Cleaning, Laundry, Holed up Inside

 

The Ridge

On Sunday, May 18^th we were up sorting laundry by 7 and after I’d made my tea to-go I was out the door at 7:15. It was a cold, morning, only 8C/47F and with no sunshine, it felt colder than that. There wasn’t ‘supposed’ to be any rain today, well, originally, but apparently that all changed and it was light spatters most of the day.

Good morning!
This was the best we got
all day.

I arrived at the Mat and found a couple of regulars already doing loads. I loaded 3 machines and went about cleaning. Three more customers (2 in pairs) came in to take advantage of a wet, dull Sunday. They just kept coming in. 😊 This was the busiest I have seen the Mat in many moons! Obviously, I used two dryers and it was about 9:30 when I returned home.

Gibbs was being very good
letting Daddy get knots out
of his ears.

Bill and Gibbs were inside, again obviously, it was a crappy day. I guess we should be grateful that it isn’t wet AND white, just wet but even when the spitting stopped, it was quite chilly. We stayed huddled (I’ve said that a lot this spring!) indoors until lunchtime when we each had toast. Bill went to the Hangar and turned his heater and tv on while he worked on planes.

Gibbs wasn't out much today
but when the rain stopped, he
wanted to sit on the step.

I stayed inside with Gibbs and kept warm with the furnace running occasionally to keep the Suite at a comfortable 19C/67F. Gibbs slept, mostly, and I got out my paper quilling supplies to make some greeting cards. We’ve received a lot of cards from the charity companies, War Amps (who we often donate to) and others.

Look closely and you'll see the
'whole story'.
He has perfect view of the Hangar.

Most are blank and I keep those because of the nice stock they are made on. I reuse them, keep the envelopes and cover the pictures so I can make my own. 😊 They keep sending them, so I’ll keep using them up this way rather than recycling them. I managed to get 4 cards made, using up some of the figures that I’ve quilled over the last few months.

At 5:30, I used Madame IP to reheat a 3 lb. fully cooked ham for supper. Adding a few potatoes and a vegetable for each of us made a nice Sunday meal and there are leftovers. Bonus! It was delicious with the glaze I made for the ham and then we topped it off by having Chapman’s Black Cherry ice cream for dessert. ♥

Supper was very good!

We cleaned up the dishes and watched some reruns of the old tv series Bionic Woman. Remember that one? 😊 This has been truly an inside day for me, since 9:30 anyway! I regret not getting outside to do some work but I enjoyed doing my own thing.

Oh yah! After a long sabatical,
ice cream is in the house.
At only $4.59/carton, it had to!

A surprise ‘accidental’ pocket dial from my daughter this afternoon made it all that much better! ♥♥ I hope your long weekend is going okay too, despite the weather. We reached a high of only 8C/47F.

Two years ago,
there is that tree with very few blossoms
and a hazy afternoon sun.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping by.

Time for an Indoor Day, A Trip to Foodland

The Ridge

On Wednesday, Apr. 29^th we knew what it was like out and were in no hurry to get out of bed. We could hear the wind howling and could only see gray out the window. The heavy clouds made sure that no light was going to get through and that could only mean we were in for some rain showers today. Such as it was, we didn’t get up until after 7:30. A couple of lazy bones.

My first picture is of our lunch today

We had our tea and coffee together while catching up on blogs and then after a quick wash up, Bill loaded the propane tank into Ptooties. We had finally run out after all his daily checking. Soon, we won’t need our b.f. heater (we hope!) so that usage will slow down significantly. I tagged along on the drive to Durham and popped into Foodland for the first time since last fall. Costco is great but when you want head lettuce, celery and green onions, they just don’t cut it.

I walked to the lane and Bill's Hangar was looking clean
but very wet

Walking down past the corral entrance 

FS Co-op, where we get propane is across the street from the grocers so Bill dropped me off and went to get the tank filled. I’m happy to have that ‘first’ trip over with and it was nice to see familiar faces in our Durham grocery store. They were very careful, spraying your hands when you entered and handing you a paper towel. Lines on the floor indicated the direction to go down aisles and with only about 5 people in the store, it was a breeze.

Father West Goose waiting

Now, isn't he pretty?

