SO NICE TO FINALLY FEEL SOME WARMER AIR TODAY

THIS WAS THE ONLY PHOTO I MANAGED ON OUR JEEP RIDE THIS MORNING

About the only slight downside of living in the area we do here in southwestern Ontario Canada occurs each Spring about this time of year and no it's not flooding.  As the crow flies we are about a mile from the shores of the third largest body of fresh water in the world.  Over winter months each year lake waters become very cold with large stretches of ice and it takes awhile for those cold waters to warm up.  Here along the edge of the lake temperatures could be 35F yet inland a few miles temps may easily be 5 or 10 degrees warmer.  Always takes we lakeside folks longer each Spring to warm up than the inland folks.  So with that thought in mind Pheebs and I under bright sunny skies headed inland to see if we could toast ourselves up a bit and maybe find something resembling warmer air.  And we did.

A UTILITY LOAD OF YARD WASTE TO THE PARK’S RECYLING AREA THIS AFTERNOON

STUMBLED ACROSS A COUPLE OF PHOTOS TODAY…..ABOVE IS OUR HOUSE BEFORE WE BOUGHT IT IN 2002 AND AND FROM BASICALLY THE SAME LOCATION THIS IS HOW OUR HOUSE AND YARD LOOK NOW (BELOW)

AND IT WAS 7 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK WE LOST OUR TWO BEST PALS MAX AND CHECKERS

Due to our late Spring most dirt roads leading into the Hullett Marsh are still closed so Pheebs and continued east of there as far as Dublin.  Along the way I had to stop and take off my winter coat.  How nice to finally feel some warmer air for a change and as long as we kept our speed around 20mph we could have both our front windows comfortably down.   My camera remained beside me and by the time we arrived back home I had only taken 1 picture.  Guess I just didn't have my photo head on this morning.

I’M THINKING THIS IS A PAIR OF BUFFLEHEAD DUCKS ON OUR PARK’S POND AND ANOTHER AFTERNOON WALK IN OUR PINE FOREST

I'm lucky I was able to get a lot of our yard work done and pine needles raked up last November before heading south.  For sure it has saved me a few hours work this Spring which I am happy about now because my energy levels have really slipped.  Didn't notice it so much until the past couple days.   I seem to be working on a 2 to 1 schedule.  Work for 1 hour then rest in my recliner for 2 hours.  Good thing I'm not in any kind of hurry to get things done for a change.

Today is the first day we have been able to leave our doors open and the first day it’s been warm enough to leave my coat in the house.  I think we got up to maybe 52F here beside the lake.   Temperatures may very well have been 60+ inland.

SOUND ASLEEP IN MOMS CHAIR TODAY

GROANER'S CORNER:(( One day, three unemployed factory workers heard that a large food company was enlarging and needed more staff. So they went downtown to see if they could get themselves a job. After filing out their applications, each one was interviewed and each one managed to get hired.  As they were waiting to be assigned their new duties, a foreman came by and spoke to the hiring boss.  The foreman told the boss that he didn't think it was such a good idea as one of the workers had snapped for no apparent reason at his last job.  Also a second was said to have had cracked up after severe mental stress.  The third, he believed was their father who he felt was a bit odd but he couldn't put his finger on it.  The hiring boss reassured the foreman and said that they would start on something easy and after a week, the company would re-assess them to see if they would be kept on.  The foreman reluctantly agreed and asked the boss where he thought they should start. The boss replied, "Why not take them and put them in our Cereal Division...Snap, Crackle and Pop should work out fine down there."

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Adam and Eve had an ideal marriage. He didn't have to hear about all the men she could have married, and she didn't have to hear about the way his mother cooked.

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I’M SHORT ON WORDS AGAIN…………

I SEE A BIG FACE IN THE ICE ON THIS STILL PARTIALLY FROZEN COUNTRY POND

About all I can think about to write tonight is to simply say it was an Okay day.  Sun was out, temps were above freezing and after a short morning Jeep ride with Pheebs I continued with the Spring clean up puttering about here and there.  I will leave you with a few of the day’s photos…..

