TEST POST

Having a technical problem somewhere with publishing my post.  This is an attempt using Blogger & not Live Writer...........

AFTER HER LIVER BIOPSY THIS MORNING KELLY EXITS THE HOSPITAL WITH A BIG SMILE & 2 TIM HORTON COFFEES

  

It was still dark when I walked out to the Jeep this morning & I was reminded of my days getting up in pre-dawn hours when still part of the work force years ago.  Many jobs in many places had me getting up at lots of weird hours back on those days.  Some days or nights whichever the case was at the time were jobs I looked forward to while others not so much.  Fortunately this morning I was not firing up the Jeep to head off to some kind of employment somewhere.  Happy for the most part to have those days behind me know.  This morning's destination was of a different nature. 

HERE’S PHEEBS DOUBLE CHECKING TO MAKE SURE I GOT THAT NEW FANGLED AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION IN THE RIGHT GEAR
We rolled out of our driveway at 5:40 a.m. arriving at London's University Hospital in London Ontario 65 minutes later.  I was surprised at how light the traffic was all the way & especially in London.  Dropped Kelly off at the hospital's main entrance & wished her well with her upcoming liver biopsy in a few hour's time. My next destination was clear across the city for an 8 a.m. appointment at the The Trailer Hitch Center.  Again light traffic & I had no problem finding the place as this was our third vehicle hitch installation in 9 years. I was there in good time complete with a Tim Horton's coffee stop along the way.  They took Libby in sharply at 8 & I made myself comfortable in their waiting room for the next 3 hours.  Luckily I had brought my Kindle as well as my Toshiba lap top.  No internet of course but I was able to gobble up a bit of time with an early start on tonight's post.

NICE CLEAN SHOWROOM, WASHROOMS, BIG TV, COMFY SEATS, & A KEURIG COFFEE MAKER

THIS IS WHERE I SPENT MY MORNING

SPOTTED LIBBY THROUGH AN OPEN GARAGE DOOR UP ON A LIFT

AND HERE’S SOMETHING FOR YOU BIG FORD TRUCK OWNERS OUTSIDE THE TRAILER HITCH PLACE THIS MORNING

NO IDEA WHY THIS TRUCK IS ALL BEEFED UP EXCEPT MAYBE FOR ADVERTISING PURPOSES

Cell phone rang at 10:45 with a hospital lady at the other end saying Kelly's biopsy had gone well & she would be ready for pick up by 11:10.  Hitch folks said Jeep wouldn't be ready to go until at least 11 & it was a half hour drive to the hospital so told the lady I'd pick up Kelly at the hospital's front door at 11:45.  It was exactly 11:15 when I left the hitch place & with a lot of green lights cooperating along the way I was at the hospital 25 minutes.  Kelly came out the front door with a big smile & two Tim Horton coffees in her hand.  Big difference from when I picked her up from her botched Stratford liver biopsy last summer when a nurse brought her out in a wheel chair.  And that time she was not feeling well at all & later developed a large lump around the site & as I recall we had to return to the hospital a day or two later.  Kelly said the procedure in London's University Hospital went very smooth with a minimum of pain, unlike Stratford.  Only took 10 minutes & she said she could have easily hopped off the table & driven home.  Speaking of home we were back in Bayfield shortly before 1 p.m.  On June 18th we will return once again to University Hospital where Kelly's specialist will go over the biopsy results with her.  Thanks to commenters for their well wishes.

THE VISIBLE PART OF OUR TOW PLATE INSTALLATION

THIS IS A BLUE OX TOW PLATE

HOOKED UP TO OUR NEW TOW PLATE
Caught us a lucky break with the weather today as well.  With a 60% chance of rain we dodged any & all rain clouds making it to London & back without driving through any downpours.  Around 5 o’clock we did have a fast moving storm come in off the lake & dump some rain on us before heading off inland.

