A BONUS SATURDAY FOR AL….NEW BOOTS, NEW SOCKS, NEW CAMERA LENS, & SOME NEW SCENERY

PHOTO TAKEN WITH NEW LENS THIS AFTERNOON

Ever since my Nikkor VR 70-300mm lens began chattering & vibrating a few weeks ago & especially since I found out it could cost me in the neighborhood of $250 to have Nikon look at it & a turn around time of approximately 8 weeks I have had camera lenses on my mind.  Another thing on my mind for a long time has been my having to carry 2 weighty DSLR cameras with attached lenses slung round my shoulders for years if I wanted the 18mm wide angle to 300mm range covered.  The Nikkor VR 70-300 lens although my favorite is a heavy brute but I never minded & just slugged it along with me wherever I went anyway.  I have always liked the steadiness a heavier lens can offer.  Figured it might be a good time to solve the 2 camera dilemma by finding a lens that would cover the full mm range I wanted.  Off to the internet I went & did a bunch of reading on different lenses & manufacturers.  I knew right away Nikons Nikkor lens covering that focal range was going to be way out of my price range & it was.  Back in the old 35mm film days I had a couple Pentax cameras with Tamron lenses & I really liked those.  Hadn’t paid much attention to Sigma lenses over the years because I always thought them not the best but in my research I kept coming across good reviews on the SIGMA 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM lens.  Of course wanting a ‘close-up’ lens for years the word Macro caught my attention right away so I read on a little further. (macro meaning very close up)  So to make a long story short Pheebs & I hopped in the Jeep this morning & headed for HENRY'S CAMERA STORE in London Ontario.

COUPLE TRACTORS WORKING UP A DUSTY FIELD JUST WEST OF HENSALL ONTARIO 

It was a nice morning for a drive & I was happy to have somewhere to go.  MARK'S WORK WEARHOUSE (those are my hikers on the right if you go to the site) just happened to have a 50% off sale on HI-Tec Hiker boots for a couple days as well & I knew there was a Marks just a block from Henry’s Camera Store.  Henry’s had the lens I was looking for & it was on sale for a savings of $60.  I liked the feel of the lens right off because it had some weight to it.  Didn’t have to chat it up with the sales clerk because I had already read up on the lens so picked up an additional 62mm protective lens filter & away I went with the next stop being Mark’s Work Warehouse.  Found the high top hiker boots on sale & threw myself a package of socks in on the deal.  Socks were on sale too.  Back out in the parking lot I hauled my new Sigma lens out of the box & strapped it on my Nikon D90.  Cracked off 2 pictures & headed out of town to try the lens from a moving vehicle on some barns.

 

MY 2 VERY FIRST PHOTOS TAKEN WITH NEW LENS…..18mm WIDE ANGLE ON LEFT & 250mm TELEPHOTO ON RIGHT

Heading North-west out of London Pheebs & I even managed to find us some new country roads that I had never been on before.  Another Saturday morning bonus as we plodded along taking pics & stopping for a couple leg stretches.  Just a totally beautiful morning again & the following photos were taken from the driver’s seat while rolling through the countryside.  I especially like the first photo with the farm kids on the front lawn with their dog & Mom coming over in the background.  Thought the Sigma lens did a great job of capturing this 50mph photo fired through my side window going by.  (ISO 800 at F11 at 27mm & 1/500th of a second shutter speed) 

YEP IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

I THINK SOMEBODY MAY BE GETTING SOME TRACTOR DRIVING INSTRUCTIONS HERE

Routed ourselves over towards & through Grand Bend because I knew there was a Subway there & us guys was feeling the need for a 6” Ham sub.  A few more country roads & we were finally back home in Bayfield somewhere around 1 o’clock.  It wasn’t long before Pheebs & I with my D90 camera & new lens were out the door & around the trail taking a few photos here & there along the way to see how the lens performed.  How nice carrying only one camera instead of two & how nice to be carrying a lot less weight.  It’s no wonder I am round shouldered:((  And only one camera strap to deal with now as opposed to two.  Liked the results I got from the lens & could quickly see where I had made a few mistakes here & there with it.  Got to back off a bit on moving subjects like bees etc & not try to photo them too close up in Macro mode.

