Walking with my Sweetie, Relaxing Day with Puzzles, Crochet and more Instant Pot fun!

Bill and I were both up before 6:45 on Monday, Feb. 11^th. It was still dark and early enough for me to have a tea before I went for my walk. Clemson also got up for his first doggie business and promptly went back to bed with my hoodie. What a little character. When our hot drinks were finished, Bill surprised me by slipping on his runners and joining me on my walk. Yay!

The sky did not disappoint this morning

It was a nice leisurely walk around the park and I was able to show Bill the sports courts. We walked up and down most of the park streets where I walk daily and it was nice to share some things that I’ve seen. He agreed that there are tons of seasonal residents in permanent homes from Canada. I think we saw at least 3 others from Ontario. I’d never heard of Lanark so had to look it up on the map. They are a long way from home so it is no wonder they come and stay put.

Back home, we stopped in at Rob and Pat’s to respond to their enquiry about us joining them on the drive into Yuma this morning. They have some running around to do but we discussed it and declined the invitation. There is nothing we need at this time and I’d like to tidy up the Suite, I’ve been either busy (!) or lazy and it has been let go. Bill did a nice wash on the shaded windows yesterday so we can see out a whole lot better. I guess, it also shows up more dust now too!

Around 9, I made our omelette sandwiches for breakfast and Bill went online and booked some of the campsites for our trip home. We aren’t rushing anything but we are planners, where some people aren’t. Traveling together with our buddies, we are all of like minds and like to have a general idea of where we’re going and where we’ll be at certain times. We have some ‘definite’ places to stop and ‘definite’ things to do on the way home so it works for us.

Egg/bacon quesadilla for breakfast

After breakfast and dishes were cleaned up, I began cleaning house. It is going to be a warm day again but there is a cool wind right now. 55F/13C which is pretty nice for February at 10 am no matter how you look at it. I rode my bike back to the Clubhouse to see if there was room at the puzzle for me to work. Two people whom I’ve seen before were working on one and Irene welcomed me and moved to make room.

Instant pot on Saute to brown the hamburger 

It was started this morning and now it is almost done except for the sky. No, it isn’t an easy one but not the hardest either. I enjoyed it for the next couple of hours before returning to the Suite. Rob and Pat had returned an hour earlier and she and I chatted about tonight’s plans. Rob and Bill were driving to Pilot Knob RV Resort to join in the game of Texas Hold’em with Ken.. They will have fun. Pat and I decided to stay home and do our own thing.

Ground beef on saute, then scrape any hard stuff

At shortly after 4, I prepped some carrots, onions and potatoes and sautéed ground beef in the Instant Pot. Meal #2! Yay! I added the spices, broth, tomatoes and leftover corn. The recipe called for pearl barley but I didn’t have any. Setting it for 10 minutes on pressure cook, I began smelling the stew within 5 minutes. Yum, I was really getting into this!

Good thing I don't do tutorials, I forgot to get a picture
of my veggies in the pot

Some pressure released during the cook process and when the 10 minutes were up, I waited a 10-minute Natural Release. The thing-a-ma-jig was still up so I did a Quick Release by pushing the nozzle to Venting. I know you don’t need to know all this but I want it recorded for my own learning lesson. I turned it back on to Sauté and added some beef oxo flavoring and corn starch to thicken it a bit. We were eating by 5 and it was a great meal!

Yummy!

After dishes, Bill and Rob left at 6 for Pilot Knob and I sat with Clemson in my chair and crocheted. We never moved for the whole 3 ½ hours. I didn’t need to get up or to disturb the little sleeping guy. I had to stretch my legs a couple of times but we sat and watched a couple of movies together. Bill returned home at 9:30, not a winner, yet he enjoyed the evening with the guys. We sat and watched the last half hour of Jerry Maguire and then an hour of old Mash reruns.

I'm not so nervous about the steam release now already
This was a great purchase!

We were in bed by 11 which is past my bedtime by a long shot but no worries, I dropped right off once snuggled under the covers. This was a nice restful day. I had a walk with my best guy, some puzzle time, a bike ride and lots of time with my hobby watching tv with my next best guy. I hope you enjoyed your day.

Thanks for visiting today!

Ontario Humidity, Shed Work Continues, Recipes, Reading in the Rain, Winter Planning

This time, I was the one who had a more restless night’s sleep. I think I dropped off rather quickly but woke up at 2:30 with the need to use the facilities. Odd for me, but then I remembered that I hadn’t done so at 10 when I went to bed. My own worst enemy sometimes. Anyway, it was quite warm in the bedroom so I opened the window by my head and a lovely breeze refreshed us both.

The overnight rain weighed heavy on this
purple grass

I woke up at 6 on Friday, Aug. 17^th and knew I was up for the count. The water was dripping off the roof into our rain pails so I listened to that for a while. Sure enough, at 6:45 when I thought I’d get up and go for a walk, an overhead cloud decided to rain on my parade. Oh well, I got up anyway and Bill followed soon after. We sat with our first morning brew and read some blog posts and eventually, the rain stopped. Bill went out to work on the shed and I headed out for my walk.

