WE DIDN’T EVEN BOTHER GETTING OUT OF THE JEEP

Due to health concerns more than anything else since we’ve been home from the southwest we haven’t actively been looking for or even thinking much about houses or properties for sale in our area.  However Kelly did happen to spot one on-line Monday about an hour’s drive northeast of us.  Had a look on Google Earth & it seemed like it was privately located with lots of natural forest nearby.  More with a desire to just get out & go somewhere for a change this morning we hopped in the Jeep about 9 & headed out to have a look see.  Pheebs too.

  

PURPLE MARTINS

We knew the area this ‘For Sale’ house was located in was out of our area of interest but it was just nice to get out for a drive in the countryside anyway.  Found the house & property just south of Belmore Ontario.  We didn’t even bother getting out of the Jeep.  Neighbors on both sides, on a highway, & hardly a forest in site.  Worse yet, it backed on to a seasonal campground.  We just made a U-turn & headed home.  The trip soaked up about 2 & a half hours for us & we were fine with that.  We were just happy to be out & about on a sunny Tuesday morning.

 

RIVER STOP ON OUR WAY HOME TODAY

George from OUR AWESOME TRAVELS was a bit confused when I made reference about my preference for lots of green foliage around our house here in Bayfield.  Having complained many times about not not being able to see the night sky here at our digs in Bayfield I should explain it is not our planted foliage around the house which blocks out the starry night sky, it is the tall Pine trees that block out the night sky.  And the Pine trees were here long before we were. 

GOT ANOTHER WINDMILL FOR YA MIKE & HOPE YOUR DOING OK >>>

At our house in Congress we have a much bigger piece of property & there are really no tall trees to block the night sky.  If we were living there full time & we were there to do all the watering in the summertime we would for sure have already planted us a mass of green foliage around our outside perimeter.  Neighbor’s houses there are not visible in front or behind us but both neighbors are visible on either side of us.  That is why I planted over a hundred tall growing Cacti along the fence lines before we left.  Want to build up a thick green belt.  Of course with the 90 - 100 degree temps going on down there these days I suspect all those Cacti are probably long dead by now anyway.  Even Cacti like a bit of water.  For me the perfect place to have a house would look a lot like many of the places we have boondocked over the years.  Slightly elevated with sweeping vistas all around, clear skies from horizon to horizon.  Nice stand of trees close by for shade & lots of low profile greenery.

 

 

HEY BUTTON IT UP OUT THERE YOU GUYS, I’M SITTING ON SOME EGGS OVER HERE!!

Gay & Joe from GOOD-TIMES-ROLLIN asked about keeping a camera clean.  Tough one when one lives in dusty areas like the South-West.  Keep in mind I’m talking about DSLR’s here. (Digital Single Lens Reflex)  Dust on a lens is not big deal & can easily be dealt with using a soft haired blower brush.  Dust inside the camera is another story.  Dust on the mirror is the lesser of two interior problems.  In the 35mm days it was relatively easy to take the lens off the camera, invert it & gently brush the mirror with a few light puffs of air to clean it.  Problem with doing that now in the digital age is these minute dust particles on the mirror can easily be dislodged & then find their way in behind the mirror & settle on the sensors.  That is the problem I have with my Nikon D40.  I made the mistake a few years back of flipping my mirror up out of the way thinking I could simply blow the dust off the sensors.  HUGE MISTAKE!!  And I made the same mistake twice by doing it a second time in hopes of correcting the first time.  I only made the problem much worse.  If I take a blank picture of the sky with my D40 it looks like somebody backed up a gravel truck & emptied the whole load inside my camera.  I have to retouch just about every photo I take with that camera now & if it was not for Picasa’s ‘Re-touch’ tool I would not be able to use my D40 for most of those telephoto shots you see.  Now, having said all that I know there is a kit you can buy for cleaning DSLR sensors.  I looked at it on-line, read the instructions & decided, with my pathetic mechanical track record & lack of patience it was not something for me.  I could send my camera back to Nikon & have the sensor professionally cleaned but it’s hugely expensive.  I would sooner put that kind of money towards a newer refurbished Nikon D-3100 body.  There are lots of sites on the internet to explain & help with ideas for cleaning DSLR sensors.  This is just one of them……….CLEANING YOUR DSLR SENSOR.

