TWELVE YEARS AGO TODAY WE MET PHEEBS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND TOMORROW IS HER BIRTHDAY:))

 SOMEBODY IS HAVING A COLORFUL SUMMERS DAY AT THE BEACH

Another mighty fine sunny summer morning found Pheebs and I jeeping our way to Goderich to drop off a prescription at Walmart's Pharmacy.  We followed our usual route and routine to get there and back home again.

 THE FEDERAL RIDEAU WAS IN THE PORT OF GODERICH THIS MORNING TAKING ON A LOAD OF GRAIN

 TWO ON THEIR SMARTPHONES  AND ONE WONDERING WHY THEY ARE ON THEIR SMARTPHONES HERE AT THE BEAUTIFUL BEACH

 ENJOYING A SUMMER MORNING'S STROLL ON THE BOARDWALK

 IN THE WALMART PARKING LOT I THOUGHT THIS LOOKED MORE LIKE AN ICE CREAM TRUCK THAN A PROPANE TRUCK

Cut some grass, whacked some weeds, and trimmed back some branches and vines before the day's humidity drove me back into the house.  Other than that, it was an okay day.

 SEEN IN OUR SUNROOM THIS MORNING

Tuesday while visiting with Karen and Steve, Kelly took a few photos with her Blackberry phone that I forgot to include in yesterday's post so here they are.  

 HERE'S KAREN TAKING A FEW PHOTOS OF PHEEBS

Twelve years ago today was the very day we first met Pheebs and brought her home.  But her name wasn't Pheebs.......Hi Everybody....My Name Is Eve.  Oh my, what a wonderful day that was, and what wonderful days they have all been ever since she has been with us.   From the first day we met, Pheebs and I have been together every single day since.  And, guess what....Tomorrow August 10th is Pheebs official Birthday and she will be 14 years old.

 ME AND MY VERY BEST PAL OF EVER

Kelly's Liver Doctor's office called this afternoon with an appointment for her to be at London's University Hospital at 2:45 Thursday afternoon to discuss her current liver status.  We're thinking she will find out at this meeting whether she has been accepted for a liver transplant or not. 

 KELLY REALLY LIKES THIS NEW MARKET 29 STORE ON BAYFIELD'S MAIN STREET

Al's Music Box:)) I was saddened today to hear about the death of musician Robbie Robertson of 'The Band'.  I just had my favorite Robbie Robertson song in my Music Box a while back so in memory of Robbie, here is that song again.  Somewhere Down That Crazy River

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The European Union commissioners have announced that an agreement has been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phased plan for what will be known as EuroEnglish (Euro for short).  In the first year, "s" will be used instead of the soft "c". Sertainly, sivil servants will reseive this news with joy.  Also, the hard "c" will be replaced with "k". Not only will this klear up konfusion, but typewriters kan have one less letter.  There will be growing public enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replased by "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20 persent shorter.  In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of silent "e"s in the language is disgrasful, and they would go.  By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" by "z" and "w" by "v".  During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou", and similar changes vud, of kors, be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German lik zey vunted in ze forst plas.

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TODAY WE MET AN RV COUPLE WE HAVE KNOWN ONLINE FOR A LONG TIME

 THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN WITH KAREN'S SAMSUNG SMARTPHONE SITTING ON A PICNIC TABLE WITH A SELF TIMER

With temps in the mid 50's and a strong gusting wind from the north, I had to slip on a light nylon jacket over my short sleeve shirt on our morning walk.  Due to my hip bothering me and Pheeb's disinterest in a walk we only covered half of our half mile.  We soon jeeped our way back home and not long after that it was all three of us in the Subaru heading for.......no, not London, but a destination south of Grand Bend Ontario. 

