Having Too Much Fun! Catch Up Time, Celebrations

The Ridge

On Tuesday, August 1^st, I entered the new month like an Eveready Bunny. At least it kind of felt like that. 😊 All for good reason though! We had a restful evening as today would be a busy one. I was up at 6:30 and on my way to Durham at 7. The Mat was empty until our Newfie customer came in. 😊 He’s a nice man and if he didn’t talk so fast with his Newfoundland twang, I wouldn’t have to ask him to repeat himself. I wish I could catch what he's saying easier but he understands. (the pictures today are mostly from our supper onward)

Bill leads the way into the Keady Market

I made a stop at Foodland for some burgers and buns plus something a bit special for dessert before I scooted home. A quick change of clothes and we all 6 loaded into two vehicles. Ken drove with Duncan and Bill and I drove with Patty and Kim to Keady Outdoor Market. It is only on Tuesdays during the summer and for 2 years, it has been closed, ever since the pandemic. K, K, B and I were anxious to return and P & D were anxious to see what we’ve been on about.

Pony ride, anyone?
I think we were all a little too big.

It was a beautiful morning for it, reaching a pleasant 23C/73F today by noon. The place was packed and we set a meet up time and set off at our own pace. Bill picked up some deer signals for our vehicles and I bought a small container of 4 beefsteak tomatoes plus 2 large peppers. Everything looks so delicious and depending on the vendor, the prices were quite comparable and decent. We bought a new tag for Gibbs, since his has pretty much worn off.

While Bill grilled the burgers,
I set things up inside.

Back home, we had lunch and gathered on our front lawn. When the clouds rolled overhead, it cooled off considerably and then started to lightly rain around 2:30. Darn! Our good friend, Suzie, arrived shortly after 2 and soon we moved into the Suite to wait it out. Thankfully, because of our plans for the remainder of the day, it only lasted about 20 minutes and the sun returned in full force. 😊 Phew!

Thank heavens for an island in here!
It worked well
From the door around to the left:
Donna, Duncan, Gayle, Ken, Kim
Pat, Suzie and Patty

Door to the left:
Gerry, Rob, Duncan, Gayle, Ken

The ONLY unfortunate thing is that every time the door opened,
about 6 flys entered the Suite. They are awful this time of
year, inside and out.
I tried to kill them but it was a lost cause.

When we moved outside, Rob and Pat arrived with Bella, Gayle and John next and then Donna and Gerry. We had invited everyone today since it was the best day for the largest group for meets and greets. Bill and I provided the burgers and others brought contributions towards a perfect summer meal. Patty made macaroni salad, Gayle brought Caesar salad, Pat brought Pistachio, Marshmallow salad and Kim offered chips, crackers, cheese and tomatoes. There was plenty!

I should have taken a picture from the other end
but I didn't

Other than having to swat the flies away, I think
everyone enjoyed the meal and company. 

Two birthday celebrations, Rob’s today and Ken’s yesterday, so they each had a candle to blow out while Bill led us all in singing Happy Birthday. As we had our dessert, Gayle and John served up some Amarula (?) to celebrate their purchase of a new home, finally. We are all thrilled for them as they will be able to gain possession of the new home on Aug. 30^th, the same day they give up their former home. ♥ Things worked out well for them after a lot of searching.

Happy Birthday, Ken!
Cute picture of the two of you too!

Happy Birthday, Rob, our Buddy.

Suzie left first headed for Stratford

Also, Donna and Gerry arrived with a new GMC Sierra 4 x 4 short box pick up and a big smile on his face. 😊 A bit of the celebration was for an ‘almost’ completion of Bill’s project which was revealed to our visitors (so far) and also to Duncan and Patty’s new rv. So, lots to be happy for in our group of 13. Good thing we had 2 pups to make it 15 for any who are superstitious! It was a great meal, outside on our 3 tables and after cleanup, we met around the fire pit.

Looks like someone just told 
a good story!

As our day guests left, the night cooled and finally when the last of us called it a night, we could see the huge Super moon just above the horizon in the southeast sky. Gorgeous! No pictures of mine would replicate it well enough so I hope you saw it. FYI, it was only 358,000 km away and on Aug. 30^th it will be even closer and bigger. What a wonderful day! Everything turned out just as I’d hoped even with the idle scare of rain. I apologize for my delay in posting but more so for not keeping up with YOUR blogs. I will get there but I guess I'm just having too much fun with our friends. 💓 

A pretty new GMC leaves
the group.

Good night!

Thank you for YOUR visit! Happy August!

On the Hunt, Surprise! Late Postings

The Ridge

On Monday, July 31^st, a main event was to search for Bill’s airplane in the corn field. We were all up and mobile by 7:30. Bill had his physio appointment at 9:30 and I needed to run M into town for his errands at 10. We were both back home by 11:30 where we had an early lunch and the 4 of us hopped in Black Beauty with the drone to see if we would have any luck with the search. Hopes were high.

Gibbs and I went for our walk
and I noticed that my Moonflower is still
blooming

The stone house across the hay/cattle field
Look at those clouds!

Garbage and recycle day

An hour and a half after trudging down rows of 8-10’ high corn stalks, we returned to the truck empty handed and a bit disillusioned. ☹ It’s a bright yellow plane but if it is nose down, that won’t help much. His drone wasn’t able to spot anything yellow in the field. He won’t give up, it is too important to find it for more than one reason. Back home, we dusted ourselves and our clothes off and relaxed on Duncan and Patty’s patio.

Bill's drone tried but couldn't find anything
yellow

I felt like a child of the corn
as I walked the rows

Woops! 3 stray stalks
right in my path!

We had text messages from Kim around 10 and then 12:30 announcing their earlier arrival this afternoon! Yay! We weren’t expecting them until Wednesday, then maybe Tuesday so this was an absolute wonderful surprise to all of us. We love to introduce our good friends to each other and we knew these 4 would get along great with lots in common. They arrived just shy of Happy Hour at 3:15 so once they had parked, let the good times begin! 😊

Back home, our second and final 
overnighters arrived
Nice job, Ken, getting in your spot. 😀

Let the Happy Hours begin - again!

We tried sitting on our lawn but the shade from our trees were making it feel cool so we moved our chairs back to the Sharp’s patio and enjoyed the warmth from the sun. Today reached a high around 24C/74F, I think, so it was quite a nice day. To say we all ‘clicked’ is an understatement as we just remained there, enjoying each other’s company.

Gibbs eventually catches on to the meaning

At 5:45, Bill got the call that our riding mower was ready so we hopped in Ptooties to go bring it home. The statement ‘it’s only money’ could never be truer, as we paid another bill on this Cub Cadet. LOL Rejoining the group, it was 6:45 when we broke up for supper. Pork kabobs, potatoes and mixed veggies for us and it was quite good. We skipped a fire tonight as we had plans for another evening. We’d had a full day.

A pretty little puff of cumulus

That's our money pit there on the left

Bringing in it home

A tasty meal

It was a great day and we were so pleased that Ken and Kim were able to come a few days early. 😊

Things that don't get a chance to grow
when we cut the grass every week
Black-eyed Susans
So long!

Thank you for stopping by!