Bill Has a Free Day, Nature’s Beauty! Puzzling

The Ridge

On Tuesday, Aug. 23^rd Bill was up at his normal time and I got up shortly after 7. For some reason last night, I was soooo tired. I could have fallen asleep at my laptop so closed it early and sat in my recliner for a while. Nope, at 8:30 I went upstairs to watch Leap Year from bed. Then if I fell asleep, no big deal. Gibbs joined me but was soon on the cool floor. 😊

The fog wasn't too bad by the time
Gibbs and I walked

The blue sky wasn't far behind

Just waiting for the fog to leave 
It looks like clouds, but it isn't

Of course, upstairs, other than dropping off during a movie I like but have seen many times, I stayed awake until 11. I had switched to Bachlorette. I know it’s a stupid concept show but I still want to see it to the end. I know it didn’t take long after lights out and Bill had already crawled up with us. Another bunch of dreams had me busy all night. LOL

I was looking for something in our Memory cupboard
the other day and found Sergui, our stuffed husky
A year ago Gibbs wouldn't leave him alone, wanting
to chew his ears, nose, eyes
Now, he touches him with his nose 
and then leaves him alone. 💖

This morning, he got word from Billy that they really had no work today. The problem is that their boss, Mike, is currently in the hospital going through some testing. With a few jobs on the back burner waiting for different things to become available, they are on hold. I believe tomorrow things open up and a lift will be available for them to finish an in-town job. We all hope. This isn’t a pleasant place to work because of the owner’s changing demands. ☹

this is what happens on our walks
Gibbs just stops and listens
I wait for his decision
Today, he looked at me and turned around for home 

Anyway, I went to work at M’s for 9:30 but that was after Bill took Ptooties to Barrie to the hobby store. He’s been looking for some pieces for his plane building and not having much luck. It was a perfect time for him to go. It’s about an hour and a half so I hope the fog had cleared for him as he drove. At M’s, I worked in the apartment. It has been reposted on Kijiji as that again, rather than 2 ‘rooms’ and within 15 minutes, he had a call.

In between the branches of this tree
the sun hit upon some of nature's finest creations

These beautiful webs always amaze me

With possible tenants coming on Thursday to see it, I needed to finish painting the kitchen and bathroom walls. Plywood does not cover well but I persevered with 3 coats and it looked half decent. That took the whole 3 hours of my shift and I headed out with my cash. I think one more coat on the upper half of the wall will do it justice and the paint can be put away. I hope these tenants pan out and they can move in at the end of the month if not sooner.

Another Gibbs stance
But Chippy is up there in the garden, Mom!
Let me go!

Back home, Bill and Gibbs were on the patio waiting. We are still trying to get Gibbs settled down as far as barking. His excitement when we or anyone comes in the lane but we are really trying to avoid getting a bark collar. Anyway, the verdict is still out on that subject. We both need to dedicate ourselves to keeping the same response when he starts barking. He seems better some days but then others, he is off the charts.

I'll have to take a picture of this same spot
tomorrow
You'll see then what you can't see now

We had lunch and Bill dumped our black tank before going to the Hangar for a few hours before supper. I noticed one of our fresh peaches was going soft so I made a peach pie. We still have some apple crisp left but a change is as good as a rest so we’ll see what we have tonight. I used sweetener in the pie and it’s a shortbread premade crust that I’d bought in Quartzsite.

Can someone explain this?
Two more salamanders in Gibbs' water dishes
This time, they're alive!

It’s turned into another hot day but after the rains from the previous days, things are very green, my garden plants and the grasses are growing like crazy. My eggplants have flowers on them now so that is encouraging. I can’t wait to see what they produce! After starting my post, Gibbs and I went outside so I could work in the Bunky on the puzzle. I worked on the snowy sky the other day until I got stuck. Today, I worked on the snowy ground and got stumped again. 😉 That's what snow does to me!

I can't figure why lately my videos won't load. This is a really short one. :( 

For supper, we had grilled bacon cheeseburgers, bean salad and finished off the apple crisp with some ice cream. That takes a big dish out of the fridge so that is always nice. Don’t think I don’t appreciate the fact that we have a working refrigerator. At least once a week I think about when we didn’t have it and I’m so grateful. I know our friends have not been so fortunate and I feel a pang of guilt when I think of how they’re faring. ☹

The peach pie will be tomorrow's dessert
It looks wonderful!

Bill made his lunch and then went back to the Hangar. I went out to work on my puzzle a bit more before dark and then closed the Bunky up. I’m not like Bill, walking outside in the dark. I agree with a blogger friend when she commented on how it is getting dark earlier. It’s too soon but then……..well, it means travel plans will soon be in place. ♥

Supper was good
Good night!

This was a lovely day and I hope yours was as well. Thank you for popping in!

 

Phone, Car and Nature Calls

On Monday, Apr. 10^th I was awake at 6 am and stayed put until Bill and Clemson moved at 7. I’m sure I dropped off in that hour for a little extra shut eye. It was another windy day up here in God’s country and fairly cloudy. The overnight low was only 12C so we put our blue flame heater on the lowest setting and had a nice sleep with only the duvet over us.

Woody looking for a tree to peck this morning

By 7 it had already warmed up to 14C (that is 57F for our American friends). I hopped in the shower after my tea and had a yogurt for breakfast while Bill had his toast. We were on the road into Hanover at 9. On our way through Durham, we stopped and renewed our post office box for 3 months. We need to consider how to handle mail for the upcoming winter, the cost is ridiculous just because we aren’t living in town.

Clemson joins me for a walk

The pond is very clear at the dock

Clemson runs

Well, hello there!

