'YAHOUIE LOUIE'...... KELLY'S HOME:))))

 WITH WINTER APPROACHING,  I NOTICED OUR FRONT YARD SQUIRRELS RAMPING UP THEIR PLANS FOR GETTING AT THE BIRDFEEDERS

Five o'clock in the morning comes early when one's mind still has not adjusted to the time change from a couple weeks ago.  It makes for a long day and last night I think I was sound asleep before I even made my way from the sunroom to the living room.  I woke up in the night with my lap humming away on top of me again.  Oh well, we're over halfway through November already and it's only 106 days of 5 a.m. awakenings before switching back to Standard Time on March 2nd, 2025.  'Senior Alert'.  Better mark that date on your calendar right now folks while you're thinking about it.  Well, that is if you remembered to pick up a new 2025 calendar that is.  Okay, so make a note to yourself to pick up a new calendar.  Whaddya mean ya can't remember where you left yer pencils!!

 THIS FRONT YARD BUNNY BLENDS IN WELL WITH THE BACKGROUND

Kelly sent this 'oh-oh' email last night....."They just posted signs by the elevators saying 'No Visitors', Covid outbreak on this floor" 😳I wondered if this will affect her coming home today or not..............Expecting Kelly's phone call at any time saying she was ready to be picked up, Pheebs and I didn't stray any farther than Bayfield on our drive this morning.  Changing things up a bit I decided to pick up a Tim Hortons coffee in Bayfield instead of making my usual second coffee of the day at home.  Pulling in I noticed a line-up at the Drive-Thru so thought what the heck, since being built 3 or 4 years ago I had never been inside this Tim Hortons coffee shop so I parked the Subes and slipped inside for a decaf coffee to go.  Not much seating in there.  Saw two tables with two chairs each and a coffee bar along the window with maybe half a dozen stools.  Well, at least I finally got inside the place to see what the heck it looked like after taking so many pictures and complaining about its slow building progress years ago.  From there, Pheebs and I slid out the south end of Bayfield, went around one small country block, and headed home to wait for the phone to ring.  It was 9:20 a.m.

 MY FIRST TIME INSIDE HERE THIS MORNING

AN OPEN HOUSE FOR OUR PARK'S NEW HOUSE WAS HELD TODAY 

At 10:05 Kelly phoned to say her hemoglobin level had dropped overnight again but it wasn't a drastic drop so they said she could go home today.  She didn't know a release time yet but would call as soon as she knew for sure.  The phone rang again at 12:05 and minutes later I was in the Subaru under a heavy cloud overcast heading for London.  Luckily, because it was Saturday, the usual traffic congestion around the University Hospital's main entrance was light and I found a parking place. I had my Kindle with me so I spent the next hour reading until Kelly was finally released and brought out in a wheelchair.  I couldn't have gone in to get her because of 3 people on her floor had Covid, and the ward was shut down with no visitors allowed.  

 IT WAS A DULL GRAY DRIVE TO LONDON AND BACK TODAY

 DESCENDING INTO LONDON TOWN

 VERY QUIET AT UNIVERSIT HOSPITAL'S MAIN ENTRANCE THIS AFTERNOON

 I WAS VERY GLAD I HAD BROUGHT MY KINDLE TO READ

We made fast tracks north out of London making a stop at a Foodland grocery store in Lucan for a couple sandwiches from the Delli.  We were home about 3:15.  I don't know who was more tired, Kelly or me.  It wasn't long before Kelly headed for her room to lie down and I think I fell asleep in my living room recliner.  I don't know, I remember looking at the clock and it said 4:15.  I opened my eyes a few minutes later and it was somehow 5:54.

LUCAN'S NEW FOODLAND STORE WAS LOOKING RATHER CHRISTMASY THIS AFTERNOON

We'll see how this week goes.  The doctor in London this morning told Kelly that this will happen again.  We already knew that.  He said for her to wait one week and then get another blood test in Goderich to see what's happening with her hemoglobin level.  For some reason, Kelly's ankles are very swollen.  Anyway, the main thing is that she is home safe and sound for the time being........... 

