AN OLD TRAIN CAR, A RADAR DOME, FLOOD WATERS, & A FEW MORE PICS OF BAYFIELD ONTARIO CANADA

A FEW OF TONIGHT’S PHOTOS ARE FROM THE EAST SIDE OF BAYFIELD’S MAIN HERITAGE STREET

With the amount of rain that has come down in the past 48 hours & a comment in our Shout Box mentioning how it has not been a good thing for local farmers I figured Pheebs & I had better head out this morning & have us a look.  Did see some water pooled in low spots & all the area creeks & rivers are over their banks but overall most fields we saw looked intact.  Another comment in the Shout Box said, what farmers'.  If I'm not mistaken I think Southwestern Ontario here is known as the dairy capital of Canada so in simple terms that means farmers & lots of them.  Our rural countryside is crisscrossed with farm fields for as far as the eye can see.  Probably more farms here per square acre than anywhere else in Canada.  Yep we are a large population of farm type folks alright:))

KELLY LIKES TO BUY MUFFINS HERE ON BAYFIELD’S MAIN STREET

 

A FAVORITE DESTINATION OF MANY A TRAVELER

 

AND BY GOLLY HERE’S A COMMERCIAL PROPERTY FOR SAIL ON THE MAIN STREET & YOU EVEN GET THAT COLORFUL BARN:))                            
Before hitting Clinton's Tim Hortons this morning Pheebs & deeked down to the south end of town to have a look at a time schedule.  In Sloman Park there is parked a single train car complete with a school room & living quarters inside.  I wanted to check out when it's open.  It's been quite a few years since I've gone through it so I want to do some photos & a little write up about it sometime in the near future.  Bit of a fascinating story behind this train car.  Stay tuned.

IN NORTHERN ONTARIO THIS WAS ONCE A SCHOOL HOUSE ON WHEELS

Clinton Ontario was founded in 1831 & was known as Canada's home of radar and has a huge radar antenna in the downtown due to its association with RCAF Station Clinton during World War II.  There are still some remnants of the old radar base & this morning Pheebs & cruised around taking some photos of what is recognizably left & what the air base has since become.  I will also be doing a little write up with photos on this little project as well.

AN OLD RADAR DOME & QUONSET HUTS FROM THE 40’S STILL REMAIN

From Clinton it wasn't far to a conservation area called Bannockburn.  It was cool enough this morning to head off for a hike without being bothered by swarms of pesky bugs.  Bannockburn has a marshy section with a shallow creek running through it.  Imagine my surprise this morning when I found not a slow shallow meandering clear creek but a raging full blown muddy river ripping through the marsh.  I had forgot about our deluge of rain over the past couple days.  We didn't get too far before the trail was totally underwater so we had to cut our walk short.

AND TO THINK THERE IS JUST A NORMAL BABBLING LITTLE BROOK RUNNING THROUGH HERE

THIS IS NORMALLY A DRY LAND AREA

IT’S A GOOD THING THEY HAVE A SOLID IRON WALKWAY THROUGH HERE

THIS IS WHERE OUR WALK ENDED AS WATER CUTS ACROSS THE WALKWAY…YOU CAN SEE THE OTHER SIDE WALK WAY UPPER RIGHT

I WILL GO BACK IN A FEW WEEKS & TAKE A FEW PHOTOS OF WHAT IT NORMALLY LOOKS LIKE HERE

WE WERE SOON MAKING OUR BACK TO THE JEEP ALONG THIS BOARDWALK THROUGH THE MARSH
Back in Bayfield 10 minutes later we cruised a few streets while I took more photos of homes & properties for my 'Bayfield File.'  A stop at Pioneer Park high atop the cliffs overlooking Lake Huron brought another surprise due to our recent rains.  Tons of earth washed out of farmers fields had turned area creeks & rivers a chocolate brown color & that chocolate brown water had tumbled down the Bayfield River & out into the pristine blue green waters of Lake Huron.  The emptied brown earth & silt laden river water stretched for nearly as far as the eye could see out into the lake.  I had never seen that before.  Even all the sailboats at their moorings along the river were sitting high up against their docks.  Yes, quite a rain indeed.

