Up and At ‘Em, Day for a Change, Time for a Family Dinner

The Ridge

Thursday, June 4^th when we got up, I couldn’t believe that it was already Thursday! This week is flying by and I guess that relates to how busy we’ve been. I’m supposing that the summer will fly by too which is sad since the nice weather took its time arriving. Today looks gorgeous with a nice sun peeking through a few clouds to the east. It was already 16C/62F.

Good morning!

I had a cup of tea while Bill got washed and ready for his work day. At 7:30 we drove together to Walkerton in Ptooties. It was a nice morning drive, about 40 minutes and I was able to see the house that they are renovating. Mike wasn’t there but I met one of crew and saw Emily, whom I’ve met a couple of times before. I’d noticed on the way through Hanover that Walmart had no lines at 8 so I stopped on the way home.

It was maybe 5 minutes before I was allowed in and right away, I knew it was a good decision as the Zero Coke and Diet Gingerale were on sale. I put 4 cases in my cart and we should be good for a while. I don’t drink it as often as Bill does but it is nice to be stocked up. With a few other groceries and my Calcium pills in the cart, I checked out and headed home.

Lunch and a good book on a beautiful day
Enjoying the moments

The drive back was uneventful, the construction near Durham on #4 has moved down a side road so it didn’t slow traffic down. I put things away, read my emails and then decided it was time to make a change. Just ‘because I can’. One of  George's favourite things to say. 😊 I’ve been warning Bill for a week now what to expect but who knows what he’ll think when all is said and done. You’ll find out at the end of the post – maybe.

My irises along the back of the Bunky

I made myself a coffee before 11 and sat to write a bit on here. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur, I had my lunch, took a couple of walks down the lane and watered the hanging basket down at Bill’s Hangar. I had a nice catchup chat with my London girlfriend and out of work hair stylist, Brenda, and then it was time to pick Bill up at his job. I left at 1:40 and was in Walkerton at 2:20. He was ready and I drove home.

We ordered supper in from Kettles and sat in a bug free
gazebo
Gerry, John and Gayle all smiles

He was hot and dirty but didn’t feel like dozing, which I thought he might while I drove. He hopped in the shower and while he did that I slipped into a summer dress and flip flops. Love the ease of hot weather dressing! I again drove to my sister Gayle’s and Bill was able to stretch back and have a snooze on the 30-minute drive. We were the first ones to arrive so made ourselves comfortable on their nice deck under the gazebo, with a full view of their pond, garden and yard area.

Bill and Donna
He can't blame me for the goofy pictures if he
doesn't look at the camera

Woops, John blinked
You probably have a clue now what I was referring to earlier

When Donna and Gerry arrived we all had some happy hour drinks and enjoyed each other’s company. It was a beautiful day for an outdoor dinner. John took our orders from the Kettles menu and called them in for pick up. Kettles is about 15 minutes down the road towards Owen Sound so the 3 guys went. Eating out of the Styrofoam containers saved some dishes for our hosts and the food was great. 

Bill obliged when us sisters asked him to take a picture

No picture again today of my meal but I had 2 pcs. of tender liver with onions, bacon, baked potato and cole slaw. Delicious! Half the liver and coleslaw came home.

Yes, that's the new temporary me in the middle
Biill could never see 'me' in the pictures I showed him
when I was younger in brown hair
Now he can

We sat around until close to 8 pm when Bill drove us home. What a great day! I was in bed by 9:30 as I still needed to catch up on last night’s restless sleep. The driving is unusual for me so that added to my sleepiness, I’m sure. Looking forward to another wonderful day on the horizon for tomorrow.

So, that was our day
Good night from the Ridge!

Thank you for your visit!

And Just Like That, We’re Outta’ Here!

We were awake and up by 6:30, with a little bit of ‘rarin’ to go’ in our heads. It was Saturday, Oct. 20^th, our day to move the wheels southward. Coffee and tea and a bit of blogging before we had some cereal and started closing things up. Bill took the satellite dish down, did the circle check and we were soon shutting the hydro/electric off and locking the bunky for the last time.

Beautiful day to move

Say Goodbye, sweetie!

This is the sky we started out with

It was 9:00 on the dot when we pulled out of the lane, another last time this year thing, and closed the gate behind us. Clemson doesn’t know what is going on but with his sweater and his seatbelt on, he knows he is going with us. 

