Celebrating Love, A Bit of Free Clothes Shopping!

 

The Ridge

On Saturday, May 3^rd we were able to and did sleep in. Bill and Gibbs were up at 6 and when I woke at 6:30, they were both back in bed and sound asleep. We discussed last night that it was a free morning for both (all) of us. My afternoon would be ‘busy’ but in a good way. 😊

Happy 28th Anniversary
to us!

I got up at 7 and slipped out of bed, leaving sleeping dogs and husbands lie. I sat quietly with my tea and had my online games played before Bill got up, closer to 8. I’m glad he could go back to sleep; he probably had a late night. Well, the news of the day is that Bill and I are celebrating our 28^th anniversary today. ♥

I managed to make Bill's card
He, of course, bought the most romantic card for me.
He is great at picking just the right wording.

It isn’t a milestone in the Anniversary book of milestones, but after starting over 3 times, every year is a beautiful blessing. We keep saying ‘we made it!’ I couldn’t ask for a better life partner, one who had the same dreams I did in many ways. We aren’t exactly spending our day together though. 😊

There were a lot of clothes
already when we arrived.
Taryn, Roz, Pat, Cathy, Donna and Dot

We had lunch and at 12:30 I fjnished loading Ptooties and drove over to pick Dot up. We carried on into Durham to pick up my Buddy, Pat, and the 3 of us followed the highway to my niece’s home near Hanover. You got it, the first Clothing Exchange of the year!

What a nice table of snacks

We arrived at Joanne’s a few minutes past 1 and carried our 6 bags inside. The basement ‘main’ room was all set up with couches, chairs, clothing racks and a couple of large tables. They were already full of clothes, displayed for easy viewing, just like in a thrift store. Except………..no prices. 😊 Once our bags were added to the piles, we set about walking around to see what we had to take home with us.

 I was even more particular this time than last September, I had to be 100 (well 95)% convinced that I wanted it in my closet. Pat and Dot seemed to be enjoying themselves, as did the 14 or 15 other ladies who attended. Joanne is a great hostess, putting out a tasty display of nibblers and a homemade punch.

Joanne, our hostess and Pat,
Dot in the background.

It was a great afternoon and it was around 3:30, I think, when we put our 4 bags in Ptooties trunk (with Donna joining us) and headed homeward. As I knew would happen, Dot fit right in and she and Pat got along famously. ♥ I will have to arrange more get togethers with the two of them!

Taryn, Donna, Sandra, Gayle

Cathy, another Pat, Taryn

Back home, I put my goodies away, pleased with every one, and sat with my boys for a short bit. For our anniversary supper, I had Madame IP cook potatoes, carrots, onion and a small turkey roast. On the side, I opened a bag of Maple Bourbon salad. Sounds good, eh? It all tasted great!

A bit of blue sky in the distance

The cable on our Starlink has given us problems today so Bill has ordered a new one from Amazon to arrive tomorrow. There will be no streaming tv tonight so we'll pop in a dvd. The Monuments Men, one of our favourites. I’ve had a wonderful day. Four sisters in the same room and a couple of close friends can’t help but make for a good time. I had to use the hot spot on my phone to post my blog.

A nice sunset maybe?

The weather improved as the day went on and even though it only reached 9C/49F it felt much nicer because there was no wind to speak of. Tomorrow’s high is to be above 15C/60 so things are looking up for daytime temps at least. I hope you’ve enjoyed your Saturday and to those of you sharing a special day on our anniversary, Happy Birthday/Anniversary to you all too! 😊♥

Our anniversary supper
Good night!

Thank you for the visit.

For Love and For Money, Gorgeous Day!

The Ridge

On Wednesday, May 15^th it was 7:15 when I heard Gibbs barking. He does that when Bill or I get near each other…..heck, he barks for a lot of reasons. Anyway, Bill was coming across the bed to say goodbye. We were both up late, tossing and turning, until I think I saw 1 am before it was lights out for me. Poor guy, he had to get up at 6! He left and I thought I’d go back to sleep but didn’t so got up at 7:45.

