DODGED A SEVERE STORM THIS AFTERNOON BUT ANOTHER ONE IS ON THE WAY AS I TYPE THIS

A LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON FAST MOVING STORM JUST MISSED US BUT A S I TYPE THIS A SECONDARY SEVERE STORM WORSE THAN THE FIRST ONE IS JUST STARTING ACROSS LAKE HURON TARGETING OUR WHOLE LAKE HURON SHORELINE

'Twas the day before Monday & all along our roads not a creature was stirring not even the toads'.  Well not quite as I had to brake hard for a couple Deer this morning which bolted up out of a ditch in front of me just west of Clinton.  Other than that Pheebs & I had a quiet drive through Huron County.  Figured most rural folks were probably in church which would explain why the country roads were free of vehicles.  Even large pieces of farm machinery were not moving today.

  

CARVED FROM AN OLD TREE STUMP

THIS LARGE COMBINE CAN’T DRIVE ALONG COUNTRY ROADS WITH THAT WIDE ‘HEAD’ ON THE FRONT SO IT GETS TAKEN OFF & PLACED ON A SPECIAL TRAILER & TOWED DOWN THE ROAD TO THE NEXT FIELD

Noticed a few subtle signs of Summer slipping by.  Golden Rod blooming with Burdock & purple Thistles soon to follow.  Cone flowers are blooming, Ferns have lost their lush Spring green & are slowly turning brown.  Some tree leaves are taking on a slightly harder edged look & cobs are growing on the field corn.  Sweet corn is already for sale on corn stands at the end of a few farm laneways.

GOLDENROD

GROWING CORN COBS ON THE CORN STALKS

Here's my theory on why I would not have made a good piano player or guitarist.  Been using my computers keyboard almost every day for about 9 years now & my fingers still hit the wrong keys in just typing a simple paragraph like this.  Had each of these typed letters been a key on a piano I sure would have made a mess of 'Chopsticks':(( 

DRIVING MISS DAISY

QUEEN ANNE’S LACE IS ABUNDANT ALONG RURAL ROADSIDES

BURDOCK OR ‘DAMN BURRS’ AS WE LIKE TO CALL EM!!!!

A reader noticed I spell some words the American way such as color instead of colour.  I think we were taught the latter way here in Canada & I'm not sure when I dropped the 'u'.  However written paper money is still ‘cheque’ to me.  I figure 'check' is something you do when you want to know how much oil is in your engine.

THIS WAS THE ONLY FELLOW I SAW WORKING THIS MORNING

And OMG it's August 2nd already.  In only 30 short days from now we'll be bearing down on the Labor Day week-end & how long can October be after that eh.  Am I hearing the early stirring of Snow Birds out there:))

‘ON GOLDEN FIELDS”

Severe storm warnings this afternoon & we could see a long sharp line of nasty weather moving rapidly down Lake Huron from the north-west.  It rumbled right through Goderich veering inland & missing Bayfield.  Skies became very dark so loaded up my furry little number 1 storm chaser & we headed out to grab a few photos.  It was funny because Pheebs brought her teddy bear along & kept Tedley right beside her in the front seat.  Photos below were taken between Bayfield & Clinton. 

THESE GUYS WERE LUCKY LATE THIS AFTERNOON WHEN THE RAIN LADEN STORM WENT THROUGH JUST A FEW MILES FURTHER NORTH

JUST SECONDS BEFORE TAKING THIS PHOTO PHEEBS WAS HOLDING TEDLEY IN HER MOUTH SO TEDLEY COULD SEE OUT THE WINDOW

GROANER’S CORNER:(( We used to play spin the bottle when I was a kid. A girl would spin the bottle and if it pointed to you when it stopped, the girl could either kiss you or give you a dime.  By the time I was 14 I owned my own home.

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A stage mother cornered the concert violinist in his dressing room and insisted he listen to a tape of her talented son playing the violin.  The man agreed to listen and the woman switched on the tape player.  "What music!" the violinist thought. It was a difficult piece, but played with such genius that it brought tears to his eyes.  He listened spellbound to the entire recording. "Madam," he whispered, "is that your son?"  "No," she replied. "That’s Itzhak Perlman. But my son sounds just like him."

