WITH A FEW SNOWFLAKES IN THE AIR IT WAS MY TURN TO DRIVE

DOWNIE WOODPECKER

With a light skiff of snow on the ground and a few errant flakes in the air it was my turn to drive as Richard and I headed off out into the countryside to see what we could see.  Coffees to go from Clinton’s Tim Horton coffee shop and we soon had the Jeeps tires on gravel.  Our wanderings took us up through and around the Blyth area this morning with some places being a little snowier than others.  Managed a few photos along the way including another barn quilt.

YOU CAN SEE SNOWFLAKES IN THE AIR AS WELL AS SOME ACCUMULATED SNOW ON THE GROUND AND ON THE SHEEP

With a touch of snow on the ground Pheebs and I hit the Pine Tree trail for an afternoon walk.  Nothing frozen yet so it was nice hearing my feet scuffling through Autumns spent leaves.  With most of our Spring and Summer birds having flown the coop nature’s forest was quiet.  A few Squirrels rustling about gathering up some last minute snacks before they bed down for their long winter’s hibernation. 

 

Here’s a paragraph from my post on this day back in 2009 when we were ranch sitting 32 miles southwest of Tombstone Arizona.  “Had to take some blankets out for the chickens because the wind had nearly clean blew all their feathers off.  The donkeys were hangin on to the fence posts & the two ranch dogs were in the house watching television.  Charlie the cat was reported eastbound at an altitude of about 300 feet somewhere over El Paso Texas”.  Below is one of the photos I took that day.

Sitting here in our warm cozy sunroom tonight with a light snowfall outside our window softly alighting on our colored Christmas lights I couldn’t help but project ahead and wonder where we will be a month from tonight.  Wherever it is I don’t think it will be as comfy cozy as it is here where I sit amidst twinkling lights, a gentle snowfall, and a warm fire.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  There are currently 78 people named S. Claus living in the U.S. And one Kriss Kringle. 
- December is the most popular month for nose jobs.
- Weight of Santa's sleigh loaded with one Beanie Baby for every kid on earth: 333,333 tons.  Number of reindeer required to pull a 333,333-ton sleigh: 214,206 -- plus Rudolph.
- Average wage of a mall Santa: $11 an hour.   With real beard: $20.
- To deliver his gifts in one night, Santa would have to make 822.6 visits per second, sleighing at 3,000 times
the speed of sound.  At that speed, Santa and his reindeer would burst into flames
instantaneously.

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- What do Santa's little helpers learn at school?
The elf-abet!

- What do you call a frozen elf hanging from the ceiling?  An elfcicle!

- Which of Santa’s reindeers have to mind their manners most?  Rude-olph!

- What do you call Rudolph with lots of snow in his ears?  Anything you want, he can't hear you!

- What did Santa ask Rudolph about the weather?
Is it going to rain dear?!

- Why did the turkey join the band?
Because it had the drumsticks!

- What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?  Frostbite!

I never believed in Santa Claus because I knew no white dude would come into my neighborhood after dark.

- There is a special place in hell for people that play Christmas music before Thanksgiving.

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A FEW EARLY ROUGHED OUT TRAVEL PLANS

BAYFIELD’S FISHING BOATS REMAINED IN HARBOR THIS MORNING DUE TO ROUGH  WATERS  OUT ON THE LAKE

With a little more to look forward to now I think I had a wee bit of an extra spring in my step this morning.  And one had to definitely keep stepping with temperatures sitting on the freezing mark and icy strong winds driving the wind chill factor well below freezing.

LAKE HURON WATERS WERE STILL LOOKING ANGRY THIS MORNING AT BAYFIELD’S HARBOR MOUTH

Thanks to everyone for their comments, shouts, Facebook messages and likes regarding my Tuesday night post about our upcoming travels to the southwest again.  Always encouraging for us to know we have so many friends in our corner cheering for us.  One little thing I would like to clear up though.  Kelly’s procedure at the end of next March is not a simple 15 minute endoscopy.  The Doctor told her Tuesday morning the 40 minute ultra-sound endoscopy biopsy does come with inherent risks because of devices inserted into the throat and through the stomach wall to obtain lymph node samples.  Kelly will be under full sedation and the Doctor told her I will have to ‘remain in the hospital’ for several hours until the procedure is over and she has fully recovered.  Also, somebody wondered if Kelly had one more medical appointment before we leave on the 23rd and the answer to that is yes.  December 21rst she has another Cat-Scan at London’s University Hospital.

