More of the Same, A Drive to Harriston, A Sad Memory

The Ridge

On Saturday, June 26^th, we slept in. After Bill took Gibbs out, they crawled back into bed and we didn’t get up until almost 8. It was breakfast time for a little someone! It felt good to just take it slow this morning. We had our morning brew together and witnessed some rain and steady cloudy skies out the windows. What a dull day from start to finish.

This view just got greener throughout
the day

We discussed the day’s agenda and Bill had some toast and jam for his breakfast and when I remembered that I couldn’t warm up my quiche, I actually had (as the commercial says) Bressert. Dessert for breakfast. I had a piece of my cheesecake, all good ingredients in there. I made a coffee and we walked over to the Journey. Yesterday, we were talking about microwave/convection ovens as well as rv mattresses so we wanted to share with Kim and Ken what we’d learned.

I love this set of two pictures
sitting on Daddy's shoulder  looking out at the rain

💓💕

This morning, Bill called CanAm and got some prices on both. We need the oven more than the mattress so placed an order with Martin. He is always very helpful and today was no different. 😊 We asked K & K if they would like to join us for a drive to McPhail’s RV of Harriston. It was going to be a rainy day anyway so we had some cheese and crackers and met at the car within 20 minutes. Bill had taken Gibbs for a nice walk and he stayed in the crate, looking after the house.

We started Happy Hour here

The drive was nice, taking a route through Neustadt and Clifford, but the stop at McPhail’s was kind of pointless. All rv’s were locked, because of Covid, (If I hear that excuse too many more times, I’ll lose it!!) and Ken wasn’t able to get any answers to his queries. We turned around and headed back home by way of Hwy #6. The sky had tried a few times to let sunshine through but it just didn’t happen. It was comfortable in the car with the a/c on since it was so humid.

It was a nice surprise to hear from Suzie

Back home, we agreed to meet at 3 for Happy Hour and went our separate ways. It was spitting lightly just when I thought we could sit outside but Bill put the awnings out and we moved the chairs onto the patio. When the rains got heavier, we had to fold them up and move indoors. I had the a/c on in the Suite too, for some reason I was really feeling the heat today! LOL I’m way past ‘that’ stage!!

I was pleased to see a Rose breasted grosbeak

We were surprised while sitting with our drinks when Suzie called on F aceTime. Well, in a round about way but that is how we ended up chatting on Ken’s phone. It was nice to see and hear her voice. She knew from my postings that we would all be together by 3:30. Are we predictable, or what? 😊 Great chat and we will keep our fingers crossed to see her in August at our Ridge campout.

Bill snapped a picture of Ken barbecuing
next door
Of course, the rain started AFTER he got the Weber out and lit
It has been that kind of day

When 6 o’clock rolled around, it was time to say goodbye and get supper started. Madame IP cooked pork ribs and a potato for Bill. I had 2 cobs of corn to cook on the stove. I’d hoped to brown the ribs with sweet and sour sauce for 5 minutes but even though Bill lit the Weber, it had blown out before I got out there. I wasn’t about to wait so we ate them as they were. And supper was delicious. A small piece of pecan pie (for me) with whipped cream topped off the meal.

ribs and corn, yummy meal

After dishes, Gibbs wanted to sit outside on the step and since it wasn’t raining, we let him keep an eye on the Ridge. He loves watching the chipmunks and birds and I love watching him watch them. 😉 It’s Saturday night, Bill’s nights for movies so we watched some until the new one came on at 9. Whether I can stay up for the whole thing, will be determined. For now, I can say it has been a good day again, in the rain.

Pecan pie and whipped cream
Not good at all!!! 
(my fingers are crossed behind my back)

We had tornado warnings on our phones during H.H. today and they were in the area close to my sister, Gayle. When I texted to see if they were okay, they hadn’t been affected at all so I was relieved. These pop-up storms can be scary even though pretty rare up here. I hope you didn’t have any scares in your area.

It was 2 years ago today that Kim and Ken were
preparing to leave after a week's visit in 2019
It was also the day we had to put our sweet little Clemson down
It would have been fun to see him and Gibbs together 💓🐕🐕
Good night

Thank you for your visit!

Wet Day, Finally the Rain we Need, More Plans

On Sunday, July 22^nd we woke up late again and there was no rush to get going today. The rains had dampened our area overnight and the forecast today was for 78% precipitation. This is not a great way to spend a Sunday and I’m sorry for you working folk who only get the weekends to play (or ‘frolick) as my sister says. However, we badly need the rain. The gardens, the grass, the pond and the critters. It was 60f/16C when we got up at 8. These late nights! Holy cow!

Last night while reading in bed, we heard noises on the roof
This morning, Bill went up to check it out but could see no evidence of mischief
Maybe the birds were drinking puddles of water?

