WITH IMPATIENCE BEING MY BIGGEST CHALLENGE

 A FEW CHRISTMAS CARDS HAVE COME OUR WAY

A cold one this morning but at least most of our snow is gone.  It was a leisurely drive up to Goderich for Pheebs and I with a few of the usual stops along the way.  Nothing too exciting.  

THERE WAS A BIT MORE SNOW UP  AROUND GODERICH

 EVEN 'OLD LONESOME' WAS OUT AND ABOUT THIS MORNING

Home again, I spent some more time reading about videos and my Nikon CP900.  I never was what I would call a quick learner at the best of times and taking on new technical things in these Senior years is a true test of my tolerance with impatience being my biggest challenge.  I'm slowly beginning to get the hang of the basics and like anything else, it's the steady repetition that that might eventually win the day for me.  But, I sure do have quite a time keeping a lid on my frustrated self.  Below is a short 45-second test video of a few birds on our bird station this afternoon.  There is music with it if you care to listen.  I have no way in Blogger to check if this video will work before publishing it so I have my fingers crossed.  Okay, I checked the video online and it works:))

At the time of posting this tonight, we have a fair bit of snow coming down and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas out there:))

 SOMEBODY AT OUR HOUSE GOT NEW BOOTS THIS WINTER AND IT WASN'T ME

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Kathy began a job as an elementary school counselor and she was eager to help.  One day, during recess, Kathy noticed a young girl standing by herself on one side of the playing field while the rest of the kids were playing a game of soccer.  A while later, Kathy walked over to the young girl and offered, "Would you like me to be your friend?"  The girl looked at Kathy suspiciously, then said hesitantly, "Okay, I guess so..."  "Why are you standing here all alone?" asked Kathy.  "Because," the little girl said with great exasperation, "I'm the goalie!"

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USING PAPER TOWELS TO CLEAN UP MY MESS

 OH DEAR, I HOPE THIS FELLA ISN'T THINKING OF JUMPING OFF THE BAYFIELD PIER

So who knew that spinach comes in frozen cubes.  Well, certainly not this guy but thanks to a good friend in Stratford I found that out when she left a Facebook comment about my Yummy-Yuck morning shakes.  I have been using spinach leaves.  As soon as I use up my pile of Popeye spinach I'll be heading off to Walmart to see if I can find me any of them there icy cubes.  And in a comment on my Monday post, a reader wondered about sugar in the orange juice I use.  The brand I buy is called 'Simply Orange' and it has a label on it saying 'No Sugar Added'.  Now we all know how deceiving labels like that can be but here's something interesting.  Up until a couple years ago, I'd be lucky if I drank two small glasses of orange juice a year.  And that's no exaggeration.  Now, I'm not sure exactly when and why it was that I glommed onto orange juice but it's my second favorite drink after skim milk. I easily drink a couple small glasses of orange juice a day now and I'm still maintaining my weight.  In fact, one of my favorite smoothie drinks is simply mixing orange juice and skim milk.  One-third milk and two-thirds orange juice.  Ya, Ya, I know....sounds yukky but guess what....it tastes yummy.  Well, at least to me it does.  However, I only drank one-third of my shake this morning.  And why is that you might ask?  Well, two-thirds of my shake ended up on the kitchen floor.  I had just poured my ingredients out of the blender into my plastic glass when I decided to move my one-cup coffee maker back into its place.  I did that and as I moved back my right elbow hit and tipped over my full veggie shake glass on the counter.  Quickly uprighting the glass with a sliver of my concoction left in the bottom, I promptly took my hand and scooped it along the countertop funneling what was left of my shake off the edge of the counter into my near-empty glass.  By doing that I retrieved a third of my shake. Well, I at least figured that was better than nothing.  I then used up a number of paper towels cleaning up the vomit-looking mess on the floor.  And that was how I sorta kinda started my day.  From that point on the Gremlins had me on the run. 

 OH GEEEZZZZ, NOW IT NOT ONLY SOUNDS YUKKY IT EVEN LOOKS YUKKY TOO

I could hear the wind roaring through our tall pine trees even before we had pulled back the living room curtains.  The wind made it sound very cold outside and if it were not for Pheebs pushing me out the door on days like this I would be tempted to just sink back even deeper into my recliner and just stay there for the rest of the day.  However, I am fortunate enough each and every day to have a furry little inspiration to get me up and on my way.

A FEW MORE CHRISTMASY FRONT PORCH DECORATIONS ALONG THE WAY THIS MORNING

Skies darkened enough this morning that our outside timer switched all our Christmas lights on.  Temperature today was 28F with a 15F wind chill factor and that did not make for a very enthusiastic outing.  We did slip into Bayfield for a drive down around the harbor, through the village, and then home again. 

