WE HAD A BIRTHDAY AT OUR HOUSE TODAY

JUST A FEW PHOTOS TONIGHT FROM AN AFTERNOON WALK AROUND OUR PINE TREE TRAIL
At last count Kelly had 70 ‘Happy Birthday ‘ wishes on her Facebook page today.  She is one popular & well liked Gal alright.  And I even get to be her full time husband too:))))))))

Despite temps around the freezing mark this morning’s sunshine hauled me right out of the house & stuck me right on the end of my leaf rake first thing.  Raked me up a dozen backyard piles of pine needles & hauled a couple more heaping utility trailer loads of needles to our recycling area.  Our place is finally starting to look a little neater.

MY CONTRIBUTION OF PINE NEEDLES TO THE DUMP WAS PART OF THAT PILE ON THE LEFT

IF YOU SEE A BLACK DOT ON THE TRAIL UP AHEAD THAT IS THE PHEEBS:)) ---- KEEP IN MIND I’M USING A WIDE ANGLE LENS & SHE IS NOT AS FAR AHEAD AS SHE APPEARS
A mid afternoon walk around our pine tree trail through the woods netted Pheebs & I a bit of exercise & a few photos.  A cloud cover has moved in & weather folks have forecast rain for tonight & tomorrow.  Heavy in some areas they say.

IT GETS REAL PRETTY HERE WHEN ALL THE GREEN LEAVES FILL IN ON THE TREES
 

Other than all the above exciting stuff there really wasn’t much happening today leaving me with very little to write about so it’s basically a photo blog tonight.

THIS IS THE PATH WE TAKE FROM OUR HOUSE TO THE PINE FOREST TRAIL & WE’VE BEEN WALKING THIS PATH FOR OVER 13 YEARS NOW (PHEEBS IS IN THIS PICTURE)

A few days ago I had some photos of Inukshuks along the beach in Goderich.  Below is a photo of all those Inukshuks being taken down & the stones & pieces of concrete taken away.  It seems an elderly lady posing for a photo last summer was somehow injured when she fell while walking among the stone structures.  The city of Goderich was subsequently sued for $68,000 & today those Inukshuks were all taken down & hauled away.
THE 2 PHOTOS ABOVE ARE MINE BUT THE ONE BELOW IS NOT

INUKSHUKS BEING GATHERED UP & HAULED AWAY TODAY
Well here we are almost at the end of March already & just think, six & a half months from now we’ll be on the road heading for the South-west again.  Now how’s that for a nice thing to look forward to eh:))

OUR BAYFIELD STICKS & BRICKS IN EARLY SPRING & THE VERY CENTER OF THAT SUNROOM SECTION ON THE LEFT IS WHERE I WRITE MY POSTS EVERY NIGHT
GROANER’S CORNER:((  A prisoner in jail receives a letter from his wife:  "Dear Husband, I have decided to plant some lettuce in the back garden & want to know when is the best time to plant it?"   The prisoner,  knowing that the prison guards read all mail, replied in a letter:  "Dear Wife, whatever you do, do not touch the back garden. That is where I hid all the money."  A few days later he received another letter from his wife:   "Dear Husband,   You wouldn't believe what happened, some men came with shovels to the house and dug up all the back garden".  The prisoner wrote another letter back:  "Dear wife, now is the best time to plant the lettuce."

FUNNY HOW THE MIND CAN SOMETIMES RACE THROUGH DECADES OF MURKY MEMORIES

HURON COUNTIES HULLETT MARSH

After a full day spent in the house due to cold rainy weather Monday, Tuesday mornings sunshine beckoned Pheebs & I out into the early frigid air & into our pre-warmed Jeep.  With the driver wearing a brown pair of big bug eyed sunglasses we headed east into the stabbing rays of a rising late March Sun.  I don't have to tell you where our first stop was, I'm sure readers already know. 

HAD TO GET THE SUN VISOR DOWN FOR PHEEBS THIS MORNING

IT’S ALWAYS NICE OUT AROUND THE HULLETT MARSH

With carrot muffin & coffee in hand we headed out around Huron Counties Hullett Marsh on one of our old favorite Jeep drive routes.  Still frost coming out of some country roads so graders have not been out yet to smooth over winter's bumpity pot holes.  No problem though we weren't in any hurry to be anywhere.

PONDS??  NOPE JUST AREA FIELDS FLOODED IN LOW SPOTS FROM RECENT RAINS

ALL LAND TO THE RIGHT BELONGS TO THE HULLETT MARSH

SMALL LAKE?? NOPE JUST MORE FLOODING & THIS WATERY AREA BY SUMMER COULD VERY WELL BE COVERED IN CORN STALKS

Seen a distant flock of deer & a few herds of birds circling over Hullett's large ponds with Canada Geese taking up most of the air space.  A lot of bird sounds in the surrounding forests & many of those sounds were unidentifiable to me.  With temps barely above freezing & strong westerly winds it was just too cold to spend much time outside the Jeep but we did get in one short leg stretch in the lee of a leafless forest line.  Quick couple of stops at Goderich's Walmart & Canadian Tire stores & we were back home by 11. 

