A LOT LESS DODDERING TODAY AND A LOT MORE DOING

 OUR FRONT YARD WHITE MAGNOLIA BLOSSOMS

A lot less doddering and a lot more doing today.  And, as the song says....What A Difference A Day Makes.  Kelly woke up this morning feeling better and with a couple well timed Extra Strength Tylenol I had no pain in my hip which in turn cranked up my energy levels.  How can one day in less than twenty-four hours make such a difference?  Not for me to ask I suppose but for Kelly and I to simply enjoy the nice day while it was here.

PRIMROSE

 A FLOWERING SHRUB IN OUR FRONT YARD BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS

A DAFFODIL 

 A FLOWERING AZALEA BY OUR FRONT DECK

ONE OF A DOZEN TRILLIUMS IN OUR FLOWERBED

MAGNOLIA BLOSSOM

My good buddy Richard picked me up at 9:30 this morning and after breezing through Clinton Tim Hortons drive-thru for coffee and muffins we headed out of town in a northwesterly direction.  After heading west across Balls Bridge we arrived at our destination minutes later.  There is an old abandoned gravel pit alongside the road that Richard and I occasionally stop at for a walk.  And that is what we did this morning.  It had been quite a while since we had last walked there.  It was another few hours well spent with a good friend and meaningful conversation:))

 A CLUMP OF DANDELIONS I THINK

 SOME DANDELIONS HAVE ALREADY GONE TO SEET

 AZALEA

Home again, I didn't give myself a chance to fall victim to my comfy cozy recliner.  More pine needle raking and wheelbarrowing in the backyard.  A few more summer yard ornaments placed and a couple old decorative posts dug in.  Cleaned our front yard pond pump as well as the bird baths.  First day of the year in a short sleeve shirt and my first walk around the property with my weed whacker.  Kelly headed into the Bayfield Library and spent some time browsing through the Main Street Shops which are all open now.  Kelly said a lot of tourists were in town taking advantage of today's 61F temps and big bright sunny skies.  'What a Difference A Day Makes' indeed.

 I THINK A UFO HAS LANDED IN OUR YARD

 SOME PEOPLE DON'T LIKE PERRIWINKLE BUT I'M NOT ONE OF THEM

Pheebs and I made it out for an afternoon walk around the Park's pond and beyond.  We saw Canada Geese, Turtles, Fish, and a Muskrat.  We heard Red Wing Blackbirds, Blue Jays, and Robins.  We felt the warming rays of the Sun and I marveled at Spring's many shades of green.  It was a perfect weather day for me.  Not too hot and not too cold.  Sunshine, a light breeze, and no energy-draining humidity or pesky flying insects in the air.  I sure wish we could lock this pleasant weather in and make it stay around for a while but I think we have rain coming in tonight and staying for tomorrow.  And then warm sunny days after that.    

OUR AFTERNOON WALK TOUCHED ON THE EDGE OF OUR PARK'S FOREST

 THIS CANADA GOOSE IS KEEPING A VERY LOW PROFILE

 SPOTTED THIS LITTLE FELLOW WHO I THINK IS A MUSKRAT

 PAINTED TURTLES SUNNING THEMSELVES ALONG THE POND'S EDGE

 A COUPLE OF 'NOT SO GOOD' FISH PICTURES....I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF FISH THIS IS BUT THE PHOTO BELOW IS A GOLDFISH WHICH THE POND IS FULL OF

Al's Music Box:(( Magnolia by JJ Cale from the album 'Naturally'.  1971

GROANER'S CORNER:(( I was so unpopular in school they used to call me "Batteries" because I was never included in anything.

What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary?  A thesaurus!

Why did the golfer bring two pairs of pants?  In case he got a hole-in-one!

What do you call a can opener that doesn’t work?  A can’t opener!

How do you catch a squirrel?  Climb a tree and act like a nut!

Why couldn’t the pony sing a lullaby?  She was a little horse!

How do you organize a space party?  You planet!

Why did the cookie go to the doctor?  Because it felt crummy!

What do you call a boomerang that won’t come back?  A stick!

What did the buffalo say to his son when he left for college?  Bison!

Why did the chicken go to the seance?  To get to the other side!

What do you call a snobbish criminal going downstairs?  A condescending con descending!

Why don’t oysters donate to charity?  Because they’re shellfish!

What do you call a cow with no legs?  Ground beef!

How do you make a tissue dance?  Put a little boogie in it!

What do you get when you cross a computer and a lifeguard?  A screensaver!

Why did the banana go to the doctor?  It wasn’t peeling well!

What’s a pirate’s favorite letter?  Arrrrrrrr!

Why did the chicken cross the playground?  To get to the other slide!