 

GROANER’S CORNER:((   Two campers are walking through the woods when a huge brown bear suddenly appears in the clearing about 50 feet in front of them. The bear sees the campers and begins to head toward them. The first guys drops his backpack, digs out a pair of sneakers, and frantically begins to put them on. The second guys says, "What are you doing? Sneakers won’t help you outrun that bear." "I don't need to outrun the bear," the first guy says. "I just need to outrun you."

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

‘YAAAAAAAY’, FORD JUST ANNOUNCED IT’S GOING BACK TO ‘KNOBS’

Wasn't until this morning I realized not all my Walmart merchandise came home with me Sunday. Two 7 Watt light bulbs & a projection night light did not make the journey. A trip back to Walmart was in order this morning. Not only did little Pheeber Buns climb aboard but the 'Big Boss' hopped into the Jeep as well. Seems she had a few things to pick up in Walmart too. With a big bright sunny morning going for us we all headed up to Goderich. One quick stop at Walmart & one quick stop at the Zehr's Supermarket next door & we were making our way through the construction zone near McDonalds. A few 'eats' to go & we were back in Bayfield about an hour after we left.  A few candid beach pics below.

“WITH THIS RING I THEE WED”

“NOW WE WILL LIVE HAPPILY FOREVER AFTER OVER THERE”

“ABOARD THAT OLD SHIPWRECK”

Again, not much going on here. Kelly read for awhile & laid down for a bit. I trimmed down a tall young tree in the front yard that had sprouted up on our lawn a few years ago. Rather than cut the whole tree down I cut it off at the 6' level. That should allow suckers to grow out of the top & give us a ball of thicker foliage in the ensuing years. I am always working on ways to thicken up our surrounding jungle. As I have said many times before, when we look out any window we like to see the wonders of Mother Nature & not neighbor's houses, sheds, garages, or cars driving by. All the extra foliage also helps to deaden the sounds of lawn mowers, leaf blowers, & what ever else people can find to do with those small annoying miserable gasoline engines.

 

A BIT OF OVERDUE TREE TRIMMING THIS AFTERNOON 

Cheryl Ann over at DEEP CANYON noticed my camera bag in Sunday’s post. Wondered what make it was. Bought that Cullmann bag new in 1986. But here's the odd part. Last time I can remember ever carrying a camera in it was probably 3 winters ago when I popped into a Monday afternoon camera group gathering in Elfrida, Arizona. Only things I carry in that bag now are my camera manuals, some lens filters I never use, a table top tri-pod I might have used once in 5 years, a spare 200mm lens, a rarely used 2X Teleconverter, & some lens cleaning stuff. So why wouldn't I carry my camera in my camera bag? Well, I wrote about that in a post this past February. A FEW PHOTO TIPS ON A QUIET SATURDAY.  Keep in mind some of these tips are my own opinion & not to be confused with the probable norm.

MY RARELY USED CAMERA BAG BUT I DO KEEP IT HANDY JUST IN CASE & YES I CAN ACTUALLY FIT BOTH MY DSLR’S PLUS ACCOMPANYING LENSES IN THERE IF NEED BE

Yaaaaay, the Ford Motor Company announced they are going to return to the knobs technology for their vehicles infotainment systems.  FORD KNOBS  Here's hoping other auto manufacturer's wise up & follow suit. Again, 'newer technology is not always better technology' & I am encouraged to see a glimmer of good old fashioned logic & common sense finally appearing somewhere.  In the words of Jack Nerad, executive editorial director for Kelley Blue Book, "When it comes to performing simple tasks, such as adjusting the volume of the radio, its best to stick to what works and what people are familiar with, and in this case, nothing beats a knob."   

