Kelly hit the decks a running this morning & by 7:30 we had all kinds of great cooking smells coming from the kitchen. Pots & pans were just a flying. We'll sure have lots to eat on this trip.
A TRAY OF CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES & MORE BATTER IN THE BLENDER BOWL
KELLY PICKED UP THAT ‘BLUE BIRD’ FLOUR IN BLUFF UTAH OUR LAST TIME THROUGH THERE & THOSE ARE ‘DATES’ IN THAT WHITE BOWL
YEP & THAT’S A REAL COOK BOOK THERE TOO
Overcast but no rain on our morning walk & I was kinda reminded both of Spring & Fall at the same time. With our shoes rustling through leaves on the forest trail I was reminded of Autumn & with sounds of Robins in nearby trees & Canada Geese winging overhead I was also reminded of a fine Spring morning.
FARMER’S WERE BUSILY ON THE LAND TODAY HARVESTING CORN
WITH THAT SHUTE OUT THE BACK THIS COMBINE CAN UNLOAD IT’S LOAD OF CORN INTO A WAGON OR AN AUGER HOPPER
THIS AUGER HOPPER IS HEADED OUT TO PICK UP ANOTHER LOAD OF CORN KERNELS FROM THE COMBINE
WITH CORN IN THE HOPPER IT IS TOWED TO WAITING WAGONS WHICH IN TURN ARE WAITING TO BE HAULED OFF TO A CORN DRYER OR SILO
TO ELIMINATE THE HOPPER STEPS 18 WHEELERS ARE SOMETIMES DRIVEN OUT INTO THE FIELD TO BE FILLED RIGHT FROM THE COMBINE
Back from our walk Kelly soon had me plopped down in a chair on our back porch. It was haircut time for AL & Kelly wanted to get that out of the way before we hit the road. Not real short this time as I seem to be in one of my long hair moods again & the last time I looked there seemed to be some semblance of a beard growing again. At 71 years old it doesn’t look like I’ve figured out who I am yet………………….
A FEW MORE BARN PHOTOS AS WELL THIS MORNING
MORE & MORE FARMS ARE USING SOLAR POWER THESE DAYS
AND HERE’S A NEW BARN UNDER CONSTRUCTION SOUTH-EAST OF GODERICH
First order of business for me this morning was to deal with the vertical black streaks on the Motorhome's finish & windows. Black streaks leaching out & running down from rubber mouldings around windows is always a PITA for RV'ers & especially those of us who own white RV’s. Those streaks usually appear after a rain. Out with the big tall step ladder, some glass cleaner & a spray bottle of black streak remover. I tackled the rig's windows first including the windshield. Dust, dirt, & mud on a vehicle I can handle but dirty windows & mirrors drive me bonkers. Took me a good 40 minutes to have things looking ship shape again. Until it rains again of course:((
STILL LOTS OF COLOR IN THE COUNTRYSIDE BUT SOME LEAVES ARE BEGINNING TO THIN OUT
Kelly had a bunch of errands to run so she was off to Goderich. Finished up my RV cleaning & washed the dishes plus a hundred pots & pans. Noticed a few sun splashes on the trees outside & thought to myself, hmmmm might be a nice idea for Pheebs & I to take one last little country road drive for the year & with that thought in mind we were minutes later loaded up & on our way.
Coffee & muffin from Tim Hortons in Clinton & we were soon on our old route out around Huron Counties Hullett-Marsh. Didn't stop for a walk this morning & just kept on rolling slowly working our way back in the direction of Goderich. Lots of farmers harvesting corn right now & it was just nice being out in the country again. Driving along I suddenly had an alarming thought......this could quite possibly be my last Tim Hortons coffee for the next five & a half months. My next Timmies might not be until Forest Ontario early next April on our way home. Oh perish the thought!!
Had myself a nice ‘little boy’ moment in Goderich’s Canadian Tire store this morning. Stopped there & bought me a new pair of work gloves & on my way to pick up some glass cleaner in another department I passed by a large display of Christmas decorations. It was the colors that caught my eye & I walked over between the shelves looking at all the bows & ribbons, Christmas tree balls, wreaths, & everything Christmasy. My mind instantly flashed back about 65 years to one of the earliest memories I can ever recall. I was with my Mother & I think another lady & I believe we were in Woodstock Ontario. I’m thinking it was a Woolworth or Kresge store & it might have been on the main street north side. The store was all decked out for Christmas of course & I remember looking up at a whole host of big red paper Christmas Bells suspended from the ceiling. I remember Christmas carols playing as well. This fleeting memory has stayed with me all these years & how nice it was those Christmas decorations in the Canadian Tire store triggered that pleasant memory for me this morning……………….
