I AM CONVINCED SOMETHING BEYOND MAN'S COMPREHENSION IS GOING ON

 A FEW CHRISTMAS LIGHTS AROUND OUR PARK

The cloud cover was so thick this morning that if there had been Elephants walking on the cloud tops they would not have fallen through.  And, with temps at 41F, the morning air was still doable.  So, it was off we went with our front windows down and the heater on.  And, once again, it was a good Jeep ride for me and the furry Kid.

THE SUNDAY MORNING  HORSE BLANKET GANG IS AGAIN GATHERED UNDER THE BIG OLD WILLOW TREE

Kelly put up some more outside Christmas decorations today.  I spent time ravaging through our two sheds looking for a couple of electric rotating lights that I had put away in a safe place last January.  That safe place in fact is so safe that I still have not found them.  (Update) I found them:))

 YES, THIS WILL LOOK SO MUCH BETTER WITH SOME SNOW ON THE GROUND

Because of our milder weather Saturday night, I decided to take my camera for a walk around a couple blocks here at our Park and snap a few Christmas lights pics that residents had up.  The pics would look better with snow but chances are it would be too cold for me then and I wouldn't get it done.  I know the past two years about this time I mentioned in my blog that I was going to go out and take some nighttime pics around our Park and never did.  Last night I didn't need gloves or even a winter coat on.  And when I got home I was even sweating a bit from the camera walk.

 SOME FOLKS HAVE REALLY SPENT SOME SERIOUS TIME AND EFFORT AND IT SHOWS

With all these cold and dreary days going on, I finished another book titled Secret Government UAP Cover-Ups.  Don't let the cover of this book throw you off.  This is a serious no-nonsense easily readable up-to-date look at this whole UAP/UFO phenomenon by author Barry Sheurweghs.  Despite having been a witness to the Phoenix Lights back in 1997 his former skeptical self at times still keeps him on his toes about what it is he has managed to make some sense out of.  There is a lot of relevant info in this book.  Although I have not seen anything in the sky myself I couldn't logically explain, I'm kind of in the same boat as this author is.  I am convinced something beyond man's comprehension is going on, but I just don't exactly know what it is.  Welcome to the club eh.

 THESE ARE A FEW PICS FROM AROUND OUR HOUSE SATURDAY NIGHT

Al's Music Box:)) The Christmas Song (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a classic Christmas song written in 1945 by Robert Wells and Mel Torme.  The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song in June 1946. At Cole's behest – and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records – a second recording was made in August utilizing a small string section. This version became a massive hit on both the pop and R&B charts. Cole again recorded the song in 1953, using the same arrangement with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, and once more in 1961, in a stereophonic version with another full orchestra arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Cole's 1961 version is generally regarded as definitive and, in 2004, was the most-loved seasonal song with women aged 30–49; while the original 1946 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1974. In 2022, the 1961 Nat King Cole recording was selected by the Library Of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Earl and Bubba are quietly sitting in a boat fishing, chewing tobacco, and drinking beer when suddenly Bubba says, "Think I'm gonna divorce the wife... she ain't spoke to me in over 2 months."  Earl spits overboard, takes a long, slow sip of beer and says, "Better think it over Bubba... women like that are hard to find."

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I went to a wise man the other day for advice and he said, "He who knows and knows he knows, knows not. He who knows not and knows he knows not, knows."  I don't know who's going to do my taxes next year, but I know it won't be him again.

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A guy found a penguin and showed him to a policeman.  The policeman said, "Take that penguin to the zoo now."  Next day the policeman sees the man with the penguin again.  The policeman stops the guy and says, I told you yesterday to take the penguin to the Zoo so what on earth are you doing with the penguin in your truck again?"  The guy says, "What else is there to do? Yesterday I took him to the zoo and today I'm taking him to the movies."

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QUICKLY RETRIEVING MY FROG-CATCHING NET

 THIS FELLOW IN OUR FRONT YARD FROG POND TODAY THINKS IT'S SPRING

If it wasn't two weeks before Christmas and I had a blindfold on when stepping out the door I would have thought it felt like an early Spring day.  Under cloudy skies, we topped out at 57F today and that included a few brief sunsplashes about mid-afternoon.  Temperature records were broken today.  Just think, a month from now we'll already be past the first week of January:))

 WE STILL HAVE A FEW GREEN LEAVES LEFT

Already knowing our country road walking spot was too muddy for paws and boots, Pheebs and I contented ourselves with a front windows-down drive through the countryside listening to cool tunes on Sirius XM radio.  We were home again sometime after 10.

Because it wasn't freezing, snowing, or raining, Kelly ventured out into the front yard to put up some Christmas decorations.  Pheebs slipped out to help and I wasn't long in following with a stepladder.  Kelly did most of the decorating while I teetered around on the stepladder to reach the higher points for the lights.  While near our frog pond, I noticed a slight movement in the water and there sat a frog probably thinking it was Spring.  Quickly retrieving my frog-catching net I scooped the little fella up and took him over to the Park's big pond.  Last I saw of him he was paddling fast for the bottom to get himself nestled into the soft mud for winter.  Hmmm, maybe I should consider that.

 PUTTING UP SOME CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS TODAY

 PHEEBS IS A BIG HELP JUST BY BEING HERE

Hard to imagine, but we actually got ourselves through a whole week without any medical appointments.  Our next one will be in London on December 20th and it will be an Angiogram for Kelly.     

