Showing posts with label Oil change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oil change. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

A Busy Day – Ptooties Oil Change, Planting and PayDay

The Ridge

Tuesday, June 1st was a beautiful day in our neighbourhood. Bill was up and out the door by 7 and I followed a couple of minutes later. Gibbs went into his crate when we left, responsible for looking after the house. The Mat was in pretty decent shape but the change machine wasn’t dispensing quarters. Quarters are needed for some washers that are $3.50 and for all of the dryers. .05¢ gets you 5 minutes.

It's a beautiful morning

I did a quick damp mop in the areas that needed it and when I left, I drove around to the car wash and Ptooties also got a quick wash. She was pretty dirty looking and for $3 she came out looking pretty spiffy. Back home, I had my tea outside with Gibbs and brought him in for his breakfast. It was a beautiful day, 10C/50F, already at 9 so after an outside run, I put the little guy inside and went out to pot my new plants.


All cleaned up for the shop visit

I could have used more black soil but FS Coop didn’t have any yesterday when I was there. I had enough to do 3 pots and 1 hanging planter with some leftover flowers for the bucket up on the hill. Without the dirt, I’m at a standstill. I only had an hour to finish so cleaned up and came inside to wash up and have lunch. I had the timing just right to leave at 12:35 and gathered things, put Gibbs back in his crate and headed for Grey Bruce Fleet.

Mrs. Oriole is loving the oranges

And the finches in the foreground were happy too

As I approached their entrance, I wondered where I’d put my phone. Oh darn! I forgot it! I never do that and as much as I hate to admit, without it feels like I’m missing a very important limb. LOL I had texted Bill and received no response by the time I left so borrowed Kate’s phone to let him know where I was and where my communicator was. 😊 Unfortunately, my credit and debit cards are in my phone case. Crap!


Kate said it was no problem that I couldn’t pay for the oil change today, another day was fine. They are a new business here in the area and obviously winning our hearts.  She and I had a lovely talk again, this time more about dogs and she was thrilled for our news of a new ‘baby’. She has her own grown, large dogs in her office with her.  Two well-behaved dogs, I might add.

Hanging along the corral fence

The ones in the trays go up the hill in the bucket shovel

I had planned on carrying on to Hanover’s Independent store to stock up on meat for our freezer but this put a damper on that, meaning driving back home 20 minutes, back to the shop to pay and then go shopping.  As it turned out, we needed a cabin filter but she wouldn’t have one until early morning Wednesday so she suggested I wait and pay in the morning when I stop for them to put it in. That made my decision easier. I would go home today and do the shopping tomorrow too.


This one is over by the outhouse

By this time, I was quite warm and so was the day but back home I didn’t want to waste a minute. I loaded up the wagon with the tomato and pepper plants, trowel, hoe, a full watering can, Gibbs’ water dish, my water bottle, garden gloves and his long rope leash. By hook or by crook I’d get these planted today. As you can imagine, it wasn’t easy. Someone’s name got spoken (loudly) Leroy Jethro! quite a few times until he got the idea that he couldn’t walk on the plants nor could he drink the water I poured into the holes.


Down by the corral

Finally, happy with the job, I loaded up and headed down the hill. Gibbs’ rope was all tangled up in the wheels and I had to detangle them a few times. Maybe that wasn’t such a great idea but I didn’t think it fair to leave him indoors again. When we came down, I took him off the leash and let him run for a bit while I put things away. This made me nervous because he has a tendency to chase Chippy. I witnessed that first hand earlier when he was on his retractable leash, thank God! He went right over the steep hill that leads to the shallow pond.

So, the vegetables are planted and there's room 
for more, once I decide.

I heard Jamie turn into the lane so managed to get a grip on my excited little guy and chatted with my boss for a few minutes. Payday! Yay! It is always nice to have that cash even if it isn’t a windfall. I worked for it and Jamie is happy to drive it out when he is able 😊 After he left, I put Gibbs inside. He was tired I’m sure. Soon after, Bill drove in and we eventually all came inside for a much-needed rest.


Including the ones not yet opened, we
have 21 blooms

Since I didn’t get shopping today, we’ll be having fish and chips for supper. I will be happy to have meal choices again, things are looking pretty sparse in the freezer. The Basa filets were good and the deep-fried chips were too. I had some leftover mushroom gravy in the fridge so I heated that up and it added to my meal quite nicely. I hate wasting gravy so this worked out perfectly.

The little hummer taking a break from his meal
 I zoomed in, this house is 2 properties away

When we were almost done dishes, Gibbs began ringing the bells at the door. I’ve been waiting for him to have a poop all day so I was happy when we walked down the corral hill and he took his time but did his business. It seems to be a routine for him before his evening supper at 8. Bill packed his lunch and then went out to do the finishing touches on the stoop. We were missing a few boards; I think I mentioned that on Saturday.

We've seen 3 turtles over the last week after not
seeing any nesters for weeks

Supper was so good even though it was forbidden

Gibbs sat at the door and pined for his Daddy but I stayed inside with him and worked on my blog. 

The bottom two steps are now finished
They were each just one single board since Saturday

After Bill went out to work on the step
Gibbs patiently waited for him
The day was a bit upside down with my plans being changed but since it was from my own forgetfulness that caused the change, I can only blame myself. Besides, only the appointment was carved in stone, the shopping can be done on my day off tomorrow. 😊This was a great day and the summer weather is absolutely welcome! More of that is on the way.

Looking out our back window facing east,
the sunset reflects on the neighbours shed


And the pink clouds are beautiful too
Good night
I hope your day was a good one too

Thank you for stopping in for a visit. Your comments are always welcome.