Good morning!
A nice morning for a walk - or two.

Lazy bones only went so far.
He prefers running around free up on the Ridge. 

I had nothing on my schedule today, nothing at all, so it was going to be a ‘do what I want day’. 😊 The sky was overcast but no rain so first things first was a cup of tea. Gibbs and I went for a walk to the corner (almost) and he wasn’t too keen to walk, so we turned for home. I put him inside and after changing my shoes, went back out for my own walk.

That little spec across the field is Gibbs
running towards me before running up the lane.

Sadly, the new-to-me Sketchers are not the best for walking. They are slip-on but I know why they were donated, I think. The elastic around the heel is stretched enough that they want to slip with each step. They’ll be fine up on the Ridge for working around outside, just not for my walks. Good thing I only paid $4.99! So, in my other shoes, I walked to Turbine Lane and beyond through the woods area. I’d remembered to tuck a bag in my pocket today.

After Bill trimmed, things look so much better.

This corral garden will improve once
the primrose flower.
It is the bane of the Ridge.

Just to clarify my title; I walk for the love of it. It’s good for my bones, my flexibility, my muscles, the fresh air and my all-around attitude to start the day. I also walk for the money. The bag is to take advantage of those who drink while they drive. ☹ I know, it’s not good, but the silly thing is that instead of saving their empties to put towards their next case, they toss them. I collect them.

I walk for the wild flowers
although there aren't many yet.

Mostly dandelions, some even gone to seed already.
Make a wish and blow!

I’m not too proud to dip down into the ditch to retrieve that .05¢ or .10¢ from each can or bottle. 😊 I don’t even mind if someone sees me. I walked 2 miles total and collected a grocery bag full. It will go towards my next bottle of whatever. Yes, on occasion, I will pick up the pop cans and containers that are not worth anything, just not as often since we do have to pay for garbage pickup. A whole $2/bag (Nancy is cringing)!

A pretty decent haul for a short walk.
I'll add it to last fall's gatherings before taking them
to the Beer Store.

Back home, I came inside with Gibbs and played my online Wordle games. Not surprisingly, I felt tired and a cat nap slipped in there somewhere. For lunch, I had a chicken salad and it was quite tasty for a change but it’s not my everyday go to meal. Gibbs and I went out and had high hopes of enjoying the sunshine. By the time, I got to where I wanted to do some gardening, the black flies were already sharpening their utensils for a meal! Gaacckk!!

I filled the bird feeders on the left today.
It was time.

I chatted with Bill on text for a while and then went and put on his netted hat since mine has holes in it. That stopped them at least from getting to me, but the day was warm and I was quite uncomfortable all covered from head to toe. I managed to get done what I wanted and that chore will make things a little easier for Bill when he does the weed trimming. Now, he can see better where to avoid because of my new plantings. 😊

This is beside our wood pile.
Moon flower on the left beside the Kokopelli
Evening primrose on the right of the post.

East side of the Bunky, more Moonflower
and Primrose. I planted a dahlia bulb beside my
painted rock.

The phlox and periwinkle compete
but so does the grass that grows up amidst them.

When we came in, I couldn’t wait to get the dirty, hot clothes off and hop into the shower. I can’t wait for the flies to evacuate so we can enjoy the outdoors again. We reached a lovely high temperature today of 19C/66F and the sky was mostly cloud free by mid-afternoon. I went out to the Bunky around 3:30 to do a bit of rock painting. Gibbs stayed inside, the flies like him too.

My Sedum is looking healthy.

I love the colour of my irises but they are already
starting to die off. 

After my shower, we walked to get the mail and then returned inside. I had a tea while we waited for Bill who came up the lane at 4:45. Gibbs gets so excited and once Ptooties has stopped, he runs out with guns blazing to greet Daddy. ♥ 9 hours is a long time to a puppy dog. 😊  For supper, I’d planned pork shish kabobs but we didn’t eat until 6, giving Bill time to shower and relax.

