Day 13 and Mixed Feelings, Raking and Baking

The Ridge - Home Sweet Home

I can only assume it is because I was in bed at 10 pm last night, instead of 10:30 or later, that I was wide awake at 6:30 on Thursday, Apr. 2^nd. Bill was still sleeping so I rolled over on to my back and waited until he stirred. Our feet hit the floor at 7 and that felt a little better. The good news is that when I went downstairs and looked out the back window – we beat the sun up this morning! It was a treat to watch it pop its sunny head up above the horizon.

Good morning sunshine!

We had our tea and coffee together, reading our friend’s blog posts. Nice to see that everyone in those circles are healthy and for the most part practicing the appropriate social/physical distancing. We have to be in control of our own lives, it is up to us now and only us. Just staying safe and healthy is our goal. Bill and I are still restricted to home base for a couple more days. Today and tomorrow.

Frost on Black Beauty at 7:10

All gone!
what do you think of our Route 66 license plate?

I think we’re anxious to get out, off the property, and do a few normal things. As normal as possible. Shopping for ourselves, getting what we can on our grocery list is one key thing. Another one is doing our laundry, another getting Ptooties out of storage. We should be able to do all of these things carefully and safely. We’ve read all the information about bringing groceries into our home. A video was helpful and as sad as it is to be told ‘how to do that’, it is necessary and we will follow directions.

a better shot of some little
rhubarb sprouts

After being in quarantine for 14 days, because we came home from another country, the last thing we want is to step into an unsafe situation or encounter that ‘one’ person who didn’t self-isolate themselves to the nth degree. We just want to get through this unscathed like everyone else does. Before Bill went outside, I made him a couple of pieces of toast and I made myself a coffee.

from start to finish

The other day, I’d taken a bag of frozen Ridge apples out of the freezer with the plan to make something. So, I debated a few things and decided on using the last store-bought pie crust and make a crumble topped pie. It would take about an hour to bake so rather than pop it in right then, I got ready to finish an outside job this afternoon.

I dressed against the wind again, the sun was doing its best to warm the day up, but before too long, I had to cover my ears well from the cold. After gathering the piles of brush and leaves in the corral, I raked up around the Bunky and firepit. This doesn’t get raked each year but it should. It will help the grass by removing the old dead stuff. Bill will fertilize it before one of the next rainfalls. A warm rainfall.

Getting the yard cleaned up felt great

The wind was giving me grief in another way too. The leaves are light so I was forced to rake quickly and stop when the gusts increased in strength. When it abated for a while, I’d rush to gather the pile up into the wheelbarrow. It felt like a game but I still won with some patience on my side. Midway through my job, we came inside for a hot lunch of bacon and eggs.

The yard looks so much better now, what I didn’t gather was blown across the gravel and disappeared. I didn’t dump the load, instead stored it at the south side of the Bunky, out of the wind. I’d lose half of it trying to unload it in the brush pile.

I'll never remember the names of these birds

but I still appreciate them

After a couple of hours, I was done in. I walked down to tell Bill that I was moving inside. The sun was so warm but l resisted sitting out there anyway. It would have meant sitting in a sheltered spot and I had no desire to hunt for one.

I was happy to finish it
thanks to a few commenters who helped me from afar

Inside, I slipped my newly finished sweater on and took my tripod and camera outside for a (drum roll, please) ‘photo shoot’. Ha ha, humour me as I play the part and model my new creation for you.

and here it is modelled for you
sorry, I was being a bit silly
I wanted you to see the front and longer 'behind covering' back

Bill wouldn’t be up to the Suite for a couple of hours so that meant no tv. First, I popped the pie in the convection oven and then sat with my book. It was a good time to get into it without other things going on. I managed a few chapters, I like that they’re short ones, I chatted with my sister and then sat at my laptop to work on this post. Bill came in just before 5 and we sat to watch NCIS. The pie was sitting on the counter and boy, did it look yummy!

the winds were gusty all day today
keeping those temperatures at bay around 10C/50F

I took a couple of pictures of the pond
and it appears upset with the ripples

At 6, I got Madame IP out once more and sautéed a chicken breast and a pork chop for supper. Tonight, we had a salad as our side dish since we had many choices for dessert. Good choices too! We were eating by 6:30 and finished up with apple pie and cheddar. The pie was delicious and different with some raisins and walnuts added in the mix. It was an option in the cookbook (good ole Betty Crocker) but one I’ve never considered. I'm not a raisin fan – but Bill is.

And then I saw this!!!

sitting on the log
"They're ba-a-a-ck"

The walnuts were added for me and we both loved it. We cleaned up dishes and over my shoulder, as I sat at the table, I could see the sun dropping lower and lower. This was a wonderful day. I wanted to tell you that something else has returned. We have our singing frogs again! They started up last night much to Bill's chagrin. However, I love them!

I got a lot done outside today and finished my sweater inside. I’ll take another day like it tomorrow, please!

Supper pictures
Bill's chop on the bottom, my chicken on the top

My view from the window, hides the sun behind the pole
Good night and stay healthy!

Thank you for stopping by!

No April Fool’s Joke, The Sun was Real

The Ridge - Home

On Wednesday, Apr. 1^st we woke around 7 but dozed off until closer to 7:30 before hauling our butts out of bed. I know the lazy mornings will change when it is warranted but for right now, aaah. I peeked out of the window blind near my head and smiled. Blue sky and sunshine! Good morning!

