WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THAT 'APPLE' WAS PHONING ME TONIGHT

Twas an icy wind that thwarted my morning walk, and I instead slipped into Bayfield to pick up a few things for Lorraine's butter tart baking project this afternoon.  A drive down around the cold and gray harbor netted me a few photos, and I was surprised by the lack of traffic on the area roads.  Not that there ever is much anyway, unless it's the busy summer tourist season.  

 BAYFIELD'S BEACH THIS MORNING

COULD BE A LITTLE BIT OF A GOOSE FEUD GOING ON HERE

 ALL BETTER NOW

 CANADA GEESE FEEDING IN THE SHALLOW WATER ALONG LAKE HURON'S SHORELINE

 IN A FEW MONTHS THERE WILL BE ICE AND SNOW OUT THERE FOR AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE

Continuit, the computer place, called early this afternoon saying my laptop computer was fixed and ready for pickup.  With that, Lorraine and I were off to Goderich, complete with a shopping list under overcast skies. Five stops altogether, with one of them being the computer place.  The problem had something to do with the laptop's battery, but I didn't understand all the techy speak.  Bottom line....my laptop is working again.

 FROM THE FOOD BASICS PARKING LOT I SPOTTED THESE TWO FELLOWS ON A ROOF,,,,I CALL IT, 'FIDDLERS ON THE ROOF'

What if I told you that 'APPLE' was phoning me tonight!!  You probably wouldn't believe me.  But they are, and precisely at 7:48 p.m. they said.  Andrew is coming over at 7:30, and tomorrow I'll tell you why 'Apple' called, and why Andrew came over.

BOAT DOCKS STACKED FOR THE WINTER AND THERE WON'T BE ANY FISHING BOATS ACROSS THE RIVER UNTIL SPRING

BOATER'S CABINS AWAIT NEXT SEASON

 LOOKING UPRIVER

 A CLOSER LOOK AT THE FLOATABLE BOAT DOCKS

 IT WILL BE NEARLY SIX MONTHS BEFORE BOATERS ARE ONCE AGAIN SEATED AT THESE PICNIC TABLES

Memories Music Box:: Diamond Girl by Seals & Crofts.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money. The old guy fingered his worsted wool vest and said, "Well, son, it was 1932. The depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel." "I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents." "The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at 5:00 pm for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I'd accumulated a fortune of $1.37." "Then my wife's father died and left us two million dollars."

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Christopher Columbus was the best deal maker in history. He left not knowing where he was going, and upon arriving, not knowing where he was. He returned not knowing where he had been, and did it all on borrowed money.

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On the first day of school, the children brought gifts for their teacher. The florist's son brought the teacher a bouquet of flowers. The candy-store owner's daughter gave the teacher a pretty box of candy. Then the liquor-store owner's son brought up a big, heavy box. The teacher lifted it up and noticed that it was leaking a little bit. She touched a drop of the liquid with her finger and tasted it. "Is it wine?" she guessed. "No," the boy replied. She tasted another drop and asked, " Champagne?
"No," said the little boy... "It's a puppy!"

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Al's Doggy World

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Today's Art Gallery

I DON'T NEED THAT AND NEITHER DO MY PJ'S

With a big, bright, sunny day Tuesday, I figured if skies stayed clear into evening, I'd head off to get me a star fix.  So, that's what I did, but with sunset being earlier now, I missed it, and my evening walk as well.  It's getting too cold for evening walks anyway, so I skipped my routine coffee to go in Clinton, and simply drove straight away over to my night sky spot.  Dressed warm, I was able to stand outside the car in the clear cold air for a bit and take in the shimmering stars.  Saw three aircraft and two satellites.  To the east, I was also able to faintly see the star cluster that Subaru cars are named after.  That star cluster is also known as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters.  With winter fast approaching, I was aware it might be my last comfortable stargazing night for a while............Not the best start to my Wednesday morning when my Lenovo laptop computer went on the fritz.  The screen went dark twice on Tuesday with low-battery warnings, even though I had it plugged in.  Same thing this morning, and then it wouldn't boot up at all.  It's five or six years old, so I suspect it may need a new battery. Without further ado, with my laptop tucked safely under my arm, I headed off to Goderich.  Subie came along as well.  

 ANGRY LOOKING SKIES THIS MORNING

 I'M THEORETICALLY DRIVING THROUGH A CORN FIELD HERE

Dropped off my laptop at the Continuit computer shop, grabbed a coffee to go at Hortons, and headed down to the harbor in search of a few photos.

