QUIET SUMMER DAY & A MOTORCYCLE TALE

HEAVY DEW ON A HOSTA LEAF

Kelly has a couple days off so we loaded up the fabulous Pheebs & headed off to visit Uncle Harry this morning. Needed to pick up a few things in Goderich first so headed up around that way. I really didn't need to pick up a sausage McMuffin at McDonald's though but Kelly was on the hungry side & I didn't want to see her eat alone:(((( Uncle Harry is still doing reasonably well but it sure isn't much of a life spending one's days alternating between a single bed & a recliner chair.
---
Kelly really enjoys her days off & loves to just sit quietly & read. Like her Mother, Kelly is an avid book reader & I don't know how she gets through so many books so fast. Despite spending some big bucks on new glasses this Spring I still have great difficulty in reading things. As my eyes tire during the day, reading goes from bad to worse. By the time I publish the blog each night I am having trouble reading what I have written on the computer screen. My eyes seem to keep going slightly out of focus. It's the main reason my blog & email text is always on the large size.....so I can see it. Yes, I know about the Ctrl + & - keys but it's a pain switching back & forth.
---

Sprung my new tripod into action this afternoon copying a few old photos. So glad to have that capability now. Reminded me so much of the many hours I used to spend in my darkroom back in the mid 80's copying old black & white photos for folks. Maybe not the most exciting kind of thing for most folks, but then again, excitement can manifest itself in many different ways, depending on the individual.

"Excite"....My little Webster's Dictionary here tells me the word excite means, "to call into action, to rouse, to stimulate." What it doesn't tell me is that it is something mostly encountered in large quantities during early youth. The days as a child, when everything was new, exciting, & full of wonderment. Excitement is an elusive quarry now at age 67 but it can still occasionally be had. Excitement can take on many forms for different people & I have always found that fear can sometimes be an important ingredient of excitement. I had never ridden a motorcycle in my entire life until I was 49 years old. A financial opportunity presented itself & I walked into the STRATFORD CYCLE CENTER one day in October of 1993 & bought a used Suzuki 4 cylinder 650cc motorcycle. Can't recall the year but it was a sharp little bike & that was an exciting day for me.  The Stratford Cycle Center is owned & operated by two former Tavistock Brothers who I knew.  John & Jamie Pletsch.

OUR FIRST BIKE…..SUZUKI 650cc

The bike remained in storage at the motorcycle shop for the winter & by Spring I could feel the excitement, anticipation, & fear were all well in place. I signed up at a local College (Conestoga) for an April week-end motorcycle training program. The course supplied the small red noisy smoking Honda bikes & for two days we wobbled & jerked our way around orange traffic cones in the college parking lot That whole week-end was an adventure in excitement all by itself. Back in Stratford a couple days following the course I phoned the motorcycle shop & asked them to bring the bike to my place of employment which happened to be the Stratford Art Gallery at the time. Told them to leave the bike in the parking lot, which they did. I didn't want the young guys at the bike shop laughing at me as I bumbled my way out of their parking lot & that's why I didn't go & pick it up there.

A SUNDAY MORNING STOP FOR BREAKFAST IN WELLESLEY ONTARIO…1994

After work that day when no one was around & everyone had gone home, I donned my spanking new white helmet, gloves, leather jacket, and approached the bike. Excitement began to escalate, but so did the fear. I swung my leg over the seat, put the kick stand up, straightened the front wheel, turned the key & pressed the start button like they showed me. "VaRoooommm"

---

Now, the fear really took over!!!! This bike was much bigger & waaaaay more powerful than those wobbly little things we had been practicing on at Conestoga College just a few days before. Just ahead of me was the street with lots of big huge noisy cars whizzing by. The fear & excitement was almost overwhelming. Decisions, decisions. Do I really want to do this?? Maybe I should have taken up basket weaving. I clunked the motorcycle into first gear, took a deep breath, eased out the clutch & bounced unceremoniously out the driveway into the traffic, missed second gear, lurched into third, made a mind wobbling left turn & I was off like a herd of turtles in a cloud of heifer dust. The cars all around me seemed close enough to touch, & that’s because they were!!   Made it to the first intersection without getting run over & for the first time felt the teensiest bit of confidence, despite some rapid thumping that was obviously going on in my chest. I had made it half a block & I was still upright, & alive. But, I think my legs were vibrating worse than the motorcycle. Made a shaky left turn through the intersection & headed west.

