GOT A START ON THE YARD CLEAN-UP, HEMMINGWAY, PLUS PHEEBS & I HEAD FOR THE BEACH

LAKE HURON SHORELINE

Despite patches of crunchy snow along the shaded forest path we did make it all way round our walking trail this morning.  It is but the first of many walks we will do along this wooded path over the next 6 months.  We could tell Pheebs is just sooooo happy to be home as she’s constantly on the run sniffing this & chasing that.  She seems to know she doesn’t have to worry about getting cactus stickers in her paws.

NORTH OF GRAND BEND LOOKING SOUTH ALONG LAKE HURON’S FROZEN SHORELINE

SAME SPOT LOOKING NORTH…AND TO THINK KIDS WILL BE SWIMMING HERE NEXT MONTH

Weather forecast is for rain beginning tonight & lasting until the end of the week.  That’s going to be a long time stuck inside so with today’s sunshine & warming temperatures I figured Pheebs & I had better get out for a couple hours this afternoon & enjoy some scenery while we could.  Our travels took us southeast over to the town of Exeter then west to Grand Bend on Lake Huron before swinging north for home again.

SAW THIS SMALL BIKE GROUP ON THE BEACH IN GRAND BEND

 

THOUGHT THEY WERE JUST BIKE ENTHUSIASTS UNTIL I GOT CLOSER & SAW THE BACKS OF THEIR JACKETS

 READING CLOSER I’M NOT SURE JUST WHAT THESE ‘CHICKS’ WERE…ENTHUSIASTS OR A BIKER GANG

Our warmer day melted enough snow around the yard by late afternoon that I was able to begin raking up leaves, pine needles, & small branches.  I know it isn’t everybody’s cup of tea but Spring clean-up is Spring tonic for me.  Just love getting outside & getting at it.  Have always enjoyed taking something that is a mess & making it look nice again.

I’m still having a little problem with my blog photos not looking just quite right yet.  Kevin from Travel with Kevin and Ruth mentioned a fix in Blogger/Googles settings which I did & I’m convinced it helped my problems with errant colors & densities.  Had to uncheck a box that was allowing Blogger/Google to enhance photo colors.  Just bugs me when these companies meddle in things they have no business meddling in.  Now if I can just figure out why my photos are appearing in my blog on the grainy side as if someone threw a hand full of sand on them.  Most of my photos are clear & crisp when I place them in my blog post but when my blog publishes & I look at the photos they are no longer sharp.  It seems this is something that just started a few months ago as well. Any ideas??

Had myself a chuckle when Craig from Merikay's Dream sent an email directing me to read an Ernest Hemingway quote in a blog called, In Pursuit Of Idle Pleasures.  Craig said, You have some things in common with Ernest Hemingway.  Here is Hemmingway’s saying: “When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself”. ~Ernest Hemingway.  Well I guess I sure do have something in common with Mr. Hemingway alright………………. 

GROANER’S CORNER:(( There was a gentleman in the hospital bed next to me. He was covered with bandages from head to toe. I said to him, "What do you do for a living?"
He said, "I'm a former window washer."  I asked, "When did you give it up?"
He replied, "Halfway down."

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William Tell was not only a great patriot and a great archer, he was also a great cook.  One day, after he had prepared a new dish for his friends, he said, "I think there is one or more spices missing. What do you think?"  Their answer was, "Only thyme, Will Tell!"

A LEISURELY SNOWFALL TODAY KEPT US GROUNDED & OUR BLUE JAYS ARE BACK:))

SO NICE TO SEE THE COLORFUL BLUE JAYS BACK AGAIN:))

With snow on the ground & more falling from the sky this morning it was disappointingly obvious I would not be outside doing very much of anything today.  If this was early November not only would it be disappointing but very discouraging as well but seeings how it is early April & judging from the 10-day weather forecast predicting daytime highs no lower than 40F & night time lows no lower that 33F it looks like this could very well be the last snow fall of the season.  Now that in itself is extremely if not delightfully encouraging I'd say. 

Kelly spent a big part of her day in the kitchen cooking things & making the house smell nice.  I spent part of my day in my recliner absorbing those smells & wondering what on earth she could be cooking to make things smell so nice.  I later got to eat some of those smells & finally figured it out:))

HMMMM, LOOKS LIKE A PEANUT TO ME

NAWWWW COULDN’T BE

WAIT A MINUTE YES IT IS A PEANUT… YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY:))

I did keep track of how much we spent on gas coming home from Congress Az this year & that number came out at $798 for 2,510 miles traveled.  Much cheaper than other year but of course those are American prices & that number will be higher once the exchange rate on the money is figured in.  Still, thanks to lower gas prices overall we did good. No I do not track the numbers of how many miles/kilometers to the gallon we get or the price of gas at each station or the number of gallons/liters taken onboard at each stop.  Mathematics is not my strong point nor is my interest in keeping track of those numbers.

