Monday:: With a warm front moving through the area, it created a bit of fog in the air, but not a thick pea souper. Sunday's rain left my gravel walking road a touch muddy, but nothing to be concerned about as I hoofed my quarter mile north up the road and then back to the car again. With a light mist still hanging silently in the air I decided to head home and not take a short drive around the countryside.
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| ON THE WAY TO MY WALKING ROAD |
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| IT LOOKS LIKE I'LL BE WALKING IN A SLIGHT MIST THIS MORNING |
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| A COLORFUL FARM LANE WITH A CHILDREN'S SCHOOL BUS SHELTER TO KEEP THEM DRY ON RAINY DAYS WHEN WAITING FOR THE SCHOOL BUS |
With the biggest part of Autumn's pine needle drop over, I decided to do another raking and then hook up the utility trailer and haul my half trailer load of needles to the Park's recycling area. That done and back home, I headed inside to a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner where Woodsy had been busy in the kitchen cooking up a complete Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixins. The kitchen was smelling wonderful. We had decided to eat early and then get ourselves outside under the early afternoon's clearing skies. It had turned into such a beautiful October Thanksgiving day with temperatures pushing past 70F. |
| ANOTHER WHEELBARROW LOAD OF PINE NEEDLES FOR THE UTILITY TRAILER |
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| OUR PARKS RECYCLING AREA IS ALWAYS A COLORFUL PLACE EACH YEAR AT THIS TIME |
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| WOODSY FIXED UP A THANKSGIVING DINNER FOR OUR NEIGHBOR MOONICA PLUS A FEW EXTRA THINGS, SO SHE FIGURED THE BEST WAY TO TAKE IT ALL OVER WAS BY WHEELBARROW |
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| LOTS OF LITTLE YUMMIES AND GOODIES THERE |
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| AND, THAR SHE GOES TO MONICA'S HOUSE |
It was late afternoon when we headed off to Goderich to pick up a few things at Walmart and then head on down to the harbor and beach areas. The sun was close to setting when we drove out to Rotary Cove. We tried taking a walk, but the wind coming in off the water almost blew little Woodsy upside down, so it was back into the car and off to Bayfield we went.
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| GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE AT TWILIGHT |
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| FLOWERS GROWING IN THE LAKESHORE ROCKS AND BOULDERS |
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| A FLOTILLA OF SMALL DUCKS PADDLING SINGLE FILE ACROSS LAKE HURON'S INCOMING WAVES |
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| A PASSING GULL |
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| TWILIGHT IS ALWAYS A ROMANTIC TIME FOR COUPLES TAKING PHOTOS |
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| ALONE WITH HER THOUGHTS AT DAY'S END |
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| WOODSY TAKES IN THE SUNSET |
Arriving back in Bayfield Monday evening, there was hardly any traffic or people anywhere as we first headed down to Bayfield's beach and then back up into Bayfield for a drive along Main Street. Of course we stopped at Rosie's Ice Cream Shoppe, and did you know they have sugar-free ice cream? Yup they do, so we picked up a couple kiddie cones before heading home on a beautiful warm October night. I was reminded yet again how fortunate we are to live here where we do in this peaceful, slower-paced area on the tranquil shores of the third largest body of fresh water in the world. I am talking about Lake Huron of course. And, speaking of Lake Huron, did you know it has an average depth of 195 feet with a maximum depth of 750 feet, with a surface area of 23,000 square miles. I'm sure everybody needed to know that.........:))
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| TO LATE FOR THE SUNSET AT BAYFIELD'S BEACH, I DID SPOT THIS RARE CLOUD EAGLE |
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| PULLING INTO ROSIE'S BESIDE A BIG BLACK PICK-UP TRUCK, I GLANCED OVER AND SAW THIS GUY STARING AT ME.... I BLEW HIM A SMOOCH |
Tuesday:: On my walk this morning, it felt like it could have easily been one of the ten best weather days of the year so far. By 10 a.m., it was 70F with a warm breeze wafting up from the southwest. We eventually reached 77F and weather records were broken for this day. Bush lines are finally beginning to take on some color, and I was once again accompanied on my walk by a few Sulphur butterflies. Wispy clouds in a deep blue early Autumn sky. A lot of inside puttering for Woodsy today and a lot of outside puttering for me. With the weather being so beautiful this afternoon, we saddled up the E-bikes and headed east down Bayfield River around two o'clock. A left turn onto Tipperary Line took us north to Bayfield Road (highway to Clinton), whereupon we reversed our course and bucked a strong headwind when reaching Bayfield River Road heading west. Not one of our longest rides, but we both could feel it in our legs by the time we got home. |
