Summer Days, Geese Return, Ptooties Health Check

The Ridge

Monday, June 22^nd we’ve moved into summer and it really does feel like it! Bill was up shortly after 6. I glanced at the clock and thought ‘ah, no work this morning so I can stay here’. At 6:45 he was waking me up as we were dropping Ptooties off for an oil change and safety check over. Woops! I forgot! I didn’t feel very awake as I drove her following Bill to Pletsch’s service shop.

Driving home from Walkerton

Bill drove Black Beauty to Walkerton and I drove home. We remembered that it is garbage day so when I returned home at 8:20, I hiked the 2 bins and garbage bag down to the roadside. Then I should have walked as I’ve missed a few days but I preferred having a tea instead. For some reason, maybe the weird wake up, I felt tired and hungry. I had my cuppa and a bowl of Shreddies and cream. That only made me feel more tired so I stretched out on the couch like an old potato.

It is a game of Hide and Seek every day
Where is Carmelita today?
Can you see her?
Hint: don't look for a green frog

Obviously, I needed that as I dropped off for an hour before forcing myself to get up. There was a nice breeze coming in the windows so I opted to leave them open rather than turning the bedroom a/c on. I was comfortable. 

She is sitting on a black pump so now she is black and gray

It was a day for vacuuming and even more with the little tiny bits of evidence of a small visitor. 😊 You realize how ‘child proof’ your place is NOT when such a young fella visits. He kept everyone hopping, “No, Easton”, “don’t touch that”, “sit on your bum”.

She is so interesting and tiny!

Then I went outside and after getting some sage advice from Pat, I finished sewing Bill’s knee patch. That worked much better and didn’t need to do it by hand after all. It sure doesn’t look pretty but he didn’t marry me for my sewing skills. Ha ha. I didn’t have anything else to sew so packed the sewing stuff up and got my small craft glue gun out for another project.

Good thing I'm better at hair cutting than I am at sewing, huh?

The cacti, I think there were 5, that we brought home from Lake Havasu Flea Market in the December of 2018/19 have died. They were doing so well; one had grown babies and everything. We love the pot and the little Arizona sign and roadrunner so at least it wasn’t a total loss. Today, I removed the last of the dead remains and replaced them with my own cactus. What do you think?

A new cactus garden that we don't have to water

Then, I decided to paint our patio table. So, after wiping it down I set to work. I love the new look and it will fit in nicely with our Adirondack chairs. I felt a few drops of rain so moved the table under the Suite’s nose cap. By this time, I needed to close things up and get ready to go pick Bill up from work. The car’s oil change was done and some service on the brakes was necessary (not replacement, at least). I dropped Bill at Pletsch’s on the way home and he paid and brought Ptooties home.

Our free dirty patio table gets a facelift

There is a lip right below the table top that I'll also do orange
and then sand and paint the legs white

We have been talking about how the geese have all disappeared and yet it didn’t seem the babies were full grown enough to fly yet. As I drove in the lane, the geese were ALL gathered up at the base of the corral hill. I drove really slow but couldn’t get close enough to get a good picture. The babies now have feathers like their parents so were sure they’ll be gone in no time.

How neat to see the geese were still around!

And they don't look like babies anymore
They have the same colouring as their parents

When I walked down after supper, they were all in our front field
but still skittish and moved when they saw me

There was also a mama turtle in the middle of the lane so I slowed down trying not to scare her. Bill had caught up and was right behind me. Apparently, the truck spooked her and as I crept along, she moved and almost got squished. Oh my God! I would feel sick if that happened. She made it safely across and her life will go on, trying to find that perfect spot to lay her eggs. There are so many of them!

Supper was delicious!

It was neat to see the geese anyway. Inside, I had a cup of tea and mixed up the ingredients for a meat loaf for supper. I set 2 whole potatoes on top in foil and cooked some spaghetti squash for me and corn for him in the microwave. It was a yummy supper. I could feel the air cooling down outside very slightly from 26C/79F but not by much. There was no breeze today which didn’t help matters. It will be a nice night for sleeping around 17C/63F.

I took this picture last night but forgot to post it this morning
So, we'll use it tonight
Good night!

After dishes, we just relaxed in front of the tv. I took a walk down the lane to try and get a picture of the geese just in case they came back. This was a great day without a lot of activity.