PHOTO ABOVE & BELOW ARE A TOUCH OUT OF FOCUS BUT WITH A LITTLE PRACTICE MAYBE NEXT TIME I CAN GET IT RIGHT

Overall it is the convenience of this lens I like best.  Maybe not the superb quality of a Nikkor lens equivalent but it’s plenty good enough for what I do which is simply taking photos for my blog.  Not being a professional photographer & not trying to make a living, market, or sell any of my photos I do not have to spend a thousand dollars on a lens.  And would you believe I don’t even have one single photo of my own hanging on a wall anywhere.   Now with the new lens on my D90 I have switched cameras around once more.  My D40 has once again gone into retirement while my D3100 takes it’s place on my tripod for some upcoming night photography if I can just get off my can & get myself out the door at night.  I occasionally see some nice night sky shots on the GODERICH SUNSET & LAKE HURON SKIES sites by local fellow photo enthusiasts so am hoping to have a crack at that.  I gotta just quit talking about it & get out there & do it………….10-4:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A stockbroker received notice from the IRS that he was being audited. He showed up at the appointed time and place with all his financial records, then sat for what seemed like hours as the accountant pored over them.  Finally the IRS agent looked up and commented, "You must have been a tremendous fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle."  "Why would you say that?" replied the broker.  "Because you've made more brilliant deductions on your last three returns than Sherlock Holmes made in his entire career."

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The school of agriculture's dean of admissions was interviewing a prospective student, "Why have you chosen this career?" he asked.  "I dream of making a million dollars in farming, like my father," the student replied.  "Your father made a million dollars in farming?" echoed the dean much impressed.  "No," replied the applicant. "But he always dreamed of it."

READ A BIT LOOK A BIT

MET THIS LITTLE FELLOW EARLIER TODAY

Almost without any gas guzzling thoughts this morning I loaded the furry little Giggle Buns into the Jeep & away we went.  Regardless of being on some of the same roads for the umpteenth time again it was just good to be out in the fresh country air.  Headed over to the Hullett-Marsh but there were so many duck hunter vehicles milling about the only thing Pheebs I would have got out of a walk there was a possible load of buckshot in the rear.  I am sure glad I do not have any interest whatsoever in any kind of hunting stuff unless it's with a camera & to the powers that be I say, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for those good ‘no hunting’ genes I am fortunate enough to possess!! 

THIS GOLDEN FIELD OF CORN WILL SOON BE HARVESTED

  

JUST ANOTHER RELAXING DAY IN RURAL SOUTH-WESTERN ONTARIO FARM COUNTRY

We skirted the Marsh, cleared the area & leisurely headed off on a slow-poke gravel run.  Bean fields are being harvested at the moment so there's various large pieces of rather large farm machinery plying the back roads & one has to be vigilant.  Don't want a big monstrous combine scooping us up & spitting us out.  Still not a lot of Fall colors in the trees yet compared to last year at this time.

 

THIS BIG JOHN DEERE COMBINE IS TOWING IT’S BEAN HARVESTING HEAD BEHIND IT

 

SO TYPICAL OF OUR RURAL COUNTRYSIDE & IS IT ANY WONDER I PREFER TO SPEND SO MUCH OF MY TIME HERE

Turned out to be kind of a lazy low energy afternoon with my mind feeling about as relaxed as our gorgeous Autumn day.  Calm with nothing moving. 

