BUSY DAY & A NASTY HAIL STORM!!

WE HAVE BUSY LITTLE BIRDS IN OUR FRONT YARD GARDENS (I may have posted this pic before but can't remember)

Turned out to be a busy  Monday as I filled in for a driver this morning & used the company's mini-van to move a fellow from one town to another for a short medical appointment.  This afternoon I was back in the mobility van & off to London with a young disabled fellow & his Mother on board. 

         

PARKED AT LONDON ONTARIO'S WELL KNOWN & RESPECTED UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL LAST WEEK

We were almost at our destination when the sky's opened up & we got hit with a short & savage rain storm with beating hail & nearly zero visibility.  Sounded like the hailstones were coming right through the windshield.  Fortunately the heavy deluge of ice & rain only lasted about 10 minutes but it was enough to spawn immediate flood warnings on the local radio station & it was amazing how much water was cascading down the streets.

HAIL ON THE GROUND BESIDE A HOUSE & SHREDDED LEAVES ON CAR OUT FRONT

Someone asked again what camera equipment I use & because I didn't get on it right away I have forgotten who it was so I'll include a link to a post I had done about that on September 19th of 2008 just in case that same person happens to be reading this tonight.  Just read the camera part & disregard all my other blusterings that day in long ago September.  The country was in full blown financial meltdown at the time & so was AL's attitude.......again:((  Click on..... NIKON CAMERAS

 

COUPLE OF NIKONS & A CANON.....NIKON D50 ON THE LEFT WITH THE D40 ON THE RIGHT & CANON BOTTOM RIGHT (Am hoping to trade that longer 55-200mm zoom lens in for a 70-300mm zoomer shortly) Photo was 'colored popped & sharpened' in Live Writer:))

Whenever I see we have a new follower I generally click on their profile to see who they are & if they happen to have a blog site.  That is how I have come across other folks interesting RV blogs & have sometimes included their links in my posts.  In the last little while I have generally liked to try & give new bloggers or new followers a bit of a jump start by including a point of interest from their post into my blog.  Latest follower Terry K's profile shows most of his categories as 'classified' so I am not too sure what that is all about.  My experience has been that most folks are very free, honest,  & open, with their RV lifestyle & blog sites, etc.  So, TK if you are a legitimate follower, I say welcome.  If not................??

WAITING PATIENTLY FOR A HUMMINGBIRD TO SLOW DOWN!!

My external hard drive seems to be acting up tonight again & is not letting me access my file photos.  I have a lot of photos stored on there.......or did!!

HAVING A LOOK AT ANOTHER JEEP.....2005

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A woman walked into the kitchen to find her husband stalking around with a fly swatter.  "What are you doing?" She asked.  "Hunting flies" He responded.  "Oh, killing any?" She asked.  "Yep, 3 males, 2 females," he replied. Intrigued, she asked "How can you tell?"  He responded "3 were on a beer can, 2 were on the phone."

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

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"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

WORKING ON SUNDAY

First let me say that the posting problems I had Saturday night were not caused by Live Writer, Verizon, or Blogger.  I started anew & re-did the blog leaving out the link I suspected of being the culprit & it worked.  So, if anyone has a publishing problem sometime be sure to check your links.  Mine was to a site that contained a lot of audio visual & for whatever reason Blogger & Live Writer did not accept it!!  The site is called, 'Closer To Truth' & can be found by typing that into Google.  My kind of thinking.

I especially liked MARGIE'S POST this morning where she talked about, 'people-can-change. I always like to read about what RV bloggers are thinking & feeling.....not just where they have been & what they are seeing all the time.  We all have different takes on things because of our past & current lifestyles.  Each one of us brings to our posts our own personalities.  Margie talks about the changes in attitude after Full Timing for the past 11 years.

