RESUMING MY MORNING YUKKY-YUMMY SHAKES.....MINI-STYLE

 THE AUSABLE RIVER AT THE McNAUGHTON-MORRISON TRAIL IN EXETER ONTARIO LATE THIS MORNING

A snowy drive into Bayfield this morning for Pheebs and I.  Had a couple things to pick up at Bayfield's Foodland and then it was over to the Porter's Hill Wild Bird Seed Company for 60 pounds of birdseed. (3 bags)  Hopefully, that will last until the end of the week, but more realistically to the end of March maybe.  We do have a hungry crew of Critters here.  

WARMING UP THE SUBARU IN OUR DRIVEWAY

A SNOWY ROAD LEADING TO BAYFIELD

 THE SHORE ICE ALONG BAYFIELD'S BEACH IS FROZEN OUT AS FAR AS ONE CAN SEE

 DEFINITELY A SNOWY MORNING

 A NEIGHBOR'S BENCH IN OUR PARK

Twas a snowy morning drive to Exeter and back for all three of us in the Subaru earlier today.  But, at least it was something different to do and someplace different to go for a change.  Every little bit helps at this dreary time of year.  Although snowing heavily at times at least it wasn't windy so the drive to Exeter was doable.  Not quite as quick as we usually go, but we got there anyway and dropped Kelly off in time for her 11:40 a.m. appointment.

 HERE COMES THE BOSS NOW

HEADING SOUTH ON PARR LINE TO EXETER

 FARMER'S WERE BUSY ALONG THE WAY PLOWING OUT THEIR LANEWAYS

Knowing it wouldn't be a long appointment, Pheebs and I slipped over to the McNaughton-Morrison Trail for a short shuffle in the snow before returning to the dental office parking lot.  We didn't have to wait long and Kelly was done.  She is now finely fitted with a lower partial plate that blends right in with her regular teeth.  Cue the flashy smile again:))  

From the Dentist's Office, we stopped at Exeter's A&W for two Buddy Burgers and two coffees to go.  The question has been asked again why we don't go through the drive-thru or why don't I go in to get the stuff.  Kelly doesn't like going through the drive-thru and prefers to go in herself to sometimes use the washroom, peruse the menu, and always check to make sure the coffee is fresh, the baking is not a day old, and the veggies for the sandwiches is not wilted.  She knows if she sends me in I'm likely to come back out with two cups of hot water and a donut I found on the floor........Not snowing as heavily on the way home and we pulled into our driveway about 1:30  Nice to have another appointment scratched off our sometimes lengthy list.

 PHEEBS IS TOTALLY FOCUSED ON THE A&W DOOR WAITING FOR MOM TO COME OUT WITH THE SNACKS

 'i THINK I SEE HER DAD'

 AND, HERE IS  MOM NOW:)))))

 ONE OF SEVERAL SNOWPLOWS WE SAW ON THE WAY HOME

 A FARMER CHECKS THE SNOWBLOWER ATTACHED TO HIS TRACTOR

Over the years I have posted many times about my Sounds Yukky-Tastes Yummy morning shakes.  I've been mixing these up and drinking them for about 25 years now, but not continuously.  I might drink them for 8 or 9 months or maybe a year and then switch to hot dogs for another half year or more.  This morning I started my morning shakes again (after a hiatus of about 9 months), but with a slight difference this time.  When Kelly's daughter Rebecca, husband Ricardo, and daughter Ella moved to Spain last Fall they couldn't take everything with them so Ricardo gave me his Magic Bullet Juice Blender.  Previously, I had been making my shakes in a big full-size regular blender and of course, as often as not, the volume of my shakes were generally too big but I drank them anyway.  With this Magic Bullet machine, it is like a mini-blender and is perfect for me.  So, after thinking about it for a while I decided a couple days ago to once again resume my 'yukky-yummy' shakes.  Here are the ingredients I have started off with this time.  Subject to change of course.  1 half scoop of vanilla Whey powder, a big dash of cinnamon, a few pinches of Quaker Oats, a healthy dollop of Vanilla low-fat Yogurt, 1 small apple, and a handful of mixed veggies.  Add to this one-third orange juice and top up with skim milk.  Ya I know.....sounds yukky but believe me, it tastes yummy:))

 I'M USING PACKAGED VEGGIES THIS TIME INSTEAD OF DRAGGING HOME BIG BUNCHES OF ROMAINE LETTUCE AND CELERY STOCKS

 YESIREEE, SOUNDS YUKKY BUT TO ME IT SURE TASTES YUMMY

Regarding our weather, I hesitate to call it a warming trend but at least we are slowly heading in the upward direction on the thermometer again and may even reach the freezing mark by next Tuesday.  Oh 'Wowzers'.  Snowing heavily again this afternoon but hey what the heck....at least I don't have to shovel our 5-car-sized driveway anymorne.  Weather permitting, we will head to Goderich Friday morning to see what we can find in the way of medical aids.  Lots of planning and organizing in these next three weeks.  Busy times and I see that as a good thing, especially at this time of year with its back-to-back seemingly long gray depressing days. 

