Wednesday, April 13, 2011

A 'LIGHT BULB MOMENT' IN THE FLOWER BED THIS MORNING

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IT WAS A DAY FOR GETTING OUT SUMMER LAWN ORNAMENTS

Caught myself a lucky break Tuesday.  Thought it was a good day to finally turn on the outside water so crawled under the front deck to where our water hooks up are & opened the valve to allow water into our outside pipe for the garden hoses etc.  Could hear a lot of water splashing out but not where it was supposed to be splashing out.  Oh Oh!!

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COLTSFOOT IS ONE OUR EARLIEST SPRING FLOWERS 

A flashlight in my darkened space confirmed a broken water pipe on the other side of the unit.  I realized right away what had happened & quickly turned off the water.  Late last October I had shut off our outside water with a valve but had forgot to open a second valve to let the water drain out of the outside water line.  Sooooo, the line froze up in the winter & burst the pipe.  But, this is where I caught myself a lucky break.DSC_0024

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Our bathroom sink tap has been leaking as well as our kitchen tap.  Water over the past 4 years had also been leaking around the kitchen sink & last fall we noticed the counter top had rotted behind the sink.  Decision was made to replace the bathroom tap as well as the kitchen taps, sink & counter top.  Kelly had just called a plumber fellow who does a lot of work for Deer Park Lodge & he arrived about 5 minutes after I discovered the broken water line.  He solved the problem of why our gas fire place had malfunctioned (batteries again) this past winter & checked out our faucet & sink problems.  He was then able to slip outside & get himself under our unit & repair the broken water pipe as well.  From the time I saw the broken pipe gushing to the time it was fixed was only about 30 minutes.  Now, how’s that for a nice break.

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I CALL THIS....KEEPING A LOW PROFILE

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PAPA GOOSE IN THE WATER KEEPS A WARY EYE AS MOMMA GOOSE GOES ABOUT BUILDING HER NEW NEST ON THE BANKS OF OUR MORNING POND 
Kelly slipped into town this morning & picked out a new counter top along with all the hardware so shouldn’t be long & we’ll have a few repairs & renovations happening.  I guess our decision to not sell our place the other day has sparked us both into some renewed interest in our digs.  The outside grounds are in need of a facelift as well so I began that this morning.
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Purged my closet & dresser drawers today hauling out 43 pieces of clothing for the Goodwill Store.  Eighteen of those items were shirts I hadn’t worn for who knows how long, 5 belts, 4 pairs of old blue jeans & an assortment of hats, gloves, scarves, etc.   Anything ripped or torn went outside into the burning barrel.  Nice feeling to have finally made a start at something I have avoided doing for years.  Looking forward to my next purge….wherever that might be now.  Beware all you junky stuff.....Al's coming to get you!!
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CAUGHT THIS LITTLE DUCK FELLOW ON A TAKE OFF ROLL THIS MORNING BEFORE BECOMING AIRBORNE (SORRY ABOUT THE FUZZY DUCK)

Remember that Jeep ownership I couldn’t find last week.  Yep, Kelly found it in the Motor Home glove compartment today.  Had I looked there?  Darn right I had but of course I missed it.  When does a man ever find anything he's looking for around the house anyway eh!!  And would you believe I spent about 5 minutes looking for a shirt Tuesday morning.  Not in the bedroom, computer room or living room.  Not on the porch, the deck or in the Jeep either.  So, where did I find it……I was wearing it!!!!  Yep, hate to admit it but that actually did happen.  Like I have said before, I am NOT THE BRIGHTEST CRAYON IN THE BOX.

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The Bayfield Bunch welcomes our latest blog follower, kiwionabike.  I’m guessing this fellow is an Australian guy with a motorcycle.  Welcome aboard Kiwi guy:))
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WE HAVE A LOT OF WEIRD FROGS AROUND OUR POND 

Weather’s coming along well enough now to start thinking thinking about dusting off the Motorcycle for another season.  Been throwing a few trickle charges on the battery so any day now I should have it up & running for the first ride of the year.  Gonna have to warm up a whole lot before any serious rides though.  None of that cold weather riding for this guy anymore!!
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ONTARIO'S TRILLIUM FLOWER 

Had myself a ‘light bulb’ moment this morning while clearing some brush in a flowerbed.  Suddenly occurred to me that my desire to leave the Park where we live & move back to the quiet countryside coincidentally started about the same time we began spending our winter’s in the Southwest.  For 5 months of each year we have been living in areas with no people or neighbors anywhere near by.  No human sounds for the most part.  We have spent our time surrounded by nature most every day.  Very quiet nights & very quiet days.  And, I'm beginning to think we have become very spoiled by all that.   Here in Ontario we live in the quietest Park in the whole territory & yet I find myself sensitive to neighbors talking nearby or the occasional vehicle going by on the road.  Sounds of lawn mowers & especially leaf blowers rudely jolt me out of my preferred quiet existence.  Park’s maintenance machinery left idling nearby for varying lengths of time with their clackety & smelly diesel engines make me want to rush into the house & grab the ‘For Sale’ sign every time.  