I think it is important to always thank the staff for being in at work. We appreciate them and I’m sure they’re happy to have their jobs as well. I left with my bag and Bill had driven across the highway and was in the lot waiting for me. The rain was just starting, very lightly. Yesterday and today I wore my new bulky sweater and it offered me just the right amount of heat for both morning ventures. It was already 8C/48F and not even noon hour yet.

It's little still but Bill said not to be discouraged

Back home, I skipped the wiping down process and the food items got tucked in the fridge. I made myself a coffee and Bill sat and recorded our purchases into Quicken, before transferring the necessary $ from our grocery account back into chequing. The winds are going to be the worst part of today although we are inside and not too bothered. There have been gusts already around 25 mph and the turbines are really wound up.

We didn't get dumped on at all with rain
but by the looks of the Bunky, you'd think we did
The winds were coming from the southeast today

The storage shed and outhouse also got a good wash
Note the sunflower wind sock blowing proud

We had waffles for lunch and decided on beer brat sausage for supper. I’d forgotten that we bought a huge bag of bird seed yesterday at Costco for a ridiculously good price. I remembered when I looked out the window this morning at a red winged blackbird trying to get his beak in the finch feeder hole. Oh well, they were such piggies the other day, they can wait until this wind and rain abates now. I looked out at one point and could see our sunflower wind sock laying across the shed roof so walked out to retrieve it before it ended up in the field.

Until it wasn't so proud
the string broke so I went out and retrieved it

Inside, I managed to finish my book and then walked down to the mailbox to pick up the local weekly paper and grocery flyers. That is nasty out there so after stopping in to see if the heater was helping keep the Hangar warm for Bill, I quickly came back indoors. The wind goes right through a person even in my warm sweater. 😊 I found another book but decided not to start it right away. I  got out my cross stitch for another bit of needlepoint instead.

I'm sure it drives the bigger birds crazy but the finches and chicadees
have half a chance of getting food here before it's gone

Around 3 I turned the television on and had NCIS keeping me entertained in the background. It is a good thing I’m not being judged on this cross stitch and that it isn’t one that has to be perfect for the overall appearance. My counting is a bit cock-eyed! I continued working and Bill came inside around 4 and sat at his laptop to begin a blog post. He has things to write about and wanted to get started.

Looking out the window to the west just after supper

My tummy was grumbling for food so I got up at 5:30 to start sauteing our beer brat sausages in Madame IP. Before I began our good friends, Ron and Loree, called from Rock Glen. What a great distraction! Ron, as usual, made us feel very special and I can’t say how nice it was to hear his voice and Loree’s, in the background. We chatted about CanAm, their Lance trailer and our situation up here on the Ridge. At one point, something was said that had Bill laughing uncontrollably. Typical conversation with Ron. 😊

It was a good supper

When we said goodbye, we all expressed the hope that we will be able to repeat our summer gathering, similar to what we held last year. We had so much fun. Thank you for the phone call, Ron, it made our day! I fried the brats, added a cup of water to the pot, returned the sausages to the trivet and then placed the inner pot with Instant Rice on top of them. It all cooked for 10 minutes and did a NR for 5. I am loving these sausages and will try to find them again when we need to restock. 

Dessert

I had squash and Bill had mixed vegetables as his side. Creamy Jell-o with a dollop of whipped cream was our dessert. Yum, it was a great meal. After dishes, I wanted to finish this post so I could get back to my hobby for a bit longer. I looked out and was able to get one more sunset capture but it didn’t do it justice. This was a good day again even though not an outside day. We each did our own thing for the afternoon.

Good night y'all!

Thank you for stopping in for a visit.

Windy, Wet and Cool, Confinement, Sharing a Meal

Lake Havasu RV Resort, AZ

Today is Monday, Mar. 2^nd and it is like we’ve dropped into fall overnight. The temperature this morning is 51F/11C and although back home that would be pleasant, after 64F morning temperatures it feels cool. The winds between 12 – 20 mph are adding to that coolness too. We were up at 6:30 and after a bit of waking up time, I went for my walk.

Good morning

I needed to bundle a bit more because of the wind. The sun made a brief appearance but it never made it through the heavy clouds. Today was not to be its day. 

I walked across the road and covered ground on every lane in the park, both sides before returning home. Our neighbours with the awning troubles looked to be packing up, not much was sitting outside this morning.

