WERE THEY SHEEPS IN DOGGIE SUITS OR DOGGIES IN SHEEP SUITS??

BEING SHADED BY TALL PINE TREES WE GROW LOTS OF MUSHROOMS IN OUR YARD

Kelly was off to the medical clinic this morning for some blood work.  Didn’t require me being there so after a day of puttering on Monday Pheebs & I decided we needed a change of pace today.  Into the Jeep & off we went.  Short time later we cruised through a Tim Horton’s drive-thru in Grand Bend Ontario for some breakfast snacks.  Minutes later we were sitting on the beach eating our curds & whey.  Well, not exactly.  We were parked at the beach alright but it was a breakfast sandwich, a carrot muffin & a small coffee.  A cold wind coming in off the lake kept us in the Jeep.

ON OUR WAY TO GRAND BEND THIS MORNING WE CAME UPON A ROW OF ‘SHEEP BUTTS’

AND SOME RELAXING COWS

One might wonder how there could be a winter time connection between a 3 story building standing alongside the Ausable river near the harbor mouth in Grand Bend Ontario Canada & the far reaches of the South-Western United States.  Well, it’s a connection the Bayfield Bunch uses a lot every winter.  And we may be the only one’s using it from the South-West.  On the 3rd floor of that lighthouse looking building there is a single window facing west towards Lake Huron.  Inside that window is mounted a live web cam which takes a picture every 60 seconds 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Whether we are on the road traveling or are at home in Congress Arizona we can click on that web cam any time & see what the weather is doing back home here in our area.  Grand Bend is only about 18 miles south of Bayfield.  We can see winter storms blowing through, depth of the snow built up & whether the river is iced over.  We are maybe not able to keep an eye on our house but we are able to keep an eye on our area’s weather.  We’re Canadians so that is important to us:)) 

 

DURING THE WINTER WE REGULARLY CHECK IN WITH THIS GRAND BEND WEB CAM OVERLOOKING THE HARBOR

LOOKING TOWARDS THE LAKE AT 6:40 TONIGHT THIS IS WHAT THE WEB CAM SHOWED

And speaking of live web cams…….Deer Park Lodge has their new beach cam up & running again & it’s in ‘real time’.  I say ‘new cam’ because the old beach cam was stolen last winter.  Always has to be jerks around doesn’t there!!  Try this DPL LINK & have a look at Deer Park’s beautiful sandy beach.  If the link doesn’t work just click on the Deer Park Lodge link & look for the web cam icon at the left just under the header photo.  And at the time of this writing…..yes we know the horizon is tilted.  Just waiting for staff to slip down to the beach & straighten the camera.  Much easier to straighten the small camera than it is to try straightening the earth’s horizon eh.  And if you click on the cam & everything is black……it’s just night time here:))

THE AUSABLE RIVER EMPTIES INTO LAKE HURON HERE AT GRAND BEND ONTARIO

 

NICE HOMES ACROSS THE RIVER FROM THE WEB CAM LIGHTHOUSE

A few pit stops, a few photos, a few old memories of days gone by spent in the Grand Bend area & we were once again slowly headed for home. Another fine couple of hours reminiscing in a picturesque landscape with my best Pal Pheebs & my favorite tunes on Sirius Satellite radio. (The Spa) And driving one of my most favorite vehicles too.  My Jeep Wrangler & I have a lot in common.  We’re both kinda simple with no frills:))

One of the many, many, things I like about our country drives are the different things I come across each time we go out.  Always something interestingly different to be seen if one is looking.  And even is one isn’t looking.  It’s a natural benefit of carrying a camera.  My conscious mind may be tied up thinking about things but my subconscious mind is always on the lookout for something to take a photo of.  Shapes, shadows, & light patterns catch my eye.  Colors jump out at me while compositions form quickly.  Anything unusual is always reason to pull over, stop, & back up if need be.  Lots of U-turns to check things out.  I optically see the majority of my world as a beautiful place & I suppose that is why I enjoy my photography hobby so much.  Every day there is something new to be found.  And with each photo, another challenge to get it as close to right as I can.  I consider myself very fortunate to have such a great hobby & it has enabled me to see a part of the world I may very well have otherwise never seen. 

