MISERABLE WEATHER, WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY:((

THE PEOPLE HOUSE VIEW FROM A BIRD ON ONE OF THE FEEDERS

We have ourselves a totally cold wet miserable day going on here & it sure is putting a damper on what could have been a nice spring so far.  Even the sunny days lately just haven't had any heat in the air.  I'm still picking up downed branches from the big winds a few days ago.  OK, that's enough for Al's Canadian weather report again!!

THIS IS THE COMPLETION OF POPPA GOOSE'S LANDING YESTERDAY...NOTE THE TROUGH OF WATER HE PLOWED OUT BEHIND HIM

Thanks to Judy & Emma along with my cousin Norma & husband Jim for confirming yesterday's front yard bird as a Brown Thrasher.  I cracked off a couple quick pics two mornings ago of another bird over in the pond & I'm guessing it might be a Common Snipe according to my little 'Golden' bird book.

                

A SOLITARY SANDPIPER (click to enlarge)

Another broken bird feeder on the ground this morning so I suspect we have a raccoon coming in the night now.  I generally hang the feeders on 'S' hooks but the coons just yank on the fishing line & jerk the feeders until they come off the hooks so today I replaced those hooks with something called 'quick links' & that should put an end to that.  However, knowing the animal world as well as I do it is for sure they will figure it out & outsmart me as usual. 

                                  

INLINE 'S' HOOK              QUICK LINK

Just read in Jerry's blog, OUR LIFE ON WHEELS, late this afternoon that his Doctor has just scheduled him for a complete right knee replacement on June 2nd.  He has been wearing a brace & putting up with a painful knee for quite awhile now.  That only leaves him & Suzy three weeks to bake up an enormous big batch of recuperative cowboy cookies for post op care. With a new knee Jerry might just sweep away all competition at the solo 'Bouncing Benson Butt Boogaloo & Break Dance' contest this summer too.

CAN YOU SEE THE CLOUD GOOSE/ROADRUNNER HEADING ACROSS THE SKY FROM RIGHT TO LEFT

While Kelly was talking on the phone tonight the line went dead.  2nd extension went dead as well so we suspect an outdoor problem. The phone tech is coming in the morning.  No charge if a problem is found outdoors but $85 if the problem is found indoors!!

  

Ok, gonna keep it short tonight.  The way I figure it, the less time you spend here the more time you can spend on someone else's blog.   And just minutes before publishing the blog tonight I got off a quick, but poor shot of this furry bird feed raiding culprit outside the window quickly disappearing down the tree & into the night.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  What are seniors citizens worth? They are worth a fortune, with all the silver in their hair, gold in their teeth, stones in their kidneys and lead in their feet.

As for myself, I have become a little older since I saw you last and a few changes have come into my life since then. Frankly, I have become quite a frivolous old gal. I am seeing five gentlemen every day. As soon as I wake up, Will Power helps me get out of bed. I immediately go to see John. After that Charlie Horse comes along, and he really takes a lot of my time and attention.  When he leaves, Arthur Ritis shows up and stays for the rest of the day. However, he doesn't like to stay in one place very long, so he just takes me from joint to joint. Finally after such a busy tiring day, I'm really glad to be able to go to bed with Ben Gay. What a life!!

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

OUR 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.

TODAY I DID BATTLE WITH A SANDWICH MACHINE!!

POPPA GOOSE TOUCHES DOWN ON THE POND THIS MORNING

We will drop below freezing tonight again so I'll leave a touch of heat on in the Motor Home just in case.  Had I thought to do that about 3 weeks ago when we had an unexpected nasty couple of cold nights we wouldn't have had to replace our kitchen taps in the rig last week!!

SOME OF OUR FRONT YARD BIRD FEEDERS

Had a mobility van run this afternoon so that that thankfully took up a couple of hours.  Had to take a fellow to the hospital for X-rays so while there headed for a sandwich in the cafeteria.  Of course the cafeteria had closed 5 minutes before I got there so I was left to do battle with a stupid sandwich machine in the corner.  Machines were just put on this earth to drive people like me bonkers.  By the time I figured out all the instructions & put my money in that miserable thing I had to enlist the help of 1 nurse & 1 member of the kitchen staff to finally help get my darned turkey sandwich out of there.   A gas pump & that sandwich machine must be cousins because they have a lot in common!!

AM HOPING JUDY & EMMA CAN ID THIS BIRD FOR ME (could it be a Brown Thrasher?)