Of course Margie's post set me to thinking about all that & about my own attitude over the past few RVing years as well.  One of the big advantages Full timers have over Snow Birders is the unlimited time factor.  They have 12 months every year to go where they want, see what they want, & do what they want.  They move freely & leisurely with the weather.  A few days here a few weeks there.  No need to rush south ahead of the encroaching winter storms & no need to rush back home to a job or house in the spring.  They have the freedom to plan their routes & activities according to their interests.  I think overall, they have a better attitude towards life because of the lifestyle they live.

Back in the days when I used to attend a lot of AA meetings, AA was often referred to by members as standing for Attitude Adjustment as well.    And how true that is.  It affects every one of us whether we are in a 12 step program or not.  Many folks seem to breeze through life without it being much of a problem while others like myself are always in some phase of constant attitude adjustment or another.  I think much of it has to do with each individuals past as to how much attitude tweaking they have to do & by what means they choose to do that.  Not always an easy task to change ingrained thought processes.  But, it can be done.

SHE'S BAAAACK >>>

I'm sure my attitude will continue to show up in the blog from time to time but maybe not with quite as many jagged edges as some posts in the past.  But, then again...................... 

<<<< ALONG THE MORNING TRAIL

Some fellow blogger folks have asked how Kelly's Dad is doing.  He underwent another surgical bladder procedure this past Thursday & at the moment is not doing the best.  In my opinion he is in very grave health but like so many countless times before, Frank just somehow amazes everyone & manages to pull it all together & rallies back to live & see the sunrise of another day.

KELLY'S DAD FINDS HIS OLD 'MARINE' HAT IN THE ATTIC BACK IN THE SUMMER OF 2007

Our annual yellow peril pine pollen menace is upon us now & as I sit here at the computer I can see clouds of the fine yellow powder wafting through the pine trees.  There is no escaping this stuff because it is as fine as smoke & gets into & on absolutely everything.  This stuff has about the same consistency as talcum powder.  Had to hose off my van before I could even head out this morning.  What a big huge mess we have every year & what a big huge clean up afterwards!!

An elderly wheel chair lady in a neighboring town celebrated her 94th Birthday today & family wanted to take her out for dinner so I had myself another nice mobility van run.  I'm always happy to work Sundays because it gives me something to do on an otherwise sloooooow day.  Took my camera gear along figuring on getting down around the harbor for some pics but by the time I washed the van, picked up some groceries, & stuck some food in my face, it was time to pick the folks up again.  So, I'm going to have to dig into my stock pile of photos again for blog pics.

Rather than drag the above older photo back into the Picasa Photo program to work on it I just 'Cropped,' 'Color Popped,' & 'Sharpened' it right here in Live Writer.  Yes, you can work on your photos here.  Click your photo then look to the menu on the right.  Click on 'Advanced.'  This is where you can rotate, crop, add contrast, tilt, or even put your own watermark (name) on your photo.   To do more photo editing just click on 'Effects.'  Now, click on the little green cross & you can add some effects to your photo.  Hey, & who said you couldn't do it, eh:))

(I color popped & sharpened the above photo for effect)  AND WHO SAID WE DON'T HAVE CACTUS IN CANADA!! 

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Some people try to turn back their age odometers.  Not me, I want people to know 'why' I look this way.  I've traveled a long way and a lot of those bumpy old rough roads weren't paved!!

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

                                 and

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

QUIET SATURDAY AT HOME

MAX ON THE MORNING TRAIL

Aside from slipping over to Deerpark Lodge this morning to take a few branches off a pesky Cherry tree with the chainsaw, it has been a very quiet Saturday.  Branches were hanging out over the pool area making a mess of the concrete walkway around the pool.  Trimmed up a few scruffy shrubs while there & that was about it.  They have a retired fellow who looks after the grounds but every once in awhile I slip over there & put my 2 cents worth in as well:))

Kelly spotted our rascally intruder this morning & I was able to get a few shots of Mama Coon feasting on our birdseed.  It was obvious she had a batch of babies somewhere not far away.  We just let her go ahead & have her breakfast.  Nothing appeared to be broken this morning so I wasn't upset with her.  When she left I wished her well & told her to say hello to the kids for us.

