I TURNED DOWN A HOT FUDGE SUNDAE THIS AFTERNOON

 SOOOOOO NICE TO SEE BLUE SKIES TODAY

It was a big beautiful sunny blue sky day this morning as Richard and I cruised leisurely through the countryside on our first country road coffee tour of 2021.  I did the steering wheel honors today.

 HEADING OVER TO RICHARDS IT WAS NICE TO SEE CLEARING SKIES OUT OVER LAKE HURON

Home again I enjoyed the warm sunshine coming through our sunroom windows as I sunk into my cushy recliner and became unconsciously as one with the Universe for nearly an hour.  It was Pheebs who tugged me back into reality with her cold little nose on my hand. 'Time for our afternoon walk Dad' and with that it was out of the chair, out the door, and off we went.

 ONLY SIGNS OF ACTIVITY ON OUR FRONT YARD FROG POND WERE BUNNY TRACKS 

Despite winter's cold afternoon air it was so nice to be out walking in the sunshine.  Bush roads were plowed but icy.  No matter, it was just nice to be out getting some exercise for my legs.

 OUR PARK'S POND

 IT WAS SLIPPERY WALKING IN SOME PLACES THIS AFTERNOON

 A COUPLE PERIODIC PARK WORKERS BURNING SOME BRUSH

Would you believe I turned down a hot fudge sundae this afternoon?  Well, I did, and with no hesitation.  When Pheebs and I got back from our walk Kelly was melting some chocolate in preparation for sundaes.  Normally my answer would have been, 'yes please and double chocolate on mine'.   However, ever since I was diagnosed with stage 2 diabetes last summer I have pulled out all the stops in an attempt to get my weight down and develop new eating habits.  Not easy at first but things have become easier and I'm holding at 190 pounds, down from 204 when diagnosed, and an all-time high a couple years ago of 216 pounds.

 IT WILL SOON BE TIME TO TAKE DOWN OUR CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

GROANER'S CORNER:((       A little boy was attending his first wedding. After the service, his cousin asked him, "How many women can a man marry?"  "Sixteen," the boy responded.  His cousin was amazed that he knew the answer so quickly. "How do you know that?"  "Easy," the little boy said.  "All you have to do is add it up, like the Preacher said: 4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer."

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This guy was watching TV as his wife was out cutting the grass during the hot summer. He finally worked up the energy to go out and ask his wife what was for supper.  Well, his missus was quite irritated about him sitting in the air-conditioned house all day while she did all the work, so she scolded him. "I can't believe you're asking me about supper right now! Imagine I'm out of town, go inside and figure dinner out yourself."  So he went back in the house and fixed himself a big steak, with potatoes, garlic bread and tall glass of iced tea.  The wife finally walked in about the time he was finishing up and asked him, "You fixed something to eat? So where is mine?"  "Huh? I thought you were out of town."

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Read more on page: http://www.jokesoftheday.net/                                                          

A RECENT POST BY MY GOOD BUDDY JIM

 LOVE THIS MORNING'S PATCHES OF BIG BLUE SKIES

I really messed up my photos this morning and of course it was my own fault.  Oh Gee what else is new eh.  Heading out the door I pressed the button on my camera to check my usual exposure levels.  Nothing happened, camera was dead.  Checked the battery level and it was zero.  Very rare for me not to keep my battery charged up.  That was my first mistake.  Stepping back into the house and grabbing another camera I made a second mistake by not checking the settings.  Hence, with the color balance way off into the blue spectrum, away I went.  Third mistake I made was in not checking my photos more closely as I went along.  Anyway, all my photos have a blue caste to them.  Some much worse than others.  I was able to color correct a few of them to an acceptable level using my Picasa photo editing program. Some were not color correctable at all so I made black and whites out of them the best I could. The majority of the photos I simply deleted.  Sometimes stuff just happens........

