''HI-HO' 'HI-HO' IT'S OFF TO JERRY RADERS WE GO

PHEEBS AND I SHARE A TURKEY SALAD SANDWICH ON THE WAY HOME FROM JERRY RADERS THIS MORNING

With a few flakes of snow in the air, Pheebs and I headed off to Jerry Raders Homestyle Market in Zurich Ontario this morning. Taking our time heading south on the Bronson Line I quickened the pace when sleet began pinging off the windshield and by the time we reached Zurich the weather had deteriorated quickly. I figured I had better make this food stop a quick one and head for home while I still could.  Coming to Jerry Raders on a Friday morning and not a Saturday morning was a wise choice for me.  No hordes of people gobbling up the free pieces of pie. As a matter of fact, I was the only one there aside from the staff. Now how nice was that for somebody like me. It was a treat not to be, buffeted, jostled, and rushed. With my Jerry Raders generous gift card in hand, I got the food items I wanted and quickly headed back out to the car with a stiff wind blowing snow pellets into my face. With windshield wipers going, Pheebs and I were soon headed north out of Zurich on the Goshen Line as the weather suddenly.... got better:))  It must have been a snow streamer coming in off Lake Huron targeting Zurich because we soon drove out of that snowy weather into clear air and were home twenty minutes later.

HEADING TO ZURICH JUST BEFORE THE SLEET PELLETS STARTED HITTING THE WINDSHIELD

 PULLING OUT OF JERRY RADER'S PARKING LOT I THOUGHT WE WERE IN FOR IT

A COUPLE MILES NORTH OF ZURICH WE DROVE OUT OF THE SNOWY WEATHER

 THOSE DARK CLOUDS ARE LOADED WITH SNOW

 HOW NICE TO SEE A WELCOME SPLASH OF COLOR ON THE WAY HOME

ABOUT A MILE EAST OF BAYFIELD HEADING WEST TOWARDS LAKE HURON WITH DARK SNOW CLOUDS OUT OVER THE WATER

 PHEEBS KEEPS A WARY EYE ON THE TURKEY SALAD SANDWICH AS WE MOTOR ALONG

 SHE'S WATCHING CLOSELY TO MAKE SURE I DON'T TRY AND SNEAK AN EXTRA BITE

After arriving home and with a bit of a roll going I decided to keep on pushing ahead in the spare room this afternoon. I really wanted to get that chest of drawers cleaned out and reorganized. I knew by doing that it would reduce my stress level by knowing what is here and where everything is. It was high noon when I ambled down the hall, entered the room, and squared off with.......the Chest of Drawers!!  I leveled my sites and went to work.  By 2 o'clock I had the chest of drawers in order and after a well-deserved coffee break, I was soon back in another area of the spare room to do battle with a big hulking Mossmagator in the corner.

One of the food items I picked up at Jerry Raders this morning was something I normally wouldn't buy but it was the colors that attracted me to it so I thought I'd give it a whirl.  The pizza was called, 'The Farmer'.  So, for supper late this afternoon, that is what I had.  The Pizza had a very thin crust which was fine with me.  I think they must have put it into a heavy-duty industrial press and flattened it real darn good to about the width of a quarter.  I liked it but probably not something I would buy again.  Pizzas are not exactly on my top 20 list of things I really like.  As I said, it was the pizza's topping colors that cheered me up on this dull, dark, and dreary day. 

Al's Music Box:)) Behind Closed Doors is a country song written by Kenny O'Dell. It was first recorded by Charlie Rich for his 1973 album Behind Closed Doors. The single was Rich's first No.1 hit on the country charts, spent 20 weeks on this chart, and was also a crossover hit on the pop charts. It was certified Platinum by the RIAA for U. S. sales in excess of two million copies.  Background vocals were provided by The Nashville Edition.  Rich's producer, Billy Sherrill, encouraged O'Dell to write music for the singer. O'Dell recalled the creation of "Behind Closed Doors" to Tom Roland in The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits. "It was just a title I had written down, and I had a little guitar riff that I'd carried with me for a couple of years. The chorus was pretty much a little deviation on that." Sherrill later changed some lines at the end of the second verse, but some radio stations banned the record initially as being racy.  "Behind Closed Doors" earned awards for Song of the Year for O'Dell and Single of the Year for Rich from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. Both O'Dell and Rich also received a Gramy Award for "Behind Closed Doors: Best Country Song for O'Dell and Best Country Vocal Performance, Male for Rich. In 2003, it ranked No.9 in CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The owner of a company tells his employees, “You worked very hard this year, therefore the company’s profits increased dramatically. As a reward, I'm giving everyone a check for $5,000!”  Thrilled, the employees gather around and high-five one another.  “And if you work with the same zeal next year, I'll sign those checks!”

