AND THANKFULLY THIS TIME IT WASN'T JUST ME

I am always gratefully relieved to have other people's much superior brains working on problems as opposed to this little pea pickin mind of mine.  When I went to access my blog this morning and found it inaccessible with a broken Blogger page I immediately figured my blogging days were over.  I don't know why my brain thinks like that but it does.  Sitting there in my PJ's with my laptop balanced on my knees I began right away contemplating and worrying about what I was going to do if I didn't have my beloved time-consuming blog to occupy my idle time.  Luckily, we had our news channel tuned to Canada's CBC news and as I sat blankly staring straight ahead and thinking about my blogless future I was surprised to see the big 'Google' icon appear on the TV screen followed by an announcer's voice saying 'breaking news' (well isn't it always 'breaking news') that the big all-consuming Google Monster had gone down and many of Google's apps were non-functional this morning with one of them being Blogger.  Well 'Halleluja', I right away thought to myself, better their collective clever minds figuring out the problem rather than my mind scratching around beating itself up thinking it was something stupid I had done .  Turns out it was only a 45-minute outage caused by an internal error within Google itself.  Not from an outside hack.  Well, that's what they said anyway.  And thankfully this time it wasn't just me:))

 MALE CARDINAL

It was a cold gray morning as Pheebs and I rolled through Clinton grabbing a hot decalf coffee to go.  Country roads were froze up so no mud or dust.  Not that it would have mattered anyway with the Jeep already having a fresh coat of mud on it from previous days.

 INSTEAD OF PLOWING SNOW, THE COUNTY MAINTENANCE CREWS WERE OUT GRADING ROADS

Our travels took us past the Bannockburn Conservation Area where we pulled into the sheltered parking lot for a walk around.  Winds were cold so didn't want to be out in the open with temps hovering around the freezing mark.  

We were back home again by 10:30 and I was quite content to snuggle up beside our fireplace and basically stay there for the rest of the day.  Except for a cold afternoon walk with Pheebs around 3.

It seems every time I turn on the news these past couple days all I see is people's arms getting stuck with needles.  And I am not a needle person.  Yes I know it's historic, but geeeeezz!!!!

 THE TULIP LANE FURRY FACE CATTLE GUYS WERE OUT THIS MORNING

 I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT COW IN THE CENTER WAS DOING BUT IT MAY HAVE BEEN EITHER THE 'TWIST' OR THE 'WATUSI'

Just think, a mere month from now we'll be about halfway through January and less than two weeks away from the shortest month of the year.......February.  Now how's about them apples eh:)))))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The new Ensign was assigned to subs, where he'd dreamed of working since a young boy. He was trying to impress the Master Chief with his expertise learned in Submarine School.  The Master Chief cut him off quickly and said, "Listen, it's real simple. Add the number of times we dive to the number of times we surface. Divide that number by two. If the result doesn't come out even, don't open the hatch."

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"When I was a lad, Momma would send me down to the corner store with a dollar, and I'd come back with five pounds of potatoes, two loaves of bread, three pints of milk, a pound of cheese, a box of tea, and half a dozen eggs. You can't do that nowadays anymore……. Too many damm security cameras."

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PHEEBS CHASES THE NEIGHBOR'S CAT UP A TREE

 DOWNTOWN GODERICH THIS MORNING

Our rain changed to snow overnight and we ended up with a smattering of the white stuff scattered across the landscape.  But just a smattering and just enough for the Department of Highways to load up their trucks with tons of corrosive salt and dump it on area roads.

 A FEW MORE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS AT OUR HOUSE

 A SMATTERING OF SNOW ON THE ROAD

 NO THAT IS NOT FOG OVER THERE IT'S BLOWING SNOW COMING IN OFF THE LAKE

 THIS FAINT STITCH  OF SUNSHINE WAS THE ONLY HINT OF SUN WE HAD ALL DAY

Staying off the muddy country roads Pheebs and I drove up to Goderich and back.  Being a typically quiet Sunday morning there wasn't much going anywhere.  Our usual drive down around the harbor and out to Rotary Cove.

 ICY WINDS COMING IN OFF THE LAKE SOON HAD US BACK IN THE JEEP

 A LOT OF DRIFTWOOD ON THE BEACH FROM RECENT STORMS

It's not often I'm in Goderich's downtown area but knowing roads were basically free of traffic I cruised around the town's ring road circling the Courthouse snapping a few Christmas pics of decorations there.  No doubt this would be very pretty at night.

Snow was sporadic on the way home.  Some areas were clear and other areas had some minor snowfall blowing around.  Nothing serious.  I think it's a real wish for most people living in these northern latitudes that we have a white Christmas.  Me too.  Then along with many like-minded-people, I wish all the snow would go away again and we'd all be surprised with a super early Spring.

 A FEW SECTIONS OF BARE WET PAVEMENT ON THE WAY HOME

 AND, WE'RE BACK HOME:))

Seconds after Pheebs and I headed out the door for our afternoon walk Pheebs took off like a bullet chasing something out of our yard.  It was our newest neighbor's cat and it bolted 30 feet right straight up a maple tree.  Pheebs and I continued our walk and when back I checked on the cat to see if it had come down yet.  Nope.  We headed into the house and I came back out about half an hour later.  Cat was still in the tree obviously afraid to come down.  Over to the neighbor's house I went and minutes later Dennis had his long brand new extension ladder out and up he went to get the cat.  A tussle at the top of the ladder ensued with the cat jumping to another tree, clinging desperately for a few seconds then in a series of twisting tumbles down it came and landed on all fours in a growth of soft snowy periwinkle.  No damage done and Linus the cat made a short distance beeline for home.  All's well that ended well and neighbor Dennis never even fell off the ladder.  Not even once:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((   An elderly looking gentleman, (mid-nineties) very well dressed, hair well-groomed, great looking suit, flower in his lapel, smelling slightly of a good aftershave, presenting a well-looked-after image, walks into an upscale cocktail lounge.  Seated at the bar is an elderly looking lady.  The gentleman walks over, sits alongside her, orders a drink, takes a sip, turns to her, and says, “So tell me, do I come here often?”

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Two retired professors were vacationing with their wives at a hotel in the Catskills. They were sitting on the veranda one summer evening, watching the sunset.  The history professor asked the psychology professor, “Have you read Marx?”  To which the professor of psychology replied, “Yes and I think it’s these damned wicker chairs.”

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WITHOUT BORING EVERYBODY

 THIS BAYFIELD HOUSE OVERLOOKING LAKE HURON I CALL THE FLORIDA HOUSE BECAUSE OF ITS PINKISH CORAL COLOR

As predicted, rains came in the night and stayed with us for most of the day.  Temps remained mild at 50F with strong winds.  A short drive into Bayfield and back for Pheebs and I netted us the grand total of two photos.  Home again I spent a big chunk of the afternoon sleeping.  And that's about all I can say about today without boring everybody in the same old way.

 AND THIS BOAT AND BARGE WERE AT IT AGAIN THIS MORNING DESPITE THE POURING RAIN

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.