A SLIGHT SMOKY HAZE IN MY PHOTOS TODAY

DAY LILIES IN OUR FRONT YARD THIS MORNING

There was a definite haze in the morning air which I suspect had to do with a couple things.  First, the smoke from the Quebec fires and second the fact that warmer air moving in overnight conflicted with the dominant cooler night air.  As the day wore on the haze remained so for sure it was smoke from Quebec.  That slight smoky haze can be seen in most of my photos today.

 SOLAR PANELS ON THE EDGE OF A BARLEY FIELD

 THE LAST OF A DOZEN SHEEP HEADS INTO THE BARN

No need for a light jacket as Pheebs and I walked our country road before venturing off around half a dozen country roads.  Nice to have the windows down with those warm summer breezes wafting through the Jeep.

 WE HAVE A NUMBER OF ACTIVE GRAVEL PITS IN OUR AREA WITH SOME OF THE OLDER ONES FILLED WITH CRYSTAL-CLEAR SPRING WATER 

Well, here we are on the last day of June already.  My oh my how the time is flying by.  If we were still RVing I would be thinking, 'oh boy oh boy, in less than four months we will be on the road heading for the great American Southwest again.  Instead, now I think 'Awwww Nuts, in four months from now our weather will already be deteriorating to the point where snowy cold winter weather could be only weeks away:((

 A FEW PICS OF A RURAL JUNKYARD WE DROVE BY THIS MORNING

An update from my son Sean on Facebook a couple days ago....."They told me I no longer need to wear the neck collar. Everything has settled down in my neck. They are happy with the fractures in my left foot and said I can take off the big air cast and use it only when necessary. They think I may have torn some muscles in my left shoulder, so I have an MRI in a month.  The fractured, ribs, collarbone, and shoulder blades they say are just going to take some time for the bones to heal. Once the bones have healed, the muscles and tissue will settle down. So, I am 100% on the mend, and I am told that I will basically be in a decreasing amount of pain over the next few months as everything settles down. '

 THERE IS A HORSE IN THIS PHOTO

I did spend some time this afternoon trimming back more shrubs and branches.  That is until the humidity chased me inside.  At 4 p.m. we met Richard and Gayle at Renegades Diner for their Friday fish and chips special.

 A PLASTIC OWL SEEN ON A NEIGHBOR'S TREE

 FISH AND CHIPS AT RENEGADES DINER LATE THIS AFTERNOON

Al's Music Box:)) The Boys Of Summer by the Eagles with vocals by drummer Don Henley from their Farewell Tour in Melbourne Australia.  2004

 MORNING DEW DROPS ON A FLOWER PETAL

GROANER'S CORNER:(( An elementary School Teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom the 1st half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders.  Their insight may surprise you.  While reading, keep in mind that these are first-graders, 6-year-olds.

1.Don't change horses......until they stop running.

2. Strike while the......bug is close.

3. It's always darkest before......Daylight Saving Time.

4. Never underestimate the power of......termites.

5. You can lead a horse to water but......how?

6. Don't bite the hand that......looks dirty.

7. No news is......impossible.

8. A miss is as good as a......Mr.

9. You can't teach an old dog new......math.

10. If you lie down with dogs, you'll......stink in the morning.

11. Love all, trust......me.

12. The pen is mightier than the......pigs.

13. An idle mind is......the best way to relax.

14. Where there's smoke there's......pollution.

15. Happy the bride who......gets all the presents.

16. A penny saved is......not much.

17. Two's company, three's......the Musketeers.

18. Don't put off till tomorrow what......you put on to go to bed.

19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and......you have to blow your nose.

