Saturday, August 20, 2016

UP IN MENNONITE COUNTRY THIS MORNING WE SPOTTED OURSELVES AN AMISH ‘TURBO HORSE’

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With a couple sets of company coming in the next week I was hoping to have a bunch of loose end gardening projects tidied up.  I was out early this morning but again underestimated the humidity and with-in half an hour of moving some rocks around I was done.  Back into the house with a clean shirt I had just put on less than an hour before going right into the laundry basket and Al going straight away into the shower.

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AIR WAS DEAD CALM AND THE WIND TURBINE BLADES WERE NOT TURBINING EARLIER THIS MORNING

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GUESS THIS IS THE ONLY THING LEFT TO COMMERATE THE SITE OF A MID 1800’S PIONEER CEMETERY SITE ALONGSIDE A LOCAL HURON COUNTY COUNTRY ROAD

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Again not wanting to start my day off just sitting around in the house Pheebs and I took off out into the countryside in search of a few Saturday night photos.

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FROM A LONG DISTANCE I ONLY SAW 2 DEER HERE AT THE EDGE OF A FIELD BUT WHEN I LATER CROPPED IN ON A SECOND PHOTO I SAW THERE WERE ACTUALLY 3 DEER

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Not especially wanting to do a short drive and be home in an hour or so to just sit around I asked Pheebs if she had any ideas as to where we could go.  Said she hadn't seen her Alpaca pals for awhile so with a McDonald's burrito, carrot muffin and coffee in hand we headed north out of Goderich in the direction of Dungannon Ontario.

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We rolled through Huron Counties countryside with all windows down and how nice to be serenaded along the way by hosts of Crickets along roadside ditches and fields.  Reaching the rural intersection of Mill Line and Hawkins Road we pulled up alongside the Alpaca corral and within seconds of knowing Pheebs was there the gang came wandering out of the barn to see her.  Sniffs all way round and we were soon on our way again.DSC_0015

ZEKE, ZELDA AND ZOWIE

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THAT ZEKE IS A REAL HAM

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‘YA COOL MAN’

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YELLOW PIN SHOWS THE ALPACA GANG’S LOCATION IN RELATION TO DUNGANNON UPPER RIGHT

Figured since we had come as far as Dungannon we  might as well head Northeast a few more miles and take us for a drive through Amish/Mennonite country.  Must have had some substantial rains overnight because roads in places were downright muddy and I could see where narrow buggy wheels and horses hooves had dug in and rutted the gravel.  All fields were green and I realized I had totally missed the wheat harvest by a week or two.

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WE WERE’NT LONG IN COMING UP ON A HORSE AND BUGGY

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AMISH FOLKS GENERALLY HAVE WHITE HOUSES WITH GREEN TRIM, RED BARNS AND WHITE SCHOOL HOUSES

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IN THE TINY HAMLET OF ST HELENS ONTARIO

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WISHED I COULD HAVE GOT A LOWER ANGLE ON THIS PHOTO….NOTICE A SECOND GUY ON THE RIGHT WHICH I DIDN’T SEE UNTIL I LATER EDITED THE PICTURE

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DON’T KNOW WHAT WAS IN THE HEAVY SACKS BUT THESE YOUNG FELLERS WERE HAVING QUITE A TIME GETTING THAT LOAD UPHILL TO THE BARN…NOTICE THE BARE FEET ON THE WAGON CREW

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A drive through Amish country over that way is not complete without a stop at Lake Wawanosh and how nice to find nobody there when we rolled in around 11 a.m.  Lake level was down a bit but not bad.  Pheebs even puddled around at the water's edge getting her paws wet.

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LAKE WAWANOSH’S BLUE WATERS WERE SPARKLING

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EVEN PHEEBS GOT HER PAWS INTO THE COOL WATER

From Lake Wawanosh we made the turn for home buttoning up the windows and hitting the snow flurries button to cool ourselves down.  It was shortly past noon when we rolled into the driveway and quickly retreated inside the comfortable cool house.  DSC_0056

A COOL SHADY SPOT ON A HOT SUMMER DAY

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EITHER THIS IS A VERY LONG NECKED SHEEP OR THOSE ARE VERY SHORT NECKED ALPACAS:))

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AMISH WORK HORSES ALWAYS LOOK SO HEALTHY, WELL FED AND POWERFUL

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AND THEIR COWS LOOK PRETTY DARN GOOD TOO

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SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT HERE

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EVEN CAME ACROSS ONE OF THOSE RARE AMISH TURBO HORSES….YOU KNOW THE KIND WITH 8 LEGS FOR MAXIMUM HORSE POWER TOWING

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OOOPS GUESS I HAD THAT WRONG…..IT’S ONE OF THEIR NEWER MODELS, A TWO HEADED 6 LEG VERSION BUILT FOR GOOD ‘HORSE SMARTS’ FIGURING ‘TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

I am heartened to see much cooler temperatures slated for Sunday with overnight Monday temps due to maybe drop down into the high 50's.  Long range forecast is for a consecutive stretch of more civilized temperature and that for sure is going to make a whole lot of folks very, very happy and especially ME:))

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SPOTTED THIS AMISH HOLSTEIN COW COOLING OFF IN A POND

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I KNEW IT WAS AN AMISH COW BECAUSE THERE IS THE AMISH HOUSE

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SHE SURE WAS ENJOYING HERSELF SWISHING HER TAIL AROUND IN THE WATER

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COOLING OFF THE UNDERCARRIAGE

My goal for tomorrow is to try hard at making it through one single day without complaining about the weather.  Say, was that a big cheer I just heard go up out there……………….:))

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A LITTLE AMISH GIRL MAKES HER WAY FROM THE BARN TO THE HOUSE….I DIDN’T STOP TO TAKE THIS PHOTO INSTEAD TAKING IT OUT THE PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW ON THE WAY BY

GROANER'S CORNER:(( At one point during a game, the coach said to one of his young players, "Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?"  The little boy nodded in the affirmative.  "Do you understand that what matters is whether we win together as a team?"  The little boy nodded yes.  "So," the coach continued, "when a strike is called, or you're out at first, you don't argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?"  Again the little boy nodded.  "Good," said the coach.  "Now go over there and explain it to your mother."

