A ROLLER-COASTER MORNING BUT THINGS FINALLY WORKED OUT

 IT WAS A BETTER DRIVING DAY THAN YESTERDAY

A bit of an emotional roller-coaster this morning.  Kelly phoned early to say that the Hospice transfer would likely happen today.  Top of the roller-coaster.  An hour and a half later when I got to the hospital Kelly said the doctor had been in and it looked like she was not going to Hospice after all.  Bottom of the roller-coaster.  Another patient apparently sicker than Kelly had priority plus the Hospice people were concerned about the abdominal drain Kelly had in her.  All three of us (Sabra, Kelly, and myself) were all stewing about this when at 11:50 a phone call came through directly from a lady at Huron Hospice saying they had decided to take Kelly:))  Top of the roller-coaster again.  Sabra, after later talking to Hospice a second time phoned me about mid-afternoon asking my opinion on transferring Kelly tonight after 6 p.m. in the dark or tomorrow morning.  Both Sabra and I were in agreement that tomorrow morning would be the best time.  So, that transfer will begin at 8 a.m.  Sabra will be there to bring Kelly's things then I will meet them later at Huron Hospice.  There was no point of me being at the hospital at eight.  Clumsy me would only be in the way.

 HEADING OUT OUR SNOWY DRIVEWAY THIS MORNING

 HEADING NORTH ON PORTERS HILL LINE

 A GAGGLE OF TREE TOP CROWS ALONG THE WAY

 SOMETIMES IT CAN BE HARD TO SEE WHERE THE ROAD IS

 THIS IS CALLED GROUND DRIFTING

 I SLOWED DOWN FOR THOSE 3 SMALL DRIFTS AHEAD

Amazingly overnight, we did not get another major snow dump.  A light dusting was all it amounted to.  The weather looked clear this morning as I headed out for Goderich and the only few little problems I had taking Porter Hill Line instead of Highway 21was a few small snow drifts along the way.  One of those small drifts gave my heart a flutter for a couple seconds when it squiggled Subies wheels going through it.  My first stop in Goderich was Walmart where I picked up some peanut butter and half a dozen ducks on sale.  Ducks?? (See photo below)  Next stop was Pet Value for some doggy food.  Coming out of Pet Value I was feeling a little wobbly so I next stopped at A&W where they had a special on bacon and eggs with toast and coffee, two extra sausages, a hash brown, and two tomato slices.  By the time I waddled out of there I was totally unwobbleized.  

 I THINK THERE MIGHT BE A LOT OF SNOW PACKED INTO THOSE CLOUDS OUT OVER LAKE HURON

 TAKING MY RUBBER DUCKIES FOR A RIDE IN THE WALMART SHOPPING CART....I WILL PUT THESE LITTLE FELLAS IN OUR FRONT YARD FROG POND IN THE SPRING

 I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THIS A&W BREAKFAST THIS MORNING

Next stop was the hospital where I spent the next few hours with Kelly.  Sabra was there as well.  She wanted to get a few loose ends tied up on her computer (banking, etc.) so we got her computer set up.  That done, she said she wanted to sleep for a while so suggested I head home.

 I NEVER THOUGHT TO SLIDE THAT TABLE CLOSER FOR KELLY TO PUT HER COMPUTER ON BUT WHEN SABRA CAME IN SHE DID....IT JUST GOES TO SHOW THAT WOMEN HAVE MORE GOOD BRAINS THAN MEN

SABRA'S PHONE IS ON 'SPEAKER PHONE' AND WE ARE ALL LISTENING TO THE HOSPICE LADY ON THE OTHER END READING KELLY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF HURON HOSPICE

Upon arriving home, imagine my big huge surprise to find our driveway plowed out.  I could hardly believe it and was so relieved that I didn't have to do any more shoveling today because I was already drained.  But, what good Samaritan had blown out the driveway was a mystery.  A couple hours later a neighbor lady called and explained who had done it.  So a big thank you to our neighbor Kathy up the street for organizing the plow and a big thank you to Park resident Roland for doing the plowing.  He's the fellow who did our driveway last year but has been having equipment problems and hasn't been doing driveways this year.  I think he used Kathy's machine.