 MORE AND MORE PIG BARNS ARE BEING BUILT THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRYSIDE

A slight hint of color on the eastern horizon at dawn had me hopeful for a few smatterings of sunshine.  An hour later we had some big welcome patches of blue sky overhead.  Days without sunshine sure makes for good feelings when old Sol finally makes an appearance.  And especially at this time of year as we approach mid-January.  By afternoon we were once again under a partial cloud cover.

 ANIMAL TRACKS IN THE SNOW

 THE ONTARIO ALPS

 THE'ALPS' ARE ACTUALLY PILES OF DIRT AROUND THE EDGE OF A GRAVEL PIT

 THE 'ALPS' AT THE BOTTOM AND A GRAIN SILO OPERATION IN CLINTON AT TOP RIGHT

<<<< LOVING THESE PATCHES OF BLUE SKY
Brewed up my own coffee this morning and headed northeast out of our Park.  How nice to see those big splashes of Sun lighting up the snowy landscape and bringing nature's vibrant colors back out of the greyness from previous days.  Temps were again above freezing for most of the day.  Checking the forecast ahead I see despite dropping temps we might be lucky enough to have ourselves a few more sunny days.  I will be sure to use the correct camera settings for that:))

 SNOWMOBILE TRACKS

Home again shortly after 10 I right away got myself busy with a few outside chores.  Started up the Motorhome and let it run for a while.  It purred like a kitten.  Snow had been building up on our house roof as well as the carport roof so I dusted off my 15' aluminum snow rake and began pulling snow and ice down off the roof along the edges.  After that, I had to get myself on the end of my snow shovel and remove some of that downed snow from a couple walking areas.

 TIME TO GET OUT MY BIG SNOW RAKE AND GET THAT ICE AND SNOW DOWN

 KELLY'S SMART PHONE PHOTOS

My bloodwork numbers came back already and things are looking Okay.  I am back to the pre-diabetes number of 6.1.  My diabetes person is calling me on January 11th to talk about the blood test.  I have to return to the Dynacare lab next week for a second blood test regarding my PSA number.  My London Oncologist, Doctor Mendez, has requested this one as part of my twice-yearly check with him.

 

I particularly liked a recent post written by my good buddy Jim from Lifetime Sentences.  It is a heartwarming family-oriented piece that I think a lot of readers can readily identify with.  In these times of so much upheaval and uncertainty how nice to read of one Dad's hopes and dreams for his children's children based on love, caring, and a winter tradition shared with Jim by his own Dad from days gone by.  I wasn't able to get a link to work for Jim's post so I copy and pasted it below.

 For the Grandkids

For ten years, starting in 2007, with the help of my family, I built big skating rinks in our backyard. By the time our mild winters put a stop to the rink-building, someone asked me why I kept making them as it was true that they weren't seeing much use the last couple of years. Our kids and their friends had moved on. It took me a little longer to do the same.

But that question stuck in my head. Why did I keep making them? Going out every 20 minutes on 12-below nights till dawn to apply another coat of water. Freezing my fingers and toes off. Only to look out a couple of weeks later to see the grass re-emerge through the remnants of the ice. Just exactly what kind of fool was I?

The answer finally came to me one day, not in time, of course, to respond to the man who had asked me the question. I kept building skating rinks but now they were for my grandchildren. I don't have any grandchildren but I know if I ever do that there will probably be skating rinks of some description in the backyards of the homes they live in as their parents reflect on their years growing up at our place.

And now I think that this reasoning might apply to a lot of the things my wife and I still do. Our Christmas traditions, for example. The real tree, the great movies, the games, the meals, the music. I could list ten movies but though my grandkids might never see them all, I know for sure they will always watch White Christmas and probably A Christmas Story. Maybe Elf and possibly Christmas vacation.

Our grandkids will eat turkey on Christmas evening. And one other thing I can almost guarantee. They will stay at home all day Christmas Day. That is a practice Barb and I started many years ago. We decided to not leave our property from Christmas Eve till Boxing Day. No visiting anyone. Selfish maybe, but it has been the one day of the year we know we will all be together.