SO WINDY TODAY WIND TURBINE BLADES WERE PROBABLY LOCKED IN PLACE TO KEEP THEM FROM SPINNING OFF THEIR PEDESTALS

WINDS WERE SO COLD AT THIS LEG STRETCH STOP EVEN MY EYES WERE WATERING

REALLY NICE LOOKING SKIES FOR OUR MORNING JEEP RIDE

APPLE ORCHARDS ARE BARE

NO APPLES FOR SALE AT THIS LITTLE APPLE STAND ALONGSIDE THE HIGHWAY

Despite this morning’s biting cold wind Pheebs and I headed out under mostly sunny skies.  A swing down around the Bayfield harbor and a stop at the Charles Street Market Cafe for a coffee and muffin to go.  Paved roads southeast of Bayfield were bare and dry with some country roads extra dusty in places.   Countryside looked nice and we saw a few farmers out plowing fields under today’s big Ontario skies. 

A FEW AREA FARMERS HAD THEIR PLOWS IN THE GROUND THIS MORNING

BIG DECEMBER SKIES HERE IN SOUTHWEST ONTARIO EARLIER TODAY

Made an appointment for the Motorhome December 15th to have the oil changed and our usual pre-travel check.  Hooked up the utility trailer to the Jeep this afternoon and loaded me up a big pile of yard waste which I had raked up in November.   And with the trailer full it was off to our Park’s recycle area.

LOADED UP AND READY TO HEAD OFF TO THE PARK’S YARD WASTE AREA

MY NEW OFFICIAL WINTER HAT……I HAVE EVEN ACTUALLY GOT A TOQUE ON UNDER THAT HAT…….AMERICANS CALL THEM  THERE TOQUES ‘BEANIES’ AND I THINK MY HAT IS CALLED AN ‘AVIATOR HAT’

As long time readers know we are not ones much for making detailed travel plans.  We just kinda wander with the weather and move from place to place whenever the feeling to move, moves us.  Only thing for sure is that we will take our old southerly route on the way out as opposed to our more northerly route through Chicago and west across the plains before turning south in Nebraska.  Our southerly route gets us further south faster and at this time of year chasing warmer air is always priority.  The further west we go the closer we monitor the weather in New Mexico, Arizona, and California.  Wherever weather is best is probably where we will head first.  Only thing I know for sure is that at some point I want to shuffle my feet on the green green grass of Borrego Spring’s Christmas Circle and have my annual hamburger and fries with a big glass of root beer at Jilbertos.  Oh ya and I gotta get up to the Marshal South Homestead on Ghost Mountain one last time too.  Sometime in mid to late February we plan to slowly head East to see Aunt Jean in Florida and be back in Bayfield sometime around March 20th.   Well them’s is sorta the rough plans anyway:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((   A guy bought his wife a beautiful diamond ring for Christmas.  After hearing about this extravagant gift, a friend of his said, "I thought she wanted one of those sporty four-wheel-drive vehicles."  "She did," he replied. "But where was I going to find a fake Jeep?"

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What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck?
A Christmas Quacker!

What says Oh Oh Oh?
Santa walking backwards!

What do you call a bankrupt Santa?
Saint Nickel-less!

What do you get if Santa goes down the chimney when the fire is lit?  Krisp Kringle.

Who is Santa Claus married to?
Mary Christmas.

What do reindeer hang on their Christmas trees?
Horn-aments!

Why are Christmas trees so bad at sewing?
They always drop their needles!

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‘YAHOOHIE LOUIE’ LOOKS LIKE WE’RE GONNA BE HEADING FOR THE GREAT AMERICAN SOUTH-WEST AGAIN:)))))))))))))))))))))

STRONG WINDS HAVE ONCE AGAIN WHIPPED UP LAKE HURON WATERS

Kelly rolled out of the driveway at 6 a.m. heading for her medical consultation appointment in London at 7:45.  Said she would phone as soon as the consultation was over and let me know what date the ultra sound endoscopy biopsy would be set for.  I waited anxiously by the phone for her call and about 8:30 the phone rang.  It was Kelly and I could tell right off by her voice that she had good news.  Her procedure is slated for the end of March and that meant we had enough time to head south once again.  On the phone we quickly came up with a departure date of Saturday December 23rd. 

MORNING BOARDWALKERS BUNDLED UP AGAINS THE COLD WINDS COMING IN OFF THE LAKE

Pheebs and I headed out for a Jeep ride and it probably was half an hour later that it finally sank in that we were actually going to be heading for the South-west again this winter.  My mind in an effort to protect itself from disappointment had been working steadily at the probability that we would not be going anywhere this winter so I guess I had been kind of unknowingly adjusting myself to that possibility.  Wow, what a rush it was when this morning’s reality set in.