IT WASN'T HARD TO SPOT SABRA'S CAR IN THE HOSPITAL PARKING LOT...NOT MANY OF THESE AROUND

 HEADING HOME ON PORTERS HILL LINE WITH BEAUTIFUL CLOUDS ALL THE WAY

A scare this morning when I clicked on our 'Bayfield Bunch' site and it wouldn't open.  Just a white screen with a message saying something like, 'Hmmm, there must be an error'.  Oh-No, I thought, without Kelly here to troubleshoot and fix this.....my blog is dead in the water.  I knew at some point this would eventually happen and my blogging days would be done unless it was a temporary power outage.  Luckily, and much to my relief, after 3 re-starts the Bayfield Bunch site finally popped up on the screen.  I had intended to write a pre-warning note to readers that if my blog, for any reason, doesn't publish and readers get an error message that something has gone amiss and I don't know how to fix it.  I hadn't realized it would happen so soon.  In the future, if at any time I decide not to publish my post for whatever reason (just don't feel like it) I will leave a note in the 'Shout-Box' with a reason.  I know I have failed to do this at times in the past and that hasn't been fair to readers.  My bad.  Also, if my blog site fails to open at any time I will put a message on my Facebook page stating my dilemma.  So with that, I have my fingers crossed that my Bayfield Bunch page will work flawlessly for a long time to come.

 HOW WONDERFUL TO SEE OUR DRIVEWAY PLOWED

Al's Music Box:)) I'll Never Fall In Love Again by Dionne Warwick is a popular song by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David that was written for the 1968 musical Promises, Promises. Several recordings of the song were released in 1969; the most popular versions were by Dionne Warwick (released December 1969), who took it to number 6 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 and spent three weeks topping the magazine's list of the most popular Easy Listening songs.  In the fall of 1968, Bacharach and David were in Boston for previews of Promises, Promises, the new musical for which producer David Merrick had asked if they would write the score, and Merrick realized, "We're missing a song in the middle of the second act, and what we need is something the audience can whistle on their way out of the theater."  But around this time, Bacharach was hospitalized with pneumonia and wasn't able to sit at a piano to write the music until after he was released. By that time "Hal had already come up with the lyrics to 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again,' and my hospital stay had inspired him to write, 'What do you get when you kiss a girl? / You get enough germs to catch pneumonia / After you do, she'll never phone you.'" When he finally sat with the lyrics in front of him, he recalls, "I wrote the melody for 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again' faster than I had ever written any song in my life."  The surge of creativity paid off. "We came in with the song the next morning, and it went into the show a couple of nights later. 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again' became the outstanding hit from the score and pretty much stopped the show every night." Promises, Promises had its Broadway premiere on December 1 of that year, and the song was originally performed as a duet between the characters played by Jill O'hara and Jerry Orbach as they ruminate on the various troubles that falling in love brings. They recorded it for the original Broadway cast album.  At the 12th Annual Grammy Awards on March 11, 1970, Bacharach and David were the songwriting nominees of "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" in the Song of the Year category but lost to Joe South for "Games People Play".  Because the eligibility period ended on November 1, 1969, however, Warwick was not nominated until the following year, when she won in the category of Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A Canadian tourist is fascinated by the Native American way of life and culture, so he decides to visit a reservation in the United States to find out more.  After a long and dusty drive through the Arizona desert, he finally arrives at the reservation.  Soon after his arrival, the tourist meets an old chief, who claims to remember everything that ever happened in his life.  The tourist is curious and asks the chief: “What did you have for breakfast on your fifth birthday?”Without hesitation, the chief replies: “eggs”.  The tourist was very impressed by this, and he never forgot the chief’s words, even after his visit had long since ended.  Ten years later, he returns to the reservation and is surprised to see the same old chief again.  He approaches the chief, puts his hand up flat and greets him with “how”.  “Scrambled,” the old chief replied.

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Dentist: "That's the biggest cavity I've ever seen. That's the biggest cavity I've ever seen."

Patient: "I heard you the first time. You didn't have to say it twice."
Dentist: "I didn't. That was my echo."

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- A Dung beetle walks into a bar...."Is this stool taken?"

- What do you call a man with a toe on his knee?  Tony!!
-I wonder what Jeff Bezos does before he goes to bed.  Probably puts his pyjamazon.
- I paid $500 for a belt.  It was a huge waist.

- I got fired from Pepsi after working there for 20 years.  I tested positive for coke.

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Jack was living in Arizona during a heat wave when the following took place.  "It's just too hot to wear clothes today," complained Jack as he stepped out of the shower. "Honey, what do you think the neighbors would think if I mowed the lawn like this?"  "Probably that I married you for your money."