LOTS OF DUCKIES OUT & ABOUT IN FARMERS FLOODED FIELDS

RURAL REFLECTIONS

With leaf rake in hand this afternoon I began our back yard clean-up & plugged away at that for an hour or so.  All that fresh air sure tires a fella out sometimes but at least it’s a good tired.

Noticed IVAN has been making some footprints in the sand down there in that Mojave Desert place near Kelso California.  I’m thinking he’ll soon be making fast tracks for the Canadian border.

PHEEBS HAS HER NOSE INTO THE WIND

KEEPING AN EYE ON SOME GEESE AT THE HULLETT-MARSH & TO THE RIGHT SHE’S JUST ‘STEPPIN OUT’ WITH HER PUPPY FACE ON

It’s funny some times how one’s own mind can be just as fast if not faster than a computer.  In a mere fraction of a fraction of a second it can sometimes race through decades of murky memories to instantly retrieve a face, a sound, a happening, or a thought.  Driving along I sometimes glance at names on rural mailboxes & this morning driving by a box I noticed on it the name ‘Flynn’.  In less time than a lightning flash I had a picture in my head of a young fellow in a denim blue shirt with his name sewn in red thread on the back of it.  His name was Flynn alright but his first name has long ago escaped me.  It was the Fall of 1965 & I was officially in the Royal Canadian Navy stationed in Nova Scotia at H.M.C.S. Cornwallis better known as…'Boot Camp’!!   Can’t remember how many guys we had in our Fraser 65 division but I’m guessing there were about 60 or 70 of us.  Also at Cornwallis were probably 3 or 4 other  full divisions at the same time.  Flynn was one of our guys in Fraser 65.  I never new him well or hung out with him I just remember seeing him around.  Some days he might be marching in front of or beside me on the parade ground or maybe next table over at the mess hall.  Probably saw him in the Gym a few times during some of our grueling bouts of physical training or maybe on some of our Thursday cross country runs.  I don’t remember Flynn ever standing out or doing anything to make me remember him but when I saw the name on the mailbox this morning I right away saw Flynn again in my minds eye.  Just a profile view from the right side.  Funny how the mind works sometimes isn’t it………………..:))

MORNING DRIVEWAY REFLECTION IN LIBBY’S REAR WINDOW

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A pregnant woman gets into a car accident and falls into a deep coma.   Asleep for nearly six months,   she wakes up and sees that she is no longer pregnant.   Frantically,   she asks the doctor about her baby. The doctor replies,   "Ma'am,   you had twins!   A boy and a girl.   The babies are fine.   Your brother came in and named them."   The woman thinks to herself,   "Oh no,   not my brother -- he's an idiot!"   Expecting the worst,   she asks the doctor,   "Well,   what's the girl's name?"   "Denise,"   the doctor says. The new mother thinks,   "Wow,   that's not a bad name!   Guess I was wrong about my brother.   I like Denise!"   Then she asks the doctor,   "What's the boy's name?"   The doctor replies,   "DeNephew."

TWO ‘BEST PALS’ MEET ON THE TRAIL

PHEEBS ISN’T QUITE SURE WHO THAT IS HEADED OUR WAY

Out for a short walk in the late afternoon brisk air I saw up ahead Pheebs had stopped & was staring intently down our Park’s pine tree trail.  As I came around a bend I saw Pheebs best Pal Dexter had his Dad out for a walk too & they were headed our way.  Dexter & Pheebs hadn’t seen each other since last October sometime & it took them a bit of intense looking from afar for about 20 seconds to recognize & remember each other.  But boy when they did Pheebs took off.  Tonight’s photos are of those 2 best Pals meeting once again.

SOON AS I SAID TO PHEEBS ‘GO GET DEXTER’ SHE TOOK OFF & IN THIS SHOT SHE IS AIRBORNE STREAKING DOWN THE PATH LIKE A BULLET

DEXTER’S DAD GERALD QUICKLY LETS DEXTER OFF HIS LEASH AS PHEEBE BARRELS TOWARDS THEM AT ABOUT 300 MPH

HERE PHEEBS & DEXTER BOTH OFF THE GROUND MEET IN MID AIR

Our Sunday night rain storm rolled in around 11 bringing a series of thunder boomers with a couple of them strong enough to rattle our windows.  A lightning bolt struck the Bayfield sewage pump station knocking out it’s pump forcing all Bayfield flushers to curtail their flushings as much as possible today until the pump is repaired.  Meanwhile we heard trucks have been hauling away excess waste.  Excess waste to where would be my question.  Yikes!!  We here outside of Bayfield were not affected by this unfortunate lightning strike & merrily flushed our way through the day unimpeded. 

