Bit of a Reprieve, Small Things Done, No Rain as Promised

On Monday, July 2^nd we woke within 20 minutes of each other after a great night’s sleep. We’d gone outside last night after 8 and the air and wind were so refreshing that we decided to open windows and turn the a/c off in the living room and turn the bedroom a/c on. However, come 11, bedtime, we instead turned it off as well and opened windows. There was a wonderful breeze coming in my side window and it remained all night long.

Waiting for the sun to push through

This morning even though it was a beautiful 74F outside and 78F inside, we did the opposite. Turning the a/c on in both rooms will keep the Suite at a very comfortable temperature without the battle against the rising heat. We hope. I went for a walk at 6:30 when I got up before having a tea. It wasn’t a long walk nor a fast-paced one. Just a mile but it was enough. I took my tea outside and caught up on a few blogs on my phone.

These families saw me coming and boy did they run

Bill went up on the berm and dug a hole big enough to fit the cement elephant foot that holds his flag pole. The wind is so strong up here that it has blown it over a couple of times. Now it will be secure. He did a few things in his cargo trailer and I decided to clean up the old plastic darts that we have for our dart boards. 

These are very amateur darts but they work

The tips were pretty rusted. I’m seeing a ‘tourney’ in our future and currently, these are the only darts we own. I doubt that will improve our skills but it might!

I sat outside and read more of my page turner before coming in at 9:30 to make breakfast. We cleaned things up and drove into Durham. It seemed odd but on-line, the Home Hardware was closed Sunday and open today. In reality, I don’t know if they were open yesterday but they were certainly closed today. The whole town appeared to be shut down. We did stop at the RBC to withdraw some cash so it wasn’t a worthless trip. Now we have more than 2 wooden nickels to rub together.

A walk down the country road this morning
was refreshing

Back home, it seemed Bill couldn’t sit still. We moved the paddle boat up on the hill in the long grass so we weren’t moving it around each time the lawn had to be cut. I can’t take a picture of it For Sale until we get the seats and the top washed. They are pretty gungy looking. Together we moved the wash stand from under the canopy to where it will stand by the rain barrel. It needs another piece of wood before we can attach the pump. Bill is waiting until it is finished before he writes about it so no picture.

this is a deck post (elephant feet) 

and it is now in the ground holding the flag pole

We had a lovely breeze all day today

I felt guilty sitting with my book while Bill kept moving so I slipped on a ball cap, gloves and took our long-handled clippers down the lane. There has been such growth and with rv’s soon coming up the drive, I wanted to see what I could do. It took about 30 minutes before I was huffing and puffing with the sweat droplets seeping out of my hat. Wow! It was hot work! I made a good dent on the worst side and one day this week I will finish it. Feeling so whooped, I just dropped and left my cuttings.

Bill brought the wheelbarrow down with me
and we gathered my cuttings
If you look down the right side of the lane
hopefully you can see how far I got

We had 2 bottles of water in the freezer so I brought those outside and Bill soon came to join me. I think maybe he was ‘mostly’ done for the day. When he went inside for a bite to eat, I thought a yogourt, some walnuts and cheese sounded good to me too. The boys remained indoors for a snooze but outside I read a bit more until the sun claimed the patio area. It is just too hot to sit in it and I was too lazy to move my chair to the shade.

A nice afternoon outside

Soon enough I gave in to the tired eyes and came inside. The boys were asleep in the recliners so I moved upstairs to the cool bedroom. An hour and a half of heavy sleep and dreams later I dragged downstairs. I almost felt worse but pushed myself to move. I must have needed the rest to sleep so soundly for so long.

The process to water my gardens

My tomatoes are looking good

We eventually both moved outside and were surprised at how nice it felt out there. We are pleased with the performance of our a/c today and don’t regret having it on. Set at a moderate 76F/24C some may wonder ‘what’s the point?’ but we don’t like a frigid environment inside, just a nice change from the outdoors. Maybe tonight, we’ll turn it off again. The humidity today is much less.