SOME COUNTRY ROADS ARE STILL A LITTLE TREACHEROUS

THE PHOTO ABOVE WAS TAKEN THIS MORNING WHILE THE PHOTO BELOW WAS TAKEN ONE YEAR AGO FROM THE SAME LOCATION….YOU CAN SEE HOW FAR OUR SPRING IS BEHIND THIS YEAR

HERE ARE THE TWO FISH THAT SURVIVED IN OUR FRONT YARD POND THIS WINTER

PHEEBS AND I MADE IT OUT FOR A WALK AROUND THE PINE TREE TRAIL THIS AFTERNOON

BEFORE THE TREE CUTTERS RAVAGED THROUGH WITH THEIR CHAIN SAWS LAST SUMMER WE HAD A BEAUTIFUL PINE FOREST

‘WHERE DID ALL THE NICE TREES GO DAD??’

HEADING HOME

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Family Tree of Vincent Van Gogh:
His dizzy aunt ----------------------- Verti Gogh
The brother who ate prunes---- Gotta Gogh
The brother who worked at a convenience store ------ Stop N Gogh
The grandfather from Yugoslavia --- U Gogh
His magician uncle --------- Where-diddy Gogh
His Mexican cousin --------- A Mee Gogh
The Mexican cousin's American half-brother ---------- Gring Gogh
The nephew who drove a stage coach ---------------Wells-far Gogh
The constipated uncle ----------- Can't Gogh
The ballroom dancing aunt -----Tang Gogh
The bird lover uncle --------------- Flamin Gogh
The fruit-loving cousin ----------- Man Gogh
An aunt who taught positive thinking ------------------ Way-to-Gogh
The little bouncy nephew -------- Poe Gogh
A sister who loved disco ----------Go Gogh
And his niece who travels the country in an RV --- Winnie Bay Gogh
I saw you smiling . . . .. There ya Gogh!

FOUND THREE WINTER SURVIVORS IN OUR FRONT YARD POND

AN AFTERNOON SNOOZE ON THE COUCH

I like how skies brighten much earlier on clear mornings as opposed to cloudy mornings.  Just seems to give a fella that wee extra boost to start the day off.   It's one of the upsides to weather's downsides. 

‘HEY NO RED HEADS ALLOWED AT THE BIRD FEEDER EH’

‘DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID!!!!’         ‘GEEEEZZZZ WHAT’S EATIN HIS APPLE’

‘WONDER IF HE WAS TALKING TO ME’

‘YA I WAS TALKIN TO YOU!!!!’

‘OKAY THAT’S IT i’M GONNA GO TALK TO THE MANAGER’

HEY YOU OVER THERE IN THE SUNROOM I THOUGHT THESE SEEDS WERE FOR BLUEJAYS ONLY!!’

Under bright sunny skies Pheebs and I jumped into the Mudmobile and off we went.  Yes, Thursday mornings coffee tour with Richard had left the Jeep pretty much encased in a thin but solid layer of country road mud.  No point in washing Thursday's mud off until after we had at least got Friday’s mud on so with that thought in mind we headed out and got ourselves all souped up with another layer of good old country mud again.

THURSDAY’S MUDMOBILE

Our air is still cold but with this morning's warm sun we hardly had to have the Jeep's heater on except if we had the windows down which was only momentary for a touch of fresh air or photos.  Enjoyed our country road time southeast of Bayfield with a stop at the car wash on the way home.

IT’S THAT TIME BETWEEN SEASONS WHEN THE LANDSCAPE LOOKS DRAB SHORTLY BEFORE EXPLODING INTO SPRING

SPOTTED ME A PAIR OF WOOD DUCKS ON THE STAFFA ROAD

OF COURSE MELTING SNOWS ALWAYS REVEAL SOME LITTER ALONG ROADSIDES

It was a good day to begin hauling yard ornaments out of our wooden shed so I could get in there and straighten things up.  Don’t know how our two sheds get themselves into such a mess over winter but they do.