Came across this very interesting gang of roadside critters this morning.  And they were literally right alongside a country road in a long fenced-in enclosure.  Coming up on it I could see many goats, sheep, & one black cow.  I’m guessing there were 50 or more goats & sheep.  As I slowed to a stop for a better look see & I could hear the barking of dogs amidst the flock but I could not see any dogs.  Could these be barking sheep?  Wasn’t until I exited the Jeep & walked up to the low fence line that I figured it out.  All of the goats & sheep were walking away from me while 3 broke from the rest & walked towards me.  Could these be sheep with doggy suits on or doggies with sheep suits on.  Well it was neither.  These 3 guys were just downright sheep looking dogs.  Handsome fellows & friendly too as I talked to them & petted them over the fence.  Just wanted to go in there & give them all a big smooch.  They told me they were there as a security detail to watch over the flock.  The big black cow too.  There was a house directly across the road surrounded by a tall hedge & I assume that’s where the flocks Shepherd lived.  I didn’t let Pheebs out of the Jeep because I didn’t want to cause a ruckus & frighten the sheep.  I just love our Jeep tours:)) 

 

 

 

---

A tip about the Goldfinch feeder. The feeder you see in recent photos is new….and so is the Niger seed in it. And that is the tip. Our old Finch feeder was identical to the new one but was about 5 years old. Many times over the years rain had got into the seeds & made things mouldy. I hosed out the feeders & hung them up again. I read recently where feeders should be cleaned every couple weeks with a mild solution of watered down bleach so I think over the years the plastic may have taken on a mustiness. Also, the seed I put in the feeder a month ago was seed left over from last summer. It had sat in our shed all winter. When our feeder was hardly attracting any Finches over these past bunch of weeks I decided to throw out the old feeder, get a new one & fill it with fresh Niger seed. ‘Walla’, within 2 days the feeder was filled to overflowing with Finches again just like it used to be a couple years ago. Think I got the new feeder at Walmart or Canadian Tire.

PHEEBS LIKES TO RELAX IN HER RECLINER RIGHT BEHIND ME EACH NIGHT AS I WRITE MY BLOG POST

GROANER’S CORNER:((   The town fathers were looking for a way to increase attendance and participation at their regular meetings. One member suggested bringing in a hypnotist. The officials agreed, a famous hypnotist was hired, publicity distributed, and everyone was pleased.  A few weeks later the meeting hall was packed, and the town's people sat fascinated as the hypnotist withdrew a pocket watch. The hypnotist began chanting... "Watch the watch, watch the watch, watch the watch..."  The crowd became mesmerized as the watch swayed back and forth, light gleaming off its polished surface. Hundreds of pairs of eyes followed the swaying watch, until suddenly the hypnotist's fingers slipped and the watch fell to the floor...

“CRAP" said the hypnotist.  It took three weeks to clean up the town hall.

-------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.

IF IT WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN FOR DOING NOTHING

 

PHEEBS & I CAME ACROSS THIS LITTLE YELLOW FELLOW IN A PATCH OF PHLOX ON OUR WALK THIS AFTERNOON

If it wouldn't have been for doing nothing today I would not have accomplished a thing. Our thermometer struggled into the low 50's but that was Okay. The sun was out. Re-positioned & filled a couple bird feeders, whacked some weeds, re-stacked my fallen over wood pile, got me some complaining done, took a few photos, stuffed some peanut butter in my face, did the dishes, did a load of laundry & watched CORNER GAS at 2:30. Kelly stuck pretty close to her book for most of the day.  Well, I guess it wasn’t exactly a nothing day after all now when I see what I wrote about it………………..:))

SAW THIS REFLECTION OF A RED BARN DOOR ON OUR SUNDAY TRAVELS
We both made it around the morning trail with a minimum of grunting & groaning after breakfast. Had us a little chat about future plans & agreed we had better wait a bit to see what kind of plans the future has in store for us before trying to second guess it. Planning ahead is always an enjoyable thought process for me fraught with challenging twists & turns, unknown outcomes, & subtle surprises. Wouldn't enjoy it any other way.

 

OUR AREAS MENNONITE/AMISH FARMS ARE ALWAYS SO NEAT & TRIM
Had myself a major accomplishment a couple days ago when I successfully & without screwing things up too bad, hung a mirror in the Winnie Wagon. No big deal for most people I know but if your me it's a big accomplishment. And I even managed to get it on the wall kinda straight too.