Bill using his jigsaw to cut the lower hole

A different angle

From the back, perfectly aligned

Now our king chairs have their own shade
and even create new shade on the lawn

Bill had another good idea, (I do tell him often!) and drilled a hole in the table between the King chairs. Ever since we lost our glass patio table in the wind storm, our red solar umbrella has been tucked up in the storage shed rafters. At this point we aren’t sure if we want another table. Certainly, it won’t have a glass top and the expense of a picnic table isn’t practical to me. The bench seating isn’t comfy. So, with this umbrella in between our chairs, we can move the chairs from the shade of the trees, taking the shade where we want. They are ideal for Bill and I sitting around the firepit. 

burgers and bacon, coming right up!

The smaller chairs can be moved around for guests to sit around the heat, in shade or sun. I can’t tell you the contortions I would have had to get into to get the top and bottom hole so perfect! When that was done, I lit the Weber for supper. Burgers tonight were on the menu with bacon, cheese and all the other stuff which makes them stand 6” high. Well, not quite but they are ooey gooey good.

Clemson and I walked to the road

We cleaned up dishes and then went outside. Donna texted at 7 to say they were soon on their way home to Hanover. Back to the regular work week, she says “back to get some rest”. They’ve worked pretty steady at the Acreage on projects too.

Another handful of goose feathers

Clemson and I took a walk down the lane again, it is so easy to get him to go with us lately. We’re not sure what changed from us having to convince him to come with us. It isn’t a complaint though, we love it when he follows, leads or prances along beside us. There were no geese around or turtles tonight although Bill and I saw Mrs. Yertle earlier digging more holes. We came back and sat outside until Bill wandered over from his hobby and sat with us.

peeking through to the west

At 8 one of my shows came on so I moved inside and with things closed up, Bill came in and moved upstairs. It is nice to have two televisions for the times we want to watch something different. Clemson and I curled up together in my recliner and at 9, Bill and I had a dish of ice cream together. A nice end to a wonderful day.

Good night from the Ridge

Thank you for stopping in today. Your comments are welcome!

Happy 151st Birthday, Canada! Fire Starters, Good Old Quiet Day

I was awake at 6 on Sunday, July 1^st and crawled out of bed, sneakily, at 6:30. Bill was still in ‘sleepland’. Clemson had been out at 5:15 so he just headed for the couch. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, made my tea and headed outside to sit in the shade. There was a lovely breeze and the temperature was reading 72F/22C. I slept well, which I know isn’t news, but it also means that the a/c in the bedroom kept us relatively cool on a low setting.

First walk down the lane
Pictures of our pond in the morning sun

It wasn’t long and Bill joined me outside and when we finished our drinks around 7:30 he walked down to the dock and dismantled our wooden platform from the 3 float barrels. That plan never worked out because the pond is not conducive to getting in and securing posts. We’ll take the platform over to the Acreage so they can use it at the west end of their pond. The kids can sit on it at least while they watch and try to catch frogs.

Removing the barrels before the day got too hot

All done! This platform can be used at the Acreage

Shirley mentioned in a comment yesterday that she was curious to see the ‘swimming hole’ that Donna has so the picture below should be a better shot. It is the same pond that I take pictures of the tree reflections when we are over there. As Nancy said, cool water is cool water and it is certainly refreshing on these hot, humid days. A quick 10-minute dip does wonders.

Shirley, this is Donna's pond that we swim in
Notice the dock and stairs on the left 

While Bill worked on that project, I sat on our patio and finished cutting and wrapping the fire starters. I had to work relatively fast before the sun got up over the Suite. Bill drove over to the Acreage quickly to replace a bolt on their gate that had come off and by the time he got back, I was done too! He had a shower while I made omelettes for brunch. I added sauerkraut to mine and Bill enjoyed his on toast. My turn for a shower since I don’t plan on doing anything strenuous again today!

