Weather Change, Bunky Cleanup, Bill Back Home,"Jam Up - Jelly Tight", New Camera!!

The Ridge

It was different waking up on Thursday, Aug. 22^nd remembering that I was on my own. Since it was only 5:30, I snuggled with Sergei in Clemson’s spot and drifted off and on until 6:00. Good thing I’d closed the windows last night, it was chilly this morning. Without wasting anytime, I texted Bill that I was up and we chatted then by phone.

Well, good morning sunshine!!
What a lovely sunrise

Leaving the Suite around 6:25 gets me to the Mat at 6:35. After backing in, Rob greeted me on his morning walk and we chatted for a few minutes before I went to start work. Jamie has been busy! There is a ramp right inside the back door, removing the need for a ‘watch your step’ sign, making it wheelchair accessible and removing about 2’ of the shelf for folding right inside the door. All very good ideas.

I wanted to see what the rains did for my garden
and I was very pleased

Then when I went to open the Lock Up, I noticed that he had changed the door from opening out into the narrow hall to an inside opening. There were a couple of things making this entry more difficult for me but only because of tools they are working with. Once I moved a machine out of the way, it was quite easy and would make the process of a few things much better.

Look at my watermelon!!

I was alone until 7:05 when Bonnie from Welbeck’s popped in and it was 7:15 when a regular Polish customer came in the front door with a friendly “Good morning, my dear!” He hadn’t even seen me yet but knew I was there. 😊 Nice, harmless fellow who indicated concern when he saw Jamie doing a sweep through one night. He wondered what had happened to me? I can’t understand 75% of what he says, his accent is very, very strong but I do my best to communicate.

Funny thing with hostas
This one is just little and just starting to flower

This one, the leaves are almost yellow and it has
just blossomed too
but I have others that have been done for weeks

It was 7:45 when I left the place, clean once more, and drove to Rob and Pat’s to use their wifi. I had texted and, of course, Pat invited me in. I declined with thanks and hoped to get my pictures downloaded and blog published quickly. That didn’t work as well as I’d hoped, my pictures were taking forever so even after a fruitless attempt inside their home I conceded defeat and drove home. It can wait until tonight or tomorrow and I’ll go to the library again.

I enjoy my bp coffee every other day for a treat

Back home, I parked B.B. down in her spot and came inside to make my tea. For some reason, maybe the frustration over my blog, I felt hungry so had a couple of small pieces of zucchini bread with butter. Yum, that went down quite nicely. With my tea finished, I tried calling my sister in Montreal. Today is her birthday and although I usually don’t call sibs on their special day, my cards generally arrive on time. This year, it wouldn’t be there so I wanted her to know I’m thinking of her. The line was busy a few times so I left a singsong text instead.

Since Audrey doesn't like being 'shared' in blogs,
I'm posting a picture of her in her late teens instead
Happy  Birthday, Aj!

I wanted to have a shower but (there’s always a ‘but’ – my Dad would say) I got distracted in the bedroom. Since I brought 4 new pieces of clothing home yesterday (yes, I did! – they were practically giving them away!) I needed to purge of 4 or Bill and I say the rule is 8 things from my closet or drawers. Well, I made short work (figure of speech – because it took me the better half of two hours) of that project but managed to move a couple more things to the Cancun cupboard and purge about 15 other things for the exchange bag. I was very critical of stuff.

The bunky, all ready for company

Then, instead of hopping in the shower, I made myself a b.p. coffee and sat at my laptop to start today’s post. It was 12 noon so I had some yogourt and took my coffee out to the Bunky. Around 11:00 I noticed that there was more sun than clouds so I unplugged from power and turned the inverter on. No point in wasting sunshine! The rest of the day sweeping and cleaning up the Bunky. I made the bed up for our guests and opened the window for a couple of hours to air it out. I think it will be quite comfy in there.

windows, a fridge and a lovely antique chair to have a rest on

I started into the next James Patterson book that I had left to read. The Quickie. It was going to be another fast read. Inside, I started pulling things out to make Choke Cherry Jelly. I’d found a recipe yesterday that sounded easy enough. Lots of instructions but that was typical for jam or jelly. First, I had to clean the cherries and make sure all the little stems were removed. That wasn’t as hard as it sounds even though they are tiny. Most pulled off when I picked them.

I lucked out finding this loaded bush

I didn't have a bag so carried them home in my shirt

 When the recipe I had called for 12 cups I knew I had to cut it in half but even then, I only had 4 cups of cherries. That didn’t deter me and I took a bag down the road to the bush on North Line and picked 2 more cups. The process went smoothly from there until I got to the last part. “Lift the processed jars of jelly out of the canner without tipping them.” Hmm, one slipped out of the tongs and tipped so I sure hope that doesn’t ruin the batch!

I thought this would be 6 cups but it was only 4

So, I went out the lane and down the road a bit to pick another
2 cups

It only made 3 jars but from the taste on my fingers (from the tip over) I think they will be yummy. If I get ambitious, I may pick more off the bush and fill another 2 or 3 jars. Clean up was the worst part, at least it looked like it. 

Preparing to separate the liquid in my colander

Sterilizing the jars and lids

The Jam up, jelly tight mash up
(for you younger gen, this was a song in the 60's)

I cleaned up the mess of dishes

3 jars of jelly boil in water for 10 minutes
before the removal and cool down

Many pots and pans were dirtied in the process of making this delight. 

Now that I know the process, the next batches will be easier
I can't open them until tomorrow after 9 to see if
we like it!

I got the dishes out of the way and sat and watched the last 45 minutes of On Golden Pond before Bill returned shortly after 9. He’d had a long day and once the groceries and his stuff were unloaded and put away, I got into the package I was waiting for.