HERE YOU CAN SEE MUD & SILT POURING OUT INTO LAKE HURON FROM FARMER’S FIELDS VIA THE BAYFIELD RIVER

JUST GOTTA LOVE SOME OF THE GREAT STYLISH ARCHITECTURE IN BAYFIELD

LOOKS LIKE THESE SAILBOATS ARE SITTING IN CHOCOLATE MILK

In my Monday post Linda A. asks…..’What a pretty village is Bayfield ! Are the pictures you are showing from the 'old town' section of Bayfield or is this it....... The village’?  My photos were along the west side of Bayfield’s main street which is basically about 3 blogs long.  This is the original town site which today is designated as a Heritage street.  Some buildings here in the core date back to the 1800’s.  From this center hub Bayfield branches out with many homes located between between the town & Lake Huron about half a mile to the west.  Two blocks east of the main street highway 21 rolls through in a north/south direction & along this highway are the town’s main everyday business’s.  Bayfield’s core where I took & the photos is the town’s main attraction with it’s artsy shops, fine dining, boutiques, arts & crafts, etc.  During summer months people come from miles around to walk & browse the main street.  Bayfield’s natural harbor is also a huge draw for sailboat folks with both sailboats & powerboats coming in from far distant shores. Many boats sail in from Michigan across the lake.  In my Bayfield photo project which I now have underway I intend to do a bunch of photos down around the harbor area as well.  You can see why I am anxious to get this whole ‘photo album’ thing figured out.

Tina in our comment section left the following comment in my Monday post….."I LOVE the photo of the outdoor patio with the brightly colored privacy screens (orange flowered, orange and white, green and white etc). Could you tell me the name of the place that had these in their decor? We are looking for something like that for a privacy screen for our garden in Arizona and would love to track them down by calling the establishment and asking where they found them”.  Name of the place is the Artsy Cafe & was one of Kelly’s favorite eating places when she worked at Deer Park Lodge.  Photo below shows a man sitting outside the Cafe.  I had no idea who this man was & took the photo because I liked the composition, his orange shirt, & the big map.  Turns out he is the owner of the Artsy.  When Kelly saw this photo she knew who it was right away & put this photo in on her Facebook page.  She later bumped into this fellow today & is going to go back to the Cafe & ask him where they got those colored privacy screens.  So stay tuned Tina & maybe we’ll have an answer for you shortly.  And before I forget Stewart (Furry Gnome) I did remember today your question about the sailing schedule for great lakes boats coming & going from the Goderich harbor.  A fellow in Goderich told me the site a few weeks ago but I’ll have to get in touch with him again because I forgot it.

THE FELLOW IN THIS CANDID PHOTO HAPPENS TO BE THE OWNER OF THE ARTSY CAFE
Again Pheebs & I were home before noon & how nice to once again be under clearing sunny skies.  Figured it was a good time to vacuum the multitude of muffin crumbs out of the Jeep.  First I emptied my shop vac & gave it a good scrubbing cause I figured I could suck up enough muffin crumbs to build myself another whole muffin.  And I did but what I hadn’t figured on was all the dog hair I sucked up as well.   Oh what a time I had picking all the dog fur out of the muffin crumbs before I could assemble myself a new muffin & re-heat it in the micro-wave:))

AND THIS IS KELLY’ FAVORITE COFFEE SHOP IN BAYFIELD

GROANER’S CORNER:(( And remember, Never explain yourself to anyone  because the person who likes you doesn't need to hear it and the person who dislikes you won't believe you anyway.....And for sure you know your getting older when you & your teeth don't sleep together anymore!!

---------------------------------------------------------------

- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

A FEW PHOTO PROJECTS UNDERWAY & WHAT A CHARMING VILLAGE BAYFIELD REALLY IS

A FEW PHOTOS FROM THE WEST SIDE OF MAIN STREET IN DOWNTOWN BAYFIELD THIS MORNING

Thunder, lightning, & heavy rains came in the night bringing cool temps & blinking our power off & on.  Foliage, drooping under the weight of continuing raindrops looked extra lush & green.  I'm sure area farm folks will be happy with all this extra water for their fast growing late Spring crops.  With Mother Nature stirring up her proverbial weather pot neither Kelly or I managed a good night's sleep which in turn led to a tired day.  In my head was the childhood tune, 'rain rain go away come again another day'.  But there was a big upside to our overnight rains in that it washed all the pine pollen off the Big EEE & Jeep Liberty.  When storms again returned in late afternoon I quickly backed our pollen laden Sunfire out of the carport & it too ended up sparkly clean:))

I THINK THIS LADY MIGHT BE GIVING HER HUSBAND THE DICKENS…”YES DEAR, YES DEAR”

Back in August of 2008 I had taken a bunch of photos in & around Bayfield & put together a photo album of the Village.  Been in the back of mind to do that again sometime so this morning after the rains let up I headed into town & parked on Bayfield's Heritage Main Street.  Being Monday some shops were open & some shops were closed.  Not many people on the street so it was a good time to wander around uninterrupted with a camera.  Only had one fella come out & ask me why I was taking pictures of his place.  Turns out he grew up in Stratford & the more we chatted the more people we realized we knew.  He was called back inside by a staff member & I continued on my way snapping here & snapping there.  Bayfield truly is a nice picturesque little Village atop the cliffs of Lake Huron & dates back to 1832.