 OUR FRONT YARD ALWAYS LOOKS SO SCRAGGLY THIS TIME OF YEAR

Al's Music Box:)) Leader Of The Band is a song written by American singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg for his 1981 album The Innocent Age. The song was written as a tribute to his father Lawrence Fogelberg, a musician and leader of a band who was still alive when the song was released.

OUR FROG POND WITH ALL THE PINE NEEDLES AND SUNBURST LOCUST LEAVES IN IT

GROANER'S CORNER:((  When my 14-year-old son, Patrick, stepped up to the plate during a Colt League baseball game, the young announcer declared, "Now batting, the right fielder, number 12, Pathogen!"  After some confusion in the stands, the announcer came back on over the loudspeaker. "Sorry folks, that's PAT Hogan!"

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Nine out of ten voices in my head say that I’m crazy. The tenth is humming.

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

Any of us has the capacity to light up a room. Some when they enter, others when they leave it.

I am the human version of tangled headphones!!

 

Change is inevitable, except from a parking meter.

A real 'Smart TV' would increase the volume when you started eating chips.

Doesn’t expecting the unexpected make the unexpected expected?

 Don’t tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon.

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OLD IS NEW AGAIN

 GREEN GRASS IN DECEMBER

I've been dragging the bottom of the barrel lately trying to drum up enough enthusiasm on these cold gray and damp days to write my daily post.  However, this morning's sunshine and blue sky along with milder temperatures gave me enough of a spark to try a little harder today.  By early afternoon, skies had clouded over again with predictions of a rainy night and a soggy Saturday but on the bright side, I do see a few predicted sunny days next week.  I will cling to that prediction.   

 SO NICE TO SEE DEEP BLUE SKIES OVER TOP OF OUR PINE TREES THIS MORNING

Kelly headed off to Goderich's Home Hardware store this morning to order her new recliner.  It will take about eight weeks for delivery.  But wait......there was a change when she got to the store.  She spotted a recliner we had overlooked last week and this one (petite size) fit her perfectly.  It will be delivered next Thursday.  The recliner is made by Best Home Furnishings located in Ferdinand Indiana, USA.  Their site says they are the largest chair manufacturer in the world.  Kelly's chair is the manual 'Felicia' model in a light gray fabric Herringbone Tweed.

 THIS INDOOR PUSSYCAT LIKES TO WATCH PEOPLE COMING AND GOING AT THE ENTRANCEWAY TO OUR PARK

Pheebs and I headed out to our walking road and despite a cold wind, we managed something resembling a walk.  Home again I puttered around outside for as long as my worsening arthritic hip and legs would keep me upright.  With my lawn rake, I moved a few leaves and pine needles around before heading into the house and unceremoniously flopping myself into my sunroom recliner.  

 IT'S A GOOD T H ING I WASHED THURSDAY'S MUD OFf THE JEEP  TO MAKE ROOM FOR A NEW BATCH OF  FRIDAY MORNING MUD FROM OUR JEEP RIDE EARLIER  TODAY

 I HADN'T SEEN THE SHADOW COWBOY FOR A WHILE BUT WITH THIS MORNING'S SUNSHINE I SPOTTED HIM AT THE CORNER OF OUR HOUSE

I was surprised when a delivery van stopped at the end of our driveway and the driver exited the vehicle with a new boxed Black and Decker single-cup coffee maker.  I had no idea Kelly had ordered one.  And, I could tell right away from the pristine condition of the box that it had not suffered the ravages of a cargo ship's hold from the Orient.  This new coffee maker is identical to my old failing one, so....'Old Is New Again':))  

 AND OLD IS NEW AGAIN:))

Al's Music Box:)) Miss Chatelaine is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter k.d. Lang, released in 1992 as the second single from her second solo album, Ingenue.  Lang co-wrote the song with Ben Mink, and it was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, one year after her win in the same category for "Constant Craving". The title refers to the Canadian magazine Chatelaine, which named Lang Woman of the Year in 1988.  kd Lang was born in Edmonton Alberta, the youngest child of Audrey Bebee and Adam Frederick Lang. She is of English, Irish, Scottish, German, Russian-Jewish, Icelandic, and Sioux ancestry............. And, does anybody remember Cliff Richards and the Shadows??  Especially the Shadows.  I came across this video today which shows the boys are still at it after all these years.  And, they still sound great.  The tune is 'Shadoogie'....I love this kind of feeling good instrumental stuff and I hope y'all have a good sound system:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard, and a German are all watching a dolphin do some excellent tricks.  The dolphin notices that the four gentlemen have a very poor view, so he jumps higher out of the water and calls out, "Can you all see me now?"  And they respond: "Yes." "Oui." "Sí." "Ja."

- “Did you hear about the chiropractor that was a comic? He cracks me up.”

- "Sending Christmas cards is a good way to let your friends and family know that you think they’re worth the price of a stamp."

Summer vacation was over and the teacher asked Little Johnny about his family trip. "We visited my grandmother in Minneapolis, Minnesota."  The teacher asked, "Good, can you tell the class how you spell that?"  Little Johnny thought for a few seconds and said, "Actually, we went to Ohio."

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