BARRING ANY GLITCHES.....KELLY IS COMING HOME THURSDAY:))))))

Kelly's Update #1:: It was a groggy and tired voice I heard on the other end of the phone when Kelly called late this morning.  She had undergone an endoscopy earlier and she thinks they 'banded' 3 verices.  Because of that banding, they would have given her additional anesthetic, and that explained her grogginess.  She was yawning on the phone so we didn't talk long.  She was definitely in need of a rest.  The good news is that barring any glitches, she will be coming home Thursday:)))))

A very welcome dip in temperatures overnight and a tad less humidity finally perked my outside interests this morning.  Pheebs and I, with windows down, hustled out to our country road walking spot, and for the first time in months, we did our full half-mile walk.  What a lovely early August summer morning it was with its low humidity and a cool refreshing gentle breeze.  There was magic in the air as well as a host of little yellow butterflies accompanied us on our walk.  I had never seen so many small yellow butterflies all at the same time before.  And I think I heard fairies giggling in the long grass alongside the tall cornfield too.  Pheebs, also energized by the cooler air at one point for about 10 seconds was bounding around like a little puppy dog.

 PHEEBS LEADS THE WAY UP THE ROAD  ALONGSIDE A CORNFIELD TO OUR TURN-AROUND POINT WITH BUTTERFLIES ALL THE WAY

 EARS BACK, PHEEBS COMES RUNNING UP THE ROAD

 THE MORNING'S BLUE SKY IS REFLECTED IN PHEEBS EYES

After our walk, we headed for home because I wanted to take advantage of the cooler air and take care of a few neglected outside tasks around the yard.  First, out came our tall step ladder, and up I went to clean all the pine needles out of the eaves around the porch and front deck area.  I guess I had forgotten to clean them out in the Spring because the eaves were packed with needles.  I figure about 3.6 tons:))  However, I noticed a small problem.  Because I'm not as comfortable atop a step ladder like I was years ago, I couldn't reach all the areas of the eaves safely.  We are at a point now where we are going to have to hire someone to do some of these odd jobs.  I also cut some grass, trimmed a few lower branches off our basswood tree and blew off the front porch and deck with the leafblower.  Following that, as the day heated up, I came inside and plunked myself right down in from of our sunroom's pedestal fan.  On high of course. 

A Blast From Our Past:)) I stumbled across a blog post this morning that I had written back on January 29th 2016.  My post on that date is called, Something Different Tonight and is a story not written by me but by Clare Ansberry of The Wall Street Journal.  It is the story about a blogger/writer/journal keeper fella named Charley Kempthorne.  I remember reading this article and how much it moved me because a lot of his thoughts are my thoughts as well.

Kelly's Update #2:: Kelly is looking so much to coming home tomorrow.  She said it has been absolutely disgusting being in the room with 3 men and having to share a washroom.  At one point she had to call a nurse's attention to the filth in the washroom.  The nurse in turn had to call a cleaning team in.  Yes, she will be very glad to get out of there and home again:))))))

Al's Music Box:)) It Keeps Right On A Hurtin' is a song written and recorded by Johnny Tillotson, which was a major hit for him in 1962. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Country & Western song for 1962 but lost to Burl Ives' Funny Way Of Laughing. 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht thefrist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl msesand you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raedervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

Preosllnay I tinhk its cmolpete nenosnese......

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How was your blind date?" a college student asked her roommate.  "Terrible!" the room-mate answered. "He showed up in his 1932 Rolls Royce."  "Wow! That's a very expensive car. What's so bad about that?" "He was the original owner."

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The first-time dad was taking a turn at feeding the baby some strained peas. Naturally, there were traces of the food all over the baby.  His wife comes in, looks at the infant, then at her husband, who is just staring off into space and says, "What in the world are you doing?"  He replied, "I'm just waiting for the first coat to dry, so I can put on another."
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A CASE OF THE LEFT HAND NOT KNOWING WHAT THE RIGHT HAND WAS DOING IN KELLY'S MEDICAL CARE

