A NICE SPRING DAY AND A COUPLE RV RELATED PARAGRAPHS TO BOOT

NOW THIS IS HOW I LIKE TO SEE SPRING LOOKING IN OUR FRONT YARD:))

With our temps dropping down into the 30’s most nights it’s still too cold at 8 in the morning for me to get outside and putter about.  The only 2 warmer environments are in the house or in the warmed up Jeep.  We again selected the 2nd option knowing by the time we get home again in a couple hours temps will be coming up into the comfortable puttering about range.  Well that’s always my theory anyway.

A FEW LEFT OVER PHOTOS FROM SATURDAY MORNING

NOTICED A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT FISHING ALONG THE MAITLAND RIVER

AND NO THEY WERE NOT FISHING FOR POLLYWOGS

SPOTTED THESE LITTLE FELLERS IN A ROADSIDE POND

HAD TO USE MY UNDERWATER CAMERA AND SNORKEL FOR THIS SHOT:)) >>>

How nice to have our second sunny blue sky day in a row.  A real bonus in this cold cloudy and damp Spring weather this year.  Grabbed ourselves a freshly brewed coffee and a still warm Morning Glory muffin just out of the oven at Bayfield’s Charles Street Market & Cafe.   From there we headed first south of town then east for awhile.  Being Sunday morning all roads were quiet and I don’t think we even saw another vehicle on any of the gravel roads we were on.  Again we didn’t go to far and just lolly-gagged along stopping a couple times to get out and enjoy the fresh country air.  Not a cloud in the sky and many of the farmer’s fields are already so green.  Ground is still too wet for them to get on the land yet.  We were back home by 10.

WE ARE PARKED ON GRASS ALONGSIDE THE ROAD BUT I SUSPECT THAT PLANTED VERY GREEN FIELD TO THE RIGHT MAY BE WINTER WHEAT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

A LONG DISTANCE AWAY I SPOTTED THIS HORSE AND RIDER WITH THEIR DOG

JUST AN OLD ORANGE TRUCK THAT HAS SEEN BETTER DAYS

FROM A DISTANCE I NOTICED THIS GOOSE ATOP A HIGH PILE OF STRAW BALES AND IT WASN’T UNTIL I EDITED THE PHOTO LATER THAT I SAW THE REASON PAPA GOOSE WAS UP THERE…..LOOK TO THE RIGHT AND COULD MAMA GOOSE POSSIBLY BE SITTING ON A NEST ON TOP OF THOSE BALES??

I HAVE THIS THING FOR OLD BARNS AND BARNYARDS

With all our muffinating this past month I figured I’d better haul the shop-vac out and de-crumb the Jeep’s interior while there’s still enough room for Pheebs and I to fit inside.  While at it I cleaned all the windows and shined up the dash etc.  Bruce popped over and finished up a few last little things with the eaves trough and rain barrel and that now raps up that whole deck extension project.  And a big thanks to Bruce of course for all the great work he did and always has done for us:))

WE ARE GRADUALLY GETTING OUR NEW DECK EXTENSION CONFIGURED

I busied myself in the yard with half a dozen little projects here and there.  I like this time of year when things are beginning to poke up through the ground and it’s always a pleasant surprise to see things coming up that I had already forgot I had planted last year.  With the winter’s freezing temperatures behind us and summer’s heat and miserable humidity not here yet it’s a great time to be outside.  Lots of singing birds in the tree tops and no buzzing about bugs yet.  In these northern latitudes it’s always so nice to watch the grays and browns of a seemingly dead land coming back to life and it’s the colors of Spring that really make it all believably real.  We are very fortunate to live in a climate zone with 4 distinct Seasons.  Absolutely totally super.  Well for as long as we can escape the winter’s that is.

FIRST FROG IN OUR FRONT YARD FROG POND THIS YEAR

AND HERE’S ONE OF THE SURPRISE FLOWERS I MUST HAVE PLANTED LAST FALL AND TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT >>>

Nice surprise this afternoon when one of my old Tavistock buddies dropped by.  Gary Burton and his wife Avril out for a Sunday drive stopped by to say Hello.  Gary and I as teenagers had a friendly rivalry going on when his Dad owned a Chev and my Stepdad owned a Ford.  Of course we both thought our Dad’s had the best cars so we always had a Chev/Ford rivalry going on.  Imagine my surprise when I saw Gary driving a Ford today.  I think he and I came to our senses many years ago when we realized it doesn’t really matter if a car is a Ford, Chevy, or a Chrysler product, they are all basically the same with each company having their good and sometimes not so good models and years.  I figure we both came to that realistic realization when we gained us a little maturity along the way:))

HEY WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE DRAG MARKS ACROSS OUR FRONT YARD??