 

ANOTHER BEAN HARVEST UNDERWAY

SEE THE GUY LEANING OUT OF THE ORANGE TRACTOR…..I THINK HE’S HOLLERING AT THE FELLOW IN THE GREEN COMBINE SAYING, “COME ON BILL STEP ON IT WE GOTTA GET THIS FIELD DONE BY SUNDOWN EH”

LOTSA BIG TIRES OUT HERE IN THE FARMING COMMUNITY 

A DRAINAGE COMPANY WORKS ON IRRIGATING A LARGE FIELD….NOTE THE LARGE ROLLS OF BLACK PLASTIC IRRIGATION PIPE

WHERE CORN FIELD MEETS BEAN FIELD

NICE TO SEE A SLIGHT SPLASH OF AUTUMN GOLD

As much as I am not a 'foody' person it sure is great to be eating good meals again now that Kelly is home.  I sometimes think I could live quite well on peanut butter & honey sandwiches, Cheerios, & toast but after some of the fine meals Kelly has cooked up this past week since returning from Spencerport NY I may have to re-arrange my foody thoughts & priorities.

THREE INUKSHUKS IN THE MAITLAND RIVER AS SEEN FROM BALL’S BRIDGE LOOKING SOUTH

WITH EARS JUST A FLAPPIN IN THE WIND

Took our wheelbarrow around the yard & began gathering up a few yard ornaments today.  Not as many out this year as we usually have so it wasn't a task requiring a lot of my time.  Knowing at this time of year weather can be unpredictable I like to have some of these yard things done while day’s are warm & sunny.

Been walking the pine forest trail every morning again getting my legs back in shape.  How fortunate we are here at our 5 Seasons Park to have such a great forested walking area which actually goes for miles & miles.  Although we've never done it we could walk right into Bayfield along the Bayfield River if we ever took it upon ourselves to do that sometime.  And Pheebs & I had ourselves another walk this afternoon:))

Did you know I sometimes write extra paragraphs just to fit my many photos in.  Yep it's true.  I've never liked stacking my photos up in a long line so I often sit at my keyboard trying to think up little blurbs to put in between the pictures.  I find if I see a bunch of photos one right after the other I have a tendency to kind of fast forward through them.  But that's just me.  My style is to 'read a bit, look a bit, read a bit, look a bit.  Can you tell I did that with tonight's post.  Here's a clue.......short paragraphs:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Senators William B. Spong of Virginia and Hiram Fong of Hawaii sponsored a bill recommending the mass ringing of church bells to welcome the arrival in Hong Kong of the U.S. Table Tennis Team after its tour of China.  The bill failed to pass, cheating the Senate out of passing the Spong-Fong Hong Kong Ping Pong Ding Dong Bell Bill.

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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.

LIBBY GETS A NEW TIRE & THE BIG EEE GETS A FROSTY WINDOW

A GREAT BLUE HERON LIFTS OFF OUR PARK’S POND

Sure miss the easy way Windows 97, XP, & 7 let me put icons on my desktop.  I much prefer easy to access desktop icons to the ‘Favorites’ feature but Windows 10 has seen fit to make that a big long drawn out procedure now which I’ve never had the patience to figure out.  Overall, we still like Windows 10 though & so far so good.  Hardly seems much different than Win 7 although it does have new features which I’ve taken little interest in so far.  Haven’t felt a need to have Cortana talking to me.  And apps schmapps who needs em anyways.

CAN YOU SEE A LITTLE PUPPY DOG FACE HERE??

Our wonderful Autumn weather continues to weave it’s mystique & today was just another one of those magical days.  Hard to explain but it is a time of year like no other filling some folks like myself with many pleasant reflective moods & memories.  These truly are natures wondrous days.  Actually our weather right now reminds me a lot of winter in the South-west.  Cool air & warm sun.  As I do in Arizona I am now switching into a warm T-shirt & long sleeve flannel shirt about 4 in the afternoon.  And that is my same attire in the morning until about 10 a.m.  Between 10 & 4 it is short sleeve shirt weather.  Very much like the South-west depending on area & altitude of course.

