Tuesday, April 14, 2026

A MOVE FOR ME TODAY, AND IT WASN'T A DANCE MOVE

 FARMER'S FIELDS ARE BECOMING GREENER AND GREENER
Sunday: Not the best morning for a country road walk, so I headed off into Bayfield, and then out the other side to the Bronson Line.  Heading south, I turned left onto Pavilion Road and headed for one of Pheebs and mine favorite little walking spots, called the Linfield Conservation Area.  It's a short walk there, and for me Sunday morning, it was a sad walk.  It always is now whenever I stop there without Pheebs.  She passed away nearly a year ago.  My sadness continued until something took my mind off it.  Heading north on the Goshen Line I noticed a car on the shoulder of the road parked at a wee bit of an odd angle.  I slowed down, and noticed as I passed the empty car that it's left rear tire was completely missing.  The rim had dug a rut in the shoulder's gravel.  I figured the driver had probably walked into a farmyard there, seeking assistance.  I continued up the road about a mile and saw a fellow walking.  I slowed down as he flagged me down.  Sure enough, he was the driver of the car.  He didn't have his phone with him and was walking home, which was about two miles.  I was able to give him a lift right to the gates of ?? where he lived.  He was a happy camper, and so was I, that I was able to help someone, and also the fact that it pulled me out of my sadness.  Home about two hours after I had left, I once again busied myself with my outside projects.  When I finally came inside, I was so tired out I promptly fell asleep in my recliner.

A NICE PROPERTY AND HOME IN BAYFIELD
BAYFIELD DAFFODILS
 A FOGGY SUNDAY MORNING ON BAYFIELD'S SOUTH PIER FOR THESE TWO FISHERMEN
Rain squall warnings had been issued, and it definitely was a thunder-laced squall that woke me up sometime in the night.  Quite a deluge of water, but it was all over by morning's early light. Oh well, you know what they say about April showers bringing May flowers.  All is good.  A black pick-up truck with a flashing yellow light on the cab, and a large 'red and gray caution symbol' decal on the tailgate caught my attention as I glanced out of our east-facing window from my recliner earlier this morning.  That light and tailgate sign told me that there was likely a large object coming behind, and in our park, that could only mean one thing.  There was a house, or half a house, coming down the adjoining street.  Nothing showed up right away as expected, so I hopped into the car and drove to the Park's entrance.  Sure enough, there it was...half a park model mobile home on its way into the Park.

 COMING IN THE ENTRANCE TO THE PARK
THE DRIVER MAKES A TIGHT RIGHT TURN IN ORDER TO LINE UP THE UNIT WITH THE STREET. AND THEN BACK DOWN THE STREET
ALTHOUGH THE TRUCK LOOKS LIKE IT IS COMING TOWARDS ME, IT IS IN FACT REVERSING
OH-OH, THERE IS A PROBLEM GETTING AROUND THE NEXT CORNER
AFTER A POW WOW IN THE INTERSECTION, THE DRIVER, THE PARK OWNER, AND A GENERAL COACH WORKER ALL HEAD TO THEIR RESPECTIVE POSITIONS FOR THE NEST MOVE
WITH A BIT OF WIGGLING AND FINIGGLING, THE BOYS SOLVE THE PROBLEM AS PARK OWNER ADAM KEEPS A CLOSE EYE ON THE REAR OF THE UNIT AS IT BEGINS ITS LONG BACK  UP TO ITS SITE
 THE UNIT EASES BY THE EAST SIDE OF OUR PROPERTY
 IN THIS PHOTO AS THE UNIT IS BACKING DOWN THE ROAD, THAT IS OUR PLACE ON THE RIGHT
 HALF OF THE NEW NEW UNIT HAS BEEN DELIVERED AND AWAITS ADAM WITH HIS TRACTOR AND BUCKET TO MANEUVER IT ONTO ITS CONCRETE PAD
After my mobile home photos, I headed off out into the country to my gravel road walking spot.  The southwesterly winds were about strong enough to blow the beak off a buzzard, but I hopped out of the car and headed up the road with the slightly cool wind pusing me right along.  Coming back was a different story as I had to lean into that wind to make my way back.  Good thing I wasn't wearing a hat or it would have ended up in the next county.

