WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING SNOWED UNDER

A COLD DAY AT THE BEACH IN GRAND BEND ONTARIO

Winds howled in the night & with weather warnings issued for our area I thought for sure we would wake up to a foot of snow but it never happened.  In fact we even saw a few patches of blue sky once the Sun got up.  A quick check of our Exeter real time radar site showed feathering streams of snow coming in off the lake around Goderich were narrow & sporadic so Pheebs & I piled into the Jeep & headed out south of Bayfield instead of north towards Goderich. 

A SNOWY LAKE STREAMER GOING THROUGH OUR IMMEDIATE AREA THIS MORNING

SNOW STOPPED & WITH SUNLIGHT IN THE TOPS OF THE PINES PHEEBE & I HIT THE ROAD

CAN’T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I DROVE ON A SNOWY ROAD

Since driving through Bayfield on our way home a week & half ago I had not been back into the wee village itself so Pheebs & I cruised through town to have a look around.  Surprised to see the beach area closed off with heavy fencing & construction equipment.  No idea what's going on there.  The harbor without all it's colorful summer sailboats looked very cold, forlorn, & lonely.  A couple cold water fishing boats tied up & that was it.  Nothing stirring not even a mouse.

TWAS A LONELY LOOKING HARBOR THIS MORNING

NOT MUCH ACTIVITY ON BAYFIELDS MAIN STREET EITHER

WARMER WEATHER WILL SOON BE OPENING ALL THE BUSINESS’S AGAIN FOR ANOTHER SUMMER SEASON

Clouds dominated our morning sky but with occasional sun splashes urging us ever further we made our way along a few gravel roads in the direction of Grand Bend.  We were out of milk & Kelly was needing some sugar so I knew of a Sobeys grocery store there.  Oh & a Tim Hortons coffee shop as well so with a coffee & muffin aboard we headed ourselves on down to Grand Bends beach & small harbor area. 

YOU CAN SEE PHEEBS REFLECTION IN TIM HORTONS DRIVE-THRU WINDOW EAGERLY WAITING FOR IT TO OPEN

WE DID GET OURSELVES MUDDIED UP A BIT ON THE GRAVELY ROADS 

Large waves breaking over the pier being driven ashore by the iciest of westerly winds kept Pheebs & I in the Jeep except for one quick foray to grab a few photos which resulted in me almost freezing my fingers off.  Wow was it cold.  A quick stop at Sobeys netted us a few groceries & we were out of Grand Bend headed east then north again on a series of gravely back roads.  Despite the countryside looking a bit bleak we did manage a few photos & one leg stretch along the way. 

‘AHA’ COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE CANADA’S NEW TOP SECRET GREAT LAKES STEAM SUBMARINE PLOWING THROUGH CHOPPY WATERS JUST OFF GRAND BEND

NAWWW, IT’S JUST GRAND BEND’S PIER BEING ASSAULTED BY HEAVY WAVE ACTION:))

THERE WILL BE NO CUSTOMARY WALK OUT ONTO THE PIER THIS MORNING

 SPOTTED A LONE TURKEY VULTURE IN THE FOREGROUND

FIGURED HE WAS PROBABLY DINING HIMSELF ON A YUMMY DEAD FISH SANDWICH

WITH WAVES COMING EVER CLOSER HE PREPARES FOR TAKE-OFF

UP UP & AWAY

Couldn't help but notice after arriving home later the most snow we saw all morning was right in our very own 5 Seasons Park.  But of course that is normal as it seems with all our pine tree shade snow is always very slow to melt.  Snow flurries lazily drifted down on & off for the rest of the day as wandering narrow bands of snow feathered in off the open waters of Lake Huron on their way inland.   By early afternoon all hopes of further warming & encouraging sun bursts were long gone.  Resigned myself to my recliner & curled up under a warm blanket in front of the TV flicking my way through the channels in hopes of finding some interesting documentaries or biographies.  And I did find a great documentary by Ken Burns about the jazz age in America.

JUST A LONE FISHING BOAT IN GRAND BEND’S HARBOR

GRAND BEND’S BEACH FRONT TINY TOTS PLAYGROUND

THEY SURE DID A NICE JOB ON LANDSCAPING GRAND BEND’S BEACH A FEW YEARS AGO

GRAND BEND’S YACHT CLUB LIVE WEB CAM IS LOCATED IN THE TOP WINDOW OF THAT LIGHTHOUSE IN THE BACKGROUND

IN SOBEYS PARKING LOT THIS SUNDAY MORNING IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE COUGHED UP THEIR SATURDAY NIGHT RASPBERRIES

Don't know if you've noticed or not but I have been doing very well in not complaining about our colder weather since we've returned home outside of calling it grumbly a few days ago.  Yes we are indeed longing for some sunny warm weather but we are also glad we are not trapped inside by 90 degree outside temperatures either.  It will be 87F in Congress in a couple days & we are both quite content to be right here where we are in southern Ontario's much cooler temperatures.   After spending the last 10 years in the warm sunny southwest we still have a lot of cold weather Canadian resolve left in us:)) 

‘OH-OH’ SINCE WRITING MY LAST PARAGRAPH EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON WE HAVE HAD A STEADY SNOWFALL FOR THE PAST 5 HOURS & AT THE TIME OF PUBLISHING THIS TONIGHT IT’S STILL SNOWING…..OH WELL WE HAVE MISSED 10 CANADIAN CHRISTMAS’S OVER THE YEARS SO WE’RE ACTUALLY KIND OF ENJOYING THIS……..OK WELL I AM:)) 

SLEIGH RIDE 

SAND DUNE ON THE BEACH

GROANER'S CORNER:((   one day at the entrance to heaven, St. Peter saw a New York street gang. walk up to the Pearly Gates. This being a first, St. Peter ran to God and said, "God, there are some evil, thieving New Yorkers at the Pearly Gates. What do I do?".  God replied, "Just do what you normally do with that type. Re-direct them down to hell."  St. Peter went back to carry out the order and all of a sudden he comes running back yelling "God, God, they're gone, they're gone!"  "Who, the New Yorkers?". "No, the Pearly Gates."