A few quiet days at Buttercup Ridge....

 

 

Our Location: 

Buttercup Ridge, Roseneath, Ontario

 

The past few days have been quiet and peaceful, a little rain and then a lot of rain yesterday. However I have managed to do some raking and while I'm not finished, it's a good start. Yesterday was a busy day for me, Judi and I tackled the garage, quite by accident, but after a couple of hours we were finished and with Dennis' truck (we had to push it out, dead battery, glad it's a stick) out of the garage, and with everything cleaned up Judi can now put her gym in that space. We spent some time getting out the summer furniture, planters and lanterns, etc. Winnie of course was ever present with her ball wanting someone to toss it. Riley obliged in between laundry loads, and Winnie was excited to see Riley each time she stepped out of the house or the Igloo. 

 

 

The outside fire place here at Buttercup Ridge.

The pizza oven was covered for the winter.

Tulips in the front yard at the base of two black walnut trees.

The driveway needs some attention, it was a tough winter with no real frost.

We headed into Cobourg shortly after 5 pm to meet daughter Courtney at the Via Rail Train station, the train was delayed and didn't arrive until around 6:40 instead of the 6:10 originally planned. We headed out to The Ale House, a local pub, for some food. It wasn't the greatest but it wasn't bad. We managed to chat during the entire meal and get caught up on a lot of things. A brief stop at the Igloo for an hour or so and then into the house to meet Judi and Winnie as well as a brief visit before C, R and I came back to the Igloo for a while. Courtney headed off to the house for the night and will catch up with us this morning. We will deliver her back to the train station some time today for her return to Toronto. 

 

A bit better view of the backyard kitchen. There is a big Weber, sink and fridge under the tarp.

 

Some turkey vultures on the barn roof.

A quiet place to rest and overlook the fields.

 

This morning is foggy and a very heavy dew.  The sun is trying to come out and is burning the fog off quickly as you can see in the photos. I hope you enjoy them. 

 

Meet Winnie, she's 8 years old and loves to chase balls.

 

The fog was dense when I opened the curtains around 6.

 

And started burning off quickly.

Until next time....

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

 

Errands again.....

Our Location: Buttercup Ridge, Roseneath, Ontario

The last couple of days have been cold, windy and wet. However I am certain better things lie ahead. After all it is almost the end of April and spring is here, so it will get better soon. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it folks. 

On the nearby Reservation. Not sure what the drive thru is for though.

The last couple of days have been errand days with a number of things getting accomplished. Tuesday had us doing errands in Cobourg. A visit to Staples to have something printed, a visit to Bill Spencer Chevrolet Dealership for the oil issue with the truck and of course groceries at Walmart. We left the city of Cobourg with printed paper in hand, a few groceries and of course an appointment for Wednesday at 4 pm for the Dogsled's oil issue. This is the same dealership I visited last fall for this vary same oil issue. They also repaired the chewed wires.

We are staying near this little town of Roseneath.

Back home we puttered around and did a few more little chores inside but noticed the sharp increase in wind outside. As we are nestled among some very nice pines and a row of cedars we have been pretty shielded from the light breezes. However with wind gusts in the  30 mph/50 km range I was a little worried about those very same trees. As the night grew darker the wind seemed to pick up more and the gusts were longer in duration. We pulled in the slides and moved into the house for the night. 

Some of our views today as we drove the back roads to a couple of errands.

Morning found us with windy conditions but not as windy as the night before. First thing I did was to look out the window, the Igloo & Dogsled waited patiently for us, in the same conditions as the night before. Good to know. With all the rain I was worried the pines may not be able to keep a firm grip in the ground and come toppling down, but it seems I worried for nothing. 

You can see the dull kind of sky we've been having for a while now.

  Wednesday found us once again under over cast skies but not as foreboding as the day before. Morning routines accomplished we loaded up two propane tanks and headed off to the northeast town of Hastings. There is a fuel station that fills tanks and exchanges smaller tanks. I opted to have both filled instead of an exchange just for future reference. I find that the filled tanks do not last as long here in Ontario since they don't bleed the air out of the tank. Exchange tanks usually last a lot longer. However exchanging the bigger tanks is hard to do in all areas. To fill both tanks cost me $52. 59. They charge by the gallon and it was a dollar a gallon. 