IT WAS A NICE MORNING FOR WALK DESPITE THE WND TRYING TO BLOW ME OFF MY FEET
 HOME AGAIN, A FEW HOURS LATER, I SAW THE SECOND HALF OF THE MOBILE HOME UNIT BEING BACKED DOWN THE ROAD TO ITS SITE
Home again, I right away got myself into another project I had been putting off for quite a while.  Readers might remember a few photos I had in my post a few days ago of that arbor/trellis removal.  Well, in some of those pics, there were a bunch of concrete patio stones leaning against the metal shed.  Well, I was anxious to get all those patio stones moved so that I could get in there, clean that area out, roll and rake it, and then put grass seed in.  Fired up my wheelbarrow and with 6 patio stones in each load, I moved all 77 of them plus a dozen smaller chunks of broken concrete.  A few of the bigger concrete chunks I had to use my fridge cart.  I didn't move everything in one big slam, but it took me two coffee breaks and one lunch break to get them all relocated.  Lorraine was a big help with the coffee and lunch.  She did come out at one point with gloves on to help move the patio stones, but I quickly put the kybosch on that idea.  Why?? Well then, she wouldn't be able to make coffee and lunch, and I would have had to do that all by myself.  And besides, she knows how to make lots more better stuff than I do.  But really, the real reason....those patio stones are heavy, and I simply did not want her hurting herself.

MY PROJECT TASK TODAY WAS TO RELOCATE ALL THESE PATIO STONES AND CHUNKS OF CONCRETE
I MOVED THE PATIO STONES SIX AT A TIME
NEXT, I ROTO-TILLED THE AREA AND LATER SEEDED THE GROUND WITH GRASS SEED
AND, THIS IS WHERE THE PATIO STONES HAVE BEEN RELOCATED TO
Al's Music Box:: In My Room by The Beach Boys.

LORRAINE HAS BEEN MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LOCAL CHIPMUNKS
GROANER'S CORNER:(( A pastor, a doctor and an engineer wait for a particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumes, " What's with these guys? We've been waiting for 15 minutes! The pastor says, Hey, here comes the groundskeeper, let's have a word with him. Say, George, what's with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow, aren't they, the doctor asks. The groundskeeper tells them that the other golfers are a group of blind firefighters who lost their sight saving the clubhouse from a fire and that they come and play for free whenever they want. The group is silent for a moment. The pastor says, Thats so sad. I will say a special prayer for them tonight. The doctor says, Good idea. I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist buddy and see if there's anything he can do for them. The engineer says, Why can't these guys play at night?

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A man is recovering from surgery when the surgical nurse appears and asks him how he is feeling. "I'm OK but I didn't like the four letter-words the doctor used in surgery," he answered. "What did he say?" asked the nurse. "Oops!"

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Q: Did you hear about the Little Moron who won the gold medal?
A: He was so proud she had it bronzed.
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A Hillbilly was involved in an accident.
The Trooper asked him, "Didn't you see that yield sign when you were merging onto the highway?" The Hillbilly replied, "Ahh sure I did...and I did it...yup, I Yieeeld and Yieeeld at that there truck and he justa kepp on comin'!!!"

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Al's Art Gallery












Sunday, April 12, 2026

GETTING MYSELF ALL MISINFORMED AND MIXED UP

 I'M SLOWLY GETTING THE FRONT YARD BACK IN SHAPE
Lorraine rolled in around 4 o'clock Saturday afternoon, and less than an hour and a half later, we had ourselves firmly ensconced at Bayfield's Woodland Drive-In for some eats and ice cream.  It was a busy place.  Woodsy had a regular Poutine and I had my favorite foot-long hot dog with the works, and some fries.  We chased that down with ice cream.  Woodsy had a double scoop of Raspberry Sorbet, and I had my usual small soft ice cream 'twist' cone.  A twist cone is half vanilla and half chocolate.  Not a healthy supper for us, of course, but we decided to be bad and take a break from all that supposedly healthy stuff we usually eat.  You know, all that yukky green veggy stuff she makes me eat all the time!! 

THE REFURBISHING OF OUR BACK YARD IS FINALLY SHOWING A TOUCH OF GREEN
 ONE OF MY OUTSIDE PATHS LEADING TO THE ROAD OUT FRONT
 CEDAR TREES ARE ONE OF MY FAVS AND WE HAVE 66 OF THEM ON AND BORDERING THE PROPERTY...HOW DO I KNOW THAT??  I WENT OUT AND COUNTED THEM THIS AFTERNOON...SOME ARE BIG AND FULLY GROWN WHILE MANY ARE MUCH SMALLER
 I CAN'T GET OVER HOW TAKING DOWN THE ARBOR/TRELLIS HAS OPENED UP AND  BRIGHTENED UP THIS AREA IN THE BACK YARD
Sunday morning dawned with a heavy 41F cloud cover, and the predicted five days of rain began around eight o'clock this morning.  Not so good for me, but perfect for all the little grass seeds I have planted.  But, maybe in hindsight, it was good for me to have a rainy day because it forced me to stay inside for a change to rest my tired and weary bones as well as my sore muscles.

