Still Here, Visit with a Good Friend

London, Ontario

On Tuesday, Apr. 14th, we woke up in a new bed, a new trailer and the big city. 😊 Oh yes, now I remember where we are. All this moving around and I have to focus my brain before opening my eyes. What will I see today?

Good morning everyone!
Lots of clouds but the rain had
stopped by 7:30 am.

It was a warm enough night but, silly us, this morning it was chilly in the Ember so I stayed in bed until almost 7. The warmest spot. We washed and dressed and by 7:30 were headed to the Southdale LifeLabs to get blood drawn. 

We're in the city limits but still
'out in the middle of nature', it seems.
Wild turkey crossing a busy street.

We have dr's appointments on Monday the 20th so wanted this info at his office for then. It is available for walk-ins and we had our requisitions from last fall so once we got there, through the line, it was quick in and out. 

Casey and Marjorie
have a really lovely home
with a great fenced back yard.
He has a camera in a bird house in the back
corner and sends me
some great bird shots!
The dogs are the same colouring,
not sure of each other yet.

We had plans for a visit to St. Thomas to see a good friend from the school board so went back to get Gibbs and drove to Casey's home before 10. We've yet to meet his wife, Margery(orie?), and Casey is retired and follows my blog so keeps with our travels that way. 

That tea was great (fyi)
and oh, Casey, you spoil us!

We were due for a coffee/tea so he obliged and had picked up a couple of boxes of 'adult treats' for our visit. Good thing our blood was taken BEFORE the donuts! 😀 The tea, coffee and goodies were much appreciated, Casey!

It was windy at this point of the morning,
but with the sun out, we enjoyed the
back deck for a bit.

Gibbs made a new friend today too. Gracie is a bichon poodle mix and as cute as a button. Half the size of our monster and she was not hesitant in letting him know who was the boss of that house. It was cute to watch the two of them together, although no real play took place. 

Li

Litte Miss Gracie,
queen of her home.
A couple of white patches on
her head, face and chest.
She's a cutie and very affectionate too.

We said our goodbyes around 11:30 and returned home for lunch. After that Boston Creme donut, I didn't need much but nibbled on my flatbread pizza later in the afternoon. Yum! Bill went to the food truck today and they had a burger that he had for lunch. He checked on how things were coming along in the shop. 🤔

Seemed they wanted to play
but just not sure of each other.

The remainder of the afternoon was just relaxing. We dozed a bit, the whole 'fam-damily', we watched videos on our laptops (since the tv is not connected) and I made a couple more Worry Worms to pass the time. It was just nice not to go anywhere after lunch. 

More relaxing with Mom
and Dad. He took turns on
our laps and we obliged him because
it has to be weird in a strange
'home'.

He checked on the progress in the shop around 4:30, half hour before quitting time, and if all went well in the latter part of that hour, we should be able to pull out tomorrow. 🙏 This has been another beautiful day here. 23C/73.4F and a mild 14C/57.2F overnight.

The view out of the dining room window.
Lots of Airstreams out there,
meaning lots of $$$.

It will be dropping off on the weekend so we'd love to be home to get a few things done. There was rain last night and first thing this morning but it cleared out and we had a full sunny day all afternoon. The strong winds from earlier have also died off too. 

A had a bit of liver, onions, bacon
and mashed potatoes for supper.
Gibbs enjoyed it too with his
bit of kibble!

Bill brought a few more things from the Suite so we could have a bit of supper here without going anywhere. Bread, butter, cheese and snacks for later. We still had a couple of donuts from Casey if the need was great! LOL 

Bill took Gibbs for a walk,
which resulted in him rolling around in the front
grass for a while. 
Just wait, Gibbs, just wait.
💖

He made a cheese sandwich, I had my mashed potatoes, some liver and bacon from New Sarum's Diner and shared the rest with Gibbs. It was a good day, having a place to hang out away from the bustle of CanAm's business was really nice. 

So, last Apr. 14, 2025, we had
already been home 10 days.
Soon we will return.
Good night!

Thank you for your visit. 

A Calmer Day in the Neighbourhood, Visitors

Park Place RV Park

On Friday, Mar. 13th Bill and Gibbs were up at their usual 6 o'clock. I had already been awake at 4:50 (!) for some reason and pulled the duvet up over my lower body. Silly, true, but I felt a bit cool with my window open. I know I slept well, dreaming again.

Good morning!

Bill was in the shower, having his breakfast by the time I came downstairs around 7:15. Gibbs was into the usual performance too, delving under the covers and waiting until Mom laughed. Yes, he felt he needed to wake me up. Age means nothing to him either, he loves to play.

After Bill left, I had my tea and we went for our walk around the outer block. It was already quite warm so we had closed windows and turned the a/c to come on around 72F/20C. With no obligations to go anywhere or make anything, I made a coffee around 10 and walked to the obnoxious puzzle.

A little bit more finished down the right
hand side. 

This may be one of 3 that I will have started and not finished. Some people have more faith in me than I do when it comes to Van Gogh....well, I may be beaten. In an hour and a half I only put in about 5 pieces and left before noon frustrated. There is still tomorrow......we'll see.