My little blurb about 'so how was your trip,' in Sunday's blog brought in a few responses & I think JERRY summed it up very well when he said, "Gypsy is 100% right. Family doesn't understand or want to know, usually. Our kids, though, do read the blog most times, and they never ask! Old friends drop away like flies! We have a couple of folks that follow us, but everyone else is gone. The fellow bloggers are the ones that keep us going, and we hope our following helps others."  Well said Jerry:))

BLUE JAY ON THE BIRDBATH

A friend in California had an interesting Facebook response to mine & other bloggers concerns regarding 'RV There Yet.'   He writes, " i just don't understand why people are so egotistical about building a huge number of followers and having a huge number of hits."  I think he has a couple very good points there & may have planted some seeds of thought in my mind about some possible blog changes in the future.

MOURNING DOVE >

And about my frustrations with being stuck at home for the summer I received a Facebook message from another blogger friend who in part said, "The truth is, I have been ready to get going literally 2 weeks after arriving home."  So nice to know that I am not the only one who has this problem every year when we come home.  Thanks John:))

And another friend from Stratford sent an email with his response to my Sunday blog in which he simply said, " Big Al: After reading your blog this morning, all I can say is I hope you found out who peed in your Corn Flakes! "  So, there you have it, different strokes for different folks.  And I had better be keeping a darned close eye on my corn flakes too!!

ROSE BREASTED GROSBEAK >>>>

Noticed some fellow bloggers have been using something on Facebook called, 'Networked Blogs.'  Looked interesting so I decided to pursue it.  Well, that was quite a journey through a  muffled maze of menus with many twists & turns along the way.  Click this, choose that, enter this, click next, etc. etc.  By the time I had finished & emerged out the other side of the maze I was burning the midnight oil & just as confused as when I started out.   I'm sure I did something & made some changes here & there but I'm not sure what it was that I all changed.  Oh the joys of this blogging adventure I am currently on................10-4!!

GROANER'S CORNER:))  Throughout the centuries, mothers have been given their children plenty of good advice and notable quotes. Here's just a small sampling:

PAUL REVERE'S MOTHER: "I don't care where you think you have to go, young man. Midnight is past your curfew!"

MARY, MARY, QUITE CONTRARY'S MOTHER: "I don't mind you having a garden, Mary, but does it have to be growing under your bed?"

MONA LISA'S MOTHER: "After all that money your father and I spent on braces, Mona, that's the biggest smile you can give us?"

HUMPTY DUMPTY'S MOTHER: "Humpty, If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times not to sit on that wall. But would you listen to me? Noooo!"

COLUMBUS' MOTHER: "I don't care what you've discovered, Christopher. You still could have written!"

BABE RUTH'S MOTHER: "Babe, how many times have I told you -- quit playing ball in the house! That's the third broken window this week!"

MICHELANGELO'S MOTHER: "Mike, can't you paint on walls like other children? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that stuff off the ceiling?"

NAPOLEON'S MOTHER: "All right, Napoleon. If you aren't hiding your report card inside your jacket, then take your hand out of there and prove it!"

CUSTER'S MOTHER: "Now, George, remember what I told you -- don't go biting off more than you can chew!"

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S MOTHER: "Again with the stovepipe hat, Abe? Can't you just wear a baseball cap like the other kids?"

BARNEY'S MOTHER: "I realize strained plums are your favorite, Barney, but you're starting to look a little purple."

MARY'S MOTHER: "I'm not upset that your lamb followed you to school, Mary, but I would like to know how he got a better grade than you."

BATMAN'S MOTHER: "It's a nice car, Bruce, but do you realize how much the insurance is going to be?"

GOLDILOCKS' MOTHER: "I've got a bill here for a busted chair from the Bear family. You know anything about this, Goldie?"

LITTLE MISS MUFFET'S MOTHER: "Well, all I've got to say is if you don't get off your tuffet and start cleaning your room, there'll be a lot more spiders around here!"

ALBERT EINSTEIN'S MOTHER: "But, Albert, it's your senior picture. Can't you do something about your hair? Styling gel, mousse, something...?"

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S MOTHER: "The next time I catch you throwing money across the Potomac, you can kiss your allowance good-bye!"

JONAH'S MOTHER: "That's a nice story, but now tell me where you've really been for the last three days."

SUPERMAN'S MOTHER: "Clark, your father and I have discussed it, and we've decided you can have your own telephone line. Now will you quit spending so much time in all those phone booths?"

THOMAS EDISON'S MOTHER: "Of course I'm proud that you invented the electric light bulb, Thomas. Now turn off that light and get to bed!"

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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.

SUNDAY....MY LEAST FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK

BLUE JAY

Even as a kid I always thought Sunday was the most boring day of the week & now here it is over 60 years later & my mind hasn't changed one little bit!!

