THESE NOT KNOWING 'ONE DAY AT A TIME' DAYS ARE TAKING THEIR TOLL

Pheebs and I were out the door earlier this morning and headed for our country road walking spot.  However, there was a farm vehicle parked in the only pull-over spot so we had to roll on by.  Turned around and headed straight home because I wanted to take advantage of the cooler morning air to get the Subaru washed.  I did that and finished up the job shortly before the humidity made being outside uncomfortable.  Surprisingly, I did slip out later for 20 minutes to mow our backyard grass.  Silly me.  I had to slip back into the house and toss myself in the shower.

 I BELIEVE THIS TO BE A GRASS CROP FOR HAY WHICH WILL LIKELY BE CUT IN ANOTHER FEW WEEKS

I THINK THIS IS NEWLY PLANTED CORN AND IF SO, THE STOCKS ARE UP ABOUT 3 INCHES

 WE STILL HAVE DANDELIONS IN BLOOM

 A NEIGHBOR'S BIRD HOUSES

Thanks to Kelly's efforts in tracking down the 'Blogger' photo sizing problem in my blog, I've been able to enlarge the photos in Sunday's post in case anyone wants to go back and have a look at them.  She was also able to find a workaround for the font colors too.  Bottom Line.....if it wasn't for Kelly and her problem-solving acumen, patience, and determination, my blog would have ended in a matter of weeks after I first started it nearly 18 years ago.  She is the one who has kept my blogging head above water.

ON THIS NEIGHBORING FARM THERE SITS AN AUTHENTIC DUTCH WINDMILL

We are off to London's University Hospital in the morning for Kelly's first meeting with the coordinator of a Liver Transplant Study Group that she has volunteered to be a part of.  We are going early because Kelly's liaison lady said she needs to undergo more blood tests due to her anemic condition this past week.  How the rest of the day goes from there will be determined by those tests and what the liver doctor has to say.  Kelly is taking an overnight bag with her in case push comes to shove.  Pheebs and I will drop her off at the hospital's main door and then await her phone call.  It might turn into a long day or it might not.  These not knowing 'one day at a time' days are taking their toll...............

 A FEW REFLECTIONS IN A LAKE ABOUT A MILE EAST OF OUR PARK

Al's Music Box:)) Tumbling Tumbleweeds by Ken Curtis...Many readers will remember a favorite old TV western called, Gunsmoke.  One of the characters on the show was Festus.  Few, if any at the time thought of Festus (Ken Curtis) as a talented singer.  Well, he was and he once sang with The Sons Of The Pioneers.  His version of Tumbling Tumbleweeds is as good as any who have ever sung it.    

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A middle aged woman decides to learn and try horseback riding assisted without any experience or lessons.  She mounts the horse with great effort, and the tall, shiny horse springs into motion.  It gallops along at a steady and rhythmic pace, but the lady begins to slip from the saddle.  Out of sheer terror, she grabs for the horse's mane but cannot seem to get a firm grip.  She tries to throw her arms around the horse's neck but slides down the side of the horse anyway.  The horse gallops along, seemingly oblivious to its slipping rider.  Finally, giving up her frail grip, she leaps away from the horse to try and throw herself to safety.  Unfortunately, her foot has become entangled in the stirrup.  She is now at the mercy of the horse's pounding hooves as her head is struck against the ground again and again.  As her head is battered against the ground, she is moments away from unconsciousness or even death when Todd, the Walmart manager, runs out to turn the horse off.

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A judge was punishing three men because they had committed a crime. Their sentence was a few years in the desert. He said that they could each take one thing with them.  The first guy decides to take an umbrella so that he can have shade whenever he wants.  The second guy decides to take a water bottle so that he won't get thirsty.  Finally, the third guy decides to take a car door.  The judge asked, "Why in the world would you want to take a car door?" The man replies, "Just in case it gets hot, I can roll down the window."

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A PROBLEM WITH MY 'BLOGGER' PROGRAM TONIGHT

 POPPY FLOWERS ON PORTER'S HILL LINE THIS MORNING

(There seems to be something amiss with my Blogger program tonight because it will not allow me to enlarge my photos or change the font colors in 'Al's Music Box' or 'Groaner's Corner')  Try clicking on the photos to see if they will enlarge.  I hope this is just a temporary problem!!  I will try enlarging the photos and changing the font colors tomorrow to see if anything has changed overnight...........

