Trying Something Different, Sold! Puzzling Again

Park Place RV Park

It was about 7:15 when I woke and got up on Friday, Dec. 15^th. Wow, staying awake until 10:30 or 11 pm is showing! I was frustrated last night, couldn’t seem to get the downstairs tv working. I gave up and shut it off. Bill had trouble too with both but eventually got things going. He has more patience for the electronics in our home, apparently.

Good morning from sunny Quartzsite, Arizona!

I did manage to get more worms crocheted though so that was good. I told you that I was going to read the Stieg Larsson book next but I just couldn’t seem to start it. I didn’t give it a chance, really, so put it aside last night and returned it to the clubhouse library this morning. I’ll find another one that is in my cupboard, I have a few to choose from.

Bread making was the order of the day.
On the left, a 1.5 lb. loaf rising.
On the right, a 2 lb. loaf completed in the bread maker.

Bill left for the field and Gibbs took me for my/his walk around the park. It was brisk out there but I was dressed for it and Gibbs wouldn’t notice with his furry coat. 😊 I missed getting a picture of the pretty pink east sky but that’s okay, I know it will be another sunny day with temperatures in the low 70’s/20’s. Today was bread baking day for me. We needed some more.

So, I started this puzzle.
In the top picture can you see a discrepancy?
There are two border pieces exactly the same. 😁
That means someone else with this same puzzle is missing one.
So that is how it happens!?

First, I texted Susan, from behind us, to see is she was still interested in my 2^nd ordered, 1^st received bread maker and within 5 minutes she was at our door. Gibbs was very excited for the company and only wanted attention, showing her his new chew bone. (Sorry, Susan, he made a nuisance of himself.) We made a deal and she took it home, yay! I don’t have to advertise it. 😉

What a tired little boy and what a hairy little boy.
He needs a haircut for sure, his eyes are closed
but you can't even see them. Friday, the 22nd
is his appointment. 

I had already started to knead a 1.5 loaf of bread in my other machine and when it finished that first step, I removed it and put it into a loaf pan to rise, covering it with a tea towel. The way Mom used to do it. ♥ While that was happening, I made a 2 lb. loaf in the maker. I know it means two loaves on the go but I’m testing both the rising technique and baking in our convection oven.

This is our old-fashioned wind monitor.
We look out our window and see the streamer.
It helps Bill in the morning and me later in the day.
Whether to fly and whether to wear a jacket. 

I went to the clubhouse and started a new puzzle. The ladies have been doing small ones so there is nothing for me to work on when I get there. This one will be different; 750 pieces and it is 37” long and 12” high. 😊 I set to work and was well on my way by lunch time. Bill was home before me and wanted to return to the field so had eaten his lunch early.

Top picture was this morning.
Bottom picture was this afternoon when I left.

I had a ham salad sandwich and after the bread was done, I went back over for a couple of hours. When I returned home around 3:30, I popped the risen loaf into our convection oven for 33 minutes and took Gibbs for a longer walk. He’s been good and with Daddy away, alone longer than usual. It tired him out. The bread looks great, both loaves, but the 2^nd one will be easier to slice for Bill’s sandwiches. Maybe I’ll need to do that more often.

Our afternoon walk.
The quail were running in groups but they
were too fast for me to catch on 'film'.

For supper, we had shrimp and fries and I’m hoping that I will have access to tv tonight. We don’t know what the problem was last night but it sure was frustrating!

It looks great and perfect for sandwich slices.

On the Ides of December,
aka the 2nd (or 3rd?) day of Christmas,
I wore snowman earrings. 

The wind did pick up after lunch and that just lead us into another coolish evening. The warm up has begun for a week at least. This has been a good day. The news today is that my sister, Gayle and her husband, John, have made it to Mexico. Not yet to their final beach destination but in the country at least. 😊

Easy supper tonight.
Bill did the fries and I put the shrimp on our plates. 😂
Good night y'all!

Thank you for popping in.

An Early Start, Rain Shower, Making a Sale, Family Visitors

The Ridge

On Friday, June 11^th we were awake at 4:30 thanks to a small bark from downstairs. Translation: “I gotta go!” Bill got up and took him out. I drifted off and on over the next few minutes and wondered what they were doing when they weren’t upstairs by 5. Then they were. I had to ask Bill where he found the ‘new’ puppy from. This one settled down immediately! 😊

Am I being a good boy, Mom?

We all dropped off to sleep again and Bill was startled when he realized that it was 6:30. He’s usually up, washed, fed and almost ready for work by that time so he had to put a push on a bit more than usual. Gibbs and I came down as well and Bill and I left within mere minutes of each other. Pat had texted and invited me to stop around for a brief visit after cleaning the Mat so I responded “C u later”.