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- I never wear a Halloween costume... I'm a character all year long!

Q: What do you get when you offer Forest Gump a penny for his
thoughts?
A: Change.

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After the fall, Adam was walking with his sons Cain and Abel. As they were passing the locked gates of the Garden of Eden, one of the boys asked, “What’s this?”Adam replied, “Boys, that’s where your mother ate us out of house and home.”

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kellys Corner

 KELLY AND ELLA IN BAYFIELD THIS PAST FALL

 HOME FROM SPENCERPORT NEW YORK

 KELLY, PHEEBS, AND SHUSTER THE ROOSTER

Al's Art Gallery

HAD A FEELING THIS DAY MIGHT COME....AND HERE IT IS

I CAME ACROSS THIS PHOTO OF OUR WEDDING DAY ON MAY 18TH 2002 AND THAT IS OUR BOY MAX AND THE TWO ATTENDANTS WERE A NEARBY FARM COUPLE BY THE NAMES OF DENZIL AND JUNE

'Awe Nuts', looking out our living room window first thing this morning I saw the ground was all white again.  Oh well, maybe we'll get our usual January thaw in a few weeks, then it will be the end of January and into the shortest month of the year, followed by March, and then, and then, and then:))

EIGHT OF TEN SAILBOATS IN THIS LINE WERE 'FOR SALE'....MAYBE 2024 WASN'T A GOOD YEAR FOR SAILBOATERS

 THE NAMES OF THESE TWO SAILBOATS HAVE MEANING FOR ME RIGHT NOW

 THIS 'WIND WARRIOR' PATIENTLY WAITS TO DO BATTLE AGAIN WITH THIS YEARS SUMMER WINDS

 THIS SMALL EATERY AT THE FISHING BOAT DOCK ALONGSIDE THE BAYFIELD RIVER ALSO AWAITS THE COMING SUMMER SEASON

 I HOPE THE WEATHER STAYS COLD SO THAT THIS ICE CREAM CONE DOESN'T MELT

RESTORATION ON BAYFIELD'S HISTORIC ALBION HOTEL IS WELL UNDERWAY AFTER LAST MONTHS  HEAVY SNOWFALL CAVED IN PART OF THE HOTEL'S ROOM

On this cold and windy 29F morning Pheebs and I ventured into Bayfield for a drive-around.  Not much going on anywhere.  It's wintertime in the village after all and Bayfield's prime time to shine is in the warmer nice weather of Spring, Summer, and Fall. 

 BAYFIELD'S BEACH AND YES IT WAS EVERY BIT AS COLD AS IT LOOKED

 I WONDER WHEN THE 'LAST TIME' WAS THIS FISHING BOAT WAS IN THE WATER CATCHING FISH

I had to push myself into making a special motivational effort this afternoon to get at all of the inside things I have to do here at home now.  The first thing was to get all the passwords, passcodes, correct usernames, etc. all organized in one place for our 3 computers, one iPhone, two iPads, and two iPods.  That done I tackled a couple of drawers in our spare room.  Tons of paper work but I finally found our income tax info.  I lugged all the paperwork for everything from soup to nuts out into the living room and piled it all up on a table beside my recliner.  I then sat down in my recliner and went through absolutely every piece of paper in that stack deciding what to save and what to throw out.  The biggest pile on the floor ended up being the 'throw out' pile.  And this was only two of three drawers in one particular dresser.  I feel I have hardly scratched the surface in what I still have to do.  Every cupboard and drawer I look into is filled to the max with stuff.  I sort of had the feeling for years that this day might come.  And, here it is.