Daddy's home, Daddy's home!
He runs over for pets and tummy rubs
and then has to grab a toy and come tell me. 💘

Supper was good. Bill had fries with his and I had broccoli and a keto roll. I thought I’d be hungry enough to eat the leftover chicken but that was ridiculous. I put it back in the fridge for a salad another day. 

His kabobs are almost gone.

We cleaned up the pots used and Bill went to the Hangar while I finished my blog. What a lovely evening! It will be dropping 10 10C/49F overnight but that works for us without any heat on until morning. Sometimes we like the furnace to run through a couple of cycles.

A clear sky tonight so no special sunset.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping by! It was a great day.

Friends Leave, Outdoor Work, Unconditional Love Brings Grown People to their Knees

The Ridge

On Wednesday, June 26^th we woke up to another beautiful day. Bill was up ahead of me and I made an appearance downstairs around 7. With glorious sunshine outside and mid 60’s, I went for my walk. I almost could have gone sleeveless but I wore my hoody and safety vest. Both came off on the way back, once I reached North Line.

I remember it being a wonderful walk
 but it seems so long ago now

Today, our friends, Kim and Ken left for home around 11. I could elaborate but even though it was sad to see them go, the day took a down turn. 

Come back again you two!

I busied myself in the garden, weeding and planting perennials that Gayle gave me. Bill busied himself down in the Hangar, painting trim pieces in Ocean Spray. He never got in my way nor did I get in his. I planted Lumium on the hill in the hopes that this time, I did it better and the ground cover would take root.

Around 2,  I was done for the day and came inside for my shower. Bill soon finished his painting and washed up before settling down for his snooze. Clemson joined him. The afternoon seemed to zip by and I did some outside reading and walked to the mailbox. A parcel arrived from my girlfriend, Brenda G., so I was happy about that. Also, the flyers came. Inside a bit later, it was my turn to curl up on the bed with Clemson although he soon hopped down to get his supper.

The green patches down in the brown is what I planted today

It was around 4:45, after he’d eaten, when he tried to jump up on the couch. Something he has done hundreds of times. He fell backwards with his shaky legs and topsy-turvy balance. It hurt him and he couldn’t put his back leg down. We had to take him to the vet here in town, TG they were still open. After looking at X-rays we learned that he had broken his little leg in 2 places. What good spirits he was in. There was no fixing it and at his age, Bill and I had already discussed the end result.

Bill held his broken leg in his right hand

If you’ve done this, you know. Clemson went to sleep in our arms for the last time, looking into our eyes. We couldn’t have loved this little sweetheart more than we did and the unconditional love that he gave us was to the moon and back. 

At this point, we knew and that face breaks my heart

How such a small furry little guy can bring grown adults to their knees – well, now I know how. We will miss him terribly – already do. We can’t focus. Supper, which we had to fix and eat at 7:30, tasted bland although I’m sure it was good.

Us with Clemson and his 2nd parents

I won’t go on. Thank you to our friends, Rob and Pat, for their love and help with Clemson over the last couple of years. If we couldn’t be here for him, they were. They are very saddened too. 

I said to Bill “I was so happy yesterday, this morning”.  I don’t want this to take away from the wonderful time we’ve had with our guests and tomorrow, I will post more pictures. Today, I think you’ll understand.

Clemson experienced the first Christmas in Arizona with us
and many more things

Today, we both had a snooze with our little bum. I'm happy about that. Rest in Peace Clemson. From day one, when we brought you home, we told you that you were the best puppy in the whole wide world. I hope in Doggy Heaven that you know how much you are missed already. We love you so much!

One of my favourite pictures
When he had vestibular (vertigo) last summer
It's not such a good night here, but we wish you all the best
from The Ridge

Thank you for stopping in today.

Sisters' Weekend 2015

I've mentioned earlier in one of my posts, I think, that my 5 sisters and I get together once a year without spouses and children. Since our children are grown with the exception of my youngest sister, who has a 9 yr. old, it is easy to commit to the time away from home.