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Surprisingly, after an unexpectedly good night's sleep, Kelly felt a touch better today.  Judging by past experiences, neither one of us had thought that would happen.  She's nowhere near out of the woods but at least today was a better day for her than this past week.  We're encouraged, but also realistic enough in our thinking to know that her feeling slightly better today is only temporary........And it was.  At the time of posting this tonight she is again feeling weak)  Thanks to readers for your thoughtful and encouraging comments.

 KELLY BROUGHT HOME SOME OUTSIDE BEGONIA PLANTS A FEW DAYS AGO

 I REVERSED THE COLORS ON THIS HANGING BEGONIA PLANT...LEAVES WERE A DARK GREEN AND THE FLOWERS A BRIGHT RED

We had us a mighty fine-looking and feeling good weather morning and I would say the best one of the year so far.  I was able to dispense with my usual morning colder weather garb of a T-shirt, a long sleeve flannel shirt, and a jacket.  I stepped right out our door with a short-sleeved shirt on for a welcome change.  Well, fancy that eh:))

 HEADING TO GODERICH THIS MORNING

 SAW A FEW THREE-WHEELERS ON THE ROAD

 TWO WHEELERS TOO

 'HEY DAD ARE WE GETTING A GRAPE SHAKE'

With prescriptions for both Kelly and I to be picked up at Goderich's Walmart, Pheebs and I were soon in the Jeep heading north.  Say, did I mention what a beautiful morning it was:))  Coffee to go at McDonalds' and we headed for the harbor whereupon I immediately noticed something odd far out on the lake.  A large freighter sat atop the horizon but something didn't look right about it.  On the road out to the cove I pulled over and hauled out my binoculars.  In the hazy distance maybe three miles out it almost looked like four large ships grouped together.  I took a couple shaky hand-held 600mm photos and was able to enlarge them later in my photo editing program but It wasn't until after we were home that Kelly saw the explanation for the 'two' Algoma lake freighters on Goderich's Sunset site.  The Algoma Intrepid was transferring its full load of salt to the Algoma Innovator after the Intrepid had experienced some kind of a propulsion problem.  Once that was explained, all seemed right with the world again.  Okay, not really, but a little bit anyway.

 I'M GUESSING THAT'S THE 'INTREPID' ON THE RIGHT AND THE 'INNOVATOR' ON THE LEFT

 FAMILIES AT GODERICH'S ROTARY COVE THIS MORNING

Home again, I forgot all about washing the Subaru and somehow got myself involved in trimming up some branches on a 12-foot maple tree with my tall ladder.  By the time I finished this, I had to retreat into the house and bask in the coolness of our wonderful A/C and strategically placed fans.  I will have to tie a brightly colored 'car wash' ribbon around my finger for tomorrow morning.

With a nice late afternoon breeze in the air Pheebs and I did venture out later for a stroll around the Park's pond.  This one turned out to be a four-turtle walk with a Green-Backed Heron thrown in for good measure.  Oh, and we heard some Chuggerrum frogs too.  With the afternoon humidity ramped up, both Pheebs and I were happy to get back to the coolness of our house again:))   

 SOMEONE HAS ADDED A NICE TOUCH TO THE RESTING BENCH BESIDE THE PARK'S POND

 TWO TINY TURTLES SITTING ON A LOG, ONE THINKS HE'S A FISH, THE OTHER A FROG

LOOKS LIKE BOTH THESE TURTLES HAVE HITCHHIKERS....SNAILS

 GREEN-BACKED HERON

 LOOKS LIKE A JAMMY PLACE TO LIVE IF YOUR A TURTLE

 ON A DIRT ROAD AT THE FAR END OF THE POND I SPOTTED THESE VERY RARE PRINTS OF THE GREAT AND ELUSIVE HIEROGLYPHIC GILLY-GALOO BIRD

 PHLOX GROWING AT THE POND'S EDGE

 PHEEBS IN OUR FRONT YARD MAKING HER WAY ALONG A JUNGLE PATH

Al's Music Box:)) Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers is 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 featured in the film Ghost in 1990.   

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Are your investments in order? Below are some of the latest rumors from Wall Street. In the wake of the AOL/Time Warner deal, here are the latest mergers we can expect to see:

Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W.R. Grace Company merge to become Hale Mary Fuller Grace.

Polygram Records, Warner Brothers, and Keebler Crackers merge to become Polly-Warner-Cracker.