Curled up on Dad's coat and Mom's scarf
Nothing else matters

Closing and locking the Bunky

The day’s weather is up in the air, we are moving 3 hours to the south so it will be different there than here. Mostly sunny skies, no winds and moderate 44F/5C temps surrounded us.

Last lane drive this year

Closing the Gate behind us

 The drive was uneventful, which we always appreciate. At 10, we stopped at the Wingham turn onto Hwy #4 at Tim Horton’s. This was a washroom break but we also each had a muffin. Mine was Carrot with walnuts and Bill's was Whole grain, Banana with pecans. Both were very good. We chatted with a couple parked beside us while we ate and left them with an rv card and a huge serving of jealousy that they weren’t going with us. Someone has to stay behind and save the world!

Crazy cloud formations today

We continued on and I captured crazy sky displays. You name it, we kind of had it. One huge black cloud moved over and to the east of us so I hope it didn’t do any damage somewhere along that line. 

Sharing a few pictures of the drive today

These Bolers are a descendant of the Airstream, we were told

Bathroom break!

After returning to the truck, this guy was trying to hitch a ride
No way, he got scooted out in Timmy's parking lot

And I enjoyed my Carrot and walnut muffin

We arrived at Rock Glen RV Resort, our membership home park, at 12:30 and Bill checked us in to Site #26. After we set up on the big corner site, he took the water bladder up to the cabin to get us some water.

Goats

It felt quite mild outside and I don’t know what the temperature was but the silly weather continued into the afternoon. Sun, clouds, thunder, lightning and downpours. 

Barns that remain standing in the throes of adversity
What more damage can the wind do?

One side of the lane was evergreens and fruit trees
The other side were beautiful maple trees in their glory

Just after 3:30 (I think) Melinda, Gerry and Tucker came around for an impromptu Happy Hour. It was a great surprise and we easily passed the time catching up on things while Tucker begged for food. Too cute! Clemson was pretty oblivious of him, showing little interest. Our dog is such a snob.

Melinda arrived in her little cart

It is always nice to see these friends
Even Gerry (private joke)

And blue-eyed Tucker gives us a chuckle

Unfortunately, we had to make the visit short because of our plans to meet the kids and grandkids in London at 6. They left at 4:30 and we were dressed and out the door by 10 to 5. It was a wet drive to Southside Family Grill and even though we were early, arriving at 5:30, Bridgette, Chris, Jake and Bea were already seated. I’d only met Jake’s girlfriend once before so it was very nice that she was visiting him for the week and able to come.

these next few are sky pictures of our drive this morning

when you think it is starting to clear

Sneaking a water tower shot in

it changed again

 

This one went over our heads towards home

And turning towards the south, it did improve

And even more so

A bright barn quilt

On Rock Glen Road to the park (on the left)

 Soon enough, the rest of the family arrived and we were seated at 2 tables. We neglected to book the ‘big’ private room but made it work in the general seating area. It was a busy place in there tonight! I ordered lasagna, Caesar salad and Bill and I shared some garlic bread. Bill enjoyed a Hot Roast Beef sandwich and with the exception of individual bar tabs, we covered the dinner. We were happy to have such a great turn out, with only 4 unable to attend.

We said our goodbyes around 8:30 after Stefanie, our waitress, obligingly helped me by taking a picture of our group. She moved chairs, cleared and moved tables in the effort to please her customers. And we were pleased. I got my family photo. It is sad saying goodbye to our children and grandchildren but plan to keep in touch over the winter.  Social media, phone calls, texts and blogs, they all work.

They make a delicious lasagna
Half of it came home with me

We drove home in the dark with the rain and noticed the winds had really picked up. “Thank goodness, we aren’t up on The Ridge”, we said. It was 41F as we let ourselves into the Suite and settled in for the night. I made myself a Ginger and honey tea before bedtime. I’d finished my book earlier today so need to find another one to read.

And nothing beats this picture today!
20/24 - not bad!
Good night from Rock Glen, Arkona

Bill didn’t get the satellite dish hooked up today so instead of watching tv, he is relaxing in his chair with his Michael Connelly book. Harry Bosch is right up there with Jack Reacher for good characters. This has been a great day and we have taken one step towards our winter travels. I hope you have enjoyed yours as well!