Before starting out that day I had already pre-planned my route so that I knew exactly where I was headed.....the cemetery. Yes, the cemetery!! In Stratford they have a big cemetery with lots of slow winding roads & no traffic. What better place for me to get to know how to handle my 500 pound motorcycle. And, no one to notice my embarrassing beginner's mistakes. The main emotion I was experiencing from the work parking lot to that cemetery was fear, but after reaching the quiet roads of the cemetery the true excitement of what I was really doing began to take over & the fear started to ebb away……a little bit.  It was scary, but I managed to wobble & jerk my way around the roads getting used to shifting the gears, steering, & braking. Corners were unpredictable at first & some over-braking front wheel stops were just about abrupt enough to throw me over the handlebars. But, slowly I began to develop a bit more confidence & actually felt a twinge of enjoyment squeak through that wall of excited fear. Might even have allowed myself a nervous smile or two come to think of it. I was doing OK despite my doubts.  Well, at least until it was time to head the motorcycle home through all that traffic later.

GRAND BEND ONTARIO 1994

I lived right in downtown Stratford at the time, it was late afternoon, & I knew the traffic would be heavy. I white knuckled my way along & made it alright without embarrassing myself by stalling it at every traffic light or bending up anybody’s bumper. Even managed to get the bike parked okay when I got to my apartment. Pretty proud of myself I can tell you but it was on some pretty rubbery legs that I made the walk from the bike to my apartment. Let me tell you, I was a pretty happily excited fella when I went to bed later that night. And there was no fear left in that excitement....well, not till I got back on that darn motorcycle again the next day.
---
There were more exciting, hair raising, & fearful things awaiting me down the road on that little Suzuki but for the time being I had completed phase one of an exciting adventure that had begun 6 months earlier when I had walked into that motorcycle shop & bought the bike. I had actually done my first ride in real traffic. And for me, that was exciting. Scary, but exciting. Four short months later I had a bone busting motorcycle crash that landed me in a Kitchener Ontario hospital, but that's another ‘exciting’ story for another time.  But, it did involve another cemetery, many miles away…………….

GROANER'S CORNER:(( There's the sad story of the poor guy who was in a terrible motorcycle accident. When he came out from under the anaesthetic, the doctor was leaning over him anxiously.
"Son," he said, "I've got some good news and some bad news.
"The bad news is that your were in a very serious accident, and I'm afraid we had to amputate both your feet just above the ankle."
"Jesus," gasped the patient.
"What's the good news?"
"The fellow in the next bed over there will give you a good price for your boots."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- 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.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

A DEPARTURE DATE OF SATURDAY OCTOBER 13TH

Nice to have a cloudy day once & awhile. Just adds a nice change of perspective to the surrounding scenery. Have always liked the radical change of a passing thunderstorm as well. We are fortunate in this part of the Northern Hemisphere to have 4 constantly changing seasons. From the extremes of a hot humid tropical summer to the barren cold of a Siberian like winter with two of my favorite seasons in between. Spring & Fall. Sitting here in our sunroom I see nothing but lush green thick foliage outside my window. In a short 6 months if I was still sitting here I would look out onto either a gray white snowy landscape or just a dull gray everything. No green foliage except for evergreen trees. All other foliage would be gone with only stark tree branches & skeletal shrubs sticking out of the muddy or snow covered ground. We getaway winter Snow Bird folks sure are a lucky bunch.
---
With threatening rain showers looming I decided against a bike ride this morning. Not really great lighting for a photography drive so decided to leave the Jeep parked. With the ongoing humidity this summer I have not been out & about with my cameras as much as previous years so it's been difficult coming up with new photos every day. Skies cleared in the afternoon but the humidity was just too heavy after a short rain so Pheebs & I didn't venture out. Am so much looking forward to the cooler Autumn air soon. Still working on our travel plans for October but it looks like we do have a departure date now for Saturday October 13th:))

Have you ever had a pine tree sneak up on you when you weren't looking. Happened to me a few years ago. I had walked out to the Motorhome to unplug the electric cord because I intended to move the rig ahead about 20 feet to wash it. Opened the bin door, unplugged the cord, turned around & laid the cord on ground. Did you just catch my mistake? I turned my back on an open bin door therefore making it non existent. Kelly came out of the house with the dogs for our morning walk & off I went......leaving the bin door open!!