Another Airstream motor home

And a very cool Chevrolet
Daddy had one very similar in turquoise

When I returned, Bill had already left for town. We needed to get an oil change on Black Beauty and there was a Ford dealer here in L.H.C. He called a few minutes after I returned to inform me that it might be a couple of hours just so I was prepared. He was prepared to wait a bit and if he needed to he could have gone to Jiffy Lube (or whatever they are called down here).

Lots of wind this morning
and those clouds on the horizon took over the sky

Bill used to fly both flags too

I sat and finished my book with my creamy tea. We turned the fireplace on this morning to warm up the Suite. 64F just isn’t comfy enough indoors for us. It was around 8:30 when the Serengeti next door started up so I knew they were in fact pulling out of their site. By 9, they left and that was when I noticed the rain had started, lightly. I moved the folded chairs out under the nose cap for extra protection from the wetness and scurried back inside.

Since my book was now done, that was the J.A. Jance ‘Trial by Fire’, I decided to get back to finishing the second slipper that I was working on. It is a great project when you’re refined indoors. 

You'd be surprised at how many of these I saw today
People love these mats because of the patterns and lightweight
but they are no match for the winds

With the gusting winds, we won’t be barbecuing outside and I decided to invite Keith in from the blm for supper. With that thought in mind, I figured if I made lasagna instead of the small 2 lb. roast, we may as well extend the invite to Ken and Kim too. They are also driving from Pilot Knob today so this way they don’t have to worry about a meal either. Sometimes things like that just help out and they don’t have hookups out there.

The Serengeti neighbours left us

They have a nice picture on the back of them

While Bill was in town, it was the perfect opportunity for me to watch the two episodes of This is Us that we’d recorded. Oh my. The first one had me in tears but now I’m all caught up to date until tomorrow night. I really dislike when this program goes off after a season because I enjoy the characters and story so much. Then I set about making myself something to eat. A tortilla wrap, warmed with cheese, mayo, lettuce and black olives was good and I fried a few slices of eggplant. Yum.

A small filling lunch

I cleaned up the dishes and then pulled stuff out for supper. The responses from K, K & K to supper were affirmative. I wanted to make some dessert but before starting, I went for a walk. The winds were still gusting 18 to 23 mph but the sun was out now.

The sun was warm as is typical but I was glad to have my jacket on and no hat. I’d have lost the hat for sure! 

6 ramekins in Madame IP

 Back at home, I made keto custard and cooked it in Madame IP. All of her buttons seemed to be working fine. Phew! 9 minutes on Manual, 5-minute release and 6 cups were done. I had to use about 1/8 of a cup of regular half and half so if it doesn’t set properly, I won’t be able to serve them tonight. Then I finished my slippers. 

9 minutes on manual

At a few minutes before 3, Bob and Jo-Anne returned home. Since we hadn’t talked to them all day and they’d been gone since this morning, I texted Jo-Anne and invited them to visit for a pre-supper Happy Hour. I informed her that the ‘kids’ from the blm were coming in to eat with us.  I originally had planned to make the lasagna in Madame IP but wasn’t sure if that would feed 5 of us so doubled up the meat and sauce to make a larger pan.  When I texted right back to invite Jo and Bob for supper too, they already had their meal in the works.

Dark sky over to the south

It was too windy and cool to sit outside so of course when Ken, Kim and Keith arrived, they came inside and our neighbours came too.  We had a nice chit chat about one thing or another and after pre-heating the convection oven at 4:30, I put the lasagna in for an hour. With 30 minutes left, Keith slipped up to the rec hall, close to our site, to have a shower. That is smart thinking while he was here although he could have used ours in a heartbeat.

Happy Hour in the Suite

Supper was dished up with garlic bread and Caesar salad. I think everyone enjoyed it, at least they said they did! We had the custard for dessert, it turned out well too! I loaded the dishes in the dishwasher at Bill’s suggestion and Ken found an app on his phone similar to ‘Name that tune’ and we went around the room playing the game. We had fun, laughs and surprisingly guessed a lot of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s tunes correctly. I must remember that!

It was a filling meal

The evening ended just before 8 when our friends left for home. It would be very dark out there on Lone Tree Hill so I’m glad they traveled++ together. We had a great day and an even greater evening. Good times with good friends. We'd had a bit more rain over the Happy Hour period but it didn't last and the sun came out and the winds calmed right down. 

And we're almost all together, sharing a meal
Good night from Lake Havasu Resort

Thank you for your visit. We will be back to warmer weather again tomorrow.