THIS FIELD OF CORN IS JUST EMERGING FROM THE GROUND & WILL RAPIDLY GROW TO 7 & 8’ TALL OVER THE COMING MONTHS

LOOKS LIKE A GREEN FUZZ SPREADING OVER ALL THE BROWN RECENTLY FERTILIZED & PLANTED RURAL FIELDS
GROANER'S CORNER:(( EVENING CLASSES FOR MEN!  OPEN TO MEN ONLY - ALL ARE WELCOME  Note: Due to the complexity and level of difficulty, each course will accept a maximum of eight participants. The course covers two days, and topics covered in this course include:

DAY ONE
HOW TO FILL ICE CUBE TRAYS
Step-by-step guide with slide presentation
TOILET ROLLS - DO THEY GROW ON THE HOLDERS?
Round table discussion
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LAUNDRY BASKET & FLOOR
Practicing with hamper (Pictures and graphics)
DISHES & SILVERWARE - DO THEY LEVITATE/FLY TO KITCHEN SINK OR DISHWASHER BY THEMSELVES?
Debate among a panel of experts.
REMOTE CONTROL
Losing the remote control - Help line and support groups
LEARNING HOW TO FIND THINGS
Starting with looking in the right place instead of turning the house upside down while screaming - Open forum

 
DAY TWO
EMPTY MILK CARTONS - DO THEY BELONG IN THE FRIDGE OR THE BIN?
Group discussion and role play
HEALTH WATCH - BRINGING HER FLOWERS IS NOT HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH
PowerPoint presentation
REAL MEN ASK FOR DIRECTIONS WHEN LOST
Real life testimonial from the one man who did
IS IT GENETICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SIT QUIETLY AS SHE PARALLEL PARKS?
Driving simulation
LIVING WITH ADULTS - BASIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR SPOUSE
Online class and role playing
HOW TO BE THE IDEAL SHOPPING COMPANION
Relaxation exercises, meditation and breathing techniques
REMEMBERING IMPORTANT DATES & CALLING WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE
Bring your calendar or PDA to class
GETTING OVER IT
Learning how to live with being wrong all the time,

WE HAVE AN EARLY MORNING AHEAD OF US

YOUNG LILY PADS IN A POND
We will be up well before the birds early Monday morning & on the road making our way to University Hospital in London Ontario.  Kelly is scheduled for a liver biopsy at 7:30 a.m. & I have to have the Jeep Liberty clear across the city by 8 a.m. to have a tow plate fitted enabling the Liberty to be towed behind our Motorhome.  The Trailer Hitch Center hopes to have me out of there before noon & hospital personnel figure Kelly can be picked up around 1 p.m.  If all goes according to plan we could be back in Bayfield sometime after 2 p.m.  We'll see....................................

I BELIEVE THIS TO BE PHLOX
A walk in the swamp for Pheebs & I this morning was once again the high point of our day………….

HURON COUNTY’S HULLETT MARSH

NOT SURE WHAT BIRD MADE THIS NEST IN A SHRUB BUT I DID SEE A GOLDFINCH FLY OUT OF THE SHRUB…

SNAPPING TURTLE ON A LOG

ALTHOUGH HAVING AN AUTUMN LIKE APPEARANCE THESE SPRING MAPLE LEAVES WILL SOON BE FULL GROWN & PROBABLY GREEN
GROANER’S CORNER:(( A surgeon examined a new patient most carefully. After studying the x-rays, he turned to the man and said, "Could you pay for an operation if I told you it was necessary?"  The patient thought for a moment, then said to the doctor, "Would you find one necessary if I told you I couldn't pay for it?"

BLOG BREAK

SAD TO READ OF A FELLOW RV BLOGGER PASSING AWAY……….

A DELICATE LITTLE CRITTER ON MY FINGER…………….. (A butterfly's antennae are club-shaped with a long shaft and a bulb at the end. A moth's antennae are feathery or saw-edged)

Always sad to read of a fellow RV Blogger passing away.  Although we had not formally met Hazel Bluhm of Class A Greyhounds - RVing With The Big Dogs we did see her at Blogfest 2015 near Quartzsite Arizona this past February.  Both Kelly & I remember seeing Helen with her Greyhounds across the way that day but in the melee of people we just never got around to meeting her.  Helen passed away after suffering a massive stroke Wednesday morning.  Karen over at RVING: THE USA IS OUR BIG BACKYARD has written a nice tribute to her good friend Hazel.

