Beautiful Day, Dancing Alone, Canon Camera Fix? Dinner with Friends

London, Ontario

I woke up on Saturday, Apr. 13^th when I heard Clemson jump off the bed. I was afraid to look at the clock after his 3 am jumps over the last two nights. No worries, I saw a light downstairs and realized that it was just before 7. I could see Bill opening the blinds and saw the gorgeous blue sky. After doing my leg stretches, which have become as natural a part of waking up for me as sitting up is, I got up.

Company on my walk this morning

It was a gorgeous day in the neighbourhood

 Bill made my tea, we greeted each other and sat and read blog posts of our friends. Actually, first I pushed to get my own posted. These late nights! Ha ha. With that done, Bill had his toast, washed up and was off to White Oaks Mall on the southwest end of London. Today, there was a static display of RC airplanes and it was his model club, Forest City Flyers, putting it on. He would spend the morning there with all of his long-time flying friends. Just because he can.

I walked by the woodsy area

I did hear that Princess Auto (oh no!) was open at 8 so he was stopping there first. I finished my drink and after I was caught up on things on my laptop, I dressed for a walk. There is a wind this morning coming from the west so the mile+ walk to the east and Wonderland Road was quite pleasant. I’ve learned to take grocery bags with me when I walk and if you remember me last summer, you’ll be reminded that I am not opposed to picking up empty beer cans on my walk.

and crossed the 'dead' tracks

Embarrassed? Nope, not me. If people want to throw money away while littering at the same time (pigs!), I’ll do my part by picking them up and getting 5 or 10¢/can for my effort. If I was wealthy, I bet I’d still feel that urge. I guess that came from Daddy and Mom taking us on back roads and picking up beer bottles. It was always a fun outing and that money was quite necessary back then at 1 or 2¢/btle. I came from good stock and proud of it.

When I turned around to walk back, okay, the wind was right in my face. I thought it would be cold but instead my hoody came down and I was quite enjoying the fresh air. Walking does take some exertion so I was warmed up by then. Back home, I dropped off the bag of cans (in a 2-mile walk, I scavenged (cleaned up) at least 20) and then walked up to the hot tub. I’m kind of a chicken-sh** when it comes to doing some things on my own and after lifting one of the lid sections and feeling the water, I changed my mind.

A huge hot tub, I just wish I'd had a 'friend' to join me

I made myself a coffee back in the Suite and had a bowl of oatmeal, ground flax and cream. Yum. With the dishes done up, I wanted to test something one more time. That would be my big Canon camera and its dust/dirt spots. I haven’t used it for a couple of months and that irritates me. I tried my 2 lenses and Bill’s zoom lens taking the exact same picture. The spots are there on every one and cleaning 8 or 10 spots each time on my Spot Fix is ridiculous.

On Kijiji, I found a fellow in London who is selling various camera bodies and one is identical to mine. He bundled some things together and came up with what we thought to be a reasonable price. Tonight, on our way out to dinner, we are stopping in to check it out. Fingers crossed; this will work for me. We were told last summer that Henry’s could send mine away to get a professional clean for $150. Yes, I’ve bought the recommended products and tried numerous times on our own.

Half of my paint supplies

Instead of sitting in my chair with my book, I decided to paint some rocks. I had a few ‘naked’ ones that I found in some of our recent camping spots. I didn’t bring my whole kit out of the storage area under the bed, but did easily bring one container out that had a fair number of paint colours, brushes and palettes. There was one in particular I wanted to paint and it was on a small piece of slate/cement that I found beside Kirk’s chicken coop. I hope he doesn’t mind!

Just a couple of painted rocks that I did
I'm certainly not an artist but I have fun

I had the table covered in my stuff when I saw out the back window that Black Beauty was making her way home on the country road. He can’t sneak up on me! It was early when Bill ate his toast so I made us an omelette sandwich each around 1. I don’t know if I was really hungry since I’d eaten later but supper would be later than our norm so I knew I would need something. Bill had his on toasted and I had mine in quesadilla form, as per our usual.

lunch was delicious

We cleaned up dishes and he went upstairs with my afghan for a snooze. Clemson soon figured out where he went and that a blanket was involved so I lifted him up on the bed with his Daddy. This morning, I was listening to 60’s on 6 on Sirius radio and because it was Saturday, they were playing tunes that I hadn’t heard in a while. It set my feet to tapping and soon I was up dancing around the coffee table. I do miss dancing so when given the opportunity, where there I was getting into the music.