The work is going on down the road from us

There is an orange working zone sign at the front of the property and to the east of us, on North Line, the county is trimming trees. These machines make a real mess but the concept behind it is a necessary one. We’d complain if the trees hung over the roads now, wouldn’t we? I snapped a picture from a distance and then went the other way for my morning walk. The breeze in my face going west and south was quite nice but when I turned to return home, the humidity had closed in.

and my little Monarch companion was back again when I walked

This summer has been the worst I’ve felt with the humidity. Usually, it doesn’t get to me but this year has been horrible. I’m just not able to get moving out-of-doors as much as I’d like. Getting old, I guess, and I will not say that I enjoy the humid Ontario days. I’m looking forward to the hot days of the south and southwest without the annoying bugs and the unbearable humidity. When I returned, I stopped to see Bill’s progress and told him that I would holler when breakfast was ready.

And the oriole was also back

My sister, Aj, was right

Without the little plastic yellow flowers, an oriole will drink
from a hummingbird feeder

I came inside and with windows open, the breeze seemed to be coming in the Suite nicely. It was 73F outside but rising rapidly to 78F indoors. I made us each a toasted western, Bill’s on whole wheat and mine on rye bread. Yum, it was good. We cleaned up dishes and we turned the fans on to see if we’d need the a/c or not. The humidex is 90% so the chances are high that we’ll be turning it on soon.

this is the fat rugged organizer I've been stuffing recipes in

Since 1997 when it was given to me from a school secretary

this is the new $4 replacement

We gave Clemson another dose of his liquid medicine and are getting much better at it. I hold his head and Bill squirts it in. Clemson does the face screwed up ‘head shake’ and I offer him a treat. Maybe tomorrow will be the last day for it, we’ll see. There is no issue now going down the outside steps or jumping on or off the furniture with the exception of our bed. He can jump down but not up….yet. There is still a slight falter in his hind right side but he’s about 90% cured. Thank you all for you past wishes for his recovery.

Mom, you made a mess!

Everything in piles so I can make the appropriate tabs

 Bill went back out to work and I brushed my teeth and set about the project that I touched on yesterday. I have a very messy Recipe Organizer and it is the only thing that I grumble about getting out. I have some special recipes that I’ve kept over the years but I have also accumulated many that ‘hmm, this sounds good’. You know the ones. It has been a process of purge after purge since we put the house up for sale. I’ve down-sized my recipe books and this file a few times and now I need to do it again.

The old empty one on the left is even thicker than the new filled one
that = progress!

I find that my recent practice is to Google whatever recipe I want and save it on Word. Always accessible, even without internet I can open my Document and begin cooking. So, I made a royal mess on the floor and Clemson wondered what the heck Mom was doing. I was ruthless, let me tell you and have kept ONLY the very best, tried and true or at least WILL try recipes. I have 13 pockets and have labelled them to fit our meal choices.

Everything in its place and a whole lot less of it

When the rain brought Bill inside, we sat down and made some firm plans for our winter travels. Once I know the reservation is accepted, we will be able to relax and move forward. I poured myself a Soda Water with a couple or three dashes of lemon and caught up on my post. I offered Bill a taste, hoping he would learn to like it. Ha ha, he made the same face and almost performed the same head shake that Clemson does with his medicine. I guess he doesn’t like it. I find it refreshing though.

The cloudy sky during the rain

So, we relaxed inside while it rained outside. We had 2 episodes recorded on our PVR of America’s Got Talent so we watched those and Bill lit the Weber Q at 6. I’d pulled hamburger patties out of the freezer earlier for supper and a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. No point in it sitting in the freezer when we could be eating it. I have many bags of frozen rhubarb to make another pie or crumble when I need to. We were eating our loaded bacon cheeseburgers by 6:30 and dishes cleaned up soon after.

Bill set the mousetrap with cheddar and before putting it in place, he vacuumed up the dirty little mouse turds. There were quite a few back behind the drawer with the garbage pail and a few in the actual drawer. I hope the little varmint is hungry tonight and we hear a **SnAp!** tonight! It can even wake me up and I won’t mind as long as we get him.

Bacon cheeseburgers for supper

We sat together and watched some television and I read my book. Friday night is not a great night for programs so I’ll get a few more chapters read. I got my recipes sorted and I’m very pleased with that $4 purchase. Bill managed to get some work done on his shed today, once more at a standstill until Mike comes in the morning to make the doors. I forgot to get a picture today.

We only have one more day at home before we have to pack up and take the Suite to CanAm for some scheduled repairs and checks. This has been a good day, even with the repeating bouts of rainfall. We were finally able to leave the a/c off for a whole day as the temperature never got above 74F. The humidity, however, still made it feel 8 degrees warmer. I hope your day has been a good one too.

And guess who made it up onto the bed, all by himself!?
"How did I do that, Mom and Dad?"

Thank you for stopping by. I love reading your comments if you wish to leave one.