WHAT A GREAT RESPITE TODAY’S BIG BLUE SKIES AND MILDER TEMPERATURES WERE:))))

‘WOW’ BLUE SKIES TODAY:)))))))

Checking Grand Bend's live Yacht Club harbor cam first thing this morning I could see a setting Moon over Lake Huron and this told me skies were at least clear to the west of us.  I took that as a sign of encouragement for some sunshine today.  And what a great sunshiny day it turned out to be.  And milder melting temperatures too.

FISHERMEN SURE HAVE A LOT OF FORTITUDE FOR FREEZING COLD WEATHER

Kelly mentioned to me Thursday she had noticed some progress on the Tim Horton Coffee shop site at the south end of Bayfield.  Well it sure didn’t take Pheebs and I long to get ourselves right on down there and have us a looky see .  Sure enough, there was work going on.

DEFINITELY WORK GOING ON AT THE TIM HORTON SITE

A DIGGER STANDS BY WITH ENGINE RUNNING

A BIG WATER TANKER ON THE PROPERTY

Right beside the Tim Horton lot is Bayfield’s carwash and with the Jeep encrusted in road salt I wasn’t long in getting it in there and hosed off.  Minutes later Libby came out of there looking pretty spiffy so we didn’t waste anytime getting her re-dusted a bit on some still frozen country roads.  No mud on the roads, just wiffle dust.

‘HEY DAD WHERE DID ALL THE CORN GO’??

A FEW DAYS AGO THIS CORN FIELD LOOKED LIKE THIS AND BELOW IS WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE THIS MORNING

LOVING THESE BIG BLUE BLUE SKIES TODAY

ANIMAL TRACKS

LOOKS LIKE A GREEN CROP OF WINTER GRASS OR SOMETHING

After Thursday’s low temperature of 14F today’s therapeutic sunshine and warmer temperatures worked wonders for me.  We were able to have both front windows down (heater on of course) and when heading in a westerly direction I could feel the warmth of the sun on my face.  Feeling so good I even felt compelled to take a few selfies.

CAN YOU TELL I AM TOTALLY ENJOYING THE SUNSHINE:))

‘OMG’ IS THAT A SLIGHT SMILE I SEE ON THAT CRANKY FACE

Back home by 10:30 with temperatures continuing to rise I went into overdrive.  Fired up the Motorhome’s generator and let that run for awhile as well as the rig’s engine.  Made a few adjustments to several bird feeders, burnt some trash, and took care of a half dozen other things outside.  As I went from one task to the other not forgetting anything along the way I was reminded of the way things used to be.  Like many other folks I am at my personal best when I have something acceptably agreeable to do and about at my worst when I don’t.  A big thankyou to Mother Nature today for her generous gift of sunshine and and almost 40F temperatures.  A nice and necessary respite from our recent doom and gloom weather for sure.

  

Last week the Squirrel score was tied up a at 2-2.  When I moved the bird station to a new location the score went up to 3-2 for me.  Three days later I saw Mr. Squirrel back on top of the feeder again.  Oh-Oh, 3-3.  I watched for a awhile and finally saw how Squirrely was getting onto the feeder via a far away branch on our Sunburst Locust tree.  Ever heard of ‘flying Squirrels’?  Well we have them.  Out came my step ladder and clippers and down came the Sunburst branch.  A-ha, 4-3 for AL:))  Late Thursday afternoon I looked out and sure enough there was Rocket J Squirrel up on the bird station again.  Hmmmm, all tied up 4-4 now.  From the sunroom this afternoon I sat with eyes riveted once again to the feeder and sure enough along comes Houdini and up the wooden post he goes this time, grabs the lip of the overturned empty plastic flower pot edge I have on the post to deter him, hauls up his legs and then springboards himself up onto the wooden platform.  Staring at the eyes of defeat I had to do some thinking so out came my yellow handled sheers and out the door I went.  Took a while but I was able to cut that plastic lip off the flower pot so now Mr. Smartypants Squirrel has nothing to grip onto and pull himself up with.  It is now 5-4 for me.  Game on:))

CUTTING THE RIM OFF THE INVERTED FLOWERPOT

BEFORE AND AFTER

PHEEBS KEEPS WATCH ON THE FRONT PORCH MAKING SURE NO SQUIRRELS COME UP THERE AND GET INTO THE BIRDSEED BIN

 

‘HEY DAD I THINK I SEE ONE’………. ‘I DO’ ‘I DO’!!!!

