Wednesday, October 07, 2015

STILL HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO GET MY TRAVEL MOJO WORKING:((

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LOOKING NORTH ALONG THE LAKE HURON SHORELINE

Had it not been for washing & cleaning up the Jeep this morning I would have been hard pressed for something constructive to do today.  Still have not been able to get my traveling head on so haven't been doing anything regarding travel preparations.  Pheebs & I did take a short drive up to Goderich & went for a walk in the dog park area at the south end of the beach.  I’ll just leave you with a few photos again tonight…………………  Oh by the way if you want to see some totally fabulous hot air balloon photos from the Albuquerque Balloonfest in New Mexico going on right now do not miss Merikay & Craig’s blog as they are right in the middle of it & have actually had to rush in & help deflate several balloons that have come down around them & other Escapeee RV’ers.  Great photos guys:))  Here are 3 links for their past few days.  SUNDAY --- TUESDAY --- WEDNESDAY  Ya really gotta see these folks…………..:))

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SPOTTED THIS C-130 HERCULES DOING LOW LEVEL CIRCUITS OVERTOP GODERICH LATE THIS MORNING

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THIS OCEAN GOING FREIGHTER LEFT PORT LATER THIS AFTERNOON

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LOOKING SOUTH ALONG OUR LAKE HURON SHORELINE

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NICE TO SEE GOLDEN POPLAR LEAVES AGAIN

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I HAVE ALWAYS LIKED SUMACS & ESPECIALLY IN THE FALL

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THINK I’LL CALL THIS PIRATES COVE

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THESE LAST 3 PHOTOS ARE BAYFIELD

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GROANER’S CORNER:(( My wife and I were browsing in a crafts store when I noticed a display of country-style musical instruments. After looking over the flutes, dulcimers and recorders, I picked up a shiny, one-stringed instrument I took to be a mouth harp. I put it to my lips and, much to the amusement of other shoppers, twanged a few notes on it.
After watching from a distance, my wife came up and whispered in my ear, "I hate to tell you this, honey, but you're trying to play a cheese slicer."

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My sister bought her daughter a really nice Spinet Piano for her birthday.  A few weeks later, I asked my sister how her daughter was doing.  "Oh," she said, "I persuaded her to switch to a clarinet."  "How come?" I asked.  "Well," my sister answered, "because with a clarinet, she can't sing...."

Tuesday, October 06, 2015

BROUGHT MY GREAT BLUE HERON PRINT HOME TODAY & A COFFEE BLOW-OUT IN CLINTON WITH AN OLD FRIEND FROM STRATFORD

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First encouraged by a clear starry night’s sky then discouraged first thing this morning by another heavy overcast the mood for the day was yet again set.  No matter, Pheebs & I were off on a mission with a destination.  Took the slow road to Grand Bend & looked us up a place called BAILLIES.  It was here I picked up the 11x17 matted print of my Great Blue Heron photo from the weekends PHOTO TREKKERS photo contest in Bayfield.  Kelly had suggested getting it framed but I was in one of my Scrooge moods again this morning & brought it home as is.  The enlarged photo looks fine from a short distance but up close the sharpness & detail are lost & sharpness & detail are one of the main things judges are looking for in photos.

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AREA CROP STORAGE FACILITIES ARE VERY BUSY PLACES THIS TIME OF YEAR

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FOUND A FEW MORE PICS FOR MY OLD BARNS & SHEDS ALBUM

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Still under cloudy skies we plodded our way along half a dozen back roads taking a few more barn photos along the way.  Noticed some farmers have begun harvesting corn & all’s that is left in some fields is stubble.  A few more dabbles of Autumn color in the trees but the big change hasn’t really started in these parts yet.  Usually by now forests are ablaze with Autumns fiery magic.

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A COMBINE HAS ALREADY MADE ONE PASS DOWN THIS CORNFIELD

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THAT LONG BLACK HORIZONTAL THING ON THE FRONT OF THIS COMBINE IS CALLED A ‘HEAD’ & THIS ONE IS FOR HARVESTING BEANS SO ACTUALLY IT COULD BE CALLED A ‘BEAN HEAD’

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BECAUSE THE ‘HEAD’ IS TOO WIDE FOR COUNTRY ROADS THE COMBINE CAN DRIVE UP TO THIS LONG TRAILER & DETACH THE WHOLE HEAD ONTO THIS TRAILER THEN TURN AROUND & HITCH UP THE TRAILER & TOW IT DOWN THE ROAD TO THE NEXT FIELD TO BE HARVESTED

Been just over a year since I last had a coffee with my good friend Jim from Stratford Ontario.  Our last coffee blow-out was at Tim Horton’s in Seaforth & that session turned out be a 5 hour ass flattening marathon as we sat the entire time on Horton’s hard plastic seats.  Jim Face-booked me Monday night suggesting we get together for a coffee but cautioned about the length of our endurance.  At these older ages Tooshes are not as durable as they once were.  We agreed to meet in Clinton this afternoon at 2 p.m.  I thought about taking an an alarm clock but nixed the idea when I couldn’t figure out how to set it anyway.

