BIT OF A DOWNER MORNING BUT I PULLED IT OUT OF THE FIRE BY NOON

Not a great start to the day.  Somewhere in my travels through dreamland overnight I must have stumbled and tumbled into the dumpster again.  When Kelly parted our living room curtains this morning I peered out upon the dullest, dreariest, drab, and dull looking gloomily gob of a morning I’ve ever seen.  It took a Herculean effort to get myself out of my recliner and out the door.

I THINK IF THAT DIGGER OPERATOR DROPS ONE MORE BIG ROCK ON THAT END OF THE BARGE IT’S GOING TO TIP OVER!!

BAYFIELD’S POLL WALKERS GETTING RAMPED UP FOR A BRISK WALK

SOMETIMES ON THESE BACK ROADS WE ARE THE FIRST ONES TO BLAZE A TRAIL

LOOKS LIKE THIS FELLOW IS HEADING OUT TO DO SOME SERIOUS PLOWING

THIS GUY IS ALREADY IN THE FIELD

THIS CHAP IS STILL WAITING TO GET STARTED ON HIS CORN

With a whole head full of second thoughts of just about everything I picked up a coffee to go in Bayfield and with Pheebs headed out into the countryside trying to get myself back on track again.  The morning couldn’t have been any grayer but we somehow managed to find a few photos anyway.  We were back home about 10:30 and my day slowly began turning around.

EVEN SAW A BIT OF MELTING AND RUNNING WATER THIS MORNING

I BELIEVE THIS TO BE A CROP OF WHAT THEY CALL ‘WINTER WHEAT’

NICE TO SEE BARE AND DRY HIGHWAYS AGAIN

Noticed it was about 11:30 this morning when skies unexpectantly brightened and holy smokes we had us a big sun splash right in our front yard.  Looking up I saw scattered patches of blue sky through our tall pine trees.  What a boost to my spirits this was as I propelled myself around tying up a few loose ends with a couple small projects I had on the go.  Our sunny period didn't last and was soon gone but no matter, we at least had us a bit of healing sunshine for a short while and I took full advantage of that.

WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS A REAL LIVE SUN SPLASH RIGHT IN OUR OWN FRONT YARD

FEMALE CARDINAL

LOOKS LIKE A MOURNING DOVE MEETING GOING ON

I LIKE SEEING THE BIRDS AND SQUIRRELS BEING ABLE TO GET A DRINK FROM OUR FRONT YARD POND ANY TIME THEY WISH

 

<<< NO, THIS ISN’T SQUIRRELY THIS IS LITTLE RED AND HE NEVER CAUSES US ANY PROBLEMS

It was a real running gun battle between Squirrely and I again today.  With the score evened up at 6-6 Squirrely pulled ahead when he used the post’s wood strip between the stovepipe edges to catapult himself up and over the birdfeeders edge.  7-6  I immediately tied up the score at 7-7 and surged ahead  8-7 when I placed an old plastic window shutter over the post’s wood gap.  Half an hour later I see Squirrely  going up a small cherry tree about 20 feet from the feeder, climb to small branch higher up and fling himself through the air landing on the feeder.  All tied up at 8-8!!!!!  Without missing a beat I stormed out, grabbed my clippers along with my stepladder and off came that branch.  9-8 for AL.  It wasn’t 20 minutes after that I saw Squirrely head back up that same tree, picked out another small branch and flung himself through the stratosphere of space landing with a thump upon the bird station again.  All tied up at 9-9 now.  I again grabbed my ladder and clippers and off came another branch as  team AL once again grabs the lead at 10-9.  This was 2:30 this afternoon and at the time of posting tonight the score still remains at……Awww Nuts!!#%**%##!!

 

YOU CAN SEE HERE HOW THE METAL STOVE PIPE DOESN’T WRAP ALL THE WAY AROUND THE POST AND TO RIGHT IS THE WINDOW SHUTTER I PUT UP AND TIED IN PLACE

IF YOU LOOK TO THE TOP RIGHT OF THIS PIC YOU CAN SEE MY CLIPPERS HANGING ON THE BRANCH I AM ABOUT TO CUT OFF AND NOTICE THE DISTANCE TO THE BIRD FEEDER PLATFORM

YEP MY NAME’S LITTLE RED AND I’M THE GOOD SQUIRREL:))

Sometimes when reading over my post at night before publishing I am tempted to go back and delete things that I have maybe written earlier in the day.  Tonight’s post is a good example of that.  I was tempted go back and delete the first two paragraphs which I wrote late this morning.  It was how I was feeling at the time.  Obviously feeling better now I re-thought it and decided to leave them in.  I have always tried to keep my blog real and not intentionally give readers a false impression that every day is unrealistically marvelous………………….

