Wednesday, May 10, 2017

PHEEBS AND I TAKE THE ‘BIG EEE’ FOR A MORNING CRUISE

DSC_0087

With gray scraggly shards of graying hair drooping down over my sizeable ears again Kelly had at me this morning with a pair of scissors and a lot of patience.  She called it a ‘summer cut’ and I lost a big chunk of my top knot gray matter right then and there.

DSC_0003

ME AND MY PAL CRUISING ALONG IN THE MOTORHOME THIS MORNING

DSC_0003

TUESDAY MORNING THE ‘ALGOMA ENTERPRISE’ WAS IN HARBOR PICKING UP A LOAD OF SALT AT GODERICH’S SIFTO SALT MINE

DSC_0004

WITH THE EXCEPTION OF TODAY’S MOTORHOME CRUISE WITH PHEEBS PICTURE ALL OTHER PHOTOS IN TONIGHT’S POST WERE TAKEN TUESDAY

DSC_0030

LOOKS LIKE THIS BIG LAKE FREIGHTER HAS A SET OF DOUBLE RUDDERS AND I’M GUESSING WITH A QUARTER OF THOSE RUDDERS SHOWING THE FREIGHTER HAS NOT YET BEEN WEIGHTED DOWN WITH A HEAVY LOAD OF SALT

DSC_0031

A COUPLE CREW MEMBERS HUSTLING DOWN A LADDER

DSC_0026

ACTUALLY THERE WERE TWO LARGE FREIGHTERS IN LOADING SALT AND THAT’S THE ‘ALGOLAKE’ ON THE LEFT

DSC_0025DSC_0027

STARBOARD STERN OF THE ‘ALGOLAKE’ AND PORT BOW OF THE ‘ALGOMA ENTERPRISE’

DSC_0024

A COUPLE OF GULLS HANGING OUT WATCHING THE LOADING OF SALT INTO THE TWO FREIGHTERS

DSC_0007

UP FROM THE HARBOR WE PASS A FEW OF GODERICH’S MANY NICE HOMES

DSC_0009DSC_0010

Needing to run a few errands in Goderich Kelly saddled up her Sunfire and headed out around 9.  Pheebs and I saddled up as well and headed off in a different direction…..in the Motorhome.  I generally like to take the ‘Big EEE’ out about once a month or so while we are home from the southwest and this morning seemed about as good a time as any.  Good idea to get the squareness out of the tires and give the rigs automotive side a workout.  All systems were go and the rig ran like a top.  Did it stir my lurking ‘hitch-itch’??  Nope not at all…..but in due time I’m sure it will:))

DSC_0032

HEADING NORTH OUT OF GODERICH TUESDAY MORNING WE WERE SOON INTO WIND TURBINE, CATTLE,  AND HORSE COUNTRY

DSC_0037

IF I WERE A COW I FIGURE THIS WOULD BE ABOUT AS GOOD A PLACE TO LIVE AS ANY

DSC_0076

DSC_0035DSC_0056

THESE HORSE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN ON MENNONITE FARMS

DSC_0075DSC_0015

JUST NEEDS A TRACTOR TO HOOK ON AND THIS PIECE OF FARM MACHINERY WILL BE RARNING TO GO VERY SOON

DSC_0014DSC_0017

Bit of a cool overcast morning so I tucked myself into my favorite sunroom corner and read for awhile.  Oh and I did a load of laundry and the dishes too.  I later dozed off in my recliner and woke up to brilliant sunshine and blue skies so out the door I quickly went and spread some more mulch in the flower beds.  Pretty exciting day so far eh.  A partial cloud cover returned about mid afternoon and it was back to my chair and my Kindle.  I am so thankful Kelly suggested I get a Kindle a few years ago.  Sure is great to be reading again after a long absence.  And I sure seem to be making up for lost time as well.

