AN END OF AN ERA AS I TAKE MY LAST RIDE

After dragging my feet for a long while I decided this morning it was time to drive my Motorcycle to the Goderich Power Center and turn it in on consignment for sale.  And that’s what I did.  It marked the end of an era for me.

KELLY TOOK THIS PHOTO AS I WAS LEAVING

Having never driven a motorcycle until the age of 49 I’m glad I made the decision buy a bike way back in late 1993.  Had a lot of good times and have a lot of good memories.  Altogether I had 3 motorcycles in that period.  A 650 Suzuki, a 750 Yamaha Virago, and an 1100 Honda Shadow Aero.  All nice bikes.  One accident not my fault totaled the Suzuki and broke a few of my bones.  Other than that one incident it was all good times.

KELLY DROVE UP TO GIVE ME A RIDE  HOME

FEELING A LITTLE SAD HERE

WHAT CAN I SAY……….MY RIDING DAYS ARE OVER

GOOD-BYE MY FRIEND AND THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

Another cloud studded blue sky day saw Pheebs and I on the road over to the Hullett Marsh for a walk first thing.  A wee drive through the countryside after that and we were home again.  For some unknown reason my energy levels plummeted this afternoon and tonight I feel drained.  Perhaps a bit of post depression knowing my bike is gone now.

IT’S ALWAYS NICE IN THE HULLETT MARSH SURROUNDED BY NATURE’S PEACEFULLNESS

MONARCH BUTTERFLIES WILL SOON BE ON THIS ‘MILKWEED’

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT KIND OF BIRD THIS IS??

 

THE RED SHOULDER PATCH TELLS ME THIS IS A RED WING BLACKBIRD

RED WING BLACKBIRDS PUFF UP WHEN THEY SING

Ok so here’s the upside of the downside.  No more pushing and wheeling the heavy motorcycle around in our pea stone driveway, more space in the carport, no into storage each fall and no more out of storage in the Spring.  I won’t miss that battering installation stuff, one less mechanical device to worry about in my life, no more insurance payments or licensing fees, no more worries about deer jumping out in front of me on the road or cars turning in front of me. (both those things happened to me more than once)  No more washing and polishing, and best of all no more feeling guilty about not riding my bike more often,  Geeezzzzz Louise I’m feeling better already:))

LOTS OF BEAN FIELDS IN OUR AREA

STILL WATER LYING ABOUT IN FARMER’S FIELDS

I LOVE IT WHEN SKY’S ARE MODDY

Kelly noticed a question in our Shout Box that I had missed. Lady Di asked, ‘Does the Cala Lily come up every year? Sun or,shade?  Yes it’s a perennial and the tag says it likes a mixture of sun and shade,  So far our new Shout Box seems to be working fine so we have our fingers crossed it stays that way.

OOOPS SOMEBODY SPILLED A WHEELBARROW LOAD OF FLOWERS

OUTDOORS CLASS IN LONDESBOROUGH ONTARIO THIS MORNING

Kelly’s Doctor appointment in Bayfield went alright earlier today but it looks like she is headed off for yet another ultra-sound scan with this one being done in Goderich.  This aging thing is a real pain!!  Me?? Oh I’m doing alright despite my periodically annoying trivial aches and complaints.  And Pheebs is good too:))

THIS THISTLE WILL SOON BE IN PURPLE BLOOM

I’M GUESSING THIS AT ‘CROWN VETCH’

Another nice refreshingly cool day here in southwestern Ontario.  Sunny periods mixed with clouds and the occasional splats of rain as mild storm cells form up out over the lake and come ashore.  Not everybody’s kind of weather but it sure suits me fine. Nice cloud patterns and textures in the sky for taking photos.

Might be off to Henry's Camera Store in the morning.  We still have a bit of trading left to do:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A lady went to the police station to file a report for her missing Husband.
Lady: I lost my Husband.
Inspector: What is his height?
Lady: I never noticed.
Inspector: Slim or healthy?
Lady: Not slim or healthy.
Inspector: Colour of eyes?
Lady: Never noticed.
Inspector: Colour of hair?
Lady: Changes according to season.
Inspector: What was he wearing?
Lady: Suit... Casuals... I don't remember exactly.
Inspector: Was somebody with him?
Lady: Yes my Labrador dog, Calvin, tied with a golden chain, height 30 inches, healthy, blue eyes, blackish brown hair, his left foot thumb nail is slightly broken, he never barks, wearing a golden belt studded with blue balls, he likes non veg food, we eat together, we jog together.……..
The lady started crying.
Inspector: Let's search for the dog first!

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- Johnathan asked his young son, 'Greg, do you think I’m a bad father?'  'My name is Andrew,' replied his son.

- Lead would be great for making electric guitars. After all, it is a heavy metal.

- A cowboy was walking down the street with his new pet dachshund. The passerby asked him why a cowboy would own that kind of dog. The cowboy answered, "Well, somebody told me to get along little doggie."

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Knock Knock
Who's there?
Genoa!
Genoa who!
Genoa any new jokes?

A BIG SKY DAY OVER CHOPPY LAKE HURON WATERS

I love it when from my recliner each morning I can look up out our big window and see blue skies through green pine trees.  And that is exactly what I saw this morning despite cloudy skies rumbling through our area during the night.

