HI-HO HI-HO IT'S OFF TO THE HULLETT MARSH WE GO

Well, it's truly summer now because our orange Daylilies are blooming.  Nights are still cool with temps dropping into the mid-50sF.  Despite the smoke from Quebec wildfires, Old Sol did manage to bring us sunlight today after smoky skies cleared.

 LILIES IN BLOOM

With the length of our morning Jeep rides dwindling these past few years I decided to try and break that routine this morning.  For Pheebs and I one of our favorite go-to spots has always been the Hullett Marsh.  We were always in there for walks at least 3 times a month.  Would you believe we have not been to the Marsh at all this year.  Not even once.  Our last time there was probably last September or October.  So, needless to say, it was the Hullett Marsh we headed for earlier today with a stop in Clinton for a Tim Hortons coffee to go of course.

 HEADING FOR THE HULLETT MARSH

It sure was nice turning south off Summerhill Road onto the long single lane heading into the Marsh at the foot of Sanctuary Line.  As per usual at this time of the year, everything was looking so green and lush.  We parked in our old favorite spot and soon headed off walking atop the west berm of Whistler Pool.

 WE WILL BE WALKING ALONG THE BERM TO THE RIGHT OF THE WATER

 THIS MARSH IS AN EXCELLENT PLACE FOR WILDLIFE

 LOOKS LIKE WE WERE TOO LATE FOR WHATEVER HATCHED HERE

 SHADOWS AND PATTERNS IN THE LONG GRASS

 I THINK THIS MIGHT BE A CABBAGE BUTTERFLY

 I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS LITTLE FELLER IS

 A DRAGONFLY

 THIS BODY OF WATER IS CALLED WHISTLER POOL

 A BUSY LITTLE BEE

NOPE, THERE ARE NO BEES IN THIS PHOTO

 TODAY'S BEE PICS WERE TAKEN IN THIS CLUMP OF CLOVER

There haven't been a lot of pesky bugs in the air this year but we did encounter a few biting Deer Flies along the way this morning.  Now that Spring's busy animal and bird activities have slowed down to a crawl the Marsh has now entered into its quiet Summer phase.  Very few bird sounds and there wasn't much going on in Whistler Pool's water either.  Pheebs and I waited too long this year to see all the frog, turtle, and dragonfly activities.  No Sand Hill Cranes, Geese, or Ducks to be seen anywhere either.  However, we did see a Deer bounding across a nearby meadow.

 DEER ON THE RUN

 THOSE MIGHT BE MUSKRAT TRAILS THROUGH THE DUCKWEED

 A BURDOCK PLANT GROWING ITS BURRS

 A BLUE SWIZZLE-STICK DRAGONFLY

 A RARE PLASTIC RED RIBBON FLOWER

 WE DECIDE TO HEAD A LITTLE DEEPER INTO THIS SWAMPY AREA

 SURPRISINGLY, THERE WERE NO MOSQUITOS HERE

 BY THE TIME WE GOT BACK TO THE JEEP SOMEBODY HAD MUDDY PAWS AND IT WASN'T ME.....AND IT WAS JUST 5 DAYS AGO SHE WAS ALL SPIFFED UP AT THE GROOMER

Back to the Jeep we slowly made our way home using half a dozen gravely back roads.  I always marvel at our rural countryside and the many things I always see along the way.

 I LIKED THIS SIGN I SAW ON PORTER'S HILL LINE THIS MORNING SO I LOOKED UP THE BAYFIELD LAVENDER FARM ON THE INTERNET AND FOUND THEIR WEBSITE VERY INTERESTING

  Al's Music Box:)) Blue Collar by Randy Bachman from the album 'Bachman-Turner Overdrive'.  1973  I like Randy Bachman's diverse guitar work on this one and although he appears to stop at one point, he's just gearing up for the next run up and down the frets.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  An efficiency expert concluded his lecture with a note of caution. "You need to be careful about trying these techniques at home."  "Why?" asked somebody from the audience.  "I watched my wife's routine at dinner for years," the expert explained. "She made lots of trips between the refrigerator, stove, table and cabinets, often carrying a single item at a time.  One day I told her, 'Honey, why don't you try carrying several things at once?'  "Did it save time?" the guy in the audience asked.  "Actually, yes," replied the expert. "It used to take her 30 minutes to make dinner.  Now I do it in ten..."

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- How did the blind woman pierce her ear?  Answering the stapler.

