BUT ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD SOMEHOW

HERE I AM ARROWHEAD GRAMMA:))

Under a high thin cloud cover and with a couple buckets and a shovel in the Jeep, Pheebs and I headed out this morning in search of some country road corn dumps.  With the corn harvest in full swing, there are usually spills here and there alongside the road where combines have spilled some corn while loading into big trucks.  We traveled and searched half a dozen roads after our walk but alas, we came home cornless.

QUITE A TURNOUT FOR BREAKFAST THIS MORNING JUDY

 THIS FARMER, HAVING HARVESTED HIS CORN IS NOW IN THE PROCESS OF SCUFFLING UP HIS FIELD

 A LOT OF WORK GOING ON ALONG SOME OF OUR AREA'S COUNTRY ROADS

 I THINK SOME OF IT COULD BE FIBER OPTIC CABLES OR NATURAL GAS

 I GUESS IT'S TIME TO SELL THE OLD FARM TRACTOR

 LEAVES ARE QUICKLY TRANSITIONING FROM THE TREES TO THE GROUND NOW

 WELL MAYBE NOT ALL THE LEAVES JUST YET

 AND HERE ARE A FEW BAYFIELD PINES GALS OUT FOR A MORNING JOG:))

Kelly had slipped off to Goderich so Pheebs and I busied ourselves with more seemingly endless yard work.  I think it is fair to say now that there are more leaves on the ground than there are leaves on the trees.  A lot of raking and loading up the utility trailer.  Our eaves troughs were stuffed full of small Sunburst Locust leaves so out came my big tall step ladder and I set about cleaning them out.  Filled up the bird feeders for the gang and moved some front yard lights around.  By the end of it all, I flopped myself down in a chair on our front porch and simply relaxed enjoying the sunny warm, and windy November 4th 70F temperatures.  And I think some temperature records were broken today.  The birds are such a delight to watch flitting about through the trees back and forth to the feeders.

 THOSE ARE ALL TINY SUNBURST LOCUST LEAVES ON THE ROOF AND SKYLIGHT

 OUR EAVES ARE CHOKED FULL OF THEM

 AND THE ONLY WAY TO GET THEM OUT OF THE EAVES IS TO CLIMB UP MY LADDER AND SCOOP THEM OUT BY HAND

 HEY, I THINK SOMEBODY'S ON MOM'S CHAIR

 'DON'T TELL MOM I WAS ON HER CHAIR OK DAD'

 AFTERNOON SNOOZE WITH ONE OF HER PALS

A few dates of note slipped right by me these past couple of weeks.  Thanks to Alcoholics Anonymous many years ago, I marked my 43rd year of continuous sobriety this past October 19th.  Aside from this aging and health thing, I much prefer being here rather than where I was prior to October 19th, 1979.  Oh the stories I could tell.  And on the night of October 31rst twenty years ago, Kelly, our dog Max, and I moved into our cozy little place here at the Bayfield Pines just outside of Bayfield Ontario.  Yes, a lot of water under the bridge over the years with some of it turbulent, some of it passive, but always moving forward somehow.

 OH THOSE SWEET EYES

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Policeman: "Did you get the license number of the car that knocked you down?"  Pedestrian: "No, but I know it was. My mother-in-law!"  Policeman: "How can you be so certain?"  Pedestrian: "I'd recognize that laugh anywhere!"

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Saw a sign at a store that said, We treat you like family........ I'm not going in there!!

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A waiter brings a diner his steak order. Diner: Hey, you've got your thumb on my steak! Waiter: Well, do you want it to slip and fall on the floor again?

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A DAY IN STRATFORD PLUS ME AND MY CHUCKLES

With clouds sitting right on the road this morning I headed out early for my 10:30 oil change appointment at the Subaru dealership in Stratford Ontario.  Sometimes the fog hangs around the shoreline and clears up a few miles inland.  But, not this morning.  I drove through fog right from our place all the way to the Subaru dealer.  With the corn harvest in full swing, there were a lot of big farm machines on the road and one had to keep a sharp eye out for big gray shapes suddenly looming out of the mists ahead.

