Bank Appointment, Afternoon in the Great Outdoors, Laundromat Help

The Ridge

On Friday, May 17^th, I woke around 4:30 when Clemson moved to go out for a piddle. Hmm, Daddy is home. Well, it wasn’t 2 am at least. We went back to sleep, all of us, and it was 7 when I got up, half hour after Bill. He was downstairs with his coffee at the table catching up on some banking from the last couple of days.

A quiet country drive

My back was aching again and that was frustrating me. I’m kicking myself for that 3 hours of raking on the hill, 3 weeks ago! It comes and goes. It wasn’t raining outside but I didn’t feel like getting out for a walk anyway. I took some Advil and sat with my tea. Sometimes, I wonder if it is from our mattress or my recliner. I was in that chair for a fair bit yesterday and that may have aggravated it. Only myself to blame there.

And a foggy one in areas
(there is some blur at work here too)

I had an appointment at the Bank of Montreal for 9:30 in Owen Sound so Bill and I had to move a bit quicker than usual this morning . I started frying up some peameal bacon and warming us a piece of quiche each. We ate but didn’t have time to clean up the dishes before heading out at 8:30. Clemson was still in bed and when I brought him downstairs to go out, he wanted no part of it and went back upstairs.

This is our closest big city

It was foggy and cloudy this morning and as we turned onto the county road off Baptist Church Road, Bill watched the road while I watched for deer. This is the type of morning that they’ll be prancing across the road in front of you. I saw one but it was in the field near the forest edge. I love these roads, curvy and hilly but we both agreed ‘not in winter’ and ‘not with the Suite’. We arrived at the new location for the BoM on 16^th Street E with time to spare.

Moved from the busy downtown core, they have a really nice building out here

While waiting for the bank to open, Bill finally made contact by phone with his friend in N.C. about the shipment of the last pieces for his Telemaster. Now that he knows more about when to expect it, he can relax. We met with the pretty Shannon and it was a pleasure to walk in and have someone on the ball with why we were there. She knew exactly what we wanted to do and while chatting about our winter trip, the progress on their property and Mom, she completed the task.

The drive home took us by this maple syrup farm

We didn't even realize they tapped here

It is always welcome when we have a reason to go to Owen Sound, ‘the big city’, so we can visit some stores in the east end. Stores that we don’t have in Hanover or Durham. Bill went into Home Depot and I went into Dollarama – yes, Hanover has dollar stores but no H.D. We found what we were looking for and was thrilled to get some Ramekin dishes at $2 for three! Now, more custard!

Bill and I both enjoyed the sugar-free, carb-free custard

On the drive back home, the fog had lifted but clouds and dampness persisted even though it wasn’t raining. The winds were up again keeping the day cool. With a high of 13C/55F the sun made an appearance around noon. Bill worked in the Hangar and I hung inside with Clemson until 1 when I went out to check on his progress. I had changed into working gear and got my knick knacks out for the garden and bunky.

And out in the middle of nowhere, this beautiful golf course

Crossing the iron bridge on Baptist Church Road
The water isn't down too much yet

Bill finished up and before coming inside he hopped on the riding mower to cut the back field. After putting stuff out and getting the bins tucked away, I went around and weeded the upper garden on the berm. Stupid grass grows where you don’t want it but not where you do! He finished around 3:30 and moved inside. I sat out for a bit after walking to the mailbox but the wind was coming from the north and was very cool on my back and neck. Soon enough, I was indoors too.

coming in the lane, we were so excited to see that
we are Grandparents again!
7 new babies!

For supper, Bill grilled our Italian sausages on the Weber. They have just enough hot spice to make them interesting but not an amount to stop us from eating them. I put together a salad on the side and that was quite enough to fill us. We cleaned dishes up and we drove into Durham to clean the laundromat tonight. I was going to wait until the morning and Bill was going to join me just to ‘learn’ the ropes. It is nice to have a backup if I can’t get in there and if he is home.

Ma and Pa guided them into the pond after waddling ahead of the car
for a fair distance
this is one family

Bill cutting the back field before supper
Lots of dandelions this year

There was one man waiting for 3 dryers to finish and a lady with 2 children came in to fill 3 or 4 washers while we were there. We emptied the dryer lint first, they need a key to pull out the 24” x 18” slide out trays. Once they were done, Bill started sweeping floors while I wiped the washers that weren’t being used. Bill moved on to mopping the floors as I finished. Once I was done cleaning the windows in both front and back doors, we locked up and left.