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Two campers are hiking in the woods when one is bitten on the rear end by a rattlesnake. "I’ll go into town for a doctor," the other says. He runs ten miles to a small town and finds the town’s only doctor, who is delivering a baby. "I can’t leave," the doctor says. ‘But here’s what to do. Take a knife, cut a little X where the bite is, suck out the poison and spit it on the ground." The guy runs back to his friend, who is in agony. ‘What did the doctor say?" the victim asks. "He says you’re gonna die."

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

FATHER’S DAY……A CONFUSION OF FEELINGS

THIS EVENING’S BAYFIELD BEACH

Started our day off with heavy fog & rain.  No morning trail walk.  Not a good way for AL to start the day.  And the weather map showed rain lasting for most of the morning.  Kelly slipped over to DEER PARK LODGE.  Again, sitting around the house was not an option for me.  Despite the heavy rain, Wiggly Buns & I took off in the Jeep.  Had a Tim Hortons coffee shop card in my pocket so that was our first stop.  Our neighbor has some nice solar lights in her garden that we liked so my main mission this morning was to head into Walmart & have a look at those garden lights.  Two jugs of Cranberry juice, some yogurt, a small bag of birdseed, & I was back out of the store in less than 10 minutes.  Had a nagging feeling I had forgot something. 

A RAINY MORNING’S DRIVE TO GODERICH

 

A FOG SHROUDED LAKE HURON ALONGSIDE THE DOG WALKING AREA

Rain was beginning to let up so Pheebs & I took a cruise down along the beach.  Noticed there were no cars at the dog walking area so we stopped for a quiet uninterrupted walk along the shoreline.  Bonus.  Because of the gloomy weather I had not brought my Nikons along but did have my Canon Powershot point & shoot on my belt.  Tonight’s foggy beach pics were taken with the Canon.  Knew the country roads would be a muddy mess & with the clouds sitting on the ground we just slipped on through the fog & headed back home.  And that nagging feeling I had forgot something……………yep, totally forgot to look at the solar garden lights!!  And speaking of neighbors, a big thanks to whoever went out of their way to take their riding lawn mower along the narrow path we had through the tall wet grass alongside the Goose pond.  Makes for much easier walking now.  We much appreciate that & our shoes & pants will stay much dryer now. 

 

SOLITARY LIFEGUARD TOWER AT THE BEACH

THIS IS PHEEBERS FAVORITE RIDING SPOT IN THE JEEP BECAUSE SHE CAN LAY DOWN & WATCH OUT THE WINDOW…CAMERA GEAR UNDERNEATH

Fog lifted around noon & by 2 we were under welcome sunny skies.  Kelly was home by 3 but had to lie down for awhile.  Energy levels are better than a week ago & the hacking cough she had for so long is finally gone but she is still bothered by pains in her chest & shortness of breath.  We are hoping her latest echocardiogram is going to pin point something which will enable her to start on a recovery program of some kind. 

I AM GUESSING THIS FELLOW AS A GREEN BACKED HERON…ALONGSIDE THE GOOSE POND THIS AFTERNOON

 

I don’t know why my left foot is bigger than my right foot but it is.  Last two pairs of shoes I had seemed to have a smaller left shoe.  Or more likely, I have a bigger left foot.  It’s a recent development & never had that problem before.  Don’t think it’s connected with my leg/hip problem because that is my right leg.  Wondered if anyone else has encountered this.

<<< KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON PHEEBS & I

Father’s Day is always kind of a lost day for me.  My Mother & Dad were divorced when I was a small child but I still very well remember the difficult & turbulent times.  I would see my Dad from time to time over the years & I always liked him.  He was a humorous guy & always willing to help me with anything he could whenever he could.  Probably saw more of my Dad in the last 9 months of his life than all the times I had seen him in the preceding 48 years.  My first ever memory of my Dad was a motorcycle coming down the road in the small village of Tavistock Ontario.  It slowed & pulled over to where I was standing.  It was my Dad & it was the late 40’s.  I too am a Father, yet I never experienced being a Father.  It is an important part of my life that I missed.  Saw my Son the day he was born & once after that about a week later.  Never saw him again for about 18 years.  Came home one day back in 92 to a voice mail on my answering machine which said, “Hi, my name is Sean & I think you might be my Dad”.  I was.  It’s a long story & a story with no end.  Father’s Day has always been a confusion of lost feelings for me…………………………..  

