DOCTOR’S APPOINTMENT…NO PRODS, NO POKES, NO JABS

Cold gray damp days don’t work for me so my time was spent indoors just staying warm. Poor night’s sleep again so it just kind of turned out to be a television day. I don’t mind a day like that every once in a very long while so I just took it as it came & enjoyed it. Even got to watch me part of an old black & white Abbott & Costello movie. Now, how cool is that on a cold damp cloudy day:))
  
 
BLUE JAYS ON THE BIRD STATION THIS AFTERNOON
Kelly made sure she came with me this morning to my Urologist’s appointment. She wasn’t going to let me get away with my two standard pat answers when returning home. When asked, “what did the Urologist say” she was having none of my usual, “oh nothing” or “can’t remember”. She was right there with her notebook & list of questions. I usually don’t ask a Doctor any questions because that just means I might have to sit there longer or end up getting poked, prodded, or invaded with any number of scarily shaped sterilized metal tools. I’ve always figured any kind of examination is to be avoided at all costs so mums the word when I’m there. “How are you today Mr. Bossence”? …………. “Fine”:))

 
PHEEBS ENJOYS SOME SNOOZE TIME STRETCHED OUT ON MY LAP  
Luckily, no prods, pokes, or jabs this morning. However, I do remember the Urologist’s words, “that’s strange” as he looked over my medical charts from Tucson. Shades of the movie, ‘Alien’ came to mind. Anyway, two things came out of this morning’s meeting. They are lining me up for another CT Scan as soon as possible & he said this kidney stone problem has to be dealt with right away. On another note, my regular Doctor’s office phoned a few days ago with a scheduled appointment for a bone density test. Now, had they been talking about ‘head density’ I would have understood that perfectly. Anyway, we will likely be off to the Stratford Ontario General Hospital sometime next week for the CT Scan. Having already had a CT Scan in Tucson, I know it to be a rather relaxing & painless procedure…..and this is good:)) Oh, & I have an eye examination lined up for tomorrow. Might as well go all the way on my Spring tune-up, & the best part is, it’s paid for here in Canada because of my Senior status now:))

AWWWWW NUTS, THEY’RE BACK!!
Caught site of a Raccoon on top of my bird station last night chowing down on some birdseed so I had the Pheebs put a run on him right up a tree. I wanted that Coon to know we have a fast running Pheeber dog on the property now & it will not be business as usual for that pesky Coon this summer. And that goes for the Squirrels too……10-4!!
 
GROANER’S CORNER:((   When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, “I’m not sure…” “Look in your underwear, Grandma,” he advised, “mine says I’m 4 to 6.”
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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

A VISIT WITH UNCLE HARRY TODAY

We hadn't seen my Uncle Harry since heading south last November so this morning we loaded up the Pheebs & Jeeped ourselves over to Mitchell Ontario. Uncle Harry just loves seeing the Pheebs because Harry has always been a dog person. For turning 96 next month he is still doing reasonably well & the Ritz Villa Care Facility takes good care of him.

CROCUS COLORS OF EASTER

We have some inclement weather heading our way but today was still bright & sunny. We just need a little more warmth in the air to kick start the Spring growth season.  I really need to get the outside water hooked up & begin the task of getting all the bug juice cleaned off the front of the rig.  Normally when we return from the Southwest it is still cold but with this years unusual warmer temps & our later start for home we ran into a lot of bug infested hot weather on the way.  Splat, splat, splat!!  And, mentioning coming home, here 's a couple pics showing the big difference from this year to last year.

 

LAST YEAR                                              THIS YEAR

A fellow RV Blogging lady is experiencing some very difficult days at the moment as her husband, in intensive care at the moment is very ill. Nan from THE CONFESSIONS OF THE RV LOVING FIBER ARTIST has been spending long hours at an Indianapolis Hospital by husband John’s bedside.  You are in our thoughts Nan.