20. There are none so blind as......Stevie Wonder.

21. Children should be seen and not......spanked or grounded.

22. If at first you don't succeed......get new batteries.

23. You get out of something only what you......see in the picture on the box.

24. When the blind lead the blind......get out of the way.

25. A bird in the hand......is going to poop on you.

----------------------------------

 

THEY WILL BE ENERGETICALLY TALKING ABOUT OUR PARK'S PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

A burgundy van slowly rolled around the corner this morning and stopped in front of our driveway where I was standing.  I opened the passenger door and climbed in.  The driver of the van was my good buddy Richard of course and off we went on another one of our semi-monthly Thursday morning coffee tours.  Our first and only stop was Mcdonalds' in Goderich for two coffees and two carrot muffins to go.  We spent the next two and a half hours immersed in our usual in-depth conversation as we wandered around through some picturesque countryside north of Goderich.

 A TYPICAL OLD FARM IN RURAL SOUTHERN ONTARIO

 A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON AN OLD WINDMILL

 DAISIES ON THE EDGE OF A BARLEY FIELD

Wind currents had shifted again and brought us more smoke from the Quebec wildfires today.  It seemed more prevalent in the morning air but not as bad as this past Tuesday.

 MAMA GRACKLE WITH JUNIOR CRACKLE IN THE FOREGROUND

 'AND THAT OVER THERE JUNIOR IS YOUR WORTHLESS FATHER'

 'AND THAT HANDSOM DEVIL OVER THERE JUNIOR IS WHO I WISHED WAS YOUR FATHER'

 'SO DON'T GROW UP TO BE LIKE YOUR DAD OKAY'

I spent a couple hours outside this afternoon with my handy clippers in our front yard jungle.  Everywhere I looked I could see where things were needing to be either cut back or cut off.  It keeps me busy just cutting off or pulling out all the Sumac shoots that keep popping up everywhere.  Hauled out our easy-to-use battery-operated lawn mower and cut our front yard grass plus the boulevards along both sides of the road out front.  We have a corner property so I do all around the corner as well.  I noticed neighbor Monica's magnolia tree was needing a trim so I nipped over there and took care of that too.  Watered some flowers and a couple patches of newly grass-seeded areas too.  Kelly headed off to Goderich for some groceries and stuff.

THESE TWO SWEET WILLIAM FLOWER ABOVE AND BELOW ARE IN ONE OF OUR FLOWER BEDS

A few of our blog readers are former residents of the Park here so I thought I would mention this.  Long-time resident and our neighbor to the east, Paul Mellor, passed away this morning.  Paul and his wife Judy were here when we moved to the Park in late 2002.  He had been ill for a while.  Paul's death follows two other long-time residents of our Park.  Hank Apfelbeck a month or so ago and Julie Palango a little over six months ago.  If by chance they all meet up on the other side I know for sure they will be energetically talking about our Park's past, present, and future:))   

Al's Music Box:)) End Of The Line by the Traveling Wilburys from the album 'Traveling Wilburys Vol 1.  1988  The Traveling Wilburys were made up of Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynn, and Tom Petty.  Jim Keltner played drums.  Roy, George, and Tom are gone now but their Traveling Wilbury music lives on.

GROANER'S CORNER:  Complaints received by Thomas Cook Vacations From Dissatisfied Customers.  Dumb and Dumber Travelers!!

1. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax."

2. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food."

3. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish."

4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price."

5. "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room."

6. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow."

7. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallarta to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time -- this should be banned."

8. "No one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared."

9. "Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg slicer in the drawers."

10. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."

11. "The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guidebook during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun."

12. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair."

13. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends' three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller."

14. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the resort.' We're trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service."

15. "When we were in Spain, there were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish and the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners."

16. "We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning."

17. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel."

18. "I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes."

----------------------------------

HI-HO HI-HO IT'S OFF TO THE HULLETT MARSH WE GO

Well, it's truly summer now because our orange Daylilies are blooming.  Nights are still cool with temps dropping into the mid-50sF.  Despite the smoke from Quebec wildfires, Old Sol did manage to bring us sunlight today after smoky skies cleared.