   

Had trouble getting this post to publish tonight & in this space I had a paragraph with a link.  The link was to a site which contained both audio & visual & I'm wondering if that was the culprit that threw a monkey wrench into the blog publishing.  If you are reading this then that means the blog has published & it was that link I put in that caused the initial problem!!

KELLY TOOK THE ABOVE PHOTO of our bayfieldbunch.com sign on the back of our mini van this morning.  It is missing a 'b' & a 'dot.'  Luckily her Son Ben owns his own graphics company & will be bringing us the missing letters this week-end.  FLORENCE SIGNS & GRAPHICS.  Always good to have a graphics company in the family.   I had just placed some potted Sumacs in front of the Motor Home & that is what shows up in the creative rear window reflection looking like palm fronds.

MALE RED BREASTED GROSBEAK

It's always interesting reading other RV blogs to see how people spend their time & what things they find interesting in their travels.  Some folks follow the NASCAR racing circuit while others like to visit the tourist attractions in the areas they are traveling.  For some it's the culinary arts & fine eateries they pursue.  Some folks enjoy historical sites while others stop at interesting cemeteries & museums.  For a lot of folks it's the visiting & social life they crave whether it be with family or friends.   For me personally it is just simply about the honesty of nature & it's beauty.

MALE CARDINAL

GROANER'S CORNER:((  And on this ever faster spinning merry-go-round of life it's not whether you win or lose, but how you place the blame.

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

BLOGGER POSTING PROBLEM

Am having trouble posting tonight.  Following error message keeps appearing but I will keep on trying........!!

The server reported an error with the following URL:

http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10886995/posts/default

400 Bad Request

MAKING THE FISHING LINES DISAPPEAR

So disappointed first thing this morning to see our two humming bird feeders totally empty with one lying on the ground.  Our Niger seed feeder lay broken on the ground as well & two wooden bird feeders were emptied of their seeds.  And, one of our two suet feeders was missing.  Found it later in some shrubbery, pried open & totally emptied.  It's the work of raiding raccoons in the night & there is nothing we can do to stop them.  Chipmunks & squirrels can eventually be outfoxed but the coons are a different story.  They are too humanlike in their thinking & they have the strength to lift, break, & pry things open.  Very discouraging!!

Turned out to be another in a series of beautiful warm days & I was fortunate enough to have another mobility van run which took me from one sleepy little village, through the picturesque countryside, to several other small villages & back again.  Noticed some of the farmers have taken off their first cutting of hay already & I'm beginning to see fields of corn sprouting.  Shoots are out of the ground about 4 inches.  Agricultural southern Ontario is off to another fine growing season.

WE HAVE POSTED A SENTRY TO WATCH OUT FOR THAT RASCALLY RACCOON TONIGHT

I've been sitting at the computer for awhile tonight & actually headed off in two different blog post directions only to stop & save what I had written for another time.  One post will need photos to go with it & I will have to head out & do some shooting before posting that one.  The other was another lament about being earthbound for the summer but I figured people have heard enough of that out of me for awhile so I stuck that one back up on the shelf for a rainy day.  Maybe if I let it gather a little dust it might take on a bit of character.

 

NOTICE HOW THE BIRDFEEDERS FISHING LINES SPOIL THE ABOVE PHOTO.            

NORTHERN FLICKER....With the Picasa Photo Program's 'Retouch' tool I took the fishing lines out.  I also used the 'Crop' tool to remove a lot of wasted space around the subject.  And, I used 'I'm Feeling Lucky' & 'Auto Color' plus the 'Sharpen' tool. I left the 'Saturation' tool alone in this case. 

