AND MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS WERE HAD BY ALL

A mixture of sun and cloud on this 49F morning found Pheebs and I wandering around a few paved country roads.  Paved, because I washed the Subaru yesterday and didn't want to get it all dusted up on the gravel roads again.  Well, at least not for a few days anyway.  The County is paving more roads all the time and that is quite alright with me.  The corn harvest is in full swing so we kept our eyes open for corn spills alongside the road or cobs laying in the field close to the road.  Our corn pail came home empty.

 'OH MABLE, I JUST HEARD BILLY BIG BUTTS OVER THERE WAS SEEN WITH CRAZY CLARABELLE OVER IN THE BACK FORTY LATE LAST NIGHT'

Our good friends, Gayle and Richard invited us for Thanksgiving today so we headed on over to their place about 1 o'clock.  A great turkey dinner with all the fixins, and meaningful coversations were had by all.   We were home again by 4 o'clock.

Al's Music Box:)) The White Cliffs Of Dover is a popular World War II song composed in 1941 by Walter Kent to lyrics by Nat Burton. Made famous in the United Kingdom by Vera Lynn's 1942 version, it was one of Lynn's best-known recordings and among the most popular World War II tunes.  The song was written about a year after the Royal Air Force and German Luftwaffe aircraft had been fighting over southern England, including the white cliffs of Dover, in the Battle of Britain.  Nazi Germany had conquered much of Europe and in 1941 was still bombing Britain. With neither the United States nor the Soviet Union having joined the war against Germany and her allies, Britain was the only major power fighting the Axis powers in Europe.  The American lyricist, Nat Burton, wrote his lyric (perhaps unaware that the bluebird is not indigenous to Britain, though the migrant Swallow 'Bluebird' is a well known British harbinger of Spring and Summer) and asked Kent to set it to music.  Notable phrases include "Thumbs Up!" which was an RAF and RCAF term for permission to go, and "flying in those angry skies" where the air war was taking place. The lyrics looked toward a time when the war would be over, and peace would rule over the iconic white cliffs, Britain's symbolic border with the European mainland.  The full song includes two verses rarely found in recordings:

I'll never forget the people I met braving those angry skies.
I remember well as the shadows fell, the light of hope in their eyes.
And tho' I'm far away, I can still hear them say "Thumbs Up!"
for when the dawn comes up,... There'll be blue birds over...

When night shadows fall, I'll always recall out there across the sea
Twilight falling down on some little town;
It's fresh in my memory.
I hear mother pray, and to her baby say "Don't cry,"
This is her lullaby.... There'll be blue birds over..GROANER'S CORNER:(( Actual answers given by contestants on the game show The Family Feud:

- Name something that floats in the bath - Water
- Name something a blind person might use - A sword
- Name a song with 'moon' in the title - Blue Suede Moon
- Something you do before going to bed - Sleep
- Name a famous bridge - The bridge over troubled waters
- Something slippery - A con man
- A part of the body beginning with the letter 'N' - Knee
- Something you do in the bathroom - Decorate

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- My ducks may not be in a row, but at least they're having fun.  Your ducks probably hate you for making them line up like that. 

- “I got a job in the transmission shop. It's shift work.

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A pastor, known for his lengthy sermons, noticed a man get up and leave during the middle of his message. The man returned just before the conclusion of the service. Afterwards the pastor asked the man where he had gone.  "I went to get a haircut," was the reply.  "But," said the pastor, "why didn't you do that before the service?"  "Because," the gentleman said, "I didn't need one then."

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Al's Art Gallery:))

AND A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE

 A DRIVE FOR PHEEBS AND I AROUND THE COLORFUL SOUTH END OF OUR PARK THIS MORNING

With Pheebs contentedly snoozing, Kelly and I slipped out to run a few quick errands around the countryside this morning.  Our first stop was Bayfield's Foodland for some coffee cream and a jar of Lynch's Honey Mustard.  Next stop was Zehr's Mennonite Country Market south of Bayfield to pick up two Pebbles meals. (one roast beef and one turkey)  From there we headed over to Jerry Rader's Homestyle Market in Zurich, Ontario where we loaded up with 2 pumpkin pies, gravy, cole slaw, four-pot pies, pink jello stuff, a package of gingerbread cookies, turnip, a turkey salad sandwich, two coffees to go, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.  The bill was almost a hundred dollars and I think it was that darn Partridge in a Pear Tree that cost so much.  It's a good thing they at least threw in the Pear Tree for free or we would have had to sell the Subaru and walk home.  We were back in our driveway within an hour and Pheebs hardly knew we had even left.

