TRAVEL WITH THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))

Thursday, April 17, 2025

WOODSY AND I TACKLED THE BIG CLEAN-UP JOB IN OUR METAL SHED TODAY

HOW NICE TO FINALLY SEE THE COLOR GREEN SLOWLY TAKING OVER OUR FLOWER BEDS

Big bright sunny blue skies this morning. On the cold side at 33F but the temps soon began to rise and we topped this fine day out at around 55F.

PHEEBS AND I SAW A FEW SNIPPETS OF SNOW ALONG THE WAY

A nice slow country road drive for Pheebs and I and with my window down I could really feel the wonderful warmth of the sun. Pheebs had her head out the other window as well. Nice:))

REFLECTIONS IN A FARM POND

IT WAS THE RED HORSE BLANKET THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION

MORNING SHADOWS ON AN OLD FARM HOUSE

Woodsy and I headed off to Goderich this morning with stops at McDonalds, Food Basics, H&R Block (Income Tax) & Walmart. For income tax purposes, I had to take Kelly's will in, but it was a copy and it was missing the lawyers signature from when we did our wills a dozen years ago or more. So, after Walmart, we had to drive over to Clinton to have the lawyer sign the Will. Of course, he was away for the long weekend so I will have to go back next Tuesday. On the way from Goderich to Clinton, we went past the Huron Hospice facility where Kelly spent her final days. Sad recollections of those days for me as we went by.
THE ALGOMA INNOVATOR LEAVES THE PORT OF GODERICH WITH A HEAVY LOAD OF ROCK SALT AT 11:35 THIS MORNING....THE BOW OF ANOTHER ALGOMA SHIP CAN BE SEEN TOP RIGHT

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE SEEN THE HARVEST SPIRIT IN PORT

Because of the big and bright sunny day and doable temperatures, Woodsy and I tackled the big clean-up job in our metal shed. I had intended to do that myself, but Lorraine insisted we get at it together, so we were able to make a big dent in all the clutter. Three more big bags of stuff to take to Goderich. I was also able to burn up a bunch of old cardboard boxes in our backyard fire pit as well. I'm loving these occasional sunny and warmer Spring days when they come along and the Wiz makes them even brighter:))

WHILE WAITING FOR WOODSY AT FOOD BASICS TODAY, I SPOTTED THIS BICYCLE LEANING AGAINST A WALL

AND BY GOLLY THERE'S THE OWNER

AND BY GOLLY THERE HE GOES

Al's Music Box:)) Love Letters by Pat Boone is a popular song first published in 1931. It began life as a poem by Nick Kenny. J. Fred Coots read the poem in the New York Daily Mirror and obtained Kenny's permission to set the poem to music. He went through 4 different melodies before settling on the published version known today. The melody bears a similarity to the 1881 song The Spanish Cavalier. Lyrics were credited to both Nick Kenny and his brother Charles Kenny. The song was first recorded on August 26th, 1931, as a "vocal chorus" sung by Helen Rowland within a foxtrot played by the Majestic Dance Orchestra. George Hall popularized the song on his radio show, later making it his theme song. Ted Black and His Orchestra, with vocalist Tom Brown, had the first major hit recording of the song in 1931. Pat Boone had a major hit with the song in 1957. Pat Boone's version became a major hit in June and July 1957, spending 5 weeks at number one on the Billboard Top 100, with 34 weeks in total on the chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1957. The song was used in Boone's 1957 film Bernadine. Boone did the whistling in the instrumental portion of the song as well. The song originally had a short instrumental introduction, but most versions begin with Boone's voice. The melody has been used for songs in at least eight other languages.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though a whale is a very large mammal, its throat is very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. The teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human, it was impossible. The little girl said, "When I get to heaven, I will ask Jonah". The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl replied, "Then you ask him!"

----------------------------------

Boy 1: "How did you get that bruise on your arm?"

Boy 2: "I ate some Easter candy."
Boy 1: "Eating Easter candy won't give you a bruise."
Boy 2: "It will if it's your big brother's candy!"

-----------------------------------

The preacher's 5-year-old daughter noticed that her father always paused and bowed his head for a moment before starting his sermon. One day, she asked him why.

"Well, Honey," he began, proud that his daughter was so observant of his messages, "I'm asking the Lord to help me preach a good sermon." "Well, how come He doesn't answer it then?" she asked.

--------------------------------

On the sixth day, God created the platypus. And God said: Let's see the evolutionists try and figure this one out.

----------------------------

Christopher Columbus was the best deal-maker in history. He left not knowing where he was going, and upon arriving, not knowing where he was. He returned not knowing where he had been, and did it all on borrowed money.

---------------------------------

Miranda likes to sing, and whenever she begins, her husband heads outside.
Hurt, she asked him, "Don't you like my singing?" "Of course, dear," he replied. "I just want to make sure the neighbors know I'm not beating you."