A few things that I hang every year
the little shelf needs some new adornment so I'll be watching this winter for
some southwest trinkets

Same here - I love the racking that i got from Brenda in London years ago
but need some new decor

We were finished in an hour so there is no way I could do all that by myself in that amount of time. I’m glad we did this tonight so we don’t have to get up early in the morning. Bill was able to get my new key to work in the back door so any time that I want to go in and override the usual ‘Open’ time, I can do that. It is much nicer without customers to work around. Tonight was a bit of a challenge so I’m glad I had help. We had also taken our bedding in to get it washed so Bill loaded that in the car while I filled out my chart and locked up.

Hi dear! he's happy on the mower

Another little corner with my black-eyed susans and chives coming
up nicely
I need to visit H.H. and pick up some potting plants while they are on sale

And I don't know if you can see my frogs but they are sitting throughout
the garden with ElScott

Bill had run out of gas for the rider this afternoon so we filled Ptooties up along with the 5-gal gas can before heading home. The wind has died nicely but it feels quite cool outside. 

Nice to barbecue again

Gorgeous sunset tonight

Back on the mower, he finished cutting and I hung the sheets on the line so they can dry tomorrow. Clean sheets are already on the bed. I’ll sleep good tonight! We were both done for the day before 9 and as I figured, my back has been really good for most of the day.

Bill finishes up the cutting for the night just as the sun dips below
the horizon

Good night from our land of enchantment
The Ridge

It was a quiet evening and we treated ourselves to some Creamy Jell-o for dessert. This was a nice day. 

Thank you for your visit. I love to hear from you if you wish to leave a comment.

Foggy Morning, Beautiful Walk and Cool Find, Yard Work Felt Good

The Ridge

On Easter Sunday, Apr. 21^st the Easter Bunny forgot to come to us! What? We’ve been good all year so maybe our chocolates are hiding somewhere. I’ll have to do a search later on. We were up at 7 together after a good night’s sleep. Well, with the exception of our 2:30 wakeup so our 4-legged son could go out for a piddle. No worries, he had to go!

Ptooties and The Suite

Bill didn’t have to ask ‘the’ question, the fog was so thick we couldn’t see beyond the corral fence. No walk yet. We had our coffee and tea together while reading blogs and then at 8:30, it was clear enough to go for a walk. There was no wind and it was 45F/5C so still winter coat weather and of course my reflective safety vest. I walked out the lane, west on North Line and south on Baptist Church Road. I told myself that I would only go to Elvis’s (aka Ivan) house, then extended that once I got there.

Black Beauty in her space 

Checking out the tiger lilies in our berm garden

It was a beautiful morning and I truly didn’t want to stop. What peacefulness! I went as far as the Turbine lane and crossed the road to walk back on the appropriate side.

This is North Line to the west of Baptist Church Road
Nope, I won't be walking that way

This is the way I went

There was a lot of flattened grass along here, almost as if it had been trimmed but in reality, only flattened by weather. Spring weather. I looked down over the hill, my eyes always looking for returnable bottles and cans for .10¢. What I found was even more exciting. I descended down the hill and was pleased that I did.

This big metal pot was discarded

The big steel pot had wet leaves in it but after turning it upside down and realizing the weight of it, I knew I wanted it. 

I walked this far and you can see the fog is still hiding things

Back at the Ridge, Bill was working in his Hangar and I told him what I’d found. He agreed to go with me later in the day to retrieve the pot. I would find a use for it, even if it was something to set a flower pot in. There are a few old steel things around the property and it adds to the appeal of a country property.

Someone is pretty happy in the Hangar

 It was around 9:30 when I made us egg omelette sandwiches. I knew Bill would be getting hungry and offered to take his out to the Hangar. As it turned out, he was ready to come in and get a coffee anyway. 

Bill's toasted egg sandwich

I had mine in the quesadilla format again, it is the way I like them best and haven’t had one for a while. I sent him off and cleaned up the dishes after relaxing with my book. I was going to finish it this morning! When dishes were done the sun had made an appearance so I went out to sit in the King chairs.

Olives adorn my plate

The book got finished and it wasn’t a disappointment. From beginning to end, it was a page turner. This was a good time to go and get the pot so we put a tarp in the back of Ptooties and drove to the hill. It didn’t take long and we were back on our road. We noticed that Don and Cheryl, our neighbours to the west of us were outside so we drove up to say hello. We had a nice chit chat catching up on their winter and ours before saying goodbye and heading home.

I raked up piles of leaves until the corral was basically 'leaf-free'
(well as much as I could)

Now it was time to get to work so I got the rake out and began raking the garden. Bill was going to get a bladder of water from the Acreage but didn’t have a key for the new lock. Woops, I think Gerry forgot to tell us about that! So, Bill went back down to the Hangar and eventually got the garden tractor out with the wagon. By this time, I was done raking the flower garden and started on the hills in the corral.

