PHEEBS & I HIT THE BACK COUNTRY ROADS AGAIN & OUR TROUBLESOME HEALTH ISSUES CONTINUE TO PLAGUE US

There is a sweet scent in the fresh Spring air these days & how nice to step out the door & start another day off surrounded by the memorable aroma of purple & mauve Lilac blooms gently swaying in a morning's breeze.

 

We both made it around the trail with Pheebs this morning but my hip became sore about two thirds of the way. Anything physical tires Kelly easily now but she rested for a bit then insisted in putting a few hours in at Deer Park Lodge.  I am kind of between a rock & a hard place here because Kelly isn’t too keen on me writing about her condition & yet it is a big part of our life at the moment.  It is coincidental that we both have medical conditions at the same time.  Both our problems are very different from one another but some of the similarities are amazingly alike.  I can be walking fine one minute & in a whole lot of pain the next.  Kelly can wake up feeling sort of Okay for a time & then be in some real pain & distress shortly thereafter.  I’ve probably already said too much. 

I had the motorcycle out for a couple runs in the past 3 days & contemplated heading out for another ride this morning. But, I had two problems. First one would be getting my sore hip to swing my right leg over the seat & the second more serious problem I knew would be the poor sad little doggy face peering out the living room window as I left. It was a no brainer decision & minutes after Kelly left for Deer Park me & the little Muffin Buns were in the Jeep & headed out for a drive in the country. Of course I forgot my cane again. It's a wonder I even remember to put my pants on in the morning. My hip doesn't hurt when I'm sitting so I was fine for the next 3 hours except when we pulled over for pit stops. I would grimace my way out the door & painfully hobble around the Jeep while Pheebs raced all over the place smelling everything in sight. Majority of today's photos were taken from the driver's seat.

  

ANY DAY IS NICE DAY FOR A DRIVE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

One of the main aims on my country drives is to find new back roads & new scenery. And as silly as it may sound I purposely try to get myself lost or as I like to think, temporarily misplaced. We have 2 GPS systems (Garmin & Delorme) but I wouldn't think if taking them along. Spoils the fun when you know where you are. Luckily I did find a couple roads I had never been on before in the area south of Wingham Ontario. Took me awhile to get myself oriented & pick up a few familiar landmarks but I soon had us back on familiar turf. Love when that happens. It's one of the perks of aging. When you forget stuff, everything is new all over again. Had Christopher Columbus had problems with his memory & had he lived to be a very old man he might have been able to discover America over & over & over. Now how really neat would that be:)) Sometimes we gotta just look on the really good side of bad to find something we like.

FARM POND ALONG THE WAY & IT WAS AT THIS POINT I REALIZED I HAD LEFT MY CANE AT HOME

 

IT’S RARE TO SEE PHEEBS WITH HER PAWS IN THE WATER

EVER SINCE WE’VE HAD PHEEBS SHE HAS BEEN A GRASS GRAZER

After Pheebs & I left home this morning we made a bee-line for Tim Horton's in Clinton & got ourselves imbedded in the drive-thru line. Split a sausage breakfast sandwich. The carrot muffin & coffee were mine though. Thought we would head for an area south-east of Bayfield for a change. Country is much flatter in them parts with more fields & farms. It's funny how I am drawn to hills & within half an hour of leaving Clinton I had pulled the Jeeps nose back into the wind & we were again on a northwest heading making tracks for hill country & the familiar area we generally always go. This is the area where I always keep a sharp eye out for any 'For Sale' signs. Nothing today but I did pass by a place we both fell in love with late last summer. House is still sitting empty & I suspect the whole property is still tied up in the courts as the result of a drug bust there several years ago. Even if it did come up for sale it would be waaaaaay beyond our means. But dreams are dreams & it's always nice to have a few dreams simmering away on the back burner.

