AWAY WE WENT TRUDGING THROUGH THE SNOW

After Monday's all-day cold rain we woke up to a white landscape this morning.  Only about two inches of snow but it was enough to turn things white.  Pheebs and I did get out for a short Jeep ride and I was able to scrape together a few photos.

 NICE TO SEE THOSE PATCHES OF BLUE THIS MORNING

MALLARD DUCKS

 BARNYARD PIGEONS

She tried her best, but Kelly couldn't get used to her new recliner and it went back to the store this morning.  She is re-thinking the very first recliner she looked at now.  For the time being, she is using another semi-recliner from our sunroom that came out of a high-end RV about ten years ago.

 GOLDFINCH

 DARK-EYED JUNCO

I moved a little bit of snow around today but it was just a little bit.  Drumming up any kind of excitement about going outside on cold days is pretty much a thing of the past for me.  I do make sure the bird feeders are topped up though.  And, I have to make sure those furry little fat-bellied Black Squirrels eat well and stay healthy enough to annoy me all Winter.

 FOUR OF FIVE SQUIRRELS IN OUR FRONT YARD THIS AFTERNOON

 THERE GOES NUMBER 5

 A FEW OF OUR CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

Despite my hip joint feeling like it was tightly packed with sandpaper, Pheebs convinced me it might be a good idea to take it for a walk in the afternoon sunshine.  I agreed, and away we went trudging through the snow.  Luckily, it was only a couple inches deep but it somehow felt much deeper to me.  We went around the pond and not any farther and I was glad to get home and sit down to take the weight off my right leg.

 OUR PARK'S POND LOOKING WEST

Scruffling with Pheebs earlier today I noticed she had a soft pliable golf ball size lump between her upper right leg and her shoulder.  She has an appointment with the Zurich Vet early this coming Friday afternoon.

It will be all three of us in the Subaru Wednesday morning heading to London's University Hospital where Kelly has an Angiogram scheduled for 10 o'clock.  It's a four to five-hour procedure so Pheebs and I may come home again.  The weather is looking good so we will probably doddle our way along through the countryside and see if we can find some new scenery and scare up a few photos along the way.          

 OUR FRONT YARD

 HEAVY SNOW ON ONE OF OUR AZALEA PLANTS

 OKAY IS THIS AN AZALEA BUD OR THE EAST END OF A WHITE POODLE HEADING WEST

 AZALEA BUD THINKING IT'S SPRING

Al's Music Box:)) Leaving On A Jet Plane  The most well-known version was recorded by American folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary, for their 1967 studio album, Album 1700.  John Denver, writer and also singer of the song was a close friend of theirs and they shared the same producer in that time, Milt Okun. It was Peter, Paul, and Mary's biggest (and final) hit, becoming their only No. 1. 

GROANER'S CORNER:((  The young boy protested vigorously when his mother asked him to take his little sister along fishing. “The last time she came,” he objected, “I didn’t catch a single fish.” “I’ll talk to her,” his mother said, “and I promise this time she won’t make any noise.”  “It wasn’t the noise, Mom,” the boy replied. “She ate all my bait.”

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What do you call a kid who doesn’t believe in Santa?  A rebel without a  Claus.

How is Christmas exactly like your job?  You do all the work and some fat guy in a suit gets all the credit.

What did Adam say to his wife on Christmas?  It’s finally Christmas, Eve!

Where does Santa keep all his money?  At the local snow bank.

What’s every parent’s favorite Christmas Carol?  Silent Night.

What do you get when you deep fry Santa?  Crisp Cringle.

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MY HIP SURGERY DATE IS CONFIRMED

 SUNRISE AT HICKIWAN TRAILS IN WHY, ARIZONA 2008

Had our phone not rang this afternoon I would not have had anything to write a post about tonight.  It was Dr. Garach's office in Sarnia Ontario calling with a confirmed date for my hip surgery.  February 13th is that day.  Before that, I will have to attend a pre-op information meeting in Sarnia but we don't have a date for that yet.  The lady we talked to today gave us a run-through of things and of course, the one I remember most is the 6-week temporary driver's license suspension following surgery.  For Pheebs and I that is sure going to mess up our morning Jeep rides all the way to March 27th.  I'm going to have to figure out a way to gently break that news to her sometime in early February.

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Al's Music Box:)) Turn Around Look At Me  In 1968, The Vogues released their remake of this song as a single. This version was by far the most successful, reaching #7 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

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GROANER'S CORNER:(( Be extra careful on the roads with Christmas around the corner.  A lot of men will be drinking and getting their wives to drive.

- Happiness is having friends with the same mental disorders that you have.

-If someone asks: "Are you crazy"?  Simply reply: "Yes" And just like that, it's the end of the discussion!!

"When I saw you driving down the road, I guessed 55 at least."  "You're wrong, officer, it's only my hat that makes me look that old."

- Why is it called lipstick if you can still move your lips?