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WITH TODAY’S PHOTOS MY 'OLD BARNS' ALBUM IS AGAIN UP TO DATE & APPROACHING 1000 BARNS & SHEDS

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SNOOZIN:))

Always good seeing Jim & we have been best friends for about 35 years now.  Managed to shorten up our 5 hours to 3 this time but we were still both pretty stiff getting up from the table & slowly hobbling our way out of the building.  We’re a couple aging guys a long ways away from the younger zany days like when we once went out to a car dealership in St. Marys Ontario & each bought ourselves brand new matching red Pontiac Fieros.   Mine had a sunroof & Jim’s didn’t.  But Jim’s car had a better looking driver.  Think that was back in about 1985.  Ya they were crazy times back then.  And here’s the crazy part…….we had both been sober for a substantial number of years by then:))

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I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THESE 2 JOHN DEER TRACTORS DRIVING SIDE BY SIDE WERE HARVESTING WITH THE EQUIPMENT THEY WERE TOWING IN UNISON

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LOOKS LIKE WORKERS  WAY OUT THERE HARVESTING CABBAGES & NOTICE HOW THERE ARE NO AUTUMN COLORS IN THAT FOREST LINE YET

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Talked to Aunt Jean in Sarasota last week & she’s still doing pretty good but days are becoming a bit difficult for her.  Energy levels are down & with some breathing problems now she is finding it more difficult to do many of the things she was once used to doing.  Not easy for an independent person like my Aunt Jean.  She still likes to get out golfing with friends every Tuesday but is finding by the 9th hole she has had about enough.  She’s also had some trying times with the Condo she bought a couple months ago but slowly issues are getting resolved.  Had to put a whole new air conditioning unit in but luckily her insurance company is footing the bill for much of it.  Aunt Jean is a true fighter & she’s determined not to let her age get her down………………….

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YEP, THERE’S AN OLD BARN IN THERE SOMEWHERE……A SHED TOO

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A musical director was having a lot of trouble with one drummer. He talked and talked and talked with the drummer, but his performance simply didn't improve.  Finally, before the whole orchestra, he said, "When a musician just can't handle his instrument and doesn't improve when given help, they take away the instrument, and give him two sticks, and make him a drummer."  A voice was heard from the percussion section: "And if he can't handle even that, they take away one of his sticks and make him a conductor."

Monday, October 05, 2015

CLEANING SOLAR PANELS, MOTORCYCLE INTO STORAGE & WE EVEN MANAGED A SUNSET

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ANY IDEA WHAT THIS MIGHT BE??  CLUE…….IT’S AS HARD AS ROCK

For our rainy overcast morning it was just me, my recliner & the TV.  For our sunny warmer afternoon it was outside with me to get a few things done.  Trimmed some Basswood tree branches back from the house, cleaned up our frog pond & took the pump out for the winter, positioned my motorcycle for storage & crawled myself up onto the Motorhome roof to clean 4 solar panels.  I put a wholloping 204 miles on the bike this summer & that is the lowest ever since buying the Honda in 07.  At least last summer was 274 miles.  Wow I set a blistering pace there eh but what a great way to keep the miles down & parts from wearing out on a 13 year old bike.  Only 27, 719 miles on my 2002 Honda Shadow Aero 1100. 

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YEP, I’M PLAYING ON THE MOTORHOME ROOF AGAIN

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CLEANED OUR LIVING ROOM SKYLIGHT TOO

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YES WE DO LIVE IN A FOREST ENVIRONMENT ALRIGHT

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SO NICE TO SEE THAT SUNSHINE BEAMING INTO OUR BACKYARD TODAY

Our good neighbor Monica who lives just across the road from us here in the Park has a daughter living in Calgary who is a blog reader & on a recent visit with her husband to see Monica brought along a beautiful heart shaped hand painted rock she had done for us.  Monica gave us that rock today.  Thank you very much Gwen & we have it right here in our sunroom.  If we weren’t selling our Arizona house we would have taken it with us this year because the rock’s South-west colors would have fit right in with our colorful decor.  We will be bring some of our favorite southwest pieces home with us in the Spring & your rock will fit right in with them as we maybe re-do our sunroom in a Mexican oriented southwest theme:))

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With sunsets happening earlier each evening now Pheebs & I can easily slip on over to the lake which is only about a mile from us & snap a few pics of the sun going down.  Tonight was one of those nights.

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BAYFIELD’S SOUTH PIER

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GROANER’S CORNER:(( A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money.  The old guy fingered his expensive wool vest and said, "Well, son, it was 1932. The depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel."  "I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents."  "The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at 5:00 pm for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I'd accumulated a fortune of $9.80."  "Then my wife's father died and left us two million dollars."