MOVED THE BIRDFEED STATION TODAY AND ABOUT 17.3 MINUTES LATER………##!!!@%**!!!!!

It was the slow dripping sound of snow melting and a slightly brighter eastern horizon showing through our pine trees that peaked my interest  upon peering out a living room window early this morning.  At least the temperature was back up to at around the freezing mark.  On these bleak gray November days one has to grasp onto whatever tiny positive thing there is.  Maybe not everyone but for many folks like myself it's what we have to do.

SNOW COVERED PAVED ROADS ARE BARE AND DRY AGAIN

COUNTRY ROADS ARE STILL A MIXTURE OF SNOW AND ICE

THERE JUST MIGHT BE A LOGICAL REASON SO MUCH CORN HAS BEEN LEFT STANDING IN THE FIELDS AND YOU CAN READ ABOUT IT HERE AT FARMS IN TROUBLE

I WAS IN FOUR WHEEL DRIVE GOING UP SOME OF THESE ICY HILLS

I HAVE DRIVEN BY THIS SIGN MANY TIMES BUT I STILL DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS OR MEANS

Coffee to go at Bayfield’s shopbike coffee roasters and I nearly tripped over myself to get inside before another couple because they looked like latte people for sure and I didn’t want to end up behind them standing there tapping my foot and looking at my watch.  One has to think about these things you know……..

IT WAS A HEAVY CLOUD COVER WE HAD AGAIN TODAY

A LONE CORN STOCK >>>

It was another short snort around Huron Counties countryside southeast of Bayfield.  It was a bit of a challenge to find any photos lurking in the drabness but find a few we did including a batch of cows.

With temperatures lurking in the low 30’s we headed home.  Without missing a beat I hauled out my wheelbarrow and shovel.  It was time to move the bird station again and especially while the ground is nice and soft for digging.  The project ate up about half and hour.  Rest of the day was the usual fare.  Reading, computer, TV, and a bit of my usual slouching. and grouching around.  Oh, and about 17.3 minutes after I had moved the bird feeding station to a new Squirrel proof location I looked up from my computer and there was a big fat black Squirrel sitting right on top of it again!!!!!!.  #!!!%*@!!!!##>>{+!!!!

NA-NA-NA-NA-NA- NAAAAAAAAAAA

REGARDLESS OF THE TIME OF YEAR I ALWAYS ENJOY BEING OUT IN THE PEACEFUL COUNTRYSIDE WITH MY BEST PAL PHEEBS

CRESTING A RISE I CAME UPON A LARGE HERD OF WILD TURKEYS

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT….ALL THE LEAVES ARE NOW OFFICIALLY OFF THE TREES

LOOKS LIKE A LOCAL FARMER HAS BEEN DOING SOME PLOWING IN THE SNOW

Over the years feeding birds I’ve noticed a pattern.  They seem to travel in groups.  The bird feeders can be vacant for awhile and all of a sudden a big rumbling herd of birds come flocking in filling the air with a whirring of winds and frenzied chatter.  Jays, Juncos, Sparrows, Nuthatches, Mourning Doves, and Cardinals.  And then ‘poof’ they can all be gone again.  I think they must make the rounds of everybody’s feeders here in the Park.

 

YOU DON’T SUPPOSE WINSTON CHURCHILL WAS REINCARNATED AS A BLACK CAP CHICKADEE DO YA??

  

Aunt Jean was out tearing up the turf again in Bradenton Florida Sunday but found herself a little stiff Monday morning before bouncing back by late afternoon.  For being over 90 she’s doing pretty good with all things considered.  She has been golfing for many, many, years.  I’ve been golfing with Aunt Jean both in Canada and Florida a few times but golf just never caught on with me.  Even bought a used set of clubs one time years ago I hardly ever used them.  Just one of those things I guess.  We all have our different reasons for doing things I suppose.

