A BUSY DAY FOR THE BUNCH RUNNING ERRANDS

 TICKLE TUMMIES

All three of us in the Subaru this morning heading to Goderich.  Kelly had a list of errands to do but didn't feel well enough to drive to Goderich, do the errands, and drive home again.  After a short Jeep ride and walk at our favorite walking spot Pheebs and I were home again and switched into the Subaru.  Kelly had nine items on her list so off we went.  First stop was the Dynacare Lab where Kelly had blood work done.  While in the clinic, Pheebs and I headed for Goderich's Library to drop off a DVD and a book.  Back to Dynacare we picked up Kelly and headed north out of Goderich about a mile to a little place called Saltford where we dropped off one bin and two large bags of clothing and stuff.  A lady has an artsy store in Wingham and she buys a lot of Kelly's 'artsy' clothes to sell in her store.  From Saltford, it was back into Goderich with a stop at the Post Office where Kelly mailed off a purse to someone in New Brunswick who saw one of Kelly's funky purses for sale online.  Next, we were out to Goderich's east end where we dropped off a couple bags at a Goodwill-type place. (Saint Vincent de Paul)  From there it was over to the Walmart Pharmacy where I took in a prescription for me and picked one up for Kelly.  Following that, Kelly slipped into Zehr's Supermarket for some groceries.  Our second last stop of the day was Pet Value for doggy food and then over to A&W for a couple yummy Buddy Burgers.  I think it was around 1 p.m. before we were home again and we were both well overdue for an afternoon siesta.  It had been a gloomy cloud-infested day with some spitting rain but ten minutes after arriving home skies began clearing, the Sun popped out, and we were finally under big blue sunny skies for the rest of the day.

 WAITING FOR MOM AT THE DYNACARE LAB

 A COUPLE TIRE COVERS IN THE SUPERMARKET PARKING LOT

 NO MATTER HOW SHE FEELS KELLY ALWAYS INSISTS ON GOING IN TO PICK UP THE GRUB

Kelly's plasmapheresis treatments are still holding and her itching has not returned.  However, for the last three days and nights, she has been suffering from pain in her lower back and the area around her liver.  Her abdomen is distended.  Also, when they did the latest endoscopy a week ago they had trouble inserting the scope in Kelly's esophagus and her throat has bothered ever since.  She is due for another endoscopy in less than a month.  Her medical problems seem to be happening one right after another.  She broke a tooth last week so she has a dental appointment coming up for that shortly as well.  Pheebs and I will be taking her to Exeter and back on that day.  With each passing day now it is more and more about teamwork here at the Bunch......................

 A LONE SINGLE DAFFODIL ALONGSIDE THE ROAD ALONG A FOREST'S EDGE

Al's Music Box:))  Cherokee Bend by Gordon Lightfoot from the album 'Cold On The Shoulder'.  1975  I hadn't heard this song by Gordon Lightfoot until Deb from On a long and lonesome highway in a comment on my Lightfoot Tribute a couple days ago, drew my attention to it.  I listened to the song a couple times and liked it.  It is another fine example of Gordon Lightfoot's way of writing and weaving words in a beautiful storytelling way.  The song is based on a book called When The Legends Die.  Gordon said he wrote the song after reading the adaptation published in Readers Digest.  I have included the lyrics to this haunting song below for those of you who wish to follow along...........

His father was a man who could never understand,
the shame on the red man's face.
So they lived in the hills and they never came down,
but to trade in the white man's place.
Early in the spring when the snow had disappeared,
they came down with a bag of skins.
In the fall of the year of 1910,
daddy died by the rope down in Cherokee Bend.

Daddy didn't like what the white man said,
'bout the dirty little kid at his side.
Daddy didn't like what the white man did,
nor the deal or the way that he lied.
There was blood on the floor of the government store,
when the men took his daddy away,
but the boy stayed back till he'd come to his end,
then he run like the wind from Cherokee Bend.

Now the mother was alone and the winter was at hand,
and she prayed to her spirit kin.
It was warm in the lodge in the Kentucky hills,
on the day when the boy came in.
Then a blizzard came down and it covered up the door,
till they thought that it never would end,
and he told her the tale of the terrible affair,
in the government store down in Cherokee Bend.

Daddy didn't like what the white man said,
'bout the dirty little kid at his side,
daddy didn't like what the white man did,
nor the deal or the way that he lied.
For three long days and three long nights,
they wept and they mourned and then,
she returned to her work and her weavin',
and they tried to forget about Cherokee Bend.

Now the boy wasn't big but he hunted what he could,
and they lived for a time that way,
but the food run low and the meat went bad,
and she said to the boy one day.
"I'm leavin' tonight and I never will return,
from the land of my spirit kin,
you must take what you need and trade what you can,
for a red man's grave down in Cherokee Bend".

It wasn't very long till she closed her eyes,
and he wrapped her in a robe,
he found her a place on the side of a hill,
and he buried her in the snow.
Early in the spring he was seen comin' down,
with his load lookin' ragged and thin.
Not a year had gone by till he stood once again,
in the government store down in Cherokee Bend.

He was ten years tall and a redskin too,
so he hadn't much face to save,
and the men sat around and they laughed and they clowned,
at the talk of a criminal's grave.
Then a man from the east didn't smile when he said,
"you're the son of that indian scum,
if you value your hide then you better abide,
by the white man's rules here in Cherokee Bend".

Daddy didn't like what the white man said,
'bout the dirty little kid at his side.
Daddy didn't like what the white man did,
nor the deal or the way that he lied.
And he spit on the floor of the government store,
and it served him to no good end,
at the close of the day they had taken him away,
to the white man's school down in Cherokee Bend.

It's been twenty one years since the boy disappeared,
where he run to nobody knows,
but they say he fell in with a man named Jim,
and he rides in the rodeos,
and they say he returns all alone to a place,
hidden deep in the Kentucky glen,
and it's pretty well known who hauled up the stone,
to the grave on the hill above Cherokee Bend.

Daddy didn't like what the white man said,
'bout the dirty little kid at his side.
Daddy didn't like what the white man did,
nor the deal or the way that he lied.
There was blood on the floor of the government store,
when the men took his daddy away,
it was 1910 and they never had a friend,
when he died by the rope down in Cherokee Bend.
It was 1910 and they never had a friend,

 'MORE TICKLE TUMMIES DAD'

GROANER'S CORNER:)) A very traditional elderly woman was enjoying a good game of bridge with her girlfriends one evening. "Oh, no! I have to rush home and fix dinner for my husband! He's going to really ticked if it's not ready on time!" she exclaimed suddenly.  When she got home, she realized that she didn't have enough time to go to the supermarket, and all she had in the cupboard was a wilted lettuce leaf, an egg, and a can of cat food. In a panic, she opened the can of cat food, stirred in the egg, and garnished it with the lettuce leaf just as her husband pulled up.  She greeted her husband and then watched in horror as he sat down to his dinner. To her surprise, the husband really enjoyed his dinner. "Darling, this is the best dinner you have made for me in forty years of marriage. You can make this for me any old day."  Needless to say, every bridge night from then on, the woman made her husband the same dish. She told her bridge cronies about it and they were all horrified.  "You're going to kill him!" they exclaimed.  Two months later, her husband died.  The women were sitting around the table playing bridge when one of the cronies said, "You killed him! We told you that feeding him that cat food every week would do him in! How can you just sit there so calmly and play bridge knowing you murdered your husband?"  The wife stoically replied, "I didn't kill him. He fell off the mantel while he was cleaning himself."

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