This year, Bill and I had our rv loaded Thursday evening, July 23, and all hooked up ready to go. When us girls get together, the guys make a camping weekend out of it too going back and forth between two properties owned by my sister and her husband. We pulled out of our driveway by 6 am on Friday. The weather looked perfect!

Our temporary home near Durham, On.

Arriving at the Ridge just outside of Durham around 9 gave us time to set up before my sisters, Audrey and Donna, arrived to pick me up. I loaded my suitcase and camera in the car and we were off to Chatsworth.

Gayle and John's place 

                          We stay at Gayle's place for the weekend, she has lots of room for all of us. Ignore the snow in the picture, it is the only picture I had of her place!

Cathy arrived around noon, we had a nibble and the four of us headed off to Owen Sound to begin the day properly with some special bargain hunting.

preparing a snack

My youngest sister, Wendy, works at the Grey Roots Museum and the Community Waterfront Heritage Centre.  http://marineandrail.ca in O.S. and wasn't done until 4. She didn't mind missing Value Village and the other second hand stores this time.

We always have a great time shopping together, finding clothes for each other and helping someone else find that one thing they were looking for. I found a toolbox for Bill that I thought might be perfect for his downsizing in the rv so I snapped it up.
The price was right. If it doesn't work, we can sell it.

By 4:30 we were pretty much shopped out and each of us had a few bags in the trunk of Gayle's car when we arrived at Wendy's house. After a catch up chat with the babe of the family, a cool drink and a small photo shoot we walked downtown to find a place to eat. We found a place we visited last year and decided to give the new management a chance under the new name of Avalon Jazz Lounge.

My first No Tipping restuarant!

Gary, owner and waiter for the night

It was a long wait for dinner but we had quite a time with the owner, Gary, over placing our orders, asking our questions, changing our entree choices because they were out of beef and in general just laughing at his antics throughout the process.

The colour coordination was not planned.

We walked away with an awesome meal under our belts and a great experience. They hadn't been open that long so we remained very positive and understanding for their few shortcomings. I can definitely see us going back.

We then walked to the waterfront and Wendy gave us a private tour into the museum where she is curator/administrator etc. 

This is a new position for Wendy where she shines. She is a great historian and provided us with many stories. We left with an ice cream cup, Chapman's no less!

Wendy, Gayle, Cathy, Donna

Wendy and Audrey

Donna and I chose our bed in the bedroom off the patio and slept well. Saturday brought us a whole new experience. We had made reservations to go to Windsong Carriage & Ranch for trail riding. http://www.windsongcarriage.com.  This was a suggestion Wendy, our event planning sister, made to us a month in advance. She didn't expect quite the positive feedback since she didn't know whether we had ever ridden before. None of us really had and speaking for myself, never had the desire to try. Yes, I have always been fearful of large animals, horses being one. Although admitting they are beautiful I have always chose to stay my distance. When everyone else said they had never ridden and wanted to try I took the opportunity to jump on the bandwagon. Something to cross off the bucket list that was never on there in the first place!

Nerves were settling in by the time we'd eaten breakfast at Kettles and arrived at the ranch. LOL what had I gotten myself into? Gord and Heather greeted us with a smile even though we arrived very early and soon took us on as beginners.

With an introduction and wee sum up of who we were in our working/retiring lives we were aligned with a horse that would suit us individually. I admitted my fear/nerves and was told that he would help me get over that.

Sitting pretty letting Magic graze

Our horses were all drafts with the exception of Jack who was a western. Jack was the smallest but also the only one with different instructions on how to handle him. Wendy accepted the challenge. We all walked our 'own' saddled and bridled horse to an inside arena where we were taught how to talk to them. "Walk on" "whoa" echoed throughout the building as we learned to control. I wasn't too far around with Magic, a beautiful big black beauty, when Gord said 'okay Pat, bring Magic in here and we'll get you in the saddle". Sitting atop his broad back I was totally overlooking everyone else.

