I’LL BE DOING THE DRIVING AND HE’LL HAVE HIS HOME MADE BIRCH BARK SLING SHOT ALONG

A RATHER FIERCESOME LOOKING FELLOW IN THE GODERICH HARBOR THIS MORNING

More crappy weather so figured I might as well drop into Goderich’s Maitland Valley Medical Center this morning and let them haul some more blood out of me for testing.  At least needle technology has advanced to the painless point where they don’t use turkey basters anymore so I don’t mind having to do that.

MORE SNOW IN THE AREA THIS MORNING

Learned a couple things about Wendy's I didn’t know before.  They don’t have a breakfast menu and they don’t open until 10:30 in the morning so scratch Wendy’s for me trying out their coffee.

‘HEY NICE LANDING THERE DOVEY’

So back to good old reliable McDonalds we went, grabbed us a coffee and headed on down to the harbor.  Noticed a large freighter in the process of tying up alongside the Goderich Elevators.  The bulk carrier Federal Margaree  was riding high in the water so I knew they would be taking on a load rather than taking off a load.

THE BIG FREIGHTER SLOWLY INCHES IT’S WAY FORWARD

DECK HANDS KEEP AN EYE ON THE DOCKING PROCEDURE

THIS SHIP IS REGISTERED IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC’S MARSHAL ISLANDS NEAR THE EQUADOR

I’M GUESSING THAT BALD HEADED FELLA MIGHT BE THE SHIP’S CAPTAIN

WITH ALL THOSE AERIALS UP THERE I BET THEY CAN EVEN GET ‘SESAME STREET’

DRIVING FROM THE SOUTH HARBOR TO THE NORTH HARBOR I NOTICED A HEAVY BUT BRIEF SNOW SQUALL ROLL ACROSS THE HARBOR ALMOST OBSCURING THE TUG BOAT WHICH HAD JUST ESCORTED THE BIG FREIGHTER IN

THE SHIP AS SEEN FROM THE NORTH SIDE OF THE HARBOR

THAT SUPERSTRUCTURE IS LIKE A 5 STORY CONDO

From the south side of the harbor we slipped on over to the north side of the harbor where I saw a bunch of diving birds that I’m guessing may have been Double Breasted Cormorants and Red Breasted Merganser Ducks.  I’m not up on my bird ID’s so I’m only guessing.

SPOTTED THIS HERD OF DUCKS IN THE HARBOR

NOTICED SOME OF THEM HEADED IN AND AROUND WHERE THE TUGBOATS WERE ANCHORED

ALSO WATCHING THE DUCKS SWIMMING AROUND  THE TUGS WERE A FEW CURIOUS SEA GULLS

 

HEY I JUST GOT PHOTO BOMBED

WATCHING THESE DUCKS SWIM AROUND I SOON NOTICED HOW ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY WOULD SIMPLY DISAPPEAR UNDER THE WATER….THE FEMALE DUCK IN THE FOREGROUND IS JUST BEGINNING IT’S DIVE

‘BLOOP’ ALL GONE

THERE GOES ANOTHER ONE

AND ONE JUST GETTING READY TO GO

IT WAS ABOUT THIS TIME A CORMORANT POPPED UP OUT OF THE WATER AMONGST THE DUCKS AND I FIGURE IT MUST HAVE HAD A SET OF SCUBA TANKS WITH IT

ALL THESE CORMORANT AND DUCK PHOTOS WERE TAKEN THROUGH THE PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW OF THE JEEP…..DIDN’T WANT TO GET OUT AND SCARE THEM AWAY

Heading home we came through a couple light snow streamers coming in off the lake.  With temps just above freezing there were sights and sounds of melting today.

GOOD THING THAT’S WATER ON THE ROADS AND NOT ICE

AND THE DAMN SNOW JUST KEEPS ON COMING!!

The nicest thing about having our heavier treaded winter type tires off the Jeep now is the quieter ride.  Smoother too.  Smooth and quiet works for me most every time.