Don from Oklahoma over in our Shout Box mentioned the name Gordon Lightfoot.  That brought back a couple memories.  Sat at a table next to Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot in a little Halifax coffee house back in 1966. I was in the Navy at the time & another fella & myself were in downtown Halifax when we noticed a poster outside a local coffee house saying somebody by the name of Gordon Lightfoot was playing there.  His career was just in the process of revving up & he was performing there. I remember their table was pretty "lively!!" Saw him once more after that in concert at ‘The Center In the Square’ in Kitchener, Ontario. I think it was sometime in the eighties.

THESE ARE VERY BUSY DAYS AT OUR NEW FINCH FEEDER & I’M THINKING WE NEED AN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER HERE >>>

Alice Rudy’s comment on one of Sunday night’s photos also brought back some memories for me.  I too went to a one room school for a time back in the 50’s.  Wrote a post last summer about the time we lived in a trailer on a farm in a little place called Oxdrift Ontario.  Here is my ‘one room school house’ excerpt from that post……'The country school just outside of Oxdrift, was located down a long gravely country road with grades one to eight all bunched together in just one room. It was quite a change for me, to say the least.  The little one room schoolhouse with it's wood stove at the back was located maybe a couple miles from Granny Stewart's farm & my memory of how I went to school & came home every day is sketchy. But I do remember walking home from school one day with other kids. I do recall going to school another morning on the back of a Shetland Pony. The Fotheringhams General Store owners had a Son my age & he had a Shetland Pony. Granny Stewart's farm was located between Fotheringhams' s General Store & the school right on the Trans Canada highway. Can't remember my classmate's name now but I do remember him letting me sit behind him on the Pony as we made our way to school one morning. Second fading memory I still have took place in the winter. Not sure if it was a horse drawn sleigh or a tractor drawn wagon that came along the road picking up farm kids along the way but I do remember being all bundled up climbing aboard the wagon & sitting with a bunch of other bundled up kids on our way to school. No school buses in that area then"’.  This excerpt came from my, WHEN I GET GROWED UP I WANT TO DRIVE A BIG YELLOW BULLDOZER.

AN ORIOLE AT OUR FEEDER TODAY

Kelly is off to the Goderich Medical Clinic in the morning for another round of blood tests.  She had not too bad a night & a better day today.

SUNSET OVER LAKE HURON

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The policeman had the bar under surveillance a few minutes before closing time, so he could see who comes out drunk.  The first one out the door at 2:00 o'clock weaved down the sidewalk, then fell on the curb. Sluggishly got up, then tried his keys in five cars before finding his own car.  Once inside his car, he fumbled with his keys for 2 or 3 minutes.  Meanwhile, all the club patrons had gotten into their cars and driven away, leaving this one fellow quite alone in the parking lot.  Finally, he got his car started and began to very slowly drive away.  Immediately, the police car was behind him with lights flashing.  The policeman asked the man to take a breathalyser test, to which he readily agreed.  When the reading was 0.0%, the policeman said, "How can this be?"  To which the man replied, "Because tonight, I'm the designated decoy."

-------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.

PHEEBS & I HEAD OUT JEEPING AGAIN WHILE KELLY SPENDS A RESTFUL DAY RELAXING AT HOME WITH HER BOOKS

A COUNTRY SCHOOL YARD IN MENNONITE/AMISH COUNTRY

For the second morning in a row Kelly didn't have enough energy to make it around the morning trail. She did put in a few hours at DEER PARK LODGE Friday & Saturday but they were quiet hours spent in the office.  She does keep the Deer Park phone here at home & still handles the incoming calls & reservations most days.   Today she had herself a restful Sunday with one of her favorite hobbies, reading.

Pheebs & I also indulged in one of our favorite hobbies as well today & by 8:20 this morning we loaded the cameras in the Jeep & headed out the driveway on another destinationless mission. Navigator & tail gunner Pheebs manning her front passenger seat & comfy rear raised platform doggy bed.  Me in the pilot’s seat.  She likes riding in the back of the Jeep looking out the window. Not much of an idea where we were going again but as usual we gravitated to the North-East. First a quick stop at McDonalds in Goderich for some eats of course.
  

OK DAD, LET’S GET THIS JEEP TOUR ON THE ROAD

HMMMM, WAS JUSTIN BIEBER BACK IN GODERICH AGAIN TODAY?

