I CAN TELL SHE IS SO DISCOURAGED

 A PRELUDE TO AUTUMN'S COLORS SOON TO BE UPON US

It was a big moody cloud morning with touches of blue sky and sprinkling rain.  No boots and paws on the ground for Pheebs and I.  Our car ride was short.

 I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED BIG MOODY SKIES LIKE THIS

Kelly, feeling very weak this morning needed a few things at Zehrs Supermarket in Goderich.  I offered to get them for her but she insisted on coming along and at least getting some fresh air.  With Pheebs holding down the home front, Kelly and I slipped up to Goderich and the first place we went to was A&W for a bacon and egg toast and coffee breakfast.  Kelly didn't eat much of hers and didn't finish her coffee.  Not a good sign.  Following that our normal routine would be for me to drop her off at the Supermarket's main door and then find a parking spot facing that door, wait for her to come out, then slip by and scoop up her and the groceries.  Not so this morning.  I knew Kelly was too weak to be doing anything by herself so I dropped her at the front door, parked the car, and hustled right inside to help her.  Usually, I would push the cart but Kelly needed that cart to lean on.  We loaded up a few groceries and I checked them out through the cashier and led her back out to the car.  Our next stop was Pet Value but Kelly was too weak to even get out of the car so I slipped in and scooped up some doggy goodies.  Heading home she put the seat's backrest all the way back and never spoke a word all the home.  I helped her out of the car, and up the steps into the house.  She headed straight for her bedroom to lay down.  She was totally drained and even her voice sounded frail and weak today.  And, here's an odd thing.....even with over 9 pounds of fluid drained from her abdomen earlier in the week, her abdomen is still extended and swollen just like it was before.  So much so that it inhibits her from bending over to put socks on or tie her shoes.  This is only her third day home from the hospital but I can tell she is so discouraged by her weakened condition.  She did call the Maitland Valley Health Center in Goderich Friday to set up an appointment with her nurse practitioner for August 22nd.   Let's just hope between now and then she doesn't land back in the hospital again.

I did do a little low-energy puttering around outside today but hardly enough to even mention.  At least our temperatures are thankfully remaining steady in the low to mid-60s and for people like me, that is a big help.

I had forgotten to mention in my Saturday post that Aunt Jean is coming along much better.  Her voice was stronger on the phone Friday night, her appetite is picking up, and she's been talking about taking her car out for a spin because it hasn't been driven in well over a month.  I asked her about Hurricane Debby going through a week or so ago and she said where she is in Sarasota they got off pretty lucky.  Windy, but not as much rain as in downtown Sarasota.  Sunnyside Village where Jean lives did sandbag the bottoms of doors as a precaution though.  The biggest effect it had on Sunnyside was staff who couldn't report to work because of their flooded homes or roads.  Oh, and a couple of leaks in the dining room's ceiling.  And, there is a good chance Aunt Jean will be moving into her brand spanking new and bigger room this week.

It's been a while but Pheebs and I finally made it out for a cool sunny afternoon walk over to and around the Park's pond.  Good thing or else I would hardly have had any photos for tonight's post.

 THE BACK END OF OUR PARK'S CLUBHOUSE

 TIS NOW THE SEASON FOR GOLDENROD

Al's Music Box:)) Too Young is a popular song, with music written by Sidney Lippman and lyrics by Sylvia Dee A recording of the song was released by Nat King Cole in 1951, which reached No. 1 in the United States and became the best-selling song of the year. The song was an early attempt by music labels to appeal to the younger demographics and its success later led to a boom in music that catered to the young.   The song was recorded on February 6, 1951, and released by Capitol Records in March.  It was a million-selling record and Billboard ranked this version as the number one best-selling song of 1951. Cole described this song as one of his three favorites among his own songs. The success of the song may have convinced record executives that young people had the buying power, which would lead to the boom of rock and roll music that catered to a young audience in the mid-'50s.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The father of three called a motel and asked how much they charged for a room. The clerk told him that the rates depended on room size and number of people.  "Do you take children?" the father asked.  "No, sir," replied the clerk. "We only take cash and credit cards."

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Why was the United Nations concerned when the waitress dropped the platter on Thanksgiving?  It meant the fall of Turkey, the ruin of Greece, and the breakup of China.

