Household Chores, Quiet Afternoon, Not Too Crafty

Park Place RV Park

On Wednesday, Dec. 14^th Gibbs took me for a short walk. He knew where he wanted to go so, I follow and we returned home after 15 minutes. When I figure that Bill now walks him a bit when he first goes out at 6:30 →7:00, maybe Gibbs is thinking he has reached his maximum number of steps. 😊 Whether I meet my preferred daily step count or not, at least I am getting out for a steady walk after dropping the little bum back home.

Some vehicles had frost this morning
as a result of our 33F/1C overnight drop

My son asked last night if we could get snow
but with the warmth of the sun so early, it would be
totally freakish if we did

Bill was close to leaving for the Q. Desert Flyers meeting at Jim’s and because it was so chilly on my face and fingers this morning, I waited at home a few minutes before heading back out. I was dressed warmly with my long johns under my jeans, a neck wrap, my gloves and down-filled jacket so was as warm as I was going to be without overloading the layers. My walk was good and my jacket was undone by the time I returned home at 8:55.

 I love this walkway, why I come here most days

Bill was gone and I made my tea and began sorting our 2 loads of clothes. No one was at the laundry room so I was in and out quickly with everything washed and folded. Nice part about parking so closely to the clubhouse, I walked back and forth. Since the puzzle was done there was no point in hanging around. 😉 Gibbs and I sat outside for over an hour waiting for Bill and enjoying the sunshine. It was cool in the shade but the sun warmed me up.

The park beside us looks pretty full too

Bill got home around noon and at 12:30 I made us grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. Instead of starting a new puzzle, I got out my craft drawer and one of my paint bins. I had a great idea, forgetting, of course, that I’m not very crafty and I’m often disappointed in my efforts. A lot. However, I wanted to attempt to make a couple of snow globes.

Yummy lunch

I’d picked up some ‘suitable’ containers, at least for the practice run, and although after an hour and a half I had to basically go back to square one, I have a better idea of what I need to do. I’ll go at it another day. I also lifted the bed and pulled out one of my own puzzles to work on next. This one was given to me back home, Donna and Gerry say it is a challenge, so I’m up for it. Nothing could be as difficult as these last two I’ve just done!

Our afternoon walk

At 3:30, I made a cup of tea and began my blog. That I knew I could do! I admire people like Maebeme, a fellow blogger and commenter, who can whip up most things she puts her mind to! Some of the cutest little things. Yes, you can! 😊 I hadn’t reached 6,000 steps yet so I slipped into my coat and took Gibbs for a walk around the park at 4:30. The temperature today didn’t get above 55F/13C so we were very grateful for the clear blue sky and sunshine.

Delicious supper

Supper was bbq’d steak and potatoes with Caesar salad on the side. It was delicious and we haven’t decided yet whether we want ice cream for dessert. A tub of Tillamook’s Butter Pecan found it’s way into our cart yesterday. ♥ This has been a pretty quiet day and after a cool night again tonight, we should see a bit of a rise in temperature. Not much but definitely an upward swing.

Not much changes in our world
This is Gibbs last year on Dec. 14th
Good night

Thank you for stopping in.

Friday = Chore Day and a Tumble

The Ridge

Friday, May 6^th started with another nice morning. The sun wasn’t strong enough to burst through the clouds but it was trying to poke out. When Gibbs and I came downstairs before 7, Bill was in full work mode. He was soon ready to leave so before I left for our walk, kissed him goodbye. I walked to the south this morning but we didn’t get too far around the corner and Gibbs was ready to turn back.

This morning's walk
Bottom left, Gibbs ran all this way without stopping once
Bottom right, zoomed in to see him waiting for me
A redwinged blackbird flew by at an opportune time

We met Bill on North Line for a final ‘have a good day!’ When I let him off the leash at the end of our laneway, he ran the whole way without stopping once. I remember little Clemson doing the same thing. ♥ Straight up to the deck and back to check and see where pokey Mom was. 😊 . Gibbs wasn’t interested in his food again this morning until about 9:30, he searched upstairs for Daddy as soon as he got inside.

Last night's sky to the north, after I posted

I finished my tea and played my 4 online games (WordHurdle now has a 4-letter, 5-letter and 6-letter word to guess PLUS Phrazle which is a phrase to figure out by guessing the letters. I love it and it is very good for my old brain, keeping it active. What a thrill when I guess them! Childsplay, you say? Maybe, but that’s good, right? 😊 Then it was time to get to work. I removed the scatter mats for a good shaking outside and got the vacuum out from under the bed.

