ORDERED US A COMBINED CANADIAN/AMERICAN FLAG TODAY

AUTUMN SUMAC LEAVES IN OUR FRONT YARD

Cold enough for us to have our coats on this morning walking the forest trail.  And, with the heavy dew every night now we generally end up with some pretty wet shoes & paws. Cut down a couple small trees in the back yard today as I continue my revamping project. We slipped down to see Uncle Harry in Mitchell & he's doing fine. Nice big white fluffy clouds in a blue sun filled sky made for a scenic drive in the country there & back. Re-planted some Bamboo grass & that was about it. Sure nice to have cooler air to work in.

AMANITA MUSHROOMS ……ALSO IN OUR FRONT YARD
Back in 2009 I had it in the back of my mind to try my hand at designing a Bayfield Bunch logo. Just a little something we could put on a piece of paper or card to exchange with fellow RV'ers on the road. It would save having to scramble for a pen & piece of paper to scrawl email addresses or websites on. Started out by going to Clip-Art sites on the internet & trying to find drawings of cactus, trees, a motorhome, etc. Found some pictures but couldn't quite figure out how to join & size them together so gave up after a bit & decided to have a go at drawing the logo myself. 

---

I remembered Microsoft's Paint program, so with mouse in hand & a bunch of patience (yes, I once had a lot of that patience stuff) I began figuring out the program tools, brushes, lines, pointers, pencil markers, colors, erasers, text & whatever else it had in it's little bag of tricks. Designed myself a basic logo, posted it in the blog asking for any suggestions from readers & with those returning suggestions I made a few small changes & the logo was ready to be printed. With the help of Kelly's Son Ben, who owns his own Graphic sign business, we had ourselves a thousand cards printed. Of course that was way too many so we still have a stack of them here at home. But, we have handed a fair few cards out over the past 3 years too.

OF COURSE MAX, CHECKERS & CORA ARE GONE NOW & OUR EMAIL ADDY AT THE BOTTOM HAS CHANGED
In MIKE'S post last week I saw a photo of a flag I liked. We are flag flyers & while boondocking I generally fly both a Canadian & American flag. I fly both flags on the same pole & it's always a bit of a chore each morning crawling to the top of our rigs ladder & getting our flag pole into place all the while trying to stay untangled from the two large flags blowing in the wind trying their best to knock me off the ladder. In the evening I crawl up there & take them down again. Going to be much easier with just one flag & I do like how both the American & Canadian flags are together.  We ordered our flag today from the EBay site linked below.

I COPIED THIS PHOTO FROM MIKE’S BLOG SHOWING THE NEW FLAG DESIGN, ALL IN ONE >>>

In Mike's words...... “I couldn’t help but think about this Flag a lot yesterday. Since 9/11 is always a day to remember and one that none of us will ever forget, it is great to see a flag that designates Peace between two countries. We have so many, many Canadian friends and I wish we could enjoy a relationship with all countries that is as friendly as the one with our great neighbors to the North”.
Link for flag... COMBINED USA & CANADA FLAG.  Also an EBay link…COMBINED FLAG ON EBAY.

<<< THIS IS HOW WE HAVE BEEN FLYING OUR 2 FLAGS

Gotta be real careful about where & how you fly your flags though. It's a touchy subject to a lot of folks. We used to just fly our Canadian flag but twice back in 08 I was hastily approached by 2 separate irate American RV'ers telling me I could not do that. It was an insult to their country. Not wanting to be the sole reason for having our 2 great countries go to war over a flag issue I did a little research on etiquette. Well, that opened up a whole can of worms as people on RV NET FORUM well know. Anyway, to make a long flag story short & keep peace between our two great Countries, we now fly our Canadian flag underneath the American flag when traveling south of the border. Of course, with this new flag design now, I’m hoping all problems will be readily eliminated. 

AWWWW COME ON MOM, WHEN’S IT MY TURN TO TALK ON THE PHONE

Judy, over at TRAVELS WITH EMMA had what sounded like an un-fixable problem with her used 75-300mm camera lens.  Wisely deciding on not spending money on repairs, she set herself up with a brand spanking new Canon Camera & telephoto lens.  This now gives her two cameral bodies & she can carry her telephoto lens on one camera & her wide angle lens on the other camera.  No need to keep switching lenses back & forth anymore.  I did the same thing a few years ago when I purchased a second Nikon camera body.  My 18-55mm wide angle zoom rides on my Nikon D90 & my 75-300mm telephoto rides on my Nikon D40.  I noticed early on in our travels there was a lot of fine grain dust blowing about in the southwest deserts & changing lenses back & forth a lot was only asking for a ‘dust on the sensors’ problem.  Also, for nature photography which both Judy & I enjoy, speed is of the essence many times when photographing birds or animals.  No time to be changing lenses.  When hiking, I always carry both my cameras.  Yes, there is a substantial weight thing with a couple DSLR’s plus lenses hanging around one’s neck & shoulders but small price to pay for quality & creativity, not to mention the sheer enjoyment of photography when using the right kind of camera & lens for the best possible results:)) 

