Good Start to the Week, Fall Temps Again

The Ridge

On Monday, Sept. 18^th we woke to a foggy morning. Bill was up for work and left at 6:30. I was up and left at 7, hoping it would have cleared off by then. It hadn’t so I was a bit nervous and watchful. It really wasn’t as bad as I expected, which was good.😊

It was foggy enough
and got thicker (like pea soup per Daddy)
as I got closer to Durham

I was alone for most of my hour at the Mat until my friend, a regular guy (I don’t know his name), came in. We caught up and then I was out of there, on my way home by 8:15.

Approaching cars and the Shell station
signs are just blurs
It's the first time I recall using wipers to keep
the fog water drops off the windhsield

I spent some time with my little guy and was happy that he’d eaten his breakfast this morning. It’s hit or miss with him. At 9:45, I made my thermos of coffee and changed into my ‘it’s okay to get dirty’ work clothes and drove Black Beauty over to M’s. We made a quick trip into town and I set to work on the Datsun for an hour. M asked if I’d put on my secretary hat and help him with a couple of phone things, the videos for his security camera for one.

Lunch quesadilla
Still no sour cream so I used mayo

With that done, now he can at least see who comes in the laneway. You’d have to understand/see his home set up to get this but he has no windows from his apartment to the driveway but he gets a text message that ‘someone’ or ‘animal’ is in the lane. Lastly, we checked his Kijiji ad for new business and made sure it had some time left. I finished up with power sanding on the car’s door panels and left for home at 1.

The tall trees in the corral are fading into
their autumn cloaks

I made up one of my original quesadillas for lunch and enjoyed it fully. Then Gibbs and I went outside for a run around the yard. He didn’t get his walk today until around 3:30 and then it was a short one as Mom was being a wimp. “It’s cold, let’s turn around!” 😊 Back inside, I delved back into my book. I finished the hat yesterday so reading was today’s agenda. Bill was home around 4:30 and he and Gibbs had their snooze beside me.

The Sedum is at its brightest
Notice the Evening Primrose in the background?
Even after the yellow flowers are gone,
fall adorns them in red.

For supper, I baked 2 Teriyaki chicken kabobs, fried the leftover potatoes for Bill and cooked corn and beans as our side. I had fresh ‘garden’ tomatoes with mine. It was a good meal, topped off with homemade applesauce and yogourt.  Today was a fall-like day with some rain showers, very little sun and a chilly breeze. I didn’t much like it but before the week ends, we will be into fall. That just means our time is that much shorter here on the Ridge.

Supper

This was a good day. I enjoyed the work today, nothing difficult, just dirty. 😊 We are dropping down again in overnight temps, 4C/40F, so I put my vegetable planters in the Bunky for the night. 

Gibbs informed Daddy after supper that he had
to go out.
All he wanted to do was sit in the grass. ♥
The sky to the west.

We will be warming up again in a couple of days so at least don’t need our propane heater out yet.

The sky has changed a few times, to the north
and 30 minutes later, the bottom pix is to the west.
Good night!

Thank you for the visit! (PS – Bill is working on a blog post tonight. You can check it out here.)

Fall Weather Day Up Here, Getting Things Done, Birthday Dinner

Up On The Ridge

On Thursday, Sept. 26^th, Bill was up ahead of me by 10 minutes. He had to go into the Mat for the morning at least but I didn’t have to move. I got up and joined him for a tea. After he washed up and had a bowl of cereal, he left for Durham to meet Jamie. I finished my tea, checked the sky and went for a walk. Oh-oh, probably should have taken an umbrella the way the sky was looking. I had a rain/wind jacket on under my bright vest and a hoody under that. I’ll be fine.

There were some pretty interesting skies all day

When I reached the corner of Baptist Church Road, I could see huge blackness off to the north and then I heard thunder. “It’s not going to rain on me, not today”, I chanted and after I turned the corner, I could see the clearing coming from the west. Voila! That worked like a charm. Before I knew it, the blue sky was overhead. I didn’t see anything too exciting on my walk although every driver who met or passed me (with one exception) was considerate and moved way over. Nice.