Thank you for stopping in.

Taking Advantage of a Nice Day, Goose Gatherings

The Ridge

On Tuesday, May 5^th both of us slept in until after 8. This is getting ridiculous! I should have got myself dressed for the weather and went for my walk. The winds were low and the sun was beaming down from a blue sky. I didn’t, the cool 2C/36F temperatures had me wimping out.  We had our morning drinks together and we each had a bowl of Cheerios, I had half a banana with mine. I felt hungry for some reason.

Walking back up the lane this afternoon

 When Bill went out to move more rocks, I went for my walk. I was back to layering up but rather than get my winter coat out, I wore a lightweight and heavyweight hoody with my windbreaker. I wore my neck scarf, my wool hat and my puffy vest. Oh, I had my gloves on too. Do you think I’ll be warm enough?  May 5^th ? The wind was very cold on my face so I’m glad I wore what I did.

I took the time for a selfie while having a coffee in the King chairs

Before we headed outside, there was quite a ruckus in our east pond. The geese were fighting, we think, enforcing dominance over their territory. The odd thing though is that it didn’t stop. Two would get chased off and then return and on and on it went. I could hear them all the way down Baptist Church Road. By the time I’d returned, they had calmed somewhat. We are still waiting for the babies to be born. Bill said ‘Maybe that is what all the hubbub is about. Are they celebrating?'

UPS delivered my Avon today
Same nice guy
We chatted briefly and he handed me my box
when I indicated I wasn't worried about the transfer

I wasn’t feeling too energetic at the beginning of the day, well, heck it was already almost noon hour (that’s what happens when you sleep in until late!). I decided to plant the primrose from Gayle this afternoon after it warmed up a bit but first, I wanted to make something using up some apples from my freezer. I need to relieve Rob and Pat from some they are storing in their freezer for us. I left them what I didn’t have room for last winter. I don’t need to be picking apples this fall.

At Costco, we bought carrots and broccoli
the only way you can - Bulk
So, rather than some going bad,
I blanched them and froze them in smaller bags

It was a pretty day to go for a walk

By the time I was ready to go outside, the clouds had moved in. Doesn’t that just figure? Serves me right for waiting. I had a heck of a time today on the corral hill trying to dig and plant as my shoes kept slipping but I managed to get about 12 planted. There isn’t any good soil there, just little rocks and sandy mossy spots so I used some of my own potting soil to give them an extra bit of leverage. I hope they take to rooting, it wasn’t an easy task.

In the bucket of mint I got from our friends, Bill and Sandra, I found
a sweet surprise of what looks like poppies growing

Some evening primrose went up here

I also planted some up in a small garden I created last summer as well as 4 up on the berm beside the peony bush. This old gal was achy today and that makes no sense since I did nothing yesterday. Then again, maybe that is why, so when I cleaned things up, I closed the Bunky doors and went for a walk down the lane. On my way back, I finally spotted where Mother Goose was sitting in the east pond. Bill and I have not been able to find her nest and so I was happy to show him her location.

This garden was new last year

After I came in around 3:30, there was once more a lot of activity out in the pond. It was calm activity though with 6 geese out there swimming around. 

Mother Goose on her nest in the west pond

Turtles, always turtles in the sunshine

I don’t know the ins and outs of what happens when eggs are hatching but it was sure interesting. Perhaps, the swimmers were their goslings from last year, apparently they stay with their parents for a year. I went back and forth from my camera to our binoculars trying to figure out what was going on. It almost looks like Father G. was building a new nest while Mother G. swam around. It was quite the goose gathering.

And there is Mother Goose on her nest in the east pond

 It was time for a tea so I made that and when we turn the inverter off later, I have some baking to do. We’ve taken advantage of the sun and our solar power today and our batteries have been topped right up. That means we also have managed without any heat on other than what the sun is bringing in through our windows. We know that will change quickly and we’ll be relying on our Blue Flame heater and the fireplace.

Now, here, I'm not sure what is going on
Looks like another Papa beginning a new nest
I'm so confused!