What do you call a dog that can do magic?  A Labracadabrador!

What did the big flower say to the little flower?  Hi, bud!

What do you call a sleepwalking nun?  A roamin’ Catholic!

What did the traffic light say to the car?  Don’t look, I’m changing!!

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MAYBE TOMORROW WILL BE BETTER

 GRASSES AND WINTER WHEAT FIELDS ARE GETTING GREENER BY THE DAY

Sunshine beamed through our living room window this morning and I felt the Sun's warming rays tickling my energy levels.  A country road walk for Pheebs and I and we were home again.  With a number of outside tasks held up by crappy weather, I was anxious to get something done for a change.  First on the list was to hook the utility trailer to the Jeep and then slide around and pick up a few small piles of brush that have been sitting beside the road for over a week.  By the time I threw on a bunch of pine needles and branches a neighbor had sitting by her driveway I pretty much had a full load.  Down to our Park's recycling area I went and unloaded it all.  By the time I had that done I unexpectantly seemed to be out of energy already and to add to that, my hip was bothering me again.  Home again I unhooked the utility trailer, went into the house and had myself a big double scoop of peanut butter.  From there it was down the hall to our Sunroom I went to stretch out in my recliner and think about the coming future for the Bayfield Bunch.  Maybe I should exchange the word 'think' for the word 'worry'.  Can't help it, it's the age, stage, and circumstances we are facing right now just like countless other people our age.  Thankfully, after a short time of thinking, my mind kindly and sympathetically anesthetized my brain and rendered it mercifully unconscious with a healthy injection of zzzzzzzzzz's.  An hour later I was up and out the door.  Took Scooter for a spin to unsquare the tires and then worried for a while about what to do about our little 2002 24' Class C Chevy Winnebago Itasca.  Cleaned Scooter's cab glass and dried the awning after returning.  Getting my mind off Scooter's future I later raked up some more backyard pine needles and totally dismantled our winter bird station which I had taken down over a month ago.  I replaced it with a smaller and simpler bird station at that time.  With both my legs continuing to give me grief and both my mental and physical batteries drained, I finally came inside and flopped into my living room recliner to once again contemplate the day.  Observing both myself and Kelly moving around today with our ramped-up aches and pains it was obvious we were both shuffling around like two really old people in slow motion.  Anybody looking in and seeing us would have immediately called the 'old folks home' bus to come and take us away which reminds me of a goofy song from many years ago....They're Coming To Take Me Away   In our case, they would be coming to take US away:((  Maybe tomorrow will be better:))   Ya right, good luck with that one!!     

 A FARM LANE ON OUR WAY TO OUR WALKING SPOT THIS MORNING

 ANOTHER LOAD OF YARD WASTE FOR OUR PARK'S RECYCLE AREA

 DRYING OUT SCOOTER'S AWNING

 THIS LITTLE CHAP LOOKS FAMILIAR BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER HIS NAME 

 A MOURNING DOVE ON OUR FEEDER THIS MORNING

Al's Music Box:))  Cats In The Cradle by Harry Chapin from the album 'Verities and Balderdash'.  1974

 ANOTHER LONG FARM LANE

GROANER'S CORNER:))  A priest from Ireland was assigned to a Texas diocese.  One morning, Father O'Malley rose from his bed. It was a fine spring day in his new Texas mission parish. He walked to the window of his bedroom to get a deep breath of the beautiful day outside. He then noticed there was a jackass lying dead in the middle of his front lawn. He promptly called the local police station. The conversation went like this:  "Good morning, this is Sergeant Jones, how might I help you?"  "And the best of the day te yerself. This is Father O'Malley at St. Brigid's . There's a jackass lying dead in me front lawn. Would ye be so kind as to send a couple O yer lads to take care of the matter?"  Sergeant Jones, considering himself to be quite a wit, replied with a smirk, "Well now Father, it was always my impression that you people took care of last rites!"  There was dead silence on the line for a long moment.  Father O'Malley then replied: "Aye, 'tis certainly true, but we are also obliged to notify the next of kin.