"I'm done talking now"

First stop was at Murray Fleming’s farm to pay the storage on my car. I was so happy to see my ptootie. Murray had her stored in his warm barn covered in a blanket and a tarp to keep her cozy.

There is my Ptooties (in case you can't see it, that is what the plate says)

We then dropped in on Gerry to pick up a satellite dish he and Mike had for us and a chair and a couple of other things from Mom’s cleanout when she moved to Rockwood on October 31^st. I had forgotten about those things!

Donna and Gerry's home

Heinz Auto Body

From there we took the truck to Heinz’s Auto Repair shop for them to have a look at the damage to our bumper, from the incident at the casino. These guys were really pleasant to talk to and let me tell you, hearing a grown man say ‘you got an oopsie?’ just added to the experience.

My Samsung phone was at Donna’s for the winter as we needed a one-time communication on it to keep it active. I got the phone with our mail on Saturday. I needed to reactivate it and find a suitable plan instead of the pay as you go deal I had in the past. So, with a visit to Bell, I know some of you shudder at this company, we were happy with Amanda who made it a pleasing quick experience. I’m good to go, yay!

Following Bill down Baptist Church road

Funny getting excited about these material things, but I missed having them at my beck and call for the last 5 months. I accept the way things have to be when we travel south but Bill and I are always open to new and cheaper ways to get what we want, especially in terms of back home communication.

I think that was it for our running around this morning and we scooted back home, me following the black beauty back home. I was on a bit of a high, my car, my phone, my camera. The clouds are playing games with us today but it is a beautiful 19C/64F with or without the sun.

My car is home now

We poured ourselves a third coffee and sorted through a bit more paperwork. I love watching the geese floating on the pond and tried without success to capture them dunking their heads under. With their tails in the air, it makes for quite a picture from the back end. Snap, snap, snap!

Across the highway and down the road a bit, our neighbours are building a huge driving shed/barn

Before we left this morning Clemson and I walked to the road and I noticed this little guy at the edge of the laneway. Of course, when I got close he closed up shop and went inside. He was working his way to the other pond, at least I thought, so I picked him and his house up and put him on the opposite of the road so we wouldn’t run over him when we left. No sooner did I walk away and the little fellow was working his way right back where he started! Well, that was a fine howdy-do!

Why did the turtle cross the road?

To get to the pond on the other side

Again, he runs

Which explains his long periods of resting

We puttered around outside enjoying the warmth. I swept out the Ridge Roost and dusted and swept the Ridge Restroom, no more dead flies laying around.  Bill reinstalled the solar sensor light on the Roost (this is our bunky) so it will light up when we walk beyond the Suite. I like this since it gets pretty darn dark up here!

Sensor light installed for the season

Before 2 pm the sky to the west darkened up and prepared for the thunderstorm that was expected. We were captive under lightning, thunder and a downpour for about an hour. That’s okay by me, with my late night last night and early start today I was ready for a snooze. Did I sleep? Nope, but I rested up on the bed with Clemson for a good 45 minutes.

The storm is coming

Our neighbour took advantage of a warm windy day prior to the rain

By 3:30 the sky had cleared for the most part and the sun started to come through. With the rain and storms coming for the next couple of days we didn’t bother getting the Weber Q out yet. I can continue to cook inside for a bit longer.

Goose the Spruce survived the winter without us

And after watching the geese all day, I spotted this beautiful mallard and either a mate or offspring

Speaking of cooking, tonight will be a hamburger stew of some sort. That means most veggie type things that are in the fridge will go in it, with the exception of Bill’s ‘favourite’ (not) broccoli. This type of dinner means there will be leftovers and that is important today.

I cooked and chopped up 3 carrots in advance, browned a pound of ground beef with onion, red and yellow peppers. I added 2 cups of water and 1 cup of beef broth and seasonings. Separately I cooked linguini broken into 2” pieces (I didn’t have shell or elbow pasta in the house) and added that to the mixture. Lastly, once everything was cooked I added dumplings. Things I make out of my head don’t usually taste quite so good. This was yummy and we had 3 containers of leftovers.

Tomorrow morning you will learn why I needed prepared meals in the fridge. After dinner and after dishes I wandered outside and down the lane a bit. 

And a couple more turtles gleaming in the sunlight

For the last 2 nights, around 6 pm, Bill and I have closed our Suite doors and windows to the loud chirping of what I’ve learned is a competition between 'spring peepers'.

Wha?? I couldn’t figure out what they were but we assumed it had to be frogs of some kind and their mating call. It is deafening, with no word of a lie. Usually I love the sounds of nature, but it is steady from 6 until 9 or 10 at least.

I googled it and if you are interested this is what I’ve discovered.

It is a tiny brown frog, small enough to sit on your fingertip. The pond was transformed into a chorus of these frogs, all trying to outdo each other in attracting females.

That huge pouch that you see is a vocal sac, and it inflates up to be nearly as large as the frog. It’s this acoustic resonator that allows this tiny frog to emit such a loud and shrill chirp.

The benefits of being loud are apparent. If you’re a frog and you can call out louder then your fellow peeps, you’re likelier to get the female’s attention.

One way that these spring peepers avoid predators is by emerging from hibernation very early in spring. Early spring comes with bouts of cold temperatures, often dropping below freezing so how does the frog prevent itself from freezing? The frog doesn’t prevent itself from freezing. Instead, evolution has devised a way for this frog to stay frozen alive.

That is my science lesson for today. If you wish to learn more check this site out: https://www.wired.com/2014/04/spring-peeper/

When I came in from listening to the choir the sun was out again and the temperature was back up to 18C. Up and down like a yo-yo today but it has been a lovely day. I hope you have had a great day too.

 

Tonight's sunset

The calm after the storm

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