Friday, January 19, 2018

Empty Nest Again, Black Beauty Gets Oiled, Do Nothing Day

I woke up on Friday, Jan. 19th with a tickle in my throat. Oh no! It was around 6:30 and I tried to give one cough to clear it but found it took a few and it still didn’t disappear. Not wanting to get up too early and disturb the fur ball under the covers (that would mean getting dressed and taking him out), I kept tossing and turning. I could sense that Bill was awake over there, across the King bed, somewhere on the other side of said fur ball.
You can tell the wind is fairly strong from the flag here
At 7 we all moved about the same time to greet the day. The tickle disappeared with a drink of water, I should have gotten up sooner. Our company has left, so we are back to the normal routines of opening the shades, making our drinks and sitting at the laptops to read blog posts. We are empty-nesters again; the kids have moved out. 

Randy sent me this picture of Brenda in Old Scottsdale, Az
from yesterday
Love it!
Bill had a bowl of cereal and got into the shower first as he had an appointment in Blythe for 11 o’clock, Pacific time. He also had a stop in Quartzsite to ship a parcel.

first look at how dry the ground is
then try and understand how this funny little plant grows
Not the healthiest Palo Verde tree
but one of the trees native to the area that I recognize now
It looks like a gorgeous day and since the sunrise would be identical to yesterday’s, I didn’t get a picture. The temperature at 9 was already hovering around 60F and the sun in total control of the blue sky. You gotta love that! This would be the last ‘hot’ day around 75F for a high and then for a few days, we’ll be experiencing daytime highs in the low to mid 60’s. Oh my! With sunshine, my family and friends need not worry. It will still feel like the high 70’s. Sorry!

Our dvd's lined up alphabetically
Our new binder
My project today was to start emptying our dvd cases and putting the movies and music specials in alphabetical order. Now that I have a binder specifically designed for storing these in a compact place, I was anxious to get them organized. I don’t have anywhere near what the binder will hold but that’s quite alright. A smaller one would still take up the same amount of room.


I slipped the dvd’s into the slots and then set about removing the cardboard inserts with the name, actors and whatever other info was displayed. These inserts will go into a separate binder, also in alphabetical order. I need to purchase that one at any Walmart or Dollar Store plus the clear plastic slot pages. This didn’t take me too long and I enjoyed the process while Bill was away.

We still have the Seasons of our favourite episodes still in cases
and they will stay that way
Bill will rebuild shelves for these
Empty cases

Voila! for now until I get a binder for the inserts
I then moved outside to sit with Clemson for about an hour with my book. The new one is Pop Goes the Weasel by James Patterson, so a quick read about Alex Cross. 

the little bum is sound asleep
It was 12:15 MT when Bill texted that the truck hadn’t gone in yet, Ford was running behind. We chatted briefly and when we signed off I realized that I needed to eat something. 
Leftover pizza! yay!
The cereal from earlier, not surprisingly, doesn’t last for long. I had 3 pieces of my pizza from Silly Al’s so took advice from Happy Hour the other day and warmed it up in a small fry pan on the burner. It was almost as good as the first time!
Clemson didn't budge when I came inside
After cleaning things up, I brought Clemson inside and with my hat securely on my head, my phone and a bottle of water I took the garbage up to the dumpsters. Once I got moving, I was surprised that even though it was 76F the breeze was quite refreshing. I didn’t walk fast, and after dropping the box into one of the bins (which had been dumped, thank goodness) I carried on up to the front check in.

I turned back and took the same leisurely stroll back to the Suite. Bill texted to say he was on his way home at 1:40. I thought he might pass me but I was home about 20 minutes before him. It only takes 20 minutes from Blythe to get to Quartzsite but it took him longer from the west end of the Q to get home.

Happy Hour today
George, Tom, Jim, me, Bill's chair, Sharon, Suzie, Deb
Can you say 'Happy'?
Sky squiggles
Just before Bill got home, I noticed that Jim and Sharon, whom we’d met a couple of times already, stopped in to visit The Yates’ so we poured a drink around 2:30 and walked over to join them for an early Happy Hour. Tom and Deb soon wandered over with their chairs. It was a nice afternoon and thank goodness for the breeze or it would have been too hot. After a couple of hours either the wine o the long walk had me feeling zonkered so I came home.


Bill joined me a few minutes later and we sat out with our books until quarter after 5 when he lit the Weber for supper. I have thawed 3 chicken thighs and 1 pork chop to grill tonight. 

My handsome guy
I have so much chicken in the freezer, remember my kerfuffle when I cleaned my freezer? I found way more than I thought we had. I’ll try my hand at making a chicken noodle soup tomorrow like my neighbor!

sorry for the blur, i didn't want to let the heat out so I hurried
So, with some more instruction from George, our butt chop and chicken on the grill mat was awesome! So tender and juicy. We’ll sure do that again!



Sometimes you must wonder what DO we have in common?
Ha ha, we don't always like to eat the same things
I steamed my asparagus, fried fresh mushrooms and we grilled Bill’s corn on the Weber as well. The sunset tonight was so gorgeous, I was in and out of the Suite during cooking and eating to capture those moments. Sunset overload coming right up!




No enhancements needed on these pictures
 It was a night with nothing special on tv so we cleaned up dishes, I finished this post and got into our books early. What a great day and I even got 4 miles of walking in. That feels fantastic! I hope you enjoyed your day too.

Good night folks!

Thank you for reading today. Feel free to leave a comment if you wish.