AND, DRIVING THE SUBARU IS ALWAYS A TREAT

 THE FRONT YARD AT THE PORTERS HILL WILD BIRDSEED COMPANY

Thunder, lightning, wind, and rain.  We had it all Wednesday evening and on into the night.  So much so that I thought we would lose our power so I set a flashlight within easy reach beside my chair.  I don't know when the storm blew itself out but everything was relatively calm outside when we woke up this morning.  The rain had stopped but left us with a dull overcast sky.  And, our temps had risen nearly 10 degrees Fahrenheit.  By mid-morning we had a few patches of blue sky and some actual sunshine and by late afternoon we were under clear blue sunny skies.

 BEECH TREE LEAVES STILL RETAIN THEIR AUTUMN COLORS

 I LIKE THIS FARMER'S GETAWAY CABIN IN THE WOODS

Pheebs and I nipped around a few muddy gravel roads to the northeast and then swung back around into and down to Bayfield's south end.  I was almost out of birdseed and with the rapid gathering of birds in our front yard I didn't want to take a chance on running out of birdseed and bringing upon my head the wrath of hungry and angry birds.  Stopped at the Porters Hill Wild Birdseed Company and picked up 3 20-pound bags of birdseed which should last me to the middle of next week.  Okay, okay, maybe until late December if I'm lucky.  The worse the Winter weather is, the more seeds they eat so of course I'm hoping for a mild winter.

 BUSH LINES ARE LOOKING BARE

 AT LEAST THIS FARMER GOT 'SOME' OF HIS CORN HARVESTED

Home again I worked away at picking up broken branches from Wednesday's storm.  And yes, I raked up more downed leaves in our driveway.  Burned some garbage, topped up a couple bird feeders, and took Pheebs for a late afternoon walk around the Park's pond.

 LATE AFTERNOON SHADOWS ON THE POND

 PHEEBS HAS PICKED UP A SCENT ON THE WESTERLY BREEZE

Kelly had to slip up to Goderich for a special blood test late this morning at the Dynacare Lab.  Her/Our Nurse Practitioner had called her a couple days ago for a chat and she requested Kelly to do that test.  By Wednesday of next week, things begin ramping up for us.  Wednesday we go to Sarnia, (Al-medical) Thursday to Exeter, (Kelly-dental) and Friday to Clinton. (doggy spa) Four days later we go to London on the 21st. (Kelly-medical) and two days after that we are back in London again. (Kelly-medical)  I just keep thinking of all this as enjoyable 'day trips' because I do like getting out and going somewhere every day.  And, driving the Subaru is always a treat:))

Al's Music Box:))  Walk On By  The original version of "Walk On By" by Dionne Warwick was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, the same December 1963 session that yielded her hit "Anyone Who Had A Heart". "Walk On By" was the follow-up to that single, released in April 1964.  The song was composed by Burt Bacharach, with lyrics by Hal David.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Patient: I'm in a hospital! Why am I in here?  

Doctor: You've had an accident involving a train.

Patient: What happened?
Doctor: Well, I've got some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?
Patient: Well... The bad news first... 

Doctor: Your legs were injured so badly that we had to amputate both of them. 

Patient: That's terrible! What's the good news?  

Doctor: There's a guy in the next ward who made a very good offer on your shoes.

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- It is better to be healthy than wise...Being sick costs you money, but you can be dumb for free.

- Did you hear about the athlete who won the gold medal at the Olympics? He had it bronzed.

- A psychologist is selling a video that teaches you how to test your dog's IQ. Here's how it works: if you spend $12.99 for the video, your dog is smarter than you.

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