UM, COULD I HAVE MY RECLINER AND A SNOOZE WITH THAT

Our corn hunt continued this morning as Pheebs and I made our way past a number of roadside corn fields.  Not even a kernel did we see and if we had spotted one kernel of corn on the road you can rest assured I would have braked hard, backed up, and retrieved that one kernel.

 HERE'S A FARMER OUT SPREADING A LITTLE GOOD CHEER ON HIS FIELD THIS MORNING

 THIS PIECE OF FARM MACHINERY IS CALLED A 'HEAD' AND IT FITS ON THE FRONT OF A COMBINE...THERE ARE DIFFERENT HEADS FOR DIFFERENT CROPS,,,CORN HEADS, BEAN HEADS, WHEAT HEADS, BONE HEADS...HEY WAIT A MINUTE, I DON'T KNOW ANYONE GROWING A CROP OF BONES!!

I think my burst of welcome energy today had everything to do with warmer air and sunshine.  I spent a couple hours outside scurrying around doing things.  With the leafblower, I cleaned out our carport and blew all the pine needles and leaves off the front porch and deck.  Also two-thirds of the driveway,  The last third I raked up and took a couple wheelbarrow loads to the utility trailer.  Hauling out our hedge trimmer I cut down a couple stands of bamboo grass.  With hand clippers, I cut down over a dozen tall stocks of Japanese ??  Raked our front yard again and cut back a bunch of Hostas.  I did a lot of bending today and judging from the little aches and pains in my legs and back I figured it was my body saying to me, 'Knock it off ya Doorknob.  So I did and it was 2 p.m.  I would sure be hard-pressed to work a full eight-hour job anymore.  Even four hours would be a near-impossible stretch.  Okay, how about two hours.  Oh dear, now I'm between a rock and a hard place.  Okay, how about no hours then?  Um, could I have my recliner and a snooze with that??  Doorknob!!

 A HURON COUNTY MOUNTAIN RANGE

 OKAY, SO THIS IS HOW HURON COUNTY MAKES ITS MOUNTAINS

 THIS GRAVEL PIT WORKER TAKES A MOMENT TO CLEAN HIS MACHINE'S WINDOWS

IT'S NOT OFTEN I SEE PIGEONS ANYMORE BUT HERE'S A GROUP ATOP AN AREA FARM SILO

 NICE TO SEE A FEW FLOWERING SHRUBS STILL BLOOMING

 MORNING'S GOLDEN GLOW

I finished my latest book, Ten Days To D-Day by author David Story.  This fact-based book is very well written and researched.  It is an in-depth behind-the-scenes look from the prime players like Churchill, Eisenhower, Hitler, Rommel, right on down through the ranks to the code breakers, spies, and the soldiers themselves landing on the beach.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the war years.  For my next read, I have jumped from my fact to fiction and have just started reading, The Story Collector by author Evie Woods.  She is also the author of The Lost Bookshop which I enjoyed a number of months ago.

 SOME BUSH LINES HAVE MORE COLOR LEFT THAN OTHERS

 A LONG BUSH LINE LEADS TO A DARK FOREST TUNNEL

 I DIDN'T SEE THE POWER LINES WHEN I TOOK THIS LONG-DISTANCE TELEPHOTO SHOT

Poor Kelly just can't catch a break.  Feeling poorly, she thinks her recent bladder infection is back.  She has an appointment with her Nurse Practitioner in Goderich tomorrow morning which I will drive her to.  Her last bone density test about 3 weeks ago showed a significant deterioration in bone loss.  An Osteoporosis Clinic appointment is now being set up for her at St. Joseph's Hospital in London.  I hear her saying sometimes, "I'd just like to have one day of feeling good".

Al's Music Box:)) Country Bumpkin is a song written by Don Wayne, and recorded by American country music artist Cal Smith. It was released in February 1974 as the first single and title track from the album Country Bumpkin. The song was Smith's second number-one on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for a single week and spent a total of ten weeks on the country chart.  In 1974, "Country Bumpkin" received Song of the Year Awards from both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association.  The song has three verses:

• In the first a rural gentleman walks into a bar, where one of the barroom girls refers to him as a "country bumpkin" (a common nickname for a person from a rural area) as she talks to him.
• The second verse discusses the woman (now married to the man) giving birth to her (only) son a year later.
• The third verse discusses her impending death 40 years later, with her husband and son present at her bedside.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( "Just to establish some parameters," said the professor, "Mr. Nichols, what is the opposite of joy?"  "Sadness," said the student.  "And the opposite of depression, Ms. Biggs?" "Elation."  "And you, sir, how about the opposite of woe?"  "I believe that would be giddy up...

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- Roadside sobriety tests are getting ridiculous.  Last night I had to fold a fitted sheet.

- Imagine sleeping all night.  What a trip that must be.

- We need adult Water Parks.  No kids.  Just a lazy river with a floating bar, live music on stage, and a floating taco truck.

- Someone told me I'm immature and need to grow up....guess who isn't allowed in my treehouse anymore!!

- The longest drum solo was 10 hours and 26 minutes and was performed by the child sitting behind me on Delta Flight 987 from Los Angeles to Tokyo.

- Growing tomatoes is the best way to devote 3 months of your life to save $2.17.

- If laziness was an Olympic sport I would come in 4th just so I wouldn't have to walk up on the podium.

- Don't be mad at lazy people....They didn't do anything.

- Where would you grow a pastry chef? Bakersfield.

- It was so hot today I saw a Robin blow on a worm before it ate it.

- What's round and bad-tempered?
A vicious circle.

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Al's Art Gallery:)) It's Halloween Week so the art gallery for the next few days will be featuring Halloweeny photos.