Had some unusual never seen before problems with my Picasa photo editing program tonight and I sure hope it doesn’t mean the now unsupported program is beginning to become unstable.  If I lose my handy dandy photo editing program I will be totally dead in the water.  Oh woe I could very well be…………………..

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A man arrives at the gates of heaven. St. Peter asks, "Religion?" The man says, "Methodist." St. Peter looks down his list, and says, "Go to room 24, but be very quiet as you pass room 8." Another man arrives at the gates of heaven. "Religion?" "Baptist." "Go to room 18, but be very quiet as you pass room 8."A third man arrives at the gates. "Religion?" "Jewish." "Go to room 11, but be very quiet as you pass room 8." The man says, "I can understand there being different rooms for different religions, but why must I be quiet when I pass room 8?" St. Peter tells him, "Well the Catholics are in room 8, and they think they're the only ones here."

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Knock Knock  Who's there?  Disguise!  Disguise who?  Disguise the limit!

Knock Knock  Who's there?  Disk!  Disk who?  Disk is a recorded message, please leave your message after the beep!

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Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Person asked the young programmer, "And what starting salary were you looking for?" The programmer said, "In the neighborhood of $75,000 a year, depending on the benefit's package." The HR Person said, "Well, what would you say to a package of 5 weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, and a company Corvette leased every 2 years?"  The programmer sat up straight and said, "Wow!!! Are you kidding?" The HR Person replied, "Certainly, but you started it."

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PULLED OUT OF THE PARK THIS MORNING AND HEADED FOR THE LIGHT

First thing I saw pulling out of the Park this morning was a thin line of clear sky just above the eastern horizon.  In desperate need of sunshine I decided to head east for that slim stretch of cloud free sky in hopes of getting out from under the heavy cloud layer overhead.  By the time I reached Clinton I thought it was all folly as I lost track of any clear sky.  Coffee to go at Hortons and I headed north with a sliver of blue sky to the northeast.  I gave up my sunshine idea and wandered dejectedly over to the Hullett Marsh.

WE HEADED EAST FOR THAT NARROW BAND OF CLEAR SKY

THIS FARM IS SURROUNDED BY UNHARVESTED CORN

HEADING INTO THE MARSH I HAD A GROUP OF DEER RUN ACROSS THE ROAD UP AHEAD

THESE PHOTOS TAKEN QUICKLY THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD AREN’T GREAT BUT I’M INCLUDING THEM ANYWAY

IT WAS A SHORT WALK AT THE MARSH….TOO COLD FOR PHEEBS PAWS

PHEEBS STARES OFF IN THE DIRECTION THE DEER RAN

It was too cold for a walk in the Marsh and even after a 5 minute leg stretch Pheebs held up her paw to let me know her feet were cold.  Well that was enough of that and we both hastily climbed back into the Jeep and cranked up the heater.   Headed back out to the country road and just as we cleared a bunch of trees I was startled by a big patch of blue sky to the northwest that I hadn’t noticed.  What a great feeling it was when a minute later I saw a line of sunshine headed our way across the fields.  The countryside looked alive again as the fast approaching sunlight streamed into the Jeep bathing us in it’s warm healing rays.  Gone was the dull drabness which had been a part of our days for so long it seemed.  What a nice temporary feeling of relief it was.  