BOOKS: I ALWAYS SEEM TO BECOME PART OF THE STORY

A pleasantly cooler 63F first thing this morning so that energized me to take care of some yard maintenance.  Always things to weed & trim this time of year & with the wettest June on record everything has really grown this summer.  Liking Sumac trees I planted half a dozen of them around our property years ago & being an underground traveling root system they keep popping up all over the place now.  Fortunately they are easy to control with our weed whacker or a snip of my clippers.  Washed the Jeep this morning as well.  Maybe Sunday Pheebs & will go out & get it dusty & dirty all over again.

A MOSH OF LEFT OVER PHOTOS TONIGHT

THIS IS WHAT A LAZY AFTERNOON AT OUR HOUSE LOOKS LIKE

SOMETIMES A LITTLE DOGGY NOSE GETS IN THE WAY OF MY PHOTOS

PRAIRIE GRAIN ELEVATORS ONTARIO STYLE…EAST OF SEAFORTH LOOKING TOWARDS MITCHELL & STRATFORD ONTARIO

Had an 'A-Ha' moment with our push lawn mower Friday.  When I had a hard time pushing it through our thick new sod grass I figured it needed sharpening.  Well yes a sharpening would no doubt help but my 'A-Ha' moment came when I realized the mowers cutting blades were too low to the ground & sure enough when I looked closely at the mower I saw 2 large wing nuts on each side of the wheels easily adjustable to raise the cutting blades.  Made the adjustment & 'walla' I was easily able to cut the grass without straining or gouging the sod.  Bonus:))

ANOTHER BARN FOR MY GROWING BARN COLLECTION…WEST OF AUBURN ONTARIO

THIS IS TOWER HILL WILL PHEEBS & I SOMETIMES SLIP OUT AFTER DARK TO SEE THE STARS…SOUTH OF HOLMESVILLE LOOKING NORTH-EAST

HURON COUNTIES ANSWER TO CALIFORNIA’S SLAB CITY…EAST OF BEN MILLER ONTARIO

I remember back years ago when in the heyday of my reading books would often become my best companions.  Didn't seem like there was anything better than getting oneself fully immersed in an interesting story anxiously hurrying from one page & chapter to the next always in great anticipation of what lay just beyond where you were reading.  Often times the further I traveled into a book the better the journey became.  Characters turned into friends, towns & cities became destinations while deserts, mountains, forests, & lakes became dreams.  Hours drained away, eyes strained, & what ever was bothering me in my real life world seemed far away as I turned & swirled dancing my excited way across & through the pages into the world of real imagination.  I became as one with the story.  I was there & I was seeing what those printed words were telling me.  I was connected to the source of those words & my mind's eye saw what was intended while my heart felt what was sometimes left unsaid.  Having always had a vivid imagination it was books which gave that imagination wings & allowed me to soar.  With the closing chapter & final words of each book I felt I had just been on a long wondrous journey with a best friend & closing the book was always akin to a somewhat sorrowed & reluctant goodbye.  Oh how sad it was one day when having to move I made the decision to give my collection of best friends, hopes, & dreams away.  Only solace left to me was in the thought that perhaps those fanciful friends, buddies, & chums who had taken me along on such rapturous journeys over the years could now go on to bring others that same enjoyment, lift their spirits, & allow their imaginations to soar just as mine had……………………

On my Kindle I am at present halfway through an interesting, educational, & factually enlightening book called The Murrow Boys which basically centers around famed CBS foreign war correspondent Edward R Murrow before, during, & after World War 2.

PEOPLE GATHERED ON BAYFIELD’S HARBOR PIERS AWAITING THE SUNSET

Ok so it's been well over 24 hours now using Windows 10 & are we still OK with it??  Short answer is yes.  Aside from a few cosmetic changes & a little different way of doing a few things it is still basically Windows 7.  Looks to me like they took Win 7 & simply improved on it calling the upgrades & improvements Window 10.  I’m sure there is much more to it but for me at this level I’m content where I am with a tinge of excitement to learning more as I go along. It  still comfortably feels for all intents & purposes like Win 7 though.  Should be a reasonably easy transition for Win 7 people as long as there are no glitches in the transition process.  Two thumbs up for Windows 10 so far with one exception & that seems to be between Windows 10, Picasa, & 2 of my Nikon cameras all of a sudden.  I can work around 2 separate problems in 2 separate cameras but it's just not as convenient anymore.  I'm hoping the problems will resolve themselves.  Oh & we have been having a few ‘copy & paste’ issues as well.  Has been some concern for folks like RV'ers on limited bandwidth about Win 10's automatic updates chewing up a lot of their precious Gigabytes, us included.  If you go to this fellows site he explains how to turn off the automatic updates feature in Windows 10 & it looks like you might want to do that.  LINK  Also probably a good idea to keep an eye on this guys helpful site as he keeps up with & explains things about technical issues regarding computers & techie stuff related to computers..