Today was Bayfield’s annual Christmas parade and Kelly’s oldest son Jason along with his wife Kim and son Reeve plus a number of friends had come to Bayfield for the parade.  Kelly was able to meet up with them this morning along the parade route.  Had been a couple years since Kelly had seen Jason.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  An old, tired-looking dog wandered into the yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home.He followed me into the house, down the hall, and fell asleep on the couch. An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back, resumed his position on the couch and slept for an hour. This continued for several weeks. Curious, I pinned a note to his collar: "Every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap."The next day he arrived with a different note pinned to his collar: "He lives in a home with four children -- he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?"

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A rather awkward freshman finally got up the nerve to ask a pretty junior for a dance at the homecoming. She gave him the once-over and said, "Sorry, I won't dance with a child.""Please forgive me," responded the underclassman. "I didn't realize you were pregnant."

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THREE OF US IN THE JEEP AS WE MOTORED ALONG THROUGH SNOW, RAIN, SLEET, AND GRAUPEL

Despite partially snow covered slushily roads it was all three of us in the Jeep this morning as we made our way to Goderich through some moderate to minor blowing snow.  Popped into Mark’s Work Wearhouse to see if they had something called ‘neck warmers’ but they didn’t.  From there it was off to a breakfast restaurant where I have been seeing a lot of cars parked in the mornings.  Breakfast was Okay but don’t think we’ll hurry back anytime soon.  A swing down around Goderich’s harbor where blowing wet westerly winds were lashing long gray waves into Lake Huron’s eastern shoreline.  Pheebs hopped out for a peeps and wasn’t long in getting right back into the Jeep again.  Brrrrr.   Five minutes later we were on our way home in a mixture of snow, rain, sleet and graupel.  Most roads were just bare and wet making for a dirty driving day again.  I don’t see any point in wasting time washing the Jeep until maybe late April 2019.

A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND SNOW ON THE WAY TO GODERICH

COLD CHOPPY LAKE HURON WATERS

A NICE OLD STONE HOUSE AND PROPERTY FOR SALE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE BUT WAAAAAY TOO MUCH MONEY FOR US GUYS

ON THE WAY HOME ROADS BECAME MORE SNOW COVERED THE CLOSER WE GOT TO BAYFIELD

Home by 11 and that was about it for another day.  With a mixture of snow and rain coming down there was no point in going back outside.  Just kinda sat back and enjoyed all the birds at our feeders.  It’s quite a cast of characters we have out there and that includes the pesky Squirrels who have figured out a way to get on top of our bird station and gobble up all the birdseed again.  About 3 months ago I had re-located that bird station after the Squirrels had been climbing up some tall plant stalks and jumping over onto it.  Now they go up a nearby Cedar tree and launch themselves from there about a mile and a half through the air onto our bird station.  Well Okay, maybe not quite a mile and a half but at least 10 feet for sure.  They crawl out to the end of the bending branches then fling themselves over to the bird platform.  Soon as the snow melts I gotta get my red handled shovel out and re-locate that feeder ‘again’!!!!

PESKY LITTLE DEVIL AND HE KNOWS IT

   

It bugs me that I have allowed myself to get all caught up in the political dramatics of our big neighbor to the south.  I have never cared much for any of the so called ‘reality’ shows on television over the years because they are more of a scripted and acted reality than true reality itself but this American political debacle taking place in America, disgusting as it can be at times is a true reality and has sucked me right in and riveted me to the television.  I keep snapping on the TV at the top of each hour to see how much farther the overall madness has marched.  Absolutely unbelievable what is happening and has happened to that once fine country over the past couple years.  By the way, there are things I miss and do not miss about RV travels and one thing I did not miss while on the road was television.  How nice it was these past couple years of winter travels not to know what was going on politically in the very country we were traveling in.  What a big huge mess you guys are caught up in down there.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Man goes to see a dentist and asks "How much to pull two wisdom teeth?"Dentist says "$100.00."Man says, "too much. Can't you do it for less?"Dentist says "I can do it for $50 if I cut out the novacaine."Man says, "that's better but still too much. Can't we do it any cheaper?"Dentist says, "I could let my trainee do it for $20 but she has never pulled a tooth before and it would be quite painful."Man says, "That's great. Schedule my wife for next Tuesday."

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Please excuse Jennifer for missing school yesterday. We forgot to get the Sunday paper off the porch, and when we found it Monday, we thought it was Sunday.

