AND WITH A BIG SIGH OF RELIEF WE HEADED HOME THROUGH THE QUIET COUNTRYSIDE

 AFTER SO MANY GRAY DAYS HOW GREAT IT WAS TO SEE B LUE SKYS TODAY

How nice to have a sunny day for Kelly's first day home from the hospital.  However, it turned out to be a busy one. Pheebs and I headed out first thing for our Jeep ride which took us into Bayfield and to Bayfield's cemetery for a brisk walk around a field and an amble into a nearby forest.  With only about an inch of snow on the ground, it was easy walking.

 CANADA GEESE AND A SEAGULL ON THE BAYFIELD RIVER

 OUR WALK IN THE CEMETERY THIS MORNING

 THE FOREST FLOOR ON A WINTER'S MORN

 HEADING BACK TO THE JEEP

Home again, we switched the Jeep for the Subaru, loaded Miss Kelly up, and off we went.  Our first stop was Bayfield's post office where Kelly had a parcel to mail.  From there it was over to the carwash to get all the road salt off the Subaru and from there we headed straightaway north up highway 21 to Goderich and stopped at Walmart.  Kelly slipped inside to the Pharmacy to get a couple new prescriptions filled.  Of course with the busy Christmas season upon us,  Walmart was a zoo again and the prescription was going to take an hour to get it together.  With other stops scheduled we slipped next door to Zehr's Supermarket to pick up a few groceries and a frozen turkey.  So far, despite the crush of humanity, the day was going reasonably well, but then we went to Harveys/Swiss Chalet for a nice hopped for sit-down Swiss Chalet chicken dinner.  For starters, they were out of chicken and it would be a forty-five-minute wait, plus they were short staffed and people were lined up.  Just wanting to get out of there we settled for a Harvies burg for me and a grilled chicken wrap for Kelly.  We ate our mediocre stuff in the car:((  We have noticed how local fast-food eateries have been going downhill in our area.  All of them have signs out 'Help Wanted' and one has only their drive-thru open.  The service is poor and the food quality is suffering.   

WHAT!!! NO SWISS CHALET CHICKEN!!!!

THE PARKING LOT SNOWPLOW'S VERSION OF MOUNT WALMART 

Back to Walmart we went to pick up Kelly's new prescriptions and they weren't ready yet.  In the meantime, the stores were a zoo which meant the large con-joined parking lots were akin to a demolition derby with cars and shoppers crisscrossing everywhere.  Parking spots were rare so Pheebs and I would drop Kelly off at the store doors and then head out to do battle with the frenzied drivers and Christmas shoppers milling about in the parking lots.  Kelly insisted on going into the stores because after laying in a hospital bed for nearly four days she wanted to get some strength back into her legs.  Kelly phoned me from inside Walmart saying the prescriptions still weren't ready so I said come on out and we'll go get ourselves a much-needed Tim Hortons coffee.  Pheebs by this time was needing a pit stop, so with coffees in hand we went to the farthest corner of the Canadian Tire Store parking lot far from the maddening crowds and had ourselves a short break from the madness.  Fortified by our coffees and bolstered by half a dozen Tim Bits we soon headed back into the fray.  I dropped Kelly off at Walmart's door and once again commenced driving around dodging Mad Max drivers and frenzied shoppers.  But the end of the madness was in sight.  I stopped near Walmart's entrance and spotted Kelly in my rear-view mirror with prescriptions in hand heading for the car.  Minutes later we cleared the congested area, breathed a big huge sigh of relief, and happily headed for home through the quiet countryside.  

  PHEEBS WATCHING FOR MOM TO COME OUT OF THE HOUSE THIS MORNING

 PHEEBS WATCHING FOR MOM TO COME OUT OF ZEHRS SUPERMARKET

 PHEEBS WATCHING FOR MOM TO COME OUT OF WALMART

Aside from feeling a bit weak and tired today, Kelly is doing well and was able to get a decent Tuesday night's sleep.  The next bunch of days will be days of rest for her.  We won't be going anywhere!!  Well, not anywhere where there are masses of people that's for sure!!!!

  MORNING WALK

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Signs of the times::

In the front yard of a funeral home, 'Drive carefully, we'll wait.'

On an electrician's truck, 'Let us remove your shorts.'

Outside a radiator repair shop, 'Best place in town to take a leak.'

On a maternity room door, 'Push, Push, Push.'

On a taxidermist's window, 'We really know our stuff.'

On a butcher's window, 'Let me meat your needs.'

On a fence, 'Salesmen welcome. Dog food is expensive.'

On a muffler shop, 'No appointment necessary. We'll hear you coming.'

In a dry cleaner's emporium, 'Drop your pants here.'

On a desk in a reception room, 'We shoot every 3rd salesman, and the 2nd one just left.'

In a veterinarian's waiting room, 'Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!'

In a Beauty Shop, 'Dye now!'

In a restaurant window, 'Don't stand there and be hungry, come in and get fed up.'

In a cafeteria, 'Shoes are required to eat in the cafeteria. Socks can eat any place they want.'
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When is a knot not a knot? 

A: When it’s not.

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