Helping our Sister, Summer is Back

The Ridge

On Monday, Aug. 28^th Bill was up at 5:30 for work. With a great forecast, his plan to take Jazz came to fruition. Gibbs and I got up at 6:15 to see him off. I had my tea and then had my shower. Bill and I have a set of bathroom scales and the only time we weigh ourselves is when we have our showers. I’m not sure about the rest of the world, but our showers are not daily unless we have been into some heavy duty jobs. 😊

Our morning walk
Gibbs checks out the pond
The real sun and its refletion

Lately, well, since Bill has been off work, he has been dropping weight at a nice pace. I think he has a special bond with those scales as mine hasn’t budged until the last couple of weeks. I’m happy to report that although he has lost almost 10 lbs. (although we’re not able to figure that out!) I have at least lost 2. It makes me pleased to see the lower side of a number that I’ve been hovering around for a few years. No change in clothing fit but still, it is going in the right direction.

My drive to Chatsworth

I left Gibbs in charge at 8:15 and drove Ptooties into town to fuel up. She ate up a lot yesterday pulling the cargo trailer so now she’s topped up again. From Durham, I drove towards Chatsworth to Gayle and John’s. Donna and I offered to help her pack up some smaller things as well as help her finish cleaning out cupboards, dusting ceiling webs etc.

Returning home, I noticed the first
bloom of my hibiscus.
It's about 7" wide. 💖

We met around 9 and finished up around 12:30. A job well done and although it didn’t seem like we did a lot, it was very much appreciated by both of them. I must have done something because I felt quite exhausted when I got home. I can only imagine how both Gayle and John must feel after a month of packing and slugging furniture and I’m 6 years their junior!

I love the spiraler (?) for the zucchini.
She had green tomatoes coming out the ying yang.
If you know what I mean!

Gayle sent Donna and I home with a few green tomatoes, 2 peppers for me and a zucchini each. Her garden is flourishing and they leave that home on Wednesday. ☹ Back home, I fried an egg with bacon and spiraled zucchini and had a couple of mini pitas. That was quite tasty! 

Yummy.

I cleaned up the dishes and relaxed with Gibbs. I tried to read but my eyes were heavy. I felt like baking after I got up so made us a keto cookie pie. I was missing desserts and this is a ‘good’ one.

Gibbs and I went for an afternoon walk
around 4:30
The roadsides are ablaze in purple.

My entertainer in full swing.
He just dropped in the grass, bottom right.
Rolled around on some smell he picked up on, top right.
Then he stopped, left picture, waiting for Mom to rub his tummy.

Bill was home around 5, we sat at the picnic table waiting for him to park it in the shelter. Someone’s little tail was just-a-going, waiting. We just relaxed together for an hour and then started supper. Grilled bacon cheeseburgers but because we only had one bun, I had mine on a tortilla wrap. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed them this way without so much bread. Don’t get me wrong, I do love the whole package! Bill loaded the dishwasher and then made his lunch.

My wrap burger was quite good!

I need the car again tomorrow so he’ll be taking Jazz again. We should be good for another decent forecast. 😊 The evening was quiet and after my blog I read my book. Gayle and John will be loading their furniture and boxes into a borrowed 27’ cargo trailer tonight with the helping youthful hands of my nephew, niece and a couple of friends. Their house will be empty when they leave or close to it. They are spending the night in their Montana here on the Ridge. 

The pie turned out great, sweet
enough and only 8 g carbs, 6 g protein,
25 g fat and 5 g fibre.
My kind of dessert!

They will be so grateful to be done with the packing, unpacking and trips back and forth. We’ve all been there, done that, at some time in our life and know how all-consuming it can be. This has been a good day. We reached a lovely high of 23C/73F with very little wind. 

3 years ago on this day, Black Beauty
got a new windshield after a stone chip.

Plus, we went out for supper for Gayle's
birthday.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping in.

A Day Off, The Pool, Bill Helps a Neighbour, Lazy Times

Pilot Knob RV Resort, Winterhaven, CA

Wednesday, Feb. 19^th already. Where has this month gone? Well, we should know, we’ve been busy enough! Bill woke and got up ahead of me today and it was closer to 7 when I joined him. We sat together and read a few blogs. I was biding time to go walking while he finished his coffee. At about 7:45 we went for our walk. It was later than usual which means I was getting hungry (well, thirsty for my fat-filled tea).

I know the sun is in those clouds somewhere

This was the kapop I was looking for

We stopped to chat with Keith’s park neighbours, from Wasaga Beach, Ontario and it was a nice chat but after 15 minutes, I was impatient and whispered to Bill “Let’s go”. We didn’t finish the full gamut of our walk because at that point, I just wanted to get home. Such a party pooper, eh? Once I got my tea and took my vitamins and other pills (I feel like I’m taking a lot right now), I was good to go.