I have also started compiling photos of Bayfield homes around the Village.  On my evening drives with Pheebs I have been randomly snapping pics of houses & properties as we slowly roll by.  (It’s my kind of ‘drive-by shooting’)  Bayfield is made up of beautiful individually designed homes from old original rustic cottages to a few architectural marvels.  Close to the heart of the village nothing resembles a sprawling subdivision.  Each property is unique & with Bayfield’s abundance of century old trees home owners have blended their landscaping in to give the whole village it’s charm.  

I was home a few hours later with about 175 photos to edit.  Taking & editing photos is the easy part.  Putting together a photo album is the hard part for me.  When Google stepped in with their Google+ stuff years ago & took over how my photos & photo albums were handled I lost touch with all my photo albums.  Try as I did I was not able to get a handle on Google's way of doing things & I soon found myself left far in the dust.  And I've been lost in that Google dust ever since.  I do need to come up with some sort of way to deal with my photo album problem.  I have far too many photos to include in my daily posts each day & I really need to organize my photos again into some kind an album form.  At least with albums I can include their links in my posts for anyone wanting to see additional photos on any one given subject.  Today's Bayfield photos really need to be albumized & I think it’s high time I got a handle on things.  I do have have a Flickr account as well as a Smug Mug account but I was never knocked about Flickr so maybe I should try & get my head wrapped around my Smug Mug account again.  I did like Smug Mug better than the other photo programs but their last upgrade a year or two ago confused me, my attention dwindled, & out of frustration I let my account drop.   Anyway, if I am to move ahead with some new photo ideas I definitely have to get a handle on my photo album problem.  More patience Al, more patience………………………..

I have still been plowing through books on my Kindle but have been lax at keeping up my book reports.  As a young fella I read a lot of books about the 2 great wars & especially liked reading of those daring young men in their flying machines in particular the fighter pilots.  A few weeks ago I finished an excellent read from one of those brave young men who flew the skies over England during the Battle Of Britain.  Author & pilot Geoffrey Wellum wrote First Light.  The book is not as much about the aerial dogfights as it is about a young man’s thoughts & feelings as he struggles with his own self doubts, guilt's, & fears.  It is an honest book with as much of the story taking place on the ground as in the air.  Hard to imagine at only 19 years of age 15,000 feet in the air fighting to just survive the next few seconds while your Spitfire is being shot to pieces by another young fellow flying a German Messerschmitt right behind you.  Hard to imagine being lost over England in bad weather & fog not knowing where your air base is & fighting the panic to stay calm.  Hard to imagine the aircraft mechanical failures, the crashes, friends dying, stressful sleepless nights & always waiting, waiting, waiting never knowing if you would ever see another sunrise.  Great book & well written.

I BEGAN READING AT A YOUNG AGE, GOT AWAY FROM IT FOR A BUNCH OF YEARS BUT AM RIGHT BACK AT IT AGAIN:))

Currently I am again reading another factual book on history called Famous Sheriffs & Western Outlaws & of course am thoroughly enjoying it.  Many of the towns & areas in the South-western United States where history has taken place Kelly & I have been & even lived in for a time while boondocking, ranch sitting, or at our house.  It was in our ranch sitting days near McNeal Arizona that we got to walk the streets of Tombstone & hike the trails of Cochise & Geronimo.  Not just once but many times over the course of a few winter seasons spent in the area.  I especially liked the book section having to do with Cochise County.  Kelly & I have have found & walked the long ago Ghost Towns of Mill Bank, Charleston, Gleason, Pearce, Fairbank & a few others which have slipped my mind.  We found Johnny Ringo’s grave at the foot of the Chiricauha Mountains, walked the grounds of Fort Bowie, & stood at the grave of one of the legendary Earp brothers in a Willcox cemetery.  This whole area was once referred to as Helldorado & when one reads the history one can easily understand how it acquired that name.  Mexican & Apache raiding parties riding up the Sulphur Springs Valley & into the Dragoon, Mule, & Chiricahua Mountains.  The book tells of the lawlessness in not only Tombstone but nearby Bisbee as well.   Bisbee by the way is one of our all time favorite western towns.  Last time I was in Tombstone I walked those legendary streets with my Aunt Jean.  Yes, I’m really enjoying this book & especially so since we have traveled this whole area & now actually own a house in another one of Arizona’s wild west historical areas near Wickenburg.  Always nice reading historical things about areas we have been too…………………………………. 