Al's Music Box I'm An Old Cow Hand by Roy Rogers and The Sons of the Pioneers is a song written by Johnny Mercer.  Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.  Mercer and his wife were driving across the US en route to his hometown, Savannah, Georgia, after having apparently failed to succeed in Hollywood. Mercer was amused by the sight of cowboys, with spurs and ten-gallon hats, driving cars and trucks instead of riding horses. Singing Cowboys were popular in films and on the radio then, and within 15 minutes, writing on the back of an envelope, Mercer transferred the image he was seeing into a song whose satirical lyrics vented some of his own bitter frustration with Hollywood.  The lyrics, about a 20th-century cowboy who has little in common with the cowpunchers of old, have been included in some anthologies of light verse.

 I HAD TO CROP KELLY OUT OF THIS PHOTO ON THE WAY HOME BECAUSE SHE HAD JUST TAKEN A BIG BITE OUT OF HER SANDWICH AND WAS LOOKING KIND OF GOOFY ABOUT IT

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of an enormous forest fire. Smoke at the scene was too thick to get any good shots, so he frantically called his home office to hire a plane. "It will be waiting for you at the airport!" he was assured by his editor.  As soon as he got to the small, rural airport, sure enough, a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, "Let's go! Let's go!" The pilot swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air.  "Fly over the north side of the fire," said the photographer, "and make three or four low-level passes."  "Why?" asked the pilot.  "Because I'm going to take pictures! I'm a photographer, and photographers take pictures!" said the photographer with great exasperation and impatience. After a long  pause, the pilot said, "You mean you're not the instructor?"

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-  What do you call a football kicker who comes through in the clutch? A big game punter.

- Did you hear about the two trucks carrying copies of Roget's Thesaurus that collided yesterday? Witnesses were stunned, startled, aghast, taken aback, and stupefied.

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- Mrs. Hunter was called to serve for jury duty, but asked to be excused because she didn't believe in capital punishment and didn't want her personal thoughts to prevent the trial from running its proper course.  But the public defender liked her thoughtfulness and quiet calm, and tried to convince her that she was appropriate to serve on the jury.  "Madam," he explained, "this is not a murder trial! It's a simple civil lawsuit. A wife is bringing this case against her husband because he gambled away the $12,000 he had promised to use to remodel the kitchen for her birthday."  "Well, okay," agreed Mrs. Hunter, "I'll serve. I guess I could be wrong about capital punishment after all."

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                            Al's Doggy World

                                Meanings

{Quote} We are living in a day where people are proud of what they should be ashamed of.

       Al's Art Gallery

 VINCENT VAN GOGH

 A VAN GOGH PAINTING

KELLY AND I HAVE DRIVEN THIS STRETCH OF ROAD SEVERAL TIMES IN OUR RVING YEARS AND IT IS TRULY AS MAGNIFICENT AS IT LOOKS....AND WE TOOK OUR JEEP WRANGLER ON ROUGH INDIAN ROADS ONE DAY TO DRIVE RIGHT DOWN INTO MONUMENT VALLEY AROUND THOSE TOWERING ROCK SPIRES ON THE HORIZON....OH MY HOW ME HEART SKIPS A BEAT WHEN I THINK OF THOSE DAYS

