FEELING THE NEED TO FIND MYSELF SOME LIGHTER FARE

Under bright sunny skies, it was 'finally' my turn to drive again so I picked up my good buddy Richard at the usual time this morning, and off we went to find us a couple coffees to go and two carrot muffins.  Our country road coffee tour took us through Clinton's Tim Hortons and then northwest of Clinton around the Auburn area and Ball's Bridge.  Twas a fine morning for a country road drive and a chat:))

 THE FIBRE OPTIC CREW IS STILL AT WORK IN OUR PARK

 LOOKS LIKE A WORKER IN THAT HOLE

Home again and with skies remaining sunny, I wasn't long in getting out into the front and side yards with my leaf rake.  I love the Spring clean-up every year.  So nice to feel the warmth of the Sun and hear the birds happily chirping in the trees.  My hip did good and I think we hit 43F today.  

 GOLDFINCHES ARE CHANGING FROM THEIR DOWDY  WINTER BROWN TO THEIR GOLDEN SUMMER COLORS 

 A DARK-EYED JUNCO IN THE FOREGROUND AND A GOLDFINCH IN THE BACKGROUND

Pheebs and I did get out for a walk this afternoon to our Park's pond and beyond into the pine forest.  We walked along what is left of the old Pine Tree trail enjoying the abundance of fresh cool air blowing in across Lake Huron about a mile and a half to the West of us.

HOW REFRESHING TO BE OUT WALKING IN A FOREST AGAIN

 HOLLY GROWING WILD ALONG THE TRAIL

 I FOUND THIS OLD 'CROWN' MASON JAR ALONG THE WAY

 PHEEBS LIKES TO BE OUT FRONT LEADING THE WAY

 I CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO EXPRESS HOW GREAT IT FELT WALKING ALONG HERE THIS AFTERNOON

 IN THE FAR DISTANCE I SAW A BROWN LUMP IN THE POND WHICH I THOUGHT MIGHT BE A MUSKRAT

 EDGING CLOSER AND WITH MY TELEPHOTO LENS I FINALLY REALIZED IT WAS A CANADA GOOSE KEEPING A VERY LOW PROFILE HOPING WE WOULDN'T SEE IT

After my last two books, 'The Lost Bookshop' and The Forgotten Bookshop In Paris' I was feeling the need to find myself some lighter fare.  Some humor, some 'feeling good' stories, some laughter, and whimsical frivolity.  Remembering how much I had enjoyed the whole 'Anne Of Green Gables' book series a year and a half ago, I once again returned to Prince Edward Island and the writings of Lucy Maude Montgomery.  This time I chose her book, Chronicles Of Avonlea which is a collection of short stories related to the same time and place as the Anne Of Green Gables books.  I enjoyed every one of the stories and I like Lucy Maude Montgomery's descriptive and flowing writing style.  She creatively paints wonderful pictures in my mind.  So, I have chosen for my next book, The Alpine Way which is the autobiography of Lucy Maude Montgomery's career in her own words......  In late September of 2018, we took our Motorhome for a spin out East to the Maritime provinces.  When on Prince Edward Island we stopped in Cavendish where the childhood home of Lucy Maude Montgomery still stands.  Up to this point, I had not read any of her books.  Despite all the disappointing commercialism around the site, I was able to venture out onto a grassy expanse of lawn and grab a few telephoto shots of the house and barn in the distance.  It was here where she spent her early years and later wrote the book 'Anne Of Green Gables.  And, here in her own words, she describes the writing of that book in this house......"I wrote it in the evening after my regular day's work was done, wrote most of it at the window of the little gable room which had been mine for many years.  I began it, as I have said, in the spring of 1904.  I finished it in the October of 1905."   

LUCY MAUDE MONTGOMERY'S HOME  WHERE SHE WROTE 'ANNE OF GREEN GABLES AND OTHER STORIES.

 ALONG THE SHORES OF CAVENDISH BEACH

Al's Music Box)) Fire And Rain is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, released in August 1970 by  Warner Bros. Records as the second single from Taylor's second studio album, Sweet Baby James. The song follows Taylor's reaction to the suicide of Suzanne Schnerr, a childhood friend, and his experiences with drug addiction and fame.  On the VH1 series Storytellers, Taylor said the song was about several incidents during his early recording career. The second line "Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you" refers to Suzanne Schnerr, a childhood friend of his who died by suicide while he was in London, England, recording his first album. In that same account, Taylor said he had been in a deep depression after the failure of his new band the Flying Machine to coalesce (the lyric "Sweet dreams and Flying Machines in pieces on the ground"; the reference is to the name of the band rather than a fatal plane crash, as was long rumored). Taylor completed writing the song while in rehab. Friends at home, concerned that it might distract Taylor from his big break, kept the tragic news from him, and he found out six months later.  Carole King played piano on the song. Drummer Russ Kunkel used brushes rather than sticks on his drum kit, and Bobby West played double bass in place of a bass guitar to "underscore the melancholy on the song".