A selfie with Gibbs

There was some disappointment when I arrived at the laundromat as Renee was asleep on the bench. She is the semi-homeless girl whom I’ve found a few times over the course of my cleaning job. I was pleasant in waking her and asked her to move on so I could clean. It was within 10 minutes that she was up, washed and moved on outside. When I left, 45 minutes later, she was laying outside against the building. Oh well, not my problem.

The sky darkened and we had a lovely steady calm rain
in late afternoon

I went to fill our water jug and as I drove back through town, I saw her walking down the street. It was nice to see Pat after a month and a half but I couldn’t hang around too long as Gibbs hadn’t been fed yet. After 45 minutes, I found my way home. No problems with the little guy today so I fed him and we went about our day. I didn’t have a lot going on but there were a few online things I took care of while having my tea.

Of course, Chippy found the bird seed as soon as I filled the feeder

It was close to 11:30 when I put Gibbs out on his leash, after a few times of taking him out for walks, that Bill drove up. Gibbs was all excited when he first heard and then saw Black Beauty. We came inside after a bit and had our lunch. A wrap for me and Bill ate the sandwich he made last night. Bill had a snooze up in the bedroom so I left Gibbs asleep downstairs and went out to clean up the rocks that the rotor tiller left behind. That was over 2 weeks (?) ago!

At least he has to 'think' before he jumps so he isn't
as fast at emptying it

Bill came out and suggested that I wait until he got the wagon on the back of the mower to pick the stones/rocks up. We want to dump them at the inner point of the corral for another project we have on the agenda. There are too many to count, projects, I mean. I raked and got them into piles with the grass and dirt removed. It was hot down then and I moved up into the shade.

Gibbs and I out for our evening walk
Now you see the piles of rocks we need to pick up
Why are you stopping, Mom?

Bill had hopped on the rider and cut grass all around and in the back field before he stopped too. At a few minutes before 4, a paying customer for Bill’s pole saw pulled in. I wish I had my camera because Neil had his 12-week-old Aussie-Doodle with him. He was about twice the size as Gibbs and they bounced around each other for a while before the Aussie got a bit too aggressive. Just playing but it spooked our little guy. Bill and Neil made a deal with the saw and they left.

The steady rain allowed us to have the awnings out
and the new stoop gave us a nice place to stand and watch it

My sister, Wendy and niece, Morgan drove in a couple of minutes later so they got a double whammy of a dog fix. Of course, they loved our new family member. Bill and I loved the sheepskin for Jazz too. We had a nice visit, and it was quite comfortable outside now, after the rain. It was close to 6 when we said our goodbyes and our company headed back to Owen Sound. I couldn’t believe the difference in temperature in a matter of 30 minutes. I actually felt chilled.

When we came in at 6, the little guy was tuckered out

He slept until 8 pm, moving from one comfy
spot to the next
At one point he had a spurt of energy and had Daddy laughing as he ran around the
island, behind the chairs

We had grilled cheese sandwiches for supper and cleaned up the last of the strawberry rhubarb. I felt very full and that just didn’t make sense since I’d not eaten that much during the day. Gibbs had been outside a lot during the day so it was not surprising when inside, he moved around to different places to sleep. He was worn right out! Daddy home early, fresh air, meeting a new aunt and cousin not to mention touching noses with another puppy.

Simple suppers can be delicious too

We did dishes and watched a movie together. I couldn’t keep my eyes open but I managed to get my blog written at least. Not too many pictures were taken so I may take some in the morning before publishing.

Good night from the Ridge

Thank you for stopping in.

Walk for Alzheimer’s with Family, A New Porch, Bike Sale

The Ridge

On Saturday, May 29^th, the day had arrived for my walk. I’ve been registered for a few weeks now and have pushed for sponsors, all for a great cause. So, today, I want to make you proud, myself proud and Mom, in heaven, proud. 😊 Bill was up around 5:30 with Gibbs and they were crawling back into bed behind me soon after. I didn’t move and within a couple of minutes, they were both sleeping. Aah, cute!

The first big thing was our Walk for Alzheimer's
Donna, Patsy, Joanne

We all got up shortly after 6:30, or maybe it was closer to 7. Bill went outside and began gathering tools and the wood required to build the stoop/porch for at our Suite door. It was a cool morning with some wind but the sky was blue and that sun would surely warm things up quickly. It was hard to know what exactly to wear so I layered and topped it off with a jacket.