 THIS FARMER ISN'T LETTING A BIT OF FOG SLOW HIS CORN HARVEST DOWN

I made it to my appointment on time and they took me right in.  The service manager said he would have me out of there inside an hour.  And he did.  While there, I looked at a few Subarus in the showroom and purchased a tube of touch-up paint.  Most of my time was spent in the service department's waiting room reading my Kindle.  Here's what a Subaru oil change consists of in addition to the oil change....Inspected tire condition and adjusted all tire pressures.  Inspected and adjusted all fluid levels.  Inspected operation of all lights, wipers, and washers.  Inspected drive belt.  Serviced battery.  Inspected axle boot condition.  Lubricated all latches, hinges, and locks.  Inspected all steering and suspension components.  Checked underbody for damage.  Hey, and they even washed Subie before she left the shop:))

 THE 'CHECKING IN' AREA

 I WANDERED AROUND A BIT LOOKING AT SOME SHOW ROOM SUBARUS

 THE SERVICE AREA AND WAITING ROOM

 LOOKING OUT INTO THE GARAGE

With some time to kill before my next appointment at Krown Rustproofing, I grabbed a burg and fries at Mcdonalds then slipped around to Avondale Cemetery where I have a few family members interred. (My Dad and my Uncle Harry)  The problem was I couldn't remember where they were buried despite walking around and looking, so I headed off to my next appointment not too far away.  It took less than half an hour to get the Subaru undercoated and I was back on the road again headed over to my good buddy Jim's place.

 STRATFORD'S AVONDALE CEMETERY

Picking up Jim we headed for a nearby Tim Hortons coffee shop.  One orange juice for Jim and one decaf coffee for Al.  Neither one of us could remember the last time we had sat down for a coffee together.  And we couldn't remember if it was at Seaforth's Tim Hortons or Seaforth's ballpark.  We had been getting into the habit of bringing lawn chairs and sitting outside at the Park.  Jim and I caught ourselves up on a lot of stuff, solved a few worldly problems, and discussed this terrible aging thing we and so many others our age seem to be so afflicted with.  Enduring Hortons hard ass-flattening plastic bench seats and holding our coffee blow-out down to just a couple hours we both agreed that next time we would get a couple old barn pillows and some binder twine and lash those pillows to our keisters.  I dropped Jim off about 4:20 and set my course for home backtracking along the same Quinlan Road route I had used coming to Stratford.  An hour later I sure had a happy little tail-wagging doggie welcoming me home.  By the way, Jim has a few new posts up on his blog site and you can find him here at Lifetime Sentences 

 DRIVING HOME WAS MUCH CLEARER THAN THIS MORNING'S FOG

If I were to say I had maybe one chuckle a year I would not be stretching it.  If I were to say I have been having a dozen chuckles an hour lately, I would be pushing it.  But not by much.  A chuckle is defined as 'to laugh inwardly or quietly'.  So what brings about my chuckles you ask??  For me, these last few days, it has been a rather impetuous little freckle-faced girl with pigtails.  I'm speaking of Anne of Green Gables of course.  I can't seem to help myself as I am reading along and come across all the silly antics this mere little wisp of a child gets into or comes up with in her innocent muddles and missteps.  I am becoming a real chucklehead as I stretch back in my recliner, book in hand, and chortle away.  Yes, chortle.  When a chuckle is combined with a snort, it becomes a chortle.  Oh heaven forbid if a chortle got away from me and became an outward downright laugh.  Should that happen to me one of these days soon I'm sure I'd be startled into a state of sure shock.  I don't know that I have ever laughed out loud but it must be so when I was much younger I'm sure.  Oh how I would love to have something move me to great guffaws of laughter someday.  And, by golly, if that little Anne keeps a-goin the way she has been going, I just may unexpectedly startle myself one of these fine days and bring the roof down.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A taxpayer received a strongly worded "second notice" that his taxes were overdue. Hastening to the collector's office, he paid his bill, saying apologetically that he had overlooked the first notice."Oh," confided the collector with a smile, "we don't send out first notices. We have found that the second notices are more effective."

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"Grandpa, why don't you have any life insurance?"  "So you can all be really sad when I die."