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The United Nations sent out a survey to every country, asking "Would you please share your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"  The survey flopped pretty much everywhere.
In Africa, families were confused about what "food" was.
Eastern Europeans watching State TV didn't know what "honest" meant.
In Western Europe, they didn't know what "shortage" meant.
People watching in China didn't know what an "opinion" was.
In the war-torn areas of Afghanistan and the Middle East, they didn't know what "solution" meant.
People in South America didn't know what "please" meant.
People in Russia reading the survey knew what "share" meant.
Finally, some Americans didn't know what "the rest of the world" meant.

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AS HER STRENGTH SLOWLY EBBS BACK

 A PERFECT SATURDAY MORNING AT OUR COUNTRY ROAD WALKING SPOT

A cooler air mass moved in overnight dropping our temps and knocking most of the humidity out of the air.  About time I'd say!!  With a stiff cool southerly breeze , Pheebs and I again did our half-mile country road walk.  We didn't have the beautiful little yellow butterfly escort we had a few days ago but that was okay, it felt great just to get our legs out there walking again.  With some outside things lined up to do, we again headed for home right after our walk.

 THIS BLOCK OF PHOTOS AT OUR WALKING SPOT SHOWS THE FOCAL RANGE OF MY CAMERA....STANDING AT OUR TURN-AROUND SPOT FACING SOUTH THIS IS A 24MM WIDE-ANGLE SHOT AND IF YOU LOOK REAL CLOSE YOU CAN SEE THE WHITE SUBARU AT THE FAR END OF THE ROAD

 A 50MM SHOT AND THIS IS THE RANGE THAT THE EYE SEES

 300MM

 FULLY ZOOMED AT 600MM HAND-HELD

 STANDING BESIDE THE SUBARU LOOKING NORTH TO OUR TURN-AROUND SPOT WHICH IS THAT KNOLL AT THE BOTTOM LEFT OF THE PHOTO....600MM

Our good friend and Park neighbor Bruce was already here with a tall ladder up against the house with him on top of it.  He cleaned out all our eaves troughs, swept the roof of pine needles, trimmed some encroaching Basswood and Starburst Locust branches, and cleaned our sunroom skylight.  Bruce is no stranger to ropes, ladders, and high precarious places having spent many years in the Canadian Armed Forces.  A number of those years were spent as a helicopter crew member in Search and Rescue (SARS) on Canada's east coast.  Bruce, a handyman, has been a big help to us over the years, and especially so with our RVs.  If we needed a shelf built, or any kind of small renovation done, Bruce with his patience and meticulous engineering mind could always figure things out on how to get whatever it was we wanted done.

 BRUCE CLIPS OFF SOME BRANCHES THAT WERE ENCROACHING ON OUR SUNROOM'S ROOF

 CLEANING OUT THE EAVES

 SWEEPING THE PINE NEEDLES OFF THE ROOF

As her strength slowly ebbs back, Kelly spent most of the day resting.  It is the tiredness and weakened state right now that she is having the most difficulty with.  That last week-long hospital stay has really knocked the stuffings out of her this time but I did see her working with her 'hand grip' device to strengthen her grip.  Her hand grip is one of the things on her stress test they will test her on in another month's time.

 CHICORY FLOWERS ALONGSIDE THE ROAD

 BURDOCK BLOOMS IN THE DITCH BETWEEN THE ROAD AND A CORNFIELD.....THESE ARE THE GUYS THAT STICK TO YOUR CLOTHES AND YOUR PETS FURRY COAT

Overly tired these past couple days, I didn't get anything accomplished outside that I had hoped to.  And it would have been a perfect day with these wonderful cooler temps.  Not even an afternoon walk with Pheebs.  I fell asleep in my sunroom recliner and woke up just as tired as I had been before I fell asleep.  I don't know if it's a mental tired or a physical tired but I think this time it was physical more than anything else..........  

 WILDFLOWERS ALONGSIDE A CORNFIELD ON THE WEST SIDE OF OUR GRAVEL WALKING ROAD

A Blast From Our Past:)) I blundered across one of my old posts today and it's from a time that I call my 'opinionated era' where I would sometimes knock myself over the edge and unintentionally step on some toes.  Fortunately, in this post, my opinions were mashed together with a few flashes of humor.  The post is entitled, 'Senior Power' & Google's Picasa Team Says 'Hello' To Rick And Al