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Al's Art Gallery

KELLY HAS BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE HURON HOSPICE HOME

We had another snow dump overnight and this morning's high winds whipped all that snow up into a full-blown snowstorm today.  I left the house around 9:30 heading for the Goderich hospital but didn't get far before turning back.  I could see zero visibility 'white-out's ahead and knew enough not to drive into them.  I was also worried that had I made it to Goderich, the storm could have intensified and I might not have been able to get home and look after the Pheebs.  This bad weather has come at about the worst possible time.  The one bright spot is that Sabra is still in Goderich and has been able to make it to the hospital okay each day to see her Mother.  I'm so thankful Sabra is with her.  Of course, Kelly and I talk on the phone every day but it's not the same as being there.

 THIS IS NEITHER SNOW OR ICE...IT'S GRAUPEL

 LOOKING TOWARDS OUR CARPORT FROM THE END OF OUR DRIVEWAY

 I'M SURE GLAD WE PUT NEW TIRES ON SUBIE LAST FALL

I see above-freezing temperatures coming up in a few days with the possibility of rain.  That is going to add a lot of weight to roofs.  Many tree branches have come down already and as the snow becomes even heavier, there will be considerably more branches and trees down.  And collapsed roofs as well......My first order of business this morning was to get myself on the end of my snow shovel and try to make some sense of the big snow mess outside. It's overwhelming because the snow just keeps on coming and coming.  

 THE SNOW ON OUR BACK DECK JUST GETS DEEPER AND DEEPER

 THAT'S A LOT OF SNOW ON OUR SHED ROOF

My Wednesday's over-the-top giddy exuberance was somewhat diminished today but I did manage to keep myself busy.  I shoveled two pathways for Pheebs and one pathway to our closest birdfeeder.  In over 22 years here I have never seen anything near as much snow as we have now.  I think it's going to be July before all this snow melts.

Kelly called about 3:45 this afternoon to say that she has been accepted by the Huron Hospice Home west of Clinton Ontario near Holmesville.  There is a chance she may be moved there tomorrow or possibly Saturday.  Weather permitting of course.  Her voice was still fairly strong today but that is because she was on her iPhone.  In her room with a noisy exhaust fan going overhead, she is hard to hear when she speaks barely above a whisper at times.  In her phone call with Dr Teriaky yesterday, Kelly asked him how much time he thought she might have left and he said,,,,,,a couple weeks.

 IF THE SNOW KEEPS UP IT WILL SOON BURY THIS FENCE LINE

Al's Music Box:)) Blue Bayou is a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. It was originally sung and recorded by Orbison, who had an international hit with his version in 1963. It later became Linda Ronstadt's signature song, with which she scored a Top 5 hit with her cover in 1977. Many others have since recorded the song.  "Blue Bayou" was originally recorded by Roy Orbison at the end of 1961. In the UK, it was released by London Monument as the double A-side track with "Mean Woman Blues" on a Monument Records single, where both sides peaked at number 3. It was issued as a B-side single in the US, peaking at number 29; the A-side, "Mean Woman Blues", peaked at number 5. The song also appeared on Orbison's 1963 full-length album In Dreams. "Blue Bayou" reappeared on his 1989 posthumous album A Black & White Night Live, from the 1988 television special on Cinemax.

 A PARK RESIDENT WORKING WITH HIS SNOW BLOWER

GROANER'S CORNER:(( While attending a marriage seminar dealing with communication, Jack and his wife, Barb, listened to the instructor.  It is essential that husbands and wives know the things that are important to each other.  He addressed the man, can you describe your wife's favorite flower?  Jack leaned over, touched his wife's arm gently, and whispered,  It's Pillsbury isn't it?

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A man walks into a restaurant and is shown to his seat by the hostess. The waiter approaches and asks, "Would you like to try our house special? The man replies, "No, just bring me a steak, and make it lean". The waiter, somewhat puzzled, looks at him and replies, "Which way?"

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Dad: Bill, wash your face! I can see what you had for breakfast this morning.
Bill: What did I have?
Dad: Eggs.
Bill: Wrong. That was yesterday!

Nutella: Noun:: God's favorite spreadable condiment, typically manufactured by pixies in the magical Land of Yum.

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My sister-in-law, a truck driver, had decided to get a dog for protection. As she inspected a likely candidate, the trainer told her, “He doesn't like men.”  “Perfect,” my sister-in-law thought and took the dog.
Then one day she was approached by two men in a parking lot, and she watched to see how her canine bodyguard would react. It soon became clear that the the trainer wasn't kidding. As the men got closer, the dog ran and hid under the nearest car.
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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Al's Art Gallery