And my hot dog supper was delicious!

Yes, my new Canon camera was in at Henry’s so Bill brought it home for me. The battery needed to be charged so I couldn’t do much fiddling with it but it sure is pretty! I’ll be anxious to get my hands on it tomorrow. I’m looking forward to having a nice pocket size camera to use again rather than my phone. My Samsung takes good pictures but it takes a longer time to download them onto my laptop.

Yay! My sweet little Canon power shot arrives!

Now that Bill is home, I can relax again before going up to bed. It has been a great day, seeming so long ago that I drove into work. My jelly has to sit and cool for 24 hours and then we get to taste it. I hope you’ve enjoyed your day.

The day ended just as lovely as it started

Good night all!

Thank you for stopping around.

Hangar Looking Great! Laundry and Bunky

Home on the Ridge

It was a good night of sleeping for me but Bill informed me that it wasn’t for him. He’d twisted his back somehow yesterday so was uncomfortable throughout the wee hours. 😟 At 6:30 I got up and joined Bill downstairs. It was sure a change in temperature from the previous days! I believe it was 49f/10C and my decision wasn't because of the cooler weather but I just wasn’t up for a walk this morning.

There was a lot of haze in front of the sunshine
to start the day

Instead, I had my tea with Bill and then after he put the garbage and recycling bins at the road, we drove into Durham to do a couple of loads of laundry. Once the machines were loaded, I walked to the Royal Bank and deposited my pay. Cha-ching! Bill helped me unload the clothes and we drove to Home Hardware. He needed staples for his gun and I always wander down the bird feeder aisle. I’ve never had a suet feeder so since they were a good price, I picked one up with the suet.

And the sheets were a little damp but dry when we returned an hour later

This is something that Chippy may ‘try’ to eat but he won’t be able to. Hah! The little piggy eats more seed than the birds do around here. I hung the clothes and Bill went down to insulate the doors to his Hangar. He needed my help at one point but mostly he works away on his own. He hits a snag and then figures it out. Ken W. the big doors are almost done and now he’s working on the little one. He needs another sheet of that material to finish the big one.

This is either a picture of the recycling and garbage
OR
a picture of Bill's Arizona tattoo

Inside, I made us Keto pancakes so we could sample that ‘free’ syrup. 😊 As usual, it was delicious and the pancakes were very filling. I emailed my siblings about my last three visits with Mom. Some of them live far away and don’t see her for months on end. It will be difficult for them to actually see it and hope they also find her smile rewarding enough. I sent Bill back out with the offer that I would clean up dishes. I have nothing pressing on my plate today.

Yummy!

It is a gorgeous day and I decided go through the Bunky and see if there is anything purgeable. I have a couple of ideas that I’d like to try and implement once the tv is gone and a few other things. I walked to the mailbox a couple of times, once to check on the garbage pickup. That’s odd that they haven’t picked our stuff up yet or the neighbours. We did see the truck go by in the opposite direction earlier this morning.  

I’m so impressed with Bill’s Hangar and when he is pleased with how something works out, that makes me even happier. In the Bunky, I feel that I, also, made great progress. I went through all of the vacuum bags we have for sheets, pillows and extra comforters and blankets. Why do we have so much? I guess I’m trying to accommodate with a summer set and a winter set for the futon plus a blanket or two. I also like to have even a second set for summer in case we have an extra trailer here like we just did or like last summer.

Bill's Hangar flowers must be getting more lovin' than
the rest
They are thriving!

Still, way too much/many so I filled our old laundry basket full with stuff until it was overflowing and emptied 3 X-large vacuum bags in the process. Yes! I love that! Then after tidying up, I was able to reorganize my paint, gift wrap(bags) and sewing containers. That looks way better!  I moved Bill’s pillow and sleeping bag out into the truck for him and will check with him about a blanket as well. I survived my last (& first time really alone) so I’ll let him go again. Ha ha.

I'd have to hunt through pictures to show you the old plastic table
But trust me, this one is 100% better

After loading the ‘give away’ stuff and the bag of empty alcohol containers in the SUV, it was around 3 when I finished. Soon after Bill finished for the day too. I poured us a Caesar and cut some cheese for both of us. He opted for some Ritz crackers with his and then we sat and relaxed. It was a good working day because it was stuff that we wanted to do. I hadn’t even planned on cleaning the Bunky and look at what I accomplished!

We read our books for a while. First Bill drifted off and I continued reading. Then when he woke up (kind of), I had to close my eyes too. Just a little puppy snooze. At 5:30, I began sautéing our chicken thighs in Madame IP. Today, when they were done cooking (10 min.) and done with the Natural Release (10 min.) I took them out and crisped them up on the Weber with some sweet and sour sauce.

My suet feeder 

A new experiment for me

Supper was yummy. With Caesar salad and Bill had some mushroom soup rice on the side, we had a tasty filling meal. I have one thigh left for my supper tomorrow night so that worked out well. We took care of the dishes and settled in for the evening. We’re not sure what the delay was but late afternoon our garbage and recycling was picked up. Bill was bringing Black Beauty over to the Suite so drove down to bring the bins back.

And the chicken was delicious yet again

The day was a really nice summer day. It started out cool but warmed up nicely by 9 and reached our high of 76F/25C. There were minimal winds so our awnings were out for the afternoon when the sun moved to the western sky. It helps to keep the Suite cool. Bill had his shower and I watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. I’m not bad at the Wheel but can usually only get a few of Alex’s responses on any given day. Oh well, it is fun trying.

This was last nights sunset but I bet tonight's is a pretty close replica!
Good night from both of us!

I hope you’ve had a good day. Thank you for stopping in!