Checking today's weather last night I was especially pleased to see it was going to be a nice day.  Not as much for me but for an RV Blogging couple now in our area at the Pinery Provincial Park south of Grand Bend.  We first met this couple online probably fifteen years ago or more.  I'm talking of course about Karen and Steve from What A View.  Older fellow RV Bloggers will know who they are when I mention their blog's previous name, 'Karen In The Woods' or 'RVing: The USA is OUR Big Back Yard'.  Karen and Steve are on a tour of Ontario with one of their destinations being Niagara Falls.  Traveling across The Straits Of Mackinac from their home in Wisconsin they followed Michigan's Eastern shoreline south to Port Huron and into Canada.  They then traveled north to our area to say hello.  Through a series of emails, we arranged to meet them at their campsite in the Pinery at 11 this morning.  We got hung up in Grand Bend so we were about ten minutes late getting there.  It was sure a trip down memory lane as Kelly and I drove into the Pinery for the first time in about 20 years.  It's a long winding scenic drive back to the campground section and everything looked the same as I last remembered from the first time I saw it way back in the early 1960s......How great it was to finally meet Karen and Steve, their dog Binney, and their new to them 2016 Winnebago View Mercedes Benz diesel Motorhome. Karen and Steve had traveled to some of the same spots that Kelly and I had traveled to years ago in the American Southwest after reading my posts about those places.  Jerome, Elfrida, Bisbee, Rucker Canyon, Old Fort Rucker, and Mary Kidder Rack's house all in Arizona.  Columbus New Mexico and Palomas Mexico (The Pink Store) as well.

 IT'S A REALLY NICE RV KAREN AND STEVE HAVE

 OOOPS, I CAUGHT KAREN IN DEEP THOUGHT HERE

 STEVE IS A VERY SOFT SPOKEN EASY GOING FELLOW

We talked about remembering RV people we knew, some of them still RVing and some of them not.  Some of then still on the Planet and some of them not.  We had a tour of their Motorhome which we both loved.  So great to see all the new technologies and innovations from the older RVs we used to have.  Steve, by the way, is one of those fellows with a great engineering mind who can do almost anything.  Karen has meticulously documented many of the renovations and repairs Steve has done with their previous Safari Motorhome.  On their site, you will find on their blog's sidebar many of those modifications.  Remember, their blog site is What A View . 

 HERE'S KELLY CHECKING OUT A BAG OF TRENARY TOAST.....WAIT, WHAT THE HECK IS TRENARY TOAST??  READ ON:))

 AND HERE SHE IS REALLY CHECKING IT OUT

STEVE'S PERSONALITY IS JUST AS RELAXED AS ALL HIS PICTURES SHOW

We found Karen and Steve good old down-home type folks really easy to talk to and enjoyed our visit.  Years ago a blog reader of mine tipped me off to something they thought I would really enjoy and was only sold at Trader Joe's.  The next time we were in Prescott Arizona we dropped around Trader Joe's store and I bought a jar of 'Cookie Butter'.  This is like peanut butter on an Oreo high.  Of course I loved it right away and wrote about it in my blog.  Karen, reading my blog, headed off to a Trader Joe's in Wisconsin, bought herself a jar of Cookie Butter......and has been buying it ever since.  So, guess what Karen gave us today.....yep, two jars of Cookie Butter.  Well, we were no sooner home and I had the lid of that jar and my face right into that Cookie Butter for sure.  And, if Kelly hadn't been closely watching me all the way home today, I would have had the lid of that jar of Cookie Butter even before we got out of the Pinery.  Oh my, when I did get that lid off I instantly remembered how great it tasted and knew right away what has been missing in my life all these years since I last tasted my last jar of Cookie Butter.  Karen also gave us two bags of Trenary Toast (Cinnamon and Cinnamon Raisin)  We had never heard of it before.  Well, I liked that right off the bat as well and as soon as I could get my after supper coffee going I was dunking a thick tasty slice of Cinnamon Raisin Trenary Toast in my coffee.  Why?? Because Steve said that is how he likes it:))))

 A SPLIT SECOND AFTER I TOOK THIS PHOTO I SNATCHED THAT SLICE OF TRENARY TOAST OUT OF KAREN'S HAND AND WOLFED IT DOWN

Our visit lasted nearly four and a half hours and it was soon time to say goodbye.  In the RV world, goodbyes are often last goodbyes because of the nature and distances RVers live from each other.  I am always twinged with sadness at those final hugs and handshakes because I know we may not meet again.  And that's how I felt today.......Thanks Karen and Steve for coming to see us and like I said at our parting, if ever we get beyond all this medical stuff of ours and snag ourselves another RV, maybe the next time we see you will be in your driveway in Wisconsin:))))  But oh hey...not in the wintertime!!!!       

