KELLY'S LONG AWAITED PHONE CALL FROM UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL CAME THIS AFTERNOON:)))))))

 WILD TURKEYS TAKE FLIGHT

A slightly earlier start to the day than usual.  My appointment time with my diabetes lady was for 9 a.m. so off to Goderich I went all by myself.  Quite an accomplishment nowadays it seems considering I've driven to Canada's west coast and back, as well as Canada's east coast and back plus a bunch of other places all by my lonesome self years ago.  I don't know where all that confidence and reckless abandon of mine has gone, but it sure has got up and left me over these latter years.

After my morning appointment on this cloudy day, I picked up a Hortons coffee to go and cruised down around the harbor and beach areas.  Noticed a large cargo ship tied up at the northeast corner of the harbor.  It's sitting high so there is no cargo aboard.  Maybe it's there to ride out the winter months or maybe it's biding its time before being moved to a repair facility or something up in Quebec.  After a quick stop at Walmart and Pet Smart, I headed home on this dull and dreary day to climb aboard my recliner for another day of relaxing reading.  Maybe one of these days something mildly exciting will happen:))  

THE 'NORTHERN VENTURE' IS SITTING HIGH IN THE WATER

And then at precisely 2:10 p.m. this afternoon, our phone rang with the call coming from University Hospital in London.  Our excitement meter spiked as Kelly was finally given the good news that the surgeon, Dr. Scaro, and the liver transplant team had okayed Kelly today for a liver transplant.  She is officially on the transplant list and they have 'fast-tracked' her meaning that if a suitable cadaver liver becomes available before her donor liver then she will be called in.  Her liaison lady told her today to keep an overnight bag handy and do not stray far from her phone and do not turn her phone off at night......just in case.  Also, Kelly's anonymous liver donor is moving ahead with the final stages of her tests as well and so far, everything is matching up perfectly and everything so far is a go.  So, it is good news on both fronts for Kelly.  And, with her condition steadily worsening she was desperately in need of today's good news.  It has been a long difficult four years for her to reach this point today.  So here we go, onward and upward:))))    

I LOVE WATCHING THE BUNNIES BOUNCE AROUND IN OUR FRONT YARD

Al's Music Box:)) A World Without Love is a song originally recorded by the British duo Peter and Gordon and released as their first single in February 1964. It was included on the duo's debut album in the UK, and in the US on an album of the same name. The song was written by Paul McCartney at the age of 16.  When he moved into the London home of his then-girlfriend Jane Asher in 1963, sharing a room with her brother Peter Asher, who asked McCartney if he could use the song after he and Gordon Waller had signed a recording contract as Peter and Gordon.  McCartney described John Lennon's reaction to the song: "The funny first line always used to please John.  'Please lock me away –' 'Yes, okay.' end of song," Lennon said. "The line 'Please lock me away' always used to crack us up."

GROANER'S CORNER:((  "Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist—while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it!  Sincerely, the opportunist!

- “The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.”

- “I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.”

- “Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow internet to see who they really are.”

 

- “I grew up with six brothers. That's how I learned to dance: waiting for the bathroom.” 

-  “Trying is the first step toward failure.”

- “Every Friday, I like to high-five myself for getting through another week on little more than caffeine, willpower, and inappropriate humor.”

- "Sir," said the timid employee to his boss, "my wife says I'm to ask you for a raise."  "Fine," the boss replied. "I'll ask my wife if I can give you one."

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HAVING THINGS TO DO AND PLACES TO GO HELPS

A few flakes of snow in the air as Pheebs and I made our way around Bayfield on this cold and gray Sunday morning.  And, it was a legitimate Sunday morning too.  I don't know why but ever since before Christmas every day has seemed like Sunday to me.  Without thinking, had anyone asked me on any one of these past 14 days or so what day it was, I would have responded, 'Sunday'.  I actually like Mondays nowadays because that's the day when things start over again for another week.  No matter how good or bad the past week or week-end were, Monday is a new start.  Just like the first day of the month is a new start with the Grand Daddy of all new starts...New Year's Day.  I sometimes kinda like the fresh mentality and shaky challenges of new starts:))

