Sunday, September 3, 2023

The Forecast Changes, Clean Clothes Again, Company for a Campfire

The Ridge

On Saturday, Sept. 2nd the sky was not clear as was predicted by the knowledgeable forecasters (surprise, surprise!) instead, it was covered in gray clouds. Bill was up at 6:30, took Gibbs out and quickly decided that he would not be flying this morning. It appeared as if it could rain and the winds were around 12-15 mph. However, I still had a job to do so was up around 7 and with sorted laundry, on my way to Durham by 7:30.

Friday's night fall

A clearer sky when
I returned home around 10
(we still love our gate)

Whatever these clouds are, they
sure make a pretty picture. ♥

It was quiet so I set about loading 2 machines and then emptying the Lost & Found box. Which was full. Again. Tossing lonely single socks and washing everything else, I carried on with the usual routine. There were two machines needed testing and on of the dryer lint trays has not been closing for a few weeks so I spent 15 minutes trying to fix that problem. I succeeded but it takes some elbow grease to get it in the correct position. LOL

Taking a step back, I meant to include this picture
of 'Tommy', the Ford we're working on for Wes.
One side sanded and primed - again.

A couple of ladies came in, no men today! And one older lady stayed and chatted with me while I cleaned. She is a retired police officer from Oakville (near Toronto) and we had a great old time conversing. 😊 With the Mat cleaned, my August pay collected and a basket full of damp clothes, I said goodbye to ‘Ellen’. 

Remember the concessions I mentioned that we make?
Bill is so used to Gibbs sitting on his shoulder, that
he was asleep in mere minutes. 💘

And later, bringing the laundry in, Gibbs
keeps watch across the field behind us.

Finished that, I drove to the Water Store, filled a bottle and stopped to drop off the bag of donations at Rethreads. Duty done. 😊 Back home, Bill was cutting grass and I set about hanging the clothes. By now, the sun had come out pretty strongly but, alas, it wasn’t to last. We had bacon and eggs for lunch and Bill dozed while I cleaned things up in the kitchen. 

The one gate needed a bit of adjusting so
Bill worked on that too by moving the hinges 

The sky once again toyed with the clouds and the air dropped a few degrees. I’m surprised that we even reached our 21C/71F today with the wind. Bill went down the lane to pick up large rocks to fill the holes at the gate area. It needs to be tidied up.

Just relaxing outside

Enjoying my view

Hibiscus bloom #2 with more
in the wings.

The Durham Fair is on this Labour Day weekend but I saw no evidence of it when I was in town. Mind you, I don’t drive near the fairgrounds either. Fairs, these days, are not my thing. Robin and I have set up a plan for my cleaning tomorrow and Monday and have decided on a rate of pay. We both seem happy with the outcome of that. She’s hoping for more bookings to keep coming in and I hope so too, I wish her nothing but success.

A tasty summery supper

For supper, Bill grilled sausages for supper and I fried leftover potatoes inside. I had, what else? Brussel sprouts and he had corn for a veggie. We’ve decided to host a fire tonight and at 4:45 the clouds vacated the sky completely! The wind should die down, as per usual, and it isn’t cooling off to less than 15C/59F overnight which hopefully makes for a nice evening.


I love this picture of Bill and Mike
They both look very relaxed.
They work together and have a good relationship.

There were 7 of us sitting around Bill’s fire, 8 including Gibbs. He doesn’t sit as much as wander until it gets dark and then he sticks closer to us. No ball throwing after darkness descends. This has been a good day. Supper was quite tasty, I sliced into a home grown tomato to add to my plate. Yummy. Donna, Gerry, Mike, Joanne, my niece, and Ted joined us around 7:15 and it was a pleasant visit, no skitters and not too chilly at all! The winds did not let up, however, so us gals had our necks covered. I hope your September is starting out well too!

A bit of pink sky

Gibbs finally settles down in the
warm glow of the fire light.

I'm not good at moon pictures, as you know,
but this was pretty the way it turned out.











A commenter asked about my toasted Western ingredients and all I basically add is eggs, cut up bacon, onions, green peppers, shredded cheese and sometimes mushrooms. It looks like an omelette but we eat it most often in a toasted sandwich. I’ll add black olives, tomatoes and sometimes zucchini to mine but Bill isn’t keen on those things. 😊

Everyone left around 10:30
and our fire was still blazing - safely contained.
good night!