THIS COLORFUL LITTLE FELLOW KNOWS HOW TO DISQUISE ITSELF QUITE WELL

Soon as Pheebs and I cleared our surrounding forest we could see Sunday morning’s sky was a beautiful mottled array of big white, gray, and dark stormy looking clouds.  Patches of blue, puffs of white and slates of gray from horizon to horizon.  Bright sunny patches drifted slowly across Huron County farmlands briefly highlighting distant shadows and occasionally crossing our path as we made our way to Goderich.  I knew with this kind of sky overhead Lake Huron was going to be looking mighty nice.

PASTORAL FARMLANDS

Coffee and muffin in hand we made our way down to the harbor.  Two large lake freighters in port that I had never seen before.  The FLORENCE SPIRIT docked at the Goderich grain elevators while the strange looking ASHTABULA a short distance away was tied up to the Sifto Salt Mind dock.  What is strange about the Ashtabula is that it is a combination Barge and Tug Boat.  Check the link and it will tell you all about it.  And it seems it has spent a fair share of it’s sea time between Tampa Bay and the Lower Mississippi River.  But first, the green hulled Florence Spirit.

SEEING’S HOW SHE IS RIDING HIGH IN THE WATER THE ‘FLORENCE SPIRIT’ HASN’T TAKEN ON A LOAD YET

WELL SHE’S GOT QUITE A SET OF ANCHORS ON HER HASN’T SHE

  

TWO DIFFERENT BOATS TWO DIFFERENT MASTS

IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE THE ‘PHEEBER BUNS’ IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT

I HAD NO IDEA WHAT THIS BOAT WAS UNTIL LATER READING ON THE INTERNET ABOUT THE BARGE ASHTABULA AND THE TUG BOAT DEFIANCE

THAT LARGE TUG BOAT IS EMBEDDED RIGHT INTO THE BIG BARGE

THE ASHTABULA HAS ALSO BEEN AN OCEAN GOING VESSEL

Lake Huron was rough this morning having been stirred up the past few days by a number of storm cells traveling eastwards across her waters.  We stopped at the dog walking area for a few pictures and were immediately set upon by a passing rain cloud.  Waited it out for a few minutes then back out of the Jeep we were.  Big beautiful skies all around us and I was able to snap off a few nice photos.  Oh how I am loving this D7200 Nikon camera:))

LOOKS LIKE THE BOYS ARE HEADING OUT TO DO SOME KAYAKING IN CHOPPY WATERS

‘AWWWW GEEEEZZZZZ’ WHO FORGOT TO PUT THE CORK IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BOAT!!’

LOOKS LIKE THOSE GODERICH FIREFIGHTERS ARE STILL WORKING HARD AT STAYING IN SHAPE….GOOD STUFF

GETTING HARDER TO TELL THE YOUNGSTERS FROM THE ADULTS

‘HEY BURT SURF’S UP’

Needing a few things at Walmart I buzzed in and out of there in about 7.2 minutes.  Two days ago I was in the Pharmacy department and spent a good 5 minutes looking for a couple items I simply could not find.  Being a man I didn’t ask anyone where I could find anything and promptly left the store in a huff of course badgering myself all the way back to the Jeep.  This morning I walked over to the Pharmacy section again and found the two said items in about 30 seconds.  Now why does that happen!!  For sure those two things were there on the shelf two days ago but my eyes could not locate them.  This is a rather common occurrence for me and about drives me batty every time it happens which of course is just about every day so every day I have some kind of batty time with myself.

LOTS OF FLOTSAM AND JETSAM WASHING UP ON THE BEACH THIS MORNING AND SECONDS AFTER TAKING THIS PHOTO WE GOT RAINED ON

THE BLIP ON THE WATER’S HORIZON TO THE RIGHT IS THE BREAKWATER BUILDING BELOW

Our 12 year old Samsung 42” plasma television finally gave up the ghost Saturday night.  Kelly was watching it and the screen suddenly went all ka-floofilated.  It was nothing like we had ever seen before and I knew right away it was done.  There had been a few ka-flooferation signs over the past couple months and I had a feeling it was on it’s last legs.  It had been a demonstrator set at a local TV shop when we first bought it.  Expecting trouble we had  been researching TV’s over the last while and already had an idea what we were looking for so earlier this afternoon Kelly climbed on-line and ordered us up a 55” LG Super UHD Smart LED TV.  With any luck we may be able to pick it up Wednesday at the Brick store in Goderich.  In the meantime we have the 19” TV from our old Congress Arizona house set up.

THE TOWN OF GODERICH DOES A SUPERB JOB WITH ALL IT’S FLOWER PLANTING EACH YEAR

With cooler temperatures and a nice refreshing breeze Pheebs and I took us for a bug free walk around the pine tree trail this afternoon.  Clippers in hand I was able to do a little trail trimming maintenance along the way.  At the time of publishing this tonight it is 63 degrees and I am a happy camper with that.  Think I’ll go put a sweater on:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Two children went into their parent's bathroom and noticed the scale in the corner. "Whatever you do," cautioned one child to the younger one, "don't step on it!"
"Why not?" asked the sibling. "Because every time mom does, she lets out an awful scream!"

Q: How was Saddam Hussein like Fred Flintstone? A: Both looked out their windows and saw Rubble.

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A pickpocket was up in court for a series of petty crimes. The judge said “Mr. Banks you are hereby fined $100.” The lawyer stood up and said “Thanks, my lord, however my client only has $75 on him at this time, but if you'd allow him a few minutes in the crowd…”

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"I'm sorry," said the clerk in the flower shop, "we don't have potted geraniums. Could you use African violets instead?"  Replied the customer sadly, "No, it was geraniums my wife told me to water while she was gone."