Upon leaving Goderich & despite the heavy overcast skies & sprinklings of rain we ambled slowly along enjoying the rural countryside. Noticed a bunch of buggy tracks along a gravel road & figured they were made by Mennonite/Amish folks on their way to Sunday morning church somewhere. Except I knew of no church in the area. While following the buggy tracks I topped a rise in the road & spotted another old Pioneer cemetery to my left. An old rusted iron gate hung on it's hinges. Figured Pheebs might be needing a pit stop so we pulled off to the side of the road & parked. Two barking farm dogs came rolling out of a nearby farm lane with tails a wagging & Pheebs got to make a couple new Pals.

WHILE TAKING THIS PHOTO I BECAME AWARE OF AN UNFAMILIAR BUT YET FAMILIAR SOUND IN THE DISTANCE

 

AFTER SAYING GOODBYE TO HER COUNTRY PALS PHEEBER HEADS FOR THE JEEP

<<< AND A FELLER HAD BETTER WATCH WHERE HE IS DRIVING OR HE CAN EASILY GET MESSED UP WITH SOME HORSE BUNS ON THE ROAD

While photographing an old stand alone tombstone I became aware of a strange sound in the near distance. Not a sound of nature nor a farm machine. The sound ebbed & flowed & was somehow familiar yet seemed out of place here in the countryside. Peering across a field I could make out a large stand of trees with what appeared to be some kind of a building within. Trying to make some sense out of what I was seeing I was finally able to make some sense out of what I was hearing. It was singing. And it was singing by many voices. A choir of voices. How nice to stand there in the old forgotten cemetery for a few minutes listening to a choir of voices uplifted in unison. Had I stumbled upon the destination of the buggy tracks I had been following?
BUGGY TRACKS TURN INTO A LONG DRIVEWAY LEADING TO A STAND OF TREES

Pheebs & I were back in the Jeep & with a farewell to her country Pals we drove up the road a couple hundred yards & sure enough the buggy tracks all turned into a laneway leading to the group of trees I had seen from the cemetery. But this was a farm lane & not a parking lot beside an old church so I did not pursue the tracks. I had hoped to come across a small church along the road with buggies & horses quietly parked outside. Wasn't able to get the horse & buggy photo I had hoped for but did manage a photo in part of one of two buildings in the trees. Large newer looking building with a couple chimneys in the center of the roof.

AND IN THOSE TREES STOOD THIS BUILDING WITH A CHOIR OF SINGING VOICES INSIDE

I always enjoy finding new things on our travels but I sure didn't expect to find a lake waiting for us today just around the corner down another country road.  As many the times I have criss-crossed these rural roads I still come across areas I have somehow missed in my previous travels. Turning down an unfamiliar road about mid morning I soon came across a sign saying Lake Wawanosh. What!! a lake out here?? Followed a dirt road for a short distance & sure enough there it was..... a lake. Not a real big lake but a lake nonetheless. What a great opportunity for Pheebs to get out again & race around sniffing up some new territory. Could see a partially hidden fly fisherman in the distance casting out into the lake. Within minutes we were set upon by rainy skies so it was back into the Jeep for us. Made a mental note to return to this spot on a nice warm sunny summer day. And it should be a very picturesque place for some colorful Autumn photos in another 4 months or so.  That is if I can remember how to get myself back there again.

LAKE WAWANOSH….& I NEVER EVEN KNEW IT WAS HERE UNTIL TODAY

 

THE WHITE PANT LEG OF A FLY FISHERMAN CAN BE SEEN IN THE LEFT PHOTO
We had been wandering the relaxing country roads for about 4 hours & were nearly back home again when I remembered the piece of paper in my shirt pocket. Knowing what was on that piece of paper I made a quick U-turn & headed my way back in the direction of Goderich. It was a grocery list. (Two door Jeep Wranglers are great for making quick U-turns you know) Half an hour later with a small box of groceries we were once more on our way home & that was basically it for the day. Couldn't help but think again this morning how fortunate we are not to live in a big city. We can just drive out of our Park right into the countryside. Now how nice is that eh:))  And tomorrow, a few more photos of today’s journey through Mennonite/Amish country………………………….
 

A MENNONITE/AMISH SCHOOL HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY WITH TEETER-TOTTERS & SWINGS (TOP PHOTO)
GROANER'S CORNER:(( 

One bright, beautiful Sunday morning, everyone in tiny Smithville wakes up early and goes to their local church. Before the service starts, the townspeople sit in their pews and talk about their lives, their families, etc.