IVAN has some nice photos of another favourite region of mine.  Southern Utah.  I have never been in the Goose Neck State Park area but with a bit of luck maybe we can pass that way this Fall on our way to Congress Az.  Ivan has some nice photos of the area (& Hailey:)) plus aerial views from his remote controlled 'Chopper.'

DON’T MIND THESE LITTLE RED SQUIRRELS, IT’S THE BLACK SQUIRRELS THAT CAUSE ME BIRDFEEDER GRIEF
How would you like to have a job at the the Grand Canyon for the summer.  Gaelyn from Geogypsy does & she well be leaving her winter digs in Yarnell Arizona next week for another season at the Grand Canyon's NORTH RIM.   Gaelyn recently purchased a new Nikon D5100 so we are all going to soon have some great photos of the Canyon headed our way.

Well, Tuesday morning will mark the beginning of what may possibly turn out to be an interesting summer on the medical side of things for me.  I have been extremely fortunate all these years in not having to spend much time under medical care of any kind.  Aside from a couple minor surgeries on both feet for bone spurs I have been a lucky guy.  Considering the rough & tumble drinking days….very lucky indeed.  Only medication I've ever taken is something called Arthrotec for the stiffness in my legs.  Some of you may remember me ending up in a Tucson Arizona hospital last December with a painful kidney stone.  A CT Scan showed that stone to be large & impassable.  Also showed numerous other kidney stones plus some other stuff going on inside around the kidney, liver & bowel areas so tomorrow morning will be the first of what I suspect will be a number of medical appointments this summer.  Yuk, hate all that stuff but I'm at that age & stage now where I guess I have to finally expect some breakdowns:(( 

 
RED BELLIED WOODPECKER

Just in case you’ve always had a hankering to know what ‘dog piling it’ means, I suggest you head on over to SPOTTED DOG RANCH & check it out.  Yes, it has something to do with dogs alright, & a rowdy cat or two.

PRIMROSE

And, it is with great sadness that I just read on Facebook a few minutes ago about the passing of ‘Fillmore.’  We first met Fillmore just west of Yuma a few years back when the late Doug Dubrouillet & JoAnn came out to the desert to try a little boondocking with the Bayfield Bunch.  Fillmore was a blast, bounding around the campsite.  At one point he chased a ball right into our burning campfire.  That resulted in an ‘ouchy’ paw but after a bit of medical attention he was soon racing around upside down again.  Fillmore was quite well known among many RV Blog folks.  Our hearts go out to JoAnn tonight.  I sure understand how she is feeling.  JoAnn has put up some photos of Fillmore HERE.  You can see some pics & read about our last day with Fillmore on our post, WE WAVED GOODBYE TO FILLMORE THIS MORNING.

FILLMORE’S PURPLE PAW BANDAGE

 

OUR CHECKERS CHECKS OUT FILLMORE’S PAW

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Two Irish guys are fishing. The first guy reels in his line and sees that he's snagged an old bottle. As he's taking it off the hook, a genie pops out and promises to grant him one wish. "Turn the lake into beer," he says. The genie goes "Poof!" and the lake turns into beer. He says to the other guy, "So what do you think?" The other guy says, "You jerk. Now we've got to pee in the boat."

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- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

OK MOTHER NATURE……QUEUE THE BIRDS:))

WE ENJOY LIVING IN OUR PINE FOREST

Oh how nice it is to be home using our new (last summer) Lenovo desktop computer again.  No connection problems, faster speeds & a big wide screen monitor.  And, no fan noise.  Our computer is located in our Sun Room which overlooks our front yard.  Our half dozen birdfeeders are spaced outside of the windows for best viewing.  How nice it is to sit here on the computer surrounded by soothing music & soft lighting watching the antics of many birds flitting about between the shrubs, trees, & feeders.  I do like my time at home.  It’s just the length of time at home that I have trouble with.  When we are on the road traveling we adjust to the mobile lifestyle & never miss all this stuff……until we get home!!

