Having Too Much Fun! Catch Up Time, Celebrations

The Ridge

On Tuesday, August 1^st, I entered the new month like an Eveready Bunny. At least it kind of felt like that. 😊 All for good reason though! We had a restful evening as today would be a busy one. I was up at 6:30 and on my way to Durham at 7. The Mat was empty until our Newfie customer came in. 😊 He’s a nice man and if he didn’t talk so fast with his Newfoundland twang, I wouldn’t have to ask him to repeat himself. I wish I could catch what he's saying easier but he understands. (the pictures today are mostly from our supper onward)

Bill leads the way into the Keady Market

I made a stop at Foodland for some burgers and buns plus something a bit special for dessert before I scooted home. A quick change of clothes and we all 6 loaded into two vehicles. Ken drove with Duncan and Bill and I drove with Patty and Kim to Keady Outdoor Market. It is only on Tuesdays during the summer and for 2 years, it has been closed, ever since the pandemic. K, K, B and I were anxious to return and P & D were anxious to see what we’ve been on about.

Pony ride, anyone?
I think we were all a little too big.

It was a beautiful morning for it, reaching a pleasant 23C/73F today by noon. The place was packed and we set a meet up time and set off at our own pace. Bill picked up some deer signals for our vehicles and I bought a small container of 4 beefsteak tomatoes plus 2 large peppers. Everything looks so delicious and depending on the vendor, the prices were quite comparable and decent. We bought a new tag for Gibbs, since his has pretty much worn off.

While Bill grilled the burgers,
I set things up inside.

Back home, we had lunch and gathered on our front lawn. When the clouds rolled overhead, it cooled off considerably and then started to lightly rain around 2:30. Darn! Our good friend, Suzie, arrived shortly after 2 and soon we moved into the Suite to wait it out. Thankfully, because of our plans for the remainder of the day, it only lasted about 20 minutes and the sun returned in full force. 😊 Phew!

Thank heavens for an island in here!
It worked well
From the door around to the left:
Donna, Duncan, Gayle, Ken, Kim
Pat, Suzie and Patty

Door to the left:
Gerry, Rob, Duncan, Gayle, Ken

The ONLY unfortunate thing is that every time the door opened,
about 6 flys entered the Suite. They are awful this time of
year, inside and out.
I tried to kill them but it was a lost cause.

When we moved outside, Rob and Pat arrived with Bella, Gayle and John next and then Donna and Gerry. We had invited everyone today since it was the best day for the largest group for meets and greets. Bill and I provided the burgers and others brought contributions towards a perfect summer meal. Patty made macaroni salad, Gayle brought Caesar salad, Pat brought Pistachio, Marshmallow salad and Kim offered chips, crackers, cheese and tomatoes. There was plenty!

I should have taken a picture from the other end
but I didn't

Other than having to swat the flies away, I think
everyone enjoyed the meal and company. 

Two birthday celebrations, Rob’s today and Ken’s yesterday, so they each had a candle to blow out while Bill led us all in singing Happy Birthday. As we had our dessert, Gayle and John served up some Amarula (?) to celebrate their purchase of a new home, finally. We are all thrilled for them as they will be able to gain possession of the new home on Aug. 30^th, the same day they give up their former home. ♥ Things worked out well for them after a lot of searching.

Happy Birthday, Ken!
Cute picture of the two of you too!

Happy Birthday, Rob, our Buddy.

Suzie left first headed for Stratford

Also, Donna and Gerry arrived with a new GMC Sierra 4 x 4 short box pick up and a big smile on his face. 😊 A bit of the celebration was for an ‘almost’ completion of Bill’s project which was revealed to our visitors (so far) and also to Duncan and Patty’s new rv. So, lots to be happy for in our group of 13. Good thing we had 2 pups to make it 15 for any who are superstitious! It was a great meal, outside on our 3 tables and after cleanup, we met around the fire pit.

Looks like someone just told 
a good story!

As our day guests left, the night cooled and finally when the last of us called it a night, we could see the huge Super moon just above the horizon in the southeast sky. Gorgeous! No pictures of mine would replicate it well enough so I hope you saw it. FYI, it was only 358,000 km away and on Aug. 30^th it will be even closer and bigger. What a wonderful day! Everything turned out just as I’d hoped even with the idle scare of rain. I apologize for my delay in posting but more so for not keeping up with YOUR blogs. I will get there but I guess I'm just having too much fun with our friends. 💓 

A pretty new GMC leaves
the group.

Good night!

Thank you for YOUR visit! Happy August!

Trip to Stratford and Tavistock

On Wednesday, Apr. 5^th I woke up to clear skies and the sun about to show its beautiful face. I don’t have a view of the horizon other than over and through the rv’s parked around us but I know it is there. With a lovely cup of tea with creamer, I proceeded to sit in my recliner and finish the book I couldn’t last night. Soooo good!

