Another Bonus Day, I Took it Easy and Enjoyed It

The Ridge

On Monday, Apr. 27^th we were both up before 7:30. I know I slept better than the previous night but it’s funny how each time I rolled over, I was aware of my ‘weak-knee’ and moved carefully. Oh bother, Christopher Robin! Maybe it got tweaked at some point as I could feel discomfort deep inside the joint. It was another lovely morning, full sun and above freezing temperatures. Not a cloud to be seen.

Morning walks

First on the agenda was to take the garbage bag down as well as our paper recyclables. We could burn them but tend to only do that when it is personal stuff and we haven’t had the nicest days to have a fire going anyway. I offered to take them down but didn’t realize how heavy paper and cardboard can be! I dropped the garbage bag part way down and made two trips.

Baptist Church Road sightings

It was gorgeous out and I wished that I’d taken my phone and had my runners on. I would have carried on for my walk at that time. I came back and had a tea with Bill and did our online blog reading. After we finished, I went for my walk and Bill drove over to the Acreage (Black Beauty knows the way blindfolded by now) to get a bladder full of water. His job was to tackle our dump valve for the black tank. It hasn’t been ‘pullable’ for quite a while. He can tell that story but first he had to flush the tank.

No one is home
Looking down BCRd past the church

When I returned from the walk, we made a coffee, Bill had some toast and I took my book outside. As I opened the Bunky doors, I realized that I promised our winged friends that I would fill their feeders this morning. I filled the two and went on the hunt for my finch feeder since I had some of their seed left from last fall. While Bill worked, and with the birds happy, I did what I do best and sat in the sun. I’m at the point that I don’t want to put my book down.

Bill used extra gate pieces for a closure to the front field

I helped Bill a little bit but mostly took pictures for him so he could tell the story in his own blog. When he finished out there, I made our bacon and eggs for lunch. Since he was the one working today, I offered to clean up the dishes and sent him back outside to work in the Hangar/cargo trailer. By then, it was surprising how much of a difference the clouds made on the day.

And they were out in full force this morning

It was 1:30 and big cotton balls were moving in with a vengeance. The air and wind temp seemed to drop by huge degrees. I had to slip my vest back on to walk down and retrieve the blue recycle bin. 

Bill's corner and his return
from the Acreage this morning

 It wasn’t warm enough to just sit outside by then so I moved into the Bunky and worked on the puzzle for an hour, leaving just enough for one more day. I know we’ll be getting rain for the next 3 days at least so I’ll be inside again if that is the case. We do have plans to take a drive for some shopping tomorrow and that will be enough to keep us occupied.

It's a big deal when the grader goes by
Entertainment, you know

Bill texted me while I was in the Bunky that the grader was doing our road so I slipped out to take a picture – or two. 😊  When I walked down to see if the mail lady left us anything, I noticed the pile of gravel in the middle of North Line. 

I knew he wasn’t finished and captured him again from inside the Suite. It was 2:00 by then and I decided to stay inside for a bit and start my post for today.

Interesting how this sun reflection looks like a little sparkler
explosion

There were lots of turtles out sunning today and it looked like Mama had laid her eggs on that clump or was still trying. After about an hour, the clouds seemed to move off again and the sky was quite blue again. I love it when the sun dominates! 

Pop Goes the Daffodil!

So, I moved back outside and sat facing the sun reading. It felt so good on my face that I closed my book and closed my eyes for a few minutes. Bill came up from the Hangar around 4 and after checking a couple of things, moved inside.

Sanitation engineer

I came in soon after, although I could have stayed out longer, as I needed to make some hamburger patties for supper. We haven’t had a burger in a while and didn’t have any premade ones in the freezer. I hope these turn out okay. We waited until 5:30 to start grilling and I didn’t worry about anything on the side since we had dessert in the fridge to eat. Creamy Jell-o, pudding and whipped cream and cookies. I’m sure we’ll have enough to eat.

