Sunday, June 19, 2016

RIDING ALONG WITH US THIS MORNING WAS NAT KING COLE, BING CROSBY, FRANK SINATRA, BILLIE HOLIDAY, LOUIE ARMSTRONG AND MORE………..

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A rarity of sorts Saturday night as all three of us piled into the Jeep and headed out into the countryside to see if we could catch ourselves a rising Moon.  Too much haze on the Eastern horizon for an early Moonrise but no matter it was just a nice change of pace for us all to get out together for a drive on a warm near Summer’s evening.  Been a long time since we’ve done that.

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IT WAS A NICE WARM SATURDAYEVENING FOR A DRIVE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

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WAITING FOR THE MOONRISE WE PARKED RIGHT ALONGSIDE THIS BEANFIELD

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LOOKING SOUTH

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LOOKING NORTH

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It is always so difficult for me to keep the number of photos down in my posts when we live in such a beautifully diverse area of rural Ontario. 

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AN AREA FARMER LOOKS BACK TO CHECK ON HIS HAY RAKE

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STOPS THE TRACTOR TO CHECK SOMETHING AND I’M THINKING HE MIGHT HAVE GOT THAT FRONT WHEEL A LITTLE CLOSE TO SOME WIRE FENCING

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OH DEAR HE MAY BE HEADING BACK TO THE BARN TO FETCH A FEW TOOLS

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Sunday morning found me with paint brush in hand as I put a final coat of paint on our new gas furnace door.  Had been a dozen years or so since we painted our hallway where the furnace is located and luckily a few days ago Kelly remembered the name of the paint we used back then as Bennington Gray.  She picked up a quart of Bennington Gray Friday so this morning I was able to blend that furnace door in with the rest of the hallway.

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AMISH FOLKS HAVE A TENDENCY TO LIKE THEIR HOUSES WHITE AND THEIR BARNS RED

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A COUPLE OLD BARNS IN THE TWILIGHT OF THEIR YEARS

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LOTS OF FINE OLD HOMES IN RURAL SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

Although feeling very tired I asked Pheebs if she would like to go for a ride in the Jeep this morning and she immediately went Bonkers so it was into the Jeep & off out to the countryside with us.  All windows down again as we made our way over to the Marsh.  We had a ba-zillion Gnats around our heads every time we stepped out of the Jeep so needless to say we finally had to just kept on moving.

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A COUPLE AREA FARMERS CHATTING UP THIS SEASONS GROWING WEATHER

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ASSEMBLED FROM BITS AND PIECES METHINKS

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A COUPLE YOUNG FARM LADS RAKING UP  HAY ON A HOT SUNNY SATURDAY MORNING

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IT’S A BUSY TIME OF YEAR IN THE FARMING COMMUNITY

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STONE WORK IN OLD BARN FOUNDATIONS CAN BE A WORK OF ART IN ITSELF

Despite a good night’s sleep I spent most of my afternoon snoozing on and off in my recliner.  Kelly has been bothered with waves of tiredness over these last few days as well.  We’re quite a pair as we drag ourselves around here.  We think it just may simply be the heat and humidity that’s affecting us although I never ventured outside once today after arriving home from our morning drive.  We sure do love the cooling comfort our air conditioner brings us.  A big ‘Yahouie Louie’ to whoever invented A/C:))

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Longest day of the year is nearly upon us after which we begin the long backslide to the the shortest day of the year in December.  I always look forward to those two time markers each year as one signifies the coming of Autumn and Winter which means southbound RV travels and one means the coming of Spring and Summer which signifies northbound RV travels.  Funny how that works for me but somehow it always does.

