WE HOPE TO KNOW MORE THIS COMING WEEK

 IT'S LIGHTLY SNOWING HERE

Woke up to a cold gray November day but at least the air was semi-calm and it wasn't heavily snowing.  Yesterday's light dusting of snow was still on the ground so I loaded up the furry Kid and off we went down to the end of Bayfield River Road and back.  Not too inspiring from a photo point of view compared to a month or two ago at this time but it is what it is and I did find a few pics along the way.

 ON OUR STREET THIS MORNING IT IS JUST AS COLD OUT THERE AS IT LOOKS

 A BIT OF GROUND DRIFTING ACROSS THE ROAD BUT NOTHING SERIOUS

 A SNOWY FARM LANE

 A SNOW STREAMER COMING IN OFF THE LAKE ROLLS ACROSS THIS FARM LANE

 NOT A LOT OF SNOW IN OUR AREA YET BUT IT'S A DIFFERENT STORY FURTHER INLAND WHERE THEY ARE GETTING WHALLOPED

AT LAST, A TOUCH OF COLOR ON A GRAY DRAB DAY

 A GREEN WINTER WHEAT FIELD WITH A SKIFF OF SNOW BETWEEN THE ROWS

Took Kelly a Tim Hortons coffee and half a dozen timbits.  I noticed they had her oxygenated and she said they came and put the tubes in her nose in the middle of the night.  I was able to help her with a few things like rearranging pillows and blankets.  She remarked again how much better things are for her here in the Goderich hospital compared to London.  I stayed with her about 3 hours in which time her phone rang but she wasn't feeling well enough to talk to anyone so I took the call and it was her daughter Sabra.  I was able to update Sabra regarding her Mother's condition.  It is very unlikely that we will be able to attend that meeting with Dr. Teriakai this coming Wednesday in London.  Kelly is too weak, plus she is still bleeding somewhere.  When I got there this morning, a lady doctor was talking to her.  She said this coming week she would talk to us more about Palliative Care.  They are doing all they can for her in ICU at the moment.  We'll see how next week goes but I expect by the end of next week we will know a lot more about what direction we will be heading regarding Kelly's care.  Thank you to everyone for all your support in these difficult times.

KELLY LIKES THE FOOD MUCH BETTER IN GODERICH THAN LONDON

 HERE SHE IS CHECKING AN INGREDIENTS LIST

Al's Music Box:)) Green River is a song by the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was written by John Fogerty and released as a single in July 1969, one month before the album of the same name was released. "Green River" peaked at number two for one week, behind "Sugar, Sugar," by The Archies, and was ranked by Billboard as the No. 31 song of 1969.  The song was based on a childhood vacation spot of John Fogerty's.  In an interview Fogerty gave to Rolling Stone in 2012, Fogerty stated: What really happened is that I used a setting like New Orleans, but I would actually be talking about a thing from my own life. Certainly a song like "Green River" – which you may think would fit seamlessly into the Bayou vibe, but it's actually about the Green River, as I named it – it was actually called Putah Creek by Winters, California. It wasn't called Green River, but in my mind I always sort of called it Green River. All those little anecdotes are part of my childhood, those are things that happened to me actually, I just wrote about them and the audience shifted at the time and place.   Fogerty added that the "actual specific reference, 'Green River,' I got from a soda pop-syrup label... My flavor was called Green River."   Although the song seems to be mostly about idyllic memories, in the last verse a character named Old Cody Junior warns the singer that he's going to find the world smoldering but can always come back to Green River.  The name Old Cody Junior was a reference to the fact that Buffalo Bill Cody had owned the cabin by the creek that inspired the song.  As to the music, Fogerty said that: "Green River" is obviously a tip of the hat to the Sun Records sound, but I can't think of any real specific song. Actually, with the loping beat of the acoustic guitar and then the bass kind of doing that rocking beat on the one and the four, I tend to think of something like "Dream Baby" by Roy Orbison. Yet "Green River" was much more rocking than that song, but the rhythm treatment fit."  Billboard described the single as "a driving rocker in the same vein as" Creedence Clearwater Revival's previous single "Bad Moon Rising."  Cash Box described it as developing "the bayou-rock style of the CCR in a slower than 'Bad Moon Rising' track that could steal the spotlight."  Cash Box ranked it as the No. 19 single of 1969.  Record World said it was "great." Ultimate Classic Rock critic Cliff M. Junior rated "Green River" as Creedence Clearwater Revival's 7th greatest song.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Dear Abby Admitted She Was At A Loss To Answer The Following::