| LOOKING GOOFIER THAN USUAL, I DECIDED TO INCLUDE THIS SELFIE OF OUR BIKE RIDE ANYWAY |
It is that time of year again when field mice begin looking for a warm and cozy place to spend the winter. My house is always on their destination list, and this year again was no exception. Signs of the little critters began surfacing a while back. The sounds of little feet scurrying about in the night across floors or inside walls, droppings here and there, and the disappearance of peanuts (for the chipmunks) after a hole was discovered chewed through a large 2kg bag of peanuts. Yes, the home invasion was on, and the point was quickly reached where we had to do something about it. I do not have an aversion to mice, but Woodsy sure does. About mid-morning on Monday, she was stopped in her tracks when she walked into the living room and heard what sounded like a scratching sound somewhere. I, sitting in my recliner, heard it too. And then, there it was again. We both heard it and looked toward a heating pipe vent in the floor under an east-facing window. And seconds later the metallic scratching sound again, but this time it appeared to be coming from another floor vent under a window on the living room's southern wall. Even I was alarmed now, trying to figure out what was happening. How could this puzzling and rather loud noise be coming from both floor vents back and forth at the same time. I gripped the arms of my chair in preparation for bounding out of it. That is if an 82 year old man can actually bound from a laid-back recliner. It was at this point that Woodsie let out a gasp as her right arm shot up towards her face with something in her hand. It was her iPhone. She had been in the kitchen and tapped on an attachment a friend had just sent her. Walking into the living room with the phone in hand by her side, that attachment opened, and the sounds we thought were mice in the heating pipes were actually emanating from her phone. I can't remember what that Facebook reel was about, but it's audio sure had us fooled and scarily bewildered for about six seconds. What I can't figure out, though, is how that phone's audio definitely had us hearing those scratching sounds in two different locations about ten feet apart. And we both heard those two different sound locations!! Anyway, we now have two humane 'live-catch' traps set, and as we catch the little critters, I will transport them to a new location where there stands an old structure which will make a fine new home for a few pesky mice. And so, that is my mouse story, and my takeaway from this is to say, 'be acutely aware of your surroundings when not paying close attention to your smartphone:))
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| A FEW PICS FROM IN OUR PARK |
Memories Music Box:: The Lady In Red by Chris de Burgh.
GROANER'S CORNER:(( The preacher was wired for sound with a lapel mic, and as he preached, he moved briskly about the platform, jerking the mic cord as he went. Then he moved to one side, getting wound up in the cord and nearly tripping before jerking it again. After several circles and jerks, a little girl in the third pew leaned toward her mother and whispered, "If he gets loose, will he hurt us?"---------------------------------
With Elton John being 79, now when you hear him singing, "I'm Still Standing!" That means he's waiting for someone to bring him a chair.
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Little Moron: "Excuse me, what time is it right now?"
Woman: "It's 11:25PM."
Little Moron: (confused look on his face) "You know, it's the weirdest thing, I've asked that question thirty times today, and every time someone gives me a different answer."
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Louisiana Highway Department employees stopped at a farm and talked with an old farmer. The man in charge told the farmer, 'We need to inspect your farm for a possible new road.' The old farmer said, 'OK, but don't get out in that pasture over there.' The Highway Dept. employee flashed out his identification card and said, 'I have the authority of the State of Louisiana to go anywhere I want. See this card? I will go wherever I wish.' So the old farmer went about his chores. It wasn't too much later when the farmer heard loud screams and yelling. He looked over and saw the Highway Department employee running for his life and right behind him was the farmer's huge prize bull. The bull was madder than a hornet's nest and was gaining on the Highway employee at every step. The old farmer yelled out, 'Show him your card, show him your card!!
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"Life is short. Make sure you spend as much time as possible on the internet arguing with strangers about politics."
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Al's Doggy World
Meanings::
Today's Art Gallery