- Do you think that when they asked George Washington for ID he just whipped out a quarter?

- Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?

- How can there be self-help 'groups'?

Jeff Dunham: Walter, your wife is a lovely woman.
Walter: She's getting old.
Jeff Dunham: Well, you know, they say that women age like fine wine.
Walter: She's aging like milk.

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DAYS GONE BY

 DAYS GONE BY

The overcast rainy morning didn't do anything to perk up my spirits and not a photo did I take on a short drive into Bayfield and back.  I spent most of my day in my sunroom recliner reading. 

 ROCK SCRAMBLING WEST OF CONGRESS ARIZONA

Al's Music Box:)) Norwegian Wood is a song by the English band the Beatles from their 1965 album Rubber Soul. It was written mainly by John Lennon, with lyrical contributions from Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership. Influenced by the introspective lyrics of Bob Dylan, the song is considered a milestone in the Beatles' development as songwriters. The track features a sitar part, played by lead guitarist George Harrison, that marked the first appearance of the Indian string instrument on a Western rock recording. The song was a number 1 hit in Australia when released as a single there in 1966, coupled with "Nowhere Man".  Lennon wrote the song as a veiled account of an extramarital affair he had in London. When recording the track, Harrison was asked by Lennon to add a sitar part to the song. Harrison had become interested in the instrument's exotic sound while on the set of the Beatles' film Help!, in early 1965.

 THE LOS CIENEGAS CONSERVATION AREA  (THE GRASSLANDS) ARIZONA

GROANER'S CORNER:((  When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of - first, the truck, the car, playing golf, ' always something more important to me.  Finally, she thought of a clever way to make her point. When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again I handed her a toothbrush. I said, 'When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway.'  The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp.

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- Me: "I just burned 2000 calories in 20 minutes."  Friend: "How?"  Me: "I forgot to take my brownies out of the oven."

- I have a pen that can write underwater
It can write other words as well

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Q: What do you get if you put a bell on a skunk?
A: Jingle smells

Q: What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck?
A: A Christmas Quacker!

Q: What is the best Christmas present?
A: A broken drum, you can't beat it!

Q: Why can’t Christmas trees knit?
A: Because they always drop their needles!

Q: How does Darth Vader enjoy his Christmas Turkey?
A: On the dark side!

How much does Santa pay to park his sleigh?  Nothing, it's on the house.

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A SLIGHT CORRECTION TO MY FRIDAY POST

A mainly gray morning but hey no snow so the day was a go.  Although it's not as far as we used to go, the Kid and I did go though.  It's getting close to Christmas so 'Ho-Ho'.  Okay, no mo:))

 HEY FURRY UP THERE IN MEAFORD, ARE THOSE SAND HILL CRANES I SEE OVER THERE??

A slight correction to Friday post.  I was incorrect when I said the liver donor's blood and Kelly's blood were a match.  That had already been previously determined.  It was the 'compatibility' of the antibodies in the blood that had been hanging in the balance.  Although blood types were a match, would either Kelly's or the donor's antibodies be incompatible and conflict too strongly with each other.  In other words, Kelly's antibodies might overpower the donor's antibodies and reject the piece of new liver outright.  So, the latest blood tests showed the antibodies are compatible between recipient and donor and that was where the 4% chance came in that I mentioned.  It's a good thing Kelly is here to straighten me out on things.......A year ago today Kelly was transported by ambulance to the Goderich Hospital and from there transferred by ambulance to London's University Hospital.  Luckily, she made it home for Christmas:))

Last week I decided to head back out sea for my next Kindle book read.  I chose Walker R.N. (Royal Navy) The Greatest U-Boat Hunter of the Battle of the Atlantic during World War 2.  I found this a great read and it held my attention from beginning to end.  I enjoy reading and learning about history.  For my next read I decided to stay with non-fiction history and selected, Famous Adventurers of the 20th Century by Conor James.

 EVEN AMONG CLOSE KNIT SOLAR PANELS THERE SOMETIMES APPEARS A BLACK SHEEP IN THE FAMILY

Al's Music Box:)) Right Down The Line is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty released as a single in July 1978.  It was the third release from Rafferty's City to City LP as the follow-up to his first major hit as a solo artist, "Baker Street".

GROANER'S CORNER:(( When I turned 18, I went down to the courthouse to petition to change my name.  The clerk asked me why. "Just look at my application," I said. "If you were named Oskar Von  Wootengootenbootentootershoot, wouldn't you want something different?"  The clerk said, "I suppose you've got a point."  I said, "Yeah, I don't like Oskar, either."

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- “What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.”

- "You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights."

 

- "Santa Claus had the right idea. Visit people only once a year." 

- "Next to a circus, there ain't nothing that packs up and leaves faster than the Christmas spirit."

- If there is no God, who pops up the next Kleenex in the box?

- Why do they put braille on the number pads of drive-through bank machines?

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