I emptied our seed bags today so I told these guys not to be pigs
They weren't, they were birds and chipmunks and the feeders
are almost empty

We were eating by 6:15 and dishes cleaned up by 6:45. As I was sitting in my recliner catching up on things, Bill called me to the back window. Mother AND Father Goose were out in the pond together. He was watching over her and presumably the nest as she bathed and made herself pretty. She must be preparing herself for the new babies. Oooh! I can’t wait! This is the couple from the east pond. The pictures aren’t great but now I think we have a clue where the nest is.

Quiet times on the Ridge are good times

Pussy willow tree and the sound of bees = spring

Supper was delicious, by the way. Homemade patties are as tasty as you make them but the unfortunate part is that mine always shrink up when cooked. I’m sure there is a trick but I won’t be making them often so it doesn’t matter too much. They were tasty! 

Sitting relaxing in the last few hours of today's sunshine

For dessert, we had creamy Jello with whipped cream and it was also a hit. It seems thicker this time again and not watery after sitting for the few days since I made it. Not sure what I’ve done differently but it works. 😊

The cattle across the road were trying to find something to eat
in the fields

We had some tv to watch but it didn’t start until 8. That meant I had more reading time while NCIS reruns were playing. It’s 7 pm and the sun isn’t quite ready to set yet so you may not get a picture tonight. This was another great day and yet I didn’t really do anything of importance.  We ended our evening by having a rum and coke together. I hope you had an enjoyable day too.

Mother Goose on the left in the pictures
Father Goose on the right
Both flying and Father G. resting while she went back to the nest
So cute
Good night everyone!

Thank you for your visit. Comments are always welcome.

Clouds Return, Spring Weather Stays

The Ridge

The weirdest thing happened to me around 3 am on Sunday, Apr. 26^th. In slumber, I had been curled up on my side for an unknown amount of time, knees up in front of me and I wanted to stretch my legs and roll over. My left leg would straighten only so far and I could feel that it was almost as if my knee bone was locked into position. What the heck??

The day started like this

Whenever I have felt a ‘crick’ in my knee any other time, I have been able to ease it out. No problem. This morning, I was afraid to force it as it felt like I would be forcing a bone in a direction that it wasn’t supposed to go. It was quite painful. I gently twisted and turned, rubbed my knee and only after 3 or 4 different positions was I able to stretch my leg and feel relief. It wasn’t muscle, it was bone. Once relieved, I was able to move both ways, curled up and straight out and dozed off again.

Looking back from Baptist Church Rd, across North Line
to our humble home

At 6:30 I woke and decided to get up and have a shower. It felt warm in the Suite so I knew that the temperatures had remained above the freezing mark as we’d hoped. Downstairs, our gauge read 7C/46F. It was a cloudy morning and we sat and had our morning brews together while reading blogs. It crossed my mind that maybe I dreamt that my knee acted up. There was no indication of the pain now. Weird.

This is west on North Line across B.C.Rd
looking back towards home

Bill thought it might be a good idea to take Black Beauty to the Acreage to run some water over her for a semi-bath so he left around 9 to do that. We could get rain today but until it does, we will just play it by ear. It isn’t supposed to be a wash out. When my tea was done, I went for my walk, leaving a note for Bill should he return while I’m gone. I walked in the direction that he’d be coming anyway, towards the north but only went as far as the ‘dog’ house and turned around.

Chives

one itty bitty bunch of rhubarb

Poppies pushing up through the mulch

Yay, the daffodils are popping

Another poppy

It was as I was retracing those steps that I felt a temporary ache in my knee bone. Aha! So, it was real! I had hoped that it was just a dream and I wouldn’t have to worry about it happening again. Now, I’m mindful of it trying to understand why. Yesterday on my walk, I was up and down into ditches, over hills and then up our own berm a few times, plus on my knees working in the garden patch. Could be that is all it was but still, an indication that these bones aren’t as young anymore as they used to be.