 SNOWFLAKES IN THE AIR ON OUR DRIVE THROUGH BAYFIELD THIS MORNING

 SPOTTED A FELLOW DOING SOME SUNDAY MORNING WELDING AT BAYFIELD'S NORTH PIER

 IT'S A FISHING BOAT THIS CHAP IS WORKING ON

 IT'S A GOOD THING THERE IS A FIRE HYDRANT CLOSE BY IN CASE THOSE WELDING TORCH SPARKS SET ABLAZE HIS TIM HORTONS COFFEE SEEN HERE IN A RED CUP

DOG WALKERS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE BAYFIELD RIVER

I am enjoying my latest book, Two Years Before The Mast but being a landlubber I am having difficulty understanding the workings of the early 1800's ship the author is sailing on. Here is an example of the book and how the author describes making ready for the ship's departure........'Having hove short, cast off the gaskets, and made the bunt of each sail fast by the jigger, with a man on each yard; at the word, the whole canvas of the ship was loosed, and with the greatest rapidity possible, everything was sheeted home and hoisted up, the anchor tripped and catheaded, and the ship underway.  The royal yards were all crossed at once, and royals and skysails set, and, as we had the wind free, the booms were run out, and every one was aloft, active as cats, laying out on the yards and booms, reeving the studding-sail gear; and sail after sail the captain piled upon her until she was covered with canvas, her sails looking like a great white cloud resting upon a black speck'.

Well, at least we have a few things going on next week to shake us out of these long and boring cold gray days.  Monday morning it's me to the Maitland Valley Medical Centre and Kelly to Exeter Tuesday morning for a dentist appointment.  Wednesday her new chair arrives from London and Thursday morning Richard and I will be out and about with coffee and muffins in hand.  Having things to do and places to go helps with Winter's doldrums at this time of year.

Al's Music Box:)) Answer Me The original Nat King Cole recording, titled "Answer Me, My Love", was released by Capitol Records on 24 February 1954.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A little boy was attending his first wedding. After the service, his cousin asked him, "How many women can a man marry?"  "Sixteen," the boy responded.  His cousin was amazed that he knew the answer so quickly. "How do you know that?"  "Easy," the little boy said.  "All you have to do is add it up, like the Preacher said: 4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer."

-The first five days after the weekend are the toughest.

A little guy gets on a plane and sits next to the window. A few minutes later, a big, heavy, mean-looking guy plops down in the seat next to him and immediately falls asleep.  The little guy starts to feel a little airsick, but he's afraid to wake the big guy up to ask if he can go to the bathroom. He knows he can't climb over him, and so the little guy sits there, looking at the big guy, trying to decide what to do.  Suddenly, the plane hits an air pocket and an uncontrollable wave of nausea passes over the little guy. He can't hold it in any longer and he pukes all over the big guy's chest. About five minutes later the big guy wakes up, looks down, and sees the vomit all over him.  "So," says the little guy: "are you feeling better now?"

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A REPEAT OF YESTERDAY

Today was basically a repeat of yesterday.  Again, I had to rely on a couple file photos.

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Al's Music Box:)) Vincent (Starry Starry Night) "Vincent" is a song by Don McLean, written as a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh. It is often erroneously titled after its opening refrain, "Starry, Starry Night", a reference to Van Gogh's 1889 painting The Starry Night.  McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of Van Gogh. It was released on McLean's 1971 American Pie album; the following year,  McLean said the following about the genesis of the song:   "In the autumn of 1970 I had a job singing in the school system, playing my guitar in classrooms. I was sitting on the veranda one morning, reading a biography of Van Gogh, and suddenly I knew I had to write a song arguing that he wasn't crazy. He had an illness and so did his brother Theo. This makes it different, in my mind, to the garden variety of 'crazy' – because he was rejected by a woman [as was commonly thought]. So I sat down with a print of Starry Night and wrote the lyrics.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Due to personal reasons, I am going to keep posting memes instead of seeking professional help.

- Don't assume someone who is quiet needs to be fixed.

- All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

- If you are choking on an ice cube, don't panic. Simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat and presto! The blockage will be almost instantly removed.

- Don't invite me anywhere with complicated parking because I will just go home.

- Dear God, Please put another holiday between Christmas and Easter. There is nothing good in there now.

- A lot of people seem normal until you get to know them.

- My favorite part of Winter is when it's over.

- Have you ever tried to eat the core of an apple first?

- Every silver lining has a cloud around it.

- Posed nude for an art class today.  They didn't ask me to.  I think they were making ceramic bowls.