---
Upon returning I hopped into the motorhome, started it up, took a quick glance in the mirrors (never do a quick glance!!) slapped it in drive & motored ahead. There is something about the sound of crunching & tearing metal that just kind of takes the stomach out of a person. You know you have just done something bad alright & by the sound of it there is probably going to be a costly repair somewhere. I knew there was no need to panic because whatever it was I screwed up would be out there patiently waiting for me anyway. I hazarded a look in my drivers side mirror & yup, there it was alright. A pine tree had sneaked up alongside the motorhome when I wasn't looking & all but tore off my (open) bin door. Trees will do that to RV's sometimes. But, I never thought a tree was smart enough to open the bin door first before attempting to wrench it right off the coach. After all, I had closed it...right??

---

Took my sick feeling stomach & exited the coach, walked around behind the motorhome to the drivers side. The bin door was twisted at an awkward upward angle of course. Took it in my hands to try & twist it down but the whole door just came right off leaving an open & gaping electrical bin hole. The whole upper hinge mechanism was all torn to ratsheep. Torsion bar hanging askew, body flange bent, etc. etc. Amazingly enough the bin door itself was still intact. Wasn't twisted or bent, & no paint missing but that still didn't alleviate that awful feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you've just screwed up by not seeing a pine tree sneak up on you. I remember my Dad having a brand new Honda generator years ago at his cottage, leaving it behind the car, & then promptly backing over it. The look on his face that day was the same look I had on my face the morning I damaged that bin door!!

---

There was no point in me trying to repair it because it was well beyond anything I could fix up with Scotch tape. We have an auto body repair shop near us so I took the rig over there & left it with the professionals. Picked it up a couple days later all fixed up but I'm too embarrassed to tell you how much that repair job cost us. Let's just say it took a huge bite out of our income tax return that year.  Kelly was quick to point out to me that things like that don't happen to her. I was quick to point out to her that's because she never drives the motorhome or moves it around. She quickly pointed out to me that maybe it was about time she did!! Case closed!!

---

‘Footnote’……….that big sneaky Pine tree has since been removed:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( And a tongue twister tonight from C&C

Ned Nott was shot and Sam Shott was not.
So it is better to be Shott than Nott.
Some say Nott was not shot.
But Shott says he shot Nott.
Either the shot Shott shot at Nott was not shot,
Or Nott was shot.
If the shot Shott shot shot Nott, Nott was shot.
But if the shot Shott shot shot Shott,
Then Shott was shot, not Nott.
However, the shot Shott shot shot not Shott, but Nott.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)

- 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.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

PHEEBS & I WERE OFF ON A MISSION THIS MORNING

BAYFIELD’S PIER

Within a couple hours of getting up this morning I knew I had a purpose for the day. On her computer Real Estate site Kelly had spotted another house & 1 acre piece of property for sale northeast of Bayfield. Problem was, it was over 70 miles away & much further than our preferred area of thinking. No matter, Pheebs & I had ourselves a mission.

 