SNEAKING INTO OUR YARD TO SNITCH MY APPLES

The morning air was more than cool earlier today.  To me, it felt cold.  But that was okay, Pheebs and I had Subie's heater going as we slowly cruised around our Park before heading out this morning. And, I had a pair of mitts with me just in case.

OUR PARK IS BEGINNING TO LOOK A LITTLE HALLOWEENY

 IT LOOKS LIKE THE WEEKLY MEETING OF SUNDAY MORNING TRAFFIC CONES IN THE FOREST 

 THIS IS THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK WHO IS GOING TO LEVEL OUT THE NEW HOUSING SITES

Heading east down Bayfield River Road we turned south on Parr Line and scooted straight through Varna to Pavilion Road where we turned west.  I knew there to be corn fields along this road and with any luck we might find us a few corn spills.  We didn't.

 A FEW COWS IN A DISTANT FIELD

STOPPED TO CHECK OUT THIS CORN FIELD FOR COBS....NOPE

Our destination was the Linwood Wildlife area where I knew the small gravel parking area there had a cornfield on two sides of it.  I crossed my fingers that we might find some corn on the ground here.  We didn't.  No matter because this is a favorite little walking spot of ours anyway.  Carrying my camera I had wished I'd put my mitts on.  Oh well, we weren't going far.

 AT THE LINWOOD WILDLIFE PARKING AREA

 OUR WALKWAY BETWEEN THE HEDGEROW AND THE CORNFIELD

 PHEEBS CHECKS TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY CORN COBS ON THE GROUND

 A LEAFY BUSH LANE

 COLORED LEAVES ALONG THE HEDGEROW

 BACK TO THE CAR FOR A BIG DRINK

Back to the car again we slowly wandered off in the direction of Bayfield.  With lots of cornfields unharvested yet, I am still optimistic that we'll find a winter supply for the squirrels, birds, and bunnies.  At Linwood, I had picked up half a dozen small apples and stuffed them into my coat pocket.  Arriving home later, I tossed all the apples out around the bird station.  An hour after that all those apples had already disappeared.  Hmmm, methinks I have a new food source for our front yard critters.  Whatever those Critters may be of course.  I just hope one of those critters isn't one of our neighbors disguised as a shrub, sneaking into our yard to snitch my apples!!

HEADING HOME

 SUNDAY MORNING FIELD WORK

 ACROSS THE ROLLING HILLS OF HURON COUNTY LAY THE BLUE WATERS OF LAKE HURON

My poorest excuse for not getting some late October yard work done today is that my new right hip is bothering me.  It's been grumbling at me for a couple days and today it has been barking.  I don't recall doing any bending, twisting, or heavy lifting this past week so I'm not sure what's going on with it.  Maybe, just maybe, it's because I haven't be doing enough bending, twisting, and heavy lifting.  In other words, it may be telling me it's sore because I haven't been doing enough walking to strengthen those lower back and upper leg muscles around that new February hip.  I'll see how the next few days go.

 A FOREST STREAM OF FALLEN LEAVES

 CRIMSON MAPLE LEAVES ALONGSIDE A CORNFIELD

 I THINK SOMEBODY IS FEELING A LITTLE SNOOZY

Undaunted, Pheebs and I headed off for an afternoon walk.  Around the  Park's pond and beyond we went until Pheebs finally stopped and indicated to me 'this is far enough Dad'.  So with that, we turned around and slowly headed home.  My hip area never bothered me once on that walk.  Hmmmm.

Ellen's Groove:)) Here's an interesting short video of Ellen and singer Nai Barghouti doing a voice and Bass exercise.  This again shows Ellen's amazing progress with her Bass as she works hard at this one.  Duet With Nai

Al's Music Box:)) Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers is originally a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film Unchained (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack.  It has since become a standard and one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, most notably by the Righteous Brothers in 1965.  According to the song's publishing administrator, over 1,500 recordings of "Unchained Melody" have been made by more than 670 artists, in multiple languages.  Of the hundreds of recordings made, the Righteous Brothers' version, with a solo by Bobby Hatfield, became the jukebox standard after its release. Hatfield changed the melody in the final verse and many subsequent covers of the song are based on his version. The Righteous Brothers recording achieved a second round of great popularity when it was featured in the film Ghost in 1990. In 2004, it was number 27 on AFI's 100 Years....100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.  

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A drunk man who smelled like booze sat down on a bench next to a priest.The man's tie was stained, his face was plastered with red lipstick, and a half-empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket. He opened his newspaper and began reading.  After a few minutes the man turned to the priest and asked, 'Say Father, what causes arthritis?'  The priest replies, 'My Son, it's caused by loose living, being with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol, contempt for your fellow man, sleeping around with prostitutes and lack of a bath.'  The drunk muttered in response, 'Well, I'll be damned, 'then returned to his paper.  The priest, thinking about what he had said, nudged the man and apologized. 'I'm very sorry.  I didn't mean to come on so strong.  How long have you had arthritis?  The drunk answered, 'I don't have it, Father.  I was just reading here that the Pope does.

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After a quarrel, a wife said to her husband, "You know, I was a fool when I married you."  And the husband replied, "Yes, dear, but I was in love and didn't notice it."

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As migration approached, two elderly vultures doubted they could make the trip south, so they decided to go by airplane. When they checked their baggage, the attendant noticed that they were carrying two dead raccoons.  "Do you wish to check the raccoons through as luggage?" she asked.  "No, thanks," replied the vultures. "They're carrion."

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{Quote} In the end, I realized the hurt never turned to hate.  No matter how much my emotions led me to feel so.  I never stopped loving people.  

'I stopped trusting them'.

Al's Art Gallery