And this almost reminds us of Arizona

Downstairs, Bill sat with his coffee reading blogs. I sat in my chair with my tea and finished the last 4 chapters of The Sixth Man. It was good indeed and the last 15 or so chapters were full of intrigue and suspense. Just the way I like a book to be. When I finished, I hopped in the shower. With that done, I added water and Tide to the kitchen sink.

First time to have clothes on the line
and when they were dry, around 2:30, boy
did they smell good

 It was time to do a small bit of laundry. Private stuff only lasts so long. Bill teases about getting 4 days’ worth out of 1 pair. Inside, outside, back and front but that is an rv’er’s joke not real life. I removed the 2 dining chair covers, replacing them with our second set. I may as well wash those too. I may be needing long sleeve tops for the next week so tossed a couple of those in also. With the sunshine, they will dry but with the cool winds, it will take a lot of the day.

Still some snow over the hill

I went out for a walk after Bill had his shower and either before or after that, I sat and caught up on blog comments and posts. Thank you, Maebeme, Deb and Nancy for the tips on fixing my sweater. I haven’t touched it yet, as there have been other things going on. Bill had some toast and jam and I had a bowl of my oatmeal around 9:30 since we were both feeling a bit hungry. We’d have something more substantial later.

Walking in the front field, I found the second golf ball
on the property

With the warm sun, I went out with my boots on and double layer jacket to do some more raking. It is hard to stay inside when that sun is so glorious. I almost didn’t recognize the yellow ball. I finished in the corral, up on the hill where I placed the summer and fall plants last year. Under the leaves, they were thriving and now I am very hopeful and will nurture them as much as possible. Bill is not allowed on the hill as he doesn’t know plants from weeds. He admits that openly.

Working on the hill this afternoon felt good

Another angle before raking

I raked around my flower garden, what a surprise to see some rhubarb popping up, and then over behind the outhouse. The wind had picked up and it was beginning to be a losing battle over the leaves. I left the hefty piles I’d made and put the rake away for the day. I was tired and didn’t want to overdo it. I’d noticed around 1:30 that the mail lady went by just as I returned indoors but she had stopped at our box. First, I made myself a veggie wrap with some cottage cheese and then walked down to check it out.

This picture is blurred, well, the rhubarb sprout is blurred
I was excited!

this is where the sprouts are coming up so I left the leaves
over them for another week or so

Bill almost at the same time, came inside to make his own sandwich, peanut butter and cheese. The cheese is getting skimpy so it is a good thing there are only a couple of days left of this rationing. 😊 We’ve planned very well and have not been deprived of anything over this past two-week isolation period. The mail wasn’t too exciting, a Home Hardware flyer, but the walk was refreshing and topped me up over my 8,000 steps.

Looking back as I walked away, the hill is done
then I worked on this side of the black pip

 Back inside, I went upstairs and lifted the bed to sort out the ‘things’ we’ve brought back. I don’t know when we’ll be able to hand them out to the kids but one day we will. There was a virtual Family Meeting with Grey County Long-Term Care last night. The Director and a Dr. of Public Health were conducting it and families of residents were invited to join and watch. I couldn’t gain access with Zoom (like FaceTime or Skype) so waited until today to view the recorded hour-long message.

It was interesting and there were a few things that I was not aware of as far as ‘how’ things are being handled in our long-term care facilities, like Rockwood. It gave me a good feeling to know that normal things, especially for residents like Mom with dementia, are being handled as regular and normally as possible. She wouldn’t be able to understand any of what is going on so that normalcy is priority. Mom has a birthday in April and although I won’t be able to see her, I now know what I can do to get my card to her on the special day.

This is our second set of chair covers
We'll buy another set this year if we ever get to Keady Market

I made myself a tea and sat to start my blog post. When Bill came in around 3:30, he was pretty much done working out and about for the day too. I sat in my chair and attempted to start my next book. The Innocent by David Baldacci. Bill read it fairly quickly earlier in March so I knew it would be another show stopper. With the tv on, I couldn’t focus so just stretched back after the first chapter and watched the reruns too. 

Supper was good, Madame IP came through again

 Bridgette called me from her home, in between work conference calls and we had a nice catchup chat. At 5:30, I sautéed the sausage until browned on both sides and then cooked them for 10 minutes. On top, I placed the inner pot with mini carrots. After a 10-minute release, supper was ready. Oh, and I cooked some mixed vegetables for Bill, he’s not big on carrots. I added some sauerkraut to my sausage and that just topped it off perfectly!

Custard for dessert, another success

We did dishes and then just for the fun of it, watched Big Brother Canada’s last episode. We used to watch this reality program years ago until it got a little sickening and we stopped. Today we saw previews for the last episode this season and they were all informed that because of the Covid virus, the show was shutting down, 24 days in. No winner, no more television, just sending them home. It was interesting and scary at the same time, seeing just how much this virus is controlling.

The sun prepares to set to the west

And I love how this tree looks like a spider web

This was a wonderful day. The spring weather was presented to us on a platter and we made the best of it. We know there is more to come. It didn’t get too warm today, mostly because of the strong winds, only reaching 8C/46F but that sun was something to celebrate.

Good night from the Ridge!

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