- Dear Abby, I've suspected that my husband has been fooling around, and when confronted with the evidence, he denied everything and said it would never happen again.
- Dear Abby, Our son writes that he is taking Judo. Why would a boy who was raised in a good Christian home turn against his own?
- Dear Abby, I joined the Navy to see the world. I've seen it. Now how do I get out?
- Dear Abby, My forty-year-old son has been paying a psychiatrist $50.00 an hour every week for two and a half years. He must be crazy.
- Dear Abby, I was married to Bill for three months and I didn't know he drank until one night he came home sober.

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- Only in America: We work hard on a farm so we can move into town, where we can make more money… so we can move back to the farm.

- My wife was getting annoyed that I kept leaving the freezer door open and it kept on defrosting.
We have since split up, it’s all water under the fridge.

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After reading the morning headlines about the recent stock market downturn, a high-powered executive trying to impress a client in his office, flipped on his intercom switch and barked to his secretary, "Miss Hunter, get my broker!"  The client was impressed until he heard the secretary's clear voice saying, "Yes, Sir, stock or pawn?"

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IT WAS SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT WHEN THE AMBULANCE CAME

 I SNAPPED A QUICK PIC OF THE SUNSET LATE THIS AFTERNOON ON MY WAY BACK FROM THE GODERICH HOSPITAL

It was shortly after midnight when the ambulance came.  Kelly had been having increasing difficulty with her breathing.  Her abdomen had filled up again with fluid which was obviously pressing on her lungs.  She was coughing more and about half an hour after helping her to bed she was up again saying she couldn't lay down.  Tried to make her comfortable in her living room recliner but after 20 minutes her breathing became harder.  As much as she did not want to call an ambulance and go back to the hospital again it was obvious she was in distress and I called for an ambulance.

 HEADING TO GODERICH THIS MORNING ON SALTY ROADS WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE WINDSHIELD....IT HAD BEEN FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET BEFORE 

I headed off to the Goderich hospital first thing this morning and Kelly was still in Emerge but stable.  Luckily, shortly after I got in to see her the doctor arrived and talked to us.  Kelly has refused to go back to London so the doctor said they will do everything they can for her at the Goderich Hospital.  The doctor had been in touch with Kelly's London liver doctors and they said there was nothing more they could do for her except some radical experimental treatments with bad side effects.   Kelly said 'no' to that.  Some fluid has already been drained from her abdomen and a surgeon will hopefully be 'tapping' her abdomen to drain more.  And, all the signs are there that she is bleeding again so it's only a question of time before she will be throwing up that blood and then it will be blood transfusions again.   I stayed with her for about an hour and a half in which time she sent me out to bring her a coffee and a donut from Tim Hortons.  Later, I was able to help her get some food down.  Just before I left the nurse said they would be moving her to ICU (Intensive Care) shortly.  I slipped back to Bayfield, grabbed a bite to eat, and made some necessary phone calls.  

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A few hours after that I headed back to the Goderich Hospital.  I knew she was feeling a touch better when I walked into her room and her first words to me were, 'hey, look at this nice room I'm in'.  It's a spacious room with a big window and she has it all to herself.  I stayed about an hour and a half.  She is still too weak to sit up on her own but she asked me to get her iPhone out of her purse before I left and that was a good sign.  Also her hair comb too, and that was also a good sign.  She was able to read an email from her London liaison lady Amy who sent her the following note::  Gail (Kelly's real name is Gail) – you are an inspiration – and your battle was tough.  “Warrior” is a very appropriate name for you.  Your strength (both physical and mental) was a force to be reckoned with.  It was an absolute pleasure walking with you on this journey.  I wish you only the best......

