AROUND THE HOUSE I AM FINALLY WALKING WITHOUT A CANE:))

 A PAIR OF CANADA GEESE ON OUR PARK'S POND EARLIER TODAY

A light snowfall continued through the night but no matter, we had a big orange sunrise, and old Sol along with milder temperatures immediately set to work getting rid of the snow.

 YES. WE DID GET A BIT OF SNOW OVERNIGHT

 BY THE END OF SUMMER THERE MIGHT BE NEW HOUSES HERE

A routine drive around our Park for Pheebs and I this morning.  Things sure look a lot nicer with sunshine and blue skies overhead.  A big change from Sunday's cold drab, and dreary, snow-laced day. 

 IT WASN'T UNTIL I EDITED THIS PHOTO THAT I SAW THE CANADA GOOSE

It's the 28th day out from my hip surgery and I am now finally walking without a cane in the house.  The 'waddle' I wrote about a few days ago yesterday turned into a caneless wiggle with a touch of dodder.  I'm not quite up to putting full weight on my leg yet but I am quickly getting there.  When outside to feed the birds I still use my cane just in case.  Today I'd say the wiggle is gone but the slight dodder is still there and I will probably have that until my hip can again bear my right leg's full weight.  After a hip replacement, it is sometimes possible for the affected leg to be a touch longer than the other leg.  This may or may not be the case for me and I'll know better once I can get out to do some longer-strides real walking.  I'm looking forward to that.  And, since Saturday night I am also happy to say that I am finally off those heavy-duty pain pills as well but they sure did serve their purpose and help me out when I needed them.

Turned out to be a nice sunny 37F day but I couldn't seem to drum up any enthusiasm for going outside and doing anything.  I figure it was probably the temperature but I've had a few days recently where I haven't felt quite up to par including today.  Having experienced a few 50F days last week I guess I am already spoiled by the early Springlike weather.  Tuesday is looking good at 60F.  Maybe I can get out into the yard and kick up my heels.  If I'm feeling alright after physio in Exeter that is.  

 LOOKS LIKE ONE OF OUR RESIDENTS WITH HIS SMART PHONE MAYBE TAKING A FEW PHOTOS

It's all rather natural for me during cold snowy winter months or hot and humid summer months to think about alternative living locations.  So I typed into Google, 'what countries have the best climates?  Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ecuador, and Mexico came up along with a few others.  It's also rather natural for me to think of different living styles, different ways of doing things, and different ways of thinking now in these last later years.  And, more than ever I am asking questions like....where could we go that is warm all year round?  Could we live less stressful lives.  Would getting along without television and the internet simplify our lives somehow?  Oh, I don't know.....just thoughts that go through my head sometimes.

 MOTHER NATURES IDEA OF AN ICING TOPPED PINE STUMP DONUT

A Blast From Our Past:)) It was March 10th, 2011 when we pulled up stakes near California's Joshua Tree National Park and traveled north along the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to a dusty little California town called, Lone Pine.......Boondocked In The Evening Shadow Of Mount Whitney

Al's Music Box:)) Singing The Blues is a popular song composed by Melvin Endsley. The highest-charting and best-known version was by Guy Mitchell and spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard chart from 8 December 1956 to 2 February 1957. 

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A woman announces to her friend that she is getting married for the fourth time.  "How wonderful! But I hope you don't mind me asking what happened to your first husband?"  "He ate poisonous mushrooms and died."  "Oh, how tragic! What about your second husband?"  "He ate poisonous mushrooms too and died."  "Oh, how terrible! I'm almost afraid to ask you about your third husband."  "He died of a broken neck."  "A broken neck?"  "He wouldn't eat his mushrooms."

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One morning the phone rang at 3:00 a.m. in Jeff's house. He picked up the phone and a woman asked, "Is this 555-1111?"  "No, this is 555-1112." Jeff replied.  "Oh, I'm so sorry for disturbing you." The woman said.  "That's alright," Jeff said. "I had to get up to answer the phone anyway."

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"Yesterday, scientists revealed that beer contains small traces of female hormones.

To prove their theory, the scientists fed 100 men 12 pints of beer and observed that 100% of them gained weight, talked excessively without making sense, became emotional, couldn't drive, and refused to apologize when wrong.  No further testing is planned."

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WHO KNOWS ANYMORE WHERE THE LINES OF FICTION AND TRUTH CROSS

 NO NOT FOG TODAY.....SNOW!!

We knew there was a chance of snow during the night so it was no surprise upon waking this morning to see the ground, trees, and shrubs all covered in white.  But, it was okay because it was nice to look at, and with Monday's temps at 39F and Tuesday predicted to 50F we knew all this white stuff will be gone.....again.  