A THUNDERSTORM PASSING JUST SOUTH OF BAYFIELD TONIGHT

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Two guys, one old, one young, are pushing their carts around Wal-Mart when they collide.  The old guy says to the young guy, "Sorry about that. I'm looking for my wife, and I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." The young guy says, "That's OK, it's a coincidence. I'm looking for my wife, too...I can't find her and I'm getting a little desperate."  The old guy says, "Well, maybe I can help you find her...what does she look like?"  The young guy says, "Well, she is 27 yrs. old, tall, with red hair, blue eyes, is buxom...wearing no bra, long legs, and is wearing short shorts.  What does your wife look like?' To which the old guy says, "Doesn't matter, --- let's go look for yours."

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

HAD A HANKERING FOR A FOOT LONG

It’s the 3rd week-end in June & that marks Bayfield’s ‘Sail & Canvas’ days.  Sailboat races on Lake Huron along with plenty of Arts & Crafts on Bayfield’s main street.  I slipped down to the harbor about 9 this morning but nothing was astir.  No sailboats on the lake.  Air was dead calm & I wondered if that might have had something to do with all the boats still at their moorings.  A drive down main street told me it was still too early in the morning for the days festivities.  Merchants & Artsy folks were just in the process of setting up their booths & displays.  Returned home & flopped in my chair.  Kelly headed into work for a few hours.  Pheebs kept pestering me for a Saturday morning Jeep ride & finally I relented.

Had a hankering for a foot long hot dog.  Usually get one every Spring at a little place in Bayfield’s south end.  Think it might be called the Woodland or something.  Figured that hankering was good enough an excuse to get out of my chair, load up the little Bumpster & head on over there.  Pulled into the Woodland parking lot at 10:20.  It opened at 11:((  Seeing's how patience & I departed company many years ago Pheebs & I headed off out into the country for a drive.  Problem was that ‘hankering’ stayed with me & followed us everywhere.  Forty minutes later we had wrapped up our country drive & were firmly planted back in the parking lot of the Woodland hot dog place.  “One foot long with the works please”.  Now I know foot longs are no longer a foot long but when did they decide to shrink the circumference of the wiener too!!  Geeeeezzzz!!  Or am I just too used to the big hot dog wiener’s we get south of the border.  But then again I have always found food in the States to have bigger portions with more of everything.  We seem to get more food for less money there.  Canada seems to be the other way around when it comes to food.  We pay more for less.  Well it seems that way to me anyway.  Pheebs thought so too.

OKAY, WHO’S TURN IS IT FOR THE NEXT BITE
Not often I buy dessert anywhere but I did spring for a soft vanilla Custer cone today & I noticed right away how much tastier it was than the McDonald’s vanilla cones I occasionally get.  Two thumbs up for Woodland’s soft ice cream:)) 

IF ONE DOESN’T HAVE A RIVER NEARBY ONE CAN ALWAYS FISH IN A DITCH
Slid back through Bayfield to the cliff overlooking the lake but by now the skies had clouded over, the water was a dull gray color & the half dozen sailboats I saw all had white sales.  I knew there was no point in trying to get some nice colorful sailboat photos.  My leg was bothering me a bit so decided not to go for a walk & look for any photos along Bayfield’s main street.  We just headed for home & that was that for the day.

DEFINITELY SOMETHING DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS FIELD OF SHEEP TODAY
 

EHHHH, WHAT’S UP DOC…………….
And did I remember to start up the rigs generatormagator today?  Yes I did:))  Looking out the window at our Winnie Wagon this afternoon I had to wonder to myself, ‘will we ever get to use this RV’.  The way we both have been creaking around with our aches & pains the past 6 weeks it does make us wonder sometimes.  Even Kelly admitted she had had the same thought.  One can be as optimistic or pessimistic as one wants but neither has a bearing on what the reality of a situation eventually dictates.  But we are taking the optimistic approach in hopes we’ll get these gray days behind us…………………..
   
AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
Had a couple comment questions on Friday’s post.  Alice wondered what kind of flower the bee was sitting on in the first photo.  Unfortunately I don’t know but those flowering shrubs grow wild here & there are many of them around the Park & along the forests edge. (photos below)  And Mark over at the BOX CANYON BLOG inquired about the price of gas here in these parts.  In Bayfield this morning I noticed it was $1.25.9 a litre.  I have no idea what that is per gallon though.  My ‘old school’ mind still thinks in price per gallon so that cost per litre stuff doesn’t make much sense to me either.  And I live here.  By the way, be sure to click on Mark’s site where you will always find a great read along with a bunch of fine photos.
 
WE HAVE A LOT OF THOSE FLOWERING SHRUBS AROUND THE PARK
I don’t know why I like Saturday night’s best, I just do.  Physically they are pretty much the same as any other night of the week, but mentally there is a difference.  Saturday night’s feel warm to me.  If I think back over the years I can probably remember more Saturday nights than I can any other night’s of the week.  Good things always seemed to happen on a Saturday night.  Well, some bad things too but we can’t win em all.  It’s the good things I chose to remember now.  I have a habit of playing my ‘Big Band’ music on Saturday nights.  It takes me back a long way to pleasant memories as a child.  Takes me back to family members who are long gone……………………………….. 
  
THE UPSIDE & THE DOWNSIDE OF A DAISY
GROANER’S CORNER:((     A Love Story
I shall seek and find you.
I shall take you to bed and control you.
I will make you ache, shake and sweat until you grunt and groan.
I will make you beg for mercy.
I will exhaust you to the point that you will be relieved when I leave you.
And you will be weak for days.
All my love,
The Flu
-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT ALWAYS EASILY ACCESSIBLE

Kelly headed off to put some time in at DEER PARK LODGE  this morning. Pheebs & I fired up Winnie the Bago & headed for a fuel stop in Goderich. Lot of construction going on between the gas bar & McDonald's so we never even thought about grabbing a bite to eat. Straight up to Goderich & straight home again. No point in taking the longer scenic route when your driving 10 cylinders. My plan was to run the generator for a bit when we got back. Did I remember to do that? Nope, maybe tomorrow……..if I think of it. 

PHEEBS KEEPS A SHARP EYE ON THE ROAD AHEAD

SOMEWHERE IN THAT MAZE OF CONSTRUCTION CAN BE SEEN THE ‘GOLDEN ARCHES’

I had trimmed a bunch of Maple Trees in the back yard earlier this week so loaded all that stuff into the utility trailer & hauled it off to our Park's recycling yard. Pheebs loves helping out with yard work & especially a ride in the Jeep to the recycling area & back.
 

Commenter ‘BuckeyePatti’ had a question as to what kind of cameras I have so just a reminder to folks that all that camera info is on my sidebar to the right.  Just scroll down to where it say’s ‘AL’S CAMERAS’ & everything is there including the easy to use & free photo editing program I like.

Discovered a Cardinal’s nest in a shrub right beside our front porch this afternoon.  Had suspected a nest in there when I saw the female Cardinal hoping around in the branches a few days ago.  Saw them both at the feeder tonight & despite the fading light I was able to get a shot of the male when he briefly landed on a branch near our sunroom window.

If I didn't have a lot of thoughts' for Thursday's post I'm afraid I have even less thoughts for tonight's post. Oh there are generally lots of thoughts floating freely about but they are not always easily accessible in a cooperative relaxing postable manner.  I sure like it when they do come together though because it help’s me fill in that large block of time between supper & bedtime.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings………………………………..

GROANER’S CORNER:((   One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.  And by the way…..you know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.