AND SO ENDED ANOTHER DAY

 I THINK PHEEBS HEARS A MOUSE UNDER THE SNOW

A light snowfall overnight was enough to turn our landscape white again.  Pheebs and I made new Jeep tracks out the driveway under sullen gray skies.  A slight freezing drizzle in the cold 25F air.  Roads were lightly sanded and not slippery.  Grabbed a coffee in Clinton and headed for the Hullett Marsh.  Quiet there but we did see some far off deer.  Managed a short walk before climbing back into the Jeep and heading straight home.  And so ended another day...................

 CHECKING OUT SOME DORMANT BEEHIVES

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Children were called upon a classroom to make sentences with words chosen by the teacher. The teacher smiled when Jack, a slow learner, raised his hand to participate during the challenge of making a sentence with the words "Defeat," "Defense," "Deduct," and "Detail."  Jack stood thinking for a while, all eyes focused on him while his classmates awaited his reply. Smiling, he then proudly shouted out, "Defeat of deduct went over defense before detail."

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Me: "I just burned 2000 calories in 20 minutes."
Friend: "How?"
Me: "I forgot to take my brownies out of the oven."

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Matt's dad picked him up from school one afternoon. Knowing the parts for the school play were supposed to be posted today, he asked his son if he got a part. Matt enthusiastically announced that he'd gotten a part. "I play a man who's been married for twenty years."
"That's great, son. Keep up the good work and before you know it they'll be giving you a speaking part."

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SOMETHING I DID SEVERAL YEARS AGO CAME TO MY RESCUE THIS MORNING

 A STONE COLD MORNING

It was a cold east wind blowing our 20F temperatures around this morning and had it not been for having a portable heated people mover (Jeep) Pheebs and I wouldn't even have ventured ourselves out the door.  Even Kelly and Pheebs cut their early morning walk short.  Having traveled south Tuesday morning and east Monday morning our only alternative today was to begin the three-way directional travel cycle again and head north.  And of course our first stop along the way was the town of Goderich.

 VERY COLD ALONG THE SHORELINE AND ICICLES HAVE BEGUN TO APPEAR

 SURE GLAD I WASN'T ONE OF THESE OUTSIDE WORKERS IN THIS MORNINGS ICY COLD TEMPERATURES

Thanks to a wise decision I made a few years ago I saved myself a lot of grief this morning.  Picking up a few groceries at Goderich's Zehr's Supermarket I hastened back to the Jeep, unlocked it with my fob, tossed the keys over on the driver's seat, and placed the groceries on the passenger side floor.  With that, I closed the door and took the cart back.  Returning to the Jeep I found it all locked up tighter than Fort Knox.  This particular Jeep has a habit of doing irritating things like that.  And there were my keys inside on the driver's seat.  Now what!!  Even though Pheebs is a little smarty-pants I knew she couldn't unlock the door for me.  Hmmm, I hope it wasn't her stepping on the fob and accidentally locking it....... And did I mention the 20F freezing temps made even worse by an icy east wind.  Well, I had two things going for me and both of them were lucky breaks.  First, because of the Jeep's habit of locking itself up, I had placed an 'open the door only' spare Jeep key in a plastic magnetic holder and tucked it away in a safe place somewhere outside the Jeep.  But where outside the Jeep because I had hidden a previous key and couldn't remember where so had to go this second hidden key route.  And here's where my second lucky break actually came in.   Amazingly enough, I right away remembered where I had stashed that second key.....as long as it was still there of course.  And it was.  Retrieving the key holder I right away ran into another problem.  With my by now frozen fingers, I could not get the plastic container open no matter how hard I pressed, pulled, and tugged at it.  Finally, in desperation, I put the small container down on the pavement and repeatedly stomped on it until the container finally cracked open spilling out the key. (can you imagine what this must have looked like to anyone watching from a safe distance) Seconds later I was back into the Jeep with the heater going full tilt thanking my lucky stars I had placed that spare door key where I did years ago and even remembered where I had placed it.  Will miracles ever cease.  Pheebs and I were home 20 minutes later and there was no going back outside for the rest of the day.  Except to feed the birds and take Pheebs for a short well bundled up walk.

I realize not all my photos are clear and sharp but I still like to include some of them for reader's enjoyment.  I wrote a post one time awhile back about not being a perfectionist and it does show through sometimes with my pics......

 STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT SOME COMFORTABLE WINTER HEADGEAR....TUESDAY I GOT RID OF THE FACEMASK AND TODAY I GOT RID OF THE BASEBALL CAP...COULD HARDLY SEE WHERE I WAS GOING

And 11 years ago today I was Hanging On To The Donkeys

GROANER'S CORNER:((    A college pizza delivery boy arrived at the house of Mr.Smith. He delivered the pizza to his trailer. After giving it to him, Mr. Smith asked: "What is the usual tip?"  "Well," replied the youth, "this is my first trip here, but the other guys say if I get a quarter out of you, I'll be doing great."  "Is that so?" snorted Mr. Smith. "Well, just to show them how wrong they are, here's five dollars."  "Thanks," replied the youth, "I'll put this in my school fund."  "What are you studying in school?" asked Larry.  The lad smiled and said: "Applied psychology."

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I HAD BETTER PUT A LID ON MY HOPES OF IT OPENING FOR CHRISTMAS....NO, NOT THE BORDER

A cold and bleak 27F start to our day so there was nothing to rush outside about this morning.  But out we did go anyway with a short drive through Bayfield and out the other side.  There just wasn't anything out there in that gray dull landscape to get too excited about so I didn't take many photos.  We were back home before 10 o'clock.