2010 FILE PHOTO FROM OUR COZY SUN ROOM…ONLY THING DIFFERENT NOW IS WE HAVE A BIGGER MONITOR, DIFFERENT COMPUTER, & I AM GRUDGINGLY 2 YEARS OLDER:((

Back in 06, 07, & 08 I was pretty gung-ho to sell our house, all our stuff & hit the road full time.  We even went as far in the Spring & early summer of 08 to put our house up for sale.  It was all pretty exciting.  We had some people come through but no solid offers.  Just as well because the financial world came to a crashing halt in 08 & we, like many others, lost money.  We had no choice but to step back from the brink, reconsider our options & make some new plans.  It still bugged me quite a bit for a couple years after that about not full timing, but then I noticed another gradual change setting in.

COLT’S FOOT FLOWER ON THE FOREST FLOOR

Kelly convinced me of the importance of keeping & maintaining a Canadian home base.  There are pros & cons & the arguments can go back & forth forever but what it boils down to is each individuals or couples needs, wants, desires, & levels of comfort, etc.  Had we gone full timing 3 years ago I’m sure we would have been just fine & enjoyed the lifestyle to the fullest.  But having been Snow Birders now since 06 I do well understand about making the best of two world’s.  Because of our limited time on the road we may never get to see some of the North-western States but that’s just the way it has to be.  Plenty of other territories to cover in the winter months allotted to us.  Things may change at some point so we have to be ready to change with them.

AND, WHAT WOULD SPRING BE WITHOUT IT’S DAFFODILS

Our home base in Congress Arizona will now give us a jumping off point for future RV travels.  We can do old & new areas in two week stints whenever we feel like doing that.  Working away on the house & then slipping up to Sedona or over to Borrego Springs, maybe down to Cochise County south of Tucson works great for a restless spirit like mine.  Not suffering the boredom of sitting in the same spot day after day, week after week & month after month is important to both of us.  And, how nice to have a sticks & bricks centrally located in the Southwest for a great & welcome change of pace.  Not for everybody of course, but it works for us:))

MOURNING DOVE ON ONE OF OUR FEEDERS

Had ourselves a cloudy cool & damp morning with some rain landing on us around 10.  That was ok because it gave me an opportunity to do a preliminary vacuuming of the Motorhome.  Next step is to bring in a backhoe with a blade to get the really tough stuff out.  Also took our Sirius satellite radio out of the rig & hooked it back up in the Jeep for the summer.  We have travel stuff scattered from one end of the house to the other so the earlier rainy day also allowed us to get a few things re-organized indoors.  Sunny afternoon so re-positioned some bird feeders for better camera angles.  Ok Mother Nature, queue the birds…………..:))

ALWAYS NICE TO SEE NEW LIFE IN SPRING

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Three guys, stranded on a desert island, find a magic lantern containing a genie, who grants them each one wish. The first guy wishes he was off the island and back home. The second guy wishes the same. The third guy says "I’m lonely. I wish my friends were back here."

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- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

A FEW SAD MEMORIES & THEN IT WAS ON WITH THE DAY

CANADA GEESE ON GOLDEN POND
It was one week ago this morning we started our long journey home from our digs in Congress Arizona. Already it seems like so very long ago & our memories of Arizona House seem so very far away. This past week will always be remembered as a sad journey, having just lost our dear sweet little Motormouse. It is nearly one year now that we lost both Checkers & Max as well. I quietly sit in my chair waiting for another day's sunrise. Soft music filters through the darkness. The glow of a computer screen casts a pale light onto my keyboard. The whirlwind week has finally caught up with me. It is a time for reflection. It is a time for sadness. Sensing my sorrow, a little doggy face appears out of the darkness beside my chair. A ray of sunshine on a darkened morn. Pheebs cold little nose nudges my hand as if to say, 'it's alright Dad, I'm here now’.

