NO IT WASN’T THE PLANET SATURN BRINGING US A RAY OF SUNSHINE THIS MORNING BUT IT DID COME IN A SATURN CAR

A FEW EARLY COLORS & HUES OF ANOTHER AUTUMN SEASON JUST AROUND THE CORNER:))

Despite a rather cold damp overcast & gloomy weather start to the day we did have a ray of sunshine roll into our driveway just after 10 a.m. this morning.  Their names were George & Suzie better known through George's blog, OUR AWESOME TRAVELS.  I had decided about a week ago to put a travel map on our blog.  In short order it turned out be easier said than done.  Kelly tried her hand at it as well but found it frustrating.  Had noticed George had a Google map on his site so Kelly emailed him with a few questions.  George & Suzie were camped about an hour south of Bayfield so George offered to come up & help us with the map thingy sometime.  Well sometime was this morning.  We had actually met George & Suzie on one other occasion back in January of 2012 when we were boondocking just outside of Bouse Arizona.  They drove on up from Quartzsite one day to say Hello.  Link for that day is here at OUR LAST DAY ON PLOMOSA ROAD

We had us a little tour of the Big EEE & compared some of the similarities between their Saturn car & our Sunfire.  Because of the colder weather we didn't spend much time outside & were soon into our warmer sunroom where George & Kelly got to work on installing a Google map on our site.  I watched & could see it was a bit more involved than what first thought.  Took a little while to get things figured out but I do think we have a bit of a handle on it now.  It's just going to take some time familiarizing ourselves with how it all works.  Again repetition is the key factor here & for sure the more I work with this map the easier it will become.  Repetition is one of the key factors in keeping my blog going.  If I were to step away from it for any length of time I know my aging mind would probably find it difficult to stay in touch with all the steps in setting up & maintaining a Blog site.  It’s just one of those things I have become reluctantly aware of.

 

Kelly had picked up some Honey Garlic sausage, a blueberry pie & some ice cream at our favorite Mennonite market location just south of Bayfield so once the Google map thingy was installed we all headed for the kitchen.  Kelly had a couple questions for George about our Webber Q because George has the same BBQ.  It was nice sitting around our kitchen table talking with Suzie & George today & I'm happy they decided to drop in & see us.  George told us how he got into the habit of including a daily photo of their lunch or dinner.  He said when he first started his blog years ago he didn't have anything to really write about so just included a few foody pics.  A short while later when he began finding things to write about he didn't include the food photos.  Of course comments came in right away asking where his foody photos were so without further adieu he quickly reinstated the daily ritual & has been well known for his lean mean cuisine photos ever since:))

 

 

 

AND THIS IS HOW GEORGE DOES THOSE FOOD PHOTOS:))
Said goodbye to ‘Our Awesome Travel' folks about 2:30.  They spend their winters in the South-West as well so we'll probably see George & Suzie again somewhere in our wanderings this winter.  Possibly at our home in Congress if they get up & around that way.  Nice down to earth people & we so much enjoyed getting to know them better today.

 

SEE YA SOMETIME IN THE WILD & WOOLLY SOUTH-WEST THIS WINTER
Skies cleared about mid afternoon & how nice to see old Sol back on the job again.  Temps only made it into the low 60's today but what a welcome relief from last week's 80+ humidity.  The seasons are definitely beginning their change & I'm looking forward to hearing my first Cricket.  For me that marks the beginning of my very much most favorite time of year & makes it all official.

Well, with a little bit of luck our 2014/15 travels should begin in another 6 weeks or so.  Plans are still to leave on Saturday September 27th which is about 3 weeks before we normally head out.  Our route plan is still on for Utah & Arizona via South Dakota.  Looking forward to seeing Autumn in the West this year.  I am soooooooooo much looking forward to once again hitting the road & making tracks for the great American South-West.  Oh how I strain my eyes every year for the very first glimpse of a distant mountain top emerging out of the haze shrouded horizon.  Eyes to the ground for that very first cactus.  So much looking forward to that big beautiful & unobstructed night sky & all my favorite constellations.  Diamond studded stars shimmering from horizon to horizon.  Moonbeams playing out over the stillness of a surrounding desert landscape with the 'Sons Of The Pioneers' in the background singing 'Along the Santa Fe Trail'.  South-Western Ontario has always been my home but it is in the American South-West where I feel I have always belonged.  My stress levels drop, my often times depressive nature & mood swings calm right down & a feeling of kinship with the old West takes hold of me.  I feel I am in a land where I am meant to be.  I am in the land & the land is in me...............................................          

YEP, WE GOT US SOME KIBITZING GOING ON HERE ALRIGHT
GROANER'S CORNER:(( A priest, a rabbi, a doctor and a lawyer are gathered at a mutual friend's graveside to mourn his passing. The priest says to the others, "I think our good friend would have liked to take something with him to his next life." He pulls a $100 bill from his wallet and drops it on the casket.
The rabbi agrees, "That's a fine idea," and drops his own $100 bill on the casket.
The doctor, not to be outdone, does the same.
The lawyer murmurs, "What a wonderful thought," as he gazes down at their friend's casket. Whipping out his pen, he quickly writes a check for $400, drops it into the grave and takes the three $100 bills as change.