IN GODERICH HARBOR THIS MORNING WITH IT’S ODD SHAPED BOW WE SAW THE BULK CARRIER VOLGABORG

THE ON-DECK CREW WERE BUSY WITH THE SHIP’S LOADING

I’M ASSUMING THOSE ARE GREEN HATCH COVERS

SEEMS ODD TO SEE A BOW LIKE THIS WITH A STEEL WINDOWED STRUCTURE ON TOP

A FEW PHOTOS FROM THE HARBOR’S NORTH SIDE WHERE YOU CAN SEE GRAIN OR CORN BEING LOADED THROUGH A LONG TUBE SHUTE JUST AHEAD OF THE BRIDGE

YEP, THAT IS ONE STRANGE LOOKING BOW ALRIGHT AND IT’S THE FIRST TIME I HAVE EVER SEEN THIS SHIP

THAT’S THE LOADER TUBE TO THE RIGHT

I’M WONDERING IF THAT IS THE CAPTAIN  UP THERE OBSERVING TODAYS LOADING PROCESS FROM VOLGABORG’S STARBOARD ‘FLYING BRIDGE’

Earlier in the morning I had had it in my head to maybe take a cruise up through Amish/Mennonite country but with travel plans in my head my only thoughts were to head back home after our coffee and muffin and begin packing up the Motorhome.   Main reason for that is the fact this is predicted to be the last nice day of the year and with temperatures going into the freezer by morning I figured I might as well get some things organized and into the rig while temps were above freezing (45F) and there was no snow on the ground.  Plus, it was a partially sunny day:))

WELL I GUESS I DON’T HAVE TO TELL YOU WHAT I’M UP TO HERE NOW DO I:))

WALKING HALF A BOX OF SOCKS OUT TO THE RIG AND I’VE ALREADY GOT ALL MY TRAVEL CLOTHES MOVED BACK IN

I’LL SOON BE SPENDING A FAIR FEW HOURS IN THIS FAMILIAR SPOT AGAIN

LOOKING FORWARD TO ONCE AGAIN GETTING OUR JEEP’S HEAVY DUTY SIDE-WALL TIRES INTO THE DESERT SAND, ROCKS, AND GRAVELY GULLEY WASHES OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

THE JEEP IS ALL SET TO GO BUT THE MOTORHOME NEEDS AN OIL CHANGE BEFORE WE HEAD OUT IN A FEW WEEKS

Four years ago today we were over at Jackie and John’s (Sarge) place in Congress Arizona where I was digging up some baby Agave plants and 6 years ago Kelly and I set out to explore around Locomotive Rock near Darby Well Road west of Ajo Arizona.

NO I’M NOT DIGGING OUT THE BIG ONE, JUST THE LITTLE ONES AROUND THE BASE

ONE SAGUARO AND A BUNCH OF ORGAN PIPE CACTUS NEAR LOCOMOTIVE ROCK

Our decision to resume our winter travel plans to the southwest is not exactly a slam dunk decision.  We have both become quite cozily comfortable with where we are.  I think part of it is the fact we have not experienced this nice cozy warm Christmasy feeling since the winter of 05/06.  I have slipped into my old long lost Christmas spirit and have been enjoying numerous childhood memories of many a Christmas past.  I have to admit it’s very nice here at night with all our Christmas lights twinkling away, house warm as toast, and a flickering fire going while sitting at my keyboard plunking away at my blog surrounded by all my favorite music.  I think we have it pretty nice but figure we had better cash in on our RV travels while we still can and still have the option to head south for the winter.  We both understand the reality of nearing the end of our traveling years and not the beginning of our traveling years.  So once again while we still can we will head out and see once more what adventures we can drum up along the way……….

PHEEBS SOAKS UP SOME WARM SUN THIS AFTERNOON IN OUR CARPORT

GROANER’S CORNER:(( To All Employees
From Management Subject Office conduct during the Christmas season…………….. Effective immediately, employees should keep in mind the following guidelines in compliance with FROLIC (the Federal Revelry Office and Leisure Industry Council).

Running aluminum foil through the paper shredder to make tinsel is discouraged.

Playing Jingle Bells on the push-button phone is forbidden (it runs up an incredible long distance bill)

Work requests are not to be filed under "Bah humbug."

Company cars are not to be used to go over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house.

All fruitcake is to be eaten BEFORE July 25.

Egg nog will NOT be dispensed in vending machines.

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- Two snowmen in a field, one turned to the other and said "I don't know about you but I can smell carrots."!

- Did you know that Santa's not allowed to go down chimneys this year? It was declared unsafe by the Elf and Safety Commission.

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Knock knock!
Who's there?
Holly
Holly who?
Holly-days are nearly here again!

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