TODAY WAS AN 'INSIDE JOB!!'

VIEW FROM THE CLIFF TOP AT DEER PARK LODGE

The rains began sometime in the night & continued non stop through the entire day.  It was a good rain because it kept me inside at the computer.  It was high time I buckled down & took care of  some long overdue email correspondence.  I think I had emails here dating back to 1836.  Carol M south of Lake Ontario, Wilf in Kirkland Lake, my Aunt Jean in Sarasota, Florida.  GYPSY in Sacramento California & RICK in Cowichan Bay BC to name a few.  I have more to go but had to fit a blog into the line-up here somewhere too.

THIS IS THE UNDERBRUSH AREA I WAS CUTTING THE WILD GRAPEVINE OUT OF A FEW DAYS AGO

Karen from SMALL HOUSE BIG BACK YARD is selling their 60+MPG Scooter complete with helmets & carrying bar for attaching to the rear of an RV.  She has photos & all the info on her blog site.  Looks like a nice clean street machine & Karen describes it as having a Barcalounger ride.

RETIRED ROD is facing  surgery very shortly & is going to be out of blogger action for awhile as he takes time to recuperate.  Might want to drop by with some encouragement & wish Rod well.

Ivan from ROADTRIP 2010 is on the move again this time up in Saskatchewan.  I always enjoy following Ivan's adventures because he is a true outdoors man & ventures into places with his RV that few of us will ever get to see.  His narrative & photos are always great & informing.  Be sure to drop by & see Ivan's cutey pie travel partner & chief navigator, Hailey:))

And, could there be a 'Jeep' addition at Mike & Janna's TIN TEEPEE/LOG CABIN ranch out there in Montana:))

MORNING DEW

Had a surprise email from a lady at the Gold Rock RV Park west of Yuma, California this morning.  She had stumbled across our 2008 blog from the time we stopped into the Park to do laundry one day.   We were boon docking about 4 miles south of there at the time.  We walked around the Park while laundry was drying & I actually took some photos of her yard & when she described her property I knew exactly which one it was & the day I took the photos.  An old truck with a pumpkin head driver:))  It only happens rarely but every once & awhile we'll get an email from someone who has come across one of our Bayfield Bunch cards or heard of the Bayfield Bunch from someone & it always makes my day when that happens.  You can see our two visits to Gold Rock Ranch & it's historical mining artifacts here..... GOLD ROCK RANCH 2008 and GOLD ROCK RANCH 2010  This was an area General George Patton used in the training of U.S. Army troops during WW2 & there are some pieces of military equipment here that were found in the surrounding desert.

JUST OFFSHORE FROM DEER PARK LODGE

And let me just wrap up today's post by saying I have been getting some opposition from unexpected sources about my decision to remove my blogs 'comment' section.  And some things have been pointed out to me today that I hadn't considered when making my decision to do that..............:((

DEER PARK LODGE'S CABIN CALLED 'THE HUTCH' OVERLOOKING LAKE HURON'S BLUE & GREEN WATERS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  I was thinking about how a status symbol of today is those cell phones that everyone has clipped onto their belt or purse. I can't afford one. So, I'm wearing my garage door opener.
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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

Until one has loved an Animal, part of their soul remains un-awakened.

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

MAKING ROOM IN THE DRIVEWAY FOR OUR NEW ADDITION

OUR 3 LITTLE FUZZY BABY ROBBINS ARE GROWING QUICKLY

Like a lot of folks over the past bunch of years we have slowly moved away from the paper society & now do all our banking, utility bills, & correspondence over the internet.  It's rare to even write a check anymore but we do have check books here for different types of accounts at various banks.  Three days ago we decided to write a check for something so went to the drawer where all that sort of stuff is kept.  But, all our check books were gone!!  Not just one or two, but all of them.  This was a mystery & of course a little alarming.  Nothing else missing in the house & we knew nobody could come in without us here or the dogs would attack & eat them!!  We spent 3 days looking & looking.  Even turned the Motor Home upside down in case we had put them in there.  Could aliens have beamed down from a spaceship in the night to snaffoo our check books.  Maybe a raccoon came through an open door & absconded with them.  What a mystery this was!!