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A BUSY DAY FOR THE BUNCH RUNNING ERRANDS

 TICKLE TUMMIES

All three of us in the Subaru this morning heading to Goderich.  Kelly had a list of errands to do but didn't feel well enough to drive to Goderich, do the errands, and drive home again.  After a short Jeep ride and walk at our favorite walking spot Pheebs and I were home again and switched into the Subaru.  Kelly had nine items on her list so off we went.  First stop was the Dynacare Lab where Kelly had blood work done.  While in the clinic, Pheebs and I headed for Goderich's Library to drop off a DVD and a book.  Back to Dynacare we picked up Kelly and headed north out of Goderich about a mile to a little place called Saltford where we dropped off one bin and two large bags of clothing and stuff.  A lady has an artsy store in Wingham and she buys a lot of Kelly's 'artsy' clothes to sell in her store.  From Saltford, it was back into Goderich with a stop at the Post Office where Kelly mailed off a purse to someone in New Brunswick who saw one of Kelly's funky purses for sale online.  Next, we were out to Goderich's east end where we dropped off a couple bags at a Goodwill-type place. (Saint Vincent de Paul)  From there it was over to the Walmart Pharmacy where I took in a prescription for me and picked one up for Kelly.  Following that, Kelly slipped into Zehr's Supermarket for some groceries.  Our second last stop of the day was Pet Value for doggy food and then over to A&W for a couple yummy Buddy Burgers.  I think it was around 1 p.m. before we were home again and we were both well overdue for an afternoon siesta.  It had been a gloomy cloud-infested day with some spitting rain but ten minutes after arriving home skies began clearing, the Sun popped out, and we were finally under big blue sunny skies for the rest of the day.

 WAITING FOR MOM AT THE DYNACARE LAB

 A COUPLE TIRE COVERS IN THE SUPERMARKET PARKING LOT

 NO MATTER HOW SHE FEELS KELLY ALWAYS INSISTS ON GOING IN TO PICK UP THE GRUB

Kelly's plasmapheresis treatments are still holding and her itching has not returned.  However, for the last three days and nights, she has been suffering from pain in her lower back and the area around her liver.  Her abdomen is distended.  Also, when they did the latest endoscopy a week ago they had trouble inserting the scope in Kelly's esophagus and her throat has bothered ever since.  She is due for another endoscopy in less than a month.  Her medical problems seem to be happening one right after another.  She broke a tooth last week so she has a dental appointment coming up for that shortly as well.  Pheebs and I will be taking her to Exeter and back on that day.  With each passing day now it is more and more about teamwork here at the Bunch......................

 A LONE SINGLE DAFFODIL ALONGSIDE THE ROAD ALONG A FOREST'S EDGE

Al's Music Box:))  Cherokee Bend by Gordon Lightfoot from the album 'Cold On The Shoulder'.  1975  I hadn't heard this song by Gordon Lightfoot until Deb from On a long and lonesome highway in a comment on my Lightfoot Tribute a couple days ago, drew my attention to it.  I listened to the song a couple times and liked it.  It is another fine example of Gordon Lightfoot's way of writing and weaving words in a beautiful storytelling way.  The song is based on a book called When The Legends Die.  Gordon said he wrote the song after reading the adaptation published in Readers Digest.  I have included the lyrics to this haunting song below for those of you who wish to follow along...........

His father was a man who could never understand,
the shame on the red man's face.
So they lived in the hills and they never came down,
but to trade in the white man's place.
Early in the spring when the snow had disappeared,
they came down with a bag of skins.
In the fall of the year of 1910,
daddy died by the rope down in Cherokee Bend.

Daddy didn't like what the white man said,
'bout the dirty little kid at his side.
Daddy didn't like what the white man did,
nor the deal or the way that he lied.
There was blood on the floor of the government store,
when the men took his daddy away,
but the boy stayed back till he'd come to his end,
then he run like the wind from Cherokee Bend.

Now the mother was alone and the winter was at hand,
and she prayed to her spirit kin.
It was warm in the lodge in the Kentucky hills,
on the day when the boy came in.
Then a blizzard came down and it covered up the door,
till they thought that it never would end,
and he told her the tale of the terrible affair,
in the government store down in Cherokee Bend.

Daddy didn't like what the white man said,
'bout the dirty little kid at his side,
daddy didn't like what the white man did,
nor the deal or the way that he lied.
For three long days and three long nights,
they wept and they mourned and then,
she returned to her work and her weavin',
and they tried to forget about Cherokee Bend.

Now the boy wasn't big but he hunted what he could,
and they lived for a time that way,
but the food run low and the meat went bad,
and she said to the boy one day.
"I'm leavin' tonight and I never will return,
from the land of my spirit kin,
you must take what you need and trade what you can,
for a red man's grave down in Cherokee Bend".

It wasn't very long till she closed her eyes,
and he wrapped her in a robe,
he found her a place on the side of a hill,
and he buried her in the snow.
Early in the spring he was seen comin' down,
with his load lookin' ragged and thin.
Not a year had gone by till he stood once again,
in the government store down in Cherokee Bend.

He was ten years tall and a redskin too,
so he hadn't much face to save,
and the men sat around and they laughed and they clowned,
at the talk of a criminal's grave.
Then a man from the east didn't smile when he said,
"you're the son of that indian scum,
if you value your hide then you better abide,
by the white man's rules here in Cherokee Bend".