As mentioned in several previous posts I like the on-line magazine Desert USA because as often as not they have articles on Southwest places we have been and their latest edition has a story about the wild west mining and ghost town of Crown King, Arizona in the Bradshaw Mountains.  I have great memories of the day we caravanned through the mountains in our Jeep Wranglers with 3 other couples who were good friends of ours.  You can read my post for that day here at A Long But Enjoyable Jeep Trip To Crown King, Arizona.  And a shout-out and big special thanks to Jim and Bev now residing in Idaho for organizing this rough and tumble Jeep ride that day which was one of our best ever. 

  

WELL, THOSE DRAG MARKS ACROSS THE GRASS WERE CAUSED BY ME HUFFING AND PUFFING WHILE DRAGGING THIS HEAVY 8’ TALL BLACK WROUGHT IRON ARBOR ALL THE WAY ROUND FROM OUR BACK YARD TO OUR FRONT YARD THIS AFTERNOON

I AM ANXIOUS TO SEE WHAT POPS UP OUT OF THIS NEW FLOWER BED I PUT IN LATE LAST SUMMER

We have been a lot of great places in our past 10 years of RV travels and every once in awhile something pops up to remind me of the great RV Snow Bird life we have lived.  I have a tendency to sometimes forget about those earlier years in the Southwest when everything was so new and exciting to us.  Every little thing seemed like a huge adventure.  And of course for us it was and sometimes still is.  Maybe I should go through our Archives for the past 10 years and pull out a few of our greatest memories.

OK OK MAYBE I HAD BETTER STAY AWAY FROM THOSE ARCHIVES!!  (APRIL 18TH 2011)

I have a lot of RV folks on my sidebar and most of them have travelled to many places but there is one couple in particular who I’ve noticed really get out there non stop constantly searching out new places wherever they go.  They are full-timers of course and we’ve had the pleasure of meeting them two winters ago.  In fact when they were in our Congress Arizona area I was pleased to be able to lead them out one morning into the desert to locate the sometimes hard to find Wickenburg Massacre Site.  Of course I’m talking the folks from Oh, the Places They Go of course.  If your looking for a couple true adventurers not afraid to go places and skin their knees and get their shoes dusty you will find Pam and John’s adventures worth following.  Like I said Kelly and I have been to a lot of places but these folks have been to way more places than we have.  And their still going to more and more places.  Grab onto their coat tails and tag along, they are really nice folks:))

THERE IS ACTUALLY A BUMBLY BEE IN THIS PHOTO

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Two elderly couples were enjoying friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other, "Fred, how was the memory clinic you went to last month?"  "Outstanding," Fred replied. "They taught us all the latest psychological techniques-visualization, association-it made a huge difference for me."  "That's great! What was the name of the clinic?"  Fred went blank He thought and thought, but couldn't remember.  Then a smile broke across his face and he asked, "What do you call that flower with the long stem and thorns?"  "You mean a rose?"  "Yes, that's it!" He turned to his wife. . ."Rose, what was the name of that clinic?"

---------------------

I tried to get Fish and Chips insurance, but the agent said their policy doesn't cover Snacks of Cod.

A ONE LINER FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIMER

A BIG FRIENDLY WAVE THIS MORNING

If I write any more than this one simple line I will be repeating myself for the umpteenth time so with that thought in mind I will dispense with the grind and keep everyone’s Saturday night in mind:))

IN THE FIRST PHOTO I HADN’T NOTICED THE SECOND HORSE

I BET IT’S THE DRIVER OF THE CAR ASKING FOR DIRECTIONS RATHER THAN THE OTHER WAY AROUND

NO IDEA WHAT THIS IS EXCEPT TO SAY IT IS PROBABLY PULLED BY HORSES

MAKING SOME FAST TRACKS FOR HOME

AIR WAS COLD ENOUGH TO HAVE A GOOD FIRE ON EARLIER TODAY

HILL COUNTRY

IT WAS A GOOD DAY FOR DRYING LAUNDRY IN RURAL SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

A SERIES OF 4 PHOTOS AS PHEEBS AND I DROVE ON BY UNNOTICED

OUT AND ABOUT SPREADING WINTER’S BARN MANURE ON A SUNNY SATURDAY MORNING

GROANER’S CORNER:((

Q: Did you hear about the Amish Flu?
A: There are only two symptoms. First you get a little hoarse, then you get a little buggy.
Q: Why don't the Amish water ski?
A: Because the horses would drown.
Q: How can you tell if someone Amish is an alcoholic?
A: They keep falling off the wagon.
Q: Why don't Amish women wear sleeveless dresses?
A: They refuse to bare arms.