THIS IS HOW I SPENT PART OF MY AFTERNOON AND THAT BIGGER PILE OF PAPERS NEAREST THE PATIO DOOR IS THE PILE THAT IS GOING INTO THE DUMPSTER

Wednesday night after posting my blog I did something I hadn't done in a long time, if ever.  I took myself to the movies.  Between the two banks I deal with in Goderich there is a movie theatre and last week amidst my turmoil and upon noticing the theatre I thought to myself, a movie might be the perfect distraction for me at this time.  I looked up the Park Theatre online to see what movies were playing.  Out of two movies, I saw one called, 'Wicked' and watched the trailer.  Knowing I wanted to see something fanciful, magical, and whimsical, maybe kind of Harry Potterish without all the stupid violence, I thought I'd give it a try.  The movie wasn't quite what I'd hoped for but at least it took my mind off things and that is what I had hoped for.  On the way from Bayfield to Goderich I drove through a couple brief snow showers so hoped I wouldn't come out of the theatre into a snowstorm.  The movie began at 7 and when leaving the theatre later I saw Subie was covered in snow and it was snowing.  'Oh-Oh'!!  Luckily, it was okay and with the exception of wind gusts coming in off Lake Huron only a mile west of the highway the drive home wasn't too bad.  I sure had a happy little doggy waiting for me.....Before the movie started last night they played previews of upcoming movies.  Every one of those movies was chalked full of stupid 'violence-violence-violence!!  Is it any wonder we humans live in such a violence-oriented society!!  Just turn on the TV anytime and again it is violent show after violent show.  I'm so glad I totally quit watching TV nearly two months ago except if I can find a light-hearted decent movie to watch.  If so, the movie was probably made a long time ago.  I don't even watch the news anymore so I have no idea what's going on in this crazy deteriorating world.  In my case, 'ignorance is bliss'.  I've just had enough of the overall massive human stupidity.  'Beam me up Scotty, get me out of here'!!..............The last movie I ever went to besides last night was with Kelly in Yuma, Arizona.  Anytime over the years that we were boondocking off California's Ogilby Road we liked to go to the movies at the Harkins Theatre in the big beautiful Yuma Palms Mall located in Yuma's west end.  It was easy to get to.  We bought one of our laptops at the Best Buy store in that mall as well one time.  Just writing this paragraph takes me back to those wonderful movie going memories and I feel sad.  I miss her so much.  You can see photos of this theatre I took one time in Yuma and also in this same post I have photos of Bloggerfest 2 in Quartzsite, Arizona.  Check it out in.... Our Blast From The Past:)) It Was A His & Her Day In Yuma Arizona

Al's Music Box:)) Let There Be Love sung by Nat King Cole was a popular song with music by Lionel Rand and lyrics by Ian Grant, published in 1940.  Lyrically, the song talks about the joy of the existence of, in order: the singer and his beloved, oysters under the sea, occasional weather changes ("let there be wind / occasional rain"), chili con carne, champagne, birds that sing, friends ("someone to bless me whenever I sneeze"), birds of various kinds ("cuckoos, a lark and a dove"), but that all of these would mean nothing if love were not put first ("but first of all - please / Let there be love").

GROANER'S CORNER:)) There is a monastery perched high on a cliff several hundred feet in the air. The only way to reach the monastery was to be suspended in a basket which was pulled to the top by several monks who pulled and tugged with all their strength. Obviously, the ride up the steep cliff in that basket was terrifying. One tourist got exceedingly nervous about halfway up as he noticed that the rope by which he was suspended was old and frayed. With a trembling voice, he asked the monk who was riding with him in the basket how often they changed the rope.  The monk thought for a moment and answered brusquely, "Whenever it breaks."

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- To the person who stole my glasses...
I will find you, I have contacts!

- What do you call a hen who counts her own eggs?  A mathemachicken.

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A slightly challenged odd couple were in a parking lot trying to unlock the door of their Mercedes with a coat hanger. They tried and tried to get the door open, but they couldn't.  The one with the coat hanger stopped for a moment and the other said, "Hurry up! It's starting to rain and the top is down."

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Charlie was playing with his little brother Mickey when the little boy asked whether he could fly like Superman.  "Sure you can, Mickey," Charlie said, "Just flap your arms really hard."  So Mickey climbed up on the windowsill, started flapping like mad, jumped, and then fell into the flowerbed below.  Horrified, their mother came running into the room and said, "What the heck happened?!?"  Charlie said, "I was just teaching Mickey not to believe everything someone tells him."
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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly's Corner

 KELLY AND ELLA, AND DID YOU NOTICE THE LITTLE MONKEY FACE

 KELLY AND HER DAUGHTER SABRA

SOMEWHERE IN THE GREAT AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

Al's Art Gallery