The rolling hills offer a good view of the country side.

  
 From Hastings we headed a bit south but mostly east to the town of Campbellford, Ontario. We wanted to go to the G.T. Boutique (Giant Tiger) for the sale they had but alas it was the first day of a new sale instead. Most places the sales start on Thursday, but not there. I looked at the flyers and thought I'd made certain of the sale dates but I guess I missed that one. Oh well, we were in the area anyway. A cute little place for certain, and we even found a No Frills (grocery store) to pick up a few items that we needed. 

Interesting shop in small town Ontario.

 

A sticker shock for us is the price of celery here in Ontario, coming in at $4.95 in all of the grocery stores we've been to in the last few days. Green onions also a shocker at $1.75 for three bunches. I haven't looked at the chicken or turkey yet but I will in the next few weeks. Eggs are approx $2 - 2.50  per dozen.  Milk was also a lot higher in price although at this moment the Ontario price alludes my mind. We needed milk when we arrived in Brantford and I remember being shocked by the price. 

 

Main Street in Campbellford, Ontario.

 

After the quick stop at Campbellford we once again turned our nose for home near Roseneath. We took the country circle tour and included the small town of Warkworth on our site seeing drive. The country side is getting ready to spring into spring, the red haze as you look over the vast stretch of rolling countryside is easy to see. The tulips and daffodils  are starting to show themselves now and the buds on the trees are beginning to appear. Yeah!!!

I'm not sure of the name of this river but it runs through Campbellford. 

 

Back home I chatted with Tammy as she was cleaning up the main flower bed around the house. We met last fall while she was getting the flower beds ready for winter. She is a super nice lady. We also had a quick visit with Alma, she is the part time housekeeper here at Buttercup Ridge. During the winter months she comes by once a week to check on things, collect the mail, etc. She dropped by to ensure all was well. 

 

Approaching the small town of Warkworth.

 By 3:20 pm I was out the door heading for Spencer Chevrolet Dealership in Cobourg once again. Long story short, they think the folks that did the warranty work in Sierra Vista, Arizona didn't put the filter on quite tight enough, or perhaps the Dogsled is just using more oil while it tows. According to Jackie, lady service rep at the dealership it's common for 'newer' trucks to use more oil while towing in hot conditions. I explained it wasn't hot in the desert over the winter but she insisted it's hotter than here. A losing battle and I wasn't going to argue with her, it would not get me anywhere.  I find either of those things a bit too tough to swallow but we shall see how things go over the next few months. The oil was right on the money from the last oil change in Ohio. I have documented proof of that as they put us up on the rack to check out any possible leak. The area around the filter was wettish but not evident of a leak. Which is why the dealership here pushed it off to the dealership in Sierra Vista as not having seated the filter properly. Ah isn't this fun? Even though the warranty is over Jackie seems to think as it's an on going issue with documented proof that if there is still an issue GM might step up and do the right thing. We shall have to wait and see.

 

Yep, that's the name Warkworth.

 

Back home by 5:30 pm we spent a bit of time enjoying a movie before I called my dad to check on conditions back on the Big Rock in the middle of Georgian Bay. Still some snow in shady places, still some very cool overnights, down to around the freezing mark, a degree or two either way. Lots of water around in a few places as well, although the flooding seems to be receding. We can probably reach our summer spot without any trouble. Still cold winds in the day time but like here when the sun shines it's a wonderful day. I think we'll be here at Buttercup Ridge for another 4 or 5 days before we head out toward home. 

 

I think he's been there a while.

 

So that was our busy couple of days. I know I should have broken this into two posts, but oh well, I didn't. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have had a wonderful couple of days. 

 

It has the Mercedes star on the front.

 Until next time... take care, be safe, 

 

Deb

 

 

 

 

Oil leak fixed, warranty issue resolved.......

Our Location:  Quail Ridge Rv Park, Hauchua City, Arizona


A quiet night, nice for sleeping and I had a good night’s sleep. I was awake around 5:30 AM but didn’t get out of bed until around 7 AM. A morning appointment at Lawley Chevy Dealership for 8:30 AM in Sierra Vista had me out the door a few minutes before 8 AM.