Thank you for the visit!

 

Friday, September 1, 2023

A Day in the Life – of Riley?

The Ridge

On Friday, Sept. 1st, we began a new month but ended a busy week. Busy for a lot of folk, not necessarily for me although I wasn’t completely idle. 😊 Bill was up and out the door at 6:35 after we came down to say goodbye. Billy, Mike and Maverick picked him up at the end of the lane for their last day (fingers crossed) at the Barrie cottage. He’ll be back later, no sleepovers this trip.

Walking north past the church

Gibbs and I went for a walk down to the church, after I had my cup of tea. Tea gets me going in the morning but I also remember wanting to go for my walk ‘before’ having it. I guess I’m not quite so ambitious these days. I dressed in work attire and drove over to M’s for 10. We took a pre-long-weekend trip into town first, so he is well equipped until Tuesday, and then returned to the shop.

For the last hour and a half, I sanded more on the 1929 Ford. It sits outside so just bits of rust turn up here and there. He needs an extra bay to keep it in but until we know for sure what the owner (Wes, who is still in a coma) wants to do with it, M can’t take up one of his 2 bays for it to just sit there. It was 1 o’clock when I returned home to the Suite, dirty and hot. Before anything else, I hopped in a semi-cool shower.


My lunch was more of the same from yesterday, sauteed tomatoes, black olives, peppers, zucchini and onions on rye toast. Oh my, I’m lovin’ that! I’ve begun to have a small glass of milk with my lunch lately since I ran out of Calcium pills. Now that I’ve restocked, I realize that I enjoy the milk, I used to drink it all the time in my younger years. I cleaned up, unloading the dishwasher, and adding my dishes to it and then Gibbs and I went outside.

Today, is a beautiful day! With a high of 23C/73F, the lowest we’ll see in a number of days, the clear blue sky and light breeze makes it pretty much perfect. Gibbs had another episode with Chippy under the Suite again but this time, the little beggar ran into the tire covers. Gibbs would not give up until he saw him come out so I went to shoo him out. Turns out this is a wee one, just young, I think. Gibbs chased him and since it was slower than most, caught him in his mouth.

We all make concessions for those we love.
When I'm deep into my book, the pleading look in these
sweet eyes was enough to put the book down and
do as bidded (is that a word?)
I rubbed his belly. 

I commanded him to ‘drop it’, which he did, but I think the poor thing was panic-stricken and although he could still walk and run easily, didn’t know where to go. I tried to coax him out so I could get him to a safe place (away from Monster L J Gibbs) but had no success. I hope he leaves on his own so our protector doesn’t keep chasing him around under there. We came inside after 3:30 and since my book has me so enthralled, I continued reading it inside.

I’ve received a call from Robin, the air bnb/yard sale lady, and she’d like me to clean the air bnb Sunday afternoon. She’s had 2 interested clients already and is quite excited. They are on their way to Saskatchewan for the last time (she thinks) so is unable to clean it and remove used linens etc. herself. I don’t mind at all, it is good to get in there while the ‘chore tips’ are fresh in my mind. 😊 So, 3 part time jobs it is!

Sometimes this is okay, but I can't really
call it a burger without the soft D'Italiano bun.

Bill was home around 6:30 and even though I offered, he still barbecued our bacon cheeseburgers. Mine was in a tortilla wrap and although I really enjoyed the last one like that, tonight’s was just passable. I’ll have a bun next time. We finished the meal with ice cream. My longing for a cone has come to fruition while Bill had his in a dish with caramel sauce. He went to the Hangar after loading the dishes and Gibbs and I stayed inside. I may finish my book or watch tv, undecided.

Yum, a Chapman's Premium Caramel cone.

The sun is close to setting at 7:33 and it is a peaceful night. It was a great day! Happy September!

A drone shot from above in 2017.

A long ago memory of when Brenda and Randy
came to stay at the Ridge for a couple of nights.
This picture is dinner out at Kettle's.
A bit blurry, sadly.
Good night!

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