OH THE GALL OF THAT FAT LITTLE RAT FACED CRITTER!!

 SUMMER'S FUN STORED IN A SHED FOR THE WINTER AWAITING NEXT YEAR'S SUNSHINE AND WARM TEMPERATURES AGAIN

Rather than saying it was a bit warmer today, I'll simply say, it wasn't as cold as it has been for the past few days.  Under cloudy skies, Pheebs and I slipped into Bayfield and headed for the cemetery where I knew we could walk somewhat sheltered from the morning's icy wind.  Following that, we slipped over to the carwash and gave the Jeep a good five-minute pressurized hosing down, especially around the wheel wells and underneath where corrosive road salt does the most damage.  After that, we drove along Bayfield's main street, slipped down around the harbor, and headed home.

 THE CEMETERY WITH ITS BIG TREES IS VERY SHELTERED FROM THE WIND

Some readers are still having various on-and-off problems accessing our blog and we don't know if it's a Blogger issue or something to do with Google.  It seems to be a random ongoing thing.  We haven't changed any settings so I'm afraid we can't be of much help.

 NO HARDY COFFEE AFICIONADOS  SITTING OUT FRONT OF BAYFIELD'S SHOPBIKE COFFEE ROASTERS COFFEE SHOP THIS MORNING

 THE RECONSTRUCTION OF BAYFIELD'S MAIN STREET CONTINUES

 UP UNTIL TODAY, THE BAYFIELD RIVER WAS BUSILY FREEZING ITSELF OVER

 I THINK THESE SEAGULLS ARE CONFUSED ABOUT THE STIFF WATER

 A THIN LAYER OF ICE ON THE RIVER

Later,  while sitting at the sunroom desktop computer this afternoon I noticed a movement in the small pine tree near the bird station.  Sure enough, I watched as a black squirrel launched himself from the pine tree, sailed through the air, knocked the blue plastic bin lid aside, and landed on the feeder.  'A-ha' I thought, 'I got your number buddy!!  Out to the shed I went, picked out four wood screws, grabbed my drill, and headed for the front yard.  Minutes later I had that plastic lid screwed securely to the piece of wood making it a solid barrier.  I was sure that lid could now withstand a speeding locomotive as well as a frantic squirrel.  With that, I went back into the house and waited.  Twenty minutes later I saw the squirrel scurry up the pine tree, hesitate, then fling himself into space heading for the bird feeder.  'Bam'!!  He bounced off the plastic wall and dropped to the ground where he scampered back to the pine tree and tried again.  'Bam'!!  Down he went again but ten minutes later he tried for the third time.  'Bam'!!  Down he went again and scampered off.  It was about this time a small sly smug leering grin began to appear on my face.  But, it didn't last long.  Minutes later, not to be outdone, the rascally squirrel went roaring up the tall cedar tree behind the feeder and did his high wire act by again launching himself into the air and sky-diving down upon the bird station from the top.  And dag nab it if he didn't land himself on a small flat space beside the garbage can.  Leaving my smug leering grin behind, I too was in a roaring mood as I went flying out the door with my arms flailing like a wildly wonky windmill in a hefty force-ten hurricane.  Before the squirrel jumped off the feeder he turned to look at me and I for sure saw a very distinct smug leering little grin on his face. Touche' I bet he thought.  Oh, the gall of that fat little rat-faced critter!! I repositioned the garbage can and added a water-filled plastic bottle to the open space and then went back inside again to await the squirrel's next move!!  At the time of posting this tonight, the squirrel has not mounted another high-flying aerial cedar tree attack on the feeder.  But, there is no sly smug leering grin on my face this time.  The battle resumes at daybreak..............

It was around 1 p.m. when the sun finally made an appearance and it wasn't long after that that I saw the first signs of some 'drip-drip' melting going on.  It was 37F, the snow underfoot was crunchy, and some overhanging snow actually slid off our steel roof.  Oh my, I thought to myself, 'Spring can't be too far away now eh'.  And Facebook sent a memory today saying 15 years ago on this day we were at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  We had just been to both Bryce and Zion Canyons the week before that.  Oh, how time flies......

I THINK THE JEEP'S HALF-OPENED WINDOW GOT IN THE WAY OF THIS SHOT AT THE BOTTOM LEFT

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Kathy began a job as an elementary school counselor and she was eager to help.  One day, during recess, Kathy noticed a young girl standing by herself on one side of the playing field while the rest of the kids were playing a game of soccer.  A while later, Kathy walked over to the young girl and offered, "Would you like me to be your friend?"  The girl looked at Kathy suspiciously, then said hesitantly, "Okay, I guess so..."  "Why are you standing here all alone?" asked Kathy.  "Because," the little girl said with great exasperation, "I'm the goalie!"

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I just want you to know that if I win the Powerball tonight, it won't change me.  It will change my phone number, my email address, my mailing address...