---
And, welcome to our latest Blog Followers, FULLTIME RVERS. Thanks for dropping by folks. With a bit of luck we should be on the road next month by this time.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet he suffered from bad breath.This in turn made him a....."super-calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis."
---------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.
- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/
stargeezerguy@gmail.

SOMETIMES, STRETCHED OUT IN MY SUPER COMFY OVERSTUFFED CUSHY RECLINER……………..

Had us cold dreary November like rain soaked day which in turn worked it's dreariness on my mind & held me captive in my recliner for awhile today. Couldn't even find a half hour of ‘Family Guy’ on TV to drag me out of the doldrums. Noticed the winds beginning to bring down the first of many to come pine needles.  By late afternoon we had a few sun splashes poking through the heavy cloud cover & all was well with the world again.

Sometimes, stretched out in my super comfy overstuffed cushy recliner watching a 42 inch flat screen TV with HD programing listening to quality sound piped through our stereo, I think to myself....why would I ever want to go & spend the next 6 months living in an 8 x 33 foot rectangular box. No recliner, no 42" screen & definitely no quality sound coming out of the TV. Why switch from a big spacious double bed to a single. And, I gotta have rocks in my head to give up a comfortable sized shower with an unlimited supply of piping hot water. Every year about this pre-trip time those thoughts pass through my mind. Perfectly logical thoughts, but it only takes a turn of the Motorhome's key & the first few minutes of heading off down the road to immediately put those cushy thought patterns into perspective & quickly stuff them under one of those rocks. I will not think of them again until we return home when I will once more appreciate the big chair, the big screen, the big sound, the big bed & the big bunch of hot water coming out of the big shower nozzle. Now, in all fairness I should add, this winter will be a bit different from previous boondocking years in that we will be spending a fair bit of time at our Arizona digs where we do have some of the same things we have here at home in Bayfield.  Mainly, a large shower with an unlimited supply of piping hot water.  Yahooey Louie:))

NOT UNUSUAL TO SEE SEAGULLS FOLLOWING FISHING BOATS, BUT TRACTORS? THESE LANDLUBBERS ARE AFTER THE GRUBS & WORMS TURNED UP BY THE TRACTOR’S PLOW

All the garden & pond ornaments are stored away for another season & I will pull the pond pump out in a couple weeks. For the second year in a row I am surprised by the small number of frogs in our pond. It was not unusual for me to easily catch 30 or 40 frogs each year & transport them to the bigger Park pond across the road. So far I have only seen a few. Our pond is not deep enough for them to winter over.  I know last year we had a summer long problem of neighbor’s cats killing the frogs but since Pheebs has been on the job we haven’t seen the cat’s around anymore.

PHEEBS HELPS ME LOAD UP THE LAWN ORNAMENTS FOR ANOTHER SEASON

GROANER'S CORNER:(( One day a man was injured in a car crash. He was alive but he had to be sent to a hospital. When he woke up he shouted, "I can't feel my legs."
"I know" the Doctor said, "I've amputated your arms."

---------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.
- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

FORMER FELLOW RV’ER JOANN DUBROUILLET & FRIENDS DROPPED BY TODAY:))

With rain forecast over the next few days I figured it would be good to tidy up a few outside loose ends in the back yard & put some gardening tools away. Didn't seem to have the new campfire pit just right so ended up moving it a couple of feet all the while telling myself, "Al, if you just took a minute to do things right in the first place, you wouldn't have to do them a second time!! 
 
BEGINNING TO GET A BIT OF COLOR IN OUR TREES
JoAnn Dubrouillet, who many will remember from her & Doug’s RV Blog called 'Living Our Dream,' contacted us this morning saying she was in London Ontario & coming to Bayfield today with some friends & would we like to meet for coffee. Yep, sure would. JoAnn is visiting from Florida.  Last time we saw JoAnn was a couple winters ago in Sunsites Arizona. We met JoAnn & husband Doug (Doug passed away in August 2011) along with Jo & Fred Wishnie at Margies Cafe for breakfast one fine morning. Originally met JoAnn, Doug, & Filmore their big Standard Poodle (Filmore passed away in April 2012) in Yuma about 5 years ago & they are the one's who put Kelly & I onto the Ranch sitting job at Jeanie & Ray’s near McNeal Arizona. Had seen them one other time in Borrego Springs, California.