Kelly's Update 1:: When the phone rang this morning it was Kelly's strong and cheery voice on the other end.  Finally, we think the source of her bleeding has been determined and it is something called Esophageal Varices.  Basically, it is bleeding in the esophagus due to pressure in the system caused by severe liver malfunction.  Kelly has been treated for this before but why it wasn't pinpointed again this time isn't a mystery anymore, it is a breakdown of communication on the medical side of things.  The turn in Kelly's fortune came this morning when a Senior liver doctor dropped in to see her on his rounds.  His name is Dr. Kahn, I've met him, and Kelly has spoke with him maybe half a dozen times over the past couple years.  We both took a big liking to Dr. Kahn.  When Kelly explained her situation to Dr. Kahn and showed him the pictures of the amounts of blood she brought up these last two hospital times he was aghast.  He hadn't been informed of this.  Dr. Kahn knew right away where that blood was coming from and immediately set the wheels in motion for another endoscopy to band (fix) those leaking varices in Kelly's throat.  Both Kelly and I have suspected a breakdown in communication all along and we are sure now this is what happened.  I think if Dr. Kahn had been notified right from the beginning about the severity of Kelly's condition regarding her last two hospitalizations, steps would have been taken immediately and Kelly would have been spared a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering.  I have great respect for medical care and personnel but in this case, I think it has unfortunately been an example of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing.

It was a gentle rain for most of the day but we ended it in sunshine.  Pet Value was closed yesterday because of the long weekend so Pheebs and I returned to Goderich this morning to pick up some doggy food.  I figured it was a good day to also do something I don't very much like doing.  About once a decade I get it in my head it might be time to add to my threadbare wardrobe.  Down to my last pair of wearable pants (blue jeans) I figured I'd go on a splurge this morning and get some 'new to-me' pants.  So, it was off to the Goodwill store Pheebs and I went and as per usual, I quickly became quite frustrated.  Entering the store I right away noticed there were no signs in that store to tell a fella which are women's pants and which are men's pants and how the heck is a guy supposed to know which is which.  To make a long story short, I lost patience and exited the store in a huff.  I'll have to wait until Kelly comes home and we plan a shopping day (grrrrrr) where she can lead me around by the hand and point out the men's pants from the women's pants.     

 I DIDN'T TAKE ANY PICTURES TODAY SO ALL OF TONIGHT'S PHOTOS ARE FROM MY FILES IN EARLY OCTOBER  2011

Readers may remember a few months back to a post I wrote about one of my old hometown (Tavistock) best friends passing away.  John Eifert was his name and he died on March 29th of this year.  His older brother Jim, also one of my best friends, drove all the way from London that morning to personally tell me of John's passing.  This morning John's daughter phoned me with the sad news that Jim has now passed away as well.  The Eifert brothers are back together again.

Kelly's Update 2:: Back from her echocardiogram and ultrasound this morning, Kelly's liver liaison lady Amy, dropped by to see how she was doing.  While they were talking, Kelly said a very tall man walked into the room and over to her bed.  It turns out this man was one of two head honcho liver surgeons at London's University Hospital, Doctor Kwan.  Kelly said even Amy was surprised to see him come into the room.  He had just heard about the photos Kelly had of all the blood she brought up in two containers a couple weeks ago, and he wanted to have a look at those photos on Kelly's iPhone.  He told Kelly he's been hearing a lot about her and in his own words said he just wanted to come in and 'lay eyes on her' for himself.  It seems Kelly has developed a reputation amongst the medical people as being a 'feisty fighter' and there's no keeping her down.  That all bodes well for a liver transplant but it was also made clear from the surgeon's words that being so near to the top of the liver transplant list, Kelly must now fight hard to gain the strength and weight back that she has lost over these past three weeks.  A dietician lady also dropped in to see Kelly later and she is going to work up an eating plan for her.

I had meant to mention yesterday that it was 31 years ago August 5th that Kelly and I first met in a little coffee shop near Doon Ontario, just north of the 401 super highway.  And, it was 13 years ago on August 9th in a few days that Kelly and I first met and brought home the fabulous Pheebs:))))))) 

 WITHIN MINUTES OF MEETING PHEEBS I WAS ON THE FLOOR TALKING TO HER

OUR FIRST MORNING WALK AFTER BRINGING HER HOME

ONE OF OUR VERY FIRST MORNING JEEP RIDES 

 SOMEWHERE IN THE GREAT AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

Kelly's Update 3:: I phoned Kelly early this evening and she said she will be having 'another' endoscopy in the morning, and she also said she has had some more discomfort in her abdomen again today.  She sounded very tired.  If she feels up to it I might head to London tomorrow.  We'll talk in the morning and see how she is feeling.  I know it's a long shot but she might make it home in a couple days....................      