Looks like a cold spell, lasting for a week or more, has moved into our area. Great. ☹ Two good things: yesterday we had a call from Heinz Auto Body that they can take Black Beauty for her repairs on May 13^th. That took longer than we’d hoped but we are at their mercy and they were at the mercy of their parts suppliers. The other thing was a phone call from Tim Summers office that Mom’s income tax has been done. I’ve made a 10 am appointment for tomorrow to look after that.

Yup, this is how I'm feeling trying to figure it all out!

Supper is chicken thighs so I’m doing them in Madame IP and once cooked, I’d like to try and deep fry them in our Fry Daddy. Call me crazy but I’m curious enough to see how they turn out. So, let me explain the reason for wanting to make a crispy coating on the chicken. Bill doesn’t like Kentucky Fried Chicken; I don’t think he ever has. It is greasy but I’ve always liked it a lot. It has been many years since we’ve had it. Probably 20 at least, we’ve never bought a bucket together.

This chicken was so good!

This was my way of getting some deep-fried crunchiness. 😊 The good news is that it turned out great. We each had 2 thighs with a garden salad and I enjoyed mine very much. I didn’t get much from Bill, comment-wise, but I think he liked the meal as well. Now, after dishes we had some apple crisp for dessert. Bill didn’t hesitate there to tell me that it was very good. I know the way to my sweetie-pie’s stomach. I had some ice cream with mine and it was delicious. These are Ridge apples that I picked and froze last year.

Dessert was pretty tasty too

The rest of the evening was quiet, watching The Voice eliminations and FBI:Most Wanted. We’ve had a busy day and got some work done around the Ridge. The geese were entertaining from the beginning of the day to the end when the chorus frogs took over. I have no complaints about the weather today, we made it to 10C/49f and it was a day full of sun. What’s to complain about?

Thank you for stopping by!

Late Rising, Geese Can Skate! Getting Things in Order

The Ridge - Home

On Tuesday, Mar. 24^th we slept in. We were awake but it took a phone call from our friend, Mike, and a text from our buddy, Rob, to get us the heck out of bed! That’s a good thing, the day was a-wasting! It was 11:30 when we went up last night, watching recorded programs and we weren’t tired because of our afternoon snooze.

At one point, late morning, we noticed the sky was clearing

Both the call and the message were generous offers of assistance. Was there anything we needed? Just let them know. We made our coffee and tea and Bill soon was outside with the mailbox installation. We leave the post now cemented in the ground and just remove the box when we leave. The mail lady will surely get a kick out of the pretty box.

Looks great!

I have indoor projects so I took care of the tenderloin recipe by adding it to my Word folder. While working on that, my little sister, Wendy, messaged offering to help us in any way they could Her and Morgan, my niece, are enjoying special times together while Morgan is out of school. They are both doing well, like two peas in a pod. Wendy is anxious for her fall-planted bulbs to push up out of the ground. That is what I love about spring too. I check every day.

Bill does a temporary fix on our broken tree branch

I have many online pictures from the winter that are first filed by month, then daily. I will go in and be more specific for each month and rename them according to the places we stayed and for how long. It makes it easier when looking back to a specific location and I’ve done the same with our previous 3 snowbird trips. Bill has done a bit of a surgical procedure on our damaged cherry tree for now. It may need a better bandaid but for the time being, this will help.

The geese can walk on water OR they can skate!

Looking out the window, from my inside perch, I’ve seen two groups of ‘parents-to-be geese flying over squawking. Bill says they are already territorial so they are looking for a nesting place. He made the comment that they are funny to watch as they land on the iced pond and slide for 5’ before stopping. Nature, isn’t it fun? I noticed that he hung my bird seed bell out so I needed to lift the bed to get out my suet feeder. I have one pack to be hung, now that they are looking for food.

Of course, I had to play in the snow

Bill next got the firepit out of storage in the Restroom (outhouse) and replaced the screened sides that Rob fixed for us last summer/fall. It sure looks rusty, my goodness, so I’m sure it will be a yearly thing to repaint it. 

Working on the fireplace

Rustproof paint my arse! Anyway, it will be ready for the first fire whenever we are. Bill has the old firepit ring down by his Hangar and will sooner than later be lighting all of our envelopes etc. from the mail on fire.