The evening primrose are the dark patches
here on the corral hill
I'm still trying to prevent grass from growing

 When Bill returned, he said he was able to wash B.B. a bit as Gerry had some soap in the shed. We chatted about his work in the cargo trailer and discussed paint colours. I decided this would be a good time to get the evening primrose planted before the rains over the coming week start. Before doing that, I called Patrick and it was great to talk to my son and catch up on what is going on in his world. Won’t it be nice when the Corona virus is not the hog of our conversations? I enjoyed that 30-minute chat very much and I walked down to tell Bill.

I was pretty much out of the wind here for a couple of hours

That was when his oldest daughter called and we chatted to her for a nice 20 minutes or so. It is great that now they are calling us too. 😊 Back inside, I made our bacon and eggs and then after dishes Bill went out again. I wrote some of this post and then joined him outside. He had gone down the lane to clean up the entrance gate to the front field. It has been out of commission with rusted barbed wire and damaged cedar rails.

The bunky puzzle

I walked down to see what he was up to and helped carry some of the rail pieces back for him to burn at the Hangar fire pit. I put on my work gloves and got my shovel (which ended up being too big for the job) and my hand prong rake, all ready to dig in the dirt. The winds had picked up so I had to put on a double layer, hoody and wind breaker and then I felt quite comfortable. There were about 7 or 8 little primrose plants in the bag and I found well-spaced plots for each one. I had to work around the plants that I planted last fall. On full sunny days, things should grow very well!

I put the rocks and paints away for the day

I decided that was enough work for the day. We have to pace ourselves; you know. I told Bill that I was going to paint rocks. I’m not sure what he thinks of my hobby but he at least knows that I am happy, having fun and staying out of his hair. Ha ha, just kidding – yet, not. The winds weren’t exactly cold, and it was a warm enough day at 13C/56F but the gusts made it feel cooler. The sun would poke a ray out once in a while but not enough to make a significant difference.

Despite the winds, I moved the patio table over to the south (front) of the Bunky and set up my paints and rocks. I turned the radio on inside and left the door open in case I needed to move inside because of rain. I puttered away for a couple of hours and when it got too cool and gusty, I put things in on the futon and worked on the puzzle in there for 15 or 20 minutes. Bill came up and indicated that he was moving inside the Suite so I joined him soon after. It was 3:00, tea time!

Supper was good

Right to the delicious end

In our chairs, 'someone' slept beside me so I wasn’t the only one who didn’t sleep well. I’ll wait and probably fall asleep in my chair after supper or at the very least have a great sleep tonight. I hope. I read quite a few chapters in my book and I’m enjoying Memory Man very much. 

I went up on the hill to take a peek at the pond
from that angle to try and find the hidden Mama Goose on her nest

This is the most logical spot but I can't see her in here

But beside that clump, another turtle sunning

At 5:30, I started frying 2 pollock loins on one burner on the stove and hash browns on another. With mixed vegetables in the microwave, it was a very filling meal without being too much. We finished the last two pieces of carrot cake that I warmed up in the oven as well.

Our muskrat scoots across my camera's eye
sorry for the blur, he moves quick!

Papa Goose sleeps and doesn't know I'm watching

After dishes, we sat and watched the CTV news, weather and then the 90-minute special Stronger Together put on by Canadian celebrities in support of Food Banks Canada during the pandemic. We are enjoying it very much. 

Another very cool tree
This one is almost completely hollow

From up in the southeast corner (where the sun rises) here
is a different view of our site

This was a great day and it is quite a lovely evening. At 7:30 we are experiencing a warm 10C/53F and a beautiful sun pushed the clouds out of the way so it could make a proud descent.

We didn't see the sun today but it came for the evening

And hung around until setting time
Good night!

Thank you for popping in to see how we’re doing! Take care and stay well!