As I'm walking, I'm focusing on these 2 blue patches

This one kept increasing in size which was hopeful

Off in the field, I had to zoom in to see more turkey vultures. My, they are huge! I really thought I was seeing deer. At Turbine Lane, I had reached the mile marker so turned back. 

Big fat turkey vultures

Only one pretty tree worth taking a picture of
It's the same one I've been watching since early September

And the sky was like this for most of my walk

Mitch aka Elvis has some interesting cars on his lot

I didn’t need another tea so sat myself down to see if I could finish my photo book today. I was having much better success with BookSmart so will use that from now on and delete/uninstall all signs of BookWright. Stupid thing. Around 10:30, I made myself a b.p coffee and had a sliced peach with cream.

BP coffee and fresh peaches and cream

That was yummy. I finished the book and now all I needed to do was order it and see how much and how long. Later today I would check that out. Outside, there were some pretty strange skies happening. Clear, dark clouds, thunder, lightning and rain and then it would start all over again. My sister would text me from Hanover to let me know what was coming. Funny thing though. She never did get any of the rain and each time the black cloud moved over me, it dropped buckets.

And the sky changed again off in the distance

But I still had sunshine

This went on for 2 hours and I debated each time whether I would have to plug back into power. I didn’t. Bill texted at 1 to let me know that he was on his way home from town. They could have worked longer but he has things here to do with only 4 days to do some of them in. 

If you look to the left of this tree and to the right
It was like night and day sky

He hadn’t eaten so when he arrived, I made him bacon and eggs and refried my quesadilla. It was a nice lunch. I don’t have to worry about supper tonight, 6 of us are going to Kettles for mine and Bill’s birthdays.

The country drive to Kettles is lovely during the daylight hours

I did get a couple of packages of frozen apples out of the freezer as I feel like baking something. Maybe a pie. After I got dishes out of the way, Bill sat down with our Sam’s Club and Coast to Coast information. Just a few questions that he’d like to ask them before we make too many plans for our winter travel. I sat across from him and wrote on my blog before hopping in the shower. It isn’t very warm outside, only going up to 61F today. Now that is definitely FALL weather!

The sky was nice as we approached the restaurant

Around 3 or so, I had my shower and then soon after, Bill had his. We had time before we had to leave. It was time to bake something with these apples so I made a double pie crust. That went well so I put together a very full apple pie and wrapped the crust edge with foil. By the time it was all ready for oven, I realized that I wouldn’t have time to bake the pie. Most especially not in a new oven where I had some things to learn, so I left the baking until we returned home.

Kettles, a really good family style eatery

It was around 5:15 when we left for Kettles and 5 minutes to 6 when we arrived. Donna, Gerry, Gayle and John were already there and seated at a table. Woops, the birthday couple were late! Not really, they were actually early. 😊 The place was busy, as most times when we go but the food is always good and worth the wait. Prices are reasonable too for a family style restaurant. I ordered a country ham meal with baked potato and cole slaw. Delicious!

I'd never ordered their country ham dinner before and it was wonderful

Cards were given out and we chattered through the whole meal. It was a nice dinner out with my siblings and b-i-l’s. Before we paid the bill, Gayle invited us all back to their place, which we passed on the way here, for a birthday drink together. We enjoyed each other’s company a little more and then we left for home around 8:30.

Gayle, Donna and the birthday girl

The birthday boy, Gerry and John

After turning off Highway #6, Bill drove the back roads, the same way we’d gone, but it is so different in the dark. He drove relatively slowly as we watched for eyes on the side of the roadway. We made it home safe and sound and scooted inside the Suite. It was chilly out at 46F so Bill turned the Blue Flame heater on. It would be a much cooler night than last night so a little heat to warm the sheets is a good thing.

Waiting for the finale

 Bill plugged us into power just so I could bake my pie This would be a good test for the new convection oven. It is pretty smart, if you choose ‘Fresh Pie’ on the glass front pad, it preheats the oven and then tells you when to place the pie in and selects the cooking time. Saves me having to think a lot but I found myself thinking ‘does this thing really know what it is doing? Ha ha. Half way through cooking, I removed the foil around the edge so it would cook the crust properly. In the meantime, we watched the recorded episode of The Voice and Still Standing.