Looks like a nice clear day coming

After reading blog posts, Bill fiddled around outside on a couple of things that needed attention on the Suite. The LED lights that he installed under the awning stopped working on our way home so he got his extension ladder out and discovered that they had just come unplugged. Obviously, from all the bouncing down the Interstates.

There are so many Airstreams around us but it is great to see brothers and sisters
of our own Mobile Suite here too
This one on the left looks like ours and very close to our truck too!

Our entrance door has recently started to become difficult to close tightly so he sprayed the latches to see if that helped. Funny, the latch only started acting up since it got cool. On warm days, no problem. Then he moved inside and examined what needs to be done to the closet door, also from the jostling around while driving, and tapped a few nail heads securely throughout the unit.

The drive to Stratford takes us on the Embro Road

Nothing this morning really needed our attention so we kind of lazed around. The sun that came up this morning was gone within a couple of hours of my getting up. I could see the clouds moving in and knew it would be another dreary kind of day.

Tree trimming along the highway

At 11:30 I fried up some breakfast sausages with eggs for brunch and once dishes were cleaned up, it was time to head out to Stratford. We always seem to leave earlier than necessary, arriving at our destination with time to spare. Today was no different and we were half hour early for visiting Dad and Marilynne. Dad has a daily nap after lunch and we didn’t want to disturb that.

Caught up with Carol here for a short visit

Downtown Stratford always buzzing

With 30 minutes to spare, we stopped at Scotia Bank to say hello to Bill’s sister Carol and killed a few minutes there. It was nice to see her although she is a busy gal so didn’t stay too long before heading over to McCarthy Place. Marilynne and Dad were expecting us and we had a lovely visit for about an hour and a half.

The Avon river, playing with camera tones

Crossing the William Hutt Bridge through the city

From the parking lot we could see up to Dad's apartment on the right

We were supposed to be at Yvonne and Dennis’ place in Tavistock for dinner around 5. Yvonne is Bill’s oldest daughter and the mom of 4 very active boys, all athletes. 

I don't need to tell you who these two are!

Nothing ceases to amaze me but when we drove up, Carter and Connor were outside playing. As soon as we pulled up and stopped, I barely had my door open and Carter greeted me with a huge hug with Connor not far behind. My goodness, this was wonderful!

These handsome grandsons loved their Arizona hats
Carter, Braeden, Zach, Connor

We went inside and found Dennis, then Braeden and then Zach joined us. Oh, and I mustn’t forget Miss Bella in her pearls for the occasion.

Beautiful Yvonne

Clemson sure didn’t think it was a good idea with such a large golden retriever trying to check him out. She is such a sweet dog and is only naturally curious. Soon enough, she was done with him and he wandered around the kitchen and living room.

My 'authorized and approved' picture of Dennis, the chef

When Yvonne returned home from work around 5 ish, Dennis went out and brought in the turkey from the smoker. Wow, this looked delicious! Right now, he is the temporary stay at home Dad and my first thought looking at the meal he prepared, was that he missed his calling! Everything was prepared, on time and looked absolutely wonderful! Yvonne, you are a lucky gal.

Mississippi Mud.......almost
Delicious!

And just when I thought it couldn’t get better, Dennis asked the boys to fold their hands and all 5 of them recited Grace for us. Turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, corn, rolls and salad, oh my! As I’m savouring my meal, Dennis says ‘save room for dessert’ which turned the discussion into a guessing game as to what Dad prepared.

Bella with her pearls

I love driving by the St. Mary's Cement Factory at night

After dinner and cleanup Dennis had to leave for a meeting so we stayed a few more minutes with Yvonne and said our goodbyes. This was a great evening, it was so good to see how the boys are growing up so well. I know I left with a full tummy and a warm fuzzy feeling.

The sky was pretty tumultuous on our drive home.

Sky to the west

To the East, pink sky at night, sailor's delight?

To the east I thought perhaps it was preparing for a nice day tomorrow yet to the west the clouds were looking quite threatening.

Evening sky had some pretty hues

Even the odd lightning streaked across the black clouded sky when the rain started.

We were home around 8:15 and we were tired out. That is a lot of visiting in 3 days but we are glad to get a few family members taken care of while in this area. To our surprise and disappointment we found this note on the door. It would have been wonderful to see you two!  Let's get together over the summer.

So, proceeding to assemble my post, I decided it would be a Thursday morning publish instead of a Wednesday night one. I wouldn’t be able to justify the errors otherwise.

The winds are wild this evening so I’m glad we are snug and warm inside the Suite. I hope you have had a great day today. Hey it is Hump Day!

Thank you for reading and as always your comments are appreciated.