Al's Music Box:((  Time Passages is a song by British singer-songwriter Al Stewart, released as a single in 1978. It was produced by Alan Parsons and is the title track of Stewart's 1978 album release. The familiar final line to the chorus is, "Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight".  The song describes the singer planning a trip home in late December (presumably for Christmas) and his nostalgic memories of the past.

 SEEN IN OUR PARK THIS MORNING

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Sign on the company bulletin board: “This firm requires no physical fitness program. Everyone gets enough exercise jumping to conclusions, flying off the handle, running down the boss, flogging dead horses, knifing friends in the back, dodging responsibility, and pushing their luck.”

-----------------------------------

- “When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them.” 

- “If you are not yelling at your kids, you are not spending enough time with them.” 

 - “When your children are teenagers, it’s important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.” 

 - “If dogs could talk, it would take a lot of fun out of owning one.” 

- I hate it when I think I am buying organic vegetables and when I get home they're just regular donuts.

---------------------------------

==================================

KEEPING THE BIRD FEEDERS TOPPED UP

 A NICE TOUCH OF COLOR ALONG BAYFIELD WINTERY MAIN STREET

With overnight temperatures dipping to 11F, it was the coldest night of the Winter so far. Next week I see five days above freezing with a few chances of Sun.  That will be our annual January thaw and then in all probability, we will head back into the deep freeze again.  Pheebs and I fired up the Jeep and took a short run into Bayfield to see if we could scoop a few photos.  With Kelly, we had planned to later head off for Goderich to begin rounding up a few of the medical aids I will need for my hip surgery next month.  However, with snow falling and high winds blowing it all over the place I decided it was not the best day to do that.  Thursday morning Kelly has an appointment in Exeter at the dentist again so we're hoping for a good driving day.  Hopefully that will be the last of the dentist appointments for a while.  Our next trip to Exeter will likely be about a month from now when I begin physical therapy for my post-hip replacement.

 THE BAYFIELD RIVER IS NOW FROZEN OVER

 ICE FORMATIONS ALONG THE NORTH SHORE NEAR THE HARBOR MOUTH

 BOTH PIERS ARE BECOMING CAKED IN ICE WHILE SHORE ICE IS BUILDING ALONG THE SHORELINE

Kelly found her latest chair from the Austin and Taylor Furniture Store in London not as soft and cushy as she had hoped, so today a softer and cushier chair was delivered and the other chair headed back to London.  If this chair doesn't work out I am going to suggest a lawn chair of which we already have two out in the shed.  Hmmm, maybe I had better re-think that suggestion if I know what's good for me.

 THIS CHAIR IS A STEP UP FROM THE OTHER ONE AND DEFINITELY MORE COMFORTABLE....FINGERS CROSSED THAT IT IS 'A KEEPER'

After finishing my book, 'Two Years Before The Mast' I next took myself to France in June of 1940 and read the plight of an RAF pilot shot down near Saint-Omer.  His harrowing escape, twice recaptured, and twice more escaped, made for a rivetting read. With many nail-biting twists and turns, he finally made his way to Spain three months later.  Great book but I can't think of the name of it now.  It was a free Kindle book from Amazon Books, but exchanging it for my latest free book, I forgot the title and author's name.  Anyway, my latest read right now is,  Somewhere In The Skies by Ryan Sprague.  In the interim, I had also downloaded, 'Inside the U.S. Government Cover UFO Program' by James Lacatski but I found it tough slogging, and dry.  I only made it a quarter of the way through.  Lots of good info no doubt but I get bogged down with all the Government twists and turns, paperwork, and bureaucracy, etc.  Those types of books require a good finely tuned short-term memory to follow all the confusion and lots of patience to stick with it and sort out that confusion.  I have neither a finely turned short-term memory nor the patience to go along with it.  Sometimes, when my reading efforts get me too heavily involved with the subject matter, I have to sit down in a corner and pick up a 'Dick and Jane' book for a while until I am grounded again.

