POINT CLARK LIGHTHOUSE ON THE SHORES OF LAKE HURON BETWEEN GODERICH & KINCARDINE ONTARIO (IF SOME LIGHTHOUSE PHOTOS LOOK A LITTLE BENDY IT’S BECAUSE I AM USING A WIDE ANGLE LENS WHICH HAS A TENDENCY TO DISTORT THINGS A WEE BIT)
AT THE AMBERLY BEACH ABOUT 9 A.M. THIS MORNING
TRYING TO COAX PHEEBS INTO THE WATER BUT SHE WOULDN’T HAVE ANY PART OF IT
Always curious about real estate prices Kelly had made a list of houses & properties for sale in the area we were traveling to & being on the early side for the Point Clark Lighthouse we did slide around looking at some places for sale. No, no plans to move but we do like to keep on top of the real estate market. A couple of the properties were closer to Kincardine so while up that way we figured we'd roll into town & grab a coffee & a bite at McDonald's.
BEFORE LEAVING KINCARDINE WE SLIPPED DOWN AROUND THE HARBOR & HAD US A LOOK AT KINCARDINE'S LIGHTHOUSE & HARBOR
From Kincardine we backtracked along Boiler Beach Road, east on Concession Road 10 to highway 21. Hung a right turn & minutes later we pulled into the parking lot of PINE RIVER CHEESE.
KELLY PICKS UP A FEW CHEESY ITEMS FOR HERSELF…..I DON’T LIKE CHEESE!!
WOULD YOU BELIEVE THEY MAKE CHEESE FUDGE’…..WELL YES THEY DO & I TRIED A SAMPLE & LIKED IT…HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE ANYTHING WITH THE WORD ‘FUDGE’ IN IT
AND YES INDEED THEIR MILK COMES FROM ONLY THE FINEST CANADIAN COWS
At the north end of the building is a door & a sign saying Museum. Through this door & up a flight of turning steps we made our way to a big room with windows looking down onto a complete cheese making operation housed on a large factory like floor. One can watch the entire cheese making process from this room. We arrived about the time curds were being loaded into containers. I had worked at the Tavistock Cheese Company for a short time back in the late 60's so I knew a little bit about what the workers were doing on the floor below. I remember it as a hard job with heavy lifting. Cheese blocks were not light in those days. The containers I saw curds going into this morning seemed to be much smaller than what I recall nearly 50 years ago. Lots of cheese making artefacts in the Pine River Cheese museum/viewing room. It was a hot humid day so with Pheebs outside in the Jeep we didn't stay long. A quick trip through the cheese retail store at the building's south end & we were back to the Jeep with a small load cheese products. Small load because Kelly is the only cheese eater in the family. I have never liked cheese & the closest I ever get to cheese is an occasional grilled cheese sandwich or some cheddar cheese sprinkled on my Tuna subs. Maybe a handful of ‘Cheezies’ about once every decade. Less than ten minutes after leaving Pine River Cheese we pulled into the parking lot of Point Clark's historic Light house. 
KELLY WATCHES FROM A VIEWING WINDOW AS WORKERS BELOW GO ABOUT THEIR CHEESE MAKING BUSINESS
A WORKER GATHERS UP CURDS PUTTING THEM IN BUCKETS TO THE RIGHT
VATS YOU SAW ARE TO THE RIGHT & THIS IS WHERE VARIABLE CHEESES ARE PACKAGED & PUT INTO STORAGE FOR AGING
ALSO IN THE VIEWING ROOM IS A MUSEUM WITH CHEESE MAKING EQUIPMENT FROM YESTERYEAR
THOSE WHITE TANKS ARE MILK SILOS & IT IS WHERE MILK IS STORED BEFORE BEING NEEDED IN THE PROCESS OF MAKING CHEESE
This Light House has just completed an extensive renovation sporting a fresh coat of paint & newly sodded grounds. It's easy to get to & has a large RV friendly parking lot beside it. Lake Huron is only steps away as well as a small children friendly Park & a spacious public beach. I will let the links I have provided tell the story of this Lighthouse to anyone reading who may be interested. For $5 one can look through the light house keeper museum & also climb many steps inside the Lighthouse to the top. We decided to forego that. Coulda, maybe woulda, & possibly shoulda, but we didn't. It was hot & humid by this time so we took Pheebs for a short walk to the beach.