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The little boy greeted his grandmother with a hug and said, "I'm so happy to see you grandma. Now maybe daddy will do the trick he has been promising us." The grandmother was curious. "What trick is that my dear," she asked. The little boy replied, "I heard daddy tell mommy that he would climb the walls if you came to visit us again."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

IT WAS THE ONLY TIME WE EVER GOT THE BEST OF OLD SPARKY

This past week’s country drive in our Motorhome with neighbor’s Barb & Don reminded me of my first time driving anything bigger than a car, but it wasn’t a Motorhome.   Both Kelly & I were fortunate to have driven Motorhome sized vehicles before we bought our first Class A.  We had driven large school buses & years ago back in the early 70’s I had driven 'stake trucks' in Vernon British Columbia for CP (Canadian Pacific) Transport.  Having never driven anything larger than an ordinary car my transition to driving a big truck was totally unexpected & happened rather abruptly one day.

WHEN BARB & DON ALONG WITH KELLY & I STOPPED FOR BREAKFAST AT ‘FLIPPIN EGGS’ NORTH OF GODERICH THIS PAST WEEK THIS WAS THE MENU SIGN GREETING US ON THE WAY IN

It was a Monday morning in Vernon BC in or around about the year 1973 or 74.  The local employment center in Vernon had sent me over to a store on main street called Bennett's Hardware Furniture & Appliances. The helper on their local delivery truck had just been terminated the previous Friday & they needed a new Swamper. (a Swamper is the helper person on a 2 man delivery truck) The stores large truck was commonly referred to as a Ford Cab-Over & had a hydraulic lift ramp on the back. To me who was only ever used to driving cars it was a big truck because I had to climb up & into it & the whole thing reminded me of a big boxy looking Dinosaur because as I recall it was painted an overall dark green.

DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT PIECE OF MACHINERY WAS IN THE GRASS TOM BUT THE REMAINS OF THIS OLD TRACTOR WAS RIGHT NEXT TO IT

 

I met the driver early that morning who went by the name of Garth. He showed me around & we were soon working to-gether loading the back of the truck with Monday’s morning's deliveries. Some furniture pieces & a couple heavy appliances I think. I soon became aware of Garth's discontent with the store as we headed out with our load. All morning long Garth went on with his concerns, complaints, rants, & ravings. Seems his previous swamper was also his best friend & Garth was unhappy that the store had let him go. We finished up the morning's deliveries & headed back to the store. Garth threaded the large truck up a narrow alley & maneuvered it around until he was able to back it into the loading dock. I wondered at the time how he was able to move such a large truck around in such a small space. Little did I know that I was about to find out........... real quick. With a flurry of unkind words about Bennett's hardware store he tossed me the keys, opened his door, & with the words, "I quit" he was gone & I never did see the guy again.

 NEXT TIME I’M UP THAT WAY I’LL STOP & HAVE A CLOSER LOOK TO SEE JUST WHAT THAT RUBBER TIRED THING WAS IN THE GRASS

The head sales fellow who was my immediate boss in the store had the nickname of Sparky & as I walked back into the store with the news about the driver quitting I soon found out why he was called Sparky. Sparks flew alright!!!! He was a very hyper man & I caught the brunt of his fireworks about the driver quitting. I handed him the truck keys & he thrust them right back a me with a stack of delivery bills & told me to get out there & start loading the truck with the afternoon's deliveries while he called manpower to get another fellow sent over. I assumed he was hiring another driver........but no, he hired a new Swamper. I was the new driver!!

 

NO PROBLEM WITH THE ID ON THIS ONE, IT’S A FROG IN A MURKY POND

There was no point in telling Sparky I had never driven a truck or anything bigger than a car before because he would have squashed me into the floor like a bug. He sure had himself a big bluster going.  In fact I was to quickly learn there was no telling Sparky anything, ever!! So with that in mind I climbed up into the driver's side of the big stake truck & just sat there looking around at all the big mechanical space around me. Had never seen a gearshift lever that long before or a steering wheel seemingly as big as a car tire. There were buttons & switches here & there that were definitely foreign to me as well. The road seemed a long way down & the far corner of the windshield seemed an acre away. Before I could get myself too scared or talk myself out of it, the passenger door opened & a young fellow hauled himself up into the cab with a big friendly, "Hi, my name's Frank & I'm your new Swamper." New Swamper?? Hell, it was only a few hours ago that I was the new Swamper.  Geeeeeezzzzz!!

