TO LONDON'S VICTORIA HOSPITAL AND BACK TODAY.....OH WHAT A RELIEF TO GET OUT OF CITY TRAFFIC

 WALKERS POND IN LONDON ONTARIO

With morning sunshine beaming through our living room window it bode well for the start of another fine Spring day.  A gravel road walk for Pheebs and I and we were home again.  Out came my shop-vac and the Jeep's interior clean-up began.  Finishing that and with a few energy units left I washed the Jeep as well.  Thought about washing the Subaru but figured I had better not push my luck and save my remaining energies for the drive to London and back later.

 ALTHOUGH A SHORT JEEP RIDE FOR PHEEBS AND I THIS MORNING, IT WAS A SCENIC ONE

 WE SAW A LOT OF FARMERS OUT WORKING THE LAND TODAY

It was 12:15 p.m. when all three of us piled into Subie and headed out of our driveway with the destination of London's Victoria Hospital in mind.  We are so fortunate to be doing this when we have the weather on our side.  Sure glad it's not the Winter months when we would be dealing with ice and snow, winter storms, and slippery roads.  We dropped Kelly at the hospital at 1:30 and then high-tailed it across the road to the nature area behind Parkwood Hospital.

 PHEEBS FIRST PIT STOP AFTER WE REACHED THE NATURE AREA

 WE WEREN'T LONG IN GETTING OURSELVES ON THE TRAIL RUNNING FROM EAST TO WEST ALONG THE NORTH SHORE OF WALKERS POND

 IT WAS OUR SECOND WALK TO THIS BENCH WHERE WE TOOK A SHORT BREAK BEFORE RETURNING BACK ALONG THE TRAIL

 IT WAS A CLOSE CALL FOR THIS LITTLE GREEN SOLDIER GUY WHEN PHEEBS NEARLY STEPPED ON HIM...I QUICKLY RESCUED THE FELLA AND SET HIM ATOP A NEARBY PICNIC TABLE

 HEADING BACK TO THE CAR

 AND WE DID SEE A FEW CRITTERS ALONG THE WAY

 WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT DAD??

 A GNARLY OLD STUMP

 AND TO THINK THAT A MONTH AGO AT THIS TIME WHEN WE WERE HERE THERE WAS NOT A LEAF TO BE SEEN ON THOSE SHRUBS AND TREES

We were lucky to find ourselves a shady spot to park out of the Sun so for our last hour of waiting Pheebs and I relaxed in the car.  Had the A/C on for a while right after our walk until we cooled down enough to turn it off and open the windows and sunroof to let the afternoon breeze blow through.  We were parked right underneath what I think might have been a big old Crabapple tree so we ended up with a number of pretty little pink flower petals in the car.  Pheebs spent most of her time snoozing in the back seat while I propped open my Kindle reader on the steering wheel.  It was 4:15 when my cell phone rang with a nurse saying Kelly was ready to be picked up.  Minutes later despite London's five o'clock rush ramping up we picked Kelly up and began mashing our way north through heavy traffic out of London.  With a short stop at Wendys for some eats we weren't long in getting back on the road heading for home.  Oh what a relief to get out of city traffic and back out into the peaceful countryside.  It was a nice drive home on a beautiful Spring day.  We pulled into our driveway shortly before 6 p.m. (that's why my post is a bit on the late side tonight)  Friday we'll be back on the road heading to Exeter Ontario where Kelly has a dental appointment.  Pheebs and I will walk an area trail not too far from the Dental place.  Maybe we can find ourselves some white Squirrels.  Exeter is known for its white Squirrels.          

 WE LUCKILY FOUND A PATCH OF SHADE

 THAT'S US GUYS ON THE LEFT

 LOOKING UP THROUGH THE SUNROOF AT THE PRETTY BLOSSOMS ABOVE US

 YES WE ENDED UP WITH A NUMBER OF PINK PETALS IN THE CAR

 'YAAAAY' HERE COMES MOM

PICKING OUR WAY THROUGH THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE FOR THE ADELAIDE STREET UNDERPASS

 KIND OF REMINDS ME OF A&W MANY DECADES AGO WHEN THE GOOD LOOKING  GIRLS BROUGHT ORDERS OUT ON ROLLER SKATES

Al's Music Box:)) Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears from the album 'Songs From The Big Chair'.  1985

GROANER'S CORNER:(( I asked my boss, "Can I get a couple of weeks off for Christmas?"  "It's May," he said.  I said, "Sorry. May I get a couple of weeks off for Christmas?"

- I don't own a telescope, but it's something I'm thinking of looking into!