Bill worked on his model car for a bit

Around 9, Bill had gone out to fly with Keith but I didn’t follow. I sat and read my book, finishing my tea. At 10:30, I started breakfast of bacon and eggs and we both took care of cleaning up the dishes. We’d noticed that our slide out tray under the buffet cupboard was getting really stiff. A few days ago, 3 of the small ball bearings dropped out of the track so we knew something was up. Today, Bill pulled the drawer out completely and began to see what the problem was.

The drawer has been removed, as have all the ball bearings

This tray holds our toaster, Keurig and Madame IP and there is an outlet on the back wall to plug a couple of things into. It is a fair-sized tray and built of solid cherry so it isn’t that they are too heavy. 

These are the items that go on the drawer

I chased a couple of bearings around the floor with my handy extension magnet and Bill realized by that time that the metal track was bent. He’d gone out to get vise-grips when he heard the lady across the lane call out ‘fire!’ He wasted no time in running over, asking the appropriate questions and unplugging their fifth wheel from power.

I cleaned the drawer off and Bill replaced it

With some bending and ball bearing replacement, Bill worked on the track

Jim also hurried over to offer assistance. An electrical cable from the slide-out got caught, causing a short, hence causing it to spark. The owner was grabbing the fire extinguisher but didn't know how to operate it. Bill did that for him. Luckily, not much was required. Jim and Bill did some quick thinking, changed a couple of things so it shouldn’t happen again, and they were on their way. They were in the process of hooking up so we know what that is like when you have a plan. They were very appreciative and Bill left them with one of our cards.

The fire is out

Jim and Bill stepped in to help our an rv'ing neighbour

Back home, Bill finished bending the track and between us we replaced the bearings and the drawer now works great again. The track was indeed bent and that is why the bearings came out and why it was stiff. All better now! I had had my shower when he was flying and had put my bathing suit on when I dressed. At 12:30, I headed up to the pool for a couple of hours. It is a perfect day for it. 81F in the forecast and it was already 73F. Yes! (hand pump in the air)

This is the kind of week we're in for

Before going into the pool area, I stopped to see the puzzle. Carmen and whoever else have been working like crazy. A lot has been done and I was sad that I’ve missed doing it. I sat and put in about 15 pieces before slipping through the gate into the pool area. Can you believe it? I was the only one using the pool today. There were a couple of people, who I have dubbed Mr. & Mrs. Chatty Cathy, sitting in the shade on their laptops using the park’s free wifi.

I wasn't kidding, there was no one else in the pool

Nothing wrong with that but once the ‘missus latches’ on to you for conversation, it is hard to get away. So, I chose my chair and pretended I didn’t see them. I wasn’t being rude, persay, just indifferent. They were busy anyway. I sat for a while until I was hot and ready for a dip. The water was lovely and after a few laps, I stretched out in a lounge chair. That’s the first time this winter when I didn’t feel chilled after getting out of the pool. 😊

Around 2:15, I walked back and Bill and I got our Happy hour cooler prepared. We met at Kim and Ken’s where Doug and Keith joined us on cue, or so it seemed. We covered ground on many things today but I won’t mention them. Sometimes what happens at H.H. stays at H.H. We had a good time, visiting with each other until around 5 or so. I think it was closer to 5:30 when Bill and I left after we made plans to go along with K & K to the AZ Market tomorrow afternoon.

Happy Hour, fun in the sun

Back home, Bill didn’t feel hungry, yet I knew I needed to eat something. It was easy to make a grilled cheese, tomato and onion sandwich so that was what I had. Fried up in the pan made it mostly soft but crunchy around the edges. I’m okay now with chewing some harder food items. The gap in my mouth is fine but I seem to be nipping the inside of my mouth in that area. I need to be more careful and continue to chew on the other side for a while longer.

Quick, easy supper for me

My sandwich was good and by 7, Bill felt like something simple too. There was egg salad left so he made himself a sandwich too. We each had some ice cream but only a scoop for me with choke cherry jelly. Yum! We watched some of our recorded programs while I wrote today’s post and he worked on his model. This was a good day and the weather was perfect. I hope you’ve enjoyed your day.

Good night everyone!

Thank you for your visit.

Sun, Glorious Sun, Walkabouts, Visit with Mom, Helping at the Acreage

It was 6 when we woke up on Sunday, Apr. 29^th. Hard to believe we are in the last couple of days of this month, especially when we step outside to the brittle cold we are experiencing. We are resting at -1C/29F this morning and the wind makes it feel even colder. The wind is not as strong as yesterday but cool on bare ears, let me tell you!

