OKAY SO LET'S GET THIS WINTER THING BEHIND US SHALL WE

With the Bayfield Tim Horton site now being fully operational, it leaves me with one less on-going building site to draw my interest.  Only thing left is the new Bayfield bridge construction which isn't too photographable yet until they begin erecting the steel.  Haven't heard of any other interesting building projects coming up in or around Bayfield so my local 'sidewalk superintendent' interests may be on hold for awhile.

Cloudy morning, no wind, and not snowing. With temps hovering around the freezing mark  Pheebs and I ventured off over towards the Hullett Marsh.  The landscape looked drab but I did manage to find a few photos along the way.

 SOMEONE OUT FOR A WINTER'S MORNING WALK WAY  UP THERE AHEAD

 A SNOWY ROAD LEADS INTO THE HULLETT MARSH

 NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING NOT EVEN A MOUSE

 I HOPE THOSE BUZZY BEES STAY WARM OVER THERE FOR THE WINTER

 THIS IS OUR MOST VISITED SPOT IN THE MARSH

With only a light dusting of snow overnight, I didn't have any snow to shovel after we arrived home so I got out the leaf blower and blew some leaves off the carport's cement floor. Also blew some accumulated debris off our front porch.  Stocked up the bird feeders for the umpteenth time and headed into the house.  And that pretty much wrapped up the first Monday of 2021.

 EVEN 'LITTLE RED' WAS OUT TODAY

 NOT TOO OFTEN WE SEE THIS GREY SQUIRREL IN THE YARD

I am quite fine once again with the whole Christmas holiday thing behind us.  I do sometimes kind of like the short disruption it causes but I also look forward to things getting back to normal again.  And a semblance of good old normal began once more this morning.  Now, let's shove the pedal to the metal and get this winter behind us shall we:))

 WINTER'S MILKWEED PODS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  There were two old geezers living in the backwoods. Their names were Rufus and Clarence. They lived on opposite sides of the river, and they hated each other.  Every morning, just after sunrise, Rufus and Clarence would go down to their respective sides of the river and yell at each other. "RUFUS!!" Clarence would shout. "You better thank your lucky stars that I can't swim . . . or I'd swim this river and whup your butt!!"  "CLARENCE!!" Rufus would holler back, "You better thank YOUR lucky stars that I can't swim . . . or I'd swim this river and whup your skinny butt!!!"  This went on every morning. Every day. Twenty years.  One day the Army Corps of Engineers came and built a bridge. Still, every morning every day for another five years the shouting and feuding across the river continued. Finally, Rufus wife has had enough.  "Rufus!" she yells, one day. "I can't take no more!! Every day for 25 years, you've been threatenin' to whup Clarence. Well, there's the bridge...have at it!"  Rufus thought for a moment. Chewed his bottom lip for another moment. "Woman!" he declared, snapping his suspenders into place. "I'm gonna whup Clarence's butt!!!"  He walked out the door, down to the river, along the riverbank, came to the bridge, stepped up onto the bridge, walked about halfway, looked up....TURNED TAIL AND RAN SCREAMING BACK TO THE HOUSE, SLAMMED THE DOOR, BOLTED THE WINDOWS, GRABBED THE SHOTGUN AND DIVED, PANTING AND GASPING, UNDER THE BED!!!!!  "Rufus!" cried the misses. "I thought you was gonna whup Clarence's butt!!!"  "I was, woman, I was!!" he whispered.  "Rufus!" cried the misses. "What in tarnation is the matter?"  "Well," muttered the terror-stricken Rufus, "I went to the bridge...I stepped up on the bridge...walked halfway over the bridge...looked up..."  "And?" she asked, breathless with suspense.  "And," continued Rufus, "I saw a sign that said, "Clearance, 13 feet, 6 inches" He ain't never looked THAT big from the other side of the river!!!!!"

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If someone has a mid-life crisis while playing hide & seek...  Do they automatically lose because they can't find themselves?

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I'M GOING TO HAVE TO TAPE A BIG SIGN ON MY STEERING WHEEL

I guess the best way I could describe our winter weather this morning is to call it a kind of snowy drizzle.  More snow than drizzle overall.  Again, not many roads plowed but Pheebs and I were fine in the Jeep.  I decided this winter not to put on the heavy-duty gription tires and so far we have been just fine with our ordinary tires.  I have gone looking for slightly deeper snow and slippery ice to see how the ordinary tires performed and so far with the aid of 4-wheel drive I have not had a problem.

 HEADING DOWN BAYFIELD'S SHORT HILL ROAD TO THE BEACH AREA

 A FRIENDLY WAVE FROM SOME BAYFIELD FOLKS

 NO THAT IS NOT FOG OUT THERE ITS SNOW

 A DRIVE DOWN BAYFIELD'S MAIN STREET

 A NUMBER OF DOGS OUT WALKING THEIR PEOPLE THIS MORNING

A swing through the countryside southeast of the village, then a stop at the Bayfield cemetery on our way back to lay down a few Jeep tracks around the snowy cemetery roads.  With snow still coming down we were back home shortly after 10.  It's a good thing we didn't have any wind blowing around today or it could have meant some very nasty weather.

 UNDERNEATH THAT DUSTING OF SNOW ARE ICE PATCHES

 SNOWING HEAVIER

I'm going to have to tape a big sign with big black block letters on the Jeep's steering wheel to remind myself that it is McDonalds that has the small 'Senior' coffee deal for $1.25 and not Tim Hortons!!  For the second time in two weeks, I had to embarrass myself at a Hortons pick-up window wanting to know why they charged me full price for a coffee instead of the 'Seniors' rate.  The lady at Bayfield's Hortons very nicely reminded me this morning I was not at McDonalds.  And then she said, 'I like your hat', and with that, Pheebs and red-faced me were on our way:))

I think our front yard is turning into some kind of a zoo.  We had black, gray, and red squirrels out front this afternoon as well as a bunny rabbit.  And then there are all the birds and I'm certain our bird population is growing.  I am seeing more and more pairs of Cardinals. Three pairs for sure and possibly more.  I'm going to have to get a part-time job just so's we can buy more birdseed for that ravenous bunch outside our house.

 'HEY WHAT'S THAT RASCALLY RABBIT DOING IN THE YARD'

 'JUST GET GOING OUT OF HERE YOU WASCALLY WABBIT'

 'SHEESH WHAT A SOREHEAD THAT SQUIRREL IS'

 'AND DON'T YOU BE COMING BACK YA HEAR'!!

January 3rd already.  Just think, a month from now we will be into February steadily pedaling our way to March.  If we keep up this pace I will soon be griping about summer's heat and humidity again.  Oh, say it isn't so.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  "You are a cheat!" roared the angry card player.  "I am not," responded the accused.  "You certainly are," insisted the first man. "I know for sure that I never dealt you that ace!"

- What sort of television programs do ducks like?  Duckumentaries

Husband: "I want to tattoo your name on me. What do you think, shall I do it on my arm or neck?"  Wife: "How about on your will?"

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