I HAVE PUT MY POINT CLARK LIGHTHOUSE PHOTOS INTO A SHORT ALBUM BELOW OOOPS, THE PHOTO ALBUM WOULD NOT WORK SO HAD TO PUT THEM IN THE POST SEPARATELY…………………………
NOTICE THE LITTLE BUG OR BIRD ON THE LEFT SIDE THAT FLEW INTO MY SHOT
Our drive back home was uneventful but we finally did have to kick on the Jeep's A/C. coming through Goderich. Sure is nice to have that A/C option. One short stop at a downtown Rexall & we were home before 2 p.m. with windows & doors closed & our central air running. Nice:))
KELLY POINTS TO THE PUBLIC BEACH AREA WAY OVER YONDER
WALKING ALONG THE BREAKWATER
John & Pam from OH, THE PLACES WE GO in a comment regarding my Sunday post asked, "I was wondering if this is a Mennonite community or Amish community”? My answer to that question is that I think what we have in those communities here may very well be a mix of both. I grew up in this southern Ontario area & we have always referred these folks as Mennonite but have also heard the term Amish mentioned as well. I do believe there are different sects of Mennonites. The old order kind with the horse & buggy & no electricity. Another sect drive cars but the cars are black. Another order of Mennonite have blended into society & do not stand out. This question has been asked before by readers & I guess what I should do is just stop one of these times & walk over to some Mennonite/Amish folks & just ask them if they are Mennonite or Amish & what the difference is.
WHILE WALKING BY SOME LARGE BOULDERS NEAR THE POINT CLARK LIGHTHOUSE I SPOTTED THIS WHITE BUTTERFLY FLITTING ABOUT IN SOME PHLOX
Yes I do agree with readers in thinking that piece of machinery in the field on Sunday's post is a hay loader/stacker. I looked at it & could see where metal prongs rotated to pick up the hay then rotated it up to a chain driven belt or something carrying it up under those wood rails dropping it off to what I am guessing is a hay wagon where fellas would pile the hay. I did see what looked like a bar to maybe hook onto the hay wagon. It would have been interesting to have come across this hay field while the farm boys were operating this equipment. Would loved to have gotten some photos of how they made it all work. Horses, hay rakes, britches, & straw hats might have made for some mighty fine photos.
Saw me another couple dozen old barns in our travels this morning so next time Pheebs & I are out I made a mental note of where to find them. When I mentioned photographing 48 barns on Sunday some may thing that an exaggerated number but here in southern Ontario in the heart of prime farmland there is an abundance of old barns throughout the countryside. Not unusual to find 2 or 3 barns within a mile of each other & keep in mind with my telephoto lens I can photograph barns from a long distance off & sometimes 2 or 3 from the same vantage point. 
BUTTERFLY IN FLIGHT
GROANER'S CORNER:(( Forget the Snap-On Tools truck; it's never there when you need it. Besides, there are only ten things in this world you need to fix any car, any place, any time.
1. Duct Tape: Not just a tool, a veritable Swiss Army knife in stickum and plastic. It's safety wire, body material, radiator hose, upholstery, insulation, tow rope, and more in one easy-to-carry package. Sure, there's a prejudice surrounding duct tape in concourse competitions, but in the real world everything from Le Mans - winning Porsches to Atlas rockets uses it by the yard. The only thing that can get you out of more scrapes is a quarter and a phone booth. Well guess maybe it’s a cell phone nowadays.
2. Vise-Grips: Equally adept as a wrench, hammer, pliers, baling wire twister, breaker-off of frozen bolts, and wiggle-it-till-it-falls off tool. The heavy artillery of your toolbox, Vise-Grips are the only tool designed expressly to fix things screwed up beyond repair.
3. Spray Lubricants: A considerably cheaper alternative to new doors, alternators, and other squeaky items. Slicker than pig phlegm. Repeated soakings of WD-40 will allow the main hull bolts of the Andrea Dora to be removed by hand. Strangely enough, an integral part of these sprays is the infamous little red tube that flies out of the nozzle if you look at it cross-eyed, one of the ten worst tools of all time.
4. Margarine Tubs With Clear Lids: If you spend all your time under the hood looking for a frendle pin that caromed off the peedle valve when you knocked both off the air cleaner, it's because you eat butter. Real mechanics consume pounds of tasteless vegetable oil replicas, just so they can use the empty tubs for parts containers afterward. (Some, of course, chuck the butter-colored goo altogether or use it to repack wheel bearings.) Unlike air cleaners and radiator lips, margarine tubs aren't connected by a time/space wormhole to the Parallel Universe of Lost Frendle Pins.
5. Big Rock At The Side Of The Road: Block up a tire. Smack corroded battery terminals. Pound out a dent. Bop nosy know-it-all types on the noodle. Scientists have yet to develop a hammer that packs the raw banging power of granite or limestone. This is the only tool with which a "made in India" emblem is not synonymous with the user's maiming.