MY INTREPID NAVIGATOR LIKES TO CATCH A FEW BACKSEAT WINKS WHEN I’M NOT LOOKING

Kelly headed into work with the Jeep at nine. Five minutes later the Kid & I were in the air conditioned Santa Fe with the pedal to the metal heading for a little burg of a place called Elmwood, north of Hanover Ontario. You might call this area the very southern end of the great expanse known as Northern Ontario. Well, we needn't have hurried off in search of Elmwood so fast because I doubt the house & property at it's northern edge will be selling any time soon. Took us an hour & a half to get there & within seconds of driving onto the property I knew the place was a bust. Located beside a busy north/south highway the non stop sound of streaming heavy traffic swooshing by was steadily in the air. Only sound Kelly & I ever want to hear when stepping outside anywhere is just the wind & the bird's in the trees. The piece of property itself wasn't bad had it been located elsewhere on a side road. The house, which actually turned out to be nothing more than an old narrow house trailer, was a disaster. Somebody had started renovating it & given up. Lots of old trailer debris scattered about. The approximate 12 x 50 foot trailer still had it's original rubber tires & towing tongue on it. Cracked off a few quick pics, jumped back in the car & Pheebs & I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Think we might have even spun up some gravel on the way out. Oh well, it gave us something to do on a sizzling summer Saturday morning & we got to drive some roads & see some new scenery.  Stopped in Wingham Ontario at a Subway & split a 12" Tuna sub with no onions. You know what kind of a mess we made so I won't have to go into all that again. We were back home by 12:45 & by 1 o'clock I was crashed in my recliner & the Pheebs was out like a light on the couch. Yep, mission accomplished.

  

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No doubt this has been the hottest summer of ever & we had another heavy humid & crushingly hot day sitting right on top of us. One could go outside, stand still, & sweat!! We sure appreciated the A/C in the car & the house today.

AMERICAN GOLDFINCH

We decided not to take our bicycles to Arizona this winter so Friday morning I busied myself taking off the bicycle carrier I had put on the Motorhome a couple months ago. Our first couple years traveling we took our bikes with us but didn't end up using them enough to justify the hassle of them bumping around on the back of the rig. I was happy not to have to carry bicycles the last 3 years. I think if we had a Motorhome Toy Hauler it would be a different story but we don't so that's the end of that little story.

 

DROPPING OFF A LOAD OF GARDEN WASTE & TOOK THE BICYCLE CARRIER OFF THE RIG FRIDAY MORNING

Must say I do like the look & feel of Microsoft's new OUTLOOK emailing program. They are going to phase out Hotmail which I never cared much for anyway. Not exactly the old Outlook Express but there are shades of it in the new Outlook. It looks cleaner & the printing & graphics seem easier for me to read.  And, so far, from what I can see, it is advertising free. How great is that. No more of those horridly annoying flash ads on the side. We switched over to the new Outlook a few days ago & so far I do not have a single complaint. Now isn't that nice for a change. Still liked our old Outlook Express best but I guess that’s kind of like saying I would like driving a Dinosaur better than a Ferrari.

RED BREASTED NUTHATCH

Can you imagine making one cup of coffee last 4 hours. And, a decaffe at that. When my long time friend Jim & I get together for coffee, our sessions always last 3 or 4 hours so I have to carefully space out my decaffe sips to make it last. Can we say…’cold coffee’. Getting a second cup of coffee is not an option anymore & Friday afternoon was no exception. Both Jim & I were once truly addicted coffee hounds years ago. He no longer drinks coffee at all & I am down to one a day. We have been friends since 1979, best man at each others weddings many years ago & between us over the years we have solved many of the world's worst woes several times over. We always meet at a Tim Horton's coffee shop & rarely visit at each other's house. Probably haven't been to Jim's place for over 20 years & I have never met his two grown up teen-age children. And, Jim's never met the Pheebs. In another post I will tell you about the time when part time singer, songwriter, & guitar player Jim cut an album & asked me to be his manager. Well, Jim knew a lot more about singing than I knew about managing anything so that little arrangement didn't last long. But, our friendship somehow survived that short period of time & we still sometimes have a few good chuckles about all that. Maybe I'll tell you about our little ventures to the BX-93 country music radio station in London Ontario one time, & a couple trips we two local yokels made to the big city of Toronto in search of Jim's 45rpm records…….. a long time ago in an era far away:))

GRACKLE

GROANER'S CORNER:((  An 80 year old man was having his annual check-up and the doctor asked him how he was feeling.
"I've never been better!" he boasted. "I've got an eighteen year old bride who's pregnant and having my child! What do you think about that?"
The doctor considered this for a moment, then said, "Let me tell you a story. I knew a guy who was an avid hunter. He never missed a season. But one day went out in a bit of a hurry and he accidentally grabbed his umbrella instead of his gun." The doctor continued, "So he was in the woods and suddenly a grizzly bear appeared in front of him! He raised up his umbrella, pointed it at the bear and squeezed the handle."
"And do you know what happened?" the doctor queried.
Dumbfounded, the old man replied "No."
The doctor continued, "The bear dropped dead in front of him!"
"That's impossible!" exclaimed the old man. "Someone else must have shot that bear."
"That's kind of what I'm getting at..." replied the doctor.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)

- 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.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

COFFEE

Highlight of my day was having coffee with an old friend this afternoon & that was about it.