 I HADN'T SEEN THE FISHING TUG CISCOETTE IN BAYFIELD'S HARBOR BEFORE

LAKE HURON'S WIND WHIPPED WAVES

 NOT ALL CANADA GEESE FLY SOUTH

 FORESTS WERE LOOKING VERY COLD TODAY

 SAW THESE TWO OUT FOR A STROLL IN A LOCAL FARMYARD

Nothing much going on at home either so needing a few more photos for today's post I kept my eye on our front yard again.  Of course there usually are a few birds here and there twitting about to challenge my photo patience and today was no exception.  At our house in Congress Arizona years ago I enjoyed catching birds in flight with my camera on sunny days as they came to the feeders but here I'm always shooting in shade without the Sun behind me so it is much more difficult.  To catch birds in flight requires an optimum light source and a fast shutter speed.  Poor lighting conditions like our shaded front yard do not work well with fast shutter speeds needed for flying bird photos.

 A MALE CARDINAL ABOUT TO LAUNCH HIMSELF OFF THE BRANCH

 YES, THOSE ARE SNOWFLAKES FALLING ON THIS FEMALE CARDINAL

 BLUE JAY

No big plans for Christmas here at our house and that's okay with us.  Christmas was fun as a kid and I was fortunate enough to spend a few Christmas's in the late 70's up into the mid 80's where kids were a part of Christmas day and I enjoyed being a part of that and am glad I had that experience.  I learned you need kids around to make yourself feel like a kid again.

 PURPLE FINCH

 BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE

 AT ONE POINT WE HAD 3 PAIRS OF CARDINALS IN THE FRONT YARD

 TUFTED TITMOUSE

With our ground frozen now the hard surface makes for easier walking so instead of slogging through mud like the last few days Pheebs and I were able to walk farther this afternoon.  It wasn't quite as cold as I thought it was and I soon found myself way overdressed and had to remove my ski mask and stick it in my pocket.  

  AND YOU THOUGHT THOSE CLOSE-UPS OF THE SQUIRREL SCARED YA HUH....... THAT'S MY NOSE STICKING OUT, NOT MY TONGUE

No activity at the Tim Horton coffee shop site last two times I checked so guess I had better put a lid on my hopes of it opening for Christmas.  

GROANER'S CORNER:(( If you are on Facebook, I am sure you will find this hilarious.  The 76-year-old woman walked down the hallway of Clearview Addictions Clinic, searching for the right department. She passed signs for the "Heroin Addiction Department (HAD)," the "Smoking Addiction Department (SAD)" and the "Bingo Addiction Department (BAD)." Then she spotted the department she was looking for: "Facebook Addiction Department (FAD)."  It was the busiest department in the clinic, with about three dozen people filling the waiting room, most of them staring blankly into their Blackberries and iPhones. A middle-aged man with unkempt hair was pacing the room, muttering,"I need to milk my cows. I need to milk my cows."  A twenty-something man was prone on the floor, his face buried in his hands, while a curly-haired woman comforted him.  "Don't worry. It'll be all right."  "I just don't understand it. I thought my update was LOL-worthy, but none of my friends even clicked the 'like' button."  "How long has it been?"  "Almost five minutes. That's like five months in the real world."  The 76-year-old woman waited until her name was called, then followed the receptionist into the office of Alfred Zulu, Facebook Addiction Counselor.  "Please have a seat, Edna," he said with a warm smile. "And tell me how it all started."  "Well, it's all my grandson's fault. He sent me an invitation to join Facebook. I had never heard of Facebook before, but I thought it was something for me, because I usually have my face in a book."  "How soon were you hooked?"  "Faster than you can say 'create a profile.' I found myself on Facebook at least eight times each day -- and more times at night. Sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night to check it, just in case there was an update from one of my new friends in India . My husband didn't like that. He said that friendship is a precious thing and should never be outsourced."  "What do you like most about Facebook?"  "It makes me feel like I have a life. In the real world, I have only five or six friends, but on Facebook, I have 674. I'm even friends with Juan Carlos Montoya."  "Who's he?"  "I don't know, but he's got 4,000 friends, so he must be famous."  "Facebook has helped you make some connections, I see."  "Oh yes. I've even connected with some of the gals from high school -- I still call them 'gals.' I hadn't heard from some of them in ages, so it was exciting to look at their profiles and figure out who's retired, who's still working, and who's had some work done. I love browsing their photos and reading their updates. I know where they've been on vacation, which movies they've watched, and whether they hang their toilet paper over or under. I've also been playing a game with some of them."  "Let me guess. Farmville?"  "No, Mafia Wars. I'm a Hitman. No one messes with Edna."  "Wouldn't you rather meet some of your friends in person?"  "No, not really. It's so much easier on Facebook. We don't need to gussy ourselves up. We don't need to take baths or wear perfume or use mouthwash. That's the best thing about Facebook -- you can't smell anyone. Everyone is attractive, because everyone has picked a good profile pic. One of the gals is using a profile pic that was taken, I'm pretty certain, during the Eisenhower Administration. "  "What pic are you using?"  "Well, I spent five hours searching for a profile pic, but couldn't find one I really liked. So I decided to visit the local beauty salon."  "To make yourself look prettier?"  "No, to take a pic of one of the young ladies there. That's what I'm using."  "Didn't your friends notice that you look different?"  "Some of them did, but I just told them I've been doing lots of yoga."  "When did you realize that your Facebooking might be a problem?"  "I realized it last Sunday night, when I was on Facebook and saw a message on my wall from my husband: 'I moved out of the house five days ago. Just thought you should know.'"  "What did you do?"  "What else? I unfriended him of course!"

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