I ALWAYS ENJOY THE BIG SPRING CLEAN-UP EVERY YEAR

Multi-tasking right along I was able with my garden rake to also clean winter's sludge from our front yard pond and imagine my surprise when I saw two live fish and a frog.  First time anything has ever survived over winter in that small shallow pond.  Frogs come naturally to the pond each Spring and Summer but how the fish got in there remains a mystery.  Well sort of:))  Finally managed to get our outside water turned on for another season as well.  No leaks in the hoses and everything checked out just fine.  Nice when that happens.  When temperatures come up a bit more over the coming days I will get at the Motorhome with my pressure washer.  Oh boy that’s always a big Elephant clean-up.  The interior we will do when it gets even warmer.

GETTING A FEW OF SUMMER’S THINGS SET OUT

OUR FRONT YARD POND WATER LOOKS A LITTLE GOOPY BECAUSE I JUST MUCKED OUT THE BOTTOM

MAYBE OVER THE WEEK-END I CAN GET THE PUMP RUNNING AND  HAVE SOME WATER TUMBLING OVER THE LITTLE WATERFALL

THIS IS THE LITTLE FROG THAT SURVIVED WINTER IN THE POND

I WAS LUCKY TO CATCH THESE DUCKS TAKING OFF ON OUR PARK’S POND WITH MY POINT AND SHOOT SONY RX100 THIS AFTERNOON

<<< THE WATER LEVEL OF OUR PARK’S POND IS SO HIGH IT HAS FLOODED ONE OF THE BAMBOO GRASS CLUMPS I PLANTED A COUPLE YEARS AGO

Oh my how my RV thinking has changed over the years.  I stumbled across a post I wrote 9 years ago on April 26th.  In it I lament about having to leave the Southwest and come home. I Call It.....The Homecoming Blues!!  Those early RVing years were our best and I sometimes wish we could get a little bit of that old spark back again.

‘WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE TURN OFF THE BRIGHT LIGHTS’

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Famous Mothers Quotes::

MONA LISA’S MOTHER: “After all that money your father and I spent on braces, that’s the biggest smile you can give us?”

COLUMBUS’ MOTHER: “I don’t care what you’ve discovered, you still could have written!”

MICHELANGELO’S MOTHER: “Can’t you paint on walls like other children? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that stuff off the ceiling?”

NAPOLEON’S MOTHER: “All right, if you aren’t hiding your report card inside your jacket, take your hand out of there and show me.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S MOTHER: “Again with the stovepipe hat? Can’t you just wear a baseball cap like the other kids?”

ALBERT EINSTEIN’S MOTHER: “But it’s your senior picture. Can’t you do something about your hair? Styling gel, mousse, something…?”

GEORGE WASHINGTON’S MOTHER: “The next time I catch you throwing money across the Potomac, you can kiss your allowance good-bye!”

JONAH’S MOTHER: “That’s a nice story. Now tell me where you’ve really been for the last forty years.”

THOMAS EDISON’S MOTHER: “Of course I’m proud that you invented the electric light bulb. Now turn it off and get to bed!”

PAUL REVERE’S MOTHER: “I don’t care where you think you have to go, young man, midnight is past your curfew.”

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“My dog has an attitude. He is a cocky spaniel.”

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A TOUCH OF SUNSHINE AND BLUE SKY

DESPITE TEMPERATUES HOVERING JUST ABOVE THE FREEZING MARK AGAIN IT WAS SURE NICE TO SOME SOME BLUE SKIES AND SUNSHINE TODAY
Richard and I had ourselves another fine two and a half hour country road chat this morning.  Always enjoyable.

I BELIEVE THIS DUCK TO BE A BUFFLEHEAD

A HARD TO SEE GROUP OF WILD TURKEYS

OH-OH IS THAT A PICK UP TRUCK IN THE DITCH??  NOPE, JUST A PICK UP TRUCK TOPPER SOMEBODY HAS DUMPED ALONGSIDE THE ROAD
GROANER’S CORNER:)) A man tells his friend, "I went to my doctor to see if he could help me give up smoking." "What did he say?" "He suggested that every time I felt like a smoke I should reach for a bar of chocolate." "Did that do any good?"
"No I can't get the chocolate to light."