Daddy didn't like what the white man said,
'bout the dirty little kid at his side.
Daddy didn't like what the white man did,
nor the deal or the way that he lied.
And he spit on the floor of the government store,
and it served him to no good end,
at the close of the day they had taken him away,
to the white man's school down in Cherokee Bend.

It's been twenty one years since the boy disappeared,
where he run to nobody knows,
but they say he fell in with a man named Jim,
and he rides in the rodeos,
and they say he returns all alone to a place,
hidden deep in the Kentucky glen,
and it's pretty well known who hauled up the stone,
to the grave on the hill above Cherokee Bend.

Daddy didn't like what the white man said,
'bout the dirty little kid at his side.
Daddy didn't like what the white man did,
nor the deal or the way that he lied.
There was blood on the floor of the government store,
when the men took his daddy away,
it was 1910 and they never had a friend,
when he died by the rope down in Cherokee Bend.
It was 1910 and they never had a friend,

 'MORE TICKLE TUMMIES DAD'

GROANER'S CORNER:)) A very traditional elderly woman was enjoying a good game of bridge with her girlfriends one evening. "Oh, no! I have to rush home and fix dinner for my husband! He's going to really ticked if it's not ready on time!" she exclaimed suddenly.  When she got home, she realized that she didn't have enough time to go to the supermarket, and all she had in the cupboard was a wilted lettuce leaf, an egg, and a can of cat food. In a panic, she opened the can of cat food, stirred in the egg, and garnished it with the lettuce leaf just as her husband pulled up.  She greeted her husband and then watched in horror as he sat down to his dinner. To her surprise, the husband really enjoyed his dinner. "Darling, this is the best dinner you have made for me in forty years of marriage. You can make this for me any old day."  Needless to say, every bridge night from then on, the woman made her husband the same dish. She told her bridge cronies about it and they were all horrified.  "You're going to kill him!" they exclaimed.  Two months later, her husband died.  The women were sitting around the table playing bridge when one of the cronies said, "You killed him! We told you that feeding him that cat food every week would do him in! How can you just sit there so calmly and play bridge knowing you murdered your husband?"  The wife stoically replied, "I didn't kill him. He fell off the mantel while he was cleaning himself."

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BETTER WEATHER DAYS AHEAD THEY SAY

 A QUIET MORNING AT BAYFIELD'S BEACH

Although no rain today it still felt cold and damp.  No inspiration to head outside but head outside Pheebs and I did go.  Picked up some milk at Bayfield's Foodland then headed over to the local cemetery for a walk around the roads.  Home again I never went out of the house again.  Better weather days ahead they say.............

At the Bayfield Library Monday, Kelly picked up the new Baz Luhrmann movie on DVD called Elvis. (trailer)  We watched that movie Tuesday afternoon and thought it was well done in a rather different sort of way than standard movie productions of years past.  Of particular interest to me were the scenes of Elvis staying and playing at the International Hotel in Las Vegas and performing on the grand stage there back in the early seventies.  I spent several nights at that Hotel back in the mid to late eighties and exploring around opened a closed door one morning that looked into that large auditorium-type room.  I paused in thought then took a few quick photos (slides) of the big empty room and stage, then quietly closed the door and went on my way.  (the International Hotel was called the Hilton Hotel when I was there)  Last August, I wrote a paragraph about that experience in my post called, Oh The Wonderful Memories We All Have.  

Al's Music Box:)) Can't Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley from the album 'Blue Hawaii'.  1961

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A very traditional elderly woman was enjoying a good game of bridge with her girlfriends one evening. "Oh, no! I have to rush home and fix dinner for my husband! He's going to really ticked if it's not ready on time!" she exclaimed suddenly.  When she got home, she realized that she didn't have enough time to go to the supermarket, and all she had in the cupboard was a wilted lettuce leaf, an egg, and a can of cat food. In a panic, she opened the can of cat food, stirred in the egg, and garnished it with the lettuce leaf just as her husband pulled up.  She greeted her husband and then watched in horror as he sat down to his dinner. To her surprise, the husband really enjoyed his dinner. "Darling, this is the best dinner you have made for me in forty years of marriage. You can make this for me any old day."  Needless to say, every bridge night from then on, the woman made her husband the same dish. She told her bridge cronies about it and they were all horrified.  "You're going to kill him!" they exclaimed.  Two months later, her husband died.  The women were sitting around the table playing bridge when one of the cronies said, "You killed him! We told you that feeding him that cat food every week would do him in! How can you just sit there so calmly and play bridge knowing you murdered your husband?"  The wife stoically replied, "I didn't kill him. He fell off the mantel while he was cleaning himself."

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