FOLKS GATHERING AT BAYFIELD’S PIONEER PARK FOR ANOTHER MARVELLOUS SUMMER SUNSET

 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The CIA loses track of one of its operatives, and so calls in one of their top spy hunters.  The CIA boss says, "All I can tell you is that his name is Murphy and that he's somewhere in Ireland. If you think you've located him, tell him the code words, 'The weather forecast calls for mist in the morning.' If it's really him, he'll answer, 'Yes, and for mist at noon as well.'"  So the spy hunter goes to Ireland and stops in a bar in one of the small towns. He says to the bartender, "Maybe you can help me. I'm looking for a guy named Murphy."  The bartender replies, "You're going to have to be more specific because, around here, there are lots of guys named Murphy. There's Murphy the Baker, who runs the pastry shop on the next block. There's Murphy the Banker, who's president of our local savings bank. There's Murphy the Blacksmith, who works at the stables. And, as a matter of fact, my name is Murphy, too."  Hearing this, the spy hunter figures he might as well try the code words on bartender, so he says, "The weather forecast calls for mist in the morning."  The bartender replies, "Oh, you're looking for Murphy the Spy. He lives right down the street there in the green house."

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The coach's wife yells to her husband, "It's Sports Illustrated on the phone."  The coach falls all over himself racing to the phone and says, "Hello?"
Then he hears, "For just $3.50 an issue you can........."

KELLY SUCCESSFULLY DOWNLOADS WINDOWS 10 TO OUR 3 COMPUTERS:))

OUR RURAL SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO COUNTRY LANDSCAPE…I COUNTED ABOUT 7 BARNS IN THIS ONE PHOTO ALONE

Had figured on waiting awhile before downloading Windows 10 but I guess our curiosity got the best of us & we have Win 10 running on all 3 of our computers now.  Being the sometimes impatient people we can be Kelly decided not to wait in line for Win 10 to come to us so she went hunting for it, spent a lot of time on learning how to jump the wait line & finally figured it out.  Thursday night Pheebs & I slipped out to grab us a few sunset photos & when I came home she had Win 10 in the process of downloading on both our laptops.  This morning she did the desktop so there ya go we are completely Windows 10erized now.  Ok so what are my first impressions……………..

THURSDAY NIGHT’S BLUE MOON…OK, OK, SO I USED PICASA’S ‘BLUE TINT’ CONTROL:))

Right off the top I’ll tell you I like what I have seen so far & it has a good feel to it.  Reason being is simply that Microsoft did not turn everything upside down in a confusing haphazard manner like they did with past operating systems notably Windows 8 which fortunately we totally missed.  Still has the feel of Windows 7 but with some changes & upgrades.  Slightly different way of closing pages for example.  Before, I was used to going from point A to point B on a certain routine path through the forest.  Points A & B are still there but it’s a slightly different path going from one to the other now.  No big deal & repetition will soon have me in the new groove.  Keep in mind you will probably have to re-do all your log-ins & passwords.  We did.  Disappointed I don’t have my easy to see desktop calendar anymore but I do like the new music volume slider bar better.  Also like how photos are finally displayed on black backgrounds instead of white.  Thank you for that one Microsoft.  Thankfully I’m still able to use my mouse for moving around.  I like that method as opposed to pecking at the screen like a crazed Woodpecker.  And thank you Microsoft for that one too.  There is a slight learning curve for those of us who have maybe not kept up with the new razzle dazzle techno gimmicks but even for me the learning curve is gentle & well thought out to minimize total chaos.  Of course you have to understand Kelly is a big help in easing cranky old me into all this too.  Am liking the music side of Win 10 as well so far.  There’s lots of new stuff to learn & get used to yet but like I said at the beginning I am liking most everything I am seeing & encountering so far. Just a matter of taking the time to click on this & that button to see where it will & won’t take you.  Bravo for ‘keeping it simple’ Microsoft:))