 

YA KNOW RALPHY I DON’T LIKE YOUR ATTITUDE THIS MORNING

AND FURTHERMORE LOOK AT ME WHEN I’M TALKING TO YOU

JEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZ!!!!

YA SURE WALK OVER TO THE CORNER & POUT NOW WILL YA!!

Been quite a few years since I have had my lined winter pants on but I’ve been wearing them for the past couple days now.  It’s not that the temperatures are bitterly cold it’s just that the cold here is agonizingly damp & it is that damp cold that plays hell with arthritis sufferers.  Lined winter pants are much better at keeping my troublesome legs warm as opposed to cold denim material found in blue jeans.  Every little bit helps. 

NOT SURE WHAT KIND OF THIS BIRD IS………….(UPDATE) JUDY & SHEILA AGREE IT’S A DARK-EYED JUNCO

Remembering back it was one year ago today we began our 2014 trip back to Bayfield Ontario from Congress Arizona.  We had our 26’ Class C 2012 Winnebago at the time & we we made our way up through North-eastern Arizona through South-eastern Utah & across southern Colorado.  Here is my post from one year ago today.  A FAR AWAY LOOK AT THE BETATAKIN RUINS & SOME SNOW IN THE AIR.  (Our leisurely snowfall today finally ended by late afternoon & most all of what fell has already melted)

THIS MORNING’S FRONT YARD

I SPILLED A BUNCH OF BIRDSEED ON TOP OF A SNOWY STUMP EARLIER TODAY SO DECIDED TO LET THIS LITTLE FELLOW CLEAN IT UP FOR ME 

GROANER’S CORNER:(( I was nervous the night my husband and I brought our three young sons to an upscale restaurant for the first time. My husband ordered a bottle Of wine with the meal. When the waitress brought it, our children became quiet as she began the ritual uncorking.  She poured a small amount for me to taste, and then our six-year-old piped up, "Mom usually drinks a lot more than that!"

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I used to think it was a silly affectation to drink different wines from different style glasses, but I have finally become a convert.  I now definitely prefer drinking hearty, macho reds from my Spiderman glass and lighter, fruity whites from my Sponge Bob glass.

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The secret to enjoying a good wine is:
1 - Open the bottle to allow it to breathe.
2 - When it does not breathe, give it mouth-to-mouth.

NICE COUNTRY DRIVE BUT A NAIL BITING FEW MINUTES FOR PHEEBS & I THIS MORNING

THESE RURAL FIELDS ARE INDICATIVE OF OUR SPRING LANDSCAPE AT THE MOMENT

Kelly took our Pontiac Sunfire & headed off to Goderich first thing to check out an early indoor Farmer’s Market plus a few other stops.  We had a cloudy overcast & the ground was still frozen so there wasn’t much I could do outside.  Not wanting to sit around Pheebs & I piled into the Jeep & took us for a Saturday morning drive.

GRAVEL ROADS WERE STILL UNTHAWED FROM THE NIGHT’S FREEZE SO NO MUD

WILDLIFE PONDS IN THE HULLETT MARSH ARE STILL FROZEN OVER EXCEPT FOR AROUND THE EDGES

First stop was in the small town of Clinton at Tim Horton’s for a coffee & carrot muffin to go.  We ambled out into the countryside around the Hullet Marsh area hoping to see some deer but the only sign of wildlife we saw later was a great Blue Heron.  Gravel roads hadn’t thawed from the night’s colder temperatures so no mud.  We didn’t do one of our longer tours but we did hit a few favorite spots before returning home around 11. 

 

Clouds cleared before noon & I noticed some ground thawing wherever the sun was shining.`That was my Q to begin our big yard clean-up.  Nice to be out on a nice warming Saturday morning raking up winter’s debris of leaves, pine needles, & small branches.  Birds singing in the surrounding tree tops & despite remaining piles of snow in the yard & driveway all was good.  Nice to be home & even nicer to have something constructive to do while at home.