There are many other Christmas and non-Christmas traditions we observe and I know our grandkids won't be introduced to all of those. After all, our children's future spouses will have family practices of their own they want to introduce to their kids.

But I really believe that simple acts we do for and with our sons and daughters will benefit their sons and daughters down the road and maybe even farther into the future than we can see.

The first time I saw A Christmas Story was in 1984, a year after it was filmed. I loved it immediately. I was single at the time and watched it alone in my apartment. I had no way of knowing that 12 years later I would have a son and that a few years after that, he would become a big fan of my favourite Christmas movie. Or that in 2011, he and I would be in Cleveland, standing in front of the house where the exterior scenes were shot.

I also didn't know the movie would become one of my daughter's favourites as well or that she would present her brother this year with a replica of the iconic leg lamp from the show.

I will admit that we have lost some of the traditions my wife and I grew up with, mainly revolving around the religious aspects of the season. The Christmas music we listen to, for example, is mostly not the carols that we loved. For me, as a Catholic, there is no more midnight mass.

Who knows if I will ever meet my grandchildren. But I know, as they lace up their skates for a twirl around their backyard rink, or sit down to watch White Christmas, that they will know their grandparents very well.

By that time, wherever it is I might be, it will please me to know their parents made them a rink, just as my Dad did for me.

I wonder if Dad ever thought he was making those rinks for his grandchildren, my children, both of whom he would never meet.

©2021 Jim Hagarty

lifetimesentences.com

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Some people are like a Slinky.....not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.

Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.

Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents?

In the 60s, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

Eighty percent of all people consider themselves to be above average.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Every solution breeds new problems.

Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
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Boss: "Working hard here, Jimmy?"  Jimmy: "Ever since I heard you coming down the stairs, boss!"

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KIND OF A 6D DAY

 NICE TO SEE THESE FARM FOLKS RESTORING THEIR OLD BARN INSTEAD OF LETTING IT FALL DOWN

A 6D day??  Yep, it was depressingly dull, drab, and dismally damp.  Dammit!!  A routine Jeep ride through Bayfield and slightly beyond this morning.  Our temps are slightly above freezing so at least it's not bone-numbing cold out.  Paved roads were bare and dry.  Not a bad January so far.

 STILL A FEW SIGNS OF CHRISTMAS OUT AND ABOUT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

 WITH THESE MILDER TEMPS LATELY I'M SEEING MORE AND MORE CATTLE OUT IN THE FIELDS

 SNOW AND ICE WAITING TO SLIDE OFF OUR ROOF

 I'M HOPING THIS MOURNING DOVE DOESN'T LEAVE A DEPOSIT ON OUR SUNROOM'S SKYLIGHT

 HERE'S OLD GRUMPY PANTS IN THE DYNACARE WAITING ROOM THIS AFTERNOON

Had to slip up to Goderich's Dynacare lab early this afternoon for bloodwork.  My diabetic care person in Goderich requested that as a routine check-up so I went and did what I was told to do.  I SEE A SNOWY SEA HORSE ON THE POWER POLE >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Building Security has notified us that there have been 5 suspected terrorists working at our office. Four of the five have been apprehended. Bin Sleeping, Bin Loafing, Bin Gossiping, and Bin Surfing have been taken into custody. Security advised us that they could find no one fitting the description of the fifth cell member, Bin Working, in the office. Police are confident that anyone who looks like Bin Working will be very easy to spot. They thought they had apprehended Bin Working sitting at a desk, but it was actually Bin Surfing trying to impersonate Bin Working.

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"Last Sunday I found a wallet packed with money down by the church."  "Did you give it back?" "Not yet. I'm still trying to decide if it's a temptation from the devil or the answer to a prayer."

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An Irishman is going to London on a plane; how can you steal his window seat?
Tell him all seats going to London are in the middle row.

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