 PULLING BACK THE CURTAINS THIS IS WHAT I EXPECTED TO SEE

 HEADING OUT THE DRIVEWAY TO SEE WHAT WE COULD SEE

Looking ahead for the next 14 days the rest of the week will be above seasonal for this time of year.  Just think, next month at this time we will already be into the second week of April waiting for the month's showers to bring on the May flowers.  And, it's less than two weeks to the official first day of Spring.  Yaaaaaaay:))

 THANK HEAVENS THIS PROPOSED 'SAWMILL' IN OUR PARK NEVER GOT UNDERWAY A FEW YEARS AGO

 A PARK ROAD LEADING UP TO THE HARDWOOD BUSH

THAT PARK GATE LEADS TO A NEIGHBORING PROPERTY

 A TOUCH OF COLOR ON A DRAB MORNING

Of course, with not having my driver's license back for another couple of weeks it was again a slow drive around our Park for Pheebs and I. And, we did manage to find a few more photos.

 PATIENTLY WAITING FOR A SUMMER'S CAMPFIRE

I finished a very strange book today called, Under The Whispering Door by author TJ Klune.  Sometimes I feel I am 'led' to books and this was probably one of them.  Several reasons led me here with one of them being my old stand-by....the Kindle version of the book was free, I liked the title, and I liked the jacket cover.  When I read what the book was about and a handful of reviews, I kinda thought maybe I might like it.  At first, it wasn't what I expected and I nearly bailed out but somehow I kept turning the pages becoming more and more immeshed in its main characters, Wallace, Hugo, Mei, Nelson, and a dog named Appolo.  Oh, and the Manager.  The book had many bizarre and unexpected curves from beginning to end but it held my attention about a subject that has been intriguingly interesting to me these past few years.  You will certainly require an open mind to navigate the twists and turns in this unpredictable and maybe not so fictional story.  Who knows anymore where the lines of fiction and truth cross...................

 FROSTY FLAMINGOS

 THESE GUYS DON'T MIND THIS SNOWY COLD WEATHER AT ALL

 I THINK THESE TWO COULD USE A WARM BLANKET

From my previous book, 'Whispering Under The Door' I decided to turn things around, change directions, and ground myself in the harsh realities of another person's life.  Hence I began a biography called, It's A Long Life: My Story by none other than the legendary singer and songwriter himself, Willie Nelson.   It's a six-and-a-half-hour read that I'm sure I will enjoy.

 THIS LITTLE TAMARACK SONGBIRD IS FEELING THE COLD

The snow kept coming for most of the day and I'm glad we didn't have to go anywhere.  I'm sure the wind was whipping up the snow in the countryside while temperatures hovered around the freezing mark.  We sure had a lot of birds in our front yard today and most of them were Dark-Eyed Juncos.   

Al's Music Box:)) In My Life is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, released on their 1965 studio album, Rubber Soul. Credited to the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership, the song is one of only a few in which there is dispute over the primary author; John Lennon wrote the lyrics, but he and Paul McCartney later disagreed over who wrote the melody.  George Martin contributed the piano solo bridge. According to Lennon, "In My Life" was his "first real major piece of work" because it was the first time he wrote about his own life.  The song was recorded on 18 October 1965 and was complete except for the instrumental bridge. At that time, Lennon had not decided what instrument to use, but he subsequently asked George Martin to play a piano solo, suggesting "something Baroque-sounding". Martin wrote a Bach-influenced piece that he found he could not play at the song's tempo. On 22 October, the solo was recorded with the tape running at half speed, so when played back at normal pace the piano was twice as fast and an octave higher, solving the performance challenge and also giving the solo a unique timbre, reminiscent of a harpsichord.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Three patients in a mental institution prepare for an examination given by the head psychiatrist. If the patients pass the exam, they will be free to leave the hospital. However, if they fail, the institution will detain them for five years.  The doctor takes the three patients to the top of a diving board looking over an empty swimming pool, and asks the first patient to jump.  The first patient jumps head-first into the pool and breaks both arms.  Then the second patient jumps and breaks both legs.  The third patient looks over the side and refuses to jump. "Congratulations! You're a free man. Just tell me why didn't you jump?" asked the doctor.  To which the third patient answered, "Well Doc, I can't swim!"

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- Why wouldn't the dentist display his awards?  He wanted to prevent plaque buildup.

- Hear about the little moron that bought an AM radio? It took him a month to figure out he could play it at night too.

- I prefer not to think before speaking. I like being just as surprised as everyone else by what comes out of my mouth.

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