DSC_0074

I LOVE THESE KINDS OF RURAL PROPERTIES

DSC_0025DSC_0029DSC_0031DSC_0073

HAPPY TO SEE HURON COUNTIES ROAD GRADERS SMOOTHING OUT THE GRAVELY POT HOLES

DSC_0027

So nice to see some of our Spring songbirds beginning to arrive.  I have a feeling most of them are just on the other side of Lakes Ontario and Huron with their suitcases packed waiting patiently for warmer weather.  It can be a long flight for some of those little fellers across all that water with no place to set down.  A warm southerly tail wind always helps them along though and I have heard that they do wait for those tail winds too.

DSC_0047

AND WHAT WOULD BE A DAY BE WITHOUT STOPPING BY LAKE WAWANOSH WHILE UP IN OLD ORDER MENNONITE COUNTRY

DSC_0045DSC_0046DSC_0065DSC_0086DSC_0057

THOSE WHITE DOTS ARE SUNLIGHT REFLECTED OFF THE WATER SURROUNDING THIS DANDELION

Birds in the trees frogs in the pond

Me on my knees putting flowers in the ground

Pine trees sway as Old Sol beams through

I'm feeling much better now Holy Ya-hoooooo:))

DSC_0062

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Two guys from Blount County are sittin' in a boat on Douglas Lake fishing and suckin' down beer when all of a sudden Bill says, "I think I'm going to divorce my wife - she hasn't spoken to me in over 6 months." Earl sips his beer and says, "You better think it over - women like that are hard to find."

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

My kids love going to the Web, and they keep track of their passwords by writing them on Post-it notes. I noticed their Disney password was "MickeyMinnieGoofyPluto," and asked why it was so long. "Because," my son explained, "they say it has to have at least four characters."

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

St. Peter and Satan were having an argument one day about baseball. Satan proposed a game to be played on neutral grounds between a select team from the heavenly host and his own hand-picked boys.  "Very well," said the gatekeeper of Heaven. "But you realize, I hope, that we've got all the good players and the best coaches."  "I know, and that's all right," Satan answered unperturbed. "We've got all the umpires."

Tuesday, May 09, 2017

PHEEBS AND I HAD US NICE DRIVE UP THROUGH AMISH-MENNONITE COUNTRY THIS MORNING

DSC_0039

IT MUST BE SPRING:))

I think one of the most difficult things of being a daily blogger is not falling into the routine of starting one’s post each day basically the same way it was started off the day before and the day before and the day before that.  I have a habit of starting my posts with  the weather and I find it hard to get away from that at times.  Another pitfall I tumble into is the use of the same words and phrases many days and it’s a real challenge to come up with a different way of writing and finding new words or ideas to describe things rather than the same old-same old.  Well there now I’ve started my post off with something other than a weather report for a change.  Hey did I mention we had clear blue skies, warmer temperatures, a light wind and no rain today.  Oooops!!

DSC_0055DSC_0049

DSC_0084

IT’S ALWAYS SUCH A RELAXING TREAT DRIVING THROUGH THE COUNTRYSIDE

DSC_0045DSC_0038DSC_0039

DSC_0040

DSC_0043DSC_0041

DSC_0044

DSC_0081

Another challenge for a daily Blogger is keeping things fresh and again that is a real challenge when one isn’t doing a whole heck of a lot each day.  Not as big a problem when traveling of course but for we Snow Birds the 6 month period at home pushes one’s creativity to the limit.  What to write about, what to write about.  There are several solutions to this of course with the main one being simply not to blog every day.  Scale it back to maybe a couple times a week.  Problem solved, right??  Well maybe for some but it doesn’t work for me that way.  When each day is over it is really over for me and to come back 3 days later with my challenged memory trying desperately to catch up with itself I simply become too frustrated and my interest drops off.  Therefore it’s either a daily blog for me or no blog at all.  The other little problem I have is that I enjoy writing and taking photos and I’m not at the point yet where I’m ready to let those two connected hobbies of mine wander away on me.  Some folks exercise their minds with crossword puzzles, card playing, computer games and so on but for me it’s writing and finding photos each day.    So a daily blog it is and I thank everyone for persevering each day through my repetitious attempts at trying to come up with different ways to keep my blog alive and semi-interesting.  It may not work as well for you as it does me but as long as it keeps the spider webs out of my mind I’ll keep plugging away at it.