JOANNE, DOUG, KELLY, AL, JO & FRED WISHNIE OUTSIDE OF MARGIES CAFE IN SUNSITES, ARIZONA…DECEMBER 12TH, 2010
Met JoAnn & friends Kathy & Larry today at an easy to find prearranged spot in Bayfield about 12:15.  From there we convoyed a short distance to the Bayfield Berry Farm for lunch.  Tourist season is over in Bayfield now so we basically had the whole place to ourselves.  So nice to see JoAnn again & we have been keeping up with her traveling times on Facebook.
 
LARRY, KATHY, JOANN & KELLY AT THE BAYFIELD BERRY FARM TODAY FOR LUNCH
From the Berry Farm it was just a short drive to our place where JoAnn got to meet the fabulous Pheebs.  And, she especially wanted to see our sunroom where I put the blog together every night & have taken so many nature photos of our front yard from over the years.

 
THAT LITTLE PHEEBS SURE LIKES ALL THE ATTENTION

We also got to meet Kathy & Larry’s little 11 year old Yorkie, Maggie.  A sweety for sure & of course Pheebs liked her as well.  We did a little walk around our yard & snapped a few photos along the way.

 
   

AND, A LITTLE TOUR OF THE MOTORHOME AS WELL
On the way back to Bayfield we did a little sight seeing with JoAnn riding with me in the Jeep & Kelly in Kathy & Larry’s car.  Kind of a double tour guide if you will.   Stopped at DEER PARK LODGE where Kelly works & showed the folks a few of the cottages. 

 
TOP FLOOR OF THIS 2 STORY BUILDING IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE PENTHOUSE
  
THE HUTCH HAS THE BEST VIEW OF LAKE HURON & IS THE COTTAGE MOST PREFERRED BY FOLKS

From Deer Park we swung down around the harbor where all the sailboats are at anchor.  But, not at anchor for much longer because it is the time of year now when all boats have to come out of the water & spend the winter months on wooden stilts in various areas around the harbor.  Watched a truck haul a big sailboat up from the harbour on a trailer & skilfully back it down a short curvy road to deposit it on the hard surface of a tennis court. 

Toured around Bayfield's Sunset Park overlooking the lake & up Bayfield’s main street to Clan Gregor square where it was time to say good-bye.  They were headed for Goderich next & still had some more sight seeing to do.  Nice to have met Maggie, Kathy & Larry to day & it sure was nice to see JoAnn again.  A week from today JoAnn heads back to her home in Panama City Florida.  Don’t know if we will ever meet again so it was nice spending a few hours with these folks today.  All the best JoAnn & thanks for stopping by to say Hello:))

SAYING GOODBYE TODAY………………………
It’s always kind of sad saying goodbye to folks in the RV world because of the lifestyle’s nature.  People are on the move & quite often get togethers are pure happenstance.  And, there is another reason.  I don’t know what the average age of RV’ers is but I’m guessing it has to be 60+.  That alone adds a touch of sadness to good-byes in RV land.  The reality is simply that you may never see someone again.  Yes, we all say, ‘see ya down the road’ or ‘catch ya next time’ etc.  But, one never knows for sure anymore at this age & stage of life…………………..

NOW, HOW’S THIS FOR THE CUTEST LITTLE MAGGIE MUGGINS YOU EVER SAW:))
GROANER’S CORNER:((   Upon entering the little country store, the stranger noticed a sign saying DANGER! BEWARE OF DOG! posted on the glass door.
Inside he noticed a harmless old hound dog asleep on the floor beside the cash register.
He asked the store manager,
"Is THAT the dog folks are supposed to beware of?"
"Yep, that's him," he replied.
The stranger couldn't help but be amused.
"That certainly doesn't look like a dangerous dog to me. Why in the world would you post that sign?"
"Because", the owner replied,
"before I posted that sign, people kept tripping over him."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.
- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/



 

PHEEBS TAKES CARE OF A PESKY NEIGHBOR

HAD US A REAL FINE MORNING FOR A RIDE IN THE COUNTRY

ME & MY VERY MUCH MOST BEST PAL:))

Feeling a need for change I decided to catch a break from our back yard project & just take myself for a quiet country road drive this morning. Besides, I could tell Pheebs was needing a Jeep ride. We spent a couple quiet relaxing hours meandering the back roads just leisurely soaking up the early Autumn scenery. Couple stops to stretch our legs, a few photos, & we were home shortly after noon. Transplanted a few more Hostas & made a short border thingy out of some old patio blocks. Short bike run in the afternoon & that was it.