WHAT DID YOU NOTICE FIRST, THE PINK FLOWER OR THE GREEN FROG

Now having said all that about Microsoft’s Windows 10 I would be a little remiss if I told you we didn’t run into a few glitches (or as Ivan calls them, hiccups) along the way with the biggest glitch being impatient me when things didn’t seem to go just right fast enough.  Seems to be a small dispute between my Soma FM music player & Win 10 plus Picasa couldn’t get the photos out of my Nikon D90 using my standard photo download cord because Win 10 simply wouldn’t allow Picasa to do it that way.  Had to take photo SD card out of the D90 & go that route.  My cord, Win 10, & Picasa all worked fine together to download photos from my Nikon D40 & older Canon Powershot.  Win 10 scattered the desk top icons on my Toshiba laptop but I was easily able to get them all correctly re-arranged & Kelly is overjoyed that Win 10’s Edge Browser has her Acer computer running fast like new again.  I have to give all the credit to Kelly for setting us up with Windows 10 today & handling the minor glitches as they cropped up including me the major glitch.   And like I’ve said before if it was just me here I’d still be sitting on an old pop crate watching a small black & white TV with rabbit ears……………………….

Loading A Hay Wagon With A Tractor VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I recommend viewing the photos in the slideshow format.  Open the album then double click the first photo.  Screen appears with photo enlarged against a black background.  Move your mouse around a bit & look to the top left corner to where it says ‘Play slide show’.  Click on that & away you go:))

LOOKS LIKE THE WRIGHT BROTHERS MAY HAVE LANDED IN A CORN FIELD

NOPE JUST A FARMER OUT SPRAYING HIS CROP

Pheebs & I headed for Walmart about 9, picked up a few things & with our customary coffee & muffin to go headed out for a little gravel run a bit north east of Goderich.  Didn’t go too far & just puttered along slow enjoying Friday mornings warm breeze & sunny skies.  We were home before 11.

KIND OF A LAZY MORNING AROUND THE OLD SHEEP PEN TODAY

SOME COUNTRY ROADS ARE JUST A LITTLE COUNTRIER THAN OTHERS

Comment question from SUE asking, ‘Can you talk about how you get those beautiful black backgrounds on your close up flower photos? I love that’…………. Well Sue yes I can & thanks for the compliment.  First, I take many of those photos with my long 300mm telephoto lens & the key to getting that  dark background is looking closely at the area behind the flower you want to photograph.  Could be a couple feet behind or 50 feet behind.  Try to line your flower up with a dark area like a clump of shade or a tree stump.  If you can find a ‘back-lit’ flower with a dark shady background behind it your going to have yourself a nice photo.  I have my camera programmed to slightly under expose anyway so that combined with the camera’s meter reading the bright flower & compensating for that tends to really darken down the background as well as the flower itself bringing out more detail in the flower.  In my Picasa editing program I can make a final adjustment to the exposure if needed either lightning or darkening.  So in a nutshell Sue, wiggle yourself around to get your light flower lined up with a dark background:))

I HAVE A FEELING THESE CANADA GEESE PROBABLY BUILT THESE STONE INUKSHUKS

CANADA GOOSE REFLECTIONS

So far Live Writer & Win 10 have been working fine together as far as I know but we’ll see what happens when I hit the ‘Publish’ button.  Will my imbedded Live Writer album work??

THURSDAY NIGHT’S RURAL SUNSET…TOOK THIS PHOTO THEN TURNED AROUND & TOOK THE BLUE MOON PHOTO

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A farmer had been taken advantage of several times by the local car dealer. One day, the car dealer informed the farmer that he was coming over to purchase a cow.  The farmer priced his cow as follows:

Basic cow........................... 499.95

Shipping and handling................ 35.75

Extra stomach........................ 79.25

Two tone exterior.................... 142.10

Produce storage compartment.......... 126.50

Heavy duty straw chopper............. 189.60

Four spigot/high output drain system. 149.20

Automatic fly swatter................ 88.50

Genuine cowhide upholstery.......... 179.90

Deluxe dual horns.................... 59.25

Automatic fertilizer attachment..... 339.40

4 x 4 traction drive assembly....... 884.16

Pre-delivery wash and comb.......... 69.80

FARMER SUGGESTED LIST PRICE:....... 2843.36

Additional dealer adjustments:...... 300.00
TOTAL LIST PRICE (Including options): $3143.36