SPRING CROCUS
But, not to worry. I will not let the sadness get me down. It is a new day, a new sunrise. Things to do & tasks to be attended to. It’s Saturday morning & Saturday mornings have always been my favourite time of the week. Now, what goals will I set for myself today. Let’s start by finding my socks. Oh, that Pheebs!!

MANY LARGE GOLDFISH IN OUR PARK’S POND ACROSS THE ROAD FROM US
Heard my first Northern Flicker & Red Wing Blackbird this morning. Buried my first Red Wing Blackbird too. Flew into one of our sunroom windows & died instantly. Bird feeders are up & loaded with seeds. Today’s visitors included Blue Jays, Cardinals, Red Wing Blackbirds, Black Capped Chickadees, Grackles, & Yellow Finches.  I did see a black Squirrel scamper up a nearby tree with a peanut in it’s mouth so the Squirrel wars are about to begin for another season.
 
A FEMALE COMMON MERGANSER SKIDDLES ACROSS THE POND
Kelly & I headed off to the town of Goderich on some errands. Stopped at McDonald’s to check out the new renovations. Looked up at the menu & saw the Burritos. Thought of Motor & I coming to McDonald’s last summer for our Burrito fix. Had ourselves a coffee & moved on. Big bag of wild birdseed at TSC. Couple more stops & we got ourselves right the heck out of town. It’s Easter week-end & the stores & streets were full of humanoids flopping around everywhere. I may never return to Goderich ever again. But, then again……

And a note to my fellow Facebookers. I have been receiving some ‘Friend Requests’ lately & I thank you folks for your interest. But, I have not accepted them because I am afraid of getting ‘hacked’ again. I accepted a Friend Request’ a few months ago which turned out to be a jerk who hacked my account & began sending out spam messages for some money scheme in my name. For that reason & that reason alone I do not accept Friend Requests anymore. Nor do I accept or participate in any gaming stuff or any requests of any kind for anything. I simply do not trust Facebook to protect me from the scum bag low life creeping around the internet looking to do damage to others.

AND SHE TAKES TO THE AIR
We use Google’s search engine here & I particularly like Google’s, Google Earth. I think this company has made numerous positive strides forward in the past bringing many great programs & applications to bear but I am also beginning to wonder if the great Google Monster is quickly outgrowing itself & morphing into something well beyond it’s own common sense. There has been a lot of buzz around lately about the new Blogger dashboard, etc. This is a good example of what I fear to be coming down the pike. Google is beginning to act like a frantic Bull in a china shop as it links this to that & that to this. Could the easy blogging format as we know it be on the way out. Already annoying changes have been made to the ease of Picasa’s Web Album features, not to mention the Dashboard, etc. Could Picasa’s easy to use photo editing program be under scrutiny for change? I don’t hear much about the highly touted Google+ anymore. Has it fallen on it’s face or am I just too far out of the great Monster’s social loop now. I know of two Blogs that have totally & unexplainably disappeared off the internet recently. Just vanished. Owners went to access their blog and they were gone. I’m sure there are others. Is this a result of Google’s ongoing changes. Will our blogs at some point go the way of great Dinosaurs & disappear to make room for some new wave of Google techno pop culture. Google is a major profit driven company & I wonder what expense & damage they will cause in their charging pursuit through the china shop in quest of their golden idol bottom line. I don’t know, I’m just thinking out loud & asking a question or two. Oh, just my humble opinions of course……..

<<< A WOODPECKER HAS DILIGENTLY BEEN WORKING ON THIS OLD PINE TREE
And, here’s something to keep in mind. Remember to check your Spam folder in your Blogger Dashboard on a regular basis because you could very well have reader’s comments in there that never got published. Received an email awhile back from a reader wondering why we had not published her comments. Turns out they were all sitting in our Spam folder. Kelly just found all those comments yesterday & published them. Also found a comment from Karen & Steve that had not been published. So, might be a good idea to get in the habit of regularly checking your Dashboard’s spam folder.