WELL, LOOKS LIKE THAT PESKY NEIGHBOR WON’T BE BOTHERING US AGAIN

  

“DID I DO GOOD MOM, HUH HUH, DID I”

The following photos may be of interest to local readers.  This is the low overhead railway bridge just west of Clinton on the road to Bayfield.  Looks to me like they are coming down the home stretch on this project.  Road is being graded & the concrete road base is in place under the bridge.  No digging machines on site & I wouldn’t be surprised to see some paving equipment rolling in here before long.

 
 

THE CONCRETE BASE IS IN & THE ROAD IS BEING GRADED & LEVELLED

With all the yard work this past week I have sore muscles where I didn’t even think I had muscles.  But, how great it is to feel tired & sore at the end of the day.  Well, maybe not so much the sore part but at least it tells me I have been working away at something I enjoy.  If I was sore from doing something I didn’t enjoy, I would be complaining all over the place.  Nice not having to listen to myself complain:))
 
Some folks sure do have a lot of patience for fixing things.
Two fellow RVing Bloggers actually repaired their own cameras this week. RETIRED ROD installed a new 'display' screen on his Panasonic ZS7 & TOM just replaced the LCD screen on his Nikon Coolpix. I don't know how these guys do it but it has to take an awful lot of slow meticulous patience I figure. I repaired a torn piece of paper once. Put a piece of Scotch tape on it. Got it crooked:((

“RIBBIT”

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Only in North America do we use the word "politics" to describe the process so well. "Poli" in Latin meaning "many" and "tics" meaning "bloodsucking creatures".
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.
- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

MY SON, THE TALENTED MUSICIAN

Temperatures hung around the 60F mark today this morning & that is just about perfect outside working weather for me. With Blue Jays hollering from nearby Pine trees, Pheebs & I spent the day working away on our backyard project. Kelly generally works week-ends. At one point a fast moving rain shower rolled in off the lake & sent us scampering for higher ground. I'm sure this cooler Autumn air has played a big role in energizing my outside gardening interests once again. Give me a shovel & a pile of dirt & I'm a happy guy. Well, most of the time anyway:))

Seems like I have laid out a lot of my life here in my posts over the years but there are still a few areas I haven't touched upon. One is my Son, Sean. Maybe one day I will sit down & tell you that story. Sean has grown up to be a fine young man & talented musician. He heads up a Canadian Christian band called, THE WEAK NEED. Writes his own songs & is the band's lead singer & keyboard player. Sean also arranges & produces all the band's music in his own recording studio. A very talented & sincere fellow indeed. Below I have included 2 of Sean’s songs.  JAMES 1 & FERRIS WHEEL.  James 1 is Sean’s latest & Ferris Wheel was recorded 3 years ago.  These are only 2 of his many songs.  Had some problems with the James 1 link so hope it works.  Sean re-married a couple weeks ago & I cropped this head & shoulders pic of him from a larger photo taken by a wedding photographer.  You can see the full photo on Sean’s FACEBOOK PAGE.

IT WILL SOON BE TIME TO PUT AWAY THE SUMMER’S POND ORNAMENTS FOR ANOTHER YEAR

I did manage to move our campfire pit today but not to the area first planned.  Also relocated & replanted some Hostas.  The largest & heaviest thing I ended up planting about mid afternoon though was me in my recliner………….zzzzzzzzzzzzz

YAAAAY, MOM’S HOME MOM’S HOME:))

 

THAT BROWN STUMP HAS YET TO BE REMOVED & THE NEW CAMPFIRE PIT IS IN PLACE

Sitting here tonight mulling over some topics, it occurred to me I have been repeating myself lately.  Posting about something & then coming back a week or two later & posting about about the same thing again.  Either a sign my memory is slipping, or I’m running out of ideas & my creative thought process is slipping.  And of course it could very well be a combination of all the above…………:((

FISHERMEN AT PORT ALBERT ON THE SHORES OF LAKE HURON

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The things that come to those who wait will be the things left by those who got there first. And, did you know that a flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries. And, I'm sure everyone knows the shin bone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.

- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/

stargeezerguy@gmail.com