There were some beautiful homes along the lake

I arrived at my niece Joanne’s place shortly after 9:30. She was having the same queries “what to wear?” Joanne is a teeny gal so feels the cold even more than I do. When my sister, Donna, arrived we set out walking from there. It is a beautiful area that she lives in but no streets connect with others so even though we walked over 8 km/5 ½ miles, we only walked on 3 roads around the lakes to the dead end and retraced our steps each time.

A flower I'd like to look for this Snow in Summer plant
for our rocky hill

And Allium, another great idea

To make it more enjoyable, we called it our Alzheimer’s Garden Tour. That was fitting since we are all looking for new ideas for garden plants in our plots at home. It was about 2 ½ hours before we all agreed that we were ‘done’ and none too soon. I’d passed a couple of yard sales on my way and thought I’d top on the way home but it was later than I thought it would be when we finished. No worries, it was great fun!

A free bird for the fence or Bunky

We did find that a homeowner had put some ‘free’ items out at the road so we each found something to remember the walk by. 😊 I said goodbye with hugs and drove home.  It was around 1:15 when I pulled up the lane after having met Billy just leaving the Ridge. He’d been helping Bill since 9:30. Mike was taking over in his place and I know Bill was very grateful for their help and expertise. These are the guys he works with every day.

A good spot for a picture using my funky tripod

Boy was I thrilled to see the porch done and only the steps to complete when I got home. I couldn’t get inside for a while, until the risers were up and a couple of steps in place but when I got in, I made Bill and I a meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato bunwich. Mike wasn’t hungry but we were starved! My legs were really feeling the extra effort I put in this morning but a good feeling that I’d completed a nice walk for a great cause. Our proud Mom was watching over us, I’m sure.

Donna cleans for the owner of this place
A nice couple who love dogs
There are biscuits in the container

Go fish!

The home stretch, we are de-layered and tired

All the roads we walked on said No Exit

During the final ‘steps of  the steps’ (haha, I kill me!) I made connection with Liz and Brian. They came from Alliston to check out Bill’s folding bike that we had for sale. We left them alone and sat with Mike while they tested it and made a decision. They were looking for two, of course. Hmmm, I wasn’t going to sell mine just yet but they were such a nice couple and we weren’t going to be taking it south anyway…………so, for the right price, they bought both. It was a good deal for all of us.

I sat with Gibbs an supervised the steps going in 😂

Their cutting station

After Mike left, we sat for a while and rested before going out to clean up the mess. 😊 It was a good mess, worthwhile I mean. I picked up the wood pieces and took the ones for burning to Bill’s fire pit and the good ones to stack by the Hangar. We won’t be burning the pressure treated wood in our ‘community’ fire pit. Since we hadn’t eaten lunch until 2:30, neither of us were too hungry but we agreed on toasted tomato, bacon, cheese and lettuce sandwiches for supper.

Yummy and easy

It was very good and we finished off the bit of black cherry ice cream with some strawberries for dessert. I was tired, too tired for a movie and/or too tired for reading so at 9:30 I went up to bed. Bill stayed up until 11, took Gibbs out and he went in his crate easily. He was also very tired from the day supervising the boys while they worked on the porch.

Gibbs seldom sits still so Bill was enjoying
this cuddle moment

Checking out the new steps
Telling me to come and get him

He was a little devil though when Bill first left him ‘free’ inside for a couple of hours. He was upset enough to chew at the bell string and had them all loose on the floor. He also chewed on the little flower in my clogs so obviously he was ticked at us. 😊 We need another few 8’long boards to finish the steps and to close them in but is it ever nice to just step out onto a platform. Bill will have to hone his backing up skills when we return from pulling the Suite each spring.

Just some touch ups to finish

I love it! The boys did a great job!
Good night!

This was a wonderful day with a lot of things taken care of. I’m a happy camper and walker! Thank you for stopping in.

A Mixed Bag of a Day, Vaccine Time! A Sale?

The Ridge

On Wednesday, May 26^th (where has the month gone?) I woke up facing the window. I had it open for a lot of the night/morning but when a gust of wind blew in, I closed it. Behind me, I heard then felt some scampering going on. Gibbs was gently pulling at my hair so I rolled over. He’d been up since before 5 and didn’t seem to be settling down for Bill.

The sky is one of those mixed ones that
leaves us guessing what will happen next

We tried to encourage him to relax with us and eventually he did around 5:30. Bill dozed fitfully until he got up for work at 6 and we followed by 6:30. It wasn’t looking like a sunny day, and to be honest, we weren’t really expecting one. The forecast says a high of 23C/74F and chances of rain and thunderstorms. I doubt it will get that warm but we’ll see! We will probably see the sunshine around 5 which has been typical of many days. 😊

Our laneway is beginning to look like a forest
We'll be cleaning it up before our friends bring any
large rv's up, that's for sure!