<<< MALE CARDINAL AT ONE OF OUR FEEDERS
And for you 5th wheel owners in our area. Most of you probably know by now that top of the line CARRIAGE has closed it’s doors, ceased building it’s prestige's 5th wheel trailers & gone out of business. Doesn’t mean their product is any less. Just means they had some management problems. STORMRUNNER RV SALES & SERVICE here in Bayfield has about half a dozen Carriage 5th wheels left. With a special extended warranty on the units you are probably not going to find any better deals. No sales people at Stormrunner. When you deal here you deal directly with Harry & Dianne, the owners. No middle people, no commissions, no hype & no pressure. No baloney:)) They have decided to replace the Carriage line with Thor Industries REDWOOD 5TH WHEEL line. Dianne & Harry are friends of ours & we know they will treat you fairly. Tell em the Bayfield Bunch sent ya:))
46F in Bayfield today & 75Fin Congress Arizona:))

BLACK CAPPED CHICKADEE
GROANER’S CORNER:(( A very religious man lived right next door to an atheist. While the religious one prayed day in, day out, and was constantly on his knees in communion with his Lord, the atheist never even looked twice at a church.
However, the atheist's life was good, he had a well-paying job and a beautiful wife, and his children were healthy and good-natured, whereas the pious man's job was strenuous and his wages were low, his wife was cheating on him and his kids wouldn't give him the time of day.
So one day, deep in prayer as usual, he raised his eyes towards heaven and asked: "Oh God, I honour you every day, I ask your advice for every problem and confess to you my every sin. Yet my neighbour, who doesn't even believe in you and certainly never prays, seems blessed with every happiness, while I go poor and suffer many an indignity.
Why is this?" And a great voice was heard from above ...
"BECAUSE HE DOESN'T BOTHER ME ALL THE TIME."
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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

6,272 MOTORHOME MILES TRAVELLED AT $3,339.00 FOR GAS:((

PAIR OF CANADA GEESE ON THE POND THIS MORNING

Amazingly enough I haven't started any posts off lately talking about the weather, so let me take care of that right now.  Aside from being a tad on the cool side we have had big bright sunny days ever since returning home.  I don't mind the cool mid to upper 40F temps because they are just great for getting outside projects done.  It's the hotter days that are the real energy drainers for me.

 

A GRASSY GREEN REFLECTED BANK GIVES THIS PHOTO IT’S COLOR

Pheebs had me up at 1:30 in the morning because I thought she had to go out.  She didn't.  Flopped in my chair & spent the rest of the night there sound asleep with the Kid on the couch beside me.  It's very quiet here in the Pine forest.  Despite my usual summer grumblings we sure are fortunate to have the place we have here just a mile or so from picturesque Bayfield & the sandy shores of beautiful Lake Huron.  Sometimes when we are away I have a tendency to forget how really nice it is here.  Undoubtedly the nicest Seniors Park we have ever seen....anywhere.

WE WALK AROUND THE SIDE OF THIS POND EVERY MORNING & HEAD OFF INTO THE PINE FOREST THROUGH THE BREAK IN THOSE TREES IN THE BACKGROUND

Must say I am feeling much better today than the last couple of days.  Energy levels are up & all that aching, paining, & hurting from yesterday is finally working it’s way out of the muscles & joints.  I think the long drive home just sitting hour after hour behind the wheel really took a toll on my legs this trip.  They have never ever been that sore before.  Must admit, this advancing older age is ‘finally’ beginning to give me some cause for concern.

Looks like I am not the only one who likes to get into the Spring clean-up mode & overdo it every year.  Peter from AMERICAN TRAVELER out there on Campobello Island has a tendency to do the same thing.  Now there's a guy I can understand.  Campobello Island??  Yep, it's right out there just off the Canada/US coastline on the Atlantic Ocean side of the country.