We immediately made our hot brews and then jumped right back into our discussion about this ‘secret to you’ project. I guess I can tell you know, since it is in the works. Bill has been talking about having another shed built for him to have a work ‘room’ to build his model airplanes. The cargo trailer is too small and he’d prefer to use that for travelling and storing the 5 or 6 planes he has. The storage shed now has his new bench, but it is for daily projects around here, not for planes.

and  when the bird feeder sits almost empty, this little guy is hungry

After doing some due diligence, checking prices and styles in town at the FS Co-op, we talked to our friendly construction guy, Mike. We like to give him the business if all factors can be met. Price, timing etc. He gave us a suitable quote and Bill gave him the go ahead. We can save on labour costs if Bill and Mike build it themselves and it shouldn’t take more than a couple of 4-hour days building. As much as I supported Bill’s need and desire to have this shed, I was never happy with the location.

I'm sure he's thinking I should fill it again

This morning, I put that discussion into motion and between the two of us, we’ve come to the best conclusion. Looks are important to me and the original place it would be placed would not look appealing and it would bug me forevermore. Dramatic, I know, but I just plain wasn’t happy about it. We’ve got two more opinions when Donna and Gerry dropped over and now it is settled. Yay! I love the new location and it means we can use our car shelter for what we bought it for. To cover our vehicles.

this is the area we've chosen and the rough outline
is approximately where the shed will sit
we.ve got sine wood to clean up

After they left, we came inside, hung our wet hoodies and I made up Bill’s choice for breakfast. Today he felt like toasted bacon sandwiches and that sounded good. He added a slice of tomato and I just added some ketchup. I ate the heels of the bread loaf, preferring that for some reason. It was good and that is my allotment of bread for the next 2 weeks. Hmm, now what to plan for a nice indoor supper? I guess it is Bill’s day because he suggested meat loaf and I’m making a cherry pie.

It is awesome what Bill will do for a cherry pie
Love the apron (and the smirk)

Funny what some guys will do for a cherry pie. We pitted the 2 lb. container of unsweetened fresh cherries together. It wasn’t that difficult after all and only took about 30 minutes. Now I have approximately 7 cups of quartered cherries so dug out my cookbook. I informed Bill that I still need my recipe, even for pastry, which I’ve made tons of times, but I’m not Mom who always made hers out of her head, perfectly every time. Okay, except for those times when we tried to hide it under the edge of our plates. 😊

I've actually never made cherry pie from freshly pitted cherries

I found a Cherry Pie recipe and made up enough pastry for 2 – double pie crusts. It took 5 cups of cherries for one pie so I had a couple of cups leftover for a cherry cheesecake. The pastry turned out perfectly, I just never know, even though I had to roll the second one out twice to make it big enough. First pie done and in the convection oven. Now, waiting for the rhubarb and the strawberries to thaw enough that I can slice the berries. Yes, he gets one of those pies too.

My pastry dough is never round but it is always flaky

I’m using Splenda though where it calls for sugar so except for the flour (and the fruit) an almost paleo dessert. I don’t have enough Gluten-free or coconut flour this time. It is the perfect day to bake though and we are so happy to have the rain. Bill and Clemson took care of the snoozing part of the day and I soon joined while waiting for the pie to bake and read more of London Bridges. I’m almost half way through it in a couple of days, so another good one.

Bill wondered if the R was for Richards
and I'm sure Rob will think it is for him
but really it was so I knew which was the Rhubarb pie

At 5:30 I got up and took a walk down the lane. Sure didn’t get many steps on my Fitbit today! The sky wasn’t clear although there were patches of blue showing here and over there while in another portion of the sky, clouds looked angry. I’m surprised I didn’t see a rainbow and maybe someone did in their neck of the woods. When I came back in, I commented on how warm it was out there. The temperature had risen over the last couple of hours to 68F and we opened a couple of windows.

Angry clouds?

We’ve prayed for rain and now it is looking like it could be a possibility over the next 3 days at least. Never enough all at once though, 1mm now, 5 – 10mm then and another 10 at that time. We’ll wait and see what actually comes. We have a different kind of weekend coming up with friends arriving with their rv’s before and on Saturday. Should be a good time. Tomorrow we need to clear some wood to make room for the new shed assembly.

Blue is making occasional appearances

The meatloaf wasn’t fully cooked until around 6:30 but we don’t mind waiting for a delicious meal. We had a lot of dishes because I decided not to wash them as I was baking today. Mainly, since I was moving from one thing right on to the next. We quickly made the decision to put the dishes in the dishwasher tonight since we were plugged into electric anyway.

It was a pretty calm day

The sun is certainly trying its best to grab the last portion of the day. That just makes for beautiful photos tonight. Bill has felt a little off today, sleeping a lot and with a headache for most of the day. I hope the meal helps settle things down. We each had a veggie with the meatloaf and now have a few choices for dessert. Cherry pie, strawberry rhubarb pie or the last of the white pudding. Hmm, they all sound good.

I finished writing this post and downloaded the pictures I’d taken today. Not much exciting happening since I wasn’t outside much. It has been a successful baking day though and we also made a decision on our new Ridge addition. Oh, and Bill got spoiled. I guess that’s okay, once in a while. 😊 Hope you had a fun Sunday.

Meat loaf and spinach

By the way, cherry pie won out and it was crazy good!

Our rain barrel is almost full again!

The pie turned out great

Good night from the Ridge

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