PLEASE DAD, CAN I HAVE SOME MORE

Decided to set up a web cam today in the sun room & planned to stream some live video of our front yard birds.  Well, easier said than done of course & that was only one of the computer frustrations I wrestled with today.

                           

A FEW MEMBERS OF THE FRONT YARD GANG

Did battle trying to change the weather gadget on our blog from Douglas Arizona to Bayfield Canada today & of course that little task thwarted me at every turn.  Kelly later did it.  Rick & Paulette's blog didn't show up on our 'Blogs We Follow' this morning & we have not yet been able to restore the link.  Some days ya just can't win for losing.

While repositioning some birdfeeders this morning one of my knots 'failed' dropping the feeder to the ground & breaking it.  Birdseed all over the place but I did manage to sort of fix the feeder with duct tape, staples, & glue.  Did I mention it was Sunday!!!!

THE SMALL SLEDGE WAS MY LAST RESORT IF THE OTHER 3 FIXES DIDN'T WORK!!

And, keeping things positively on a negative note, here's something that might apply more to Snow birder's than Full timers but ever notice how when you get home in the spring friends & family say things like, "did you have a good trip, can't wait to hear all about it."  That last question is generally a mere formality on their part.  It has been our experience that friends & family here at home really don't give a hoot about our traveling exploits. 

HEY BAYFIELD BUNCH, HOW WAS YOUR TRIP....CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT IT

The only people who have a genuine interest are fellow RV folks & you people out here who read our daily blog sometimes.   If family & friends were really interested in our travels they would simply follow the blog, but they don't.  So, when someone says they want to hear all about our trip we have learned to just take that statement with a grain of salt.  Besides, how do you tell someone in 30 seconds or less what you have been seeing, doing, & thinking, for the past 5 or 6 months.  And 30 seconds is about all the time a person is really interested in listening after they ask the question......."hey, how was your trip, can't wait to hear all about it.   IMHO of course:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((   A realty salesman had just closed his first deal, only to discover that the piece of land he had sold was completely under water.

"That customer's going to come back here pretty mad," he said to his boss. "Should I give him his money back?"

"Money back?" roared the boss. "What kind of salesman are you? Get out there and sell him a houseboat."

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

OUR 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.

RV THERE YET....NOPE, NOT ANYMORE!!

MAX & THE MOTORMOUSE  (File Photo)

Because of wind warnings, low temps, & snow showers, we had ourselves a totally inside day.  Kelly spent some time on the desktop computer downloading I-Tunes for her I-Pod & I struggled along with my mammoth photo organizing project on one of the laptops.

In Friday's blog I expressed some concerns about a new website called, RV There Yet, that has been gaining popularity in the on-line RV community.  I was a bit leery of it but took the plunge when I saw the logo on some fellow blogger's sites.  A couple other folks voiced concerns as well & if you read RICK'S blog this morning he expresses his thoughts about RV There Yet & what he was able to learn from the way the site operates.  I  have reconsidered our affiliation with RV There Yet & have requested our blog be withdrawn from the site.  I received a courteous email this afternoon confirming it had been done.

While thinking about this whole RV There Yet thing this morning it occurred to me that I was basically doing the same thing by posting our blog on Facebook.  If people read it on Facebook they are not going to stop by our blog site, therefore I am actually working against myself.  So far I have resisted doing any serious advertising on our site but had I been running ads I would have been short changing myself for sure.  We get too soon old & too late smart huh:((

GROANER'S CORNER:((  I would like to share an old Native Canadian chant. Each year during the first week of April, the Native Canadians would wake up at sunrise and repeat their chant over and over. They said this powerful chant primarily for three very important reasons:

1. To ensure that their crops are bountiful and will keep them and their families fed all year;

2. To ward off harm/evil;

3. And gain great wisdom.

It goes like this:

Oooooh waaaaah (pause)
Taaaaa foooooo (pause)
Lie aaaammmm (pause)

Now repeat it without the pause. As you repeat it more often and more quickly, its message becomes clear and you will become wise! Try it. It works very well and very quickly!!!

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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.

EVER WONDERED WHAT 'SINGING' IS

CLIMBING DOWN INTO THE CORONADO CAVE, SOUTHERN ARIZONA

Today's photos are random pics from this past winter.

The most amazing & impossible thing happened this morning.  After 7 months in storage.....the lawn mower started!!  And, to raise this to miracle status....it started on the first pull!!!!  Now, like many other folks, I have been cutting lawns ever since I was a kid & that is a lot of 'shortening green stuff' over the years.  Never has this ever happened before.  Could it be the beginning of a new era in Al's life.  Am I about to be elevated to mechanical genius at last.  No, not so fast.  I was soon brought back down to earth when the mower sputtered to a stop a short time later & would not start again.  Hmmmm, now let me see.  How do I spell the word.....G.A.S.!!