Q: Why did the Amish woman divorce her husband?
A: He was driving her buggy.

------------------------------

Amish Pick Up Lines:
- Why don't you come by around 8, bring a fresh bottle of buttermilk, and we'll sit silently amongst my large family.
- When we're not together I churn for you.
- That modestly drab brown dress really brings out your eyes.

- Do you come to this barn often?

- This quilting bee is turning into a quilting zzzzz. Wanna take a ride in my buggy, instead? 

A FOUR AND A HALF HOUR COFFEE BLOW-OUT TODAY BUT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO HAD A COFFEE

ONE OF ONLY 2 PHOTO I TOOK TODAY WAS OF THESE TWO BUZZARDS SITTING ON A BARN ROOF AND IT ABOUT SUMS UP OUR DAY……COLD, GRAY, AND DREADFULLY  DRAB

Met for coffee this afternoon with 1 of my 2 best friends.  Long time readers will remember me writing about our 4 and 5 hour coffee blow-outs over the years and today on our first one of 2017 we hung out in Clinton’s Tim Horton coffee shop for nearly 5 hours.  Never occurred to me until later that I was the only one who had a coffee though.  I’m talking about my good friend Jim Hagarty from Stratford Ontario of course and you can find Jim at Lifetime Sentences.  Jim has been in the Journalism field for as long as I have known him which dates back to late 1979.  Also an accomplished singer songwriter Jim for the second year in a row shared the stage recently in Stratford with Canada’s very own well known composer, songwriter, and touring folksinger Valdy.

<<< BRUCE MADE THE WOODEN STAND AND I LEVELLED UP A CEMENT PAD UNDERNEATH IT THIS MORNING….BRUCE WILL BE BACK TO CONFIGURE THE DOWNSPOUT SHORTLY

Pheebs and I slipped up to Home Hardware in Goderich this morning to pick us up a new rain barrel which will sit alongside our deck extension to catch rain water from our roof which an eaves trough prevents from splashing down onto our deck.  We prefer watering our outside summer plants with rain water as opposed to our chlorinated tap water.  The plants prefer it too.

 

GROANER’S CORNER:(( At the cocktail party, one woman said to another, "Aren't you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger?"  The other replied "Yes, I am, I married the wrong man."

----------------------

There was an Irishman, a Mexican, and a blond guy who worked construction together. They were working on top of a building one day, and it was lunch time. The Irish man opens his lunch pail and he sees he has cabbage and beef, and he says, 'If I get one more beef and cabbage for lunch I'm gonna jump off of this building!'
Then the Mexican opens his lunch pail and he gets a burrito, he says, 'if I get one more burrito for lunch I'm gonna jump off this building!'
The blond man opens his lunch pail and gets a bologna sandwich. He says, 'if I get one more bologna sandwich I'm gonna jump off of this building too!'  The next day the Irish man opens his lunch pail and finds cabbage and beef so he jumps off the building to his death.  Then the Mexican opens his lunch pail and finds a burrito so he jumps off the building to his death as well.  Then the blond guy opens his lunch pail and finds a bologna sandwich, so he in turn jumps to his death.  A couple days later at their funeral the Irish man's wife said, 'If I only knew he was sick of cabbage and beef I would have packed him something else.'  Then the Mexican's wife said, ''If I only knew he didn't like burritos, I would have packed something else.''  Finally, the blond man's wife said, 'I don't know what my husband’s problem was! He packed his own lunch!''

ANOTHER DOCTOR APPOINMENT OUT OF THE WAY

A fast moving storm rolled in across Lake Huron and heavy rains were upon us by 9 a.m. but not before Pheebs and I were able to get out and catch us it’s approach from the cliff top at Bayfield’s Pioneer Park.  Despite lightning and thunder overhead I was unable to catch me a lightning bolt photo before the rains hit.

A RAIN STORM BARRELING IN ON BAYFIELD

Saw a Bayfield fishing boat not far off shore and figured it was heading in but noticed no bow wave so they weren’t in a hurry.  In fact they made a turn to port and headed out straight into the path of the storm.  Moments later they disappeared in a wall of water as Pheebs and I made a mad dash for the Jeep.

Buckets of rain were soon upon us as we made our way down to the harbor before heading home.  Half an hour later the fast moving inbound storm had passed and we were left with lighter skies and a moderately gentle rain.  Temperatures hung around the 45F mark for the day……but the heavy rains hadn’t finished with us yet.

