RIDING ALONG WITH US THIS MORNING WAS NAT KING COLE, BING CROSBY, FRANK SINATRA, BILLIE HOLIDAY, LOUIE ARMSTRONG AND MORE………..

A rarity of sorts Saturday night as all three of us piled into the Jeep and headed out into the countryside to see if we could catch ourselves a rising Moon.  Too much haze on the Eastern horizon for an early Moonrise but no matter it was just a nice change of pace for us all to get out together for a drive on a warm near Summer’s evening.  Been a long time since we’ve done that.

IT WAS A NICE WARM SATURDAYEVENING FOR A DRIVE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

WAITING FOR THE MOONRISE WE PARKED RIGHT ALONGSIDE THIS BEANFIELD

LOOKING SOUTH

LOOKING NORTH

It is always so difficult for me to keep the number of photos down in my posts when we live in such a beautifully diverse area of rural Ontario. 

AN AREA FARMER LOOKS BACK TO CHECK ON HIS HAY RAKE

STOPS THE TRACTOR TO CHECK SOMETHING AND I’M THINKING HE MIGHT HAVE GOT THAT FRONT WHEEL A LITTLE CLOSE TO SOME WIRE FENCING

OH DEAR HE MAY BE HEADING BACK TO THE BARN TO FETCH A FEW TOOLS

Sunday morning found me with paint brush in hand as I put a final coat of paint on our new gas furnace door.  Had been a dozen years or so since we painted our hallway where the furnace is located and luckily a few days ago Kelly remembered the name of the paint we used back then as Bennington Gray.  She picked up a quart of Bennington Gray Friday so this morning I was able to blend that furnace door in with the rest of the hallway.

AMISH FOLKS HAVE A TENDENCY TO LIKE THEIR HOUSES WHITE AND THEIR BARNS RED

A COUPLE OLD BARNS IN THE TWILIGHT OF THEIR YEARS

LOTS OF FINE OLD HOMES IN RURAL SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

Although feeling very tired I asked Pheebs if she would like to go for a ride in the Jeep this morning and she immediately went Bonkers so it was into the Jeep & off out to the countryside with us.  All windows down again as we made our way over to the Marsh.  We had a ba-zillion Gnats around our heads every time we stepped out of the Jeep so needless to say we finally had to just kept on moving.

A COUPLE AREA FARMERS CHATTING UP THIS SEASONS GROWING WEATHER

ASSEMBLED FROM BITS AND PIECES METHINKS

A COUPLE YOUNG FARM LADS RAKING UP  HAY ON A HOT SUNNY SATURDAY MORNING

IT’S A BUSY TIME OF YEAR IN THE FARMING COMMUNITY

STONE WORK IN OLD BARN FOUNDATIONS CAN BE A WORK OF ART IN ITSELF

Despite a good night’s sleep I spent most of my afternoon snoozing on and off in my recliner.  Kelly has been bothered with waves of tiredness over these last few days as well.  We’re quite a pair as we drag ourselves around here.  We think it just may simply be the heat and humidity that’s affecting us although I never ventured outside once today after arriving home from our morning drive.  We sure do love the cooling comfort our air conditioner brings us.  A big ‘Yahouie Louie’ to whoever invented A/C:))

Longest day of the year is nearly upon us after which we begin the long backslide to the the shortest day of the year in December.  I always look forward to those two time markers each year as one signifies the coming of Autumn and Winter which means southbound RV travels and one means the coming of Spring and Summer which signifies northbound RV travels.  Funny how that works for me but somehow it always does.

CAME ACROSS THIS WILD ROSEBUSH IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

 

Riding along with us this morning was Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, Billie Eckstein, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby Dinah Washington, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Billie Holliday, Louie Armstrong and Sarah Vaughn just to name a few.  With my Sirius Satellite Radio tuned to the ‘Sinatra’ channel my mind was again taken back to an era and place in time I remember with great fondness.  I am fortunate the sands of time have been kind as they have gently sifted through my mind wearing away any lumps of coal leaving only diamonds.  My Dad I never knew well in those days but one of my earliest memories is of him coming into our village one day on his motorcycle and pulling over to the curb to talk to me.  My Mother and I on warm summer evenings would sometimes play catch in front of our house & we played a game called ‘Skunk’.  Whenever either one of us would drop the ball we would pick up a letter and the first one to drop the ball five times would be ‘skunked’.  I had no brothers or sisters to play with and grew up in a house of adults.  My Mother, Step-Father, Uncle and Grandfather.  They were all very good to me as a small boy and to this day my mind often travels back to those times oh so many years ago and it is the music from that era which frequently stops to pick me up and take me there.  No, I won’t call them the ‘good ol days’ nor will I call them the ‘bad ol days’.  No, instead let me just call them what they were & what they have become over the past  7 decades……the ‘best of days with the best of memories in a young boy’s mind’.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:
1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.
GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:
1) Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.
2) Wrinkles don't hurt.
3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.
4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.
6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.
GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT GROWING OLD:
1) Growing up is mandatory; growing old is optional.
2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.
4) You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.
5) It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.
6) Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.
7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.