WAITING:))))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Two friends rented a boat and fished in a lake every day. One day they caught 30 fish. One guy said to his friend,  "Mark this spot so that we can come back here again tomorrow.  "The next day, when they were driving to rent the boat, the same guy asked his friend, "Did you mark that spot?  "His friend replied, "Yeah, I put a big 'X' on the bottom of the boat.  "The first one said, "You stupid fool!   What if we don't get that same boat today!?!?"

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Top Ten Things To Say About A Christmas Gift You Don't Like

10. Hey! There's a gift!

9. Well, well, well ...

8. Boy, if I had not recently shot up 4 sizes that would've fit.

7. This is perfect for wearing around the basement.

6. Gosh. I hope this never catches fire! It is fire season though. There are lots of unexplained fires.

5. If the dog buries it, I'll be furious!

4. I love it -- but I fear the jealousy it will inspire.

3. Sadly, tomorrow I enter the Federal Witness Protection Program.

2. To think -- I got this the year I vowed to give all my gifts to charity.

And the Number One Thing to say about a Christmas gift you don't like:

1. "I really don't deserve this."

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A Scottish lad and lass were sitting together on a heathery hill in the Highlands. They had been silent for a while, then the lass said, "A penny for your thoughts." The lad was a bit abashed, but he finally said, "Well, I was thinkin' how nice it would be if ye'd give me a wee bit of a kiss." So she did so. But he again lapsed into a pensive mood which lasted long enough for the lass to ask him, "What are ye thinkin' now?" To which the lad replied: "Well, I was hopin' ye hadn't forgot the penny!"

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WELL, YOU GUYS NAILED THE ‘CLUES’ ALRIGHT:))

Minutes after posting Tuesday night’s post our Bayfield neighbor Monica texted from Frostproof Florida saying she had found the main ‘clue’ about our 'haven’t left yet’.  Monica wins first prize and a dump truck load of cold Ontario snow is on it’s way to her place and will be delivered right to her front door.  Must say I was a little surprised so many readers caught on so fast.  Good work gang, your on your toes.

Now for a few details………. I had resigned myself to the fact that we would not be returning to our beloved Southwest this winter.  I was having a great deal of difficulty with that reality but there appeared to be no options.  Kelly and I had both agreed to sit out the winter and that was that.  And it was that until last Saturday morning when I heard these words….”I think we have been way over thinking all this and we should just go”. ‘What’????  I wasn’t sure I heard right at first but within a matter of seconds it suddenly became clear to me.  Our RV travels were back on the table again and we were both equally on board with the idea.  Less than an hour later I was outside in the carport pulling all our RV stuff back out of storage.  The task ahead seemed mammoth considering we had taken absolutely every single thing out of the rig several months ago and even put the original furniture back in.  But no matter, my feet were barely touching the ground as I skittered about getting things organized.   With a tentative departure date a month away there was no hurry but I hurried anyway.  I have a habit of doing that when I feel good about something.  What a great feeling it was to have a project underway, something to do, something to look forward to, and somewhere to go again.

I’ve already taken the dining room table and chairs back out of the rig and loaded the basic traveling things into the bins.  New front tires will go on the coach December 6th.   Biggest problem I am having is finding a lot of the stuff we took out of the rig.  This failing memory of mine will not tell me where I put stuff so everything has to be hunted down.  Couldn’t even remember where I had put my 22-10 ton gallon Cowboy hat.  Kelly had to find the Atlas’s and I have a list here as long as my arm of things I took out of the rig and now have no idea where they are despite searching every nook and cranny of our carport, two sheds, and the house.  It’s no wonder I get so upset with myself.

My initial thought was not to mention anything about our last minute travel decision until our first day on the road but being the big Blabberfingers I am I knew it would be impossible for me to stifle my thoughts and sit on my hands.  I did manage to delay my blabber for a few days though.  Come to think of it that short buttoning up of myself was an amazing accomplishment for me.  Three days without a blab….’Wow’.

Had I never seen or been to the great American Southwest during the winter months I would probably be grudgingly stuck with just staying here like I did for over 60 miserable winters before.  I wouldn’t know what I was missing so I wouldn’t miss it.  I first saw mountains in the spring of 1971 traveling through Washington State in the America’s northwest.  It was love at first sight for me and it hasn’t changed one bit.  My first travels in the southwest were in May of 1992 and I knew at that time I had to come back some day.  Had I been born an American I would have chose to live there somewhere in the southwest for sure.  My next mountain sighting was in Las Vegas Nevada when Kelly and I made a quick trip flight there  one time for four days.  Soon as we got off the plane we didn’t even go to our hotel room, we rented a car and drove out into the desert exploring.  It was dark by the time we got back to the big swanky hotel.  (Stardust) Next mountain sighting was a quick trip to Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas over the Christmas/New Year holidays in 2004/05.  It was Kelly’s first mountain sighting and she was hooked too.  Then came 2006 when everything changed  for us and we’ve travelled back and forth to the southwest every year since.  It’s funny how a place gets in one’s blood like that.  I have not seen another area in the United States where I have felt more comfortable and as good about being there as I do in the mountains and green deserts of the American Southwest.  It is a land of magic for me and always has been right from when I was a kid riding a stick pony under a big 22-10 ton gallon cowboy hat.  Hopalong Cassidy was my guy.  And a big thank you to Russ Krecklow who on November 4th of 2013 sent me something very special….A Big Surprise In The Mail Today From Oregon:)) 