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A magician was working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. The audience would be different each week, so the magician allowed himself to do the same tricks over and over again.  There was only one problem: The captain's parrot saw the shows every week and began to understand what the magician did in every trick. Once he understood that, he started shouting in the middle of the show.  "Look, it's not the same hat!" "Look, he's hiding the flowers under the table!" "Hey, why are all the cards the Ace of Spades?"  The magician was furious but couldn't do anything, it was the captain's parrot after all.  One day the ship had an accident and sank. The magician found himself on a piece of wood, in the middle of the ocean, and of course the parrot was by his side.  They stared at each other with hate, but did not utter a word. This went on for several days.  After a week the parrot finally said, "Okay, I give up. What'd you do with the boat?"

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- A recent study has found that women who carry a little extra weight live longer than the men who mention it.

- I have a lot to be thankful for but I'm going to give a special shout-out to Elastic.

Just burned 2000 calories trying to avoid someone I know at Walmart.

It was a whole lot more fun to be 20 in the 70's than 70 in the 20's.

Not to brag, but  I was alive when you could SLAM the phone down to hang up on someone.  It was spectacular.

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'AN ARCHIVE POST' TAKES US HIGH INTO ARIZONA'S BRADSHAW MOUNTAINS IN SEARCH OF A GHOST TOWN

I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE A LARGE ICE BUILD-UP ON BAYFIELD'S NORTH PIER

Noticing the date on my computer this morning I see we are now past the half way point in February.  Every little thing we can find to look forward to at this time of year regarding the coming Spring and warmer weather is a big boost to ones spirit.  Something to look forward to when things to look forward to are scarce is in itself something to look forward to.

BAYFIELD'S TEMPORARY BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION AS SEEN FROM THE NORTH SIDE OF THE RIVER

THIS MAY VERY WELL BE A TYPE OF BAILEY BRIDGE

STEEL READY TO GO INTO THE BRIDGE

Our below 0F temps clawed themselves back up to the 32F freezing mark overnight and although not exactly the middle of July it sure did feel more civilized outside than a day ago.  Pheebs and I did Jeep ourselves around for about an hour and a half before heading home.  With my shovel I moved a little snow around and had to take off my winter jacket before I was finished.  No wind in our Park today so being outside for awhile was doable.  So nice to see and hear dripping water outside as temps nudged our thermometer to 34F and into the melt zone.  Snow was really crunchy underfoot for our afternoon walk and a few bare ground patches appeared along the paths I have been shoveling.  

AWW SHUCKS I FORGOT MY ICE SKATES

LAST WEEK THERE WAS NO ICE ALONG BAYFIELD'S BEACH AND NOW IT'S OUT THERE NEARLY HALF A MILE....AND IN LESS THAN 4 MONTHS PEOPLE WILL BE SWIMMING HERE

GUESS I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WAITING FOR WARMER WEATHER

Thanks to everyone for your comments about my low PSA numbers a few days ago.  I really can't take any credit for those low numbers though.  All the credit goes to Doctor Mendez and his radiation team at London's Cancer Clinic.  He is one of the main Doctors spearheading this new SABR treatment which only requires 5 alternate pain free day treatments lasting about 15 minutes each.  It was Dr. Mendez himself who precisely implanted three gold target points in my prostate.  His highly trained team then pinpointed their laser like radiation beams onto those three targets.  The only input I had into the whole procedure was to get myself there, lay myself down, and don't move!!  Pretty easy stuff even for me and I didn't even have to take off my shirt, pants, shoes or socks:))  So yes, the whole credit for those low numbers goes to Doctor Mendez and his fine team.  

PHEEBS AND I STOCKED UP ON MORE CORN COBS FOR OUR FRONT YARD SQUIRRELS THIS MORNING

If by chance anyone out here is looking for an exceptionally clean and well maintained Class A Tiffin diesel Motorhome be sure to read Caron's latest post...End Of An Era

::An Archive Post::  We sure have had a number of enjoyable Jeep rumbles through the mountains and deserts of America's great Southwest over our 13 Snowbird years.  On Sunday March 8th 2014 we headed out with three other Jeep Wrangler couples and good friends from Congress Arizona on a rough and tumble ride to an old hidden away mining ghost town called Crown King high in the Bradshaw Mountains.  We took back mountain roads and trails to get there.  It was a long day and I'm glad we didn't miss it.  Here's my post.....A Long But Enjoyable Trip To The Ghost Town Of Crown King In Arizona's Bradshaw Mountains.