I finished painting 3 rocks and set them aside to be sprayed with a clear coat finish. I have a few to hide in the coming winter and probably a few more when the summer is over. It is an enjoyable pastime for me and now that I have a ‘new to me’ outdoor table, it will be easy. I thought I would sit in my chair and read more of Princess by James Patterson.  It is another one that has me hooked. However, that didn’t happen. I had to finish a slip stitch on some slippers and then tear another project out so did that instead. My sister, Wendy, informs me the tear out etc. is called ‘Frogging’, rip it rip it. Ha ha I love that!

Arriving at Kathy and Derrick's beautiful home

Before we knew it, the afternoon had passed and it was 5 pm. We drove into the city once more to a Bulk Barn. We wanted to pick up a couple of pounds of shelled peanuts and that was the best deal. From there we drove to check out the camera bodies. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out. With a couple of lenses, I took pictures with his camera body and it also had spots. It isn’t just me, we could all see them. No point in buying another body with the same issue. Darn! It was a good deal for all the stuff.

Getting seated at the table to enjoy our salad
L to R - Sharon, Lydia, Jeff, Derrick (our host)

We drove on to our friends, just down the street from his house. Kathy and Derrick had invited 6 of us to dinner. It was wonderful to see everyone and catch up on all the news from the past 6 months. We drank, we ate and drank some more. The regaling of stories didn’t stop. 

Doesn't look like a large piece, but trust me it was plenty!

Derrick presents Lydia with her birthday cake

The menu was Caesar salad, lasagna and Kathy surprised us all by scratch baking a lovely carrot cake for Lydia’s birthday. Happy 60, Lydia! Everything was wonderful and we all had a great evening.

And she quickly blew the candles out

It was just before 11 when we said our goodbyes and drove home. Somehow, Clemson managed to get his little wobbly self up on the bed and was curled up sleeping with my sweater. He hasn’t attempted that in a couple of months at least but seemed no worse for wear. We were in bed and asleep immediately, nope we’re (I’m) not used to these late hours.

A huge piece of cake and Sharon's Easter chocolate
The surprise was that Kathy never baked before while working
fulltime. Never! The cake was awesome!

What a wonderful day it was! Now get ready for some cold weather. LOL

Thank you for reading today. Comments are always welcome if you care to leave one.

Chats with Little Bro, Great Morning Walk, Arizona Marketplace, Dipping, Let’s Dance!

On Saturday, Feb.3^rd Clemson jumped off the bed around 7. He slept through the night again, good little guy. I rolled over to see if Bill was awake and he was already rising to let him out. I got up anyway, I’d slept really well and didn’t want to stay in bed any longer. I came downstairs while the boys crawled back under the covers.

Well, good morning!

My thought was to get my post from yesterday published but when I saw the pretty pink low clouds to the east, I took the little camera outside. It was 42F but no wind out there at all. With my little gloves and extra hoody, I was drawn to walk further and further. Before I knew it, I was out of the park walking towards a field of broccoli where the workers were hard at it. I wish they were closer for a better picture.

I walked down the row of Casita style sites

some have park models

others are empty and for lease/sale

I realized that I couldn’t gain entry back into the park unless I retraced my steps or walked up to the main road entrance. So, that is what I did. It worked perfectly, almost 2 miles. It gave me an opportunity to capture some of the neat displays around the park grounds.

When I returned, I wasn’t surprised to see Bill was up as it was almost 8 o’clock. I enjoyed the walk and the fresh air. I’ve been getting a bit lazy lately and my Fitbit is not pleased with me. To make my walk even more enjoyable I take pictures of beautiful things.

A field of broccoli

and the workers hard at it at 7 am to beat the heat
No wonder they quit at 1:30 or 2

Anybody home?

My Dad would love this

for Donna and I to plant our gardens

are we taking a ride today?
Giddyap!

Today, was another ‘get up and get moving day’ although the get up and go wasn’t working quite as well as we’d hoped. I still wasn’t able to finish reading all of my blogger friends’ posts from yesterday before we had to put the push on to move. We were ready to leave around 8:45 or 9 and arrived at the Arizona Marketplace before anyone was at the gate to charge us the entry fee.

The marketplace wasn't too busy and we enjoyed the shopping

We were on a mission and had a list of things to get for family back home. We know it isn’t necessary and it probably won’t be something we do all the time BUT for our first few times, it is important to us to find something small for the kids and grandkids. Trying to find that ‘different’ gift from last year is the tricky part. I enjoy the hunt.