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A man lies on his deathbed, surrounded by his family: a weeping wife and four children. Three of the children are tall, good-looking and athletic; but the fourth and youngest is an ugly runt. "Darling wife," the husband whispers, "assure me that the youngest child really is mine. I want to know the truth before I die, I will forgive you if-" The wife gently interrupts him. "Yes, my dearest, absolutely, no question, I swear on my mother's grave that you are his father." The man then dies, happy. The wife mutters under her breath: "Thank God he didn't ask about the other three."

===========================

DESPITE A DISMALLY COLD DAMP DAY WE GOT A FOREST WALK IN ANYWAY

Well let me start this post off with a description of today’s weather using the ‘D’ word.  Dismal, dull, depressing, disconsolate, dark, dreary, desolate, depressive and dire.  Okay boys and girls now let’s put all those descriptive words into a sentence shall we and let’s keep them in order…..”Woke up this morning in a dismal, dull, depressing mood followed by disconsolate dark and dreary thoughts leaving me in a depressive state bordering on dire consequences”.  Okay Okay, it wasn’t all that bad but it at least took a few minutes out of the otherwise long day putting the words together. 

THREE AMIGOS

A few weeks ago in the pet section isle of Walmart I stood looking over bags of birdseed trying to decide which one to purchase.  A couple came walking along the and the man leaned over and said to me as they passed, “you can buy better quality birdseed at Sun Country in Clinton and cheaper too.  Not being sure about what he said I did buy a bag of Walmart birdseed and headed home, but I never forgot what that fellow said.  This morning Pheebs and stopped at Clinton’s Sun Country and what a pleasant surprise it was to find a nice little store with friendly staff too.  Neat, clean, well organized, and they had a lot more than just birdseed.  Pet food, pet toys, and all kinds of birdfeeders etc.  And they are knowledgeable about what they sell and are Canadian products oriented.  I liked how the various types of seeds were mixed and packaged.  And the chap in the Walmart isle a few weeks ago was right about the prices too.  I will definitely be buying my birdseed there from now on:))

WITH SEED FROM SUN COUNTRY I HUNG UP OUR FINCH FEEDER FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS AND WITHIN TWENTY MINUTES I HAD GOLDFINCHES AT IT

 

From Sun Country we headed south out of Clinton on highway 4 with our destination being the Bannockburn Conservation Area  No cars in the parking lot at the trailhead so off Pheebs and went for a walk in the wind protected forest.  Only sounds I heard was snow crunching underneath my boots and an occasional Blue Jay.  A couple babbling creeks join up here and it was nice to hear gurgling water tumbling over scattered rocks in the shallow creek bed.  Not a long walk but any walk for my legs is better than no walk.

HEADING OFF FOR A WALK

RUNNING ON A SNOWY BOARDWALK

 

‘COME ON DAD LET’S GO THIS WAY’

WITH THOSE STEPS BEING SLIPPERY WET AND ICY I DECIDED NOT TO GO THAT WAY

FROZEN ICICLES HANGING FROM AN OLD IRON BRIDGE WALKWAY

Home about 10:30, tended to the birdfeeders, came inside and that was it.  It was a damp cold outside and wanting no part of that I tucked myself away again in our warm and cozy sunroom.

‘OH GEEZZZZ HOW DID THAT TURTLE GET UP HERE CHIUCK?  ‘NOT A TURTLE BUZZ, IT’S THAT MOTOR MUNCHING MOURNING DOVE HUNKERED DOWN EATING UP ALL THE SEEDS AGAIN’

‘HEY THOSE ARE MY SEEDS YOUR EATING!!!!!!’