- How much do pirates charge to pierce someone's ears?  A buck an ear.

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YOU MAY HAVE TO MAKE 'ANOTHER' NEW BAYFIELD BUNCH LINK

 I HAD NEVER SEEN THE 'JOHN D LEITCH' IN GODERICH'S HARBOR BEFORE

With the clouds sitting on the treetops in some places and on the ground in others, Pheebs and I slowly made our way to Goderich and picked up a McDonalds coffee to go.  Unlike Tim Hortons now, one can at least be assured of a reasonably decent good-tasting coffee at McD's.  Well, in my opinion anyway.

MIXED IN WITH THIS EARLY MORNING MIST WE HAD A SMOKE ADVISORY TODAY AND BY AFTERNOON WE HAD A VERY SMOKY SMELL IN THE AIR

 A DRAINAGE SECTION SPLITS THIS FARMER'S CROP

Swinging down around the harbor and beach area I noticed two lake freighters at the Goderich Salt Mine.  The John D Leitch is a new sighting for me.  I have not seen this particular ship in the Goderich harbor before.  The Algoma Innovator I of course have seen many times previously.

 THERE WERE A NUMBER OF CANADA GEESE ALONG THE SOUTH PIER THIS MORNING

 THE JOHN D LEITCH'S BRIDGE SECTION IS ON THE BOW INSTEAD OF THE STERN

 I THINK THIS FELLOW MIGHT HAVE BEEN CLEANING A FEW WINDOWS

 ON THE LEFT IS THE ALGOMA INNOVATOR WITH ITS BRIDGE SECTION ON THE STERN AND ON THE RIGHT IS THE BRIDGE AND BOW SECTION OF THE JOHN D LEITCH

 THE JOHN D LEITCH ON THE LEFT AND THE ALGOMA INNOVATOR ON THE RIGHT

After popping into Walmart we headed home with a stop at Richard and Gayle's along the way to see how they were doing.  Aside from having a few internet connection problems this morning, they were doing okay.  Richard and I will be heading out on one of our country road coffee tours later in the week.  I always look forward to that.

 AN AMERICAN CATAMARAN ANCHORED ON THE INNER SIDE OF THE HARBOR'S BREAK WALL

 THE CATAMARAN 'BEGONIA' ON THE LEFT AND THE STERN SECTION OF THE 'ALGOMA INNOVATOR' ON THE RIGHT

 A COUPLE FELLAS ALONG THE BOARDWALK HAVING A FEW TUESDAY MORNING CHUCKLES

 OH DEAR, IT LOOKS LIKE THIS POOR YOUNG LADY MAY HAVE TO UNDERGO A SERIOUS OPERATION TO HAVE A TREE REMOVED FROM HER HEAD

Any readers checking in to our blog for a while today might have found a '404 Error' coming up.  That was Kelly working at making a few more fixes to our blog to make it easier for readers to find.  It had to do with our blog's URL. (Uniform Resource Locators meaning the address of a webpage) Kelly is trying to get our blog page address exactly back to the way it was before all the trouble started.  By doing that it will automatically 'refresh' in people's side-bars whenever my post is published.  For some people who had to make new links for our blog, you may now have to make 'another' new link if you're other new link was made prior to today.  Sorry for all these inconveniences. 

 I SURE GOT 'GOOSED' THIS MORNING

Al's Music Box:))  Love Will Keep Us Alive by the Eagles featuring bass player Timothy B. Schmit.  This is from the Eagles Farewell Tour in Melbourne Australia.  2004

 GODERICH'S SHORELINE AT ROTARY COVE LOOKING SOUTH

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The farmer met his kin at the railroad station. “Uncle, I’m mighty glad to see you, he greeted. “That crate of chickens you sent me bust open just as I was going to take ‘em out and them chickens ran all over the place. I chased ‘em through my neighbor’s yard and only got back eleven.” “You did okay,” said uncle. “I only sent you six.”

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- What do you get when you mix a Christmas tree and an iPad?  A pineapple

- The next person that asks me for a pineapple juice, a cranberry juice and some lemonade with a slice of orange all in the same glass ...is gonna get a punch.

- Why did the strawberry go out with the pineapple?  Because he couldn’t get a date.

- Why was the pineapple all alone?  Because the banana split.

- A person was hit by a bus after he claimed pineapple goes with pizza.  Also, I lost my bus license today.

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Friend: "How old is your boyfriend?"

Me: "He's old, he has a Yahoo email address."

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