery wasn’t fully charged but it did most of the job before I had to stop. It looks so much better! When we both finished, he got cleaned up and we debated whether he take Ptooties or Jazz to his meeting, 25 minutes away.

Where's Daddy going, Mom?

The weather forecast called for 15% chance of rain up until 5 pm. He’d be home in 2 hours so I made him a thermos of coffee and he took the bike. Gibbs and I puttered around here at home. I dusted the Suite and worked on the puzzle. I boiled more hummer food and stewed the wee little bit of rhubarb I had. Just to get a taste. 😊 It made about 2 teaspoons worth, but that’s a taste!

Getting worried about Daddy

The sky changed to black off to the west and north, and we heard rumbling just around noon. I started to worry about Bill. When the rain started at 12:15, I became concerned and the radar showed the storm coming directly for us plus the weather forecast had changed to 95% chance of rain/storms immediately until about 2 pm. LOL I know he’d wore his jacket but didn’t take any rain gear. We’ve learned that the best thing to do if we’re caught in it, is to stop and wait it out under shelter if possible.

Gibbs chased Chippy for a while
"I know you're in there!"

Before the rain, some security duty
After Daddy got home, some resting

At 12:25, I ran Gibbs in to the Suite from the ‘Bunky’ and heard a motorcycle. Please oh please be Bill, I prayed. It was. He booted Jazz up the lane into the protection of her shelter. He didn’t encounter anything too bad until this side of Durham so wasn’t too wet. I was just as wet running around outside with Gibbs and closing the shed doors. I breathed a sigh of relief that he made it home safe and sound. Thank you, God. ♥

Finished the puzzle

We had toasted omelette sandwiches, mine in a wrap with salsa and sour cream (yum) and then relaxed together. Bill helped me play a word game before he fell asleep. Him and Gibbs, two of a kind, loving their naps. 

This was a nice breakfast quesadilla 💓

Nap time!

We drove over to the Acreage to see Donna and Gerry for about an hour and helped them put the cover on their shelter. It takes 4 of us, well, at least 3 and many hands make light work. 😊 Bill had a beer with Gerry before we came back home. Gibbs had fun, running around, entertaining us all.

Top picture is of the Acreage geese on their pond
Bottom, is our family of five going down into the pond
So cute!

Back home, I finished the puzzle and Bill worked on a plane in his Hangar. It went from cool to hot to cool to hot again and now the sky is mostly blue, the way it was before the rain. It can’t make up its mind. Well, someone can’t make up their mind. For supper, it’s nothing fancy but a home grown favourite. Potatoes, hamburger gravy and vegetables. I was running out of ideas and although we could’ve barbecued something after all, I didn’t have the right meat out of the freezer.

I'm pleased with this little garden
Evening primrose and the tall ones I can't remember their name
to come up yet

We’ve seen many goose babies today. 7 at the Acreage pond from 2 sets of parents and our 5 babies here from one family. They are so cute and growing very quickly.  We haven’t seen many turtles at all this spring so far, no mamas digging holes for her eggs so maybe they’ve moved on somewhere else. ☹  Supper was delicious, I even adorned the ‘stew’ with dumplings so that was a nice change.

I filled the finch feeder and they are grateful

Bill went down to the Hangar and then I saw him coming back up while talking to friends. So as not to have Gibbs jumping on us and pestering at the phone I went outside for the conversation. Poor little guy doesn’t understand but we moved out of his vision until we hung up. I worked on my blog and then watched my recorded episode of This is Us.

I love this kind of meal and we have leftovers

There have been storms to the east of us but we were missed. This time. Yay! The sun is setting between the clouds and it is a nice evening. I hope you’ve had a good day too!

Late post
Good night!

Thank you for your visit! Happy Memorial Day weekend!