                    

WE SURE HAD OUR VEHICLES LOADED FOR UNCLE HARRY'S MOVE LAST MONDAY

This morning while pondering the missing check dilemma again, Kelly happened to see the corner of a white shopping bag sticking out from under a piece of corner furniture in a hard to see & forgotten corner.  She walked over, bent down & pulled out the bag.......and there were all our check books inside.  RIGHT WHERE AL HAD HIDDEN THEM LAST OCTOBER BEFORE WE HEADED SOUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A PAIR OF HOUSE SPARROWS

With the newest addition to our little gasoline family arriving Monday we will temporarily have 20 tires on the ground here & a total of 26 hungry cylinders to feed.  Had to do a little shuffling around in the driveway today in preparation for the Jeep coming home Monday so for sure we have to get our 99 Dodge Caravan sold post haste.  That little mini-van has been an amazingly good vehicle for us but there was always one thing I hated about it right from the day we bought it back in 05.  The doinky blue color....YUK!!   In contrast to that, we both loved the color of the Jeep as soon as we saw it.  A few other things the Jeep has that I forgot to mention yesterday are a trailer hitch & a rear view mirror with digital thermometer & directional compass built in.  I just love all that colored light stuff at night.  The radio/CD player is also an upgrade & includes a subwoofer.  I love all that subwoofer stuff too because I like to hear lots of big booming bass in my music.  I took along a ZZ Top CD Thursday to try out the Jeeps sound system but could tell right away I'm going to have to tweak the sound a bit if I'm going to get that subwoofer shaking my brains out real good.  The Jeep also has nice Alloy wheels. (whatever alloy wheels are)

Gordon, from GOLDEN WOLFORD PHOTOGRAPHY left me a comment on last night's blog straightening me out a bit in regards to Panasonic's Lumix camera line.  I do need a little straightening out from time to time you know.  Gordon said, "Just to make it clear, Al, Lumix is Panasonic's brand of digital cameras. There are many of them, ranging from pocket point-and-shoot models to digital SLRs.  The one I just bought is their compact P&S ZS7 model, which is basically the same as their less expensive ZS5, but has GPS tagging. So if tagging one's images with GPS data isn't important, the ZS5 is more cost effective."

Busy working week-end coming up & I will be on the road both days with the mobility van.  Hardest part is putting in time between the runs because I will be too far away to return home.  Better take the cameras, a laptop, soft pillow & maybe something to read...........with big print.

Although the above photograph has the Bayfield Bunch watermark on it I did not take this photo.  I think because I ran it through our Picasa Photo program the water mark was automatically added.  Credit for the photo goes to STAN SWITALSKI PHOTOGRAPHY.  It shows Kelly's daughter Sabra, oldest boy Keenan, husband Derek, & youngest son Langdon.  I did take the photos of Langdon below though.................

   

Finally got the date into the 'Recorder' but that's as far as I got so far.  Can't ask Kelly for help because I haven't told her I bought it yet.

ANCHORED OFFSHORE AT DEER PARK LODGE.................BAYFIELD, ONTARIO

GROANER'S CORNER:((  "After having dug to a depth of 10 meters last year, Scottish scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the Scots, in the weeks that followed, British scientists dug to a depth of 20 meters, and shortly after,  headlines in the UK newspapers read: "British archaeologists have found traces of 200 year old copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the Scots."

One week later, "The Daily Squidjigger," a Newfoundland newspaper, reported the following  "After digging as deep as 30 meters near Cornerbrook, Wilf Johnson, a self taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Wilf has therefore concluded that 300 years ago Newfoundland had already gone wireless."