DSC_0034

CAN YOU FIND THE TWO SMALL CHILDREN….I DIDN’T KNOW THEY WERE THERE UNTIL I EDITED THE PHOTO TONIGHT

DSC_0020DSC_0037DSC_0061DSC_0067DSC_0069DSC_0070

Carolyn from NW Texas recently asked in a comment, ‘If this is your rainy season when is the dry season’?  Unlike the southern and especially southwestern States we do not really have a wet or dry season here where we live in southern Ontario Canada.  We are pretty well evenly spaced out year round when it comes to wet and dry through all our 4 ever changing seasons.  Guess that’s why we have so many trees and stuff up our way:)) 

DSC_0038

LOOKS LIKE LAUNDRY DAY

DSC_0042

I SAW TWO MEN AND ONE LADY HAND MOWING THEIR LAWNS THIS MORNING

DSC_0043

DSC_0039

A CROPPED VERSION OF THE FIRST PHOTO

DSC_0040

What a pleasant difference a few degrees rise in temperature makes.  Under windless sunny skies and slightly warmer temperatures today Pheebs and I had ourselves a great Jeep drive up through Mennonite-Amish country this morning.  Lots of folks out busily working away on their properties.  So nice to see the their neat yards with all their flowers.  Fruit trees are in blossom and the countryside just looks marvelous.

DSC_0051DSC_0053DSC_0056

I NOTICED THESE LADIES HAD A LOAD OF FLOWERS OR MAYBE HERBS ON BOARD

DSC_0068

PICKING UP THE MAIL

DSC_0069

Our Jeep ride lasted nearly four hours and we enjoyed every mile of It.   Actually nice enough this morning for us to drive along slow with both front windows down and I couldn’t help but notice how much better I felt compared to the last couple mornings when the gusting icy winds made getting out of the Jeep a miserable thing to do.  That good feeling stuck with me all the way home and how nice to see the land springing to life.  With leaves quickly unfurling our forests are ablaze with wondrous Spring color.

DSC_0063

ONE OF HALF A DOZEN MENNONITE SAWMILLS IN THE AREA

DSC_0062DSC_0073

DSC_0032

AND THIS IS ANOTHER ONE ABOUT A MILE WEST OF ST. HELENS

DSC_0065DSC_0071DSC_0072

Even after we arrived home I was still energized by the day’s sunshine and warmer temps so outside I stayed and busied myself with some of my projects.  Pulled a bunch of weeds in the flower beds then put down a thick layer of pine needles.  Next came a healthy helping of cedar mulch on top of the pine mulch so I’m hoping that will be enough to keep the weeds down.  Luckily living in a pine forest we have an endless supply of pine needles which are all free for the taking.

DSC_0080

HAD I NOT HEARD THAT SAW WORKING I NEVER WOULD HAVE SPOTTED THESE FELLAS

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A political candidate stood on a platform and announced to the assembled crowd that he was going to fight radicalism, socialism, communism, and anarchism.  One old man snorted and said, "I'll vote for you when you can do something about rheumatism."

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

“Now that looks like a happily married couple,” remarked the husband.
“Don’t be too sure, dear,' began the wife. 'They're probably saying the same thing about us.”

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

A lawyer named Impos Syble was shopping for a tombstone. After he had made his selection, the stonecutter asked him what inscription he would like on it.  "Here lies an honest man and a lawyer," responded the lawyer.  "Sorry, but I can't do that," replied the stonecutter. "In this state, it's against the law to bury two people in the same grave. However, I could put `here lies an honest lawyer'."  "But that won't let people know who it is!" protested the lawyer.  "Sure it will," retorted the stonecutter. "People will read it and exclaim, "That's impossible!"