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CAME ACROSS THIS WILD ROSEBUSH IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

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Riding along with us this morning was Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, Billie Eckstein, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby Dinah Washington, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Billie Holliday, Louie Armstrong and Sarah Vaughn just to name a few.  With my Sirius Satellite Radio tuned to the ‘Sinatra’ channel my mind was again taken back to an era and place in time I remember with great fondness.  I am fortunate the sands of time have been kind as they have gently sifted through my mind wearing away any lumps of coal leaving only diamonds.  My Dad I never knew well in those days but one of my earliest memories is of him coming into our village one day on his motorcycle and pulling over to the curb to talk to me.  My Mother and I on warm summer evenings would sometimes play catch in front of our house & we played a game called ‘Skunk’.  Whenever either one of us would drop the ball we would pick up a letter and the first one to drop the ball five times would be ‘skunked’.  I had no brothers or sisters to play with and grew up in a house of adults.  My Mother, Step-Father, Uncle and Grandfather.  They were all very good to me as a small boy and to this day my mind often travels back to those times oh so many years ago and it is the music from that era which frequently stops to pick me up and take me there.  No, I won’t call them the ‘good ol days’ nor will I call them the ‘bad ol days’.  No, instead let me just call them what they were & what they have become over the past  7 decades……the ‘best of days with the best of memories in a young boy’s mind’.

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GROANER’S CORNER:(( GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:
1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.
GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:
1) Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.
2) Wrinkles don't hurt.
3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.
4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.
6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.
GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT GROWING OLD:
1) Growing up is mandatory; growing old is optional.
2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.
4) You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.
5) It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.
6) Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.
7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.

9 comments:

  1. A stellar post and photos tonight! Not that I need to single this one out, as I like all your posts.

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  2. I was complaining about being too warm and now we have clouds, drizzle and high of 56 degrees. Must not turn on heat!
    Been enjoying the hay rake pics. Those guys are using a side delivery rake, works well and needs little maintenance. Hope that guy did not wipe out his cable TV.
    Very nice post

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  3. There are actually several theories but the most common one has to do with the price of paint red is the cheapest, to buy it's readily available it's also easier for the farmer to make his own remedy
    And why is his house white is because he has money to afford to paint the house as well as a prosperous sign of his wealth
    White paint cost more so a small history lesson follows
    Early 18th-century bridges and barns went unpainted. The right wood in the right place, it was discovered, needed no paint. Even houses in the earliest settlements were not painted. To paint the barn would have been viewed not only as extravagant, but vulgar and showy.

    Red catches on

    However, by the late 1700s, the art of wood seasoning gave way to the art of artificial preservation. Virginia farmers were the first to become paint-conscious. In Pennsylvania, the Dutch settlements latched on to the custom of red bricks, red barns, red geraniums, even reddish-brown cows. When a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer added big ornamental designs to barns, “just for luck,” he was accused of designing a hex sign to frighten the devil. Many old-timers sneered at their neighbors’ newly painted barns and accused them of copying “those superstitious Germans of Pennsylvania.”

    But color caught on. Inasmuch as ready-made paint was not available, a farmer mixed his own. He discovered that skimmed milk, lime and red iron oxide made a plastic-like coating that hardened quickly and lasted for years. Occasionally, it hardened too well and peeled off in sheets. Linseed oil was subsequently added to the recipe to provide the necessary soaking quality. Thus American “barn red” was born. It came into being through function and utility, rather than decor or superstition. It was soon discovered that the red barn color was warmer in winter since it absorbed the sun’s rays.

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  4. You mentioned being tired. Can be a number of things. However, it is important to keep hydrated even when there is excessive humidity. Love your photos!

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  5. Love the little wooden house with the wonderful windows! Heat always makes me tired, and humidity is exhausting. Best to enjoy the recliner on those days :-)

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  6. Your Groaner's Corner is always a kick. It's been a tough weekend for Joe with the effects of his chemo ( Dr. started him on a new drug) . I read him the Groaner's Corner and it made him smile. So thanks for posting this particular one and making him smile.

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  7. The longest day of the year now the exciting downhill slide to winter when we head to the southwest... hmm, still have not used our air-conditioner. Only in the car, sure glad the heat does not bother us.

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  8. Nice blog and real nice photos Al. Stay cool!

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  9. I can relate to your memmories of bygone days. Though I am 10 years your junior I still have great memories of those long gone days.

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