- my ex-wife still misses me but her aim is getting better!

- The annoying crow who wouldn't shut up lost its job. Why?  Well, there was just caws.

- I'm an expert at picking leaves and heating them in water.  It's my special tea.

- I swapped my wife's lipstick with super glue.  She's still not talking to me

- We’ve been letting our six-year-old go to sleep listening to the radio, and I’m beginning to wonder if it’s a good idea. Last night he said his prayers and wound up with: “And God bless Mommy, Daddy, and baby Sister.  Amen......and FM!”

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WE'LL BE HEADING BACK TO LONDON'S VICTORIA HOSPITAL

When Kelly started the Plasmapheresis treatments a month ago they told her there was a 50/50 chance the treatments would work, and if they did work it would probably be temporary.  Kelly had two weeks 'itch' free until last night when the itching returned and interfered with her sleep.  This morning she called her Plasmapheresis Doctor and tomorrow we head back to London's Victoria Hospital where Kelly will begin another round of treatments twice a week for the next two weeks.  After that, it may be once a week for an indefinite period of time. To say she is discouraged would be putting it mildly.  Our calendar is quickly filling up again and we will be on the road for four out of the next five days. 

 MANY SHADES OF GREEN

 MARSH MARIGOLDS

A gravel road walk for Pheebs and I this morning before branching out a little farther on a few country roads we hadn't been on much lately...So nice in the countryside with the forests greening up more and more each day.  We are so fortunate that we do not live in a big congested area or a city.

 I DON'T KNOW WHAT THESE DITCH FLOWERS ARE SO I WILL CALL THEM 'DITCH FLOWERS

 MARSH MARIGOLDS AND DOGWOODS

 FARMERS ON THE LAND

 HOW NICE TO SEE A BARN RESTORED INSTEAD OF BEING TORN DOWN

 MARIGOLD VALLEY

Home again, I parked the Jeep in the driveway with the intention of cleaning and vacuuming the interior but after hooking up the utility trailer and loading up some yard waste for the Park's recycle area I unexpectantly ran out of energy.  I dumped the load, cleaned and re-watered our two bird baths, filled up the feeders, and that was it.  I love watching the little birdie guys splashing around in the birdbath.

 SPLISH SPLASH I WAS TAKING A BATH

BLUE JAY

It was a disappointing afternoon walk when Pheebs and I checked on the Canada Goose nest at the Park's pond.  I knew something was amiss as soon as I saw both Mama and Papa Goose on the pond.  Walking over to the nest I could see it was empty with broken eggs shells scattered about.  So disappointing for the Canada Geese pair and I felt disappointed as well.  I figure it's a Raccoon getting at the eggs all the time.       

 A QUIET AFTERNOON AROUND THE POND

 I FELT SAD FOR MAMA AND PAPA GOOSE TODAY

 BY THE LOOKS OF THOSE FEATHERS OUT OF PLACE I WOULD SAY THIS GOOSE WAS IN A CONFRONTATION WITH A NEST RAIDER PROBABLY LAST NIGHT

 SPOTTED THIS LITTLE FELLOW BY THE WATER'S EDGE BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS

 NOTICE THE SMALL AIR BUBBLE FROM THIS SURFACING PAINTED TURTLE

 THE IS THE FIRST FROG I'VE SEEN ON THE PARK'S POND THIS YEAR

Ellens Groove:))  Ellen, her Dad, and a couple other remote location musician friends do a tune called My Angel.  Actually, what they are doing here is checking out a new concept in microphones.  Ellen and her dad talk here about Audigo - The Magic Microphone. 

 SPOTTED THIS BALL OF FUR ACROSS THE POND

 I WAITED FOR THIS LITTLE CRITTER TO TURN AROUND

 BY THE LOOKS OF THIS TAIL IT'S A MUSKRAT AND NOT A BEAVER

 IT'S FEEDING

 LOTS OF FRESH GRASS IN IT'S CHEEK POUCHES

Al's Music Box:)) "It's Too Late" by Carole King from the album 'Tapestry'.  1971

GROANER'S CORNER:((  In the men's room at work, the boss placed a sign directly above the sink. It had a single word on it: "Think!"  The next day, when he went to the men's room, he looked at the sign, and right below it, immediately above the soap dispenser, someone had carefully lettered another sign which read, "Thoap!"

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 A Geography teacher asked if I could name a country with no R in it.  I said, "No way."

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My dental hygienist is cute. Every time I visit, I eat a whole package of Oreo cookies while waiting in the lobby. Sometimes she has to cancel the rest of the afternoon's appointments.

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