A Full Day with Friends, Bird Watching

The Ridge

On Saturday, May 5^th my eyes bugged out when I saw the blue sky out my window. It was not what I expected after the forecast for rain until 3 pm. What a lovely surprise! Bill and I sorted the laundry; we had two weeks’ worth today. I left the house at 7:30 for the Mat. I arrived, carried the basket in and realized that I forgot my yellow lanyard with the work keys. Crap! In 6 years, this is only the 2^nd time.

Good morning!

I put the clothes in the washers using our own cash and my sweetie met me half way with my keys. I went back to town and he carried on to the Acreage for a bladder of water. The Mat was in pretty good shape but it still got the full treatment with the exceptions of the big dryers. I’ll do them on Monday or Wednesday. Every two weeks is my norm. Before I left, I made sure to reimburse myself for the cost of the wash. It is included in my pay. 

On the way home from town, I stopped
on Baptist Church Road to check the woods for Trilliums.
They are the Provincial Floral Emblem in Ontario. 

The one on the left is in the woods
The two on the right are from my garden on the berm. ♥

When I returned home, Bill and Duncan were diligently working on the pond pump system. What started out good, did not end up the same way. After a whole morning and a couple of hours into the afternoon, they could not get it to work. ☹ I had brought our clothes home and hung them on the line, they will dry well in that sunshine. There wasn’t much breeze at first so we did notice black flies, depending on where you were situated on the Ridge.

I stopped at the pond where Bill had BB parked

A frustrating endeavour this year for some reason

Gibbs came down to greet me 

We had lunch separately and Patty and I met around the firepit with our books. Gibbs kept us all in line, advising everyone when they went back and forth to their rv. Bill had a FedEx delivery and Gibbs listened well when I called him to come to me and wait for him to drive in. That is a big thing in my books. ♥ After the boys quit working on the pump, we all sat together in the sun.

I had my big Canon so was able to catch the
Rose Breasted Grosbeak.
He was waiting patiently for his turn at the feeders

Lots of finches and red-winged blackbirds

Duncan and Patty - always a joy when they visit us for a few days.
Rob and Pat arrived and that meant a playmate for Gibbs.
Bella gave him some exercise!💓

The winds picked up, as is the Ridge’s nature, and the black flies petered off for the most part. Rob and Pat dropped out for a nice little visit too which was wonderful. We’ve not seen them since we returned home. Pat is currently undergoing a few health issues so we were all pleased that she was up to coming out. Patty sent Rob home with some dessert so she gained some brownie points there. I’ll have to up my game! Ha ha

A beautiful day and a beautiful reunion

When R & P toured the Newmar,
the puppies waited outside.

I walked up to check on my peony
I love the pink start to the leaves.

Tonight, we were treated to supper in the Sharps’ Newmar which was nice. It included the same dessert which was yummy even with no ice cream. I’ve fallen off the wagon the last couple of days with my carbs but will be back on track on Sunday. 😊 I promised myself!

Finally, his turn!

Just before we walked over for supper,
I was rewarded in Aces!!
Mr. & Mrs. Baltimore Oriole arrived. 

We said goodnight around 8:30 and I felt exhausted for some reason. I guess the sun did it, because all afternoon I was a lazy bum. I played my games, fighting to keep my eyes open and went to bed at 9:30 without even sitting at my laptop. It was a great day with lots of sun, fun and the odd refreshment. 😊

This is the evening sky and when it got prettier
I was indoors and missed a picture.
Good night!

Thank you for your visit too!

Smokey Walk, Protein and Potassium Breakfast, Shuffleboard and Swim

I was awake at 5 am on Wednesday, Dec. 19^th, waking from a family dream with the main event being my oldest grandson, Taylor. I haven’t seen Tj (as he is known to his friends and on FB) for a very long time other than in pictures and we’ve chatted on Messenger.

The rv's in Pilot Knob blm look to be getting the worst of the smoke

 The cyber and emotional connection is prominent on both sides, but we just haven’t made the physical connection work for a couple of years. In my dream, I saw him, hugged him, kissed him and laughed with him. It goes without saying that I miss him dearly and live vicariously through his visits with his Mom when she posts pictures with her boys. 😊

And through the trees, the sun rises

Finally, at 6, after lying awake for and hour, I got up and hopped in the shower. Bill and Clemson were still sleeping so I hoped that I didn’t wake them. By the time, I finished up, I slipped my housecoat on and came downstairs to make my tea and read blogs. By 6:45, Bill joined me with his coffee. I wanted my hair dried before I went outside for my walk so quickly used the blow dryer. I seldom do that, preferring to air-dry my hair.