 LOOKING FOR A FEW TOUCHES OF COLOR ON THIS GRAY AND DRAB SUNDAY MORNING, I TOOK MYSELF FOR A LITTLE DRIVE INTO BAYFIELD
 IT ALWAYS AMAZES ME HOW MEN WILL STAND OUT IN COLD POURING RAIN FISHING
AND, LOOK AT THIS POOR LONE SOLE OUT ON THE SOUTH PIER WITHOUT EVEN A RAINCOAT
 THE BIGGEST SPLASH OF COLOR WAS NEAR BAYFIELD'S BEACH, WHERE I THINK  A NEW GAS TANK AND PUMPS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED FOR FUELING BOATS ON THE BAYFIELD RIVER 
Last week, I think I got my W's mixed up. Over the past days I have been talking about a backyard project I had going on with a Wiegela plant that had overgrown an arbor/trellis I had built years ago, and was threatening to swallow up our metal shed if it kept going.  A reader pointed out that he/she doubted it could be a Weigela.  I think that knowledgeable reader was right.  And this is where I got my W's mixed up.  Instead of Weigela, I should have said Wisteria.  Now, that makes a lot more sense, and especially so when I looked up the description of a Wisteria Vine. Thanks to the observant reader who pointed out my discrepancy.  If it weren't for readers occasionally keeping me on the straight and narrow, I would very well likely fly off in half a dozen different directions, getting myself all misinformed and mixed up.

 ALL THE WELCOME SIGNS OF SPRING ARE SLOWLY BEGINNING TO SHOW UP EVERYWHERE

Al's Music Box:: When You Wish Upon A Star by Cliff Edwards.
GROANER'S CORNER:(( 
Once upon a time there was a man who was peacefully driving down a windy road. Suddenly, a bunny skipped across the road and the man couldn't stop. He hit the bunny head on. The man quickly jumped out of his car to check the scene. There, lying lifeless in the middle of the road, was the Easter Bunny. The man cried out, "Oh no! I have committed a terrible crime! I have run over the Easter Bunny!" The man started sobbing quite hard and then he heard another car approaching. It was a woman in a red convertible. The woman stopped and asked what the problem was.The man explained, "I have done something horribly sad. I have run over the Easter Bunny. Now there will be no one to deliver eggs on Easter, and it's all my fault." The woman ran back to her car. A moment later, she came back carrying a spray bottle. She ran over to the motionless bunny and sprayed it. The bunny immediately sprang up, ran into the woods, stopped, and waved back at the man and woman. Then it ran another 10 feet, stopped, and waved. It then ran another 10 feet, stopped, and waved again. It did this over and over and over again until the man and the woman could no longer see the bunny. Once out of sight, the man exclaimed, "What is that stuff in that bottle?" The woman replied, "It's harespray. It revitalizes hare and adds a permanent wave."

- “People are choosing cremation over traditional burial. It shows that they are thinking outside of the box.”

- What is a Pessimist? The real world dictionary defines a 'pessimist' as an optimist with no experience.

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After a church service on Sunday morning, a young boy suddenly announced to his mother, “Mom, I’ve decided to become a priest when I grow up.”“That’s OK with us,” she said, “but what made you decide that?”“Well,” said the little boy, “I have to go to church on Sunday anyway, and I figure it will be more fun to stand up to yell and holler than to sit down and listen.”
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There were some backwoods hillbillies living across the river from each other, who feuded constantly. John hated Clarence with a passion and never passed up a chance to throw rocks across the river at Clarence. This went on for years until one day the Corps of Engineers came to build a bridge across that river. John was elated; he told his wife that finally he was going to get the chance to cross over and whip Clarence.
He left the house and returned in a matter of minutes. His wife asked what was wrong, didn't he intend to go over the bridge and whip Clarence? He replied that he never had really seen Clarence up close and didn't realize his size until he started over the bridge and saw the sign: "CLEARANCE 8 FT 3 IN"

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Al's Doggy World 

Meanings:: In our current world of spirraling madness, the following painting and words give me a touch of hope that there may yet be a few shreds of decency, and respect left for us somewhere, someday soon. 

Lee and Grant meet again - April 10, 1865 Generals Lee and Grant held the second of their two meetings on this knoll at Appomattox Court House on the morning of April 10. Grant hoped to enlist Lee’s support in urging the surrender of other Confederate armies, and Lee was intent on working out the final details of surrender.  Lee refused Grant’s request to exert his influence with other armies. But the two officers did resolve details of the surrender. Grant agreed to provide the Confederates with individual parole passes to safeguard their journey home. He would also allow surrendered soldiers to pass free on all government transportation on their way home.  During their two meetings at Appomattox, not a harsh word passed between Lee and Grant. Wrote one Confederate: “General Grant and his men treated us nobly, more nobly than was ever a conquered army treated before of since.” The process of reconciliation had already begun.

*Information: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.

Al's Art Gallery