An Interesting Morning, A Year Older

The Ridge

It was 6:15 when I first woke up on the first day of Fall, Wednesday, Sept. 23rd. It was also the first day of my 72nd year on the face of the earth. Yup, getting up there but at least I don't feel any different. A friend of ours celebrates the same day and when we discovered he is 49 (!!), I thought 'oh how young!' Happy Birthday, Kenny!

Good morning!
This is not Kenny's but my
 birthday gift from Bill.
Not romantic? Maybe but who
says a bday gift has to be?
I love it!
Self-propelled and ready for spring.

Bill left around 7:15 right in the middle of a lovely phone call from my daughter. Bridgette takes advantage of her hour long drive to work, puts me on speaker phone (or bluetooth) and we chat away about 25 minutes of her drive. It is always nice to catch up.

Who's been sleeping in our bed?
One guess. I made it and Gibbs got
playful. LOL

I got washed, dressed and at 8:15 drove in to Durham. On the way, I stopped at Robins, left her a couple of beefsteak tomatoes from Donna and picked up the key to her town bnb. She was busy and Eastlink was going to install internet this morning. I only had to let them in and wait.

Because they give you a 4 hour grace period, I went for 8:30. I can't say enough about Robin and her talent with decorating these homes. The place looks amazing! A small space but everything guests would need and no clutter. 

As her bnb got closer to completion,
I gave her this project that I showed you
a while ago. It didn't win but an
'honourable mention' at the fair,
but Robin absolutely loved it!

I took some quilling supplies along and set up at the kitchen table. Within an hour, the technicial arrived and was there for an hour. I was quite comfortable so I stayed put for another hour and finished a greeting card. After leaving there, I drove down the block to Pat's home.

Not a great picture, but the tree
near Eckhardts is slowly changing
its dress.

I dropped a few items of clothing (that got into my bag on Sunday) for her, drove to the I.D.A. for more Aerius (for Gibbs) and scooted back to Robin's to drop off the key. From our cleanup of the shed, Bill had a Genie shop vac with no hoses to get rid of, I had some old candles and we had 3 fuel cans for sale.

Janill was more than pleased to get
this shop vac - even without hoses.
0$

Yesterday, I had posted all 3, only asking for cash for the cans. I got a serious text from a nice young man (2nd response) so met him back in Durham at the Credit Union parking lot to get the shop vac. Such a pleasant, respectable guy and he was thrilled with the 'gift'.

This was the biggest plant
for Robin. Beautiful!

On my way home, I stopped again at Robin's to tell her about the Eastlink install and to let her know that Bill was picking up Diefenbacia plants from Donna for her and bringing them today. Robin loves loves loves (& loves) plants so was very excited to get them.

Donna/Gerry sent bill home with
more tomatoes.
I'll have to eat them faster!

I followed Bill home from there and made myself a cup of tea. He and Gibbs had a snooze and set up my birthday cards. Some people, besides me, still mail greeting cards and I still enjoy opening them. I think my close friends and family deserve the cost of a stamp. 💖

Another card was waiting in the mailbox
for me today. 

When I arrived at the bnb, there was a vase of fresh flowers, a homemade pineapple upside down cake from Robin and a card from Mildred. (🤭) 

This was a total surprise!
I didn't even know Robin knew it
was my birthday.
Mildred must have told her.
💕

I'm meeting someone tomorrow in Priceville for the gas cans. At $5 each, they are getting a real deal but Bill doesn't like the cap assembly.  

They took up room we could use.

For supper, we've planned fish and chips/onion rings. It was delicious! We cleaned up the dishes and relaxed for the evening. 

This birthday supper suited me just fine!

It has been a great day and I was happy to have Bill home early on my birthday. We had a slice of my pb/chocolate loaf but it wasn't anywhere as good as that cake! I am disappointed in the taste of the loaf.

Ann brought us eggs and a zucchini
as a thank you for printing Evelyn's documents.

Bill still had lunch made from today so Gibbs got a slice of bologna from the boys at the field instead of cheese. Those boys love the little guy. Ann and her daughter, Evelyn, from next door brought us a dozen eggs and a zucchini for printing off a couple of documents for them. Not necessary but nice!

We sent Ann home with this chicken wire
that we will never use.
She will!