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THANK YOU ALL DEARLY

 AN EARLY MORNING AUTUMN CYCLIST THIS WAY COMES

Despite it being November already we are really fortunate to have this marvelously nice weather upon us at the moment.  Blue skies and plenty of sunshine with daytime highs predicted to reach 70F  by Saturday. 

 MY CAMERAS TEST SHOT AS I STEPPED OUT OUR FRONT DOOR THIS MORNING.....I HAVE BIRDSEED IN THAT METAL GARBAGE CAN

WE TOOK A DRIVE AROUND OUR PARK BEFORE HEADING OUT

Pheebs still has a bit of soreness in her ankle so we haven't been doing any morning Jeep ride walks.  I don't want her jumping in and out of the Jeep any more than is necessary.

THESE PICS ARE FROM A PRE-HALLOWEEN DRIVE THROUGH THE VILLAGE OF BAYFIELD

 DESPITE BAYFIELD'S MAIN STREET BEING CLOSED DUE TO CONSTRUCTION, THESE ARDENT COFFEE CONNOISSEURS ARE HOLDING FAST IN FRONT OF THEIR FAVORITE COFFEE SHOP ......SHOPBIKE COFFEE ROASTERS

 I LIKE THE DARKER COLOR TEXTURED SIDEWALKS BEING PUT IN ALONG MAIN STREET

 I THOUGHT I SAW SOMETHING MOVING OVER THERE

 AWWWW YES, THERE IT IS...A BLACK SQUIRREL DESTROYING SOMEBODY'S HALLOWEEN DISPLAY

I washed the Subaru again this morning in preparation for its appointment with the Subaru dealer in Stratford Ontario Thursday morning.  This car was originally purchased there and I just want to make contact with the dealership for future reference.  Subie will also be having an oil change as well.  There are still things about the car we don't understand so I hope to have those listed questions of ours answered, and figured out with some hands-on instructions.  

 A COUPLE BIG SHIPS DOCKED IN GODERICH A FEW DAYS AGO

 THIS BIG OCEAN-GOING VESSEL IS THE FEDERAL YUKINA

 HEAVY TWO LEGGED PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC IN THE HARBOR

While in Stratford I will be meeting with my good buddy Jim for a coffee.  It's been a while since we last sat down for a coffee blowout.  The funny thing though is Jim doesn't drink coffee anymore and I will only have a small decaf.  A big change from years ago when we would drink so much coffee we almost had to be carried out of the coffee shop on stretchers.  Oh well, it is the enjoyable decades-old coffee shop routine and chatter that we have always enjoyed the most.  We started that sometime over forty years ago and I must say, we certainly have frequented and terrorized our share of coffee shops over the long years.

It was all three of us outside in the yard under Autumn's glow this afternoon cleaning up flower beds and raking leaves.  Pheebs didn't do too much cleaning up but that was okay.  She has a sore ankle

 WE PULLED OUT A LOT OF DEAD HOSTAS TODAY

Thanks to all readers for your comments and book suggestions on my 'Larry' post.  I am not only very much appreciative of that but I have been newly encouraged as well.  Thank you all dearly.  

 QUITE AN ELABORATE MARTIN BIRD HOUSE I'D SAY

Ellen's Groove:)) No music from Ellen in this segment but you have to see these photos of the groovy Halloween makeup her very talented and creative Mom did for her.  Also, the Halloween photos of Ellen with her Mom and Dad.  And check out this clip to see her makeup going on.

With much indecision on our part, we have finally decided to keep our RV (Scooter) until next Spring when at such time we will again try to determine Scoot's future.  Although there is little hope of us getting away to our beloved southwest this winter, we just can't bring ourselves to, in all finality, extinguish that last little flame of hope still flickering in our RV travel hearts.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Two Musicians in a major symphonic orchestra were discussing who they thought the LEAST talented musician in the band was. One of them said; that's easy. See that guy standing in the back? Well, we just put two sticks in his hands and we call him a Drummer. The other responded; well, if we take one stick away, we call him a Conductor!!

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Two retired professors were vacationing with their wives at a hotel in the Catskills. They were sitting on the veranda one summer evening, watching the sunset.  The history professor asked the psychology professor, "Have you read Marx"  To which the professor of psychology replied, "Yes, and I think it's these pesky wicker chairs."

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