WAS ABLE TO RAKE OUT & CLEAN UP ONE END OF OUR DRIVEWAY

It took a few days for the birds to discover seeds on our bird station but the first visitor was a Mourning Dove.  Next day a pair of Cardinals showed up & I noticed right away how much smaller they seemed than the pair of Cardinals we had in our backyard in Congress Az.  And the male Cardinal here does not seem to have the crested head our Congress male had.  One thing I have noticed about Cardinals whether here or in Congress is that they are always the last one’s at the feeder each night.

 

FIRST BIRD ON OUR FEEDER STATION WAS THIS MOURNING DOVE…THE PEANUTS ARE FOR THE BLUE JAYS OF WHICH I HAVE NOT SEEN ANY YET

OUR SECOND VISITOR WAS THIS MALE CARDINAL

BIRDS OF A FEATHER SHARE TOGETHER

NICE TO SEE OUR JUNCO’S BEFORE THEY HEAD BACK UP NORTH SHORTLY

With record breaking cold temperatures in our area of Southwestern Ontario this past winter we sure did some worrying down in Congress about coming home to broken water pipes & damage.  But luck was on our side this year & everything was A-OK.  But not so for Dennis & Donna from Sandwich Illinois.  You can read what they came home to here…..Came Home To A Bit Of A Problem.

Did accidentally get myself & Pheebs into a rather precariously scary situation on our drive this morning.  There is a nice old steel bridge north of Clinton that we often drive over to have a look at the Maitland River.  It’s a narrow road on the east side & I noticed as I turned in off the highway snow hadn’t melted too much in the shadow of Cedar trees on both sides of the road.  No problem I figured & put the Jeep in 4 wheel drive & besides I could see by the tracks another vehicle had been down through ahead of me at some point.  The road angles down to the river at a steep angle & it wasn’t until I had started down the short hill that I saw I was already in trouble.  Snow had melted over the last few days & the water from that melted snow had froze overnight.  I was no longer in hard crusted snow but now on a pure downhill ice stretch.  The river ahead was flooded, moving fast, & well over it’s banks.  There was no way I could back up & if the Jeep began to slide downhill on the ice I knew Pheebs & I could be in trouble if we slid off especially the left side where I saw a gap at the end of the guard rail by the fast flowing river.   The Jeep slightly lurched twice but held it’s grip on the ice as we inched along.  Saw a dirt patch to the right near the bottom where the ice ended & figured if I could get a passenger side wheel on that dirt we’d be Okay.  Easing to the right we ever so slowly managed to roll a wheel onto that dry part of the road then move a few feet further to where the ice ended & we had a solid road under all 4 tires again.  Our front wheels were only about 10 feet from the bridge.  Whew, what a nail biter that was & I was sure glad to get across that bridge to the other side & continue on what had been up to that point a nice relaxing Saturday morning drive……………

 

AT THIS POINT i SURE WAS RELIEVED TO HAVE ALL 4 JEEP TIRES ON A SOLID GRAVEL ROAD FOOTING AGAIN

IN THE SUMMER TIME ONE CAN NORMALLY WALK ACROSS THIS SHALLOW SLOW MOVING RIVER BUT WITH SPRING FLOODS IT’S A TORRENT OF WATER

We did get ourselves a few nice hours of sunshine this afternoon but the air remained cold & temps hung around the freezing mark all day.  Weatherman says we may have a few snow flurries tonight.  Cold for the next few days but looking ahead at the 10 day forecast I do see some days with low 50’s about a week & a half from now.  Greatly looking forward to that of course:))

SOON THIS WILL ALL BE GREEN & LUSH AGAIN

GROANER’S CORNER:(( I was working out the other day when I spotted a very attractive young lady entering the gym. I asked the trainer, "What machine should I use to impress that gorgeous girl over there?"  The trainer looked me up and down and said, "For you, I'd recommend using the ATM in the lobby."

GETTING THE SALT OFF

  

GOT HALF THE BACK CLEAN

Guess about all I can say about today is that I spent much of my morning washing salt off our Motorhome.   Turned the outside water on, gathered together some hoses, hauled out my pressure washer & tall stepladder & got right at it.  Did the Jeep as well.  Because of the snow I was unable to get a good hosing going on underneath the rig where it matters most so will have to wait a few more days or so before getting after that salt clinging to the underside of the Big EEE.  Spent much of the afternoon in my recliner recovering from my morning's activities.  And that was about it for me today……………

USED THE GARDEN HOSE AS WELL

 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The driver of a car with an ice-covered windshield had several near-accidents before being stopped by a police car.  "Don't you think it would help if you cleaned the ice off the windshield?" the officer asked.  "I don't think so," was the reply. "I left my glasses at home."

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- 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.