---

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Did you know the Goldberg Brothers? - Inventors of the Automobile Air Conditioner.  Here's a little factoid for automotive buffs or just to dazzle your friends. The four Goldberg brothers, Lowell,Norman, Hiram, and Max, invented and developed the first automobile air-conditioner. On July 17, 1946,the temperature in Detroit was 97 degrees. The four brothers walked into old man Henry Ford's office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that four gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric starter.
Henry was curious and invited them into his office. They refused and instead asked that he come out to the parking lot to their car. They persuaded him to get into the car, which was about 130 degrees, turned on the air conditioner, and cooled the car off immediately. The old man got very excited and invited them back to the office, where he offered them $3 million for the patent.
The brothers refused, saying they would settle for $2 million, but they wanted the recognition by having a label, 'The Goldberg Air-Conditioner,' on the dashboard of each car in which it was installed. Now old man Ford was more than just a little anti-Semitic and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg's name on two million Fords. They haggled back and forth for about two hours and finally agreed on $4 million --- and that just their first names would be shown.
And so to this day, all Ford air conditioners show -- Lo, Norm, Hi, and Max -- on the controls:))
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- 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.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

RE-THINKING OUR ADOBE WALL IN CONGRESS ARIZONA

 

JUST ANOTHER RELAXING AFTERNOON ON THE COUCH

Loaded up the little Wiggly Bum this morning & headed off to Goderich on our weekly errands run. August is always a heavy duty financial month for us with insurance's & license tags all coming due plus a few other annual things. It was straight for the license bureau we headed with papers filled out for our Motorhome, Motorcycle, Santa Fe & Jeep. I've read some horror stories about the long line ups & waiting times some of our RV friends south of the border have to endure each year to get their tags. Guess we are fortunate to live in the area we do because for the second straight year in a row I just walked in right up to the counter. Five minutes later I was back out the door with 4 one year tags & my wallet lighter by $264.00.  But, here’s the good news.  Lady at the counter said it was good I renewed the tags now, because by October it is going to be more expensive with license fees going up.

FENCE IN FOREGROUND ABOVE WOULD BE MOVED TO REPLACE OLD FENCE AT THE BACKSIDE OF THE PROPERTY BELOW

Next stop was the Supermarket & I picked up a roast beef sandwich for Pheebs & I. She always makes me take those yukky dill pickle thingys off & I don't blame her. She just likes the beef parts & I get stuck having to choke down most of the bread & lettuce. The things we do to keep our best Pals happy:))

ADOBE WALL WOULD START HERE AT THE NEIGHBOR’S FENCE LINE & RUN ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE PROPERTY TO THE LEFT…BLUE BOX IS OUR WATER SHUT-OFF AT THE ROAD

GATE NEEDED HERE IN DRIVEWAY

5’ HIGH ADOBE WALL WOULD STRETCH ACROSS HERE…(ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BEFORE HOUSE WAS STUCCOED)

GUMO had a question about how did I get the rig so shiny. Well, let's just say when I took the photo it was still wet & hadn't dried. This morning it was back to it's old dull self. I have tried different things over the years including waxes, etc but there doesn't seem to be a wonder cleaner out there that will shine up that faded fibre glass & keep it that way. Not that shiny is a big deal for me anyway. Bought a gallon of 'The Solution' at Quartzsite last winter, but to me it just didn't live up to all it's hype. I use it on the Motorcycle simply because it's easier than dragging out the hose, sponge, chamois, & wax. Kelly used it on her car once & liked it.  If anyone has a sure fire way to keep their rig all sparkly for a long period of time I’m sure there would be a lot of RV’ers interested in knowing what that product is.