 A GRAY MORNING ALONG BAYFIELD'S MAIN STEET

BUT HEY, THE WARM COZY LOOKING COFFEE SHOP IS OPEN:))

 SPRINKLING THE SHRUBS ON A COLD WINTER'S MORN

 EVEN CAPTAIN HARRY IS LOOKING RATHER DISTRAUGHT ABOUT THESE COLD DAYS

This freezing cold snowy weather has really brought a lot of birds to the feeders which is normal.  I'm a busy guy keeping the feeders topped up these days.  And then there's the squirrels and bunnies.  It's not only air traffic control we need here in our front yard but also ground control as well.  

 THE MAJORITY OF OUR FRONT YARD WINTER BIRDS ARE DARK-EYED JUNCOS

 AND THE MAJORITY OF THE FOUR-LEGGED CRITTERS ARE SQUIRRELS

Al's Music Box:)) Baby Hold Onto Me is a song recorded by American rock singer Eddie Money. It was written by Money and guitarist Jimmy Lyon and released in 1977 as the first single from Money's debut album Eddie Money. The song was a big success and has since been considered one of Eddie Money's best songs. It still gets frequent airplay on classic rock and adult contemporary radio stations.  James Halliday of Rolling Stone magazine gave the song 4/5 stars in 1977. 

 THERE IS STILL A SMATTERING OF CHRISTMAS IN BAYFIELD

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The Reverend Francis Norton woke up Sunday morning and realizing it was an exceptionally beautiful and sunny early spring day, decided he just had to play golf.  So... he told the Associate Pastor that he was feeling sick and convinced him to say Mass for him that day. As soon as the Associate Pastor left the room, Father Norton headed out of town to a golf course about forty miles away. This way he knew he wouldn't accidentally meet anyone he knew from his parish.  Setting up on the first tee, he was alone. After all, it was Sunday morning and everyone else was in church!  At about this time, Saint Peter leaned over to the Lord while looking down from the heavens and exclaimed, "You're not going to let him get away with this, are you?"  The Lord sighed, and said, "No, I guess not." Just then Father Norton hit the ball and it shot straight towards the pin, dropping just short of it, rolled up and fell into the hole. It WAS A 420 YARD HOLE IN ONE! St. Peter was astonished. He looked at the Lord and asked, "Why did you let him do that?"  The Lord smiled and replied, "Who's he going to tell?"

--------------------------------------

Research shows that drinking coffee in the morning helps others live longer.

There are so many scams on the internet nowadays.   Just send me $19.95 and I will tell you how to get rid of them.

When I was young I was scared of the dark.  Now when I see my electric bill I am scared of the lights.

I let my blind friend borrow money the other day.  He told me he was going to repay me the next time he saw me......'Hey', wait a minute!!

If you get a big loan at a bank you will be paying it back for 30 years.  If you ROB a bank, you will be out in 10 years.  Follow me for more financial advice...........

--------------------------------

============================

BLOGGERS ANONYMOUS 12 STEP PROGRAM

ANOTHER COLD AND BLEAK SNOWY MID JANUARY MORNING

Well, we are definitely caught in January's icy grip with our temps starting out today 16F.  It sure doesn't give one much incentive to venture outside but outside Pheebs and I did venture anyway.  Monday we took the Subaru and today the Jeep, just to keep a good charge on both batteries.

 NO THIS ISN'T SIBERIA, IT'S SOUTHERN ONTARIO

 PARK RESIDENT MKE AND HIS DOG ALFIE OUT FOR THEIR DAILY MORNING WALK

 NOT EVEN PHEEBS LIKES THIS COLD WEATHER

 'I DON'T EVEN WANT TO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW ANYMORE DAD'

Our dull and gray afternoon was no different than all the previously dull and gray afternoons lately so there isn't much for me to say about that except, 'second verse same as the first'.

 A FEW PICS ALONG THE WAY THIS MORNING

Facebook threw me a January 15th, 2011 memory yesterday which I forgot to include in my Monday post.  Based on the twelve steps of the AA program which I well remember, I revised it a bit and came up with, 'Bloggers Anonymous 12 Step Program'.