 

FIELDS OF DANDELIONS

Looking at the many smooth acres of brown soil we passed today I would say all the farmer's pretty much have their crops in for the season. Some fields are already sprouting an inch or two of corn. And how absolutely lovely the rural countryside looks with all the apple blossoms, lilacs, & cherry blossoms in bloom. Big blue sky, white puffy clouds & green fields & forests stretching up to & over the horizon in places. Many farms look like they are right out of a storybook tale with their tulip gardens & lush green acres of new mown lawns. Many Dutch people in our area & their attention to neatness around their farms is well noted. Lots of farm equipment on the gravel roads & few mighty big smiley waves from some of the older fellers on their tractors.  Of course when your driving around with a big green frog on your dash, who wouldn’t smile & wave eh:))

 

SWIRLING UP THE DUST

Kelly had a difficult evening Sunday night with her breathing & new pains in her rib cage area but was feeling a bit better this morning. I was not able to do our morning walk Sunday & my hip remained troublesome all day. Here in Canada the medical system moves very slowly & one just has to be patient & wait until appointments or procedures are scheduled. I'm still waiting to hear from the London hospital regarding a consultation about my hip X-rays. Those X-rays showed bone spurs & I suspect that is why my pain is sporadic.  Kelly needs to see the specialist in Stratford as soon as possible but here in Canada we have to be patient & wait our turn.  No, I’m not going to get into the whole health debate issue!!  When Kelly returned home today she had to lay down for awhile & I spent all afternoon in my recliner unable to walk far.  We are quite a pair at the moment & it is like we are moving around here in slow motion with neither one of us being able to do a whole lot.  If this keeps up we are both going to have our recliners completely worn out in no time.  We both look at each other from our reclined positions in puzzlement wondering, ‘what the hell happened!!’

AND MANY FARMERS EVEN MOW THE DITCHES

 

YEP, LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE THERE SEXY JOHN DEERE TRACTORS ALRIGHT

Looking for a link tonight I came across a post I wrote last October about Picasa & photo editing.  I’m sure some readers have seen & read it but for any new folks out there with an interest in photography you might find it helpful.  Just a few tips to help you with your photos.  PICASA PHOTO EDITING 

JUST ONE OF OUR 4 PIT STOPS TODAY 
GYPSY had a comment question on my Saturday post in which she asks, 'Did you miss the space of the Damon when you drove the Sunseeker back from AZ'? Short answer to that is 'Yes'. By the time we reached home back in early April there was no doubt left in our minds. There was no point in removing the dinette & replacing it with recliner chairs. What we really needed to do was replace the whole RV. The interior compared to the Damon was just too small & uncomfortable for us.  We did try to make it work, but……  As much as I liked driving the Sunseeker & despite it's many positive points the rig just turned out to be too small for 2 people the way it's interior was configured. The corner bed just proved too difficult to climb into & out of, the bathroom too small to be comfortable & we realized the bathroom sink outside of the bedroom was not to our liking either. And neither the driver's or passenger's seats would swivel inward. I just checked the London dealership this morning & see the little Sunseeker is still there & still for sale.  DAVE & SUSIE also had a question about Saturday night's post where they wondered what year the blue pick-up truck was in the last photo of the post. I don't have an answer for that so wondered if any of you car buffs out there might know.
 

NOW HERE'S A FARM FELLA WITH AN ‘OLD SIGN’ HOBBY

PHEEBS LOVES RIDING IN THE BACK OF THE JEEP ON HER DOGGY BED WHICH IN TURN IS ON A RAISED PLATFORM ALLOWING HER TO WATCH OUT THE WINDOW

New Blog Followers 'grannynmaggie' joined us a couple days ago so a big Bayfield Bunch welcome to you folks. If you can hang in for the summer we hope to have the Winnie's wheels pointed westward sometime in the early Fall. Thanks for stopping by.

AN OLD MAPLE SYRUP SHANTY ALONGSIDE THE ROAD

AND IT LOOKS LIKE THIS FARMER HAS A GOOD START ON A NEW HOUSE, BARN, OR MAYBE A DRIVING SHED

And a few short words about Sunday's post. I felt much better going to bed Sunday night for having written what I did & today was a better day.  Again, I thank all my friends & readers for being patient & understanding again. Appreciated the comments & advice as well. Blogging for me is a great hobby & hobbies can have a tendency to eat up the hobbyist at times. But that's what a hobby is & I do like it most days despite my annoying complaining at times:))

ALWAYS NICE TO ARRIVE BACK AT OUR GREEN GREEN FOREST OF HOME:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.