 THIS MORNINGS' COLD WINTERY WEATHER DOESN'T SEEM TO BE BOTHERING THIS GUY

 DECISIONS DECISIONS 

 OH OH THERE HE GOES

 HE DISAPPEARED IN THE  ROUGH WAVES

 IT WAS ABOUT HERE WHEN I THOUGHT I MIGHT HAVE TO MAKE MY FIRST 911 CALL OF EVER.....BUT THEN.....I SAW A DARK SPECK AND ITS ALMOST DEAD CENTER IN THIS PHOTO

AND BY GOLLY THERE HE IS

 I GUESS HE'S GOING TO BE OKAY NOW:))

 I NOTICED THIS MORNING THEY HAVE PAINTED THE YELLOW CENTER LINE ON THE APPROACHES TO THE NEW BAYFIELD BRIDGE AS WELL AS ACROSS THE BRIDGE ITSELF....THOSE ORANGE TARPS ALONG THE SIDES OF THE BRIDGE PROBABLY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE BRIDGES RAILINGS

Okay, so how many of us are going to rush outside at the end of the day today to soak up that extra couple minutes of daylight as we finally begin our slow swing into winter's ever-lengthening days:))  Oh-Oh, but then they start getting shorter again two-thirds of the way through June:((   Now how's that for some up and down thinking a few days before Christmas eh.

 THESE GUYS SURE ARE KEEPING ME ON MY TOES

GROANER'S CORNER:((  It's almost 2022, I've been around several decades and I'm wore out, and I still have so many unanswered questions!!!! I haven’t found out who let the dogs out...where’s the beef...how to get to Sesame Street... why Dora doesn’t just use Google Maps...Why do all flavors of fruit loops taste exactly the same, or how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop......why eggs are packaged in a flimsy carton, but batteries are secured in plastic that’s tough as nails...what does the fox say... why “abbreviated” is such a long word; or why is there a D in ‘fridge’ but not in refrigerator... why lemon juice is made with artificial flavor yet dish-washing liquid is made with real lemons... why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections... and, why do you have to “put your two cents in” but it’s only a “penny for your thoughts” where’s that extra penny going to... why does The Alphabet Song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star have the same tune... why did you just try to sing those two previous songs... and just what exactly is Victoria’s secret? and where is Waldo?... Can you hear me now?...and do you really think I am this witty?? ... I actually got this from a friend, who stole it from her brother’s girlfriend’s, uncle’s cousin who lived next door to an old class mate’s mailman.

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WHEN I SAW THE NEW BIRDFEEDER ON THE GROUND!!

 PHEEBS AND I DID MANAGE TO GET IN A BIT OF A WALK THIS MORNING

When I saw the new birdfeeder on the ground with a squirrel sitting beside it vacuuming up all the spilled birdseed I knew right away it wasn't the feeder's fault.  It was my fault for not using a heavier cord to hang the feeder with.  The squirrel probably leaped from a tree branch onto the feeder and the sudden extra weight snapped what I suspect was an already weakened cord.  Within minutes I was outside with my tall 12' step ladder and a length of heavy-duty speaker wire in my hand.  I rehung and refilled the feeder and I was back in the house within 20 minutes.  All is again temporarily well in the squirrel wars.  But, tomorrow hasn't dawned yet.........

 AND HERE'S FROSTY THE SNOWMAN'S LITTLE SON FREDDY RIGHT HERE IN OUR VERY OWN PARK

THOSE BUILDINGS ON THE HORIZON ARE THE BASE FOR MERNER CONTRACTING

 LOOK CLOSELY AND FIND THE SLEEPING SNOWFACE....ONLY THE TWO CLOSED EYES AND NOSE ARE RECOGNIZABLY VISIBLE

Despite a cold breeze Pheebs and I did manage a short walk at our country road spot.  Had it not been for the wind chill factor we could have gone further.  I guess I shouldn't be using the term 'we' because unlike Pheebs with her toasty warm fur coat I'm the furless wimp.

 THERE'S A FARMER ON HIS TRACTOR WITH A PLOW ON BEHIND OUT THERE SOMEWHERE BUT I DID'T SEE HIM

Our snow is slowly melting and with temps predicted to reach 40F over the next few days, it's looking a lot like a green Christmas coming up.  That's okay with me but it's not so swell for kids and stuff up here in the northern latitudes.

 I LIKE THIS FARMHOUSES FRONT PORCH

 THIS BENCH SITS NEAR THE FARM HOUSE PORCH

I discovered today that Windows has its own video editing program and it's been on my computer all the time.  It's called 'Windows Live Movie Maker'.  I had a look at it today and with a little bit, or a whole lot of luck I just might be able to figure it out.  I'm going to give it a whirl anyway.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A professor of chemistry wanted to teach his 5th-grade class a lesson about the evils of liquor, so he produced an experiment that involved a glass of water, a glass of whiskey, and two worms. "Now, class. Observe closely the worms," said the professor putting a worm first into the water. The worm in the water writhed about, happy as a worm in water could be. The second worm, he put into the whiskey. It writhed painfully, and quickly sank to the bottom, dead as a doornail. "Now, what lesson can we derive from this experiment?" the professor asked.  Johnny, who naturally sits in back, raised his hand and wisely, responded, "Drink whiskey and you won't get worms."

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