AM HOPING MY TEMPORARY CACTUS GARDEN WILL SURVIVE THE LONG HOT ARIZONA SUMMER

Chinle over at SPOTTED DOG RANCH has been busy writing & wrapping up her third in a series of Bud Shumway mysteries. Chinle's first two books are available in paper back with Kindle editions on line within a few days. Judging from a few excerpts Chinle has included in some of her blog posts I can see she has a laid back relaxing style that easily paints a reader's mind with colorful images & interesting characters.

BIG BOSS PHEEBS 

We first met Jerry & Suzy from OUR LIFE ON WHEELS about 3 years ago while Ranch sitting near McNeal Arizona. They drove down from Benson to say hello & bring us some yummy cowboy cookies. Jerry isn't blogging as much as he used to & they are not on the road with their Motorhome at the moment. Been a busy summer for them as they have been doing some desert landscaping around their place. Suzy has lost an amazing 103 pounds & is looking good & feeling great. And Jerry has the photos to prove it:))

 

PLANTING MORE CACTUS IN OUR BACK YARD MARCH 11TH 2012

MERIKAY wondered if we would be taking tools & stuff to Arizona or buying duplicates when there. Will take my gardening tools & bring them back. Same with power tools like a couple saws, sander, drill, etc. Will definitely have to buy a wheelbarrow down there & am going to need some kind of utility trailer for hooking up to the Jeep & hauling stuff. Plants, furniture, garbage, etc. And, we are re-thinking our straw bale Adobe wall. Just not going to be financially feasible to enclose a whole acre. And, I think most of those walls are now built using concrete blocks with a stucco finish. Will know better once we get there & talk to the fellow who did our house.

  

ARE WE ANXIOUS TO GET BACK TO ARIZONA??  DARN RIGHT WE ARE & I HOPE WE FIND THINGS JUST THE WAY WE LEFT THEM

I think what we will end up doing is putting a standard 5 foot high wall right across the entire front of the property. Allowing for a driveway gate of course.  Our north side already has a good coyote proof wire fence put in by our Mexican neighbors. We have a good coyote proof wire fence around the house right now which will be taken out & used as the new fencing across the west or backside of the 1 acre property. Lot of thick Mesquite trees there for privacy. Will probably have to do the east side in new wire fencing or maybe a combination of adobe, wood & wiring. We'll just have to wait & check out the costs of materials & labor when we get there. No way around it, we definitely need a fence to keep the Coyotes & Javelina's out. And if it can be made Rattlesnake proof.......that would be a big bonus too:))

GHOST TOWN ROAD SUNRISE & A NOT QUITE FULL ARIZONA MOON…TOOK THE MOON PHOTO  FROM OUR BACK YARD LAST MARCH

GROANER'S CORNER:(( And, speaking of snakes...

-What kind of snake keep its car the cleanest?
A windshield viper!

-What kind of snake can do math in the dark?
A night adder!

-What kind of snakes get to hug the bride at a wedding?
Garter snakes!

-What do snakes do at the end of a date?
They give each other a goodnight hiss!

-How do you measure a snake?
In inches. They don't have any feet!

-What would you get if you crossed a newborn snake with a basketball?
A bouncing baby boa!

-What do you get if you cross a snake with a builder?
A Boa Constructor!

and lastly……………..

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Snakeskin.
Snakeskin who?
Snakeskin bite, but we'd rather slither away.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)

- 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.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

MAKING THE MOTORHOME SHINE

NICE TO SEE METAL PARTS ON THE NEW TRIPOD:))

Totally surprised myself this morning when I walked into the carport shed & walked back out with a bucket full of cleaning supplies, waxes, scrub brushes etc. Washing & waxing vehicles is not one of my favorite things to do anymore but I did get a  good start on the Motorhome. And, whatever happened to the term 'washing a car'. Guess the new in word is now called 'detailing'. Where the heck did that word come from anyway.  Detailing always meant putting decorative lines & pin stripes on a vehicle or that sort of thing. Think I'll just stick to what it is....washing the car. And no, I will not be detailing the inside of the car, but I will be cleaning it!!