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AND, THANKS TO READERS COMMENTS

 FEMALE CARDINAL

Another cold gray day and although Pheebs and I took a cruise into Bayfield and back I was not inspired to take even a single photo.  Tonight's pictures are from my early 2021 January photo files.  Aside from checking the oil and topping up the windshield washer fluid in both vehicles upon returning home, I spent the rest of the day in my recliner reading.

Thanks to a phone call from our good friend and handyman Bruce, I will be returning the 'grab bar' I bought yesterday back to the Canadian Tire Store.  He said all those types of medical aids can be had free of charge from the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Goderich.  Items can later be returned or a donation to Saint Vincent de Paul can be made.  The Canadian Legion in Goderich also offers the same medical aids free of charge.  We are at the moment compiling a list of things we will need.  And, thanks to reader's comments, we will not go the 'suction grab bar' route for our shower.  

Al's Music Box:)) Now And Then  (This is a remarkable piece of engineering) "Now and Then" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 2 November 2023. Dubbed "the last Beatles song",  "Now and Then" is a psychedelic soft rock ballad that John Lennon. wrote and recorded around 1977 as a solo home demo but left unfinished. After Lennon died in 1980, the song was considered as a potential third Beatles reunion single for their 1995–1996 retrospective project The Beatles Anthology, following "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love", both based on Lennon's demos. Instead, it was shelved for nearly three decades, until it was completed by his surviving bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, using overdubs and guitar tracks by George Harrison (who died in 2001) from the abandoned 1995 sessions.  The final version features additional lyrics by McCartney.  Lennon's voice was extracted from the demo using the machine-learning-assisted audio restoration technology commissioned by Peter Jackson for his 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back.  Jackson also directed the music video for "Now and Then".  The song received acclaim from critics, who felt it was a worthy finale for the Beatles. It topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Austria, and reached the top ten in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. It is the only Beatles United Kingdo number-one single not attributed to the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership.  John Lennon wrote "Now and Then" in the late 1970s, and recorded a five-minute piano demo in around 1977 on a tape recorder at his home at the Dakota in New York City. The lyrics are typical of the apologetic love songs that Lennon wrote in the latter half of his career. For the most part the verses are nearly complete, though there are still a few lines that Lennon did not flesh out on the demo tape performance. Writing for the Los Angeles Times Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Lennon's composition "a wispy, melancholy ballad", while Billboard's Kyle Denis described the song as "a lovelorn guitar-centric rock ballad".  Referring to the original demo, Craig Jenkins of Vulture said "'Now and Then' languished in an unfinished state, its vocal and piano melodies enshrouded in too dense a thicket of abrasively scratchy hiss to massage into the high-quality recordings the Beatles were known for".

 MALE CARDINAL

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Why does the Canadian Army even bother with guns, tanks, bombs, and other stuff?  Just give them hockey sticks then say, there you are boys, the enemy has the puck. 

If you have been struck by a headache, follow the instructions on the aspirin bottle: KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN.

If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of bank payments.

 It may seem like I’m doing nothing, but I’m actively waiting for my problems to disappear.

Sometimes we just need to remember what The Rules of Life really are: You need only two tools: WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the duct tape.
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THE MYSTERY OF WHAT WAS DREDGED UP FROM THE LAKE BOTTOM IS SOLVED

We had a thin one inch white layer of the cold white stuff covering the ground this morning and a temperature of 27F to keep it there too.  Contemplated pulling my blanket over my head and staying in my recliner all day but knowing that wouldn't be fair to the Pheebs, I got up, got dressed, and we headed off to Goderich looking for a 'grab bar'.  Our usual coffee, harbor, gas, and Walmart with an additional stop at Canadian Tire.  

A SNOWY ROAD ON OUR WAY TO GODERICH

 WE ALWAYS STOP AT THIS SPOT IN THE HARBOR FOR PHEEBS TO GET FOR A WIZ

With my hip replacement slated for next month and Kelly's pending liver transplant, we are beginning to make a few recommended adjustments that will make our recovery times easier.  First is a 'grab bar' in the washroom which enables one to pull oneself up from a seated position to a standing position.  I picked up the said 'grab bar' at Canadian Tire this morning.  Under normal circumstances, it would be an easy installation but I am not a normal circumstance.  With my 'Mr. FixIt' track record I would probably end up with 37 holes in the wall and the bar would be a twisted piece of metal lying on the floor!!  I will have to farm this job out.  I also have to get a suction 'grab bar' for the shower.  I will have to farm this little job out too because knowing me as well as I do I'd likely end up with the 'shower grab bar suctioned to my forehead'.  Like I always say, 'if I gotta get something done right I gotta get somebody else to do it.       