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments are always appreciated.

Sunday Coming Down, Birds and Dinner with Family

I was awake just around 6 and managed to stay in bed for another 30 minutes before getting up. It wasn’t sunny like I expected nor was the sun anywhere present in the horizon. Instead, it was cloudy all around me. Bill slept on and after Clemson went out for his morning piddle, joined him until 8.

Watching the herons coming in

One lands

two fly off

I was sitting alone at my laptop reading posts when I looked out the window and saw 1, 2, no wait, 3, 4 white herons gliding in! Not wanting to waste time I slipped out with Bill’s little Power Shot Canon and snapped them flying around and then two were landing in a dead tree across the pond. My heart starts pumping when I see such a wonderful bit of nature.

And after watching the white ones, this guy swoops in

And what a beautiful swoop

How they manage to stand still on such a flimsy branch I'll never understand

The fog was dissipating, or so I thought and I went in and changed to my 30D Canon with the zoom lens. They were still in the tree and so I snapped more pictures. It seemed they were settled for the day with a bit of ruffling of feathers occasionally. I set the camera on a fence post for more stability and waited and waited and waited. At one point I came back inside to find Bill up wondering where I was.

Woops, he lost his balance

And then the fog gets denser

I was able to snap a few pictures of all 5 of them through the fog
I like how 3 of them are watching him as he lands

When I went back out all 4 had found a perch on the spindly tree and as the fog once more seemed to move in thicker, a 5^th dark coloured one flew in. I stood there for the longest time hoping to get a clearer shot but the fog continued to blur my focus. I was so disappointed as I had to get the clothes sorted and into the laundromat and couldn’t hang around. I left Bill instructions to try and capture them if the fog lifted. These pictures aren’t too bad for what I was dealing with.

A pretty sky as I was going to the laundromat

Bill works in his trailer

One of his planes

These beautiful sunflowers make me smile

the fog is a memory now

It was sad at the laundromat to see a couple of washers with tags saying they needed repair. Stan would have had these looked after immediately or at least be in there working on them. I’m sure his family is really struggling with his loss. I left there before 10 and drove to Rockwood to see Mom. I was pleased that she liked the 3 articles of clothing I’d bought for her. She looked pretty today in her red sweater, black pants and long white beads. She was also in a very good mood!

Perfect day to dry clothes outside

After saying goodbye to her, I wandered down to say hello to ‘Aunt’ Mary at the other end of the hall. She looked fresh and happy to see me even though I know she is dealing with a chest infection of sorts. I chatted about what I was up to and said goodbye with a promise to return. I crave a better way to communicate with her, she wanted to tell me something that I couldn’t understand.

At home with the clothes hanging out to dry, I made myself a second tea and at noon made egg omelettes for lunch. Donna texted and they were on their way out to the Acreage for the day. We’ll pop over later this afternoon and have supper with them. We’ll take our steak and potato and she is picking me up some sweet corn as well. It seems we haven’t been over there much this year, with the weather and they haven’t been there as much either. It will be nice to enjoy some of the afternoon together.

Our neighbour takes his truck out for a run, just because he can

 Bill puttered around again in his cargo trailer with some organizing ideas. One day it will be perfect and he can hook it up and pull it out to an RC flying field without worrying about things ending up helter skelter. I set about planting my poppies and even though I planted the sunflowers that I pulled, Donna informed me that it was fruitless. Shows what I know about sunflowers. They are not perennials and will not produce flowers.

Reflections in the Acreage pond

I brought the clothes in after Bill and Clemson laid down for their nap and I took a walk down the lane before bringing the basket inside. When he got up we put the clothes away and packed up things for our supper. We drove over around 4 and had a nice visit before lighting the bbq. Bill tended the food and we sat around the giant picnic table to eat. Of course, I had to snap a group picture.

Gerry and Bill wait on the barbecue

Donna pouring drinks

Clemson likes the space at the Acreage and wanders freely. We don’t need to worry about where he goes as he always returns to Mom or Dad. We had a nice time together and at 7 pm the mosquitoes were finding Bill. It was time to go home. Donna and Gerry were heading home as well.

This was a working Sunday but an enjoyable one. I hope your day was just as wonderful.

Good food and Good times

Pink reflections in our Ridge pond

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