Saturday, January 15, 2022

OUR COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR AND REMEMBERING GEORGE

 FROST ON OUR LIVING WINDOWS THIS MORNING
It was the first time in a long time and so much so that I couldn't remember when the last time was that Pheebs and I didn't head out for a morning Jeep ride first thing in the morning.  With the temperature sitting at -4F and a windchill factor of -24F I felt it best we just stay inside and keep ourselves warm.  At least it was sunny today and of course, that was a bonus.

KITCHEN WINDOW
 EVEN OUR FRONT YARD BIRDS WERE PUFFED UP AGAINST THE COLD
 NO PUFFING UP NEEDED FOR THIS STONE BIRD
 THIS WELL-FED BLUEJAY WAS REALLY PUFFED UP
 EARLIER THIS MORNING A MOVEMENT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION OUT OF THE CORNER OF MY EYE AND IT WAS THE JEEP  CREEPING UP AND PEAKING AROUND THE CORNER TO SEE WHY PHEEBS AND I HADN'T COME OUT YET:))
Seeing how we didn't get out for any photos this morning I had to be a little more creative with what I could find around the house.  In the kitchen and living room, I found some frosted windows.  In the sunroom were an assortment of moogy faces on the wall with a few other creatures and shadows lurking about.

 FACES IN OUR SUNROOM ARE ALWAYS PEERING OVER MY SHOULDER KEEPING ME COMPANY
Shortly after posting Friday's blog, I had to go back and update it with a couple of temperature corrections.  I get myself mixed up with Celcius and Fahrenheit sometimes.  Although Canada is officially into the metric system Al's head has remained with the Fahrenheit way of thinking.  About 85% of my blog readers are in the United States where they are on the Fahrenheit scale so it's easier for them not to have to convert numbers from Celcius to Fahrenheit.  Easier for me too.  And because we traveled for 13 years in the States during the winter months it just made sense for me to stick with the Fahrenheit way of thinking.  It's just that I mix up the true temperatures in my blog sometimes.  I have no intentions of changing my way of thinking so I  guess I'm just an old Fahrenheit kind of guy.  Miles Per Hour instead of KilometersPer Hour too:))    

 AND NO THIS IS NOT ME AS A YOUNG BOY....ALTHOUGH  I'M SURE THERE ARE THOSE WHO MIGHT DISAGREE
During the winter I periodically start Scooter up to keep the battery charged but despite doing so just a couple days ago the battery was stone dead today.  Friday night's temperatures were just too much for it so that tells me the battery is not up to snuff and will likely need replacing in the not too distant future.  We don't know how old the battery is and we have had the rig for about a year and a half now.  

 WE BROUGHT THIS AGAVE PLANT HOME FROM ATOP MARSHALL SOUTH'S GHOST MOUNTAIN IN THE BLAIR VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
 HANGING BEAD SHADOWS
It was two years ago today the RV community lost one of its best-known full-time RV bloggers. George Yates made friends wherever he went.  He was just that kind of guy.  George and his wife Suzi traveled full-time in their Georgetown Class A motorhome from 2006 right up until late 2019 when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  If George was still with us today we all know exactly where he and Suzi would be right now.  Quartzsite Arizona each January at this time is home to the largest gathering of RV folks in the world and George and Suzi would be there boondocked just south of the Q at La Posa South and he would be busy organizing another Bloggerfest in the desert.  We would be reading about George's walkabouts, wonderful days, and checking in to see what he had cooking on his Webber-Q barbecue each day.  And not to be forgotten were his daily food pictures.  Asked one time why he took so many food pictures his answer was simply 'because I can.'  I'm sure George's name comes up around a lot of late afternoon and early evening happy hour campfires and will continue to do so for many years to come.  Thanks for being everybody's friend George and keep those awesome travels going wherever you may be up there on those many roads and trails in the sky.  Here is Suzi's post today at Our Awesome TravelsAnd here's my post on January 16th 2020.... Remembering George.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The Ten Commandments Of Marriage::

Commandment 1. Marriages are made in heaven. But so again, are thunder and lightning.

Commandment 2. If you want your spouse to listen and pay strict attention to every word you say, talk in your sleep.  

Commandment 3. Marriage is grand — and divorce is at least 100 grand!