----------------------------------

Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly's Corner

Al's Art Gallery

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

I SOMETIMES SADLY LOSE MYSELF IN MY OWN BLOG ARCHIVES

Had the weather at least been halfway decent Tuesday night I would have likely ventured out with my camera again, but alas, it was windy, cold, and miserable. I could have read for a while but since Kelly's passing, I seem to have lost my interest in reading. Television rarely holds any interest for me anymore either. Occasionally a documentary or something like that. And I definitely do not like watching news of any kind anymore. Not even the local news. But, one thing has remained stable through the years and that is my love of music. If I lost my interest in music, that would be the last straw for me. Life's over, time to go.

-------

I sometimes sadly lose myself in my own blog archives and last night was an example of that. Occasionally in my blog, I will go back in my archives maybe looking up a specific date or memory, or just having a look at what Kelly and I were doing a year ago on this day. And, when I do this, a sadness often comes over me. When I read my own words describing the medical difficulties Kelly was going through these past number of years, it brings it all back in not only words but photos too. The courageous fight she put up against the onset of the liver disease right from the beginning to the end. The terrible itching, the nausea, the weakness, the weight loss, the abdominal pains. Heartbreaking. And then I look back ten, and fifteen years ago and see a healthy gal enjoying life. Our travels to the southwest in the winter. Our adventures, our early beginnings with all our hopes and dreams. So many memories, so many good times. I sometimes think it best not to look back to those days in my blog. It makes me sad. And then one day not long ago, my best buddy Richard was gone too. Sometimes the sadness is too much, but I know tomorrow is a new day and it's best that I don't spend too much time reading my posts from the past. Too many wonderful old memories and too many sad heart-wrenching recollections for my mind to understand and cope with anymore. I have to keep looking and moving forward regardless of the known and unknowns of the future. I do know that it will all come to an end one day, and now in my later years, I look forward to that. An ending of the old and a beginning of the new. I, like Kelly and Richard, will return home again. And, I look forward to that day.........

--------

Weather-wise wise it was a miserable morning with skiffs of snow on the ground and for a while, snow in the air being blown around by an icy cold wind. Pheebs was on her doggy bed having a big snooze, so I quietly slipped out the door, fired up Subie, and headed for Goderich. I had income tax papers to drop off. What a hassle for me, any kind of paperwork there is. Picked up a double buddy burger at A&W, then popped into Walmart with a few grocery items to flop into my cart. 'Bang-Zoom' another hundred-dollar bill done gone, Home again, it was way too cold to stay in, so I got myself busy with the vacuum cleaner.

My day brightened when Woodsy rolled in later this afternoon. She's a positive, forward-thinking Gal with a sense of humor too. And, I miss her laughter, encouragement, and giggles when she's not here. We seem to work well as a team. No idea how long she will stay, but when she gets tired of me, she'll head back home again for a few days.

----------

Al's Music Box:)) The Twist by Chubby Checker is an American pop song written and originally released in 1958 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side to "Teardrops on Your Letter". It was inspired by the twist dance craze. Ballard's version was a moderate hit, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. By 1962, the record sold in excess of one million copies, becoming Ballard's fourth million seller. Chubby Checker's 1960 cover versionof the song reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 19, 1960, where it stayed for one week, setting a record at the time as the only song to reach number 1 in two different hit parade runs when it resurfaced and topped the popular hit parade again for two weeks starting on January 13, 1962. This would not happen for another song for nearly 59 years until December 2020, when Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" reached the summit after previously topping in another separate chart run in December 2019. The song by Chubby Checker became popular on a Baltimore television dance show hosted by local DJ Buddy Deane; Deane recommended the song to Dick Clark, host of the national American Bandstand. When the song proved popular with his audience, Clark attempted to book Ballard to perform on the show. Ballard was unavailable, and Clark searched for a local artist to record the song. He settled on Checker, whose voice was very similar to Ballard's. Checker's version featured Buddy Savitt on saxophone and Ellis Tollin on drums, with backing vocals by the Dreamlovers. Exposure for the song on American Bandstand and on The Dick Clark Saturday Night Show helped propel the song to the top of the American charts. In July 1960, Checker performed "The Twist" for the first time in front of a live audience at the Rainbow Club in Wildwood, New Jersey, and just weeks later, on Aug. 6, 1960, the song became a national sensation after Checker performed it on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. In late 1961 and early 1962, the twist craze belatedly caught on in high society. Sightings of celebrities doing the dance made the song a hit with adults, particularly after a report in the Cholly Knickerbocker gossip column. Soon there were long lines at the Peppermint Lounge nightclub in New York, the most popular celebrity twisting spot. This new interest made "The Twist" the first recording to hit number one on the United States charts during two separate chart runs, and marked a major turning point for adult acceptance of rock and roll music. In 2014, Billboard magazine declared the song the "biggest hit" of the 1960s.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A man walked into a lawyer's office and inquired about the lawyer's rates. "$300 for three questions." replied the lawyer. "Isn't that awfully steep?" asked the man. "Yes,"the lawyer replied, "What was your third question?"

---------------------------------

- A friend of mine got kidnapped by a group of mimes...They did unspeakable things to him!

- "I believe in dragons, good men, and other fantasy creatures."

---------------------------