Sunday, June 25, 2017

A BIG SKY DAY OVER CHOPPY LAKE HURON WATERS

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I love it when from my recliner each morning I can look up out our big window and see blue skies through green pine trees.  And that is exactly what I saw this morning despite cloudy skies rumbling through our area during the night.

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THIS COLORFUL LITTLE FELLOW KNOWS HOW TO DISQUISE ITSELF QUITE WELL

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Soon as Pheebs and I cleared our surrounding forest we could see Sunday morning’s sky was a beautiful mottled array of big white, gray, and dark stormy looking clouds.  Patches of blue, puffs of white and slates of gray from horizon to horizon.  Bright sunny patches drifted slowly across Huron County farmlands briefly highlighting distant shadows and occasionally crossing our path as we made our way to Goderich.  I knew with this kind of sky overhead Lake Huron was going to be looking mighty nice.

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PASTORAL FARMLANDS

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Coffee and muffin in hand we made our way down to the harbor.  Two large lake freighters in port that I had never seen before.  The FLORENCE SPIRIT docked at the Goderich grain elevators while the strange looking ASHTABULA a short distance away was tied up to the Sifto Salt Mind dock.  What is strange about the Ashtabula is that it is a combination Barge and Tug Boat.  Check the link and it will tell you all about it.  And it seems it has spent a fair share of it’s sea time between Tampa Bay and the Lower Mississippi River.  But first, the green hulled Florence Spirit.

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SEEING’S HOW SHE IS RIDING HIGH IN THE WATER THE ‘FLORENCE SPIRIT’ HASN’T TAKEN ON A LOAD YET

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WELL SHE’S GOT QUITE A SET OF ANCHORS ON HER HASN’T SHE

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TWO DIFFERENT BOATS TWO DIFFERENT MASTS

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IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE THE ‘PHEEBER BUNS’ IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT

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I HAD NO IDEA WHAT THIS BOAT WAS UNTIL LATER READING ON THE INTERNET ABOUT THE BARGE ASHTABULA AND THE TUG BOAT DEFIANCE

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THAT LARGE TUG BOAT IS EMBEDDED RIGHT INTO THE BIG BARGE

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THE ASHTABULA HAS ALSO BEEN AN OCEAN GOING VESSEL

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Lake Huron was rough this morning having been stirred up the past few days by a number of storm cells traveling eastwards across her waters.  We stopped at the dog walking area for a few pictures and were immediately set upon by a passing rain cloud.  Waited it out for a few minutes then back out of the Jeep we were.  Big beautiful skies all around us and I was able to snap off a few nice photos.  Oh how I am loving this D7200 Nikon camera:))

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LOOKS LIKE THE BOYS ARE HEADING OUT TO DO SOME KAYAKING IN CHOPPY WATERS

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‘AWWWW GEEEEZZZZZ’ WHO FORGOT TO PUT THE CORK IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BOAT!!’

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LOOKS LIKE THOSE GODERICH FIREFIGHTERS ARE STILL WORKING HARD AT STAYING IN SHAPE….GOOD STUFF

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GETTING HARDER TO TELL THE YOUNGSTERS FROM THE ADULTS

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‘HEY BURT SURF’S UP’

Needing a few things at Walmart I buzzed in and out of there in about 7.2 minutes.  Two days ago I was in the Pharmacy department and spent a good 5 minutes looking for a couple items I simply could not find.  Being a man I didn’t ask anyone where I could find anything and promptly left the store in a huff of course badgering myself all the way back to the Jeep.  This morning I walked over to the Pharmacy section again and found the two said items in about 30 seconds.  Now why does that happen!!  For sure those two things were there on the shelf two days ago but my eyes could not locate them.  This is a rather common occurrence for me and about drives me batty every time it happens which of course is just about every day so every day I have some kind of batty time with myself.

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LOTS OF FLOTSAM AND JETSAM WASHING UP ON THE BEACH THIS MORNING AND SECONDS AFTER TAKING THIS PHOTO WE GOT RAINED ON

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THE BLIP ON THE WATER’S HORIZON TO THE RIGHT IS THE BREAKWATER BUILDING BELOW

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Our 12 year old Samsung 42” plasma television finally gave up the ghost Saturday night.  Kelly was watching it and the screen suddenly went all ka-floofilated.  It was nothing like we had ever seen before and I knew right away it was done.  There had been a few ka-flooferation signs over the past couple months and I had a feeling it was on it’s last legs.  It had been a demonstrator set at a local TV shop when we first bought it.  Expecting trouble we had  been researching TV’s over the last while and already had an idea what we were looking for so earlier this afternoon Kelly climbed on-line and ordered us up a 55” LG Super UHD Smart LED TV.  With any luck we may be able to pick it up Wednesday at the Brick store in Goderich.  In the meantime we have the 19” TV from our old Congress Arizona house set up.

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THE TOWN OF GODERICH DOES A SUPERB JOB WITH ALL IT’S FLOWER PLANTING EACH YEAR

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With cooler temperatures and a nice refreshing breeze Pheebs and I took us for a bug free walk around the pine tree trail this afternoon.  Clippers in hand I was able to do a little trail trimming maintenance along the way.  At the time of publishing this tonight it is 63 degrees and I am a happy camper with that.  Think I’ll go put a sweater on:))

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GROANER’S CORNER:((  Two children went into their parent's bathroom and noticed the scale in the corner. "Whatever you do," cautioned one child to the younger one, "don't step on it!"
"Why not?" asked the sibling. "Because every time mom does, she lets out an awful scream!"

Q: How was Saddam Hussein like Fred Flintstone? A: Both looked out their windows and saw Rubble.

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A pickpocket was up in court for a series of petty crimes. The judge said “Mr. Banks you are hereby fined $100.” The lawyer stood up and said “Thanks, my lord, however my client only has $75 on him at this time, but if you'd allow him a few minutes in the crowd…”

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"I'm sorry," said the clerk in the flower shop, "we don't have potted geraniums. Could you use African violets instead?"  Replied the customer sadly, "No, it was geraniums my wife told me to water while she was gone."

7 comments:

  1. The rough waters the lake sure are nasty , don't want to e out there in a small boat when its like that. Lake Erie was about the sam today as well, with some high winds and s few rain showers.

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  2. The sea going barges are in the Gulf of Mexico along the United States on a frequent basis.

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  3. I've never seen a barge/tug combination like the Ashtabula and Defiance. Really interesting way to build a ship!

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  4. We have that exact TV that replaced a Samsung that died after 31/2 years. No more Samsungs in our house. The LG has worked really well, and we have had no trouble with it. Lots of options and a great smart TV section. You're going to have to play with it a lot to get it where you want it. Good choice.

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  5. There is so much to see in your neck of the woods this time of year. I can see why you guys enjoy "home" so much when it's not colder than a witch's, well, you know, and in a brass suit to boot. :-)

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  6. That first pic is intense! What an interesting barge. It looks like a weird building. Would love to see it moving through the water. Time for Pheebs to get her learner's permit!

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  7. They have a few tug/barges like that on Lake Michigan, Al. Two of the barges are recently converted steamers that haul cement in and out of Charlevoix. Each of them is over 100 years old!

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