WHAT A GREAT SIGHT THIS WAS TO SEE AS WE HEADED NORTH OUT OF THE MARSH

YES IT’S SUNSHINE ALRIGHT

SOME FARM FOLKS WERE EVEN OUT WALKING

BECAUSE OF THEIR DARTING SPEED SNOW BUNTINGS ARE VERY HARD TO GET A PHOTO OF BUT I DID CATCH THESE GUYS ON THE ROAD AHEAD OF US….THOSE LINES ON THE GRAVEL ROAD ARE CAUSED BY THE SNOWPLOW BLADE

I HAVE TAKEN PHOTOS OF THIS OLD CAR SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE YEARS

LOOKS LIKE SOMEBODY DIDN’T GET THEIR BARN DOORS FIXED BEFORE WINTER

THIS FELLOW IS STILL WORKING ON THE CORN HARVEST

From the Marsh we set a slow course west heading in the direction of Goderich marveling at the sun drenched snowy countryside along the way.  In my mind the ideal way to deal with winter is to spend it in warmer southern climates maybe returning via air for a week around Christmas to see all the snow, Christmas lights and decorations, etc.  A week, maybe two would be enough and then hightail back south again until mid April sometime.

HEADING WEST INTO BENMILLER

WINTER HAS IT’S OWN UNIQUE BEAUTY

Had some things to pick up in Goderich and also had to stop at the Maitland Valley Medical Clinic’s blood lab to have some blood drawn for a medical appointment coming up in a couple weeks.  With that done Pheebs and I headed for home bathed in beautiful sunshine all the way.  How nice it was this afternoon sitting at the computer with a warming sun beaming in the windows.  Well at least for awhile anyway but by mid afternoon we were under our gloomy heavy cloud cover again.  Low temperature records have been broken for this date by the way.  I would like winter much better if it only lasted for maybe a week or two with all those days being sunny.

THEY ABSOLUTELY SALT THE HELL OUT OF EVERYTHING UP HERE IN THE WINTER AND MOST OF WHAT YOU SEE ON THE JEEP IS THAT DAMN CORROSIVE ROAD SALT….THIS SUPERMARKET PARKING LOT IS FULL OF THE MISERABLE STUFF AND YOU CAN SEE THE SALT PELLETS LYING ON THE PAVEMENT!!!!!!!!!! ….BELOW PHEEBS WAITS IN THE JEEP WHILE I’M IN THE BLOOD CLINIC AND THAT’S GODERICH’S ALEXANDRA MARINE GENERAL HOSPITAL IN THE BACKGROUND

CATCHING A FEW ZZZZZZ’S ON THE WAY HOME TODAY >>>>>>

In a comment on Wednesday’s post our RVing friend Peter from Campobello Island asks, “I am wondering how you feel about staying home this winter”?  Well, I wrote a rather long answer to Peter’s question this afternoon but after reading it tonight after supper I thought it over then deleted it.  I think it is a subject I had best not even talk about anymore.

STOPPING TO HAVE A SCRATCH

NOTICE HOW THIS DOWNY WOODPECKER ANCHORS ITSELF WITH IT’S TAIL

  

WE HAVE A RESIDENT RED SQUIRREL IN OUR YARD AS WELL

GROANER’S CORNER:((  By the time the sailor pulled into a little town every hotel room was taken. "You've got to have a room somewhere," he pleaded. "Or just a bed, I don't care where." "Well, I do have a double room with one occupant - an Air Force guy," admitted the manager, "and he might be glad to split the cost. But to tell you the truth, he snores so loudly that people in adjoining rooms have complained in the past. I'm not sure it'd be worth it to you." "No problem," the tired Navy man assured him. "I'll take it." The next morning, the sailor came down to breakfast bright-eyed and bushy tailed. "How'd you sleep?" asked the manager. "Never better." The manager was impressed. "No problem with the other guy snoring?" "Nope. I shut him up in no time," said the Navy guy. "How'd you manage that?" asked the manager. "He was already in bed, snoring away, when I came in the room," the sailor explained. "I went over, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and said, 'Goodnight gorgeous'…… and he sat up all night watching me."

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The angry wife met her husband at the door. There was alcohol on his breath and lipstick on his cheek. "I assume," she snarled, "that there is a very good reason for you to come waltzing in at six o'clock in the morning?""There is." he replied, "Breakfast."

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