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Yes, I’m afraid the quiet day’s & night’s in the deserts of the Southwest have spoiled me forever.  And it only took me about 5 years to finally figure that all out.  Right here in one of our very own flowerbeds this morning.

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GROANER’S CORNER:((  And a few wise sayings from some people we all probably know..........

The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.
-- Andy Rooney (SAY, DON'T YOU  THINK THE ABOVE PIC LOOKS A BIT LIKE ANDY HIMSELF)

The day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life.
-- George Carlin & George also says, "Sometimes a Little Brain Damage Can Help"

If all the world's a stage, I want to operate the trap door.
-- Paul Beatty

Life is like stepping onto a boat which is about to sail out to sea and sink.
-- Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

I always wait for the Times each morning. I look at the obituary column and if I’m not in it, I go to work.
-- A. E. Matthews

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“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

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

13 comments:

  1. Kiwionabike... oh, he isn't going to like your description! A "kiwi" comes from New Zealand, not Australia! Like saying the Bayfield Bunch are from the states - no, no, no!

    Loving your photos these days - so springlike!

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  2. That's great that Kelly could get someone so quickly to do the fix.

    There are a lot of apartment complexes around where I live, and every week, year-around, teams come in with an array of equipment - power lawn mowers, blowers, etc. The noise is deafening and irritates me no end. I can see where it is much easier than a push mower and rake, but it's one technology that I absolutely despise. It's noise pollution!

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  3. we all have 'lightbulb'moments in our lives..thanks for sharing yours..
    the crocus pictures are stunning!
    glad you got some 'purging' done and now renos are on the way!..nothing like a clean closet to make someone feeled renewed!!

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  4. Maybe not the most brilliant crayon in the box, but my oh my what suble (or not) hues! :)

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  5. Peace and quiet is one thing we have here in the Mountains. Our bedroom is dark and silent. In summer with the windows open we do hear some leaf blowers and chain saw noise, but nothing like a city. I wonder if the noise in an RV park is going to bother us.

    I can't see Craig boondocking all that much. He will need his WiFi and electricity too much.

    By the way, did you know Goodwill takes any unwearable garments and sends them overseas for fabric recycling. I never knew this, so now if something is junky I still donate it.

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  6. I've heard of people looking for eye glasses that were sitting on top of their head, but I never heard of someone looking for a shirt that was on his back. That's a good one! Beautiful pictures.

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  7. Love the flower photos--gorgeous colors.

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  8. I KNOW FOR A FACT that the reason the trains bother me so much is because we go South and get that same peace and quiet. Then we come back to trains, cement plants, and our noisy street....Probably would have been better off NOT to get the nice quiet experience..now we are spoiled.

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  9. Al, 30 minutes must be a record for a leak repair. I'm sure it would have taken me even longer than that to figure out what needed fixed.

    Took some pictures of the flowers and Jeep delivery vehicle at Shat's Bakery yesterday, just for you. Donna didn't put them all up on the blog. Maybe I'll just e-mail them to you, but then again, the files are probably too large, and you've seen plenty all ready.

    Nice pictures of the lawn ornaments. I love to take shots like that, too.

    Good waterfowl shots. "Keeping a low profile" is really neat!

    Glad you finally found the shirt you were looking for! And the Jeep title, too. Congratulations on beginning to track down all that "stuff" you want to get rid of. We've made a bit of a start on that, as well.

    Thanks again for sharing.

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  10. Purging of the closets, that was on my list of must do when I retired 3 yrs ago. I haven't done it yet, guess I have a little of that procrastination in me too. I'm going to get on it soon!

    Great pictures today!

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  11. Wow, yep you are LUCKY!!! In lot's of ways,,,,,Right? Good Blog AL, Isn't it neat when you start understanding yourself.... I'm still trying to do that...

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  12. LOL on the Tshirt story!

    I know of a peaceful quiet sleeping place with the windows open, the soft sound of crickets or a breeze, a faraway howl of a coyote, and stars as far as your eye can see if you get up to let the dogs out in the middle of the night... Yes, I know that place...

    Sure beats the below freezing weather and snow/rain/wind mix we are due for this weekend...ARRGGHHH

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  13. Lots of lovely pictures, as usual. Thanks.
    I know you feel good to be home, have you thought about moving your mobile home out onto some land?

    By the way, the ratty jeans and shirts could have been donated, too. People make rag rugs out of them. The thrift shops sell them by the pound to be recycled.

    Happy Trails, Penny, TX

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