Gord  led us all out into the fields, through the woodland, down inclines, across the creeks, up the path and followed a trail for an hour with his helper, Lincoln, bringing up the rear. Immediately I could feel my body relax, Magic behaved much better outside behind Gayle's Holly than he did inside. He is 8 yrs. old and still playful with his bit which was a challenge to keep his head steady. He lost all interest in his tom foolery when we were in the great outdoors, thank goodness!

Because of the wide berth of Magic's back, my knees were giving me grief within the first half hour and throughout the whole ride, but it didn't deter the feeling of pride and accomplishment I was experiencing. I was RIDING A HORSE!!

Gayle on Holly, Magic and I, Audrey on Daisy

When we were on the last field before 'home' Gord advised that we could stop and let our horses graze. They deserved a rest, so we lowered the reins and relaxed a bit more. Gord took a few pictures of us on our animals.

Audrey, Lincoln, Pat, Gayle, Wendy, Cathy, Donna
Daisy, Magic, Holly, Jack, Bonnie, Marley

Getting off was worrying me because of my knees and I was the last to dismount. Our hosts helped my sisters off in traditional cowboy style and Gord came to me and asked if I would like to get off cow  girl style. Oh goodness...........what the heck is that? I lifted my leg up front over the saddle horn as instructed and sat side saddle before sliding down off Magic into his outstretched arms. Phew! My right knee gave an inner groan and failed me for a minute but within the time it took to walk him back to the stall I was fine.




Later that day after Gayle and I had a hot tub and we all relaxed a bit and shared our purchases, we dressed up, another photo shoot with my Canon and tripod, and headed to Hanover to have supper with Mom.

Cathy, Donna, Wendy, Audrey
Pat and Gayle

She did not remember we were coming and we weren't expecting her to, so was very very very (6 x) surprised to see us all. Donna had reserved the separate dining room/kitchen at the Village for our special dinner.  Roasted chicken, salads, bread, cheese and wine was just what the doctor ordered.

A special dinner with Mom. Cheers!

Wendy expressing what I was feeling!

 As a matter of fact, by this time our butt muscles were screaming and a doctor may have been a good idea! Well at least the wine we consumed didn't hurt! We took advantage once more by taking pictures with Mom. She will not remember by nightfall but we will.

Our special guest, Mom, 89 yrs.

After dinner photo shoot

1000 pcs of hell!

 We spent some time after cleanup in Mom's apartment trying to piece together a very difficult jigsaw while topping off the meal with some vanilla ice cream and berries.

Puzzle making with the girls

Back to Gayle's for the night. My weekend was cut short, by choice, only because Bill and I had a friend coming in on a business trip from B.C. to take us out for a belated anniversary dinner. We don't see Colin often enough since they moved from London 4 years ago so since he was making a special trip from Toronto we wanted to be home for his visit. He has never seen our 'soon to be our forever' home and we didn't want to miss this opportunity to share it with him.

Bill picked me up in Chatsworth at 10 pm on Saturday and we slept at the Ridge before heading out early on Sunday for home. With the laundry done and showers out of the way, we were ready when Colin called at 6 saying he had arrived at the Delta Armories downtown.

We had a wonderful dinner at earls on Wellington Rd. S and would recommend it to anyone in the area. On top of our regular drinks, Colin bought us each a sparkling bubbly to toast with. It was our first time there and being a Sunday it was quiet, not crowded and perfect for visiting while we ate.

earls for dinner

We spent the evening in the rv with drinks and more photo shoots before Bill drove Colin back to his motel. You may ask why he doesn't stay with us when he comes............but he has his own way, the motels are paid for and he isn't feeling that I am going out of my way to make our home accommodating for him. He is just an all 'round great friend and doesn't want special treatment. Hopefully he will be back on his next trip to T.O. at the end of the month.

The weekend ended and it was great for all of us.

Until next year ladies!

Thank you for stopping in for a peek, Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.