Quite a Change of Pace

The Ridge

Friday, Aug. 11^th was a typical start to our day. Kind of. I was up and on my way to the Mat by 7. Only a young father with his ‘soon to be 5 years old!’ daughter. What a cute couple of customers. She was watching ‘Cry Babies’ on an ipod while Dad did the laundry. 😊

Our drive to Gravenhurst

Today was my day to do the big dryer lint and when I did that, I found $1.20. With nothing to give a ‘soon to be 5-year-old’, I asked Dad if I could give her a gift. I didn’t need that looney. She was quite happy to add it to her piggy bank. ♥ I had 3 items that I wanted for the weekend, so I washed and dried those before I left. At 8, Bill had taken Ptooties to Grey Bruce Fleet to get the oil filter changed and we met back at home around 9:30.

We thought the Arizona business sign was neat
Who doesn't love a kokopelli?

I had finished packing things up at home and we loaded everything in the car. We were closing the gate and pulling out of the lane at 10 o’clock. Driving to my sister-in-law’s cottage near Gravenhurst was about 2 ½ hours and we had a beautiful day for a drive. At Stayner, we stopped at Tim Horton’s for a hot drink and since I didn’t have breakfast, an egg and bacon wrap with a hash brown was perfect.

Perfect 

Gibbs in his new thunder shirt
for calming him on the trip.
Can't say that it worked perfectly this time
but we'll keep at it.

Arriving at Campbell’s Landing Marina around 12:30, Carol, Brian, Liz and Bruce met us and showed us where to park our car. I told you I was nervous about the barge? Well, nothing to fear, it was just different than I expected and quite comfy and a fun ride to their cottage on Miller Island. 😊 What a beautiful space they have created with their son, Todd. We were shown our room and then a tour of this lovely place.

They met us at the Marina
I love the lily pads

Carol and Brian's cottage comes into view
Gorgeous!

Bill lifts Gibbs onto the barge

The gangs all here

Our Captain at the helm
Bruce and Carol ride along

Lunch was served, hot dogs, corn on the cob and Liz’s delicious brownies. I wasn’t hungry so just had corn and a brownie. That would tie me over until supper. We spent an hour or so. on the dock deck and then went for a ride around Skinner Bay on the barge. It was really nice to see all the cottages around the area, some bigger than others but all beautiful. What money can buy. ♥

View from their deck

Back at the cottage, Bill and I hopped in 2 kayaks and went for a paddle of our own. Gibbs rode with Bill after Brian handed him in and was quite content. He wasn’t keen for the water, like Gracie. She’s a little fish! It was fun to get back into a kayak again, not to mention good exercise for my arms. Maybe not the best for Bill but he obliged me with my request to join me and didn’t seem to come out any worse for wear.

Our afternoon boat ride

For supper, Carol and Brian made us a lovely meal. Pork loin, potato salad, cabbage salad and brownies and cookies for dessert. I started writing my blog, (wow, a lot of pictures today!) and yet when Carol mentioned playing Skip Bo, which I don’t think I’ve ever played, I wanted to join in. The blog could wait until morning. It was confusing until we were into it but it was fun with the 4 of us.

Some afternoon fun.
Gibbs gets a swimming lesson
Liz gets a fishing lesson

I enjoyed the kayaks
So did Gibbs but Liz didn't get a picture of him in it with Daddy.

Brian and Bruce went fishing before it got dark and returned with a nice size bass. Nice! Bruce was quite happy. Our game ended shortly after 10 and that was it for the night. This has been a wonderful day. We are so glad we came, spending time with someone who to spend time with us and we don’t see Bill’s siblings often enough. 😊

Supper and the sun slowly
disappears into a cloudy sky.
Good night!

Thank you for popping by.

A Change of Pace, Touring from the Back Seat, Surprise Call

 

Paisley, On

On Thursday, Feb. 18^th, Bill was up and off by 6:30. It had been a cold night, -19C/6F, but Black Beauty was seemingly done playing around and started up this morning. 😊 I turned my light on within minutes after Bill left since I knew I was done sleeping. I reached for my book and finished the last 3 chapters of The Tin Roof Blowdown. It was a good read.

The sun was doing this all day but never really made it
out in full force for very long

I made my tea and had a banana up in our room and then got washed and washed my hair. It’s hard to judge from my point of view how much lighter my hair is getting by using a ‘fade’ shampoo but I think it is, bit by bit. I wish I had warm sunshine to sit in as that would certainly help the process! When my hair was still wet, I heard Wes and  calling upstairs to me. They were making their weekly trek for shopping today and asked if I wanted to tag along.