This hill has been a pain in the butt every time it needed cutting

This area is a challenge each time we need to cut the grass so we want to ‘get rid of the grass’. First raking before we move on to the next step. It is impossible to cut with a mower and a real chore to cut with a weed whacker. We needed another option, a fast option. I was de-layering as I went because of the warm day. It was 16C but a perfect day to be outdoors working. The hoody came off, then the next layer, finally just working in a long sleeve shirt.

Add caption

 Bill gathered some cement blocks around the area and large rocks for a future project and then started making trips bringing wood from down at the Hangar (we cut and stacked all of this last summer) up to the wood pile by the fire pit. By the time he finished this, at this point I was merely sitting and watching, we went and picked up the 15 piles of leaves and twigs. I knew that I would probably pay for the work I just did. That corral is bigger than I remembered!

Closing things up

Clemson had come outside with us for about an hour before he wanted to go back inside. We joined him after putting things away and closing up the shed, the Hangar, the Cargo trailer and the bunky. 

The last load of wood for today

It was time for his supper and time for us to relax. I knew that meant one, two or three of us would soon be snoozing but I think we earned it. I hadn’t started my post yet so did that while sitting in my chair. At 6, I pushed myself to get up and make supper.

There's lots more where this came from but for another day

The piles are all picked up, thanks dear for your help

Easy peasey tonight with leftover meatloaf, a garden salad and some Stove Top dressing. I set aside a dish of meatloaf and dressing for Bill’s supper one night through the week. Someone will be driving to work in London for a couple of days and it won’t be me. 

It was an Easter Sunday meal for us

Supper turned out good and very filling. I don’t even know if we’ll have room for dessert tonight! When I opened one of the cupboards in the kitchen, lo and behold, look what was left for us there! I knew it! He wouldn’t forget us and how much we enjoy chocolate.

Thank you, Easter Bunny

We cleaned up dishes and I finished my post so I could sit with Bill and watch Madame Secretary at 7. This has been a very enjoyable and productive day. I’m prepared for tomorrow morning since I’m noticing how slow I’m moving from one position to another already this evening. I’ll be fine though, I got this way from being outdoors in the fresh air doing what I love.

And the first day of sunshine in a while - we were granted a beautiful sunset

I hope yours was a great Easter Sunday. Thank you for your visit, just like Peter Cottontail. If you wish to leave a comment, I enjoy reading each and every one.

Two Days in One, Finishing the Yardwork, Fiddling Around, Quiet Day, Guests with Gifts

On Wednesday, June 20^th Bill and I were up with Clemson at 6:45. The sky still held some lingering clouds and it could be a mixed bag weather day. I actually felt chilly when we got up, the Suite sitting at 64F/18C, and outside at 56F/13C. Funny what you get used to. Strange Ontario weather. We had our tea and coffee together reading blog posts from yesterday before Bill headed out first to do some weed trimming. Me next, so I got dressed and got my mower out.

Bill does a great job as usual

That didn’t last long, after a few swaths around the yard finishing the main area and, in the corral, the battery died. It couldn’t have been fully charged. Bill did all the trimming so I didn’t have to get my weed eater out at all. Big smiles there! While Bill was finishing up the trimming, it was around 10 when I got our breakfast ready. 

remember the long grass the other day?
this looks much better

The only other thing on my list was to weed my vegetable garden and went up the hill with the hoe. Everything seems to be coming up ‘roses’, well, no not roses but healthy veggies! Bill puttered around with his planes for a while and the rest of the day was pretty lazy for me and eventually Bill joined me. We sat out under the awning after  reading and chatting until our eyes got heavy.

My garden  is now weed-less
Carrots and onions are coming along

tomatoes and peppers too

It was a gorgeous day and when Bill crawled onto the hammock for a snooze, I curled up beside him. Amazingly, we didn’t tip the thing over! We’ve had it since 2004 so are old pros at getting on and off it, I guess. If Clemson had been outside, he would have been in the middle. That is when it gets funny and a little more challenging moving around. We do have fun!

Bird feeder is full, it will likely only last a few hours

At 3 I had my shower and Bill soon after had his. We had a fun evening planned. First, at 4:30 we picked Rob and Pat up in Durham and drove to Walkerton. We met my two sisters, Donna and Gayle and their husbands at Joe’s Old Cabin for supper. Us sisters, Bill, Gerry and Rob (I think) ordered Caesars and Pat had a cooler and although the meal took a while coming, it was delicious! I do believe everyone ordered something different off the menu.

it was a great meal

Bill enjoyed the Fish and Chips and I enjoyed my 1/2 Quesadilla combo which came with a bowl of creamy potato, bacon and chive soup. Um-ummm that was yummy! We headed out of there by 6:20 and drove around the corner to St. Paul’s United Church. 