YEP, I’M LIKING THIS VERSATILE LITTLE LIBBYGATOR MORE & MORE ALL THE TIME

Not wanting to let on to Frank that I had never driven a truck before I tried to look as professional as I could, but as soon as I ground the truck into some sort of forward gear & jerked away from the loading dock, the cat was out of the bag & Frank knew right away what was up. Frank was no dummy.  However between the two of us & with Frank barking out some fender warnings we wiggled around this way & that & somehow made our way down the even narrower alley now to the busy main street.  And we did it without breaking off any of the outside rear view mirrors or taking down any buildings. And I say ‘we’ here because we were already working as a team & I was needing all the help I could get.  I do remember scaring the beejeebers out of some pedestrians though as we lurched the big green Dinosaur out of the alley. Think it was a sharp right hand turn as we managed to make our way down the main street without scraping any paint of all the parked cars. 

AT THE ANIMAL FARM SATURDAY

 

Worked our way up & down the streets of Vernon that afternoon, fumbling in & out of driveways taking care of our deliveries.  Luckily both Frank & I had previous heavy delivery experience. Having not damaged anything or anyone yet I picked up a bit of confidence & we headed out of town for a couple rural deliveries on the Okanagan Valleys sharp curvy roads & steep hills. By a stroke of luck our day went well, nobody got hurt, & we returned Bennett's delivery truck unscathed to the store later in the day.  We were pretty relieved & happy with ourselves but no pats on the back for a job well done from old Sparky though......he was too busy snarling around about Tuesday morning's deliveries already!!

I was able to catch onto that large truck driving pretty quick & with Frank being a good Swamper we went on to work well to-gether over the next little while. We did have a few incidents though.  We once dropped a brand new kitchen stove down a flight of outside stairs on Christmas Eve & another time during a winter delivery Frank jumped out of the truck as I slid helplessly backwards down an ice slicked laneway with a steep drop-off on one side.  Felt like I slid downhill for about a mile but Frank said it was only a hundred feet or so.  But, in the long run we did OK & never put so much as a scratch on that big old Dinosaur of a truck. (well, none that we admitted to anyway) Despite the truck's intimidating size it was definitely a learning experience & proved most beneficial later in life for a little Volkswagen Beetle driver from a small town in southern Ontario..........................And a quick add-on to that sliding down the icy laneway.  Winter had set into the Okanagan & both Frank & I had repeatedly asked Sparky to replace the worn out bald truck tires with new winter tires but Sparky would have no part of it.  Couldn’t afford to have the truck off the road that long getting snow tires he said.  After getting the truck stopped at the bottom of the laneway that morning Frank climbed back in & we headed right back to the store & parked the truck.  Took the keys in & tossed them on Sparky’s desk saying we would not do another delivery until there were new snow tires on that truck.  And with that we both walked out of the store & went home.  It was the only time we ever got the best of old Sparky.   Got a call from Sparky later that night saying something like, ‘there’s new tires on the truck & be in early, you’ve still got this afternoon’s deliveries to do’!!!! (click)  I phoned Frank & next morning were back to work on the early side………………….. 

 

HAVING A HAPPY SATURDAY MORNING DUST BATH

Had ourselves a quiet Sunday.  A little puttering here, a little puttering there.  Phone rang sometime around 2 & it was my former supervisor from when I drove a wheel chair mobility van for Town & Country out of Clinton about 5 years.  Marie hadn't dropped around for a few years & called to see if we were home.  We were & half an hour later Marie rolled in with a big cup of Tim Horton's coffee for me.  We had ourselves good front porch chat catching up on things.  Marie has been a long time blog reader.  Thanks for all the kind words Marie:)) 

PART OF MY PUTTERING THIS MORNING HAD ME RELAXING BESIDE A BACK YARD CAMPFIRE

WHEN WE MOVED FROM THE OLD FULLARTON FARM HOUSE TWELVE & A HALF YEARS AGO WE BROUGHT THESE CAMPFIRE ROCKS WITH US

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Did you know......
-A bartender is just a pharmacist with a limited inventory. 
-A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered desk drawer.
-A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
-A closed mouth gathers no foot.
-A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.