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

A HELPING DAY IN MITCHELL

DEER PARK LODGE BEACH...All of today's photos were taken by Kelly this past weekend when members of her family were here.  That's Kelly's 2 'Grands' above, on the left.  Kelly's camera is a Canon Powershot A430

Cloudy gray day with increasing humidity creeping into the air.  Kelly & I headed off to Mitchell this morning to visit my Uncle Harry & see how his first full day went in the nursing home yesterday.  Happy to report that he is taking the adjustment extremely well so far.  We were able to help with a few more things & get his snowy television picture cleared up.  Kelly has handled all the paper work & arranged for his new phone & cable hook up's etc.  All that organizational stuff requires mountains of time & patience but she just seems to be a natural at that sort of thing.  I seem to be more natural at grumping & stewing about stuff.

 

IN ANOTHER 12 YEARS OR SO LANGDON'S EYES WOULD BE FOCUSED THE OTHER WAY & NOT AT THE CAMERA......IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN:))

I've had an idea kicking around in the back of my head for the past few years & after reading GYPSY'S BLOG Tuesday I see she has the same idea.  It has to do with one of those mobile audio recorders you can carry in your pocket.  Have often thought how handy that would be when I'm out taking photos.  I've tried carrying a notepad to write things down about thoughts & technical info regarding a photo or a place but it just doesn't work for me.  A recorder would have been of particular value when I was aboard that Coast Guard vessel this past Sunday & members of the crew were pointing out & telling me things of particular interest.  Also easier to keep people's names & job descriptions straight.  As usual, by the end of the day I'm lucky if I even remember my own name some days let along somebody else's!!  Well, not that bad but you get the picture.

 

BAYFIELD'S NORTH PIER CAN BE SEEN AT THE DISTANT LEFT WHERE SKY, WATER & BEACH, ALL MEET

Another good use for me having a recorder would be remembering things for the blog.  Often, during the day I will think of something that might make an interesting blog topic or maybe a couple of good lines in the post but for sure these thoughts are long gone by the time I reach the computer at day's end.  Thanks to Gypsy's post I am going to get off my duff & look up some info on recorders......if I don't forget!!

 

I'M NEVER TOO FAR AWAY FROM MY CAMERAS

RETIRED ROD'S post this morning also got me to thinking.  He has been trying to track down a capacitor (an electronic gizmo) for repairing a ceiling fan.  Like myself & many other bloggers, Rod comes from a totally different era than we all live in these days.  We remember when things were repaired & not thrown into land fill sites.   My Uncle Fred had a part time business on the side repairing small appliances & electronic things like toasters, tea kettles, radios, etc.  I remember a large work bench with lots of plugs & really neat looking things like radio tubes & testers.  Fuses, 'capacitors,' resistors, plugs, cords, boxes of parts, old radio dials, bicycle parts, & just about whatever else would fascinate a small boy like myself.  It was all back in the 1950's when we were in the final days of a salvageable world.  Folks out here my age & older will understand the different world back then but people of today will not.  I too love all the great new technologies we have now & all the wondrous new developments that surround us making our lives more cushy & comfortable.  But I also feel our brave new  techno wondrous world is a house of cards built way too quickly & carelessly on a bed of quicksand, on a fault line, in a shaky earthquake zone.  It's like we have all been gleefully riding along on the deck of the Titanic for these past bunch of years having enjoyed reveling in the charade of our fast paced & dazzling surroundings.  Problem is, the ice berg has already been struck, & we are now in the very real stages of waking from our bunks saying, "what was that......did you feel a bump!!"

<<<< BROTHERS:))

Photo Tip!! 

Photo at left is an example of looking for a photo within a photo.  Before you delete a shot you don't like, take a second look at it & see if you can pull something out of it.  I was looking for a picture showing the brother's Keenan & Langdon together & found it in the photo below.  Using the 'Crop' tool in Picasa I simply cropped out everything around the boys & used my 'Medium' setting here in Live Writer for the photo size.  It is easily done & with just a little bit of finiggling using the 'Crop' tool, anyone out there can do the same thing.  And another tip....Notice how I left a little more room on the right side & bottom of the photo for Keenan to walk into.  Oh, & I also used the 'Sharpen' tool to give the photo a bit of crispness as well.  Try it....you can do it:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  After 50 years of marriage the couple was sitting at the dinner table and the wife said to her husband: "After all these years of marriage I know that you are Tried and True."
He replied, "What did you say?"
She said in a louder voice: "After all these years of marriage I have learned that you are Tried and True."
He said: "Speak louder!"
She said, in a louder voice: "After all these years of marriage I have learned that you are Tried and True."
He replied loudly: "Well, I'm tired of you too!!"