Driving S. Araby Rd towards our street
I love the view of the agricultural fields ahead

As we prepared to walk out around 11:45 we were tickled pink that it was a fun‘chore’ well done in record time and with very little expense. It was as we left the gate that we noticed they were charging newcomers $1 per person. We’ll be sure to remember that for next time and go early again. The day was warming up again, already 78F at noon hour.

This truck is going to a work site in a field with some very
important equipment

We returned home and recorded our expenditures after making lunch. Bill settled in his chair with his book (I wonder how long that will last?) and I pulled the bulk packages of sausage, steak, chops and pork ribs out of the fridge. It is my job to prepare single meal packets for the freezer and it didn’t take long to put two of everything in a pack.

This cheap pack of ribs will make two nice meals

our freezer is looking full again

I’ve finished the Violets Are Blue book and it was very good. I’m going to switch to one of Michael Connelly’s stories now with Harry Bosch. Angels Flight is a hardcover that I found at Pilot Knob RV Resort. After sitting still for awhile myself, going through the purchases, I changed into my bathing suit and waited for Bill to wake up so we could go to the pool earlier today. Told ya! With the chair, the book and the morning walk, it is a given who is going to win.

We  had the pool to ourselves when we arrived

We walked up to the pool around 2 and were surprised to find that no one was in the pool. There were 2 or 3 people lounging in chairs or the hot tub. I grabbed us each a pool noodle and we floated around for at least half hour. More people came and Jim was one of them. We chatted with him and a couple of other ladies doing their water exercises.

My floating sweetie pie

I love how age means absolutely nothing here, in this lifestyle. When men and women in their late 70’s and 80’s are doing the same thing, we are doing in our 60’s it gives me strength and encouragement. If Verna, at 79, can swim the length of the pool and back, I know I could have another 15 years doing the same thing.

 We moved to the hot tub until it was too hot and after rinsing the suds off, we stretched out on our own loungers. One more swim in the pool and Sharon arrived for a swim too. We walked back before 4 to find Clemson with his hands on his hips “where is my supper?” Actually, no he was more graceful in his demand than that so Bill fed him pronto.

We read outside for awhile and I gave in first to a nap. Bill and Clem soon joined me. I felt exhausted and dropped off really quickly for a short 30 minutes. Bill lit the barbecue and grilled sausage while I prepared a nice salad for each of us. 

A good supper with sausage and salad

It was filling and quite yummy. Bill washed and I dried the dishes before we got cleaned up for another evening out. My goodness! We are turning into quite the social butterflies!

And the sun sets with a bit of a show

I mixed up the ingredients to make a batch of Beer Margueritas so I had something to drink up at the clubhouse. There was live music provided tonight for a dance and we’d arranged to join Jim and Sharon for the evening. It was quite good, Terry and Linda played a lot of classic country tunes. Most were well known and the full house sang along and danced through a number of them. Stuart and his wife, Pat, joined us as did their friends, Lin and Von.

Jim and Sharon warm up the dance floor for everyone

Terry and Linda provided some really good entertainment
and it takes a lot for me to say that!

Our Beer Marueritas
(Beeritas)

We, ourselves, got a couple of dances in and I got a line dance under my belt as well. It was a fun evening and the drinks were quite good! We said our goodnights when the music stopped at 10. It is so surprising to feel the cool air after 7 o’clock and then even more surprising to find it had only dropped to 55F. When you think we started at 80F, that is a noticeable difference.

These guys are really good together and fun to watch

 There were tons of stars in the black sky tonight and the Big Dipper was resting on its handle tip. Another interesting thing we saw today was the Blimp which we often see tethered when driving northeast on I-95 near the Yuma Proving Grounds. I just happened to spot it this afternoon on my walk with Clemson.

This has been a very fulfilling day. Things got done in town, we had plenty of time to relax and swim and be entertained. I’ve had a couple of nice conversations with my little brother, Michael, over the last couple of days on text and with my girlfriend, Brenda, today. It means so much to keep in touch with ‘home’. My sister, Donna and I text every day and that keeps us on top of each other’s day, as if we were mere miles apart. I like that.

to prove we were there too

Thank you for peeking to see what we got up to today. 