 THIS PHOTO AND THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS WERE ALL TAKEN BY KAREN

 BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I THOUGHT I HAD A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE UNTIL I SAW THIS PHOTO

 KAREN TAKES A LAST PHOTO AS WE LEAVE

Al's Music Box:)) Yesterday When I Was Young by Glen Campbell from the album 'Houston' (I'm Coming to See You)  1974

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Paddy is smashing back a few at the local bar until everything is forgotten. The bartender who is also a family friend continually tells him he's had enough and to go home.  Finally, after several last calls, Paddy declares "I'm going home", promptly falls off his high bar stool, and drags himself to the door.  He hails a cab while face down on the curb, manages to open the door, and drags himself from his sprawled position into the backseat. The cabby drives him home with Paddy singing nonsensical music to himself the whole way. Paddy rolls out of the cab manages to drunkenly flop his way across the lawn, gets the front door half open, and passes out.  The next day because the bartender is also a good friend he checks on Paddy, and seeing him lying on his back in the doorway says, "Paddy, you were drunk last night weren't you?". Paddy replies, "Yes, but I didn't think I was that drunk, how did you know?"  To which the bartender replies, "You left your wheelchair at the bar".

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- Did you hear about the psychic amnesiac? He knew in advance what he was going to forget.

- Did you hear about the new restaurant that just opened up on the moon? Great food, but no atmosphere.

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AND IT SMELLS OKAY TOO

We woke up to a solid cloud cover but that's okay because at least it wasn't a freezing cold snowy blowy day in the middle of January or something terrible like that.  However, with Sunday afternoon's rain, it wasn't the best long weekend for campers.  Today for me, turned out to be a very lazy day.  

 OVERNIGHT RAINS

 OUR HOSTA LEAVES ARE BEGINNING TO SUCCUMB TO THE RAGGED EDGE OF SUMMER

 ONE OF OUR LAST DAY LILIES OF THE SEASON

I've had a few questions about the mosquito repellent that worked so well for me on our long Westminster Ponds area walk this past Saturday.  It's not a commercial brand you will recognize because it was made by a lady right here in Bayfield.  It's called DoItYourself Bye Bye Bug 100% Natural Insect Spray. (contains pure essential oils)  And it smells okay too:))  Kelly bought it at  Brandons Hardware but here's the kicker.....she said she bought it about five or six years ago. 

Al's Music Box:)) Rock The Boat by The Hues Corporation from the album 'Freedom For The Stallion'.  1973.  I once co-owned a piece of property overlooking the west side of Okanagan Lake in British Columbia.  While working at cleaning up this forested property I would always park my car close by with the doors open and the radio booming out the tunes.  It is this song that I would hear often and when I hear it now it takes me right back to those sunny early 70s Okanagan days.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( During his physical, the doctor asked the patient about his daily activity level.  He described a typical day this way: 'Well, yesterday afternoon, I waded along the edge of a lake, drank eight beers, escaped from wild dogs in the heavy brush, jumped away from an aggressive rattlesnake, marched up and down several rocky hills, stood in a patch of poison ivy, crawled out of quicksand and took four leaks behind big trees.' Inspired by the story, the doctor said, 'You must be one heck of an outdoorsman!' 'NAH,' he replied, 'I'm just a crappy golfer.'