Waiting for the band to grace the stage
Love the beautiful woodwork in the ceiling of the church

Scott Woods and the Band were performing Fiddling Up a Storm. Because we knew our ‘invitees’ would enjoy him as much as we do and because a portion of his revenue goes to the church, we were excited to go again.

"Minnie Pearl? No, Minnie Kendra!"

No let down here at all, even though it was the same performance. Leo, the young 13 yr. old has certainly come out of his shell since we saw him last, 4 nights into their tour. We all had a great time and I’m sure many of us would go again for another show in the spring on a new tour. The church ladies put out wonderful refreshments in the next room so we had a bite, some chit chat with Scott and Kendra before going our separate ways.

Brother and sister
Scott and Kendra

Ron, I thought you'd appreciate this one of Kendra playing
the accordian

3 part fiddler harmony

Blurry but trust me, it was difficult to catch Scott in slow motion

A nice spread set up by the church ladies

A picture with the talented entertainer and friend

Rob and Pat pose with Scott as well

I still think there must be a hinge in the middle
to get around corners at an intersection
Scott does all the driving and they have travelled 14,000 kms on this tour already
The began the tour on April 13th/18

It was shortly after 10 when we arrived home and we joined Clemson in bed right away. That was a great day!

The sky was pretty on the drive home

Thursday, June 21^st we woke up around 7 again and I felt the chill of the air again. It was great sleeping but when I felt Bill rising, I wished for another blanket to curl up under. However, since I was wide awake, I quickly slipped warm jammies on and joined him downstairs for my tea. The clouds moved across the sky like an unbroken canopy this morning but while sitting reading posts, the blue sky made occasional appearances. Did someone get their wires crossed in the weather department? It was supposed to be a sunny day.

We finished our coffee and tea and talked about whether to drive to Hanover today. Bill has a list of items to pick up for 2 or 3 small ‘projects’. He’s the project guy around here! With no other necessary stops in town, he didn’t need me to pick out wood stuff so I remained behind and gave the Suite a quick dusting downstairs.

I boiled, cooled the syrup and filled the hummer feeders today

I know it is kind of pointless but I stirred the dirt/stone area where I’ve previously cleared of large rocks. Because we have a huge bucket of grass seed, I spread some. We need some top soil to level it out good but putting that $ out right now isn’t top of the list. If some grass grows in the meantime, I’ll be happy. If it doesn’t, no loss. I watered a few things just to be outside with Clemson and then put him inside and drove to Durham. We needed a birthday card.

Clemson sits in the sunshine

When I turned off North Line into our drive, there were 2 geese families with babies way up at the corral. Their sense of ‘warning’ is very evident as they immediately began herding the goslings to the water. We creep up the driveway so as not to freak them out but they still sense ‘danger’ in our presence. I stopped and tried to get a picture with my phone. No sooner did I back Ptooties in her spot when I noticed Bill coming up the lane behind me with his purchases.

The Geese Families are certainly keeping us entertained
If they sense you, even from a long distance, they begin moving the children

He unloaded the wood and because it was 11:30, I began making toasted westerns for brunch. They are always so good. We made plans for a supper meal that would provide leftovers for Bill’s supper tomorrow night. You guessed it, he’ll be working tomorrow. We cleaned up dishes, I made a small Costco grocery list and he went out to do any number of things.

As I’d hoped earlier, at 7:30, the blanket of clouds were swept away as the day woke up. These are beautiful days, 69F/21C, not too hot, not too cold and as Goldilocks says ‘Just right!’ I have a bit of lawn up on the hill to finish cutting where Bill can’t get with the rider so I’ll either do that today or tomorrow. I still have visions of last night’s fun entertainment in my head and it makes me smile. We had such a great time with family and friends.

If the geese aren't entertaining enough,
these two chipmunks fighting over the bird seed certainly are!

Quite frankly, I don’t feel like doing much of anything. I vacuumed the Suite and that just makes the place look spiffier. We’re not slobs by any means but a clean sweep and/or vacuum lifts the carpet fibres. Bill placed the box of ‘handy things to have in a vehicle’ in the back of the Rav4. They’ve been sitting in the bunky since we emptied the Corolla.

They sneak up on each other, chase each other
I love the right hand picture, this guy is peeking over the edge looking
for his competitor

Upon reading the manual, Bill also discovered that there IS a second 12v plug-in adapter so he is still able to keep the gps connected as well as plug our 12v cooler in for his drives to London. That was a bonus. So, he added an extension and fed it through from the front console where it plugs in, under the seats to the trunk area. We’re loving the space in there and having access to it from the back seat is a bonus.

