DECIDED TO FINALLY READ MY CAMERA MANUALS

WE HAVE SOME MIGHTY STRANGE BIRDS IN OUR OUTSIDE JUNGLE THIS YEAR:))

The first order of day this morning was to load up the two big furry swamp hogs & take them to the beach & ker-plunk them in the lake. Although I hosed them down yesterday after our romp in the Hullett Marsh they still had mud caked in their fur this morning. They love swimming in the lake anyway so it was a pleasant start to their day. DEERPARK LODGE BEACH THIS MORNING GETTING THE MUCK OFF THE TWO SWAMP HOG DOGS

Took the motorhome to Goderich yesterday morning & added some fresh gas to the tank. Sitting for months at a time is not a good thing & I try to take if for a run at least once a month. It always starts right up & runs like a top. It's like it's namesake.....Workhorse. It just wants to get back on the road & do what is was designed to do........work!! We are going to have to make a big financial decision about tires in a couple of months. They are in reasonably good shape but they are the rigs original aging tires & time is running out for them. There is a brake re-call on these motorhome models too but after reading all the politics & problems on RV NET around the issue I'm not sure what we'll do about the problem. So many pros & cons regarding the recall. Why can't people just make things right in the first place!!SPLISH SPLASH I WAS TAKING A BATH!HEY, THROW ME A BAR OF SOAP WILL YA!! WELL, WHADDYA THINK HUH

Been spending some time with my camera manuals over the past few days. Figured it's about time I understood how these darn fangled things work. I'm finally getting a little bored with the "automatic" settings & the time has come to kick it up a notch. The cameras are cable of doing amazing things if one takes the time to figure out just how to make them do that. The more I read the more muddled I get but out of that muddleness sometimes comes.....lightbulb moments. I've had a few of those lately so that has been just enough to encourage me to not give up & put the manuals down. You may start to see some oddball photos emerging in the blog but they will just be a result of my experimention into a more creative area of photography using some, "new found knowledge & equipment:))" Am hoping to aim for a little more quality & a little less quantity The only photos taken on "automatic" to-day were the 2 beach pictures. THIS IS OUR CEMEMT BIRD BATH COMPLETE WITH WAVES & AN ASTILBE FLOWER IN THE BACKGROUND

With envy I read LAURIE & ODEL'S blog this morning & could identify with their stirring hitch itch feelings. Quite simply, after being camped in one spot for awhile, it's that urge to hitch up your trailer or car & move on down the road in search of greener pastures & new adventures. Not all RV'ers get hitch itch but for those of us who do, it is what RVing is all about. I have always had the travel bug & that gnawing hitch-itch feeling just kind of follows me around each & every day. These past few RVing years have been great but they have left me extremely restless during our time at home here in Ontario. Most folks are content to stay put, secure in their daily routines, family priorities, job commitments, etc. Nothing wrong with that unless your like me & suffer from the affliction of.........hitch-itch!! DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS FLOWER IS BUT IT WAS GROWING AT THE FOOT OF THE BIRD BATH

GROANER'S CORNER: Did you hear about the snail that got beat up by two turtles? At the police station they asked him, “Did you get a good look at the turtles that did this? He said, “No, it all happened so fast.”

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OK.....SO NOW I AM TOTALLY CONFUSED!!!!

HOW DID MY MISSING HAT GET HERE?????????

Confusion stepped right out of the shadows this afternoon & tapped me a good one on the end of the nose. Coming out of the house this afternoon about 3:30 I glanced up & came face to face with..........my missing blue Las Vegas ball cap!!!! There it was beside our driveway hanging on the branch of a basswood tree. I just stood there for the longest time staring at the hat. My brain was in muddled overdrive. How did my hat end up here?? Did I put it there a few days ago & forgot about it?? Did somebody find it & if so how would they know it was mine or where I lived ?? Was it a blog follower?? I retraced my steps over the last few days & am 90% sure I did not hang it in that tree. I'm sure I was wearing it when I was in Goderich Sunday. Or was I?? I am sooooooooo confused but it's a good confusion because I have one of my favorite hats back again. If it was a good Samaritan that found it maybe they will send me an email & let me off this confusion hook. If I didn't put it there myself, then a great big THANKS to whoever found it:)) The hat is still hanging in the tree because I'm afraid if I touch it.........the darn thing might just disappear on me again!! ONE OF THE WILDLIFE VIEWING STANDS AT THE HULLETT WILDLIFE MARSH

There is a large wildlife area near here just north east of Clinton called the HULLETT MARSH. It consists of forests, large ponds, swamp, & grassy fields. I have been hiking here on & off for the past 20 years. The Marsh is alive with all kinds of wildlife & was originally set aside by the group, Ducks Unlimited years ago. Thought it might be a good place to take the scope & cameras this afternoon. Loaded up Max & Checkers in the van & off we went on the short 25 minute drive to the marsh. The doggy guys were pretty happy guys to have some new territory to explore but before I could even get my gear out of the van they both had me in a big pile of trouble. I had parked near the water's edge & within seconds they were both right into the foul smelling swampy water wallowing like a couple of big furry pigs. I could smell the mud, the slime & the ooze from 30 feet away as they flopped right down in the muck. Before we got out of there later I had mud on my camera, my tri-pod, on me. & in the back of the van. What a mess & what a yukky swamp smell all the way home in the van with two big dripping wet swamper hogs back there. Tried hosing the guys down when we got back but that muck just stuck to their fur like glue. Mom's not too happy with us guys to-night:(( HEY DAD, COME ON IN THE WATER'S FINE!!