I apologize for the blur, this would be a cute picture
A little shanty built on top of a silo
I'll try and get a better pix when next I pass this way

That sounded to me like a nice change of pace and although I didn’t have anything in particular that I needed, after shopping yesterday, it would be a different kind of day. Nice to have someone else drive and show me places where they shop. We left at 10, after I blew dry my hair, and it turned out to be a good day for a drive. I won’t name all the places we stopped but it was a full day of errand running for them and I found a few things at the Dollar Tree and some books at the newly renovated and expanded Mission Store in Owen Sound.

Just some back seat views

We hit Subway before noon hour and the students arrived

For lunch, they were going to Subway and I had no objection to that so ordered their version of an egg McMuffin. I added green olives and green peppers and it was quite tasty and hit the spot. $3.60, can’t beat it. We were on our way home shortly after 2, driving through Southampton, Saugeen Shores and Port Elgin with stops here and there. Wes pulled in to the DIY car wash and gave their van a wash and we were home.

I did good with these books
$1.25 or less

Before getting settled, I walked up to the post office and bought stamps so I could mail some greeting cards. Back upstairs with a cup of tea, I was ready to relax until I got Bill’s text. I didn’t do all that much walking but felt tired, from sitting, I guess. The temperature had risen to -1C/30F on our drive home and that was closer to the lake but now was resting around -4C/24F. We aren’t griping, it is going in the right direction.

Low lying clouds make us think more 'weather' is coming

I started a new book, a Michael Connelly story with Harry Bosch and Rene Ballard. It’s called The Night Fire and I jumped in pretty quick, as is typical with his stories. When Bill texted, I went down and unlocked the door before returning to our room. I was up on the bed when he came in so I told him about my day. I felt tired out but I really had no excuse. The snow had started lightly but we weren’t expecting much overnight.

Frozen Saugeen? At least, it's snow covered

They timed arriving at Independent in Port Elgin right
Wes and Susan walked right in but soon after
I saw Security and new arrivals had to line up

Another section of the river, still flowing

For supper, I fried up two hamburger patties with mushrooms and in another pan, fried up the leftover stuffing, noodles and mushrooms. We only had one hamburger bun and I was happy to eat the leftovers while he had the hamburger. It was filling and although I probably didn’t need it all, I ate the whole thing! 😊 It tasted pretty good and these patties are very tasty, even by themselves. We did the dishes and received a couple of phone calls while in ‘our’ kitchen. Marilynne called on Bill's phone just to check in on us.

At the same time, Mitch called me on my phone and asked if I could come back to work on a Dodge Ram pick up tomorrow for a few hours. It sounds like a quick turnaround job, requiring some sanding to some areas to ready it for painting. I’m game, so will clean the Mat first and then swing out to his place. It’s nice to know that he still needs me for the odd job and it gives me the opportunity to see what the laneway is like at the Ridge. Plus it's a little more cash in my pocket.

Supper was good
No dessert necessary

I watched Jeopardy with Wes and Susan and returned to our room for the evening. This was a good day with some variety and we’re already looking at another end of the week! It is crazy good how time is flying by.

Feb. 18, 2017
Skies over Borrego Springs, CA

A vision we miss more than you know
He was waiting for Daddy to come inside
good night!

Thank you for stopping by.

A Change of Pace for Both of Us, Rain Cuts the Day Short

The Ridge

On Thursday, May 28^th Bill was up at 6, washed and ready to go to work. Yup. You read that right. Not at CanAm but with our friend, Mike, who owns a construction business. He offered work to Bill last summer if he wanted it so when he said he could use him, Bill jumped at it. It won’t be anything that he can’t handle easily, Mike knows his limits and if he doesn’t, Bill does. 😊

This is only part of what Bill found in the a/c units on the roof

 I first had a tea when I got up around 6:30 and we puttered around on our laptops. There are some ‘things’ he’s dealing with on the new laptop. Nothing wrong, just installation ‘snags’ so he is still working on his old one right now. It felt different having my sweetie go out the door with his lunch cooler, off for a day of work. It has been a while. I wasn’t sad to see him go as it wasn’t overnight and I’m sure he’d say the same thing if I disappeared for a day. 

Bill, on his way to Walkerton

We all like time to ourselves and even though we each have our own ‘space’ up here on the Ridge, we, like a lot of you, have been together 24/7 for a long time. I’m not just talking about today’s Covid situation. Anyway, I’m sure he is happy for the break too and the chance to help Mike. After he left, I had yesterday’s blog post to write. I was too tired last night and it wasn’t even started. That done this morning, I went for my walk.

A paper wasp nest was in the vent too

The sun wasn’t out but it was a lovely 17C/63F with a bit of a refreshing breeze. I had capris and only a skinny strapped top on so slipped on one of my previous Walk for A. t-shirts and headed out. It was perfect and I pretended I was practicing for Sunday. When I returned, I primed our hand water pump and filled the two watering cans. I know they were calling for a 70% chance of rain around noon but just in case, I watered my vegetables up on the hill and all the newly planted flowers.