Kelly was already home by the time Pheebs & I returned & as soon as I stepped out of the Jeep it was like stepping into a bakery. Baking smells were wafting out the windows. I think Kelly had baked about a thousand chocolate chip cookies. She was also making apple sauce plus a couple date nut loaves. By 1 o'clock she about had herself half wore out & in her own light hearted words said, "it's like I'm out of control". I like it when she gets herself out of control like that:))
KELLY USES A FOLEY FOOD MILL TO MAKE APPLE SAUCE & THE NICE PART ABOUT THE FOLEY IS YOU DON’T HAVE TO PEEL THE APPLES
Gets me worried a bit when I walk around the Motorhome & see lots of open space in the bins. Makes me think I must be forgetting a thousand things when in reality we have just learned to pack smarter from the days we first started out & had the bins so full of everything we almost had to leave the doors open to cram everything in. But driving with open bin doors doesn’t work so swell so we always had to batter them shut with a sledge hammer:))
I'll sure be glad to get the big wheels rolling Saturday morning because that is the only cure for the apprehensive jitters I always get before a long trip. You know those kinds of thoughts that unexpectedly jar you out of a nice pleasant semi-consciousness dozing state. Some of those thoughts are enough to spin one's head right around. What if this & what if that. Tucked comfortably away in my warm cushy recliner I ask myself why would I want to leave all this quiet peace & security to venture out onto those unpredictable choppy seas of unknown travel. Why not stay home where it's safe & comfortable, where days are indeed predictable & routines are expected. Of course I know why & as soon as the big wheels begin to roll all those 'what ifs' instantly vanish & it is full speed ahead as we again set our course for the good old American South-west...................:))
BAMBOO GRASS TASSELS
GROANER’S CORNER:(( How About A Few ‘Why’ Questions::
Why, Why, Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the
batteries are getting weak?
Why do banks charge a fee due to insufficient funds when they already know
you're broke?
Why is it that when someone tells you that there are one billion stars in
the universe, you believe them but, if they tell you there is wet paint, you
have to touch it to check?
Why do they use sterilized needles for lethal injections?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a
revolver at him?
Why did Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
Why is it that, no matter what colour bubble bath you use, the bubbles are
always white?
Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that
something new to eat will have materialized?
Why do people run over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner,
then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum
one more chance?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the first end you try?
Why & how do those dead bugs get into enclosed light fixtures?
Why is it when we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping
cart, then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It's all right"? Well,
it isn't all right, so why don't we say, "That really hurt, why don't you
watch where you're going?"
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off
the table you always manage to knock something else over?
Why, in winter, do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when
we complained about the heat?
Why is it you never hear father-in-law jokes?
Looking forward to watching your southbound route develop. It's only this week that the weather in Phoenix has started to cool down. I can finally open the windows at night!
ReplyDeleteAl, there are a lot of Tim Hortons here in Michigan. I also searched their website and noticed that they have four of them in St. Louis, Mo. Not sure what route you are taking, but they do seem to be popping up more in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteYou are about one full month ahead of us, but we are headed again to Florida...Between Dennis in the combine and my medical stuff we are just hanging around. Also, our granddaughter had a theater production of Romeo and Juliet on Nov. 21st..she is playing a male role of Romeo's best friend, and that involves a couple sword duels..We just HAVE to stay for that, right???
ReplyDeleteTravel safe, Al and Kelly, and you should be just fine with all those cookies for fuel.
ReplyDeleteHave a safe trip! I am looking forward to your adventure.
ReplyDeleteAnd how many cookies did you sample Al? With all those yummy smells from the kitchen, I would have been out of control!
ReplyDeleteIt is so nice to get on the road, you cpuld always, get some coffee grounds from Tim Hortons and make you own.
ReplyDeleteKelly the Energizer Bunny?
We bring enough of our coffee for 200 pots, sure don't wanna run out.
Wow, now you made me feel bad. Vicki Allen painted "Rock N Roll with Bill and Jan" on our back window last month at the MOC rally. It's still there, do you think the window might need to be cleaned?
ReplyDeleteHuge hurricane heading into Mexico and likely to throw lots of rain into Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
ReplyDeleteYes I thought the same thing when I saw the Hurricane projections on a TV weather map. We'll already be plunging into rain probably Saturday as I see a large rain front coming in from the mid-west moving east.
DeleteWow, that's a lot of baking! I can almost smell the yumminess from here :-) Lovely Christmas memory, thanks for sharing. With no house for stuff anymore, I figured our bins would be overflowing, but we actually have empty space as well - a couple empty cupboards inside too - I often wonder why I thought I needed all that :-) Love the tassels - look like fireworks!!
ReplyDeleteSafe and Happy Travels!
ReplyDeleteI could never figure out why the rubber molding around the windows leaves dirty streaks on an RV, but not on a car. And why do you never hear of a leak in the front windshield of an automobile, but they've mostly stopped putting windows in the front of camper trailers because of the propensity to leak. Something about the RV mfg industry sounds "off" to me.
ReplyDeleteI have those black streaks on our white van as well. :-(
DeleteWish I had someone who 'was out of control' like Kelly. :)
ReplyDeleteThose chocolate chip cookies ain't gonna last very long with you being around, Al. But by all means enjoy them as long as you have'em.
ReplyDelete