The sky cleared out nicely
but it was windy for most of the day

Gibbs disappeared up onto my chair, for the most part, except for once when he got down to fight with the nozzle. No doubt protecting me. The floors were really messy, mostly with little teeny stones in the corners and around the edges of the woodwork. With my Norwex wet mop, I washed all the washable floors. That only leaves out the bedroom. Wouldn’t you know it was after moving someone’s food dish and washing that area that they decided to eat!

Are you leaving footprints on my clean floor?

With those chores done, we went outside for a little while. I found a few more locations for more dahlias but some of these bulbs look and are pretty old so I was putting 2 and 3 in a hole. If they don’t come up, they will be tossed in the composter in the fall. We came inside for lunch and I finished the chicken noodle soup and I ate the last pork chop.

Bill called at noon and told me that Mr. Appliance will be back on Monday afternoon to install the new mother board so another attempt on record. 😊 At least they haven’t given up! 

I was working in the rhubarb garden and although
they look good, they don't get a lot of sun here

We went back out and I hung my desert painting from last summer in the Bunky. It’s so big that the tv was going to be blocking the road runner in the picture. Hmm. I moved things around so the tv would be in the corner but now I’m more anxious than ever to get this futon out of here.

the painting is almost too big for this wall, we might have to
move the wall pictures around

I was able to load the two mattresses into Black Beauty’s back seat and now Bill just has to figure out a way to strap the futon into the bed with the hitch. At least we don’t have far to go tomorrow with it. Today, I had a message regarding the size of the pet crate we’re also selling. It’s a small one so I don’t get too hopeful it will work for others. It was the right thing at the right time for us until Gibbs grew out of it.

Gibbs and Chippy were playing hide and seek today. Gibbs was it and Chippy was hiding in the fence rail. I was working in the garden on the opposite side of the corral and could hear Gibbs’ speaking bark. Like, ‘come out of there so I can get you!’ I’m not worried that he will catch the little guy but he’s having fun trying. 😊

Gibbs looking for Chippy 💗💗💗💗

We walked down the lane and when Bill took off across the west side field barking at Father Goose, I waited to make sure he came back. He did and he had a proud face on. I’m not crazy about the fact that he has to chase them unless they are walking up the hill to our trailer. Too much goose poop in too close proximity for us walking. No mail today. I closed the sheds up and we came indoors.

I mentioned a ‘tumble’ in the title. Yah, well, old miss clumsy tripped going into the storage shed. You know you can’t always stop yourself but you still try. I went flat out on the floor so I’m glad there wasn’t anything in the way. We’ll see tomorrow what bruises, if any, I get from that! Aside from that, this is the best I’ve felt as far as my cold. This morning I had quite a bit of phlegm in my throat but a few salt water gargles took care of that nicely.

The fries were yummy and the fish wasn't bad tonight either

With a nice cup of tea at 4 and a couple of Nutter Butters, we waited inside for Bill. He was home before 5, it’s about 40 minutes to Walkerton where the jobsite is. They are working on a bathroom in the basement of a home. Gibbs and I both got our bangs cut today and he got a good tooth brushing. He loves the taste of the paste so doesn’t try to get away from me.

I heated some rice pudding for dessert

Homemade fish and chips tonight. Not the fish – teehee – . I forgot we had some fish left, but with no frozen fries in the house, I cut our own from the potatoes I bought the other day and cooking them in the Fry Daddy. I cooked the fish for 20 minutes in foil in the convection oven but they weren’t half done by the time the fries were ready. Darn! I transferred them to the frying pan and finished them.

It’s not a fish we’ll buy again. I didn’t enjoy it last time cooked in Rosy so we’ll decide whether we’ll keep the last 3 pieces. Bill wasn’t fond of it tonight either. We loaded the dishwasher and settled in for the evening. This was a great day. Bill said they moved to Kincardine to do some drywall mudding so they weren’t working on the bathroom all day after all. No complaints so far! 😊

There were so many beautiful shots I could have taken
after this but this was my favourite view anyway

The weather has been pretty decent today. We reached 18C/64F. The clouds mostly disappeared by early afternoon clearing even more for late day.  Another lovely sunset.