 

NICE TO BE BACK ON OUR OLD PINE FOREST TRAIL AGAIN

Tackled the front yard pond today.  With the milder weather there was more algae growth in the water already so had to get a lot of that green goop scooped out.  A lawn rake works well for skimming out that kind of stuff.  I will hook the water pump up as soon as I am sure it is not going to freeze at night anymore.  Soon, Frogs will just magically appear & our pond will once again become a real Frog Hive of activity.  The night air will be filled with all kinds of croaking & cherumping.  And then, the Hockey Whistle Frogs will come & the noise level will ramp up & shatter the night air so much that it keeps Kelly awake.  Dangerous stuff here.  More about the Hockey Whistle Frogs next month when they arrive.  Or, maybe they have been here all winter….just hibernating in my underwear drawer.

  

GOTTA GET THE FRONT YARD POND CLEANED UP FOR A NEW EXPLOSION OF FROGS SHORTLY

More of the same today as I busied myself outside with the Spring clean-up.  Another campfire this morning burning up brush, fallen branches & wheelbarrow loads of Pine needles.  Put up a couple new bird houses as well.  In the summer months at Deer Park Lodge where Kelly works they sometimes have different specialty groups staying at the cabins.  Last summer the University of Windsor's track & field team spent a weekend at the Lodge.  It's an annual event used by the students for training.  They run local trails.  One of the team projects in learning to work together was to break into groups & build bird houses.  Some of those bird houses were taken home by the students & a couple of the them ended up in the dumpster where of course Kelly retrieved & brought them home.  My contribution to those houses was to put a wood stain on them & add a piece of shingle to the roofs.  Today I put those 2 bird houses up on a couple Pine trees outside.

 

Seemed like Kelly was back & forth to the Motorhome about a thousand times today carrying all her stuff back into the house.  I was able to get a couple more bins unpacked.

 

HERE’S A SPRING HAPPENING EVERY SNOW BIRD CAN IDENTIFY WITH

Going to be a big job getting all the bugs scraped off the front of the coach but that will just have to wait for warmer weather when I am able to turn the outside water on for the season.  So pleased at how well that Motorhome ran again this past winter.  Total miles traveled from the time we left Bayfield last November to the time we returned a few days ago was 6,272.  Miles traveled home from our Arizona house in Congress - 2,223.  Had 6 fuel stops coming home with the cost for gas from Congress to Bayfield this week at $1,155.  Total money spent on Motorhome gas this past winter - $3,339.00.  Keep in mind some of that gas was used to run our generator.  Yes, it's a lot of money alright but we like to think of the thousands of dollars we have saved ourselves over the years by staying out of RV Parks.  Wonder what some people have to pay for a short two week boat cruise in the Mediterranean or a single week's stay in a Puerto Vallarta waterfront Hotel in Mexico.  Bottom line....no matter the cost, anything is better than sitting through long cold boring Canadian winter's.

THIS CANADA GOOSE IS LAYING LOW IN THE WATER HOPING I WON’T SEE HIM BUT IT WAS THE REFLECTION OF A NEARBY RED DUMPSTER THAT CAUGHT MY EYE IN THE REFLECTION & LED ME TO THE GOOSE

Took the cover off the Motorcycle today but for sure it’s still way to cold to put the battery in & fire it up.  I do not enjoy riding in cold weather all bundled up in a snowmobile suit.  Just freezes the fun right out of a feller.

GROANER'S CORNER:((Two Irishmen are out fishing for the day, and they have a great time; with the fish grabbing the hooks as fast as they can get them into the water. Finally, with the boat full of as many fish as it will hold, they decide it's time to head for shore.
"But listen," says Mick, "why don't we mark the spot?"
"No problem," says Paddy, who dives into the water and paints a big black X on the bottom of the boat.
Mick beams with pleasure, and they're almost back to the dock when his face wrinkles in consternation. "Oh, no!" he cries to Paddy, "what if we don't get the same boat?".

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com