 IF IT LOOKS COLD OUT THERE IT IS BECAUSE IT IS

LAKE DUCKS

 COLD BOULDERS

 THIS OUTER HARBOR STRUCTURE WILL SOON BE COATED IN ICE AND NOT BE RECOGNIZABLE AS A STRUCTURE

 THERE IS A WEE TOUCH OF BLUE SKY IN THIS PHOTO

Thursday of last week and this past Sunday I had photos in my blog that showed large pieces of metal on a flatbed truck near Bayfield's Marina and also near Bayfield's fishing pier on the north side of the river.  These pieces had been underwater for a long time and only recently dredged up.  Today, in the Bayfield Breeze is the story behind those large pieces of steel.  It turns out all those separate chunks of metal had once been joined together to make something very seaworthy. Rather than me trying to explain it all, here is the story..... Steamboat Remains Removed From Lake

 SPOTTED THIS FELLOW IN THE ICY-COLD LAKE WATERS OF LAKE HURON 

 HE APPEARS TO BE WAITING FOR JUST THE RIGHT WAVE

 HE'S GETTING INTO POSITION

 AND, HERE HE GOES

 'KA-FLOOOOF'

Facebook this morning let me know that fifteen years ago today while boondocked at the Clark Dry Lake Bed north of Borrego Springs California Kelly and I decided to head off to a little town up in the mountains called Julian.  I had it in mind to find the final resting place of a man called, Marshall South.  The Julian Cemetery....Final Resting Place Of Marshall South 

 A WEE TOUCH OF COLOR AT THE BEACH ON THIS DRAB DAY

 AND, HOW ABOUT A 'BIG SMASH OF COLOR' TOO

Al's Music Box:)) Strawberry Fields Forever is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon-McCartney. It was released on 13 February 1967 as a double A-side single with "Penny Lane". It represented a departure from the group's previous singles and a novel listening experience for the contemporary pop audience. While the song initially divided and confused music critics and the group's fans, it proved highly influential on the emerging psychedelic genre. Its accompanying promotional film is similarly recognized as a pioneering work in the medium of music video.  Lennon based the song on his childhood memories of playing in the garden of Strawberry Field a Salvation Army children's home in Liverpool, England. Starting in November 1966, the band spent 45 hours in the studio, spread over five weeks, creating three versions of the track. The final recording combined two of those versions, which were entirely different in tempo, mood and musical key. It features reverse-recorded instrumentation, Mellotron flute sounds, an Indian Swarmandal, and a fade-out/fade-in coda, as well as a cello and brass arrangement by producer George Martin. For the promotional film, the band used experimental techniques such as reverse effects, jump-cuts and superimposition.  Lennon viewed "Strawberry Fields Forever" as his finest work with the Beatles.

GROANER'S CORNER:((   A magazine reporter is traveling through a rainforest, in search of a fabled cannibalistic tribe. He falls into a trap, goes unconscious and wakes up tied to a stake with a fire burning slowly underneath him.  He cries out for help, and is answered by what is obviously one of the tribesmen, who informs him that he is going to be served as dinner to the leader of the tribe.  "But you don't understand!" he cries, "You can't do this to me! I'm an editor for the New Yorker magazine!"  "Ah," replies the tribesman, "Well soon you will be editor-in-chief!"

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Q: How did the bishop make holy water?
A: He took some tap water and boiled the hell out of it.

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WOMEN are honest, loyal, and forgiving. They are smart, knowing that knowledge is power. But they still know how to use their softer side to make a point.

Women want to be the best for their family, their friends, and themselves. Their hearts break when a friend dies. They have sorrow at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.
A woman can make a romantic evening unforgettable.
Women come in all sizes, in all colors and shapes. They live in homes, apartments and cabins. They drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you.
The heart of a woman is what makes the world spin! Women do more than just give birth. They bring joy and hope. They give compassion and ideals.

  
MEN are good at lifting heavy stuff and killing spiders.

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