Al's Music Box:)) All I Have To Do Is Dream is a song made famous by the Everly Brothers, written by Boudleaux Bryant of the husband-and-wife songwriting team Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. The song is ranked No. 141 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  The best-known version was recorded by the Everly Brothers at RCA Studios Nashville. It had been recorded by the brothers live in just two takes on March 6, 1958, and features Chet Atkins on guitar. It was the only single ever to be at No. 1 on all of the Billboard singles charts simultaneously. On May 12, 1958, it became No. 1 on the "Best Sellers in Stores" chart, then it reached No. 1 on the "Most played by Jockeys" and "Top 100" charts on May 19, 1958, and remained No. 1 on each chart for four, five, and three weeks, respectively. With the August 1958 introduction of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song ended the year at No. 2. "All I Have to Do Is Dream" also hit No. 1 on the R&B chart as well as becoming the Everly Brothers' third chart topper on the country chart. The Everly Brothers briefly returned to the Hot 100 in 1961 with this song.  Outside the United States, "All I Have to Do Is Dream" saw massive success in various countries, most notably the United Kingdom, where it topped the UK's New Musical Express chart in June 1958 and remained there for seven weeks (including one week as a joint number one with Vic Damone's "On the Street Where You Live"), spending 21 weeks on the chart in Britain. The song has also featured on several notable lists of the best songs or singles of all time, including British music magazine Q's 1001 best songs ever in 2003.  It was named one of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2004. The B-side, "Claudette", was the first major songwriting success for Roy Orbison (who also recorded his own version of the song) and was named after his first wife.  As a result of this success, Orbison terminated his contract with Sun Records and affiliated himself with the Everly's publisher, Acuff-Rose Music.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A pastor who was badly overworked went to the local medical center and was able to have a clone made. The clone was like the pastor in every respect--except that the clone used extraordinarily foul language. The cloned pastor was exceptionally gifted in many other areas of pastoral work, but finally the complaints about the dirty language were too much. The pastor was not sure how to get rid of the clone so that it wouldn't look like murder. The best thing, he decided, was to make the clone's death look like an accident. So the pastor lured the clone onto a bridge in the middle of the night and pushed the clone off the bridge.  Unfortunately, there was a police officer who happened by at that very moment and arrested the pastor for making an obscene clone fall.

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- What’s the difference between a new husband and a new dog?  After a year the dog is still happy to see you.

- Late one night at the insane asylum, one inmate shouted, "I am Napoleon!"
Another patient asked, "How do you know?"  The first inmate said, "Because God told me!"  Just then, a voice from another room shouted, "I did NOT!"

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Jim was startled to see the nonchalant way Jon was taking the fact that his lady love was seen with another man.  "You said you love her and yet you saw her with another man and you didn't confront them."
"I'm waiting," Jon said.  "Waiting for what?" asked Jim.  "I'm waiting to catch her with a smaller man."
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FINALLY, KELLY FINDS RELIEF FROM HER ABDOMINAL PAINS

 PHEEBS REALLY ENJOYED THE SUMMER BREEZE THIS MORNING

Hearing Kelly's voice on the phone about 1 p.m. this afternoon I knew she was in difficulty.  She had just come back from an electrocardiogram and with pain increasing in her abdomen it was not easy for her to talk.  She had notified a nurse who made an immediate call to her liver doctor.  (Dr. Hudson)  In the meantime, Kelly's son Ben was on the way to see her.  Our phone call was short and Kelly said she would call me as soon as she knew anything more.  

 FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY, THEY DRAINED KELLY'S ABDOMEN THIS AFTERNOON
It was 4 p.m. when she called again and it was a much relieved, stronger, and happier voice I heard, and that voice had a story to tell.  Dr. Hudson's assistant (a doctor in training) had quickly arrived in Kelly's room with an Ultrasound device and as luck would have it, Ben and his friend Lelia were already there.  Little did they know they would soon be assisting Dr. Hudson's assistant with a medical procedure.  I have met this lady assistant who is very nice but I can't remember her name.  It's close to Aliasg or something so that is what I shall call her.  With the Ultrasound machine, Aliasg soon found a build-up of fluid in Kelly's stomach that immediately needed to be drained.  Rather than send Ben and Lelia away Aliasg explained the 'draining' procedure to them and enlisted their help as she pierced Kelly's abdomen with a drain tube.  She had them gently press on Kelly's abdomen before she was called away to another case.  Ben and Lelia continued this as 3 liters of fluid began filling a plastic bag located on the floor.  Eventually, the 4-liter bag was full.  Kelly said it was 9 pounds of fluid she had been carrying around.  And here's the best part.....Kelly's abdomen pain was 'finally' gone.  Oh Gee, d'ya think!!!!!  Why oh why oh why wasn't this done two and a half weeks ago when Kelly, with her swollen abdomen, was taken by emergency ambulance from Clinton to London in critical condition!!!!!  Anyway, the best thing right now is that she is finally feeling much better .  But, because of her failing liver, this fluid build-up will happen again. Tomorrow, she thinks another cat scan might be done.  And, this time, there has been no talk of quickly sending her home like before.