We had lunch together and I helped Bill pour 1/2 of a 4.5 gal container of peanut oil (Bill got it at Sams Club) into individual containers. We were splitting it this summer with our friends so we can all enjoy deep frying at its best. Better than EVOO. 😉

Our company, Lori and Roland, arrived just before 1 on their Indian bikes and we enjoyed a nice catchup visit. It was hot sitting outside under the canopy but comfortable in the shade. Gibbs had to take turns sitting on our friends, he knows them.

Thank you Bill for taking the picture
for me.
Gibbs poses as well.

Bill then went to Jim's for a while and Gibbs and I relaxed again in the cool of the Suite. We reached a high of 92F/30C today so indoors was the place to be, if possible. Supper was ribs and spuds done in Madame IP with a vegetable of sorts. 

Gibbs likes to get as much
attention from his friends as
possible.
I wonder if he remembers them
as Schatzi's mom and dad?

On their way back to 
Holtville Hot Springs LTVA, CA

Last night, I had made a couple of greeting cards for Stephanie and Anne Marie because I won't see them on their birthdays in the summer months. They are the only ones in our group who didn't receive a homemade card for any reason. I remedied that. I think they were both pleased. 💕

The colour here is not great
but the cross is brown and the 
shroud is in purple.
Anne-Marie loved it.

Stephanie is picking up her baby,
Sally, a bichon frise, this spring,
so I did my best to imitate one for her card.
She loved it also. 

So, our supper of pork ribs, potatoes for Bill and salad for each of us, turned out very good. We didn't have any sauce for the ribs but gravy worked fine for tonight. We finished off with a small pie from Walmart for dessert. 

The little old man pose
after I had to lift him into my chair.

Supper was good.

That's it for our day and the evening will be quiet, in front of the tv. 

We say goodbye to the heat
source of the day.

But it sure makes a pretty exit.

Good night!
(the sky may get better before it's done)

Thank you for popping by!

Home Visits, Puppy Love

The Ridge

On Wednesday, Apr. 19^th we were up by 6:45 and began our day. Another cold one in the forecast, and they weren’t kidding! It was -3.3C/26F and the ground was covered in a white dusting of snow. Brrr. We had our tea and cereal and discussed what we were going to do today. We have a shelter to put up for the mower and Jazz but a little bit of warmth would make that job easier.

Our first morning on the Ridge this spring

Gibbs and I needed blankets this morning
but then it was outside time to chase sticks
with Mom

Bill contacted Murray, who stores our Rav 4 and Yamaha for the winter, and arranged a pick up tomorrow morning to get Ptooties out of storage. 😊 It is almost like getting a new car each spring! By the time we were able to get in touch with Donna and Gerry about picking up our mail and parcels, it was 10:30. That meant an afternoon visit.

I apologize for the picture quality
but Donna and Gerry's home is worth showing anyway

Bill went to town to visit our Co-operators agent and to get some cash out of the bank. At home, I emptied the fridge and washed the shelves. They were sticky from something that had leaked at some point. Not anymore! With that finished we had lunch together and then Bill dozed while I worked on finishing my book. I still had a few pages left when it was time to head for Hanover. It was nice to see my sister and her hubby again after 6 months.

Gibbs performs for little Bella
She has to check him out after that

When we gathered our boxes and mail, we left for Durham to visit Rob, Pat and Bella. Gibbs was so excited! Well, if he was excited, sweet little (Spitfire) Bella was over the moon. I laughed a lot at the two of them running around together. ♥ My heart was full watching them, Gibbs hasn’t had that opportunity all winter.  This means it will be fun & games whenever they get together.

Bella likes men
Bottom right: Daddys and their puppies

To understand why I took this one
Look on both sides of their coffee table
I believe a challenge is underway here

So, the story here from top left, right to bottom left, right
"Wanna play, Gibbs?" The taunt,
The Boxing match, The kiss

Daddy's little girl
Bella is 6 months old and is nicknamed Spitfire. ♥

Rob and Pat helped us with our streaming questions, since we’re going to be installing a new Starlink system. It was very helpful to actually see the system on their tv. We are such ‘newbies’ for being ‘oldies’ but we need to learn as we go. We said our goodbyes around 5:30, dropped a couple of cards off at the post office and headed home. Bill suggested fish and chips for supper but I decided on chips and shrimp instead. 😊

Looking out the window, I finally discovered
why things looked different
Our 'bird' tree fell down while we were gone. 😔

In between Bill cooking the fries and sorting our many many envelopes of mail, I prepared the shrimp and Rosy, the air fryer. I got the easy part of prepping tonight. The fries were awesome tonight, done just the way we love them! After cleanup, Bill cleaned up, I worked on my blog and prepared for the evening. Last night, we streamed 3 CTV programs on Bill’s laptop and corded them to the tv.

We moved the King chair and picnic table out
See the little poser?
The corral needs raking, maybe tomorrow if it
doesn't rain.