‘IT’S YOUR TURN, NO IT’S YOUR TURN’

CLEAR THE TRACK HERE COMES SHACK

OH-NO HE TOOK A HEADER INTO THE SNOW BANK AGAIN

Because of my poor short term memory I naturally forget things and it’s a daily issue with me.  Because I am always fiddling with settings on my camera I have a bad habit of forgetting to return those settings to a remembered default position.  Normally I set my ISO at 800 and leave it there unless for some reason it requires a change.  I don’t know when, and I can’t remember why I set my ISO to 5000 but apparently I did.  Have been noticing my bird photos were looking grainy buy my brain didn’t tap me on the shoulder and tell me to check my ISO setting.  I never caught on until lining up a creek photo on a specified aperture setting this morning that I noticed in the digital viewfinder the shutter speed for that aperture was waaaaay to high.  What the heck??  First thing I checked was my ISO setting and there it was….5000.  Forgetting to regularly check camera settings is a real bug-a-boo for me.  My Nikon D7200 does great on Automatic most times but not all the time and that’s when I override it, change settings, and get myself into trouble. 

 

While on the subject of photos I’d like to thank everyone for their kind comments on my pictures.  I am very critical of my stuff and know my photos are not up to par when I see what the professionals and various camera club people are doing.  I have to keep reminding myself that I am simply a photoist of opportunity and not a perfectionist striving for the absolute best possible results from any one particular photo.  As long as my blog readers enjoy the photos I am able to grab while out and about most every day then that is good enough for me.  It keeps my photography hobby light and easy as well as stress free.  And for me it is important to do it that way.  Thanks again folks:))

‘AHEM’

‘DID YOU HEAR SOMETHING BILL?’  ‘NO CAN’T SAY  I DID’

‘OHHH SO THAT’S WHAT I HEARD’

‘IGNORE HIM FRANK IT’S JUST PESKY RED’

‘HERE’S MY IMPRESSION OF A ROBIN LISTENING FOR A WORM’

At the time of posting tonight it’s snowing like the drats.  Makes me think of my first paragraph all over again.   Maybe we’ll see some Sun tomorrow and all rush out of our houses and homes and stand transfixed with eyes to the skies gazing in wonderment at the great orb of brightness above us.  Then again………I think back once more to my first paragraph:))

‘OKAY SO THIS IS MY IMPRESSION OF A CHICKEN’

A TRIO OF MOURING DOVES

SO WHICH ONE OF YOU TWO DOCILE DOVES WANTS TO LEARN THE ‘ONE FOOT WATUSI’

‘ALRIGHT ALRIGHT FORGET IT LET’S JUST HAVE SOME SEEDS  BEFORE MY WIFE GETS HERE……OH-OH  TOO LATE I HEAR HER COMING!!

‘OKAY CLASS, TODAY I ‘M GOING TO TELL YOU WHY IT’S GREAT BEING A BIG BRIGHT RED CARDINAL AND NOT SOME WUSSY LITTLE GRAY FRECKLE HEADED SPARROW TYPE’’

Facebook seems focused on 2011 and again today sent me notice of where we were and what we were doing 7 years ago today.  It seems we climbed Grosvenors Arch south of Cannonville Utah.  It was my second time atop the Arch having first climbed up there back in May of 1992.

THIS WAS BACK IN THE DAYS WE DROVE A LTTLE HYUNDAI SANTA FE….GREAT CAR BUT IT WASN’T FOUR WHEEL DRIVE

WORKING OUR WAY AROUND TO THE BACK OF THE ARCH WHERE THERE IS A REASONABLY EASY CLIMBING  WALK TO THE TOP

THE ROAD TO KODACHROME BASIN STATE PARK AND CANNONVILLE IS VISIBLE TOP RIGHT

COMING DOWN WAS TRICKY DUE TO LOOSE SHALE

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings, they did it by killing all those who opposed them.

If you can stay calm, while all around you is chaos then you probably haven't completely understood the seriousness of the situation.

Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity

Plagiarism saves time.

If at first you don't succeed, try management.

Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid altogether.

Teamwork means never having to take all the blame yourself.

Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups.

We waste time, so you don't have to.

Hang in there, retirement is only thirty years away! 

Go the extra mile. It makes your boss look like an incompetent slacker.

A snooze button is a poor substitute for no alarm clock at all.

When the going gets tough, the tough take a coffee break.I

indecision is the key to flexibility. 

Succeed in spite of management.  Aim Low, Reach Your Goals, Avoid Disappointment

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Q. Have you heard of the dyslexic cow who attained true enlightenment?  A. It kept on repeating OOOOMMM!

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