 AT GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE

 LOOKS LIKE A MORNING PHOTO SHOOT FOR THIS NEW FAMILY

 A LONG TELEPHOTO SHOT OF THE GODERICH SALT MINE WITH A SHIP AT IT'S WESTERN EXTREMITY

IT'S THE ALGOMA ENDEAVOUR

 THE FEDERAL BRISTOL IN PORT THIS MORNING AT GODERICH'S GRAIN TERMINAL

 ONE OF THE SHIP'S 'HEAVY' HATCH COVERS IS OPEN JUST BELOW THE SHIP'S BRIDGE

 I THINK THIS IS WHERE A CRANE OPERATOR SITS TO LIFT THE HEAVY HATCH COVERS

 CREWMEN MONITOR GRAIN OR MAYBE CORN COMING DOWN THE GRAIN TERMINAL SHUTE INTO THE SHIP'S HOLD

.I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE HOW THE CREW MOVED THE SHIP  A FEW  FEET AT A TIME TO BRING IT IN LINE WITH THE GRAIN SHUTE

 THEY DON'T START THE SHIP'S ENGINES; THEY SIMPLY WINCH THE SHIP ALONG USING HEAVY ROPES TIED TO BOLLARDS ON THE PIER...THIS CREWMAN IS RUNNING THE WINCH AT THE STERN OF THE SHIP

ON THE BOW OF THE SHIP, THREE OTHER CREWMEN HANDLE WINCHES AS WELL

 BOTH BOW AND STERN WORK THE WINCHES IN UNISON TO KEEP THE SHIP STEADY AS IT INCHES ALONG

Leaving my laptop in Goderich, I headed home and dug out my backup laptop that hadn't been powered up for the past six months or more.  Took a bit of wiggling and finagling to get it up and running again, but amazingly enough I was somehow able to surmount the hurdles, and it was good to go.  Except the Microsoft mouse wouldn't work.  Try as I did, I couldn't get that one figured out.   Lorraine (Woodsy) rolled in somewhere around noon and was soon busy in the kitchen once again.  (Pork chops for supper) I'm always a happy camper when she pops in, and it's not just because of all the great food she always cooks up.

I BET A LOT OF FOLKS DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE A MOUNTAIN RANGE IN SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

 WELL, WE DON'T....BUT WE DO HAVE A NUMBER OF LARGE GRAVEL PITS JUST NORTHWEST OF CLINTON AND YOU CAN SEE THE MOUNTAIN RANGE BETWEEN THE TREES

MOUNTAIN RANGE ON THE LEFT

These past days, I have been very busy with late Autumn chores around the house outside.  I crawled underneath the unit on Monday and turned the outside water off and drained the front yard garden hose.  Sawed a limb of the Basswood tree by the front porch.  Basswood trees are not strong, and branches break easily.  The branch was already compromised, so it had to come down.  Of course, that meant the second of two trips to the Park's recycling area.   Both those loads were also filled with leaves that I had been raking up for days.  The outside sunroom and living room windows, plus both patio doors, needed cleaning, so I got at that as well.  My motivation for doing all this outside yard work now is knowing that I won't have as much to do in the Spring. 

THE ANNUAL CORN HARVEST IS WINDING DOWN

 FARMERS ARE ALREADY TURFING UP THEIR FIELDS IN PREPARATION FOR PLANTING NEXT YEAR'S CROPS

 WE HAVE A LOT OF PIG BARN OPERATION IN OUR AREA

STILL SOME COLOR TO BE FOUND IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

Seeing how most of the pesky squirrels have dispersed over the summer months, I have decided not to stock up on corn this winter.  If I start tossing out corn, I am going to have all those squirrels back again, and I really don't want or need the aggravation of trying to keep those pesky guys off the bird feeders all the time. Too many times these past winters I've gone racing out the door through the snow in my PJ's to swoosh a squirrel off the bird station or one of the feeders.  I don't need that, and neither do my PJ's!!

 CAME ACROSS THIS STAND OF OSAGE ORANGE TREES

Memories Music Box:: Sea Of Heartbreak by Don Gibson.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A sister and brother are talking to each other when the little boy gets up and walks over to his Grandpa and says, "Grandpa, please make a frog noise." The Grandpa says, "No." The little boy goes on, "Please .. please make a frog noise." The Grandpa says, "No, now go play." The little boy then says to his sister, "Go tell Grandpa to make a frog noise."

So the little girl goes to her Grandpa and says, "Please make a frog noise."
The Grandpa says, "I just told your brother 'no' and I'm telling you 'no'." The little girl says, "Please .. please, Grandpa make a frog noise." The Grandpa says, "Why do you want me to make a frog noise?" The little girl replied, "Because Mommy said when you croak, we can go to Disney World!"

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I was traveling with my wife in Kanyakumari, India, one of the windiest places on Earth. Braving our way through the crosswind, we made our way to the tollbooth where I asked a bespectacled attendant, "What do you guys do in Kanyakumari when the wind quits?"

Adjusting his rims, the guy answered, "We take the rocks out of our pockets."

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Al's Doggy World

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Today's Art Gallery