Got the outhouse all cleaned up so we can use it when we're outside

It is 34F/1C and it looks like the sun is desperately trying make a breakthrough. There are wee patches of blue sky to the west. Yay! I’ve been wanting to call Rockwood Terrace to check on Mom since we’ve crossed and they have a new phone system with a lot of ‘to get this, press that’ etc. so I called directly to the resident/patient caregiver who I’m familiar with. She gave me the ‘key word’ for future calls and put me through to Amanda, Mom’s nurse.

The pond was pretty hard

a look up towards our home site

 I know that Donna has been keeping us all informed but isn’t it nice to get it directly for ourselves? Mom is doing well and was walking by with her walker as she was speaking to me. We both know it is too confusing for Mom to even try to communicate with her so I didn’t ask. The nurse said she is taking her meds, walking as per usual and going down for each meal and seemingly eating pretty good. She is on a protein shake now as well since she has lost weight over the winter. I felt better and can move on with my day.

Pussy willow blossoms

We have quite a few pussy willow trees around the Ridge

 I put my boots on and took a walk outside and around. Bill was finishing his project so I lent a hand tightening bolts. I walked down the lane to take a picture of the mailbox. It is looking pretty spiffy! There were a few geese flying around and overhead. I’m sure they are saying ‘You’re home early! We haven’t settled yet!’ I won’t bother them, just keep an eye on where Mother Goose makes her nest over the coming days.

Daffodils

Back inside, I made our bacon and eggs for lunch. When dishes were done and Bill went back out, I managed to get 3 months of pictures all labelled. Then it was time for another break and I put on my lighter hoody and windbreaker to go outside. I took the cleaner and wiped all surfaces down in the Restroom before sweeping the floor. We need a new broom head for out there, one day. In the Bunky, I pulled out the bag of bird seed.

The geese were busy flying around
The outhouse looks crooked but it really isn't LOL

Last winter I made a bird feeder with Pat and although it has fallen apart a couple of times, it is being used today. All of my other feeders are still packed away in totes in the shed. Bill was busy down at the Hangar but just finishing up so we walked down the lane. Weren’t we surprised when the red flag was up on the mailbox!? We walked back and he closed things up after we checked the water in our back field. The pussy willows are abundant on the trees down by the Hangar, just white little blobs all over the branches.

Geese in the sun

We came in around 2:30 just because there is only so much we can do this early. We could still get some ‘unfavourable weather’. At 3, it was time for Happy Hour and I wanted to make us another pretty drink rather than a cup of tea today. The heaters were turned off as it was a balmy 75F inside. The sun sure makes a difference when it is beating in the windows. I caught up here and then sat beside Bill with my book. I knew he’d be asleep in no time. 😊

Taking a picture of the corral hill
I'll keep an eye on it and the snow

I got quite a few chapters read in my book and then got up to start supper. The time slipped by, it was 5:30. I had pork sausages out thawing all afternoon. What to make tonight? I Googled sausage casserole and found one. I diced onions, potatoes and cut the sausage links in chunks. In oil and butter, I sautéed each in turn, adding to the pot. I switched to Manual and added mixed veggies, bbq sauce and water.

Bill was happy to reunite with his planes
in the cargo trailer

It cooked for 16 minutes with a Natural Release. It was more like a stew but that was okay too. The taste was delicious and the sausage was so tender. I’ll have to add that to my Recipe folder. Sometimes it is nice to have leftovers but other times, it is nice when you have just enough for one meal. That was the case tonight. We haven’t had ice cream for a while so I dished up a nice helping for each of us. Tillamook white chocolate raspberry. Yum.

And the snow that came yesterday is gone

It tasted as good as it looks

Ice cream with choke cherry jelly

Bill washed and I dried.  How nice to have such few dishes, one pot IP meals are great! I sat and worked on my post while Bill went out to make sure the switch for our 2^nd propane tank was turned on. We have one tank almost empty and we’re not sure how much we’ll be using tonight. There should have been a nice sunset but if there was, I missed it. This is all we get tonight.

Tuesday night, our tv night so we’ll be busy. This was a great day that we enjoyed very much. I hope you had a good one in your self-isolated/physically distanced world.

No sooner did I hang my bird feeder and it was
visited frequently by two little finches
Good night everyone!
Continue to use common sense and stay healthy!

Thank you for stopping by!