 GOLDFINCH

 MOURNING DOVE

 WOULD YOU BELIEVE WE ACTUALLY HAD A WHOLE 30 SECONDS OF SUNSHINE THIS AFTERNOON

Al's Music Box:)) El Paso is a western ballad written and originally recorded by Marty Robbins, and first released on 'Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs' in September 1959. It was released as a single the following month, and became a major hit on both the country and pop music charts, becoming the first No. 1 hit of the 1960s on both. It won the Grammy Award for Best Country and Western Recording in 1961. It is widely considered a genre classic for its gripping narrative which ends in the death of its protagonist, its shift from past to present tense, haunting harmonies by vocalists Bobby Sykes and Jim Glaser, (of the Glaser Brothers) and the eloquent and varied Spanish guitar accompaniment by Grady Martin that lends the recording a distinctive Tex-Mex feel. The name of the character Feleena was based on a schoolmate of Robbins in the fifth grade, Fidelina Martinez.  Members of the Western Writers of America chose "El Paso" as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.  In 1998, the 1959 recording of "El Paso" on Columbia Records by Marty Robbins was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

 HOW NICE TO SEE THIS VIBRANT SPLASH OF COLOR ALONG THE WAY

GROANER'S CORNER:((  One day an employee came in to work with both of his ears bandaged.  When his boss asked him what happened, he explained:  "Yesterday I was ironing a shirt when the phone rang and I accidentally answered the iron instead of the phone!"  "Well," the boss said, "that explains one ear, but what about the other?" "They called back!"

- Only in America...do people buy domestic brand tires, because they want to "buy American," and install them on their imported cars...

- Only in America...do people order double cheese burgers, large fries, and a diet coke...

- Only in America...do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and leave useless things and junk in boxes in the garage...

- Only in America...do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight...

A man received two sweaters for Hanukkah from his mother. The next time he visited her, he made sure to wear one of the two sweaters. As he entered her home, instead of the expected smile, she said, "What's the matter? You didn't like the other one?"

---------------------------------------------

===============================

WITH MY HIP SURGERY LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY

Due to an inattentive brain matter lapse in my photo editing this morning, I lost my dozen or so photos.  It wasn't much of a loss really.  Just more in a series of gray and dull.  I did manage a few front-yard bird photos though later this afternoon.  But, just a few.

 A DARK-EYED JUNCO CONTEMPLATES A BLUE BULB CHRISTMAS LIGHT

 THIS IS THE EAST END OF A BLUE JAY FACING WEST

 BLUE JAYS LIKE CORN

With my hip surgery less than a month away now, things are beginning to ramp up.  I watched this 'What You Need To Know' forty-minute video today.  I recommend it to anyone else out here who may have the same surgery coming up.  Luckily, we already have crutches, a cane, and two walkers.  We will be gathering up the other half dozen or so medical aids beginning this week.  Some stuff we will get for free, some we will rent, and other stuff we will buy.  Physio Therapy following the surgery is already lined up.  We have a pre-surgery appointment at the Sarnia Hospital for the 31st of this month where a lot of instruction will be given in preparation for pre-surgery, surgery, and post-surgery.   

 A MALE CARDINAL

Al's Music Box:((  Since I Fell For You is a blues ballad composed by Buddy Johnson in 1945.  "Since I Fell for You" achieved its highest profile via a 1963 recording by Lenny Welch.  While a student at Asbury Park High School in New Jersey, Welch had served as vocalist with a doo-wop group who performed locally, their gigs including "Since I Fell for You" which Welch knew from its 1954 recording by the Harptones.  After an unsatisfactory rehearsal phase it appeared that the idea of Welch remaking "Since I Fell for You" would be abandoned: however, within a few weeks Welch suggested taking another shot at the song (Lenny Welch quote:) 'Come on, let's try it again'. We went back to the piano and suddenly it just seemed to work.  Archie said: 'We're going to record it'."   It was recorded in an August 13, 1963 session at Bell Sound Studios, Welch's "Since I Fell for You" had within eight weeks of its recording charted on the hit parades of several California markets, already being Top Ten in San Francisco at the time of its debut. 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( I am trying to make friends outside of Facebook while applying the same principles therefore, every day I walk down the street and tell passers-by what I have eaten, how I feel at the moment, what I have done the night before, what I will do later and with whom.  I give them pictures of my family, my dog, and of me gardening, taking things apart in the garage, watering the lawn, standing in front of landmarks, driving around town, having lunch, and doing what anybody and everybody does every day.  I also listen to their conversations, give them the "thumbs up "and tell them I like them.  And it works just like Facebook! I already have four people following me:  Two police officers, a private investigator, and a psychiatrist.

--------------------------------------

Why do Morris dancers wear bells?  So they can annoy blind people as well.

--------------------------------------

“In order to maintain a well­-balanced perspective, the person who has a dog to worship him should also have a cat to ignore him.” 

 --------------------------------

===================================