THERE WILL BE NO SUNLIGHT TONIGHT

Even when my mind is a blank slate I still enjoy walking into our sunroom each night after supper & sitting down at the keyboard.  My soothing Soma music fills my ears while I sit & gaze through large windows overlooking what we have created here over the years.  Some nights I begin typing as ideas readily come to mind.  Other nights I just let the music play with my imagination. I watch for birds at the feeder & wait for shafts of twilight to tumble their way through tall pine bows & alight softly on our garden greenery.  Tonight the yard is still, my thoughts are still & no birds or evening breezes come to play before me.  Passing rain has left the leaves wet looking & droopy.  Skies are gray.  There will be no sunlight tonight.............................

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The minister's little six-year-old girl had been so naughty during the week that her mother decided to give her the worst kind of punishment. She told her she couldn't go to the Sunday School Picnic on Saturday.
When the day came, her mother felt she had been too harsh and changed her mind. When she told the little girl she could go to the picnic, the child's reaction was one of gloom and unhappiness.
"What's the matter? I thought you'd be glad to go to the picnic." her mother said.
"It's too late!" the little girl said. "I've already prayed for rain."

OFF WE WENT TO SEE THE SUPER MOON

THE HUMAN EYE SEES AT ABOUT 55mm…I TOOK THIS PHOTO AT 70mm SO THE SIZE RATIO BETWEEN THE CAR & MOON IS REASONABLY ACCURATE WITH THE MOON APPEARING ONLY ‘SLIGHTLY’ BIGGER

Sunday night we all jumped into the Jeep & headed for a high point of land just a few miles north-east of where we live.  Pheebs & I have come to this spot several times over the past couple years to watch Moon rises.  Sunday night it was the super Moon.  We were on time but due to a low cloud bank & the usual heavy pollution close to the horizon the Moon came up in a soupy fog.  Took awhile for it to become clearly visible so in the meantime we slowly worked our way back home stopping here & there for a few photos as it climbed higher into the sky.  Actually the Moon doesn't do as much climbing as the Earth does rotating.  

WAITING FOR THE SUPER MOON TO APPEAR OUT OF A SOUPY HORIZON

  

A muggy morning so that curtailed my outside activities somewhat.  Did manage to get our front yard frog pond cleaned up though.  A lot of underwater plant life growing in there plus Duckweed on the surface.  We have very few frogs anymore because neighbor's cat's have used our frog pond as their local Smorgasbord.  I sometimes get the urge to just fill the pond in & be done with it but I do like the sound of gently gurgling water tumbling over the small waterfall.  

Sharp eyed Linda over at ON THE ROAD AGAIN -- TRAVELS WITH LINDA AND JIM noticed there were 8 Turkey Vultures on those fence posts in my Sunday post photo of 7 Buzzards.  Even sharper eyed Barney from FAT MAN ADVENTURES noticed a 9th Buzzard as well in the un-cropped photo.  I was about a quarter mile away when I took these photos & had not noticed the 2 additional birds on the higher posts.  In fact I wasn't sure what the dark objects on the posts were until I got home & enlarged the photos.  I just knew there was something odd about what I was looking at.

Kelly asked me today if we had THE ODD ESSAY blog on our sidebar & I said yes but didn't remember seeing any posts from her for awhile.  To my surprise when I checked the sidebar the Odd Essay was not there.  I reinstated Sharon's blog but am wondering if other folks have had the problem where posts simply vanish off their Blogger lists.  This has happened to me before where posts for no logical reason that I can see have disappeared.  Many Blogger's blog infrequently so it's hard to know when someone is actually missing in action.  I think it was about a year ago I realized a number of fellow Bloggers were absent from our sidebar but I was able to get some of them back onboard again.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A woman phoned her dentist when she received a huge bill. "I'm shocked!" she complained. "This is three times what you normally charge."
"Yes, I know," said the dentist. "But you yelled so loud, you scared away two other patients."

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The psychology instructor had just finished a lecture on mental health and was giving an oral test.  Speaking specifically about manic depression, she asked, "How would you diagnose a patient who walks back and forth screaming at the top of his lungs one minute, then sits in a chair weeping uncontrollably the next?"  A young man in the rear raised his hand and answered, "A basketball coach?"

SEVEN FENCE POSTS – SEVEN BUZZARDS

JUST A QUIET DRIVE THROUGH THE COUNTRYSIDE FOR PHEEBS & I THIS MORNING

  

 

 

 

SEVEN FENCE POSTS – SEVEN BUZZARDS

 

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Recently, my husband put his car in reverse and accidentally backed it into a wall. He took it to his mechanic, who replaced the dented bumper.  A few days later, he did it again. "I'm so embarrassed," he moaned, reaching for the phone.  "Why not tell him it was me this time?" I suggested.  "Maybe I will," he said while dialing. "It worked the last time."