It was great to see a couple of episodes of 9-1-1 Lone Star and The Voice and gave us a good idea of how much data is used. With Starlink, it won’t matter but we’ve been curious all the same. Tonight, we noticed two things. Our ‘bird tree’ is gone. One of the winter/spring storms took it down. ☹ It was dead anyway but I loved that tree and so did the birds. Dad’s birdhouse is also in the pond but we’ll retrieve it asap and find another location for it. ♥

The late afternoon sky
and Father Goose is alone this year - so far

While we made this yummy simple
supper, Gibbs ate his and then rested.
He had a busy day!

The second thing we noticed is that the Peepers are back and singing their little hearts out. Finding love in the pond is obviously a serious endeavour. Bill is thrilled, not at all, but I am! 😊 This has been a really nice day and the visits were the icing on the cake.

I think you know I love my stuffed green olives.
This large jar is from Costco and I don't
know anything else in a jar that offers as  much
product as this! 
Good night!

Thank you for stopping around.

Today’s Adventure, Collages

Yuma Lakes RV Resort

I was up with Gibbs at 7:30 on Sunday, Nov. 20^th and let Bill sleep in a bit longer. Gibbs was acting ‘desperate’ running to the door and up the steps to me, down and up, so I figured he really had to go – again. Daddy had him out an hour earlier. So, I quickly got dressed, combed my hair and we went out for our walk. It was all a ruse. What he really was saying was “hurry, Mom. Let’s go for a walk!”

I believe the routine is catching on
so now I'll have to continue it 😃

The picture with the Coot shows you just how
big this fellow is

The little sheister! It was a nice walk and I was more than impressed that our timing was perfect again and Mr. Heron was proudly waiting. 😊 I managed to zoom in on my Powershot and get some decent pictures today. I didn’t think I captured his departing flight but I did! Back home, I had my tea and Bill was up and had dumped our gray and black tanks while we were gone. We knew the gray needed it when water gurgled in the sink drain from the dishwasher running.

The pictures are a tad blurry but at least i got
him spreading those wings

I get a kick out of these creations
This stork is apparently stuck on the fence

It was a treat to see this falcon
or hawk away across Redonto Lake too

We had our breakfast, I’m loving my oatmeal, and because we had afternoon plans, we just hung around for the morning. Around 10, I wanted to go up and see if anyone had started a puzzle. They hadn’t but someone else had dropped off a couple of different ones. Both looked interesting so I chose a 1000-pc one of book titles. I’ve done a similar one, in Paisley, but this is not the same one. It takes the longest time sorting border pieces and turning them all over but I soon was able to start. 😉

That's a lot of pieces and it takes up a large part of
the table, but it'll be fun while I'm here!

Before I left at 11:30, I had the border done and a few inside pieces. It shouldn’t take long but I’m not sure that I’ll see it finished before we leave. I found 2 more books to bring home and dropped the Fatal Error off at the book shelf. We had some lunch and all 3 of us hopped in B.B. at 1 pm AZ time. We drove towards Holtville and the Hot Springs LTVA to visit friends. The drive was nice and we passed the pretty sand dunes along I-8.

Driving through Yuma, you can see how strong
the winds were again
Boondockers on the right of  I-8 as we headed west
Just pull off an park, I love it!

My sister said 'where's the camels?' when I sent
her one of these pictures

There are a few sections that remind us of our summer trips to Silver Lake, MI before we retired and started full-timing. It’s where we met our good friends, Nancy and Ken, and we all did some ‘playing’ on the dunes there. What a hoot! Bill and Ken took turns driving the jeep and Nancy and I rode in the back, hanging on for dear life! ♥ Good times, great memories.

Arriving at Hot Springs LTVA
Gibbs watches the date palm trees
on their road

Roland and Lori have managed
to get the same spot each year

Gibbs kisses up to Lori ♥

Schatzi isn't far away but doesn't
look too pleased ♥

We had a really nice visit with Lori, Roland and of course, Schatzi. Thanks for the treats, Lori, those tarts were a heavenly forbidden delight. 😊 We headed home around 4 AZ time (California is an hour behind us) 

It's 4-wheeler heaven out here along the highway
My guess is that 90% of the rv's are toy-haulers while the
other 10% are pulling trailers for their toys
Weekends are a busy time here
and they have a ball!

and it was 5 when we walked in the door. Gibbs was tired right out and Bill and I not much livelier, for some reason. We read, dozed and then at 6, I started supper. We had Hamburger Helper tonight with added mixed vegetables and it was tasty with leftovers.

Supper was easy and good

Bill had some ice cream for dessert and I warmed up a piece of the Banana cake with a bit of ice cream too. I’m still not of the mind to toss it all and it actually tastes fine with something on the side. Maybe whipped cream another night. This has been a good day and we’re glad to be able to see our friends again. Hopefully not the last time on this journey.

Bill and I pass this field of Romaine Lettuce 
each trip into Yuma and these 2 palm trees
are always cause for conversation 😂
Good night!

Thank you for your visit too!