Good morning from the Ridge

We had our first hot drinks, read blog posts, bundled up and took our cameras for a walk to the corner. I wanted to go further but it was just too darn cold at 7am! 

From our road, we took pictures of our Home on the Ridge

The skiff of snow from overnight hung around for a while this morning

Later, I’ll go later. Bill had his zoom lens on so got some cool pictures of Fred and Ethel and wait, a minute, those two must be Desi and Lucy sleeping in the opposite pond! Funny how they sleep on the water with their necks stretched straight out in front of them like that.

They are so relaxed, with their necks stretched out on the water

The sun has given us a pretty performance and the blue sky welcomed it without a moment’s hesitation. 


Back inside I tried to focus on my book, evenings aren’t working for me, I get too tired and again last night I was in bed before 10. I guess Bill got up too early because soon enough with Clemson on his lap, he was in dreamland again. The book is getting good, so now that I’m 1/3 of the way in, I know I’ll finish it one day.

I'd found that the camera on my phone took blurry pictures when
I took selfies so tried a few things today in our home

At 10 I made bacon and eggs for breakfast and then after dishes, I cleaned up and drove into Durham to see Mom. 

At Rockwood, going to see Mom

She was laying down in her room, drapes drawn, light out and door closed but when I knocked and walked in, she sat up looking quite happy. We never know which ‘Mom’ (as Donna says) we will see when we arrive so I was lucky to get this one. We sat on the bed and had a nice visit for the next hour before I walked her down to lunch. It was a great visit today.

Mom couldn't get over how much we looked alike in this picture
when I showed her

Aaaahh, is what she's saying

With my funky tripod, I set up my phone camera on her walker to capture a couple of fun moments. They turned out pretty good! I left Rockwood and drove to Home Hardware to pick up one last solar light for the garden. We are very pleased with these lights. Something so simple. I had tried to explain them to Mom and she was quite tickled with the whole idea of lights without electricity.

This pictures shows where 3 of our 7 solar lights are located

When I drove into the area where I park, Bill was outside and pushed the new light into the garden for me. The wind out there was very cold so it didn’t take me long to go inside the Suite. Donna and Gerry had stopped in before I returned home on their way to the Acreage to clean out their old trailer. They have a date to trade it in for their new one on Mon. May 7^th but depending on how much rain we get this week, they may have to delay that exchange.

Cleaning out their Prairie Schooner for trade-in
They don't tow it anywhere, this is its permanent site

We bundled up and drove over to see what they were up to. Donna was inside emptying cupboards so while Bill and Gerry wandered the wooded lane trimming branches, I helped her pack boxes with glasses and clothes etc. I know the feeling of emptying one beloved trailer for another. There is a melancholy feeling but also the excitement of what’s around the corner.

Looking through the trees with family birdhouses to their Hilton cabin

Their outhouse has a 5 cent charge ha ha

Front view of the Hilton

We worked together until 3:30 and said our goodbyes for the day. The fresh air was wonderful and the Acreage is in a more sheltered spot than the Ridge so the wind was not so noticeable. Back at the Suite we sat inside and enjoyed the sun coming in from the windows while I caught up on my post and we watched Sister Act 2. We haven’t seen Whoopi Goldberg in action for a while and it is always a good choice.

Gerry, Donna, Pat, Bill
taking a break

Following Sister Act 2, one of our favourite movies came on. We Bought A Zoo with Matt Damon, Thomas Haden Church and Scarlett Johansson is a good way for us to spend a couple of hours. Matt Damon can do no wrong in my eyes and where, in the Bourne movies, he wins me over, in this one, he is so adorable he steals my heart. Bill knows all about it.

There were about 5 of these little garter snakes in the grass together

Thhis little guy lifted his head to look at us look at him

Tonight, I’d planned chicken breasts for supper and with the wind as cold as it was, we cooked inside. I browned one huge breast in the electric frypan, added a can of tomato soup with oregano and sprinkled with mozzarella cheese. They cooked for about 15 minutes and at the same time I used my rice cooker to make some rice and corn. Supper was a treat something different than I’ve made before and splitting it worked perfectly.

Supper was good

After we’d cleaned up the dishes, I noticed the wind had died a bit so bundled up in my layers with a scarf around my head and went for a walk down the lane and to the neighbour’s laneway. It felt good to get outside one more time before night falls. This has been a very good day. I hope that yours was a great one too.

The robins are wondering where spring is so I told them 'tomorrow'

Thank you for stopping by today! I love to hear from you and will respond to every post in time.