Al's Music Box:)) One Of These Nights is a song by the American rock band the Eagles, written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey. The title track from their 1975 'One of These Nights' album, the song became their second single to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart after "Best of My Love" and also helped propel the album to number one. The single version was shortened from the album version of the song, removing most of the song's intro and most of its fade-out, as well. Henley is lead vocalist on the verses, while Randy Meisner sings high harmony on the refrain. The song features a guitar solo by Don Felder that is "composed of blues-based licks and sustained string bends using an unusually meaty distortion tone."  The song was a conscious attempt by the band to write something different from a country-rock and ballad-type and song. Don Henley said: "We like to be a nice little country-rock band from Los Angeles ... about half the time." He added: "We wanted to get away from the ballad syndrome with "One of These Nights." With Don Felder in the band now, we can really rock."  Frey said that they "wanted 'One of These Nights' to have a lot of teeth, a lot of bite—a nasty track with pretty vocals."  The writing was influenced by R&B music and disco; according to Frey, he was listening to Spinners and Al Green records when he started writing the song. Frey started the writing process by composing the music, and Henley then started with the lyrics.  Frey said: "I just went over to the piano and I started playing this little minor descending progression, and he comes over and goes, 'One of these nights'."  After that, Frey said: "What usually happens is when we get the thing fused together, he gets involved in the music and I get involved in the lyrics."  While they were recording the album in Miami, the band also shared a studio with the Bee Gees, and according to Henley, the "four-on-the-floor" bass-drum pattern is a nod to disco.  In the liner notes of The Very Best Of, Frey had this to say about the song: We had Don Henley's voice, which allowed us to go in a more soulful direction, which made me exceedingly happy ... A lot of things came together on One Of These Nights – our love of the studio, the dramatic improvement in Don's and my songwriting. We made a quantum leap with "One Of These Nights." It was a breakthrough song. It is my favorite Eagles record. If I ever had to pick one, it wouldn't be "Hotel California", it wouldn't be "Take It Easy." For me, it would be "One Of These Nights."  Frey also said that the song is about putting things off. "We've all said, 'One of these nights I'm gonna do something -- get that girl, make that money, find that house.' We all have our dreams – a vision we hope will come true someday. When that 'someday' will come is up to each of us."  On the recording, Frey said: "We cut the basic track in Miami in December at Criteria Studios. We took it to L.A., put all the drone guitars and Felder's solo on in L.A., and went back to Miami to put the vocals on in March."  The B-side, "Visions", features lead vocals by guitarist Don Felder, the only Eagles song to do so.

 HAVE A GOOD DAY EH:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( God created the mule, and told him, "You are mule. You will work constantly from dusk to dawn, carrying heavy loads on your back. You will eat grass and lack intelligence. You will live for 50 years."  The mule answered, "To live like this for 50 years is too much. Please, give me no more than 20."  And it was so.

Then God created the dog, and told him, "You are dog. You will hold vigilance over the dwellings of Man, to whom you will be his greatest companion. You will eat his table scraps and live for 25 years."
The dog responded, "Lord, to live 25 years as a dog like that is too much. Please, no more than 10 years."
And it was so.

God then created the monkey, and told him, "You are monkey. You shall swing from tree to tree, acting like an idiot. You will be funny, and you shall live for 20 years."The monkey responded, "Lord, to live 20 years as the clown of the world is too much. Please, Lord, give me no than 10 years."
And it was so.

Finally, God created Man and told him, "You are Man, the only rational being that walks the earth. You will use your intelligence to have mastery over the creatures of the world. You will dominate the earth and live for 20 years."  The man responded, "Lord, to be Man for only 20 years is too little. Please, Lord; give me the 20 years the mule refused, the 15 years the dog refused, and the 10 years the monkey rejected."  And so God made Man to live 20 years as a man, then marry and live 20 years like a mule working and carrying heavy loads on his back. Then, he is to have children and live 15 years as a dog, guarding his house and eating the leftovers after they empty the pantry; then, in his old age, to live 10 years as a monkey, acting like an idiot to amuse his grandchildren.
And it is so ...

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- What did Spartacus say when the lion ate his wife?  Nothing, he was gladiator.

- Why don’t lions play cards in the wild?
Because of all the cheetahs!

- What does a lion call his barber?  His mane man.

- What do you call a lion that has eaten your mother’s sister?  - An aunt-eater!

- What lion will never roar?  A dandelion...