OVER AND OUT UNTIL TOMORROW

I DIDN'T GET AROUND TO TAKING ANY PHOTOS TODAY SO I HAVE HAD TO THROW IN A FEW FILE PHOTOS

Kelly phoned this morning at 8:15 saying her hemoglobin numbers had dropped to 68 (120 is normal) overnight and they were getting ready to give her a blood transfusion.  She also said that to administer the intravenous antibiotic medicine earlier in the morning they had to put in a bigger intravenous line and that was painful.  When she was temporarily free of her intravenous tree and nobody was looking this morning she made a dash down the hall to the elevator and went down 8 floors to the lobby hoping Tim Hortons coffee shop would be open.  It wasn't.  They don't open until 7 a.m.  Back to the elevator and up 3 floors to the hospital's cafeteria where a second Tim Hortons is located.  She snagged a coffee and a couple donuts and dashed back to the elevator and up to her floor.  Now, keep in mind here that when I use the word 'dash' it means she is moving about half a mile an hour.  Said she was pretty tired by the time she got back to her room.  She also said two of her male roommates have been replaced by two really big guys who had just had Obese Class111 Bariatric Surgery.  See, I told you in an earlier post that she would probably end up with a big Sumo wrestler in the room.  I hadn't figured on two though.  Kelly is still in good spirits and hoping they will let her go home today but it's 'iffy'.  I'll be standing by at this end ready to fire up the Subaru and go get her right quick.

KELLY'S COFFEE AND DONUT HAUL EARLY THIS MORNING

Yesterday's rain had quit overnight leaving us with a rather dull and drab-looking November morning.  At least our temps weren't too bad at 44F heading for 50 today.  I don't think I woke up in the right frame of mind at 5:30 this morning because I seemed to have a problem getting the day started and kicking myself out the door.  But finally, it was out the door Pheebs and I did go.  It was 9 a.m.  After a slow drive around a couple country blocks, we stopped in to Richard and Gayles to see how they were doing.  All being Seniors now in about the same age bracket we're all in the same boat with ongoing medical issues:((

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Kelly called at 10:45 feeling confident that now after an iron infusion yesterday, a blood transfusion, and an intravenous antibiotic infusion this morning, she would be coming home this afternoon.  Of course with the bleeding source not found, we know that this scenario of the past few days will again be repeated in the near future.  Kelly said it's like the movie, Groundhog Day.  This just keeps happening over and over again.

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I got the sunroom put back together with 90% of it being cleaned including 10 of the 11 inside windows.  Only thing left is the hardest part which is around behind the computer with about 2.4 million power and computer-related cords all mashed around.  I have to move the heavy computer desk to get in behind to clean out what looks to be a ka-zillion cobwebs and the big window there.  I know enough not to do this until Kelly's home in case I get some wires screwed up and don't have the patience to get things working right again......Kelly phoned at 1:30 chomping at the bit to get out of there but her blood pressure had gone for a big tumble.  She's also waiting for the latest hemoglobin numbers to come in after the blood transfusion this morning.  They should be okay....for now. 

I finished my book, Three Years A Traveler by author Leslie White.  I liked this book and could identify with a few places her travels took her, like Rusty's RV Ranch near Rodeo, New Mexico.  Leslie's honesty is bare bones and her lingo gets a tad 'salty' in this book but then again what RV'er hasn't turned a tad salty over all the trials and tribulations of RV traveling.  For my next book, I have chosen, Walking Home: 'Common Sense and Other Misadventures On the Pacific Crest Trail' by author Rick Rogers.  The mention of Rusty's RV Ranch triggered my memory of four days spent there back in early November of 2009.  Those great days in this beautiful area can be found below in my 'A Blast From Our Past' segment.

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A Blast From Our Past:)) The Bayfield Bunch Rolls Into Rusty's RV Ranch Near Portal, New Mexico.  If you happen to read this post and want to see my posts for the following days at Rusty's and more of the area's beautiful scenery, including the Chiricahua Mountains, just scroll down to the end of each post and look to the bottom left for the yellow words, 'Newer Post'.  Just click on that for the next day. (skip right on past that particular day to the next one by clicking 'Newer Post' again)  Over to the right you will see the words 'Older Posts' which if clicked will take you back to our days previous to arriving at Rustys.  This same 'Newer' and 'Older' thing goes for all of my posts since back in 2007 right up to this present day. 

