I THINK SHE IS GOING TO BLOW RIGHT THROUGH A HUNDRED

Oh dear, this memory of mine is getting worse.  Two days ago, on July 11th, my Aunt Jean celebrated her 98th birthday and had a full day.  I talked to her Friday night, and she was in her usual good spirits, although very tired from the day's activities that she wasn't accustomed to.  Mentally, she is doing fine, but physically, her mobility is slowly slipping away.  On the plus side, she no longer needs oxygen at night to sleep, and she can still get around with her walker, although the distances she can cover are getting shorter.  The oppressive heat and humidity have kept her inside more than usual, but by golly, if she wants to go anywhere outside of her facility, she can still make it out to her car, and away she goes.  Driving still comes easily for her, and the manic Sarasota Florida, traffic doesn't bother her at all.  She can mix it up with the best of them, and when she parks her car anywhere, she never drives it into a parking spot, she backs it in.  Imagine that, at 98 years old, backing a car into a parking spot.  But, like she says, she's been backing up vehicles since helping on a farm near Zurich, Ontario as a young teenager.  She thinks she might not make it for another year, but I think she is going to blow right through a hundred.  Imagine that, 100 candles on a birthday cake:))    

MR RED WING BLACKBIRD

 MRS RED WING BLACKBIRD I PRESUME

 

I was again out the door and into the car this morning.  Too hot and humid for a walk, but it was fine for a windows-down long cruise through the countryside.  Picked up a Tim Hortons coffee to go in Clinton and then proceeded north out of town.  West of Balls Bridge (an old iron bridge) is an old abandoned gravel pit where my good buddy Richard and I would sometimes stop on our Thursday morning travels, and take a walk around the pit.  Richard was always on the lookout for small, unique round stones.  I stopped there intending to take myself for a walk and have a chat with him, but the heat, the mosquitoes, and the Deer Flies made that impossible.  So, with a wave to the sky, and a head full of memories of my long-time best friend, I walked back to the car and headed further west on the gravel road.

 BALLS BRIDGE NORTH OF CLINTON

 BETWEEN BALLS BRIDGE AND THE GRAVEL PIT

 THIS IS THE GRAVEL PIT RICHARD AND I WOULD SOMETIMES WALK AROUND ON OUR  BI-MONTHLY THURSDAY MORNING TRAVELS

 I SURE MISS MY BEST FRIEND OF 50 YEARS

A short distance west of the gravel pit, the road gently curves a few times and then gently dips down between two small lakes.  It was probably just one lake years ago until a road was built through the middle of it.  I've taken many photos at this favorite spot over the years, and from here, I headed on home.

ANOTHER FAVORITE SPOT OF MINE

 IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE  TWO GROUPLS OF CANADA GEESE OUT THERE

 THERE IS ALWAYS A LOT OF WATER LILIES HERE EACH YEAR AT THIS TIME

AT THE OPPOSITE END OF THE LAKE HEADED HOME

The bicycle shop in Goderich phoned this morning saying, Lorraine's bike was ready to be picked up, so off to Goderich we went shortly after 3 this afternoon to get it and load it into the Subaru.  We are becoming quite good at loading and unloading that bicycle.  From Goderich, we headed south to Bayfield, where we stopped once again at Clan Gregor Square.  Out came the bicycle, and Woodsy was off for another ride around town.  It was 3:45, and I came back and picked her up at 5..................

 SPOTTED IN GODERICH THIS AFTERNOON

AND THESE TWO LLAMAS LIVE ONLY A QUARTER MILE FROM OUR PLACE ALONG WITH A HERD OF SHEEP

Saturday night at Bayfield's beach, we again watched people enjoying themselves.  It was another walk on the pier and another sunset.

 SATURDAY NIGHT AT BAYFIELD'S BEACH

 FAMILY FUN

EVEN AN OLDER FELLA SITTING BY THE WATER TAKING PHOTOS

 "HEY, WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN OLDER FELLA"

 SELFIES WITH FRIENDS ALONG THE LAKE HURON SHORELINE

 EVEN PEOPLE IN THE WATER

 AND OH MY, THE SKY

 QUITE A CROWD ON THE SOUTH PIER

 WE HEAD OUT ONTO THE PIER

 I AM SEEING UPTURNED CARTOON FACES IN THE CLOUDS

 AND ANOTHER SUMMER'S NICE SUNSET WAS HAD BY ALL

Al's Music Box:)) A Lover's Concerto by the Toys.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The little Moron phoned a retail pharmacy to talk about his prescription.  He said to the pharmacist, "My doctor ordered this prescription for me. Your store filled it and gave me a bottle with 100 capsules in it about two weeks ago. I'm supposed to take one capsule every six hours and I've been doing that. A little packet came out of the bottle. The packet said 'Do not eat' on it...That was four days ago, and I'm really hungry!"

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- Men don't care what's on TV. They only care what else is on TV.

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The man told his doctor that he wasn't able to do all the things around the house that he used to do. When the examination was complete, he said, "Now, Doc, I can take it. Tell me in plain English what is wrong with me." "Well, in plain English," the doctor replied, "you're just lazy." "Okay," said the man. "Now give me the medical term so I can tell my wife."

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There were two guys working for the city. One would dig a hole -- he would dig, dig, dig.  The other would come behind him and fill the hole -- fill, fill, fill. These two men worked furiously; one digging a hole, the other filling it up again.  A man, watching from the sidewalk, couldn't believe how hard these men were working, but couldn't understand what they were doing. Finally, he had to ask them. He said to the hole digger, "I appreciate how hard you work, but what are you doing? You dig a hole and your partner comes behind you and fills it up again!" The hole digger replied, "Oh yeah, it must look funny, but the guy who plants the trees is sick today."

