Disappointment Turns Into Day Visitations, Away and at Home

 The Ridge

On Thursday, May 14^th when we got up, we had our tea and coffee together. We read some blogs and made some comments before having a bowl of cereal and getting washed. By 9:45 we were on the road to Owen Sound. First stop, Staples. We wanted to check out their laptops for Bill, now that stores were opening. Were we surprised when checking on line, I found that they didn’t open until 12 noon. It was 10:30.

Morning entertainment

Enjoying a breakfast orange

Yum yum

So, what can we do to kill an hour? I texted my little sister to see if she was open to a visit since we were in her neighbourhood. Before she answered, we drove to Staples to check out the times. We were disappointed to see that they were only open to curbside pickup between 12 and 8 pm. Well, that doesn’t work for us. As we were leaving there, Wendy’s response came back. “Sure!” so we sat with her for a bit and caught up on things. Giving ‘virtual’ hugs across the room, we said our goodbyes.

Driving out the laneway

On a truck's tailgate in front of us
Are we in Texas?

Before we went to Wendy's, we went to the Museum to see the
Chi-Cheemaun
A 364' passenger and vehicle ferry in Ontario that travels on Lake Huron between
Tobermory and Manitoulin Island.
As a child, Mom and Daddy took us on the ferry but it was a different name
I don't recall the name at the time as my parents just called it the
 'ferry from Tobermory'.
It is currently docked because of the Covid-19 virus

Wendy's lovely home

And Wendy and Morgan's beautiful budgies
the yellow one on the left is Tina, used to be Mom's
until we needed to move her

We’d made arrangements with my other sister, Gayle, and her husband, John, to stop in on our way home. We hadn’t been to their place since our return home either. They have a beautiful property and have been working diligently around the place to clean things up and it shows. We all had a coffee together and shared books and stories of our childhood for an hour and a half. More virtual hugs. It was a nice visit and we headed home through Durham.

I caught them off guard but saying goodbye to John and Gayle
It was a nice visit

There was one more stop before home and Rob and Pat were up for the short drop-in. They had brought their Cedar Creek 5^th wheel in from storage so it would be ready for us to use while the Suite goes in for repair. A very generous offer. Because our truck will possibly be longer than expected and their rv is blocking their drive, Bill wanted them to know they could bring it out anytime. I also picked up half of the apples I’d left with them last fall.

Up on the Ridge, the warm temps felt a few degrees cooler because of the winds. Strong again, gusts to 24 mph on the hour. The Suite was cool inside as we’d turned the heat off before we left home. 

Surprise, surprise! A new family of two we didn't see before
As we drove in, the 3 families were in the front field

To rectify that, Bill turned the fireplace and our blue flame heater on. We didn’t want the furnace, set at 60F, to kick in. It didn’t take long for things to warm up in here. I decided a cup of creamy tea would be nice.

I looked out the window before supper and saw this
15 babies and one set of parents
No explanation for this but it is obviously more than one family involved
Babysitting duties perhaps?

Bill had a hot chocolate with me and we enjoyed the rest of the day. It was already 4:00 and yet we had no complaints about the day so far. We were supposed to get a fair bit of rain over the course of the day but it really didn’t amount to anything more than a few drops in our travels. 

I didn't mean to but I scared them out of the corral

And away they go on the run down the lane

The temperature reached 12C/54F and that was a nice change from the past couple of weeks. At 6 I started reheating the leftover chili and Bill and I each made toast for ourselves. His plain and mine rye.

The oriole has been around since this morning and is very interested
in not only the oranges but the hummingbird food too

White crested sparrow is all fluffed up for a picture

Turns out he likes oranges too!
An oriole in the wings and robin on the ground

As we were doing dishes, I noticed a new ‘guest critter’ slipping around behind the Suite. We’ve never seen him up here before! 

Bill chased him away from my banana feeder

Down on the road, last summer but not up on the Ridge. With dishes done, the rest of the evening fell into place with some tv and some reading. What a great day!

With still some leftovers, we had another nice chili meal
Have a great night!

Thank you for checking in to see what we’re up to.