IT’S QUITE A MOSH OF SOUTH-WEST COLORS WE HAVE GOING ON HERE

We spent some more time in the Motorhome this afternoon just getting a feel for our slightly modified floor plan.  Kelly also tackled the job of cutting out & putting a frosted glass laminate type of covering on our rig’s door window.  It had been a clear see through pane of glass.  It comes off easy if we don’t like it.  There is a blind that comes down over the window but I’ve never liked it.  Going in & out it always knocks my hat off.

HEY I CONTRIBUTED MY EXPERTISE BY AT LEAST CARRYING OUT & SETTING UP THE STEP LADDER

 

HARD TO MAKE OUT THE FROSTED GLASS LOOK ON THE DOOR BUT IT’S THERE

 

THE DOOR WINDOWS FROSTED GLASS EFFECT IS MORE CLEARLY EVIDENT HERE

With darkness upon us much earlier each night now I thought I’d try for a Moon shot from our driveway Wednesday night.  Problem is all the pine trees overhead & with both the Earth & the Moon on the move I only managed one decent shot before the Moon was once again shrouded by numerous pine needles & there’s no point in moving the tripod & camera to another spot because it’s just pine trees everywhere here around our house.

Amazingly enough I actually remembered I had to have our Jeep Liberty into Clinton’s HURON TIRE & AUTO this afternoon at 2 for a rear tire replacement.  Number 2 bay was open & the new tire was sitting there all ready to go.  They were at it right away & the job was done in no time flat.  The tire coming off Libby was better than the spare on the back so that was taken care of as well.  My total time in & out the door was about 20 minutes.  Now how mighty darn nice is that eh:)) 

NEW TIRE WAS SITTING THERE WAITING FOR ME

We sanitized our fresh water tank in the rig this morning & again it was one of those operations that required 2 of us.  One to read the instruction book & the other to physically turn the right knobs & leavers in sequence.  For Full-Timers who routinely do this it is no problem to remember the procedure but Snow Birds only doing this maybe twice a year it can be aggravating trying to remember how you did it last time.  Contributing to that aggravation is the age factor of course & it’s ravages on short & long term memories.  Silly me thought he remembered how to do it so last week while Kelly was in Spencerport I thought I’d give it a try.  Well you know what thought did, right.  Needless to say my effort was a bust so this morning knowing Kelly was in the house I tried it again.  Well I wasn’t even close to getting things right so of course I had to enlist Kelly’s help & between the two of us with Kelly reading the manual & me turning the neighborhood air blue again we finally figured it out.  We’ve had 4 different RV’s in the space of 3 years & each RV has had a different way of doing things so that compounded our overall confusion as well.  Ok, Ok, MY confusion.  I remember going through this same procedure once before with the Big EEE & thinking to myself, ‘well that was pretty easy & I’m sure we’ll remember how to do it next time.  We didn’t!!

Pheebs & I just might have to take that new P235/65R17 Goodyear Wrangler S-RA tire for a spin in the morning.  Well that is if I feel like it.   For some reason I’ve noticed I’m not quite as eager to get out into the countryside these past few days or so & I’m thinking it might have something to do with knowing we’ll soon be leaving on a much longer journey.  Not sure how those two thoughts are connected but I have noticed a slight shift in my morning enthusiasm as of late.  In reality I’m probably beginning to tire a wee bit of travelling the same old country roads so often week after week.  Yes I could travel further afield but I feel a little guilty all the time about the gas I burn up & Jeep Liberty’s are not known for their superb gas mileage.  Always something huh…………………………….

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Sandy began a job as an elementary school counsellor and she was eager to help. One day during recess she noticed a girl standing by herself on one side of a playing field while the rest of the kids enjoyed a game of soccer at the other.  Not being too familiar with sports Sandy approached and asked if she was all right. The girl said she was.  A little while later, however, Sandy noticed the girl was in the same spot, still by herself.  Approaching again, Sandy offered, "Would you like me to be your friend?"  The girl hesitated, then said, "Okay," looking at the woman suspiciously. Feeling she was making progress, Sandy then asked, "Why are you standing here all alone?"  "Because," the little girl said with great exasperation, "I'm the goalie!"