Commandment 4. Married life is very frustrating. In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens. In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens. In the third year, they both speak and the neighbors listen.

Commandment 5. When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing: Either the car is new or the wife is.
  
Commandment 6. Marriage is when a man and woman become as one; the trouble starts when they try to decide which one.

Commandment 7. Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night thinking about something you said. After marriage, he will fall asleep before you finish talking.

Commandment 8. Every man wants a wife who is beautiful, understanding, economical, and a good cook. But the law allows only one wife.  

Commandment 9. Every woman wants a man who is handsome, understanding, economical, and a considerate lover, but again, the law allows only one husband.

Commandment 10. Man is incomplete until he marries. After that, he is finished.
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Why do Morris dancers wear bells?
So they can annoy blind people as well.
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 SIGNS OF OUR TIMES
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Friday, January 14, 2022

THE BIG BARKER CAME ROARING OUT OF THE FARM LANE

It was about 10 o'clock this morning when my doctor's office called with the results of my Thursday afternoon CT scan in Goderich.  The spot on my lung has not grown so it looks like I have dodged another bullet for now on this long stumbling rocky road of life.

 I THINK IT WILL BE A LONG WHILE BEFORE ANY SWIMMERS GET BACK INTO THE WATER HERE AT BAYFIELD'S BEACH 
 SOMEWHERE OUT THERE ARE BAYFIELD'S NORTH AND SOUTH PIERS
YEP, THE ICE IS OUT ALMOST AS FAR AS ONE CAN SEE FROM THIS ANGLE
With a few patches of sunlight peering through the cloud cover, Pheebs and I took a mid-morning drive into Bayfield and back.  With temperatures hanging around the 14F mark I had no desire to stop for a walk anywhere.  Pheebs is still hesitant about jumping up into the Jeep and I didn't have the ramp in the back seat so that confirmed my no-walk decision.  The Kitchener weather station said the overnight wind chill factor could hit -22F:((

CHANGED LOCATIONS TO ATOP THE BLUFFS AT PIONEER PARK OVERLOOKING THE LAKE
 LOOKING SOUTHWEST DOWN THE LAKE
 LOOKING NORTH UP THE LAKE
 LOOKS LIKE I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE OUT DOING SOME LOOKING THIS MORNING
We went down the same country road where a week or so ago a big barking farm dog ran out of a farmer's lane and scared Pheebs enough that she jumped into the back seat.  This morning Pheebs was having none of that as we slowly drove by the barking dog's house.  The big barker came roaring out of the farm lane and ran right up alongside the Jeep by Pheebs open window as we passed by.  Pheebs never flinched and stood her ground.  There was no way she was going to let that big bully barker bother her.  And, she didn't.

 'BARK-BARK-BARK-BARK'!!!!
 'YOU GET RIGHT BACK HERE YOU BIG YELLOW-BELLIED CHICKEN BULLY'!!
AWWWW SHUCKS PHEEBS I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO BE A BULLY
 'I LIKE THIS QUIET FOREST SCENERY BETTER DAD'
 IT'S A LONG TIME SINCE I'VE SEEN A SNOW FORT BUT BY GOLLY I SAW ONE TODAY
 NICE TO SEE SUN DAPPLED TREES AND SHADOWS
 YES, DEFINITELY A RED BERRY BUSH ALRIGHT
 BELOW THE BAYFIELD RIVER SIGN CAN BE SEEN THE NEW CONCRETE AND STEEL BRIDGE RAILINGS
Home again, there wasn't much going on for the rest of the day.  The afternoon remained sunny and I took advantage of that, soaking up the sun's healing warmth in my sunroom recliner.  Read a bit, zzzzzz a bit, read a bit zzzzzz a bit.  And repeat.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  This woman rushed to see her doctor, looking very much worried and all strung out. She rattles off: “Doctor, take a look at me. When I woke up this morning, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw my hair all wiry and frazzled up, my skin was all wrinkled and pasty, my eyes were bloodshot and bugging out, and I had this corpse-like look on my face! What's wrong with me, Doctor!?”  The doctor looks her over for a couple of minutes, then calmly says: “Well, I can tell you that there isn't anything wrong with your eyesight.”

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Young Son: "Is it true, Dad? I heard that in some parts of the world a man doesn’t know  his wife until he marries her”
Dad: That happens in every country, son.

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