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A grandmother was surprised by her seven-year-old helper early one morning. He had made her coffee! She drank what was probably the worst cup of coffee in her entire life. And when she got to the bottom, to her utter amazement, there were three little green, army men in her cup.  Puzzled, she asked, "Honey, what are these army men doing in my coffee?"  Her grandson answered, "Grandma, you know how it says on TV, 'The best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup.'"

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Did you hear about the Hindu yogi who was having a filling put in a tooth? When the dentist asked him if he wanted novocaine, the yogi said, "No. I can transcend dental medication."

Friday, August 19, 2016

IS IT ANY WONDER WHY I LIKE TO SPEND A FEW HOURS MOST EVERY MORNING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

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A LONE EGRET IN THE HULLETT MARSH THIS MORNING

I took advantage of the mornings temporary cooler air and got a couple more things stroked off my outside 'to do' list.  By 9 the air was turning hot and sticky already and my shirt felt clammy.  Not wanting to start the day off sitting in the house I turned to my furry little 4 legged black shadow and asked her what she would like to do.  Seconds later we were into the Jeep and off out the driveway.  I wish just for once I could experience that ever so over the top delirious happiness that I see in the Pheebs all the time and especially when she knows we are going for a Jeep ride.  Just once I say.DSC_0003-001

IS IT ANY WONDER WHY I LIKE TO SPEND A FEW HOURS MOST EVERY MORNING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

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Traveled our usual and steadfastly true route again as we slipped through Clinton's Tim Hortons on our slowpoke journey over to the Hullett Marsh just a short distance away.  Even with our windows down at 20mph I could feel the day’s mugginess continuing to build. 

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Due to the heat I figured we'd just stop at one of our favorite areas for a quick leg stretch but was pleasantly surprised at a nice cooling southerly breeze that at least enabled us to get a short walk in.  A couple Blue Herons, a lone Egret and a full squadrons of Ducks in the morning air added nicely to Hullet’s great and ongoing mystique.  

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A GREAT BLUE HERON

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THE HERON TAKES TO THE AIR AND STAMPEDES A HERD OF DUCKS

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SPOTTED THIS LONE EGRET

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THE EGRET QUICKLY TAKES TO THE AIR

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THE EGRET LANDED BRIEFLY THEN TOOK OFF AND LANDED AGAIN

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I could tell Pheebs was tired from the heat so we  cut our walk short and decided to head ourselves on home.  Had to max out the A/C along the way and by the time we got home we had a full length snow drift running right between the seats from front to back.  I had quite a time shoveling all that snow out of the Jeep I did:))DSC_0013-001

PHEEBS FINDS A SHADY SPOT OUT OF THE SUN’S HEAT AND THE JEEP IS SLIGHTLY VISIBLE TO THE UPPER RIGHT

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SAW A COUPLE DEER ON THE FAR SIDE BUT BY THE TIME I GOT MY CAMERA STEADIED THEY WERE GONE

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AN OLD OBSERVATION STAND IN THE MARSH

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NICE TO SEE WATER LEVELS UP IN THE MARSH PONDS AGAIN

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NOT OFTEN I SEE HUMANOIDS IN THE MARSH…..THESE ARE A COUPLE HULLETT WORKERS

I wasn't long in getting into the house but I wasn't there long.  Looking out I could see Kelly working away outside re-arranging some flower pots in the heat.  Not wanting to think of myself as some kind of a hot weather wimp I knew I had better get myself outside and get slaving and sweating away under the hot noon day Sun.  A few more Hostas dug up an re-located plus I made a start on a stone flowerbed edging project.  In the meantime Kelly had wisely headed back inside and by 1 o'clock with my sweaty shirt glued to me I had to drag myself back inside and throw my 215 pound blob of paste into the shower.   Oh how I love those big million dollar feeling good showers:))DSC_0050

‘IS THIS AWFUL HOT WEATHER GOING TO END SOON DAD’

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A husband and wife were driving down a country lane on their way to visit some friends. They came to a watery muddy patch in the road and the car became bogged. After a few minutes of trying to get the car out by themselves, they saw a young farmer coming down the lane, driving some oxen before him. The farmer stopped when he saw the couple in trouble and offered to pull the car out of the mud for $50. The husband accepted and minutes later the car was free. The farmer turned to the husband and said, "You know, you're the tenth car I've helped out of the mud today." The husband looks around at the fields incredulously and asks the farmer, "When do you have time to plough your land? At night?" "No," the young farmer replied seriously, "Night is when I put more water back in the hole."

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On the first day of college, the Dean addressed the students, pointing out some of the rules:  "The female dormitory will be out-of-bounds for all male students, and the male dormitory to the female students. Anybody caught breaking this rule will be fined $20 the first time."  He continued, "Anybody caught breaking this rule the second time will be fined $60. Being caught a third time will cost you a fine of $180. Are there any questions?"  At this point, a male student in the crowd inquired: "How much for a season pass?"

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Q: Did you hear about the kidnapping at school? A: It's okay. He woke up.

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“My elderly aunt loves telling jokes while she knits. She is a real knitwit.”