 LILIES IN BLOOM

With the length of our morning Jeep rides dwindling these past few years I decided to try and break that routine this morning.  For Pheebs and I one of our favorite go-to spots has always been the Hullett Marsh.  We were always in there for walks at least 3 times a month.  Would you believe we have not been to the Marsh at all this year.  Not even once.  Our last time there was probably last September or October.  So, needless to say, it was the Hullett Marsh we headed for earlier today with a stop in Clinton for a Tim Hortons coffee to go of course.

 HEADING FOR THE HULLETT MARSH

It sure was nice turning south off Summerhill Road onto the long single lane heading into the Marsh at the foot of Sanctuary Line.  As per usual at this time of the year, everything was looking so green and lush.  We parked in our old favorite spot and soon headed off walking atop the west berm of Whistler Pool.

 WE WILL BE WALKING ALONG THE BERM TO THE RIGHT OF THE WATER

 THIS MARSH IS AN EXCELLENT PLACE FOR WILDLIFE

 LOOKS LIKE WE WERE TOO LATE FOR WHATEVER HATCHED HERE

 SHADOWS AND PATTERNS IN THE LONG GRASS

 I THINK THIS MIGHT BE A CABBAGE BUTTERFLY

 I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS LITTLE FELLER IS

 A DRAGONFLY

 THIS BODY OF WATER IS CALLED WHISTLER POOL

 A BUSY LITTLE BEE

NOPE, THERE ARE NO BEES IN THIS PHOTO

 TODAY'S BEE PICS WERE TAKEN IN THIS CLUMP OF CLOVER

There haven't been a lot of pesky bugs in the air this year but we did encounter a few biting Deer Flies along the way this morning.  Now that Spring's busy animal and bird activities have slowed down to a crawl the Marsh has now entered into its quiet Summer phase.  Very few bird sounds and there wasn't much going on in Whistler Pool's water either.  Pheebs and I waited too long this year to see all the frog, turtle, and dragonfly activities.  No Sand Hill Cranes, Geese, or Ducks to be seen anywhere either.  However, we did see a Deer bounding across a nearby meadow.

 DEER ON THE RUN

 THOSE MIGHT BE MUSKRAT TRAILS THROUGH THE DUCKWEED

 A BURDOCK PLANT GROWING ITS BURRS

 A BLUE SWIZZLE-STICK DRAGONFLY

 A RARE PLASTIC RED RIBBON FLOWER

 WE DECIDE TO HEAD A LITTLE DEEPER INTO THIS SWAMPY AREA

 SURPRISINGLY, THERE WERE NO MOSQUITOS HERE

 BY THE TIME WE GOT BACK TO THE JEEP SOMEBODY HAD MUDDY PAWS AND IT WASN'T ME.....AND IT WAS JUST 5 DAYS AGO SHE WAS ALL SPIFFED UP AT THE GROOMER

Back to the Jeep we slowly made our way home using half a dozen gravely back roads.  I always marvel at our rural countryside and the many things I always see along the way.

 I LIKED THIS SIGN I SAW ON PORTER'S HILL LINE THIS MORNING SO I LOOKED UP THE BAYFIELD LAVENDER FARM ON THE INTERNET AND FOUND THEIR WEBSITE VERY INTERESTING

  Al's Music Box:)) Blue Collar by Randy Bachman from the album 'Bachman-Turner Overdrive'.  1973  I like Randy Bachman's diverse guitar work on this one and although he appears to stop at one point, he's just gearing up for the next run up and down the frets.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  An efficiency expert concluded his lecture with a note of caution. "You need to be careful about trying these techniques at home."  "Why?" asked somebody from the audience.  "I watched my wife's routine at dinner for years," the expert explained. "She made lots of trips between the refrigerator, stove, table and cabinets, often carrying a single item at a time.  One day I told her, 'Honey, why don't you try carrying several things at once?'  "Did it save time?" the guy in the audience asked.  "Actually, yes," replied the expert. "It used to take her 30 minutes to make dinner.  Now I do it in ten..."

-----------------------------------

- How did the blind woman pierce her ear?  Answering the stapler.

- How much do pirates charge to pierce someone's ears?  A buck an ear.

------------------------------------