Richard and I will be out with coffee cups and muffins in hand early Friday morning slip sliding our way around local roads looking for some kinda Seniors trouble we can get ourselves into.  I will be doing the driving while Richard with his homemade birch bark slingshot pops off a few rural mail boxes along the way………..:))

NO THERE IS NOTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THAT FIRE HYDRANT PHEEBS

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A Catholic Priest and a Rabbi were chatting one day when the conversation turned to a discussion of job descriptions and promotion.  "What do you have to look forward to in way of a promotion in your job?" asked the Rabbi.  "Well, I'm next in line for the Monsignor's job." replied the Priest.  "Yes, and then what?" asked the Rabbi.  "Well, next I can become Arch-Bishop." said the Priest.  "Yes, and then?" asked the Rabbi.  "If I work real hard and do a good job as Arch-Bishop, it's possible for me to become a full Bishop." said the Priest.  "O.K., then what?" asked the Rabbi.  The Priest, beginning to get a bit exasperated replied, "With some luck and real hard work, maybe I can become a Cardinal."  "And then?" asked the Rabbi.  The Priest is really starting to get mad now and replies, "With lots and lots of luck and some real difficult work and if I'm in the right places at the right times and play my political games just right, maybe, just maybe, I can get elected Pope."  "Yes, and then what?" asked the Rabbi.  "Good grief!" shouted the Priest. "What do you expect me to become, GOD?"  "Well," said the Rabbi, "One of our boys made it!"

-----------------------------------------

A friend was laid up at home with the flu. His fiancée called and volunteered to come over and fix dinner and play nursemaid to him. He declined, not wanting to pass on the flu to her. "Okay honey", she told him, "We'll wait till after we get married. Then we can spend the rest of our lives making each other sick!"

---------------------------------

There are two kinds of people. Those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good morning, Lord," and those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good Lord, it's morning."

=========================

WOULDN’T YA KNOW IT….THE MORNING WE HAVE OUR HEAVY TREADED TIRES TAKEN OFF IT SNOWS LIKE CRAZY!!

THIS LITTLE GOLDFINCH BRINGS A SPLASH OF COLOR TO OUR FRONT YARD ON YET ANOTHER DEPRESSINGLY COLD  AND SNOWY DRAB SUPPOSEDLY SPRING DAY

It was just the Jeep and I on the snowy roads this morning shortly after 9 a.m.  Had a 9:30 appointment at Huron Tirecraft in Clinton to have our heavier treaded winter/desert tires switched out for our back home summer tires.  Seemed a little odd heading in to take off snow tires when roads were partially snow covered and quickly becoming worse as bands of heavy snow squalls tracked in from the lake .  In fact it was snowing even worse heading back from Clinton with our summer tires on.  No problem though, just slipped the Jeep into 4 wheel drive and boogied right along.

HEADING TO CLINTON ON A TOTALLY COLD AND MISERABLE MORNING

HEADING HOME FROM CLINTON THE ROADS ARE EVEN WORSE @!!!!#%%&**!!

Because of the crappy cold and snowy weather I had no motivation whatsoever to even step out of the house all afternoon.  What a totally rotten Spring this has turned out to be.

KELLY TOOK THESE PICS OF A ROBIN AT OUR SUET FEEDER THIS MORNING WHILE I WAS IN CLINTON

On the ‘up side’………checking our 14 day weather forecast I see a bunch of sunny days coming up with a high of 40F on Saturday and nothing below that for the next two weeks.  Saw upper 40’s and four days over 50.  Could it be, could it be……………..

 

A TUESDAY AFTERNOON MALE CARDINAL

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Here Are A Few Of A Woman's Random Thoughts::::
Skinny people tick me off! Especially when they say things like, "You know, sometimes I forget to eat." You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat.  A friend of mine confused her valium with her birth control pills. She had 14 kids, but she doesn't care.  They keep telling us to get in touch with our bodies. Mine isn't all that communicative, but I heard from it the other day after I said, 'Body, how'd you like to go to the six o'clock class in vigorous toning?' Clear as a bell my body said, 'listen wench...do it and die.'   The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing (and then they marry him).
I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are eating too much, smoking too much, impulse buying and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day.
I know what Victoria's Secret is. The secret is that nobody older than 20 can fit into their stuff.
If men can run the world, why can't they stop wearing neckties? How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a noose around your neck………….

-----------------------------------

"What am I supposed to do with this?" grumbled a motorist as the policeman handed him a speeding ticket.  "Keep it," the cop said, "when you collect four of them you get a bicycle."

-------------------------------------

Knock Knock

Who's there?

Lisa!

Lisa who?

Lisa a new car from $199 down and $199 a month!

=============================

‘YAHOUIE LOUIE’….. AFTER 21 HOURS WE FINALLY HAVE OUR POWER BACK ON

Awoke at our usual early morning time but there was a difference today.  Our power was still not on!!  Luckily with temps hovering around the freezing mark outside we were not cold inside.  Cool yes but not cold.  Kelly slipped out to the Motorhome and fired up our propane stove to heat water for coffee.  Still lots of water  available in our rain barrel for flushing the toilet or heating water for washing. 