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SOOOOOO, I INTEND TO TRY MY LUCK AT SOME TAP-TAP-TAPPING

Surprisingly, I didn't wake up with my legs being as stiff as a board.  My hip however is another story and I kinda ended up walking around today like Chester from Gunsmoke.  Say, I wonder if Chester might have had the same hip problem I have.  He maybe should have got Doc to have a look at that.  Miss Kitty and Mr. Dillon may have chuckled at Chester's ungainly gait each time he stumbled by.  Oh well, I guess we'll never know, will we.

A FARM LANE ENTRANCE

A big bright sunny morning here and with my cane in the jeep just in case I needed it, Pheebs and I made our way to Goderich.  We did our routine McDonalds, harbor, beach, and Walmart route.  Skipped our walk because my hip was hurting.  Skies later clouded over and by 1 p.m. we had rain coming down.

 A LOT OF FOLKS ENJOYING THE DAY AT GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE THIS MORNING

LOOKS LIKE THIS FELLOW HAS A NASTY SMUNCH IN THE FRONT OF HIS CUTE LITTLE TRAILER

For just about as long as I can remember I've had a curious little habit of tapping on stuff.  If I'm standing at the kitchen counter waiting for a coffee to brew I will be softly tapping/drumming on the counter with my fingers.  In the washroom passing by the washer and dryer, I'll often do a little drum roll on the lids to hear the funky hollow sound.  While driving, I will often be tapping away on the steering wheel adding my own drum beats to whatever song is playing.  And it's not unusual for me when sitting in my recliner to place both hands on top of my head and rattle off a few repetitive drum beats using both my fingers and palms.  It sets up quite a funky sound in my head.  Gotta be careful here though because it doesn't take much to give myself a headache.   As I've said before in my blog, I always have music bouncing around in my noggin, and maybe now I can make it really bounce.  Soooooo, doing my drumstick research online, I had Kelly help me place an Amazon order for a set of drumsticks and a practice drum pad.  Should be here Thursday.  Crazy huh.  Ya, I thought so too but I'm going to see what I can do with those drumsticks anyway.  In case it doesn't work out they can be used for starting a backyard campfire.  And, if nothing else, for sure I will be able to make some very annoying noise for myself....and possibly others as well:((  And no.....I won't be trying those drumsticks out on my head:))    

 A PAINTED TURTLE AT OUR PARK'S POND

Ellen's Groove:))  Here's something from Ellen I haven't heard before and it's called Jackson 5.  She just keeps on getting better and in this clip, I am sensing the comfort in her growing confidence.  

 THIS IS THE FIRST CAR I HAVE SEEN AT GODERICH'S CANADIAN TIRE STORE CHARGING STATION....AND IT'S A TESLA

Al's Music Box:)) She's Come Undone by Canada's group, The Guess Who featuring vocals by Burton Cummings.  The song was written by Randy Bachman from Bachman Turner Overdrive fame.  From the album 'Canned Wheat'  1969

GROANER'S CORNER:)) Shakey went to a psychiatrist. "Doc," he said, "I've got trouble. Every time I get into bed, I think there's somebody under it.  I get under the bed, I think there's somebody on top of it. Top, under, top, under ... you gotta help me, I'm going crazy!"  "Just put yourself in my hands for two years," said the shrink. "Come to me three times a week, and I'll cure your fears."  "How much do you charge?"  "A hundred dollars per visit."  "I'll sleep on it," said Shakey.  Six months later the doctor met Shakey on the street.  "Why didn't you ever come to see me again?" asked the psychiatrist.  "For a hundred buck's a visit? A bartender cured me for ten dollars."  "Is that so! How?"  "He told me to cut the legs off the bed!"

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I took a stuffed dog to the Antiques Roadshow and was told, "This is extremely rare. Do you know what it would fetch in good condition?"  "Dunno," I said. "A stick?"

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A Sunday school teacher asked her second graders if anyone knew another name for God. She was picturing answers like 'Lord' or 'Almighty'.  After a long moment of silence, a little boy raised his hand and said, "Howard." "Howard?" replied the confused teacher. "You know," continued the boy, "Howard be thy name."

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