 DOCTOR HUDSON'S ASSISTANT INSERTS A DRAIN TUBE

 THE DRAINING PROCESS BEGINS

 BEN AND HIS FRIEND LELIA HELPING BY GENTLY PRESSING ON KELLY'S ABDOMEN

 THE BAG CONTINUES TO FILL

Another hot muggy day with Pheebs and I heading to Goderich earlier this morning.  I had hoped to get some dog food but with it being a long week-end most stores were closed.  Except for Walmart of course, so after a drive down around the harbor we picked up a few things at Wallyworld and headed towards home.  Along the way we stopped in at Richard and Gayle's place.  Between all the medical stuff between we two couples, it had been about 3 weeks since Richard and I had last been out for one of our country road coffee runs.  We quickly figured out today was a good day so grabbed it.  Richard followed Pheebs and I home whereupon I put Pheebs in the house and quickly put a few groceries away before hopping into Richard's van.  Minutes later with coffee and muffins in hand, we were off out into the countryside dusting up half a dozen gravel roads.     

 SPOTTED THE ALGOMA BUFFALO THROUGH THE TREES TAKING ON A LOAD OF SALT AT THE GODERICH SALT MINE

BEACH GOERS AT ROTARY COVE ENJOYING A QUIET MONDAY MORNING

 I THINK THIS LITTLE BEACHGOER IS TOTALLY POOPED

 SETTING UP FOR A PICNIC AT THE BEACH

 DOG WALKING ALONG THE SHORES OF LAKE HURON

 ENJOYING A FINE MORNING ALONG THE BOARDWALK

Al's Music Box:)) Moments To Remember is a 1955 popular song about nostalgia recorded by Canadian quartet The Four Lads The song was originally written by Robert Allen and al Stillman for Perry Como but was turned down by Como's management.  The Four Lads recorded it in June 1955 for Columbia Records as the B side to the single "Dream On, My Love."  Bernie Toorish of the Four Lads credited the enthusiastic endorsement of Cleveland radio DJ Bill Randle for increasing radio airtime play and popularizing the recording.  It eventually reached number 2 on Billboard magazine. Top 100 hit list (an early version of the Hot 100), sold 4 million copies and became the group's first gold record.  Besides the voices of the male quartet, the song also contains two uncredited female parts. According to the Four Lads' Frank Busseri, the introductory verse, ("January through December/We'll have moments to remember"), as well as the repeat of the Bridge section in harmony, ("When summer turns to winter",) were sung by Lois Winters of the Ray Charles Singers and the poetic spoken words in mid-song: ("A drive-in movie/Where we'd go/And somehow never watched the show/") were recited by Pat Kirby who at that time was a singer on Steve Allen's television show Tonight.....(this is one of my all-time favorite songs because it takes me right back to my boyhood public school days in Tavistock, Ontario Canada reminding me of some of the older high school teenagers in town...Barry Ekstein comes to mind.

SOME GREENERY GROWING OUT OF THE BOULDERS AT ROTARY COVE

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Mike's sitting on the couch. From the kitchen he hears, "Babe.... can you help me?"  He goes to the kitchen. "What are you doing?"  She says, "I'm trying to do this jigsaw puzzle."  "What's it supposed to be?" he asks.  She picks up the box. "A Rooster."  "Honey," he says. "Let's put the cornflakes back in the box....."

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During a terrible storm, all the highway signs were covered with snow. The following spring, the state decided to raise all the signs twelve inches at a cost of six million dollars. “That’s an outrageous price!” said a local farmer, “but I guess we’re lucky the state handled it instead of the federal government.” “Why’s that?”
“Because knowing the federal government, they’d decided to lower the highways.”