OUR SPOT AT RUSTY'S

 IN PORTAL ARIZONA JUST A FEW MILES SOUTHWEST OF RUSTY'S

 THIS ROAD RUNNER NEAR PORTAL REMAINED MOTIONLESS LONG ENOUGH FOR ME TO GET HALF A DOZEN PHOTOS OF HIM

 HIKING IN ARIZONA'S BEAUTIFUL CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS

 AND HERE'S KELLY WITH RUSTY HER VERY SELF

Kelly called at 2:45 saying her hemoglobin numbers were up and her blood pressure had come up to a liveable standard but now a team of students, lead by feathered Witchdoctor of sorts had come by and were concerned about her extended abdomen.  In a hurried cluster of student voices it was decided they should conduct an ultra-sound on her belly and off the went to get an ultra sound thingy.  So, the wait continued......  It was 5:15 when the phone rang again and......Kelly wouldn't be coming home.  Although the ultrasound didn't show enough fluid in Kelly's abdomen to drain, one of the doctors decided to keep Kelly in another night because of her roller-coaster hemoglobin numbers.  So, tomorrow I'll wait expectantly by the phone for her call to come pick her up.  That is if nothing goes wrong.  Kelly still remains positive and in good spirits.  And that's about enough out of me today.  Over and out until tomorrow.

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Al's Music Box Autumn Leaves by Roger Williams is the English-language version of the French song "Les Feuilles mortes" ("The Dead Leaves") composed by Joseph Kosma in 1945. The original lyrics were written by Jacques Prevert in French, and the English lyrics were by Johnny Mercer. An instrumental recording by pianist Roger Williams was a number one best-seller in the US Billboard charts of 1955.  Since its introduction "Autumn Leaves" has become a jazz standard, and it is one of the most recorded songs by jazz musicians. More than a thousand commercial recordings are known to have been released by mainstream jazz and pop musicians.  In 1950, Johnny Mercer wrote the English lyric and gave it the title "Autumn Leaves". The English lyrics are significantly shorter than the French version, consisting of only two verses. In the French original, the crucial line "C'est une chanson" starts at the 13th bar, while in English the line "the autumn leaves" starts at bar 1.  Mercer was a founder and partner in Capitol Records at the time, and he selected Capitol recording artist Jo Stafford to make the first English-language recording in July, 1950.  ^{Roger Williams} was signed by Dave Kapp of Kapp Records when he heard Williams playing in a hotel lounge. He was asked to change his birth name Louis Jacob Weertz to Roger Williams. Williams released an album The Boy Next Door, which failed to make an impact, and then the song "Autumn Leaves". "Autumn Leaves" was recorded at the suggestion of Kapp one Friday, and Williams, who had previously thought that the song was titled "Falling Leaves", said: "The first thing that came to mind was to play all those runs down the keyboard, I tried to make it sound like falling leaves."  He created the arrangement that Friday and the following Saturday night, and recorded the song on Monday.  Williams played the tune with descending arpeggios its dominant feature, backed by an orchestra conducted by Glenn Osser. The first recording was just over 3 minutes long, and Kapp suggested that it be sped up to keep it under 3 minutes, which Williams duly did.  The song became a number-one hit in the U.S. in 1955, the first piano instrumental to reach number one.  It stayed at No. 1 for four weeks in the bestsellers chart. The song is said to have sold two million copies around the world, and it remains the best-selling piano record of all time.  Williams re-recorded the tune for Kapp, in stereo and with choral and orchestral backings, to celebrate its 10th anniversary in 1965.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( More controversy in pairs skating when Boris and Natasha were awarded a gold medal by the Eastern Bloc countries, even though they were clearly beaten by Moose and Squirrel.

- Why did the cross-eyed teacher get the sack?
Because he couldn't control his pupils.

- My girlfriend told me, "If we don’t get married soon, I’m going to kill you!" "I guess.. it’s a matter of wife or death."

- You'll understand when your older...I am older now and I understand absolutely nothing.

- Tired of boiling water every time you make pasta?  Boil a few gallons at the beginning of the week and freeze it for later.

- Lazy is such an ugly word.  I prefer the term 'Selective Participation'.

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My 3 assumptions when the doorbell rings:

1. Murderer

2. Police telling me everyone is dead

3. That book I ordered about positive thinking.

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Al's Doggy World 

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         Al's Art Gallery