Not wanting Pheebs to miss her morning car ride I quickly loaded her up and with Subie's windows down, off we went for a drive......around our Park.  Yup, we just mosied along slowly enjoying the Park's Autumn scenery and snapping a few pics along the way.  We were back home twenty minutes later. 

 THE BIG LOG PILES IN THE PARK ARE DWINDLING AS THE LOGS ARE TRUCKED OUT TO A MENNOMITE SAWMILL SOMEWHERE AROUND ST. HELENS NORTH OF US

With the weather making for another beautiful mid-October morning I felt energized enough to wash the car and clean all the glass.  Raked up a couple more wheelbarrow loads of pine needles and puttered around with a few other putterable things that kept me focused.

 A DRIVE AROUND THE COLORFUL NORTH END OF THE PARK WHERE WE THE RESIDENTS ALL LIVE

 I LIKE THAT RED VINE ON A NEIGHBOR'S GARAGE

Talked to Aunt Jean Friday night.  The Plymouth Harbor special needs folks might be leaving on Monday.  The boards are still on the windows at Sunnyside Village. With another possible hurricane brewing in the Atlantic, they want to wait and see where it is going to go.  To take all the boards off the windows is a big job and expensive, and especially so if if they have to put them all back on in a week's time.  Aunt Jean misses being able to see outside and she still has no idea if her car is damaged or not.  Someone who has been outside told her that the beautiful landscaped grounds are basically not beautiful landscaped grounds anymore.

 NEARLY 22 YEARS AGO ACROSS THE ROAD FROM OUR HOUSE, I MADE THIS PATH THROUGH THIS STAND OF TREES TO THE PARK POND AND FORESTS BEYOND  

 RIGHT BEHIND OUR BACKYARD, WE HAVE THIS GREEN SPACE AND THAT IS OUR ROOF LINE AT THE TOP RIGHT

 MY PATHWAYS AROUND THE HOUSE ARE TAKING ON THEIR AUTUMN LOOK

Ellen's Groove:)) Ellen's bass playing continues and here she is practicing a piece called Domination.  She almost nails it and take notice of the small-handed young lady's fast left-hand finger work on the bass's large adult-sized fretboard.  Wow, that was a mouthful of a sentence eh:))

A LOOK INSIDE OUR PARK'S MAILROOM

Al's Music Box:)) Harbor Lights by the Platters is a popular song by Northern Irish songwriter Jimmy Kennedy.  The song was originally recorded by Roy Fox & his Orchestra with vocal by Barry Gray in London on 29 January 1937.  The melody of the song is done in a Hawaiian style, 18 years before the island became a state. Several versions featured a ukulele and a steel guitar.  Kennedy's lyrics describe the sight of harbour lights in the darkness, which signal that the ship carrying the singer's sweetheart is sailing away. The lonely singer hopes that the lights will someday signal the sweetheart's return.  Apparently the lyricist Jimmy Kennedy was driving from London (UK) down to Southampton on the South coast along the A3 road which led south to Portsmouth. As he neared the coast a fog descended and he was confused about the direction. He saw some lights on a pub and decided to stop. The pub was called The Harbour Light. Some time later he wrote the lyric and music was added. The song Harbour Lights was recorded by the Platters and many others. A blue plaque is today fixed to the wall of the pub. The Platters version featured the recorded sounds of ship bells ringing, plus the sounds of ocean waters splashing, which is heard at both the beginning and the ending of the song, before it fades out.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The preacher was wired for sound with a lapel mike, and as he preached, he moved briskly about the platform, jerking the mike cord as he went. Then he moved to one side, getting wound up in the cord and nearly tripping before jerking it again.  After several circles and jerks, a little girl in the third pew leaned toward her mother and whispered, "If he  gets loose, will he hurt us?"

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- "A cement mixer collided with a prison van on the Kingston Bypass. Motorists are asked to be on the lookout for 16 hardened criminals."

- "I have kleptomania. But when it gets bad, I take something for it."

- "My Dad always knew I was going to be a comedian. When I was a baby he said, 'Is this a joke?'"

- "Five out of every three people have trouble understanding fractions."

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Ways to tell if a redneck has been working on a computer::
10. The monitor is up on blocks.
9. Outgoing faxes have tobacco stains on them.
8. The six front keys have rotted out.
7. The extra RAM slots have Dodge truck parts installed in them.
6. The numeric keypad only goes up to six.
5. The password is "Bubba".
4. The CPU has a gun rack mount.
3. There is a Skoal can in the CD-ROM drive.
2. The keyboard is camouflaged.
And, The Number One Way To Tell If A Redneck Has Been Working On A Computer...
The mouse is referred to as a "critter".

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Al's Art Gallery:))