::Al's Musical Favs:: Bamboo Dance by Shao Rong

AFTER A CLOUDY MORNINGS DRIVE WE CHASED THIS SUNSPLASH FOR THE FINAL FEW MILES HOME

GROANER'S CORNER:(( On a given night, 2 death row inmates are scheduled to be electrocuted on old sparky. While one execution is in progress, the pastor administers to the other condemned man in his cell. "Don't worry my son", says the pastor, "as soon as the high voltage reaches your brain, it numbs all your senses, so you won't feel a thing."  Suddenly some horrible screams are heard throughout the entire cell block.  The pastor immediately asks one of the guards, "What is all this screaming about?" Not to worry pastor, we had a power failure, so we're finishing the first execution "by candles". --------------------------
Teacher to the class: "How can we keep our school clean?"Student: "By staying at home?"
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TRIMMING UP DRIVEWAY BRANCHES TO MAKE WAY FOR OUR CAMPER VAN

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

A fast moving thunder storm did sweep through our area late Monday leaving us with a much needed rain.  Lots of happy plants but the Summer's hard edge heat is slowly beginning to take it's toll and nudge our greenery along on it's slow journey into Autumn.  Some of our lush Spring ferns are showing touches of yellow.

Pheebs and rolled up through Goderich this morning, slipped down around the harbor, and came home again.  Air was very muggy but luckily for me we had a cloud cover preventing the Sun from heating things up worse than what they were.  By early afternoon skies had cleared and by evening most of the humidity had gone, temps had dropped, and it was great evening walk for Pheebs and I.

A NICE 1956 FORD CROWN VICTORIA IN GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE THIS MORNING

 

ENJOYING A QUIET MORNING BY THE LAKE

SETTING UP FOR A RELAXING TIME AT THE BEACH

Back home again I knew I had to get busy with some branch trimming in our driveway.  With the Leisure Travel coming hopefully Wednesday I had a bunch of low hanging branches to lop off.  I've just let the Cedar and Basswood branches grow as well as our Redbud tree grow so with my plans to back the higher van into it's RV spot using the driveway some of those lower branches had to go.  And go they did.

YOU CAN SEE HOW THE BRANCHES HAVE GROWN OVER THE DRIVEWAY....I HADN'T TRIMMED THEM BEFORE BECAUSE I LIKED THEM HANGING OVER THE DRIVEWAY

 

WE WILL BE USING THIS DRIVEWAY FOR THE CAMPER VAN NOW

MOST OF THOSE RED BUD BRANCHES ABOVE THE LADDER WILL HAVE TO BE TRIMMED BACK

'WALLA' BRANCHES ARE GONE NOW MAKING WAY FOR THE VAN TO BE BACKED INTO THE RV SPOT DOWN THERE BY THOSE TWO CHAIRS AND DIVIDER....WHAT DO YOU THINK MY CHANCES ARE OF KNOCKING THAT CORNER PART OF THE CAR PORT ROOF OFF

YEP I FIGURE WE CAN GET THE VAN IN AND OUT NOW WITHOUT ANY SCRATCHES

OUR FRONT YARD CHANDELIER FLOWER IS DOING WELL

While doing this I noticed neighbor Monica had some low hanging Maple and Magnolia branches in her yard so I slipped over and trimmed them up as well.  I don't know where I was getting all the energy in today's hot muggy weather but no matter, the branch trimming job is done now.

HERE'S PHEEBS CATCHING A FEW AFTERNOON RAYS

GEEEEZZZZZ, DOES LIFE GET ANY BETTER

A buzzing chain saw near our back yard caught our attention about mid afternoon.  A tall dead pine tree was on it's way down.  And it came down with a thump too.  Luckily it was able to be cut up and moved from the street behind us so no disruption to our place.

Might be a late post Wednesday night by the time we get back from Palmerston with the Leisure Van.  I'll probably have some info on what the next step is for my kidney stone(s) problem too.  Thursday we are back to London's University Hospital for Kelly.  All this running around is tiring of course but I don't mind it so much.  Nice to have something to do and somewhere to go even if it is mainly for medical stuff.

I LIKE THIS MOSS GROWING NEAR THE POND'S WATERFALL

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Years ago an old man was relaxing at his hundredth birthday party when a reporter went up to him. "Sir, what is the secret of your long life?"  The man considered this for a moment, then replied, "Every evening at 9 p.m. I have a glass of port. Good for the heart I've heard."  The reporter then asked, "That's ALL?"  The man smiled, "Well, canceling my voyage on the Titanic sure didn't hurt."
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“Charles, the future king of England, has released a book of images of cetaceans. It is called 'The Prints of Whales'.”
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"Do you believe in life after death?" the boss asked one of his employees. "Yes, Sir." the new recruit replied. "Well, then, that makes everything just fine," the boss went on. "After you left early yesterday to go to your grandmother's funeral, she stopped in to see you.
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