Suddenly, at the altar, Satan appears!! Everyone starts screaming and running for the front entrance, trampling each other in their determined efforts to get away from Evil Incarnate.

Soon, everyone is evacuated from the church except for one man, who sit calmly in his pew, seemingly oblivious to the fact that God's ultimate enemy is in his presence. This confuses Satan a bit.

Satan walks up to the man and says, "Hey, don't you know who I am?"

The man says, "Yep, sure do."

Satan says, "Well, aren't you afraid of me?"

The man says, "Nope, sure ain't."

Satan, perturbed, says, "And why aren't you afraid of me?"

"Well, I've been married to your sister for 25 years."

-------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.

OR SHOULD THAT BE SATURDAY……….

ALWAYS NICE TO SEE COLORFUL AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES IN OUR FRONT YARD

I think for most of the day I thought it was Sunday. I wonder why some days just feel different than other days & what would be the criteria for that. Today just felt like a Sunday. I don't know if I know what a Sunday really even feels like but if I did, today would have been one of those Sunday feeling days. Had to work on getting my feelings mode switched over to Saturday. I wonder what a Saturday feels like..........  
  

“HEY OVER THERE, YOU LOOK LIKE ME”

After nearly a week I was glad to finally see a couple Baltimore Orioles on the new feeder I had hung in a tree outside the sunroom window. Batteries from 3 of my 4 cameras were being charged in the kitchen at the time & my 4th camera was even farther away so no colorful orange & black Oriole photos today. A few years ago we had a couple male Orioles having quite a squabble in our driveway & I did manage to get a few hurried & blurry photos of that of that little spat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

<<< BOTH THESE YOUNG FELLOWS FLEW AWAY UNSCATHED AFTER THEIR BRIEF ENCOUNTER IN OUR DRIVEWAY 
I've noticed lately the older one gets the more thinking one does about the older one gets. Never seemed to have much time or interest in thinking about that years ago but somehow it now seems to be taking some large chunks out of my thinking time. Aging for many of us is not something we can deny forever. Everyone at some point reaches the honest realization that a either a rapid or subtle change is going in within themselves. I find it a slow somewhat confusing change as I struggle with it’s lack of awareness at times mixed with it’s subtle confusion at other times. Where is old anyway? Is it a number? Is it a condition? Or is it a state of mind. Technically I am 68 years old but know parts of me are much younger while other parts of course feel older. And when I am talking parts I am talking both mentally & physically. Somebody 20 years younger than me would consider me to be old & yet somebody 20 years older than me would consider me to be a youngster. Where does the line blur?  Who & what do I consider myself to be, & does it really matter how old I am anyway? See what I mean by the confusement of aging. Can you tell I'm having a slow Sunday. Or should that be Saturday????

HEY, YOU LOOKIN AT ME KID

And some of you may have seen this before but for those of you who haven’t………..enjoy. (speakers on)  BIRDS OF PARADISE

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A teacher at a kindergarten school is doing a science lesson and asks all the children to perform an experiment of their own choosing. After the children have been busy for a few minutes, she gets to the desk of little Johnny. Johnny has a Spider on his desk and she asks what he was doing.

"Well Miss, the spider's name is Herbert and watch this." Johnny then bends down to the Spider and whispers "Run, Herbert, Run" and the spider, as if by magic, moves across the desk. The teacher is a little mystified. Johnny then gets a hold of the Spider and removes one leg. The teacher is taken aback but lets the experiment continue. Johnny again whispers "Run, Herbert, Run" and the Spider, as if by magic, moves across the desk. Johnny then gets a hold of the Spider and removes another 2 legs and repeats the experiment. "Run, Herbert, Run" and the Spider does continue to move across the desk, a bit in a somewhat limp fashion. By this time the teacher is getting a little concerned.

The experiment continues in the same vein until Herbert, the Spider, has one leg left (the teacher at this point is totally mortified). Johnny then bends down to the Spider and again removes the last leg so that Herbert is now just a blob and again he whispers "Run, Herbert, Run" but Herbert doesn't move. He repeats the command again but a little bit louder. After several attempts, Johnny is now shouting at the spider "Run, Herbert, Run" but still no movement. Johnny then looks at the teacher and she asks "Well, Johnny, an interesting experiment, but what are you trying to prove with it?" Johnny replies, "Well, Miss, the experiment proves Spiders with no legs are deaf".  (we all knew that, right)

-------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.