I arrived at the dealership a little before my appointment and checked in telling the gentlem en behind the service desk if it wasn’t covered under warranty then they were to do nothing. I knew it would qualify but didn’t want any surprises. I settled down to wait until they had a clear picture of the issue. I was there about an hour before the service guy comes to me saying there is a problem with the warranty. Hmmmm…..okay I’m listening.

Do you recall when I took the Dogsled to Spenser Chevy in Cobourg, Ontario? The power train warranty is good for 5 years (which I found out today ends on Dec 5, 2018) or 100,000 MILES. In Cobourg the Dogsled read 88 thousand and some odd MILES (as it’s an American truck), that was on the first line of the paper in hand and the second line read something like: change US MILES to Canadian  MILES with a number of 135 thousand and some change MILES not KILOMETERS. According to the fellows at Lawley that voided the warranty. I explained that it was a typo, obviously because Canada does not use miles but kilometers. If they did the math they would know the mileage was in Kilometers as the numbers were right on for the conversion. I also pointed out that current odometer reading on the Dogsled was 91 thousand and change MILES. The evidence would be pretty over whelming that the warranty would still be valid. However with the printed word MILES and the number being 135 thousand these fellas felt it voided the warranty. They told me to take it back to Spenser in Cobourg and have them do it as it was their mistake. I explained that it was 2000 MILES away and I wasn’t returning to Canada until April at which times the warranty would be void.  The fellow at Lawley shook his head and said, but the warranty is void due to this printout. So I asked him if I was supposed to be penalized for a typo at a dealership thousands of miles away? Was I supposed to pay from my own pocket the price of this warranty repair due to an error by someone else when Lawley has proof of the mileage by looking at the odometer in the truck? He said he’s be back.

I can tell you I wasn’t too happy. A lady sitting beside me was shocked at what she’d over heard. I think she was more upset than I was at that point. At this point I wasn’t overly concerned but was getting myself ready for an argument with management and/or perhaps Chevrolet warranty department itself. The service guy returned with some interesting news. They would do the work as  warranty work but would send the bill to Spenser Chevrolet in Cobourg as it was their mistake. Spenser Chevrolet can then work it out with someone else. That worked for me just fine. I paid less than $25 US for a new oil filter as they had to replace the oil anyway and so an oil change was accomplished at the same time.

Out the door around 12:30 PM and headed home with the oil leak issue resolved and an oil change. I can tell you I was happy to be out of there and on my way home. The rest of the day was spent puttering around and watching a bit of tv. It was a good wind down from the morning.  Tomorrow will be a day of being out and doing something touristy.

Calls to brother Rick and his lovely wife Barb tonight filled me in on the medical issue. The smaller of two bones in Rick’s leg is broken just above the ankle. The specialist today semi casted it and wrapped it with a tensor bandage so it can be adjusted due to the amount of swelling. They will see him in 3 weeks when the swelling goes down before they decide what to do with it. So we will have to wait to see how it goes. A chat with Dad tonight as well, things are going pretty well for him. He’s staying out of trouble and keeping himself busy. Always a plus, don’t you think? Talked to daughter Bradey’s answering machine tonight.

Sorry no pictures tonight, didn’t take the camera with me. Thanks for stopping by, I hope your day was spectacular where ever you may be.

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

A few leisurely days....

Our Location: Buttercup Ridge, Roseneath, Ontario

A very nice few days here at Buttercup Ridge. Warm sunshine, and a nice warm breeze from the south helped to make things quite nice here. The mud is drying up, the flowers are starting to show promise of blooms and of course the buds are beginning to appear on some of the trees near by. 

Tulips just scream SPRING.

We've been having the big door open most days for a while, windows as well, even the vents open at night. The frogs are close and very vocal, as well as chipmunks, squirrels, birds and various other forms of life. The odd moo of a cow, the honking of geese, while the gobble of the wild turkeys hasn't been heard they are around. Some deer are also lurking as I've noticed some of the tulip blooms have been eaten off and I doubt that was anything else. I don't have a picture but I'll get some before we leave of a number of  the new calves which have been born here at Buttercup Ridge. According to Mike there are 16 new calves already, and I witnessed a 2 day old calf kicking his heels and testing his wobbly legs as we chatted.

Buds are coming slowly.