After Bill left, I went for my walk

I wanted to do some trimming in the corral, up on the hill where I’m trying to grow ‘good’ things that spread and get rid of the weeds. Unfortunately, I wasn’t holding my head right or something as I couldn’t get it started. All things for a reason so I put it away after 4 or 5 tries and came inside. The temperature was quite nice but there was definitely some humidity hanging over us. Online I did some ‘canvassing’ on my Walk for Alzheimer’s site, trying to get a few more sponsors. It never hurts to ask.

Not a clear picture but this trillium has a tinge of blue/purple in it

Around 10, I had some breakfast

With that done, I set to work sorting the 5 large packages of meat into individual meal freezer packs. Then I emptied the freezer, washed it out and reloaded. I’m surprised that $93 of meat went in there along with all the other stuff! Just the hot dog and hamburg bun packs had to be removed. Oh, and my apple pie. That’s pretty good! I love our big freezer. The buns can go in the fridge. I got big sausages out for supper and some little ones to thaw for breakfasts on the weekend.

This is a fair bit of meat for an rv freezer
but it all fit

I wasn’t done yet. I did the dishes from yesterday’s morning coffee and last night’s plates from supper. We were truly lazy when we got home. Lastly, the floors needed cleaning so I got the vacuum out. 

Someone was very happy with the new oranges

With the windows open there is a nice breeze coming in. The gentle rain started after lunch around 1:30 and didn’t let up for about an hour. This would likely put a ‘damper’ (literally) on Bill’s work today. Sure enough, at 1:50 he called and they were done for the day. An outside job depends on the weather.

A little trick with Picasa photos

 Outside, earlier, I swept the patio mat off when I noticed that Bill’s morning trip up the ladder to the roof (again) produced the makings of a couple more nests in the a/c units. We used to have covers on our Jayco, I think, so will have to pick some up before next spring. For now, we’ll just keep an eye until nesting season is over. He thinks they are robins as that is 'who' nested and had babies up there a previous year.

Yum, this is delicious

After he flew away, it was half done

I also had to replenish the trees with clementine oranges for the Oriole’s. I don’t want them to leave. Unfortunately, Costco in London doesn’t carry any bird seed other than just sunflower seeds and I don’t just want that in my feeders. I like the mixed seed so will have to go in to town to pick some up along with Zero Coke that Costco (stupidly) doesn’t carry. Grrr! Why are their stores so different? Guelph carried both of these things.

Often during the day this red winged blackbird sits out our back window
and sings
When he chirps, his wings lift but when I was watching, he wouldn't do it

So, Bill arrived home with some pretty good news. He had a good morning working with Mike and 2 other workers but that isn’t what I mean. Our Black Beauty may be ready sooner than later and that is great!  Let’s not count our chickens before they hatch though. I had some information to try and help get the problem with his laptop up and running and eventually, after trying a few things, he did. Not because of what I found out (but don’t tell him that!), it's good for him to ‘need’ me. 😊

The rain sure greens things up, doesn't it?

The rains came and went throughout the day. Nice steady rains. Plants and grass are smiling. Around 5:30 Bill went up for a shower. When he finished, he asked if I could trim his hair. Of course! So, in the bathroom (tile floor) I earned some brownie points and I’m happy to say that it looks pretty good and the bottom line is that he is happy (and ‘handsomer’). 

I made him pose for me
I like the one hair standing up on his head looks thick
Isn't that cool?

Bill's hair is so thick at the back and I thinned it quite a bit

After brushing him (and myself) off and sweeping the floor up, I started sauteeing the mild Italian sausages in Madame IP. It was already 6 pm.

That's a lot of hair!

I had some carrots that I put in the inner pot for cooking and cooked some corn in the microwave for Bill. I’ve been wearing my new Fitbit all day after setting it up last night. That was easy! I’ve also accepted a couple of challenges on the Fitbit app to encourage me (and others) to put the push on for walking. Whether it is for weight loss or just to keep moving, I don’t care. I enjoy it.

I stationed a few of my painted rocks around the flower gardens

I should call this Chippy's garden for obvious reasons
These primrose plants have a lot of growing to do

Bill began transferring files from his old HP to his new one and starting with pictures, it took quite a bit of time. All in the joy of a new device. 

Supper was ready before 7 and although it doesn’t look like much on my plate, it was just enough considering we had some apple crumble pie for dessert. I warmed it up and added cheese. The topping that I used appears to be the culprit for making it drier than the last time I made it. It still tasted good though!

These cows are standing in the rain instead of lying down
Maybe they only lie down to predict rainfall?
(one of Daddy's 'wives' tales)

 We cleared up those dishes too and by then, 7:15, the sun made an appearance for the first time all day. It is looking like a beautiful evening. This was a different but good day. Another day with quite a few things taken care of. I hope yours was too.

Another sighting of the little ducks
They are fun to watch
Good night!

Thank you for stopping in. Your comments are always welcome!