A goofy picture of me wrapping the wax cakes

As you can see, the sun was coming closer
I had to hurry so I wasn't working in it

this is only about half
I ended up with 122 fire starters
Shared some with Donna to make her fires easier to start

Bill worked (played) out in his cargo trailer with his planes. He has the joined the Hanover RC Flying Club so wants to have a couple of planes ready to go flying this summer. When I finished my shower, I was drawn to my closet instead of going outside in the heat. This wasn’t exactly a ‘cool’ chore but it was a good time to rethink clothes that I have passed over many times since I’ve come home. If I do that, there is a reason I’m not willing to wear the item, which tells me to move it on out.

Clemson outside this morning with us

With Pat offering (or did we talk her into it?) to hold the next clothing exchange at her place in September, I will find a corner in the bunky to tuck them for the time being. When Bill came back in around 12:30 he sat in his recliner with his book. He is reading Alex Cross’s Trial by J.P. 

Our geese are growing so fast!

But they are always running away from us
sorry for the blur on this one

I sat on the floor at his feet to trim and remove polish from my toenails. Hmm, his needed attention too so after mine, I took care of his. Couldn’t talk him into a colour though. I thought this bright pink was lovely but he chose the ‘Nude’ or ‘Almost Nothing’ look.

My tiger lilies are popping out like crazy now

who'd ever think a milkweed flower would be so pretty?

I can't say that I've ever noticed the large ball flowers before

It is 87F outside again and just past 1 and our a/c is having a hard time keeping up with the rising temperature. All we really want to do is take some of the humidity out of the air and to feel a relief when we step inside. After catching up a bit on my post, I realize that I’m not getting much exercise on these hot days. I should go for a slow walk down the lane. Okay, now I deserve the coolness indoors and I sat alongside my guys and read my book for a bit.

As long as I keep these deadheaded, they remain beautiful

 Between chapters, I would have to lay my book against my chest a few times to check out the inside of my eyelids. Just for a few minutes and then back to reading some more. The book is good so I want to keep at it. We have plans on this 151st birthday of our country to go with Donna and Gerry to Riverside Diner. It is just in Durham and if it sounds patriotic of us to go out on Canada Day, you should also know that none of us felt like cooking supper tonight!

Not sure why so many feathers all in one spot
Maybe there was a scuffle 

Who would think they'd be so pretty?
Of course, I couldn't leave them there on the grass

At 5:15 they drove over here and picked us up which was nice. I think we drove the last time. We all enjoyed the 1 pc. Atlantic Pollock with fries dinner. I couldn’t eat all the fries, they aren’t my favourite kind but the meal was good and reasonable. When we returned home, we read for a while and had a rum and coke together. We were going to have one last night but forgot. I enjoyed the drink tonight.

Bill pours a nice rum and coke

It finally cooled off outside around 8:30 and Bill turned our living room a/c off, the bedroom a/c on, closed the door to upstairs and opened downstairs windows. When I took Clemson out for a piddle, I realized it was cooler outside than inside so sat there with my drink and my book. Bill joined me and finished his Patterson book in between charging his plane batteries.

Funny how these birds sit in the dead tree for their meeting

We each took a walk down the lane, separately, with Clemson. Little four paws had us out-matched by a long shot. His inner child was very apparent tonight as he ran up and back with more vigor than we’ve witnessed in days. Maybe the cooler air was rejuvenating him after the humid air. That was a treat to see. We moved inside and I finished my post.

A nice sky tonight

 Bill found a special called Long Time Running on television. It was about Tragically Hip’s tour after finding out about Gord Downie’s brain cancer. Filmed in September of 2017 but we’d never seen it before. Sad story for sure. This has been a quiet non-physical day and we’ve enjoyed Canada Day. I hope you have as well!

Good night and Happy Canada Day!

Thank you for stopping in. Your comments are always appreciated.