As I stepped outside, I could smell smoke and when looking to the eastern mountains, I could see a thick layer brushing across where Pilot Knov BLM campers are sleeping. There was a slight breeze though so it was moving off fairly quickly. I chatted with Dorothy (yes, we finally exchanged names) for a bit and another gal up at the front who was walking her dog.

Now that is a big grapefruit!

On the walk, I could see something out in the roadway ahead of me and when I approached, saw that it was a huge pink grapefruit. I do believe that was my name engraved on the side so I tucked it in my pocket and brought it home. My jacket pocket was bulging – are you happy to see me? Unfortunately, Bill is on Lipitor and it is a fruit that he can no longer enjoy so I’ll enjoy it by myself. 

At 7:30, Loyal was hard at it already trimming palm trees

When I returned, I started frying up a couple of eggs for breakfast. Let’s skip the bacon and bread this morning. Bill had a cherry yogourt cup and I had half a banana. There, our protein and potassium fix has been satisfied. The yogourt is a new brand that I’ve never seen here before. It is called Carbmaster and only 2 grams of sugar, 4 grams of carbs and 7 calories total. Perfect, just enough for a snack.

There were 8 of us but only 4 played at a time
Bill has pretty nice form!

Rob mentioned to Bill last night that this morning there is organized Shuffleboard so we have all decided to walk up and join in. I’ve never played it before but have expressed an interest to learn since last winter. No better time than the present! Bill got washed up and ready and I did a few searches on Google. So, at 9:15, we went up to the pool area where the court is to meet with Don. Wish me luck!

It does just the right 'oomph'
while the main game was going on,
Bill and I played each other for practice

Before the game or before heading back, Bill and I needed to pop into talk to Cathy in the office about some friends who are curious about coming to the park. I pulled my favourite Christmas Cake recipe out of the cupboard and double checked the ingredients to see if I was missing anything. Darn it! I am missing dates so will have to wait until Saturday to make it. No problem, I am in no rush.

there is the winning team, right there
This game was Pat and I against Bill and Rob

Shuffleboard is an easy game to learn and play, it just takes skill and, in my case, luck. Bill and I were beat out by Rob and Pat in the first game. They won their second game too against Judy and Eddie. Then Pat and I took the guys on and won by a nice margin. Thanks Pat, you brought out my better game! We meandered back before 11 and after making tentative plans to play Bocce Ball in the morning at the gazebo.

and this little gecko was in the shuffleboard cue box

I made us each a cup of coffee and I had my other banana half and Bill had a couple of pieces of cheddar cheese. We both changed into shorts and Rob and Pat went into Yuma to Christmas shop for each other before it gets too busy. We declined and just hung around home until it was time to go to the pool. It always puts a spring in my step when my hubby offers to do something that I want to do.

Some real concentration going on here

Today, he came up for a swim and a hot tub with me. He doesn’t usually hang around to sit with me afterwards, but today we spent a lovely hour and a half together before he walked back at 2:30 and I returned at 3. 

In the shade, the pool thermometer was reading 76F
Now that is a nice day for a swim

Haven't done a selfie for a while so thought I'd show off my floppy hat

We are expecting more friends to arrive tomorrow and Friday so decided to have a 4-some Happy Hour today and get a selfie. At 4:45 Rob and Pat walked back to their site to receive a phone call and we moved inside for a few minutes.

A Fun Happy Hour!

Almost on cue, at 4:30 the temperature drops and sends us in to change into warmer clothes. Bill bbq’d 2 pollock filets on our grill mat on the Weber while I prepped a vegetable. Mine is broccoli and Bill will have mixed veggies. We were eating shortly after 5 and had dishes done before 6. It means more of the evening to read or watch tv.

Yummy supper too!

I remembered that I have 6 daily jigsaw puzzles downloaded on my phone that are waiting for me to complete. Thanks, Rob for the tip to find these each day. Today I didn’t get my puzzle fix at the library so this will suffice nicely. I’m starting out with just 64 pieces and will improve as I get better at it. 

Bill sent me to the fence to take a sunset picture

This has been a wonderful day with the temperatures rising to 76F/25C even with the 10 mph winds this afternoon. These are the days we like and why we come here.

And another great moon tonight getting ready for the full moon
Good night everyone!

I hope you’ve had a great day too. Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you if you’d like to drop a comment.