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Matt: "It's times like this that I wish I'd listened to what my Dad always said."
Jake: "What did he say?"
"I don't know, I wasn't listening."
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STILL MARVELING AT BEING HOME, KELLY HAD HERSELF A RESTFUL DAY

How nice earlier this morning while tipped back in my living room recliner with my computer on my lap, to glance to my right and see Kelly tipped back in her recliner with her computer on her lap as well.  A glance forward to my left and there's Pheebs upside down and stretched out having a big snooze on her very own couch.  All,  was well with The Bayfield Bunch:))

London's University Hospital had faxed over a revised list of Kelly's medications to Goderich's Walmart Pharmacy so Pheebs and I had us a mission to Goderich this morning.  Off we went under blue skies and big white and gray cumulous clouds billowing up from the eastern horizon.  The humidity factor was already climbing so I knew there would be no yardwork for Al when we got home later.  Coffee to go at McD's, a drive down around the harbor, a stop uptown to pick up my watch with a new battery at Anstett Jewelers, scooped two carrot muffins at Caits Cafe for Kelly, and then a last stop at Walmart before heading home with the summer's wind blowing through Subie's open windows and nearly lifting my hat off my head through the open Moonroof and flying it away off into the next County.  And, it was while writing this paragraph late this afternoon that I dozed off with my finger on the j key only to later wake up with about 6.7 million jjjjjjjj's going on forever across my computer screen.  I hate when I do that!!

 THE OCEAN-GOING FEDERAL DEE AT THE GODERICH GRAIN ELEVATOR THIS MORNING

OH GEE....D'YA THINK!!

BECAUSE THIS GUY IS DRESSED ALL IN WHITE I FIGURE HE MUST BE THE BIG KAHOONA DECK BOSS' 

Kelly, still marveling at being home had herself a restful day.  She did summon up enough energy to take Pheebs for a short walk before breakfast but that pretty much tuckered her out for the rest of the day.  A big snooze was in order so she did that for a big chunk of the afternoon.

THE MID-SUMMER CALM WATERS OF LAKE HURON

 NICE MORNING FOR A STROLL ALONG THE BOARDWALK NEAR ROTARY COVE

 ALSO A NICE MORNING FOR A WALK ALONG THE BEACH

NOT EVERYBODY IS ENJOYING A DAY OFF AT THE BEACH

 LOOKS LIKE THIS GROUP IS TRYING A FEW CHIN-UPS ON THE EXERCISE EQUIPMENT ALONG THE BOARDWALK

University Hospital has already scheduled Kelly for another endoscopy about this time next month and they have also scheduled another physio test for her around the same time.  Like Kelly said, she's got a lot of work to do between now and then to get her strength built back up.    When Pheebs and I arrived back from Goderich I was glad to see her wolfing down a big bowl of Jerry Rader's chicken soup along with a whole boatload of crackers and cheese.  She'll be bench pressing 300 pounds in no time.  Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts and prayers for helping and lifting her spirits through these difficult times.  

 ALWAYS A BUSY TIME FOR AREA FARMERS

Al's Music Box:)) Some Broken Hearts Never Mend is a song written by Wayland Holyfield, and recorded by American country music artist Don Williams. It was released in January 1977 as the first single from the album Visions. The song was Williams' sixth number one on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for a single week and spent a total of 12 weeks within the top 40.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The European Union commissioners have announced that an agreement has been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phased plan for what will be known as EuroEnglish (Euro for short).  In the first year, "s" will be used instead of the soft "c". Sertainly, sivil servants will reseive this news with joy.  Also, the hard "c" will be replaced with "k". Not only will this klear up konfusion, but typewriters kan have one less letter.  There will be growing public enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replased by "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20 persent shorter.  In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of silent "e"s in the language is disgrasful, and they would go.  By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" by "z" and "w" by "v".  During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou", and similar changes vud, of kors, be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.  Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German lik zey vunted in ze forst plas.

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- My tolerance for idiots is extremely low these days. I used to have some immunity built up, but obviously there's a new strain out there.

- Don't be afraid of a few extra pounds. Fat people are harder to kidnap.

- Common sense is like deodorant.  The people who need it the most never use it.

- It’s not my age that bothers me, it’s the side effects.

- I’m not saying I’m old and worn out, but I make sure I’m nowhere near the curb on trash day.

- Keith Richards once got a turtle for his birthday. He asked: "How old will it get". They told him: "About 300 years". He said: "Now you see why I'm against it, you get attached to such an animal and then it dies."

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Little Henry sits at the dinner table. He reaches for his plate, picks up a chicken leg, and starts to eat. His mother says, "Henry did you wash your hands?"  Henry replies, "No! I don’t want my chicken to taste like soap, mom!"
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- I’m responsible for what I say, not what you understand.