We reached a mild high of 18.33C/65F today under clear sunny skies. Not a bad start to fall. I hope you had a good one too.

Pat's hubby, Rob, and I had an
ongoing joke about rolling pins.
He always hinted at me making him a pie.
Robin decorated her bnb kitchen
with this display. I think Rob had
a hand in that decision!
💕
Good night!

Thank you for the visit.

Some Paid and Some Unpaid Work

The Ridge

On Tuesday, Sept. 22nd it was not only a busy day but also the last full day (almost) of summer 2026. Wow! Where did it go? We've had some different weather for sure. 

Good morning!
This was last night's sunset sky.

Hot, wet, dry and cool but the good thing from our vantage point is that we didn't have any nasty storms up here to send us rushing off to the neighbours. Bill was up and on his way to work by 6:30. I got up to say goodbye and made my own way to Durham after sitting with Gibbs until 7. 

This morning was a different
story.
Frost on the 'pumpkin'?

The Mat was empty the whole time for which I was grateful. I had to test one machine and run another that was very dirty.  Then when I discovered one had been repaired but the sign not removed, I dropped in $4 to test it. There was a lot of soap powder in it and boy did I pay for that move! LOL

When I prepared to leave the
Ridge, this was picture worthy.

I had to wait for it to finish, 15 minutes after I was done cleaning and then it took another 15 minutes to clean up the mess. Oh brother! What a mess! I went back to the record book where I record my hours and added 30 minutes more for today. 

I knew I was in trouble so got the
bucket ready.

When I left, the floor was doubly clean as I made use of the extra soap in the mop bucket. 🤭 I came straight home and hung out with Gibbs inside. It's another cool day and I had to wait for the light frost on my windshield to clear before I left the Ridge. It's too soon! Goodbye, summer! 🥺

On the left, I had to get the bigger
mop pail out.
On the right, the drain in the maintenance
room was slow and took forever to
disolve the soap.

The sky was clear though and our 4C/39F was forecasted to change under the sunny skies by mid afternoon. And it did. Gibbs and I walked down to the garbage bin at the gate and dropped a couple of bags and old garden hose from the shed in. On the way back, Bill pulled in. Gibbs was quite excited.

He loves rolling in the grass.
All the places he's left his mark.

I'd eaten my lunch, a warm tortilla wrap with some leftover taco fixings. Yum, it was so messy but so good! I loved the sunshine but the wind was still quite chilly so put on my windbreaker and went out to fill my 3 garden bins. It doesn't take long once I start.

If I do it now, I will have more free time this and next week to make more greeting cards for the show. 🤷‍♀️Bill stayed out once he changed and started the chain saw. We have more of the apple trees that we want to chop down and relieve ourselves of a mess each summer.

Today's pond picture

Once he started cutting, and once I finished my job, I joined him in using the clippers to shorten the branches. We have Robin and Andrew's dump trailer here so were happy to make use of it again. We worked until 5 and the trailer was full. 

I should have taken a full picture before
he cut these 3 trees down.
The light coloured leaves at the top of the tree
on the left is that invasive ivy (?) vine so
I'm very glad the tree is going.

There is enough for another load once this is dumped. Robin needs me in the morning so maybe tomorrow afternoon I'll paint the cut off tree trunks to discourage any new growth and maybe get at another of the gardens. We'll see. 

One load, well tamped down.

For supper, I first thought burgers but at 4, when I came in to make a tea, I discovered none in the freezer. Woops! Bill finished them last week when he was 'baching' it. He suggested hot dogs instead and that worked for me. We have those!

Bill and I tasted the end
piece and with butter, it
is quite good.

This morning I made a peanut butter/chocolate swirl loaf. It looks great, baked in our new oven. 🥰 Supper was good. Bill had 2 hot dogs and I had 1 with the last of the macaroni. There was enough ice cream for Bill to finish the carton too. I can see a grocery day in my near future. 🤔

My boys have a snooze before supper.
💕💕

We cleaned up the dishes, loaded the dishwasher and Bill made his lunch. The wind has died down and the sky is still clear so it will be another cool night as we greet fall. Not as cool as last night though, a few degrees warmer, in fact. The week looks great with sunny skies and warming temps.

Good night!

This was a busy day, we made a huge dent in more clean up, and pack up. 

Thank you for stopping by.