HEADING DOWN TO BAYFIELD’S HARBOR

Ticked off another Doctor’s appointment this afternoon and the results of that were again on the good side with the Doctor telling me I do not have to have another colonoscopy for 5 years.  As it’s turning out I seem to be in much better shape than I thought I was.  Two more medical appointments coming up next week, one for Kelly and one more for me regarding my legs.  After my Doctor’s appointment this afternoon we popped into A&W for a Teen Burger special then headed home in a rain squall.  At the time of publishing this tonight we are under a weather advisory with a heavy rainfall predicted overnight.

With this U.S., Syria, Korea, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia mess escalating I’ve eased back into watching TV news a bit trying to keep abreast of what’s going on and as soon as I determine the world has not been plunged into the throes of World War 3 just yet I snap the news off again.  What a hell of a mess we supposedly intelligent human beings are all in at the moment……..again!!!!

HARBOR LIGHTS ON A RAINY MORNING

GROANER’S CORNER:(( And lo, in the year 2017, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States, and said:
"Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me."
"Build another Ark and save two of every living thing along with a few good humans."
He gave Noah the blueprints, saying, "You have 6 months to build the ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights."
Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard, but there was no ark.
"Noah! I'm about to start the rain! Where is the ark?"
"Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed."
"I needed a building permit."
"I've been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system."
"My neighbors claim that I've violated the neighborhood zoning laws by building the ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had to go to the Development Appeal Board for a decision."
"Then the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the ark's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it."
"Getting the wood was another problem. There's a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the spotted owl."
"I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls, but no go!"
"When I started gathering the animals, an animal rights group sued me. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodations were too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space."
"Then the EPA ruled that I couldn't build the ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood."
"I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I'm supposed to hire for my building crew."
"Immigration and Naturalization are checking the green-card status of most of the people who want to work."
"The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with ark-building experience.
"To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species."
"So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark."
Suddenly, the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky.
Noah looked up in wonder and asked, "You mean you're not going to destroy the world?"
"No," said the Lord. "The government beat me to it."

A GENTLEMAN ROOSTER STRUTS HIS STUFF

SAW THIS GENTLEMAN ROOSTER TODAY STRUTTING HIS STUFF WITH A COUPLE OF HIS LADIES

I was surprised not waking up to a rainy morning but nearby rains did leave us with a heavy overcast.  Undaunted, Pheebs and I did head out anyway to see if we could find a few photos and as it turns out all we got was two chickens and a Rooster in a farmers front yard. 

VERY RARE TO SEE FREE RANGING CHICKENS NOWADAYS AND THERE WERE ONLY 3 OF THEM

THE LADIES WERE ENJOYING THEIR OUTING

Our Jeep ride wasn’t a long one but we did manage a stop at the Hullett Marsh where it was my ears and not my eyes that brightened up my day.  With no leaves on our trees yet things were looking pretty gray in the Marsh but from the drab grayness came many sweet sounds.  Although I couldn’t really see the birds I could surely hear them and their tweeting and twittering was most uplifting.  They didn’t seem to care if the sun wasn’t shining, they all sounded happy and how nice to simply stand and quietly listen to the forest’s chorus.  Never even took my cameras out of the Jeep, I just stood and listened.

 

GETTING READY TO CROW……..AND CROWING

A mixture of afternoon sun and cloud had me in and out of the house.  No big projects today just puttering about in the flower beds.  It was nice to end the day with a slightly subdued smattering of sunshine.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A man lost two buttons from his shirt and put them in his pants pocket. But the pocket had a hole, so the buttons fell into his shoe. Unfortunately, the shoe sole also had a hole, so he lost the buttons. As pockets with holes, holes without buttons, and shoe soles with holes are useless, the man ripped the buttonholes out of his shirt and the pockets from his pants and tossed them in the trash along with the soles of his shoes.  A police officer who was observing the man asked him for some identification. The man gave the officer a document that showed he was an ordained minister of the gospel. When the officer began to escort him to a mental institution, the minister protested violently, asking why he was receiving such unjust treatment.“Look, we both know it’s the best place for you now,” the officer replied. “Anyone claiming to be a preacher who doesn’t save souls or wear holy clothes has probably lost his buttons.”

-------------------------------

- Does the Michelin Man get dressed in evening a tire?

- “A podiatrist adds insoles to injury.”

- 'The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that it's difficult to determine whether or not they are genuine.'-- Abraham Lincoln