HIKING ANOTHER MOUNTAIN TRAIL

Emjay inquired in a comment on yesterday's blog about how Kelly & I met Max, Checkers, & The Motormouse.  I actually did a blog about that last September & how that all came together.  Check out......OUR 3 FURRY BEST PALS

OVERLOOKING BISBEE, ARIZONA

Updated my Facebook profile this morning.  Had been a few years since doing that so figured it was a good rainy morning for updating some old info on the site.  Things do change you know.

CHECKING FOR TREASURES ATOP CRYSTAL HILL, SOUTH OF QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA

Ever wondered what 'singing' is.  I asked myself that question one time many years ago & came to a simple conclusion.  On my way to Goderich this morning while listening to a Nat King Cole song on the van radio I was reminded of what I had figured out singing to be. 

OK, SO HOW DO I GET THIS DARN THING STARTED (at the Ranch near McNeal, Az)

If you take a word or words & speak them the way they are written, that is talking.  If you take those same words & elongate them in a melodic fashion, that is singing.  If you just say the word 'fashion,' it is in talk form.  Say the word & stretch it out for 2 or 3 seconds & you are....theoretically 'singing' the word.  Put a bunch of words together, stretch them out, & you have just composed & are singing your very own song.  If you have an exceptionally pleasing voice you just might be the next Nat King Cole or Bing Crosby, so next time nobody is around.....try a little out loud word stretching:))  There is multitude of average singers in the world these days with 'great singers' being clearly in the minority.

MORNING WALK WITH THE RANCH GANG

The internet is so loaded with various skims & scams it's always difficult to separate the legitimate stuff from the garbage.  And, in my opinion, the garbage outweighs the good stuff. (just like television) Awhile back something called RV THERE YET came across my desktop.  Had a look at the site & thought it looked OK but it wasn't until I saw it popping up on a few other trusted blog sites that I decided to join up & put it on our site.  FROGGI DONNA commented on yesterday's blog suggesting I read FABGRANDMA'S BLOG opinion about RV There Yet and so, after reading her post I am now wondering if anyone else out here has any thoughts or experiences with RV There Yet.  Would very much appreciate any feedback folks. 

PORTAL, ARIZONA

Oh, & by the way....My name is AL & I am a peanut butteroholic.  I have now been peanut butter free for 3 days. (again)  Ya-hooey Louie:))

DESERT RAINBOW OVER McNEAL, ARIZONA

GROANER'S CORNER:((  10 LAWS OF COMPUTING

1. When computing, whatever happens, behave as though you meant it to happen.

2. When you get to the point where you really understand your computer, it's probably obsolete.

3. The first place to look for information is in the section of the manual where you'd least expect to find it.

4. When the going gets tough, upgrade.

5. For every action, there is an equal and opposite malfunction.

6. To err is human...to blame your computer for your mistakes is even more human, its downright natural.

7. He who laughs last, probably has a back-up.

8. The number one cause of computer problems is computer solutions.

9. A complex system that doesn't work is invariably found to have evolved from a simpler system that worked just fine.

10. A computer program will always do what you tell it to do, but rarely what you want it to do.

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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.

A QUIET SPRING DAY

 

MORNING WALK IN A SPRING FOREST

We never reach a point where there is nothing to do, but we often have difficulty coming up with the motivation to do things.  The hardest part is not necessarily mowing the grass, washing the RV, or planting the garden.  The hardest part is often just getting off the couch to do it!!

      

TRILLIUM FLOWERS & MAY APPLES

I was disappointed that my mobility run was cancelled this morning so the day didn't start off on the most productive foot.

THE FOREST IS CARPETED WITH TRILLIUMS

It is one of those blog nights where I am sitting here at the computer with a blank mind.  The front yard cast of characters are at the feeders.  Blue Jays, Cardinals, Cowbirds, & Red Wing Blackbirds, just to mention a few.   The world in front of me is turning greener with each passing day & the evening pastel sunlight on the west side of the pine trees tell me we are approaching the end of another day.

CHECKERS & MAX ENJOY A MORNING DIP IN THE CREEK ALONG THE TRAIL

Sometimes there are feelings of peace & sometimes there are just.........feelings.

GROANER'S CORNER:((   As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, "Herman, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on 280. Please be careful!"

"Hell," said Herman, "It's not just one car. It's hundreds of them!"

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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.