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

OUR WALLETS ARE DEFINITELY LIGHTER TODAY:((

IT'S MY STICK...NO, IT'S MY STICK!!!!

Our nasty little cold snap is still with us with temps expected to dip down around freezing tonight again.  Sunlight by day & icicles by night it seems.

STAYING AHEAD OF THE WAVES

Picked up our Santa Fe this morning & our wallets are definitely  lighter by $ 1,547.73.  I've often heard it said years ago that good tires are the cheapest form of insurance you can buy.  Couple that with a few new front end parts & we'll consider that premium... paid in full!!

 

 

 

BALL JOINTS, NEW TIRES, FRONT END ALIGNMENT, ETC$. ETC$. ETC$.

Plugged away at my garden & tool shed clean up again today & now have enough floor space visible for a Saturday night square dance now.  The junk purge continues!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HEY MAX, THE STICK IS BEHIND YOU

Our work related 3 hour first aid course Tuesday night centered around CPR training (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation).  We were shown how the new people friendly AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR'S  (AED) work & understand they will soon be in most all public places with easy accessibility for anyone to use in case of an emergency.  CPR was also practiced on plastic dummy models & it was all very informative.  Thursday night's class will be fractures, broken bones, splints & slings, etc.  Wished I could have taken my camera there last night & got a shot of fellow driver Bruce trying to get his arms around me for one of them there HEIMLICH MANEUVERS:))

 

 

 

 

 

 

(click to enlarge)

Kelly phoned from Deer Park Lodge this afternoon saying the lake had a really pretty aqua color to it so I loaded up Checkers & Max right away & we went over for some photos & a game of water sticks.  Both dogs love playing in the water but the waves were a little too strong this afternoon so I had to be careful to only toss the sticks a few feet offshore.  Those guys aren't as young & strong as they used to be & they were quick to remind me that I wasn't either as the 3 of us trudged our way back up the long steep hill from the beach.

 

 

 

BIT OF A CLIMB UP FROM THE BEACH

I'm really short for anything to blog about tonight so before I sit here too long & customarily launch into something silly I'll just quietly back myself away from the computer & maybe go watch a little mind numbing night time television........NOT!!!!

GROANER'S CORNER:((  When you are young, you want to be the master of your fate and the captain of your soul. When you are older, you will settle for being the master of your weight and the captain of your bowling team.

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

TOOK THE BIG WHEELS FOR A SPIN THIS MORNING

GATHERING STORM CLOUDS IN FRONT OF DEEPPARK LODGE'S HUTCH

Decided to take the big wheels for a drive this morning. First time the rig has been on the road since our return at the end of March. Everything checked out & ran smooth as toast. I could tell she just wanted to keep on going & going & going. Remember Nancy Sinatra's song, "These Boots Are Made For Walking??" Well, these Motorhomes are made for driving.....10-4:)) THIS LONE SAILBOAT RACES FOR SAFE HARBOR IN FRONT OF THE APPROACHING STORM

It has always amazed me how our yard outside can go from absolutely barren, gray, & desolate looking in the winter time to a lush emerald green tropical jungle look just a few months later. It is the upside of living in a land of changing seasons. The weather never really has time to get too boring & to-day was a good example of that. It was a picture perfect sunny day but about mid afternoon I thought I heard thunder out over the lake. Checked the weather map on the computer & sure enough we had a storm bearing down on us. Grabbed a camera & drove the short 2 miles over to Deerpark Lodge on the cliffs overlooking Lake Huron & snapped a few pics. Minutes later the rain was upon us & less than an hour after that we were in brilliant sunshine again. Gotta love this kind of weather. I'M DOING THE DRIVING THIS MORNING & THE BISBEE KIDS AT LOWER LEFT ARE WATCHING THE ROAD