A couple of years ago, the view was of a lovely day too
Good night!

Thank you for your visit on this Friday.

 

 

 

Long Weekend Begins, Morning ‘Chores’, Afternoon Fun with Family

The Ridge

I didn’t waste any time in the morning on Saturday, Aug. 1^st and neither did Bill. We were up before 6:30 and I was out the door with the dirty laundry by 6:40. Bill had his coffee and then went out soon after to start weed trimming. This is a time-consuming job and takes a lot of stamina and dedication. I get physically tired easily of this job and only do what I have to do, even when I'm trying to push myself. Bill goes until it is done. 😊

And there's my little Energizer Bunny

 After cleaning the Mat and folding our damp clothes into the basket, I drove to Foodland. We still had quite a list of food items we needed and because a trip to Costco isn’t going to happen over the next 2 weeks, I decided to bite the bullet and shop in our own home town. To drive to Hanover, 20 minutes, I'm using fuel that still wouldn't justify a few $'s savings. So, I didn’t pay too much attention to prices, within reason, and just got the items. The list was at home so I was going by memory and think I did pretty good.

I know it was very hot but he does make it look easy

After Foodland I drove down to the Esso station to buy a sheet of garbage tags. We have to pay to set our bags out and only had one left. While I was in there, I bought a Lotto 649 ticket and a Crossword scratch. No doubt, I threw that $ away but it was fun playing. On the way down Baptist Church Rd. I pulled into Graceland 2 to inform Mitch of my mix up on the dates. Things were locked up tight, it wasn’t 9 yet, so I called him and told him. He was very good about it and told me to go and do my thing. I knew if he gave me any grief that it would all be in fun anyway. He’ll see me this week one day, I think, to pay me.

Our little finches are enjoying the feeder

 Back home, Bill was still trimming and although he had completed quite a bit in our seating area, had a lot more to do. ☹ I put the groceries away and then had a cup of tea. My first. As I was making it, Bill came and had a cup of coffee with me before we both went back at it. I hung the clothes and with the oppressive heat and breeze I knew they wouldn’t take long to dry. It sounds like we are to be getting a lot of rain tomorrow so some of our company may be delayed until mid-week. Darn weather!

When Bill was done trimming, we had lunch and then he went out with different blades on the weed eater. Down the lane he was able to get a lot of the tall weeds with sturdier stalks. They are a pain. Inside, I did the dishes and  swept the floors in the Suite. Our hummingbird feeder was empty this morning and we are puzzled how that is happening. We haven’t seen but one bird in days. There is no way ithe liquid can come out by swinging in the wind (which hasn’t been extensive) and no other birds besides the oriole (which we haven’t seen recently) can access it. Puzzling for sure.

Over at the Acreage this afternoon, a challenging game of Scrabble
was going on

I filled both feeders again with the last of the food in the fridge and we’ll see what happens. There are no leaks that’s for sure! Bill put his stuff away and we both had our showers before sitting down to relax for the rest of the day. We were waiting to hear from my daughter as to when they will be arriving at the Acreage. It is Donna and Gerry’s family campout weekend. Something that is slowly dwindling. Everyone has stuff going on when a long weekend comes to our neighbourhood.

At one point I had some high point letters to get rid of

We drove over at 3:00 to join D, G, Gayle, John, Joanne and Ted who had arrived within the 10 minutes it took us to get there. The sun had pretty much disappeared but it was still quite warm. There was definitely humidity in the air because of the expected rain and thunderstorms. Us 4 girls played a couple of games of Scrabble and the guys shot the breeze. 

The guys enjoying a quiet drink
I should have got a picture of them working on the trike but I was too involved
in my game!

They helped Gerry fix something on his electric trike so he was happy. They use it to travel the distance from the pond area back to where their 5th wheel sits and to cart wood for the fire pit.

Supper was sooooo good

Around 6:15, who we were waiting for arrived. My daughter, Bridgette and her partner, Chris drove in. That puts a big smile on my face and then just after we got the forbidden hugs in, my middle grandson, Jake, drove in with his new girlfriend, Celine (pr: silynn). Yay! I secretly wish that Taylor was coming too but I know he won’t be making it this year.  We chatted with the new arrivals for a few minutes but it was time for us all to get supper on the go.