Yesterday (Wednesday) we headed out for a couple of errands and managed to accomplish most of them. One more will have to wait until we arrive in Sudbury I think. We left Buttercup Ridge and ventured along County Rd 29, crossing over County Rd 45 where we settled down for a few miles on County Rd 9 in a westerly direction. We turned North on County Rd 15 (the little subdivision) toward the small hamlet of Harwood. It's a very small little bump in the road but it has an amazing feature. Free (donations welcome) water from an Artesian well or an aquifer that runs all the time. The water is amazingly cool and crisp. We will return before we leave the area to fill all of our drinking jugs. It's a mere 10 minutes from Buttercup Ridge. 

Just one of the  many statues here at Buttercup Ridge.

Leaving Harwood we retraced our steps to County Rd 9, again turned west, until we met up with County Rd 18, which we took south all the way to Cobourg and the local Walmart. We've shopped here before and so knew where we were heading. It's a bit more straight forward than coming down County Rd 45 which would make us wind our way through the city of Cobourg. 

I was quite far away and couldn't really tell what that was as it was just getting to be dusk.

We managed to get just about everything on the grocery list, which of course mostly consisted of fresh veggies and some juices. We also managed to exchange one of our small BBQ tanks, $24 CAD which seems to be the consistent price range here in Ontario. Our next stop was the Bulk Barn for some sea salt which we prefer instead of fine table salt, we use our little salt and pepper grinders to provide a fresher flavour for us. After that it was a stop at Petro Canada Gas Station (the only one in the area unless I venture further into Cobourg) to top up the Big Dog's drinking bowl. Diesel prices are high at $1.28 per liter which works out to be about $5.12 a US gallon.(There is approx 4 liters to the US Gallon) But surprisingly much less than even the lowest gasoline prices at the pumps there which started at $1.36 per liter which works out to be $5.44 a US gallon and continued to climb in 10 cent increments. After that it was home once again to Buttercup Ridge. 

Then he turned around and I could see his charming face.

The last few days have had us outside doing a few odd things, raking, puttering, etc. A quick chat with Mike (his cow's we hear mooing on occasion) had it decided that no more raking will be taking place as he assured me that his mower will mulch all the branches and sticks down on the lawn now that I've moved the big limbs over to the large pile by the barn. Any piles I make he'll have to clean up and he would rather not do it that way. So I'll have to find something else to putter at for the next few days. 

Very blurry but this guy was big and fast.

The other evening I went out to get a few pictures and noticed something by the pond. Heading that way I couldn't really tell what it was but once it turned around I knew it was a raccoon. It is the biggest coon I've ever seen in my life. This thing was huge. He took off running as I went nearer and while the pictures aren't the best I think it gives an indication of what a constant diet of corn will do for a raccoon that lives in the barn here at Buttercup Ridge. As that's where he made his get away dash for, the open areas that allow them access to the hay loft. 

He's under the hay wagon turning the corner to head back toward the barn. That's a regular sized hay wagon and look how little space there is above him to the bottom of the frame.

We've been catching a few episodes of our boxed set of Hawaii 5-0 as well as reading and getting a few walks in up and down the driveway. Today however we will be Igloo bound off and on as the rain falls outside, stops and starts again. The temperatures are still warm, 57F/ 13.8C over night with yesterdays high temperature reaching 69F/20.5C. I'm sure today won't reach that high but it's still a sign that spring is coming. Yeah!!!!!

I was more interested in the geese than the foliage or lack of it in the back ground but as you can see there is no hint of any colour yet.

So there you have it, our few days of leisure here at Buttercup Ridge. Amazing how the time is slipping past. We have only 4 more days here before we head to Peterborough for a stop at Kal Tire for tires, and then a bit west before turning our noses northward again. We'll take a few days to reach our Island destination as we have a thing or two to accomplish before leaving the Sudbury/Lively area. 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

Until next time.... take care, be safe, 

Deb 

Arrived at Buttercup Ridge today....

Our Location: Buttercup Ridge, Roseneath, Ontario

 (MOST of tonight's pictures were taken yesterday)

We arrived here at Buttercup Ridge right around 8:30 am this morning, only a short jaunt from the ONRoute in Port Hope. The temperatures are hovering right at the freezing mark and as long as the sun stays out it warms up about 4 or 5 degrees, but if the sun slips back behind the clouds it drops back to around the freezing mark. The problem is it's pretty cloudy, so we're not seeing a lot of sun. 