Brunch, yum

We’re experimenting with the sunroof, I know some people love them and others prefer not to have them. It seems we often buy things in an ‘as is’ state without making adjustments, cars and trailers at least. I don’t know if we would have added a sunroof if purchased new. Saying that, we did have cruise control added to the Corolla and it was a demo on the lot. We dealt with the manual windows.

Our drawer dishwasher is handy to have 

But 3 drawers instead of an oven

The Suite was ‘come as it is’ state and we made no adjustments. Dealing with the no oven with ease and gee, the added dishwasher is tough to take! A feature we added to the Suite décor was our lift-top coffee table. We love it! It takes up a fair bit of space but the storage option in the cubby and underneath in our baskets is priceless.

We love our coffee table for storage

All closed up you can't see the 'stuff' hidden inside

There is a slight breeze out there that every once in a while, becomes stronger, flipping the hammock bed, over and over. It doesn’t take much of a wind to catch the edges and send it topsy turvy. We got a text from Donna that they were on their way to the Acreage and as much as I’m so glad we don’t have that packing up procedure to go camping, I’m glad that we are having good weekend weather so they can enjoy their property over there.

At 2:15 we took Clem and drove over. I have coconut oil for Donna from Costco and she has Avon for me that was delivered here last Monday. Oh yes, I must remember to pay that bill. So, we drove over to the Acreage in Black Beauty to top up our fresh water tank. Donna was inside their fifth wheel so I went in. Clemson took a good hard look at their new steps and decided quite quickly that he wasn’t going up them. No carpet, no Clemson. Funny guy, he is.

As we left to go to the Acreage, Papa, Mama and Baby were taking their
sweet old time moving out of the way

Papa's head was bouncing and I'm sure he was swearing at us

Donna and I exchanged our goodies, oil for Avon and cash in the pocket. Good deal! We took a look at her flower garden and I fell in love with the primroses, such a bright yellow and I definitely want some in my garden here. I’ll get some from her in the fall. Donna made us all a Caesar and I had to basically ‘chug-a-lug’ when Bill said, ‘okay, let’s go, it’s 10 to 4’. So, we said our goodbyes and drove back to the Ridge.

A beautiful day for sure

Inside, catching up on this post, Bill wanted to lift the Suite, side to side, so he could place boards under the tires. He did tell me he was lifting one side of the Suite. Well, I wasn’t prepared for the multiple lifts! After a Caesar!? After a tilt this way and a whirl that way, I felt I was on an amusement ride. When it stopped for a few seconds, I scooted out of the rv and sat on our King chairs to realign my body and my head. Too freaky! Next time when I get that warning, I’m outta’ here!

comfort food and leftovers

Back inside, I pulled up my recipe for Easy Meatloaf and threw the ingredients together in a bowl. I can almost (almost!) do this blindfolded now but that is a good thing. It means it is a favourite of Bill’s and mine too. As the name says, it is EASY. Even though our batteries are fully charged, we’ll plug in to bake it in the convection oven. One day I will prepare it early enough and thicken it up a bit more so I can try it on the Weber Q.

With the loaf cooking, I prepared potatoes and corn, timing them so everything would be ready close to the same time. Rob texted me around 5:30 and asked if we’d be around for a visit after supper. He had a treat for me. A bag of freshly picked rhubarb! Oh my! Jibberish came out of my fingertips in my response to him. You know, expressing undying love, everything I could think of to kiss up. We have both craved stewed rhubarb, rhubarb pies, crumbles and cheesecakes.

Now that is a mess of rhubarb!
Thank you, Rob, Pat and Sandra :)

While Bill finished washing the dishes, Rob drove up in his GMC. Clemson ran to Rob first and then Pat to welcome our visitors. What I had my eye on while hugging Rob was the overstuffed bag in his arms. They came inside for a short visit and we shared our day’s non-adventures. None of us got into too much, at least nothing too strenuous. Clemson cozied up to Pat while she sat on the couch. He does love his 2^nd parents.

sorry for the blurry picture, Pat

After they said goodbye, I finished my post and downloaded some pictures. I didn’t take too many today so had to spread them from the last couple of days. Not all days offer the same photographic delights. This has been a rather calm day but a great one. I hope you can say the same for yours.

goodnight from the Ridge

I want to thank you all for taking the time to read my posts. Sometimes we don’t have much to write about but you should know that we are making the best of each day that comes our way. Life is too short to waste a single one. Your comments are always appreciated.