Driving back for the fire pit gathering
There were a few long weekend campouts in the area

Jake and Celine were staying the night in their tent so went to set it up before it rained. Bridgette and Chris had picked up a pizza in Durham for their supper so the rest of us split up. Bill and I drove home to bbq sausages. He had his on a bun and I had a chunk of sweet potato with mine. I cooked one cob of corn, which we split. I was feeling very hungry and I guess that is because we ate lunch earlier than normal. Supper was delicious, the garlic sausage was done perfectly on the grill.

John was the fire starter tonight
We sat at the small pit
Past August weekend gatherings have had at maximum 28 - 30
of us so we gathered around the huge tractor rim pit at the back

We cleaned up the few dishes and repacked our cooler. There was going to be a campfire at the Acreage and we had an open invite to join in.

John, Gayle, Joanne, Ted

Hosts Gerry and Donna appropriately in their King chairs

Chris, Bridgette, Wendy, Mike, Gerry

 My little sister, Wendy, had arrived and everyone's friend (and Bill's current boss), Mike, who had been out riding his new bike, had returned. It’s always nice to see him, it’s like he’s part of the family. Sitting around the circle, I counted 13 of us. It definitely wasn’t an unlucky number last night as we all had some laughs, stories and even some music performed by my talented grandson.

Bill, Chris, Bridgette, Wendy

Grandson Jake and Celine
who in this picture puts me in mind of the Queen of rock, Janis Joplin

The party broke up slowly, Gayle and John left first and then about an hour later, Donna was headed back to their trailer. Bill and I chose that moment to say goodbye. It was just after 11. 

Donna took this picture early in the evening
and I included it because I was actually in it

Of the remaining, Bridgette and Chris were the only ones not staying overnight so I don’t imagine they stayed too much later. I could be wrong! They are still in the younger, party-goer group. 😊 It was a fun night and as we stepped out of the car back home, a few light rain drops were felt.

I asked Donna to take this one for me as I didn't walk back
to see Jake and Celine's little tent

As Donna said earlier, ‘we are done working on the property, we are ready for company!’ I hope your day was as good as ours was. A cool down expected with the rains tonight and that’s okay too.

Jake brought his acoustic guitar so played and sang a few
songs for us
I remember the first time about 10 years ago when he played Stairway to Heaven
for us as a newbie player and he wouldn't sing
His voice is awesome

Thank you for your visit on this long Civic holiday weekend. This is a holiday in only 3 of Canada’s provinces/territories so very few working Canadians get the day off on Monday. Ontario is one of the lucky ones! 

Happy Civic Holdiay fellow Ontariens!
Good night!

Your comments are always welcome!

Getting Chores Done, Dessert Drop Off, Announcement

The Ridge

On Wednesday, May 6^th when I woke up at 6:45 I had already determined that I wasn’t going to sleep in today. Bill sounded like he could still sleep, and let’s face it, I probably could have dropped off again too. Bad habit in my books, we’re getting to used to doing that. So, by 7:10 I was up and so was Bill.

Ptooties parked at the Mat all by herself

He was downstairs opening blinds while I got dressed and pulled the dirty clothes bag out of the closet. I sorted the laundry into 3 loads as he had his shower. It was another sunny day on the horizon and low winds again but I just couldn’t push myself to bundle up against the 2C/36F and go for my walk. Maybe later. Famous last words, eh? I had my tea with cream and coconut oil and Bill had his coffee with Splenda and cream.

So, Mom's income tax got done in less than a week
and she gets $$ back again

After I got washed up, Bill loaded Ptooties and we drove into Durham around 9:30. We were the only ones at the Mat and I fought the urge to sweep the floors this morning. Jamie probably wasn’t in last night. We sat inside until 9:50 and then I walked uptown to Tim Summer’s office. Just as I arrived for my 10 o’clock appointment, Tim was unlocking the door letting the previous client out and me in. Everyone is doing business differently. He joked that he didn’t mind it but was wearing his door key out!

Looking out across the pond to North Line
there are some very calm geese floating, waiting

It didn’t take long to discuss Mom’s I.T. and I signed for her refund and paid Tim his cost. Unfortunately, one of Mom’s investments, of which I am a joint owner for obvious reasons, has my name above hers which coincidentally shows my Social Insurance Number instead of hers. Tim couldn’t use that one on Mom’s return. Darn! That means my I.T. is incorrect and I’ve already received my refund. Tim said I could do an adjustment or just let it take its course. I will phone B.of M. though to fix it for the future.