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly & Pheebs Corner

Al's Art Gallery

IT WAS DAMSELS IN DISTRESS SO SUBIE AND I HURRIEDLY HEADED TO THEIR RESCUE

Oh my, it was a hot one today.  I did make it out for another windows down, sunroof open, drive again this morning  and even managed to find a few pics.  Following that, Lorraine and I headed off to Goderich to take her bicycle to a bicycle shop called 360 Bikes n' Boards on Goderich's Square.  I'll tell you why we had to take her bike in for repairs at another time.  The dust hasn't quite settled from a little bicycle incident we had Friday afternoon.  Goderich has a Saturday Farmer's Market on the Square so while downtown anyway, we took a stroll through there and ended up with some yellow beans.  A couple stops at the Food Basics, and the Goodwill store, and we were off for home.

 A FARM LANE CURVES IN BETWEEN TWO WHEAT FIELDS

DAY LILIES

 DITCH FLOWERS ALONGSIDE A CORN FIELD

 A QUIET FOREST STREAM BESIDE THE BANNOCKBURN ROAD

 A NEW BRIDGE BEING CONSTRUCTED BETWEEN VARNA AND BRUCEFIELD

 SPOTTED THESE TWO FELLERS AND THIS FUNNY LITTLE JEEP LOOKING VEHICLE IN MY PASSENGER SIDE MIRROR

THREE MILKWEED PLANTS IN A WHEATFIELD

Home again, and just as we were walking in the door, my cell phone rang.  And, it was a damsel in distress on the other end, or should I say two damsels in distress plus a husband.  It was our good neighbor Monica's daughter, Gwen, calling, and they were stranded beside the road somewhere between Bayfield and London.  They had gone to London's Costco today and were on their way home when Monica's Subaru suddenly lost power.  No, Monica wasn't driving, Gwen's husband Dayrl, was.  They had called CAA, but had no idea when a tow truck would arrive or if they could all fit into the tow truck.  So, it was Al and Subie to the rescue.  I rolled out of the Park at 2:42, heading for their location that Gwen had given me.  They were somewhere on Wonderland Road between Line 12 and the little burg of Ilderton, north of London.  Luckily, that area is familiar to me, so I knew right where they were.  I didn't waste any time reaching them because I wasn't sure if they had air conditioning in the car because of the engine losing power.  (but the did) And, with Monica being 93 and the temperature this afternoon sitting at 94F, I didn't waste any time getting to them.  It was 3:30 when I spotted their car off to the side of the road, right where Gwen had said they were.  I made a U-turn and pulled in behind them.  I was barely out of the car when the tow truck rolled up.  Monica climbed into my Subaru while Gwen, Daryl, and I loaded their Costco goodies into the back of my Subaru.  Gwen and Dayrl then made arrangements with the tow truck driver as to where Monica's car was to be towed.  Luckily, Monica's son, Gary, owns a garage in Kitchener, and that is where her car was headed.  The tow truck driver said he could have only taken one of them in his tow truck, and the other two would have had to find their own way back somehow.  Anyway, within minutes we were all loaded into the Subaru and headed for home.  Monica in the front passenger seat, with Gwen and Dayrl in the back.  We could see a nasty storm coming in over Lake Huron with ominous dark clouds roiling up into the atmosphere.  We were a little over halfway back when the storm hit us with a lot of heavy rain for about 5 minutes, and then let up, and the skies to the west brightened.  We were back in Monica's driveway about 4:15 with a light rain falling.  When I had picked them up at the side of the road, the temperature was 94F and by the we got home, and that storm had passed, the temperature had dropped 9 whole 9 degrees.  Nice to feel some cooler air.  It was quite a little adventure we all had, and how nice not only to be able to help someone out, but to do something excitingly different for a change too.  After backing the car into the carport, I headed inside, where Woodsy already had supper made.  Well, that kind of put the icing on the adventure cake for sure:))

 OMINOUS CLOUDS ROLLED IN ACROSS LAKE HURON, AND WE KNEW A STORM WAS TO SOON BE UPON US

 AND, THEN CAME THE RAIN!!!!

Al'  Ws Music Box:)) Up On The Roof by The Drifters.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A man is skydiving, enjoying his free-fall, when he realizes that he has reached the altitude where he must open his parachute. So he pulls on the rip cord, but nothing happens. “No problem,” he says to himself, “I still have my emergency chute.” So he pulls the rip cord on his emergency parachute, and once again, nothing happens. Now the man begins to panic. “What am I going to do?” he thinks, “I'm a goner!” Just then, he sees a man flying up from the earth toward him. He can't figure out where this man is coming from, or what he's doing, but he thinks to himself, “Maybe he can help me. If he can't, then I'm done for.” When the man gets close enough to him, the skydiver cups his hands and shouts down, “Hey, do you know anything about parachutes?” The other man replies, “No! Do you know anything about gas stoves?”-------------------------------------

Complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica. 45 volumes. Excellent condition. $1,000.00 or best offer. No longer needed. Got married last weekend. Wife knows everything.-

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Deep within a forest, a little turtle began to climb a tree. After hours of effort, he reached the top, jumped into the air, waving his front legs, and crashed to the ground. After recovering, he slowly climbed the tree again, jumped, and fell to the ground. The turtle tried again and again while a couple of birds sitting on a branch watched his sad efforts. Finally, the female bird turned to her mate. “Dear,” she chirped, “I think it's time to tell him he's adopted.”

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly & Pheeb's Corner

Al's Art Gallery