OUR CROCUS FLOWERS ARE NOT HAPPY CAMPERS

Noticed several of our neighbors heading out in their vehicles no doubt with heaters going on their way to local coffee shops and restaurants for breakfast.  We weren’t far behind them.   Heavy snowfall coming straight down which meant our big winds had finally subsided.  Armed with A&W breakfast coupons we made our way along snowy roads straight to Goderich. 

HEADING FOR GODERICH’S A&W THIS MORNING

YES I HAD CHRISTMAS CAROLS ROLLING AROUND IN MY HEAD AGAIN

With bacon and eggs safely tucked away in our tummies it was over to Walmart and Canadian Tire for a few things.  With dozens of storm stuck birds we were cleaned right out of birdseed so I grabbed us another 40 pound bag of seeds.  I think we’re gonna have to get a birdseed bank loan just to keep all the area bird’s fed.

OUR SPRING FLOWERS ARE TRYING THEIR DARNDEST TO GET GOING

   PLASTIC GREEN IVY AND SPRING SHOOTS PUSHING UP THROUGH THE LEAF COVER

 

DOWNY WOODPECKER ON THE LEFT AND PERHAPS A RED BELLIED WOODPECKER ON THE RIGHT….BOTH THESE WOODPECKERS WERE AT THIS SUET FEEDER WITHIN SECONDS OF EACH OTHER

ENGLISH IVY STRETCHING ACROSS THE SNOW

Back home I began putting some extension cords together after Richard suggested bringing some power into our house using our Motorhomes generator and 4 solar batteries.  We did that and were able to get our computers up and running which enabled me to publish Monday’s post around noon today. 

WE’VE BEEN STICKING PRETTY CLOSE TO OUR LITTLE FIREPLACE  AND NO THAT IS NOT A POT OF SOUP ON THE STOVE IT’S A NICE WARM POT OF WATER

Kelly always phones the power company whenever we lose electricity so we are on their robo-call updates and while at A&W her cell phone rang and it was an auto call saying power was not likely to be on until 11 p.m. Monday.  The auto call before that one this morning had said power would be on at 1 p.m. today.  So knowing we would have no power until later Tuesday night we just hung around the house all day.  Wasn’t much else we could do.  Fired up my laptop for music knowing I could easily keep it charged up by slipping out to the Motorhome and plugging it in there.  Sure is handy having an RV with an onboard generator parked outside and with our solar storage batteries we do not have to leave the generator running all the time.  Nice:))

ALTHOUGH COMPLETELY THAWED ONCE OUR FRONT YARD POND IS FROZEN OVER AGAIN

Imagine our surprise and sighs of relief when at 4 p.m. this afternoon our power came back on after being off for 21 hours.  Last time we had checked a few hours before the electric company was still saying 11 p.m. to be restored.  We immediately celebrated with a couple big bowls of hot chicken noodle soup……heated up right on our very own stove.  And if anyone missed my Sunday post you can find it here at Power Outage.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A drunk guy who smelled like booze sat down on a bench next to a priest.The man's tie was stained, his face was plastered with red lipstick, and a half-empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket. He opened his newspaper and began reading.
After a few minutes the man turned to the priest and asked,'Say Father, what causes arthritis?'
The priest replies, 'My Son, it's caused by loose living, being with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol, contempt for your fellow man, sleeping around with prostitutes and lack of a bath.'  The drunk muttered in response, 'Well, I'll be damned,'then returned to his paper.  The priest, thinking about what he had said, nudged the man and apologized. 'I'm very sorry.  I didn't mean to come on so strong.  How long have you had arthritis?  The drunk answered, 'I don't have it, Father.  I was just reading here that the Pope does.

----------------------------------------

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Eyesore!
Eyesore who?
Eyesore do like you!
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Ezra!
Ezra who?
Ezra no hope for me!

---------------------------------------

An atheist was rowing at the lake, when suddenly the Loch Ness monster attacked and grabbed him from his boat.  He panicked and shouted "God help me!", and suddenly, the monster and everything around him just stopped.  A voice from the heavens boomed "You say you don’t believe in me, but now you are asking for my help?"  The atheist looked up and said: Well, ten seconds ago I didnt believe in the Loch Ness Monster either!

==========================