Duct tape is like 'The Force'...
It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

3M and Goodyear merge to become MMMGood.

John Deere and Abitibi-Price merge to become Deere Abi.

Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining merge to become Zip Audi Do Da.

Honeywell, Imasco, and Home Oil merge to become Honey I'm Home.

Denison Mines, and Alliance and Metal Mining merge to become Mine All Mine.

Federal Express and UPS merge to become FED UP.

Xerox and Wurlitzer will merge and begin manufacturing reproductive organs.

Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will merge and become Fairwell Honeychild.

3M, J.C. Penney and the Canadian Opera Company will merge and become 3 Penney Opera.

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- I'm at an age where my back goes out more than I do.

- I get most of my exercise these days from shaking my head in disbelief.

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BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

Kelly's blood test results came in this morning and as she suspected, there is a problem.  She is anemic.  I can't give you all the medical jargon but her red and white blood cells are low again and the last couple of times this happened she ended up in Emergency undergoing blood transfusions.   At this stage of her advanced liver condition and due to an anti-body problem, a blood transfusion is not a good thing in the long run at this point concerning a liver transplant.  On Tuesday we go to London's University Hospital where Kelly has a meeting with a Liver study group coordinator about a study program she has volunteered for.  A stress test will be administered at this time and in her present weakened condition she is worried about having enough strength to pass it.  Unsure of what to do now,  Kelly phoned University Hospital to talk with her liver transplant liaison lady today.  The lady, Amy said that while Kelly is at the hospital this coming Tuesday they will do a blood test to verify the Dynacare Lab findings and then go from there.  She said Kelly may have to undergo an endoscopy to see if she has a bleed in her esophagus again.  Kelly is still feeling very weak today.  The liaison lady said if she feels any worse we are to head straightaway for Emergency.   Right now, Kelly is caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

It was a solid gray uninspiring sky from horizon to horizon this morning with a faint touch of drizzle at times.  Pheebs and I wandered around a few country roads and came home.  Noticing I had a few extra energy units left to spare I figured it would be a good time to either clean up the Subaru or wash some windows.  Cleaning Subie won out so I spent an hour or so vacuuming, cleaning inside glass, washing floor mats, etc. and spiffing up the interior with Armorall.  Sunshine began breaking through the cloud cover and by 1 p.m. the temps ramped up as did the humidity.  That was the end of any more cleaning for me and I retreated into the house.  I'll try to get the outside of the car washed Sunday morning before the humidity builds up again.  Who knows when I will get our house windows washed.  I'm thinking maybe 2026 might be a good year for doing that.......   

Al's Music Box:(( Sunset Grill is a song by American rock musician Don Henley from his second solo studio album Building the Perfect Beast (1984). Patty Smyth sings harmony vocals on this song, while Pino Palladino plays fretless bass. Randy Newman arranged the synthesizer programming for the song.  The title and lyrics of the song reference the Sunset Grill, a hamburger restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles California. Cashbox said that "this melancholy and dynamic track is orchestrated beautifully and Henley's vocals are right on."

GROANER'S CORNER:(( An adventurer travels through the jungle and is suddenly confronted by an unusual sight: fallen trees and trampled vegetation as if something gigantic has forced its way through. He decides to investigate.  After walking for a few minutes, he sees a dead elephant lying on its side and a pygmy jumping up and down with excitement on top of the fallen elephant. The adventurer inquires as to what is going on.  "The elephant, sir," explains the pygmy. "The elephant has gone mad. 'Tis terrible. Elephants are wise and friendly, but when an elephant goes mad, it destroys everything in its path. It cannot be reasoned with, no sir, and it cannot be helped in any way. Unfortunately, when it happens, the elephant has to be put down."  The adventurer inquires, "But how did you kill such a gigantic animal?"  "I killed it with a club," helpfully explains the pygmy.  "It must have been a big club," observes the adventurer.  "Yes, sir, a very big club indeed," says the pygmy. "We have over 300 members!"

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- I can’t believe I forgot to go to the gym today...
That’s 7 years in a row now...

- What's white and if it fell out of a tree would kill you?  A fridge.

I was in a couple’s home trying to fix their Internet connection. The husband called out to his wife in the other room for the computer password. “Start with a capital S, then 123,” she shouted back.  We tried S123 several times, but it didn’t work. So we called the wife in. As she input the password, she muttered, “I really don’t know what’s so difficult about typing Start123.
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