Great Day for a Wedding! Wonderful Couple United, Fun with Friends

Saturday, Aug. 5^th I was awake before 7 and up to greet the day. I was in bed by 10:30 so it isn’t surprising that I’m ready to get up. I let Clemson out in the drizzle and came in chilled. It takes him a while to find that ‘perfect’ spot to squat or lift his leg. I knew I was due for another trip out shortly since he only completed one job.

Morning start - Good luck on a wedding day

I made my tea and sat reading blog posts. When I read the comments on my post I was happy to see the return of Tucker from Tucker’s Adventures. They came to visit us earlier this week and seldom do we hear a peep. Yay! Welcome back to the blogger forum! All comments are special and very important to us bloggers, whether you blog or just blurk (read blogs), we love to hear that we are being read.

It was another hour and a half before my sweetie got up so he slept really well after a midnight departure to bed. The day is not what one would hope for when it is a day for a wedding BUT the wives’ tale is that rain on a matrimonial day brings Good Luck. Bill and I were married in May, 20 years ago and instead of May it felt more like February. Wet, cold, rainy and windy but by late afternoon it semi-cleared and the day was a total success from beginning to end. And here we are!

Change of dress

As I begin to write my post, it is 10 o’clock and already the day is appearing brighter. I had to make a decision though. With temperatures only rising to 17C/62F, I had to rethink my attire for the day. Hmm. I know we’ll be in a huge tent but not sure how warm it will be. My spaghetti strap summer (August-type) dress just isn’t going to cut it.

This meant silver instead of gold accessories

To my fruitful closet I rush and easily find an alternative outfit. Then the shoes, the purse and the jewelry adjustment. Yes, it makes a difference! I’m nothing if I’m not coordinated. I’m still undecided what jacket I’ll need but can decide that at the last minute when I see the sky.

And a warmer choice for shoes

I poured my second tea and Bill popped over to advise George and Suzie what time we will pull out of here, since we’re all riding together. We popped the furnace on this morning, because we can and because it was a cool 13C outside and 18 inside. Just to take the chill off while we shower. I hopped in around 11 so I can mess with hair and face stuff.

Clear breaks in the sky

I made up a bacon and egg lunch so we’ll have full tummies when we leave. I guess Clemson will get an early supper today since we won’t be back home until late. I’m going to plead to my sister’s kind heart and hope she can pop over to let him out around 6 for a piddle. Of course, she said ‘sure!’

Checking out the receding water at Don's, next door

Once the sky started clearing out, I took a walk down the lane in the wind. Our fingers are crossed for a dry afternoon at least. We were showered and ready to go shortly before 2 and I set up my tripod and camera to get a picture of us. If I don’t, we won’t feel like it later, I know from experience.

All decked out and ready to go

Strong strong winds

Arriving at Ground Effects Landscaping on Concession 2 we wandered through a bit of the grounds. It is lovely here, nice spot for a wedding for sure. Every venue has their own rules and although there are some pretty strict regulations, Sandra wanted her day here. The ceremony was held just outside the banquet hall with a light snack area inside. The Stone Bar was held inside a unique building, where we each had a drink of choice. (Picture overload aka WEDDING)

Beautiful venue

Great idea

With the tent set up early, we slipped down to snap some photos before everyone arrived. Seating chart, gift and signature table, candy shoppe and beautiful table arrangement. We were seated at Table 6 with George and Suzie, CarolAnn and John and Linda and Merle. We had fun and the roast beef/chicken dinner was awesome! So much food, I hope the wedding party gets to take the remainder home.

Suzie and George from Our Awesome Travels
(no hat, no vest but it is still George)

My handsome guy walking to the tent

This building is where the bar is set up

Without the strong wind, the day was perfect and even with it we early on gave up the hope of keeping our hair neat. After a few speeches, the dancing started and Bill and I got to dance our feet off until the music turned to the stuff we don’t know. The four of us agreed to call it a night around 10:30 and Bill drove home to The Ridge. Clemson was happy to see us and did a great job of looking after our Suite.

Proud little flower girl, Olivia

2nd flower girl, 

Charming little ring bearer, Joseph

Proud parents and beautiful bride

Mr. & Mrs. Bill Carlisle
We did it!

The bride and groom with their parents

Yours truly on the prettiest bench ever

This was a wonderful day! That is what weddings are all about. I have more great pictures so tomorrow will include some follow up pictures displaying the fun we had.

Thank you for stopping by today to check in on us. I love reading your comments if you choose to leave one.