Not a nice weather morning with strong winds driving the 32F temps even lower.  A combination of snow and drizzle in the air which I like to call ‘snizzle’.  Minor drifting as Pheebs and I headed to Goderich on Porter’s Hill Line and back.  Our usual  Goderich routine took us down around the harbor to have a look at stormy lake waters.  Picked up some bananas and headed home.

SNOWY ROADS FOR PHEEBS AND I THIS MORNING

HOLY SMOKES WHERE DID I MAKE THE WRONG TURN AND END UP IN SIBERIA

LAKE HURON’S STORMY DARK WATERS

Squirrels knocked down one of the suet feeders twice Tuesday and this morning they knocked the Finch feeder to the ground.  Chased Squirrely off the bird station twice this afternoon but the third time Kelly saw him going up the center post and somehow doing a double back flip up onto the feeder platform.  It was then I remembered a piece of stovepipe I had in the shed so I quickly retrieved that and wrapped it around the post.  However there is a vertical gap of maybe 8 inches where the pipe sides don’t meet and I’m sure Squirrely will be smart enough to scurry up the gap.  The hunt is on now for something smooth about four feet long and eight inches wide to cover that wooden gap.  In the meantime the Squirrel gang is keeping as close an eye on me as I am on them!!  The Squirrel score is now all tied up at 6-6.

SQUIRRELY IS JUST A GORGING HIMSELF

 

An interesting article in Bayfield’s own Bayfield Breeze today showing the last moments of the old steamboat Linda Hindman before it slipped beneath Lake Huron waters November 19th.

A FEW MORE PHOTOS OF THE WRECK I TOOK THIS PAST YEAR

Finished another good book regarding a young man’s life on the ground and in the air over Europe during the Second World War.  An Ace of the Eighth: An American Fighter Pilot's Air War in Europe  To me, the stories of these fine young men and their life and times during those years of turmoil and struggle are fascinating.  It is no wonder they are often referred to as the greatest generation.  As I read all these books and absorb all their stories it is easy for me to see the difference in human nature and character from then to now. 

 

Last year at this time before heading off to the southwest on December 22nd we were talking about how and what things we could do differently when we got there.  I know I have blogged about this before and it’s on my mind again this year.  Where can we go and what can we do that we haven’t done dozens of times before.  Still want to touch base with some of our old favorite spots but how can we change things up a bit.  These thoughts have been on my mind for the past few days…………….

OUR BACK PORCH DECK LIGHTS

AND THIS IS WHAT MAKES OUR SUNROOM SO COZY AND WARM ON THESE COLD WINTERY NIGHTS

GROANER’S CORNER:((  An old cowboy sat down at the Starbucks and ordered a cup of coffee. As he sat sipping his coffee, a young woman sat down next to him.She turned to the cowboy and asked, 'Are you a real cowboy?' He replied, 'Well, I've spent my whole life breaking colts, working cows, going to rodeos, fixing fences, pulling calves, bailing hay, doctoring calves, cleaning my barn, fixing flats, working on tractors, and feeding my dogs, so I guess I am a cowboy..'She said, 'I'm a lesbian. I spend my whole day thinking about naked women. As soon as I get up in the morning, I think about naked women. When I shower, I think about naked women. When I watch TV, I think about naked women. It seems everything makes me think of naked women.'The two sat sipping in silence.A little while later, a man sat down on the other side of the old cowboy and asked, 'Are you a real cowboy?' He replied, 'I always thought I was, but I just found out I'm a lesbian.'

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Q: Why does Santa Claus go down the chimney on Christmas Eve?  A: Because it " soots " him!

Q. What happened when Guy ate the Christmas decorations?  A. He went down with tinsel-itis.

Q: What do you do if Santa gets stuck in your chimney?   A: Pour Santa flush on him.

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One Sunday morning, a mother went in to wake her son and tell him it was time to get ready for church, to which he replied, "I'm not going." "Why not?" she asked."I'll give you two good reasons," he said. "One, they don't like me, and two, I don't like them." His mother replied, "I'll give YOU two good reasons why you SHOULD go to church. One, you're 54 years old, and two, you're the pastor!"

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