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Over breakfast one morning, a woman said to her husband, "I bet you don't know what day this is."  "Of course I do," he indignantly answered, getting up from the table and going out the door to the office.  At 10am, the doorbell rang. When the woman opened the door, she was handed a box containing a dozen long-stemmed red roses. At 1pm, a foil-wrapped, two-pound box of her favorite chocolates arrived. Later, a boutique delivered a designer dress.  The woman couldn't wait for her husband to come home. When he did, she exclaimed, "First the flowers, then the chocolates and then the dress! I've never had a more wonderful Groundhog Day in my whole life!"

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THEY JUST NEED THE RIGHT LIVER TO HURRY UP AND BECOME AVAILABLE

Another fine sunny Sunday morning as we continue to plod our way towards Autumn's much-anticipated cooler and less humid bug-free air.  A month from now we will be standing on the doorstep of my favorite time of year.  

It was probably the shortest morning car ride Pheebs and I have ever taken.  Rolled out of our driveway around 9 a.m. but only a couple of miles down the road I didn't feel like going any farther.  Turned around and came home.  Spent the rest of the day inside out of the muggy air.

Kelly called around 9 Saturday night saying she had just been brought back from X-ray.  She is still having pain in her swollen abdomen and with that pain not lessening they decided to do more X-rays.  I wished they would hurry up and find out why Kelly's abdomen is so bloated......Dr. Hudson, her liver doctor popped in to see her this morning and again affirmed that she is very, very, high on the liver transplant list right now.  They just need the right liver to become available.  How great this would be if it happened when she was right there in the hospital.

All and all it was an up-and-down day for Kelly.  Saturday afternoon she was able to get up and do some walking in the hall but this morning she had both back and rib pain.  She has not been able to eat much and again is feeling weak and tired.  Thankfully, the loud aggressive guy in her room was released this morning.  One of the other men was released also and the third guy was away for the day.  Kelly had the whole room to herself.  Her company,  Sabra, Rebecca, Ricardo, and Ella arrived late in the day.  It had been about a year since seeing Rebecca, Ella, and Ricardo.  She said 'little' Ella is now taller than her Mother.  They had a great visit with a lot of catching up to do.        

 KELLY, ELLA, REBECCA, SABRA

Al's Music Box:))  Shepherd Moons is the third studio album by Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 4 November 1991. After the unexpected critical and commercial success of her previous album 'Watermark' (1988), Enya embarked on a worldwide promotional tour to support it. At its conclusion, she wrote and rehearsed new material for her next album with her long time recording partners, manager, arranger and producer Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan. The album was recorded in Ireland and London and continued to display Enya's sound of multi-tracked vocals with keyboards and elements of Celtic and new-age music.   In 1993, the album won Enya a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album, the first of four she has won in her career. It was reissued in 1992 and 2009.  

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Three guys go in for a job interview, all at the same office. The first one goes in for his interview and the interviewer says, "What's the first thing you see when you look at me?"  The guy says, "That's not too hard, you've got no ears."  The now angry interviewer says, "Get out, you'll never be seen around here again."  The second man takes his turn and is asked the same question. The applicant replies, "Uh, you've got no ears." The interviewer throws the guy out, cursing and yelling that he'll never get a job with his company.  As he is leaving, the second guy warns the third guy, "Listen man, whatever you do, don't say he hasn't got any ears. He's so touchy with the ear thing."  "Okay," said man #3 on his way into the office.  Once inside he is told, "Name the first thing you notice when you look at me."  The guy answers, "That's easy, you wear contacts."  The interviewer was impressed, "How on earth did you know that, son?"  Well, you certainly can't wear glasses  because you've got no ears!"

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- I finally watched a documentary on clocks.  It was about time!!

- The Doctor said I had high nitrates so I'm switching to day rates.

- My wife told me to put ketchup on the shopping list.  Now I can't read anything!!

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You might be a redneck if...

Motel 6 turns off the lights when they see you coming.

There are more dishes in your sink than in your cabinets.

You think a turtleneck is a key ingredient in soup.

Your anniversary present was getting the septic tank pumped.

Your local ambulance has a trailer hitch.

You watch cartoons long after your kids get bored.

You think the French Riviera is a foreign car.

You think you are an entrepreneur because of the "Dirt for Sale" sign in the front yard.

You're still scalping tickets after the concert is over.
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