A beautiful sunrise taking place on our drive to Gayles

By 10:45, the pie was done and smelled delicious. Now we could go to bed. First, we split the little pocket that I made with leftover dough.  I remember Mom using the dough up after she made pies and she filled it with either brown sugar or jam. I fell off the wagon and buttered it, spread brown sugar and crushed walnuts on it before folding it and baking it. That was tasty!

The treat from leftover pie dough was yummy

This was a great day and I got my 65^th birthday celebration in style with my sisters, their hubbys and my sweetie. What more could I ask for? I hope you’ve had a good day too.

The pie looks apple-packed and awesome!
Good night!

Thank you for stopping in for a visit. Your comments always give me a smile.

Fall Brings Cooler Days, Busy Morning, Clean Suite, Happy Hour Fun

It was 6:30 when I woke but remained in bed until closer to 7 before stretching and getting up for the day. Yesterday was the first day of fall, and today, Saturday, Sept. 22^nd, it arrived with gusto. The strong winds from Friday brought an overnight temperature of 6C/44F and yet we were feeling quite cozy in bed without any heater. It was still 64F when I went to bed with Clemson.

Bill slides his flag back up where it belongs

I pushed myself to bundle up more than usual and headed out the door at 6:55. Because the winds had kind of blown themselves out last night, it was a nice calm morning for a walk. I walked past Turbine Drive to the top of the hill and back home again. I was warmed up right proper and was ready for my cup of tea by the time I returned. Bill was outside in the Hangar waiting for me, so came in and made his coffee as well.

The clouds are tripping over themselves this morning to get out of the way

We read a few blogs and then got down to business. First on Bill’s agenda was to go into town to get propane and then drive over to the Acreage to fill the water bladder. Today, with an expected high of 60F/15C and full sun, it would be a good day to work outside. Bill set to work with the pressure washer, pump and water bladder and began washing the Suite. Inside, it was around 10:30 when I started to make breakfast/brunch.

It was a good day to have bacon and pancakes for a change so I made the batter up while the bacon was frying. Two pancakes and 2 strips of bacon each was just the right amount and so easy to fix. This is the best recipe for pancakes ever, Shirley, and I shared it with Donna for her breakfast tomorrow. She is feeding a couple of men and I know they’ll all love them. I sent Bill back out to continue with the wash job and I cleaned up the dishes.

I deflated the air bed in the bunky and put the clean sheets and comforters into vacuum bags for winter storage. It didn't take as long as I thought it would and they are all neatly stored up in the rafters.

Yummy morning food

Bill cleans under the awning first

While he worked away, pulling slides in and out, he asked me if I would sweep and paint the Hangar porch for him. He had bought the Water Sealer in an Acorn colour but the main idea was just to protect the wood over the winter. 

Bill worked on the Suite wash while I painted

Before

By the time I finished that, he was finished the Suite and with the extra water was washing Black Beauty. It was around 2:30 when I suggested we invite Rob and Pat out for a Happy Hour this afternoon. They accepted but we had one more job to do first.

After

Bill wanted me to help him put two 2 x 4 joists up in the Hangar so he could lay things up there for storage. We did that and then were ready for company. 

Two joists up at one end

They arrived around 3:30 and we had a nice drink together while chatting it up. I don’t think we solved anything because today’s happy hour was all about relaxing and just enjoying the time together. 

when company arrives, we don't need to move to welcome them
Clemson does that for us
Can you see his little legs under the door as he is greeting Rob?

such a responsible little guy

Clemson went from lap to lap as we sat on the patio taking in the warm sun. When they left at 5, it was time to come in and get Clemson his supper.

Pat, Bill, Rob and Clemson enjoying time together

At 6, Bill lit the Weber and took the salmon out on tinfoil. I made up the dill sauce and when there was 5 minutes left of cooking time, poured it over the filet. On the side, I just had tomatoes and Bill had corn. The filet were large and filling enough. We didn’t have ice cream last night so that will be dessert tonight. Supper was delicious! I never used to care much for salmon other than in the can but now I enjoy it very much.

5 minutes left, they smell so good!

This has been a really good day. Great weather, a few things crossed off our lists and a nice visit with good friends. I hope you have enjoyed your day too.

this and ice cream filled our tummies tonight

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