I left for Durham around 7:15, cleaned and then went to fill our 2^nd water bottle at The Water Store. I picked up another new one at one of the auctions so we’ll get in the motion of filling one as soon as we empty it and always have a spare one on hand. Gibbs was in his crate and I’m sure settled down but he sure cried when I closed the door. It is a good feeling to know that he won’t do it for long and give up the tantrum to rest.

Gibbs' first vet visit in Durham
We couldn't go in, but announced our arrival
and waited in the vehicle until they were ready

When I returned home at 9, it made me smile to see Black Beauty parked beside the Suite. Bill was home, meaning they got rained out. I smiled even more when I saw him standing on the patio mat with Gibbs, watching for Mom. 😊 We came inside and I made my tea and relaxed. It had been raining off and on, not too heavy but heavy enough not to be able to work out there. If it stops, maybe we’ll find an outdoor activity, otherwise, it will be a lazy indoor day.

Gibbs saw other doggies waiting too

We dozed in our chairs and when he wore himself out playing with Monkey and his new rubber ball, Gibbs on the floor where he was cooler. He has a lot of hair for a little guy and it has to be hot. We had some lunch, Bill had beans on toast and I had a wrap, jam-packed with lettuce, cukes, cheese, meat, tomato and mayo. It was sloppy but so delicious and filling. I took my coffee outside with Gibbs and Bill did dishes. Gibbs had eaten a good brekky so I was encouraging a poop.

All done! He'd won their hearts and the vet's assistant brought
him back out to us
Her eyes tell the whole story, don't they?

Not being on the leash, he is a little devil to capture when we want to come in so Bill came out and helped me corner him. :0 At 1, we hopped in the car and drove to Durham for Gibbs’ 10-week vaccine for distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, parainfluenza and leptospirosis. Say that five times fast! I can’t say them once without reading that. He goes back in mid-June for his booster shot. He doesn’t weigh enough yet to get the flea and tick meds so they’ll weigh him at that time.

The Baltimore Orioles, we had both male and female today,
were happy for the oranges

The staff and other visitors (all of us outside in our vehicles) fell in love with Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Are you surprised? He was so good and even touched noses with another 4-year-old cockapoo who was beautiful and 22 lbs! It will be interesting to see how big our baby grows. Back home, Gibbs was exhausted from the excitement and snoozed on the floor as soon as we came in. Funny, we were exhausted too and dozed ourselves after going through the flyers.

This was a cute picture from last night
I must have been telling about today's appointment
He is so attentive and comfortable

After his vaccine today, he slept a lot
but showed no signs of distress

I received my Alzheimer’s neck buff in the mail so I guess I’m set for the walk on Saturday. I’m sure I’ve pestered enough BUT if you wish to sponsor me for the cause, it’s not too late! Any amount is appreciated and goes to our Grey Bruce IG Wealth Management for Alzheimer’s. You can let me know and I’ll go from there.

My new buff for the walk

The afternoon was half gone and I started a new book by a new author (for me). Davis Bunn’s Lion of Babylon caught my attention on the first page of the first chapter. Another recommendation from my brother-in-law, John. 😊 

The sky cleared up late afternoon, as usual

I had a hard time keeping my eyes open, and so I turned The Incredible Dr. Pol on. I watched that until 5 and then watched NCIS while Bill and Gibbs dozed. At 6, I started supper. Tonight, we had poor man’s chili. Bill had his on toast and I had mine on cauliflower rice.

Supper including dessert was very good

After dishes, Bill fed Gibbs and the evening was pretty quiet. I mentioned that we are selling items on Kijiji and someone says that they are coming from Toronto (2 hours) in the morning. Of course, I’ll be alone. So! I called M and asked if I could give his address and meet the buyer there. That worked out as M has a bit of work I can do while I’m waiting. I feel better knowing that I’ll have someone else around. IF the guy even shows. If I don’t hear from him, I’ll move on to the next interested person.

There are Chippy's running around but only a couple
so far
Gibbs hasn't seen them too much yet, I know
he'll chase them and we don't want him chasing them over
the edge to the pond so are very watchful🐶🐹
By the way, we have caught 4 mice in our traps, in 4 days
There can't be more!!

Good night everyone!

This was a lazy day but we got our little boy taken care of for the time being. Thank you for your visit today. Your comments are always welcome.