Toronto is always busy these days, no longer is it just rush hour that is crazy busy.

The overnight at the ONRoute was cool but not cold. We slept well and under the many blankets we were toasty. Even HRH Miss Kitty was happy to be nearby but not under the covers. She doesn't like being under any blanket. We left the ONRoute right about 7:30 am, so not bad in the way of getting to where we want to be. 

Interesting looking buildings, don't you think?

The driveway has been plowed of course, but it's terribly rough and bumpy, we also needed to use 4x4 to get us up the hill at the beginning of the drive. Some pretty ugly spots and some pretty soft spots too. We managed to make it to the house and get up into the circular drive this time. Last fall we parked out by the barn and on nice days that's nice, but in the wind, it's brutal. It comes from across the fields and hits us broad side, so we opted to park closer to the house. We are literally just off the cement at the garage door. We ran a cord from the garage to hook in and give us use of our furnace for a few days without worrying about the solar panels not producing enough in this weather. 

Welcome to the 401 East bound.

I called my dad to let him know we've arrived, he was happy to hear from us. Cold there too, cold here and I think just cold everywhere. Things are starting to ache much more intensely today as I think I stood too long on the cold wet pavement last night. So I'll probably be taking some extra meds and having a nap this afternoon to help get past the worst of it. However we shall see. 

The Collectors lanes over there were often stop and go, while we in the Express lanes just kept crawling along.

I've kind of caught up on Facebook and my email but not my blog reading yet, although I did manage to answer all comments on my last few posts. With the internet connection so slow in Hamilton it was difficult to even do that much unless I was up early. Here at Buttercup Ridge we have much faster service, and we don't even have the booster on. So we are very happy!!! 

The skyline often looks familiar in most cities, I think. Unless one sees a major 'famous' building, arch, etc, all cities pretty much look like each other.

The temperature as I write this at noon is 38F/3.3C and dropping as the sun is behind a cloud. A somewhat strong gusty North, Northwest wind is not helping with the temperatures at all. We need some of that desert warmth right about now and to think we were too hot in Borrego Springs. Never satisfied are we?
 

We are getting closer to being out of Toronto. Traffic is much lighter here.

I had a nice nap this afternoon, seemed to help alleviate some of my issues, along with a bit of anti inflammatory medication. So I can say that my afternoon was pretty quiet. Riley and I decided we'd do a little tv watching, we have the series Hawaii 5-0 on DVD and are currently just finished disc 3. We still haven't found season 5, so we have just 1- 4. We're hoping to find the next seasons also bundled. We'll see how it goes. 
 

Double decker Go Bus passes us as we leave Toronto and head toward Ajax and Oshawa.  Two GO trains were also running along on the tracks to the south of the highway.

 Sister in law Janet called and we chatted for about a half hour. They are still in Indian Wells, CA enjoying the weather and golf. She and Dennis are both very avid golfers. Janet is very good, and very serious about her game, Dennis plays drop and giggle golf as she calls it. Nothing too serious about his game. They are the proud owners of Buttercup Ridge. They won't be returning until May 10. She found it hard to believe that there is snow here at the farm and thought we should stay in the house instead of the Igloo. I assured her we were very appreciative of the thought but the Igloo keeps up pretty warm and with being able to plug in we can use the furnace to help keep us warmer. Looks like Tuesday is the last unspring like day here. After that it will warm up and hopefully usher in spring. 
 

This old car went past us on the 401 East bound.  It looks to be in great shape but the back window was missing.

So as evening falls here the wind is still gusty at times, it's still around the freezing mark and will drop a few degrees below tonight. Tomorrow will be more of the same, as will the next few days. Although  we'll be busy on the weekend visiting with Courtney and Matt as they will arrive tomorrow for a visit, so hopefully we won't notice the less than wonderful weather. We will be using the house for that visit, but Riley and I will be sleeping in the Igloo. I'm excited about the visit. We haven't seen Courtney and Matt for some time. 

I'm not sure but I think this might be a BBQ place, its on Highway 45 near Cobourg.  We pass this on the way to Buttercup Ridge.

That was our day. We've arrived, set up and are enjoying ourselves very much. Feels like home! Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to drop a comment, I appreciate them all. Readers only are welcome too. 

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

Deb