IF IT GETS ANY GREENER AROUND HERE I'LL BE FINDING ME SOME LEPRECHAUNS IN THE GARDEN

Woke up to a warmer morning so it didn’t take me long to get myself back on the end of my shovel for most of the morning. For a small piece of property I sure have created myself a full time gardening job over the years!!

MUCH TO MY SURPRISE I FOUND THIS BABY 'PAINTED TURTLE'  IN OUR FRONT YARD FROG POND TODAY....IT IS THE SIZE OF A SMALL JAR LID
We are fortunate here in Bayfield to have a first rate local garage & we never hesitate to take our vehicles there for maintenance & repairs. Picked up the Motorhome today & we now have a new coach battery along with an oil change.  With 6 new tires this past year the RVing side of life has been a costly one for us but it is the price we must to pay to escape our horribly miserable winter weather here in Southern Ontario.  Fulltiming has been pretty much ruled out for us now & moving lock stock & barrel to the Southwest is not likely to happen any time soon either.  Too bad about the darn border between our two countries.  If it wasn't for that I would probably be typing tonight's blog from some quiet little out of the way canyon half way up a cooling mountainside somewhere in Arizona or New Mexico.

FORGOT TO INCLUDE THIS PHOTO IN THURSDAY NIGHT'S BLOG OF THE RHODODENDRON TREE WHERE I TOOK ALL THE BLOOM PHOTOS 

I spoke a little too soon about all the Goldfinches leaving a few days ago.  They may have been at a local Goldfinch Convention or something but they sure are all back now.  And, it looks like they have moved the convention right here to our front yard.  Lots of birds again:))

I am still doing daily battle with the Squirrels.  Despite the efforts I went to making my Squirrel proof bird station about three weeks ago it only took them about 3 days to breach my security, & they did that by becoming....flying Squirrels!!  My bird station sits a full 8 feet away from a tall Pine tree & what the Squirrels have been doing is scooting up the Pine tree to a height about 3 feet higher that the birdseed platform.  They then gauge their distance & launch themselves off the tree through the air & down upon the bird station.  I have watched them do this several times so today I found an old rubber boot mat in the shed & stapled it on the bird station side that faces the Pine tree.  Put some peanuts on the platform & watched with a big smiling face as two Squirrels clung to that side of the Pine tree for about 5 minutes in launch mode trying to figure out their next move.  So that now puts me ahead in the score with me winning 10 rounds & the Squirrels winning 9.  Probably by morning the little buggers will have tied the game again!!

THE SQUIRRELS WOULD LEAP FROM THAT PINE TREE ON THE RIGHT ONTO THE BIRD STATION & THAT IS A DISTANCE OF 8 FEET!!

 

AT LEFT IS MY LATEST DEFENSE...THE 'BOOT TRAY!!'  AT RIGHT YOU CAN SEE THE 2 SQUIRRELS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET AROUND MY 'BOOT TRAY' DEFENSE

AND THIS IS HOW I PREFER MY SQUIRRELS......PASSIVELY PLASTIC:))   

Many people dream of someday going to Paradise.  No big deal because Kelly & I have already been there.....twice.  Paradise Arizona that is.  Located in the Chiricahua Mountains, Paradise was one of those old logging towns from the wild west days.  Not a whole lot there anymore but it does have a few homes & a few folks living in them.  The sign over the gates of the cemetery says 'Paradise' so we know for sure all the residents in that plot of ground have truly gone to Paradise alright.  Winds shifted a few days ago in that still blazing Chiricahua Mountain fire & about a dozen homes had to be evacuated in Paradise.  CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAIN FIRE THREATENS PARADISE. 

HARD TO READ THE FADED SIGN BUT IT DOES SAY, 'PARADISE CEMETERY' 

Looks like another short post tonight.  I had better get off my can & get out there & look for something interesting to blog about pretty soon while I still have a couple of readers left.  Ohhhhh, this sitting around for long summer months waiting to get back on the road again is definitely not for a poor old restless soul like mine.........:((

AND YES, THIS IS THE ROAD THAT TRULY DOES LEAD TO PARADISE ALRIGHT 

             

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A lawyer went into a doctor's office with a frog on his head.
'That's a nasty looking growth' said the doctor.
'I'll say', said the frog. 'It started out with a small pimple on my ass'

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right
now...... AL.