 SHE WAS QUITE HAPPY WITH HER ROOM IN THE ICU

 IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD SIGN TO SEE KELLY ON HER IPHONE

 ANOTHER GOOD SIGN TO SEE KELLY COMBING HER HAIR

 SHE INSISTED ON TAKING A PICTURE OF ME IN THIS YELLOW BANANA GOWN...THE NURSE TOLD ME WHY I HAD TO WEAR IT BUT I'VE LONG SINCE FORGOTTEN WHAT IT WAS

I heard rain on our roof last night.  When I looked outside this morning the ground was white, skies were gray, trees were bare, and our thermometer sat at 27F.  And so it begins.  I will be back to Goderich in the morning to see how she is doing.  We are waiting for some medical people at the moment to give us some direction and indication as to what the short and long term future holds for us now.

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Al's Music Box:)) I Can't Help Myself is a 1965 song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label.  Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland-Dozier-Holland, "I Can't Help Myself" is one of the most well-known Motown recordings of the 1960s and among the decade's biggest hits. The single topped the Billboard's R&B chart for nine weeks (being named the biggest R&B single of the year by Billboard) and also peaked at No.1 on the Hot 100 for two non-consecutive weeks, from June 12 to June 19 and from June 26 to July 3 in 1965. It replaced "Back in My Arms Again" by label mates the Supremes. It was first unseated at No.1 by "Mr. Tambourine Man" by the Byrds, then regained the top spot before being replaced by the Rolling Stones "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". Billboard ranked the record as the second biggest single of 1965. "I Can't Help Myself" was the Four Tops' first top 40 single in the UK, peaking at No.23 at the end of 1965, then reaching No.10 in its early 1970 re-release.  The song finds lead singer Levi Stubbs, assisted by the other three Tops and the Andantes, pleadingly professing his love to a woman: "Sugar pie, honey bunch/I'm weaker than a man should be!/Can't help myself/I'm a fool in love, you see." The melodic and chordal progressions are very similar to the Supremes' 1964 hit "Where Did Our Love Go", also written by Holland-Dozier-Holland. According to AllMusic critic Ed Hogan, the title "I Can't Help Myself" is an oblique acknowledgment by Dozier that he could not resist recycling his previous hit. The bracketed title "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch" appears only on certain oldie reissues of the single.  Billboard described the song as a "spirited, fast-paced wailer performed in [the Four Tops'] unique style."  Cash Box described it as "a rollicking hand-clappin' thumper about a fella who is delighted 'cause he's head-over-heels with the gal of his dreams."  Record World said that the "Tops will be helping themselves right up the charts with this grinding number about love."  Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song at No.483 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It has been covered extensively since 1965, including versions done for several television commercials. In 2019, Applebee's used the song for one of their advertisements.  Interesting trivia. It was originally labeled "I Can't Help Myself" but after people kept asking for "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" That was added in parenthesis on the label so sellers could find it and when it was played at home people could find it in their record collections. it was also added to the label on public jukeboxes. After the re-labeling requests and plays shot through the roof because it became easier to find. It became colloquially known as Sugar Pie Honey Bunch. When Dick Clark first introduced it on American Bandstand in rehearsal the dancers didn't know which song he was talking about. Back then the kids had certain dance routines for specific songs. When they knew which song was going to play, they could immediately go into the routines they had prepared for that song. Nobody knew what I Can't Help Myself was, but they did know Sugar Pie Honey Bunch which their routines started with. it was important to hit that first line with their first steps or they'd be off for the whole song. Dick and the producers noticed this and made the adjustments when he announced it on air.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Before going to Europe on business, a man drove his Rolls-Royce to a downtown New York City bank and went in to ask for an immediate loan of $5,000.  The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for such a loan. So the businessman hands over the keys to a Rolls-Royce parked on the street in front of the bank. Everything checks out, and the bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. An employee drives the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parks it there.  Two weeks later, the businessman returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.40. The loan officer says, "We are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is: why would you bother to borrow $5,000?"  The man smiled. "Where else could I park my Rolls-Royce in Manhattan for two weeks and pay only $15.40?"

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A tourist asks a man in uniform, "Are you a policeman?"  "No, I am an undercover detective."  "So why are you in uniform?"
"Today is my day off."

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After my husband and I had a huge argument, we ended up not talking to each other for days.  Finally, on the third day, he asked where one of his shirts was.  "Oh," I said, "So now you're speaking to me."  He looked confused, "What are you talking about?"  "Haven't you noticed I haven't spoken to you for three days?" I challenged.  "No," he said, "I just thought we were getting along."

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