TWO BEST PALS HAVING A LONG AWAITED BEST PALS ROMP

Rained all morning which turned to wet snow for awhile as temperatures hovered just above the freezing mark.  Gusting high winds made it feel even colder so most of our day was spent inside reading, watching TV, etc.  Some will ask, 'are you wishing you hadn't come home so soon'?  My answer to that is an emphatic 'no not at all'.  Happy to be here despite our temporary spate of grumbly weather.  As mentioned in a few of my posts a week or two ago it was that time of year for us to change locations again.  We were both stressed out over the whole 'house sale' thing & needed to remove ourselves from the situation for awhile.  Heading back home to Canada came at a perfect time.  We are both feeling soooooooo much better at the moment, especially Kelly.  Also, the weather was getting hotter by the day in Arizona & neither Kelly or I are fans of hot weather so we were glad we left when we did.  No regrets on being back in good old Canada:))

SPOTTED ONE LONE GOOSE ON THE POND & BELOW IS A REALLY WEIRD LOOKING PINE CONE & I’VE NEVER SEEN ONE THAT COLOR OR SIZE HERE IN THE PARK BEFORE

A MORNING PHOTO SHOWS OUR RAIN TURNING TO SNOW BUT NOTHING ACCUMULATED ON THE GROUND & IT ONLY LASTED ABOUT 10 MINUTES

We have been to Slab City California probably half a dozen times or more over our RVing years & have always found it an interesting place.  Fellow RV Blogger Contessa sent us a link to her friends blog where her friend Suzanne talks about her 4 day stay at the Slabs with a stop at Salvation Mountain.  Thought her post was well written & well photographed.  Suzanne’s blog is entitled Take To The Highway & her Slab City post is entitled The Last Free Place.  From here on in you can find Suzanne’s posts on my sidebar:))

HAPPY TO SAY OUR SKIES ARE CLEARING TONIGHT & AS I TYPE THIS LOOKING OUT OUR SUNROOM WINDOW I SEE EVENING SUNSHINE POURING THROUGH OUR PARK’S PINE TREES BEYOND OUR NEIGHBOR MONICA’S HOUSE:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A young Technician and his General Manager board a train headed through the mountains on its way to Wichita.   They can find no place to sit except for two seats right across the aisle from a young woman and her grandmother.  After a while,   it is obvious that the young woman and the young tech are interested in each other,   because they are giving each other looks.  Soon the train passes into a tunnel and it is pitch black.   There is a sound of a kiss followed by the sound of a slap.   When the train emerges from the tunnel, the four sit there without saying a word.  The grandmother is thinking to herself,   "It was very brash for that young man to kiss my granddaughter,   but I'm glad she slapped him."The General manager is sitting there thinking,   "I didn't know the young tech was brave enough to kiss the girl,   but I sure wish she hadn't missed him when she slapped and hit me!"  The young woman was sitting and thinking,   "I'm glad the guy kissed me,   but I wish my grandmother had not slapped him!"  The young tech sat there with a satisfied smile on his face.   He thought to himself,   "Life is good.   How often does a guy have the chance to kiss a beautiful girl and slap his General manager all at the same time!"

A GREAT OUTSIDE SPRING CLEAN-UP DAY

AREA RIVERS ARE ALREADY OVER THEIR BANKS AS SEEN HERE WHERE THE MAITLAND RIVER CROSSES UNDER BALL’S BRIDGE……LOOKING UPSTREAM
Nice big bright sunny Sunday & I was able to get myself most of our front yard clean-up done.  Two full utility trailer loads of pine needles to our Park’s recycle area.  Now for the back yard.  Other than that I’ll just leave you with a few left over photos from our Saturday morning Jeep ride.  Heavy rain bearing down on us at the moment & might sweep in around midnight.  We almost hit 70F today & I am so tired tonight I am most likely typing this in my sleep:))


IN SUMMER MONTHS ONE COULD EASILY WALK ACROSS THIS RIVER WITH A PAIR OF RUBBER BOOTS……LOOKING DOWNSTREAM


NOT ALL COUNTRY HOMES LOOK THE SAME
 


STILL A THIN BIT OF ICE ON SOME FARM PONDS



STANDING ON A THIN LAYER OF SOLIDIFIED WATER
GROANER’S CORNER:(( (thanks Dave I got rid of the emoticon option)  ……..  There were three guys talking in the pub. Two of them are talking about the amount of control they have over their wives, while the third remains quiet.  After a while one of the first two turns to the third and says, “Well, what about you, what sort of control do you have over your wife?”  The third fellow says “I’ll tell you. Just the other night my wife came crawling to me on her hands and knees.”  The first two guys were amazed. “What happened then?” they asked. “She said, ‘get out from under that bed and fight like a man’.”