6. Plastic Zip Ties: After twenty years of lashing down stray hoses and wired with old bread ties, some genius brought a slightly slicked up version to the auto parts market. Fifteen zip ties can transform a hulking mass of amateur-quality rewiring from a working model of the Brazilian rain forest into something remotely resembling a wiring harness. Of course, it works both ways. When buying used cars, subtract $ 100.00 for each zip tie under the hood.
7. Ridiculously Large Standard Screwdriver With Lifetime Guarantee: Let's admit it. There's nothing better for prying, chiselling, lifting, breaking, splitting, or mutilating than a huge flat-bladed screwdriver, particularly when wielded with gusto and a big hammer. This is also the tool of choice for oil filters so insanely located they can only be removed by driving a stake in one side and out the other. If you break the screwdriver - and you will, just like Dad or your shop teacher said - who cares? It's guaranteed.
8. Baling Wire: Commonly known as MG muffler brackets, baling wire holds anything that's too hot for tape or ties. Like duct tape, it's not recommended for concourse contenders since it works so well you'll never replace it with the right thing again. Baling wire is a sentimental favorite in some circles, particularly with the MG, Triumph, and flathead Ford set.
9. Bonking Stick: - This monstrous tuning fork with devilishly pointy ends is technically known as a tie-rod- end separator, but how often do you separate tie-ends? Once every decade, if you're lucky. Other than medieval combat, its real use is the all purpose application of undue force, not unlike that of the huge flat-bladed screwdriver. Nature doesn't know the bent metal panel or frozen exhaust pipe that can stand up to a good bonking stick. (Can also be used to separate tie-rod ends in a pinch, of course, but does a lousy job of it).
10. A Quarter and a Phone Booth: See #1 above. Ok Ok a cell phone then!! Maybe an IPhone…..Whatever!!
The following is from jamesportmissouri.org/jca_018.htm. I don't know if it helps but...
ReplyDeleteWhat's the difference between the Amish and the Mennonites? Many people confuse or unintentionally misuse the terms "Amish" and "Mennonite" as if they were synonymous. But there is a difference, as history proves.
AMISH -- The Amish separated from the Mennonite fellowship in 1693 in Europe. They felt the Mennonites of that time were failing to practice things they believed were needful. Their leading minister was Jacob Ammann from whom they derived their name. Amish believe in a strict plain form of dress and other things regulated by the group and especially by their bishops. Amish believe their people should continue without change from modern things such as electricity, automobiles and tractors. Though without electricity, many homes have running water and bathrooms (unheard of in years past). Amish use horses for farming and transportation. Their lifestyle is to remain as in days of old. The largest Amish community in Missouri is found at Jamesport.
MENNONITES -- While there are a number of different groups of people and churches called Mennonites in the world, this particular statement deals specifically with The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. These Mennonite Christians also believe in plain, simple and modest dress. They believe in and require for membership a true spiritual experiences of the New Birth that Jesus said must be experienced to enter the kingdom of God and be saved. The power to be faithful in all things they hold must be from and by the Holy Spirit dwelling within. It should be noted that the use of modern things such as automobiles, electricity and telephones can be used by Mennonites with careful and proper control. But Mennonites do not find the use of radio or television to be for them since these are largely under the control of the carnal world and mostly harmful to true and pure spiritual living.
We went to the Pine River Cheese many years ago , wow it has expanded since we were there.
ReplyDeleteLove the Point Clark Lighthouse, we have climbed to the top, enjoyed the beach and stayed in their parking lot overnight a couple times too, wonderful area.
Suzie and her family are Mennonites that blend into society, but they have many relatives that still dress in black and use the horse and buggies for transportation.
Kelly looks great!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Al, for addressing the two different religious sects:) There seem to be so many small groups within each religion, it makes it tough to keep track.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE cheese and cheese factories. Now you've added a new one for us to visit during out next trip through that area:)
Love the lighthouse pictures. I read about the restoration, pretty amazing what they can do to preserve these old buildings.
ReplyDeleteLove the lighthouse pictures. I read about the restoration, pretty amazing what they can do to preserve these old buildings.
ReplyDeleteIf those old lighthouses could talk! We saw a couple neat ones on Lake Superior...All of those Great Lakes have many heroic and frightening stories of ships being wrecked there..The Edmund Fitzgerald comes to mind..LOVE that history stuff.
ReplyDeleteAl, enjoyed your post today. I've never explored that stretch of coast north of Goderich and south of the Bruce. Reading your post I think I should. Lots of lighthouses I could enjoy visiting there and further north. And I do like cheese, so that could be fun. Nice little Cabbage White you found; I've seen one, but it wouldn't sit still like that for photographs! Drove to Walkerton today and realized that much of the landscape up here is closed in and forested, with many fewer barns left, and many of those hidden behind the fencerows and such. Quite a contrast to Huron County!
ReplyDelete