My Son Sean was working in the area for a couple days so popped over for supper this afternoon. Got caught up on a bunch of things. The first time I ever saw him was a few days after he was born. The next time I saw him was over 20 years later. (long story) He's a good fella & has done very well for himself. Sean holds down a full time supervisory position with a well known food company plus writes, records, & produces all his own music with his band, THE WEAK NEED. AN ANGRY RED WING BLACK BIRD

Just this past week 2 fellow RV Blog folks have lost their treasured pets. I came across this article on NODIN'S NEST awhile back when they lost their dog, Blue.
DEALING WITH THE LOSS OF A PET BLUE JAY IN A BIRD BATH (720mm telescope photo)

GROANER'S CORNER: The best way to communicate with fish is to drop them a line.

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A WALK-ABOUT IN THE GODERICH HARBOR

HISTORIC OLD LIGHTHOUSE ATOP THE BLUFFS OVERLOOKING THE GODERICH HARBOR

Forgot to include the link for DOUG & JOANNE'S website last night but made the change this morning. They are beginning the first part of their round about journey across country to Florida. TINY TUGBOATS WRESTLE A MIGHTY LAKE FREIGHTER INTO POSITION FOR LOADING

On the off chance somebody might have picked up my blue baseball cap the other day in Goderich & hung it on a post, I headed for the area of the harbor to-day where I figured I'd lost it. Of course there was no sign of my hat but noticed a large lake freighter being maneuvered into place by a couple of tugboats. FILLING THE CARGO HOLDS WITH SALT FROM THE GODERICH SIFTO SALT MINE

GODERICH has a large salt mine with shafts running out for a couple miles under Lake Huron. Large lake freighters come here to fill their holds. The salt is mainly used on icy roads during the winter & these big freighters deliver their cargos of salt to many port cities around the Great Lakes. A LOOK INTO THE BRIDGE OF AN OLD LAKE FREIGHTER

Kelly & I were fortunate enough to get in on one of the very last public GODERICH SALT MINE tours about 10 years ago. I remember big caverns of pure salt but the walls were not white as expected, they were blackened from many years of diesel exhausts belching from large trucks, dozers, & drilling machines. A huge underground crusher breaks the large salt deposits into small managable segments & conveyers them to the surface. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that December tour years ago.Watched two hard working little tug boats wrestle Cuyhoga, a large lake freighter up to the jetty alongside the salt mine. Within minutes a large onboard rolling crane began lifting off huge hatch covers & a mammoth conveyer system from the salt mine protruded out & began loading tons & tons of salt into the ships cargo holds. PROPELLER BLADES & SHIP'S WHEEL ON THE GROUNDS OF THE MARINE MUSEUM IN THE HARBOR

In the inner harbor was another large freighter tied up alongside tall grain elevators. Could see crew members on the Algoway's deck with welders working on various pieces of equipment. I remembered years ago when I drove for the Stratford Airporter coming here to Goderich with a ten passenger van just a few days before Christmas & picking up half a dozen or so sailors with heavy dufflebags full of gear. Their ship was wintering over in the Goderich harbor & they were all heading for the Toronto airport to fly home for Christmas. I remember picking the fellas up somewhere around the grain elevators. FISHING LESSONS IN THE HARBOR MOUTH

Somebody recently asked where I get all those old groaners at the end of the blog each day or do I make them up myself. I can tell you no, I don't make them up but I do know where to find them. The inquiry did give me an idea though so beginning to-day the groaners at the end of the blogs will be called......Groaners Corner:)) THE GODERICH LIGHTHOUSE

I sometimes think big cushy recliners are designed for the sole pupose of rendering it's occupant totally unconscious in as short a time as possible. Upon returning from Goderich this afternoon I brewed up my 2 o'clock coffee, gently wiffled myself into the recliner, switched on CNN news, & promptly floated off to la la land. By the time I got back my full cup of cold coffee was still in my hand sitting on my lap. The recliner had won another one............................!! CANADIAN COAST GUARD VESSEL DWARFED BY THE MIGHTY LAKE FREIGHTER, CUYAHOGA

I added a new photo album of the pictures I took at the Goderich harbor to-day. You can see them HERE.

GROANER'S CORNER: I couldn't quite remember how to throw a boomerang, but eventually it came back to me.

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