BLOGGERS.....WE'RE QUITE A BUNCH:))

JUST ANOTHER FINE DAY IN SUNNY SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO:))

A heavy dew on the morning trail was another tell tale sign of early Autumn this morning. Despite the abundant sunshine each day there is a cool crispness in the air & I'm sure furnaces & fireplaces are being lit to take that late night & early morn chill out of the air. September & October are beautiful months here in southern Ontario & I saw my first V-shaped flock of Canada Geese winging over a neighboring pond yesterday. Too early for them to go south yet but they are beginning their test runs & flying patterns for their long journey soon. MONARCH BUTTERFLYS.......A SURE SIGN OF AUTUMN

Puttered about in the gardens this morning deciding what shrubs & trees to transplant in a few weeks when the ground becomes cooler. It's a nice kind of puttering this time of year. The heat & humidity are gone out of the air as well as most bugs. The birds have been active at the feeders & I had 5 squabbling Blue Jays entertaining me at one point this afternoon, not to mention the finches, woodpeckers, chickadees, & various other feathery creatures. Aw yes, all is well in birdland. MANY FARMS HAVE THESE LITTLE BUILDINGS AT THE END OF THE LANES FOR THE KIDS AWAITING THE SCHOOL BUS ON RAINY OR STORMY WINTER DAYS

All is not so well with our 99 Dodge Caravan though. Noticed a high pitched whining sound Monday when I was out & about with my cameras & to-day when I headed into Bayfield I noticed the sound seemed louder & the transmission was slipping quite a bit. Stopped into the Bayfield Garage & Don checked the transmission fluid which was fine. He took the van for a drive & then phoned a transmission specialist in Stratford to confirm his suspicions. Bad news!!!! The transmission is on it's last legs. He explained the problem to me & there's no easy cheap way out. The tranny has to be replaced. To re-build our transmission will be $1,400 plus 5 or 6 hours labor & that gives it a 2 year guarantee. A used transmission from the wrecker can be put in for $600 plus labor & and that comes with a 30 day guarantee so it's going to cost us either 1 or 2 thousand dollars to fix it. Although the van is 10 years old it is in good shape for it's age because it's only been winter driven for 1 of it's 10 years. We bought it used about 4 years ago from an older couple who went to Florida every year with it. So, it's decision time for us. What to do, what to do. We may just do nothing for now & wait until we come back from the southwest in the spring. FIELD OF BEANS

Had an interesting email from a fellow blogger friend to-night that got me to thinking a bit. We blogger folks are a bit of an odd group of would be writer's at times. Who else out there hangs their dirty laundry out for all to see on a daily basis. But, it is the honest reality of that laundry so to speak that keeps many of us coming back to the blogs. I am way too critical of my own mistakes so reading about others mistakes puts things into perspective for me. In the world I grew up in, men didn't make mistakes!!!! But, for some of us, in the world I now live in it is OK to admit & write about those shortcomings, & faults. And, some of us do that rather freely I may add. LOVELY WOOD CARVING FROM AN OLD MAPLE TREE

Whether you drive off leaving your toad in gear, drop the 5'ver on the truck bed, fail to secure the black hose tank, forget to tie the bicycles on securely, leave the TV antennae up, forget to tell your wife you left the seat up, fail to notice that low hanging branch, deploy your slide into a post, forget to put your awning up before leaving the rig for a few hours, or put the milk in the cupboard under the sink......it doesn't matter because you are man enough to sit down at your keyboard & tell the whole world about your foibles. And I say, "man enough" because this does not apply to you ladies who of course do not have the same problem we men have of making mistakes. So, thanks to my fellow bloggers for their honesty & willingness to share their mis-fortunes that other's may learn & yes, have a chuckle here & there as well. PASTORAL SCENE ALONG A RIVER BANK

We never know who it is reading these blogs, what responses we may incur upon ourselves, or if anyone is reading them at all but we'll keep hanging out that laundry from time to time anyway just to keep that honest reality in the forefront. And I think I speak for all bloggers when I say to you folks reading the blogs......if you have a minute, send the bloggers your thoughts & comments because they are much appreciated. I think many blogs are spurred on by reader feedback. We are not all professional or talented writers & in some cases like myself we're hardly writers at all. Just folks like you with a keyboard, an imagination, & waaaaaaay too much time on our hands...............:)) THESE ARE BUSY DAYS FOR THE BEES

I have uploaded the rest of Sunday night's walk on the Bayfield pier photos at the end of the AUGUST photo album.
To-day's photos are from my country road drive around the area Monday morning:))

GROANER'S CORNER:)) Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity!!

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.