HOLY SMOKES, IS THAT AN ACTUAL SHINE I’M SEEING THERE…I’D BETTER HURRY UP & THROW SOME DUST ON THAT

Spent a little time out behind the shed this morning playing with my Manfrotto.  This is quite a little Mossmagator of a tripod. I especially like how it can be configured to do table top copy work or reversed to take upside down photos. For example, a bug on the underside of a leaf. Both the pan head & the tripod have their own levelling bubbles too. Camera can be extended to 6'6" in the air. Each leg can be totally levelled to a horizontal position. Didn't mention the cost in Tuesday night's post because I was still recovering from the price of course. And yet, it was on the lower end of the scale compared to the really expensive Manfrotto tripods. Those pods will make coffee for you, answer your phone & give you a massage every second Saturday morning of the month. My tripod was $239.99 & the pan head was another $89.99. Throw some good old Canadian taxes on that & your pushing the heck out of a $400.00 bill. I'm sure the same set up could be bought for less in the States but we are in Canada now & that's the way it is.

PINKY COLOR CAST COMES FROM AN OVERHEAD RED BEACH UMBRELLA BUT HOW COOL IS THIS MANFROTTO FOR COPYING THINGS LIKE PHOTOS, ETC.

 

TRIPOD CAN BE CONFIGURED FOR ODD ANGLES

The folks over at GYPSY LIFE JOURNAL are adjusting well to coming in off the road. This is their first time being in the Southwest during the summer & they are enjoying all the greenery, blooming cactus, & cloud shrouded Catalina Mountains near Tucson Arizona. Kelly & I have never seen the greenery of summer but no matter, we love the browns of a southwest winter just the same:))

ONE LEG UP ON THE OLD RAIN BARREL

    

6.5 FEET OF HEIGHT & A LOOK FROM BEHIND THE SET-UP
On the flip side of coming off the road, be sure to check out SMALL HOUSE-BIG BACK YARD as Karen & Steve spend the last day in their house before hitting the road fulltime today. Lot's of excitement going on over there.

COULDN’T FIND AN ID FOR THIS FELLOW TODAY

Being a Snow Bird, I understand the feelings of excitement heading off on a long journey & also the same type of feeling arriving home again at the end of a well traveled 5 or 6 months.  Two major lifestyle changes every year to keep things interesting.  Nice way to go:))

AN EXAMPLE OF THE DOUBLE BUBBLE TRIPOD & PAN HEAD LEVELS
Speaking of excitement, I should have listened to Kelly & buttoned myself up again Tuesday night about some future plans & happenings. But of course I didn't. Not intentionally wanting to throw a teaser out there it looks like that's exactly what I did. My fault again. Sorry. I have to get in the habit of saying things 'after the fact' instead of saying things 'before the fact'......but there is that excitement factor that grabs me sometimes & I always enjoy sharing that feeling with readers. Anyway, I will try not to do that again unless things are confirmed or already done. Always something eh. And you might have noticed I changed a few things around on my site again today. It's the way my mind works, stuff is always in a state of flux & change. At least I can't be pegged for being same old-same old:))

HOW DO LOOK, HOW DO I LOOK:))

Welcome to new Blog Follower LuAnn Oburn. Nice to have you along. Hope to have the big wheels rolling about mid October this year.

SUNFLOWERS & SOYBEANS

And newer Alpha Motorhome owners might want to check out MERIKAY'S  post today. Let me just say it involves a possible hazard & something I'm thinking Alpha Motorhome designers & builders never thought of………………….. Bears!!

 

GRAND BEND ONTARIO
GROANER'S CORNER:((   A blonde is terribly overweight, so her doctor put her on a diet. "I want you to eat regularly for two days, then skip a day, and repeat this procedure for two weeks. The next time I see you, you'll have lost at least 5 pounds."

When the blonde returned, she shocked the doctor by losing nearly 20 pounds. "Why, that's amazing!" the doctor said, "Did you follow my instructions?"

The blonde nodded, "I'll tell you though, I thought I was going to drop dead that third day."

"From hunger, you mean?" asked the doctor.

"No, from skipping."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)

- 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.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com