 

(click to enlarge)

GREEN HERON.....I caught this little fellow flying about 8 a.m. this morning & the photos are in sequence from take-off at the pond's near shore to landing in a willow shrub on the far side.  I really do think I need to get myself a longer lens soon:))

HAIRY WOODPECKER >>>>

GROANER'S CORNER:((  And did you know that the nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

NICE DAY & SOME MEXICAN BORDER MEMORIES

POOR MAMA GOOSE....NO BABY GOOSES THIS YEAR:((

Another cooker today but when you don't have to be outside working in the heat it's not too bad.  Nice mobility van run to London & back this morning in air conditioned comfort.  A big plus from the days many years ago when I might have been out in the back of some new housing sub division on my hands & knees in the dirt laying new sod for hours & hours in the heat.  Yep, did that for awhile in Kitchener Ontario back in the late 60's.

OUR LITTLE 'MOUSE'

I have read in the RV NET FORUMS from time to time about RV'ers having their rigs towing assemblies tampered with by kids while they have been away from their rigs or even around the other side gassing up.  I always make it a point to especially check our tow pins whenever we have made a stop somewhere.  Kids have been known to pull them out &  bicycles have been stolen right off the back of some rigs at fuel stops.  Came across a blog last night that ran into what could have been a very dangerous situation when they stopped at a Flying J for diesel fuel.   Check out R SANITY RV ADVENTURES

ALONG THE FOREST FLOOR

While ranch sitting near McNeal Arizona last winter I noticed they had a small photo group meeting every Monday afternoon over in the little town of Elfrida so I threw my cameras in the car & wandered on over.  Met some great folks over the next couple of months before departing the area & heading further west.  Ray, (RAY'S QCC BLOG) from the group still sends me updates & keeps me in the loop as to what the group is up to & what photo shoots they are out on.   He has just put a BLOG SITE together for the group & you can find photos of their last shoot in the rough & tumbly down town of Naco Arizona on the Mexican border.   Kelly & I were in Naco this past January & here is my BLOG & PHOTOS from that day....complete with a bullet hole in a downtown window!!

 

MAIN STREET NACO ARIZONA....THE MEXICAN BORDER IS DEAD AHEAD!!

We are sometimes asked if we feel threatened at any time while near the border in the Southwest & my answer to that is...no!!  I would feel much safer there by the Mexican border than I would in most large cities I have been too in Canada or the States.  We only had one incident & that was when we crossed into Mexico one time south of Why, Arizona at Lukeville.  You can read about our little scrape here...SONOYTA 

LOOKING DEEP INTO THE HEART OF MEXICO FROM ATOP CORONADO PEAK SOUTH OF SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA

For the most part it is life as usual just as it is here.  It's when something happens along the border & the media gets a hold of it that makes things seem much worse than they sometimes really are.  We have met many locals in the last couple of years & they all seem less concerned with the problems than people living far to the north.  We have seen people in the desert & we have found pieces of clothing, back packs, etc.  We have heard the ambulances wailing by in the cold nights heading out into the desert to pick up people in distress & we have been buzzed by border patrol helicopters. 

WHENEVER WE HEAR A BORDER PATROL CHOPPER COMING OVER THE RIDGE WE  JUST STAND VERY STILL & PRETEND WE ARE JUST A COUPLE OF SAGUARO CACTUS SHADOWS IN THE DESERT

We have seen the bright yellow flares floating out of the night sky lighting the ground below & one morning we came across about a dozen Mexican folks sitting in single file along a ditch with 2 border patrol guys standing over them.  The group looked to be handcuffed, weary, & worn.  Unfortunately it is the way of life along the border & would we ever consider not going there because of those problems.  No, not a chance.  The American southwest is too special a place not to go & besides, it is just another great chapter in the exciting saga of the daily liveliness & charm of the old wild west..................................:))

    

(click to enlarge)

THERE'S KELLY CRAWLING UNDER THE BORDER WIRE INTO MEXICO EAST OF DOUGLAS ARIZONA - 'ADIOS KELLY'- OH OH SHE'S HEADING BACK TO THE CAR....DIDN'T FIND ANY BARGOOOONS IN THE DESERT I GUESS!!

 

MORNING PHLOX

GROANER'S CORNER:((  I don't know why I consider myself over the hill when I don't even remember ever getting to the top.

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.