Have you ever noticed that even though you are retired you still look forward to Fridays even though your not in the 5 day work loop anymore. TGIF:)) That is something ingrained in all of us right from kindergarten or grade one. We live our whole lives based on a 5 day school or work week with 2 days off on what we call a week-end. That is basically the rule for as long as we live. In latter years when many people retire & are no longer in the weekly grind they still look forward to Fridays & the end of the week. Makes no difference if every day is the same now, we still get that revved up feeling as the week-end approaches. TGIF....Thank Goodness It's Friday:)) MAX'S EARS ARE UP AS HE SENSES DEER AHEAD ON THE FOREST TRAIL

Funny how things work sometimes. Two days ago I was standing in our back yard thinking I should really go out to the bush & dig up some ferns to plant along the new privacy fence. To-day the phone rings & it's my friend Bruce on the other end saying his wife has just dug out a bunch of ferns in a neighbor's garden & if I don't want them she's going to take them to the dump. Have you ever seen a vapor trail behind a mini-van!! I was over there in a flash & ended up bringing home about 40 ferns. Like I said, funny how things work sometimes..........................................:)) THIS MORNING'S DEW ON A SPIDERWEB

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

SHE ENTERED THROUGH A WINDOW ON TINY SILENT WINGS

I think we must have had a welcome visitor during the night. I sleep right next to the computer & had left a window at the foot of my bed slightly ajar. I never heard or saw a thing in the darkness. Not even the soft flutter of her wings or the radiant glow that would have enveloped her. In fact I never suspected a thing until we turned on the computer this morning......and it was working perfectly. How could that have happened!! Just last night it had been giving me such a hard time with it's agonizing slowness. And yet this morning websites were opening right up & emails were flying in like crazy. There was only one logical explanation. Tinkerbell.com the good computer fairy from the east had flown through our open window last night, sprinkled a pinch of magic wiffle dust on our computer & made everything right again. It is not often that happens but when it does it sure restores my faith in fairys. Yes Santa there is a Tinkerbell:))

Cold gray morning with some drizzle in the air but I hooked up the utility trailer & headed on over to Deerpark Lodge anyway. Leaves to be raked, a swimming pool area to be cleaned, photos to be taken, & some small scrub trees to be cut down. I was working on the last small tree when my saw became wedged & I broke the chain off so that was the end of my tree cutting for the rest of the day. Just as well because it was on the side of steep hill & the branches & vines were beating me up & tiring me out pretty good. Luckily before leaving the house this morning I had stuck a wad of gum on the bottom of my foot to plug the hole where all my energy had been draining out lately so I was able to put in a reasonably good day & was able to work right through from 9 to 4 before coming home & doing my usual 180 double back flip into the recliner.

Deerpark Lodge http://www.deerparklodge.com/ is perched high atop a bluff overlooking Lake Huron & is a very scenic place to work if you like the outdoors. I don't mind going over & helping out in the spring & fall because no one is there yet & the grounds are very quiet & peaceful. But during the summer months the place is a real bee hive of activity. It's family oriented so there are a lot of kids flying around upside down all over the place. Needless to say I am very seldom there during the months of June, July, & August.

Kelly manages the Lodge & for any of you people out there who work with the public you know how absolutely frustrating that can be. Not an envious task but from the time we get home in the spring until the time we head for the southwest again in the fall she just goes full tilt doing the absolute best for the guests she possibly can. She has the patience of a Saint, the understanding only a Mother of 5 could have, the determination of an ant moving a mountain up a hill, & the steely resolve of a Texas Judge to keep everything functioning smoothly despite adverse conditions at times. She's quite an amazing little person & when we got married years ago I sure got the best part of the deal:)) THIS WAY TO THE BEACH

To-morrow will be a general repeat of to-day so as long as I keep that wad of gum stuck on the bottom of my foot I should be able to pack in another 6 or 7 hours of some good old physical work..........................just like the old days:)) (well sort of)

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/