I walked back to the Mat just in time to help Bill remove the damp clothes and then we drove to Rob and Pat’s for a drop off. I’d seen Rob at the gas station as I was walking so was surprised that he was home already. When I made our apple crisp, I made an extra pan for them. They’ve been holding my frozen apples so this is a ‘thank you’. I hope their batch tastes as good as ours did last night. They were made in individual batches. 😊

Bill helps me bring the clothes in
Oh, how I love the smell of outdoor drying

When we left their place, I mentioned Foodland and about the weekly sales ending today. We wanted to pick up some of their pork ribs, bread and Lay’s potato chips so Bill drove me there. I splurged on some diet Sprite since I was out of any soda pop to drink. It wasn’t on sale and it was a ridiculous price. Of course, while in the store,I found a couple of other things and was out loading things in Ptooties quickly enough. Bill had topped her up with fuel while I shopped.

Back home, I put the groceries away and then hung the clothes. The wind has picked up and was cool on my neck every once in a while. The fight when it’s windy is to keep my umbrella clothes line in one place. Bill needs to secure it for me in the ground, to stop the incessant leaning, and really, he could stop it from twirling for all I care. Without the winds up here, it wouldn’t be such a problem for me.

Supper was quite yummy

When I finished with the clothes, I filled the bird feeders. In their anxiety to try and eat the small seed in the finch feeder the grackles and r.w. blackbirds had knocked it to the ground. So much for all that seed separating! The top came off and it was all over the ground. Grrr! The air turned blue as I ran out in my slippers to grab it up. I guess I got the message. “Feed us!” So now their feeders are full again. Bill mentioned wanting to get a feeder for down by the Hangar as he gets a lot of birds in the trees there so I took one down for him.

Down by Bill's Hangar, you can see the yellow bird feeder in the tree

It was lunch time so I made bacon and eggs and after dishes, he went back down. I'm not sure why but I felt kapooped so all thoughts of a walk AND all thoughts of raking the stones from the vegetable garden plot went out the window. It was warm inside, even though the heat was off, so I sat with my laptop to see if I could get some energy back. We’ve also turned the inverter on to get the benefit of the solar rays today.

Plantings on the corral hill
You can see how steep and rocky it is

I tried to stretch out and relax my eyes but since I wasn’t tired enough to drop off to sleep I picked up my book, The Fallen by David Baldacci. I hadn’t started it yet but my goodness what I thought would be one chapter turned into 6! I couldn’t put it down let alone encourage sleep. Ha ha. At one point I did close the book and curled up in the blanket for about 10 minutes. Bill came up around 2 and we turned NCIS on. We both knew that would help him have his snooze at least!

At 3, we were both awake and I made us something hot to drink. We agreed to go out and get the clothes off the line when our drinks were done. It was nice to have Bill’s help bringing the clothes in. I don’t usually mind doing it alone but with the cool winds gusting to 15 mph the clothes line turns a lot. I appreciated that he offered. We folded as we went except for the small things and we placed them in the basket to be put away. Nice to have the job done.

For supper, Bill cooked French fries in our Fry Daddy and I fried halibut fillets on the stove. Both turned out very well. After dishes, I went for a walk down the lane to check and see if we had any mail. It was the best walk of the spring so far. Ask me why. Goslings!!! I saw two families in the west pond and could hardly contain my excitement.

There will be better pictures to follow in the coming days

Unfortunately, the tall grasses were blowing, making it difficult for me to capture good pictures but I think you get it. There are seven (SEVEN!) babies in one family swimming so close to Mama that I could hardly see them all. The other family, with maybe only 3 babies disappeared before I got a good look. I snapped as many photos as I could and hurried back up the hill to tell ‘Grandpa Bill’. 😊 We’ve been waiting!

Look at them all cuddled in beside Mama

We watched a bit of Highway Rescue:401 and then at 8 Bill turned on Mama Mia! and handed me the controls. He went upstairs to watch something of his own choosing. I love the movie with Meryl Streep so didn’t have to change the channel. I finished my blog post and settled back to watch it. This was a good day with some chores, some relaxing and some excitement all rolled into one.

Good night!

Thank you for your visit!