THIS LITTLE MOTH LANDED ON MY KNEE & I WAS ABLE TO GENTLY COAX IT ONTO MY FINGER FOR A FEW PHOTOS BEFORE FLUTTERING AWAY
In Wednesday's post I had wondered how my cactus plantings were doing at our house in Congress Arizona.  A few hours after publishing that post I was looking at photos of just that......how my cactus plants were doing.  Thanks to our good friend John King (Sarge) who also lives in Congress & reads my blog I was able to see a couple dozen photos showing my cactus plantings were still green, not chewed off, & doing great with some of them actually having blooms.  We also noticed the absence of weeds on our property meaning the weed spraying we had Les do last March was successful.  We sure didn't want to return to a big yard choked full of weeds like we did our first year there back in 2012.  Thanks Sarge, very much appreciated:))

Washed both our Pontiac Sunfire & Jeep Liberty this morning & that's about the only half interesting thing I did all day.  Just not a lot for one to sink one's blog writing teeth into these days........................

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Since I was a new patient, I had to fill out an information form for the doctor's files. The nurse reading it over noticed my unusual name.  "How do you pronounce it?" she asked.  "Na-le-Y-ko," I said, proud of my Ukrainian heritage.
"That sounds real nice," she said, smiling.  "Yes, it is melodious," I agreed.  "So," she asked sweetly, "what part of Melodia is your family from?"

---

A customer sent an order to a distributor for a large amount of goods totalling a great deal of money.  The distributor noticed that the previous bill hadn't been paid. The collections manager left a voice-mail for them saying, "We can't ship your new order until you pay for the last one."  The next day the collections manager received a collect phone call, "Please cancel the order. We can't wait that long."

WELL I WONDER HOW ALL MY CACTUS PLANTINGS ARE DOING IN CONGRESS ARIZONA………….

INSIDE A TULIP

Dressed warm, loaded up little Bugster Buns & we headed off over to the Hullett-Marsh Northeast of Clinton this morning.  Skipped our Tim Hortons stop for a coffee & carrot muffin to go.  Sunshine & a light breeze made for a pleasant hour's hike on a new trail.  No sign of any wildlife so had to just settle for a few photos around our gardens later this afternoon. 
 

A BUSY LITTLE BEE INDEED
Foregoing the carrot muffin earlier meant we could stop at Subway in Clinton on the way home for a 6 inch Tuna sub & that's what we did.  Parking lot was busy so we slipped down a side street, parked in a shady spot, & wrestled over the Sub.  Because I’m bigger I always end up getting the most.  Pheebe loves Tuna subs:))  We were back home before noon.

HERE’S THE LITTLE DICKENS PATIENTLY WAITING FOR ME OUTSIDE THE SUB SHOP THIS MORNING
Our afternoon turned out rather pleasant but I had trouble getting myself shifted into 2nd gear all day.  Funny how that works sometimes.  No rhyme or reason but some days just seem to be that way.  Can't expect to come up every day smelling like a Rose I guess.

OUR IRIS FLOWERS ARE IN BLOOM

Well I wonder how all my cactus plants are making out in Congress Arizona.  Been noticing some rain in that area on our computer’s weather map so I hope my last winter’s plantings are getting some water.  That’s if the rabbits haven’t already chewed them off.  And I wonder if all my backyard bird Pals are still mad at me after one morning late last March flying into our yard & finding the bird feeder & bird bath suddenly empty.  Not anything I can do from 2300 miles away & it is one of the disadvantages of having a second home so very far distant for 6 months of the year.  Guess I kinda feel the same way about our Bayfield house when we are in Congress during the winter months.  I will once again be very anxious come the end of October to see if any of my recent cactus garden plantings have survived the critters & the weather of yet another hot Arizona summer.  Hey with any luck we should have the big wheels rolling for the Southwest in just about 5 months from today:))

KELLY TOOK A PICTURE OF THIS BUNNY BY OUR BIRD FEEDER STATION THIS MORNING

Pheebs & I did manage a short forest walk about mid afternoon back around the Park's pond & into the pine woods for a bit.  Always nice listening to unseen Spring song birds in the thickening tree canopy & tiny hidden away little Peeper Frogs around the pond.  So nice to have nature at our doorstep.

YEP, IT’S A TULIP ALRIGHT

In one of last week’s posts I had a little blurb & a few pics of the newly owned & renovated Ashwood Inn.  Latest issue of The Bayfield Breeze did a write up with photos this week as well on the Ashwood & if you scroll to the bottom of the following link’s page you can find that article.  Bayfield Breeze -- Ashwood Inn     

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Lovers of the English language might enjoy this ...

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is "UP."
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?
At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?
We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.
At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.
To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.
And this up is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.
We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!
To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP , look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions
If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.
When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP .
One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now because my time is UP, so .... Time to shut UP!!!!!

THE STORM THAT NEVER HAPPENED & I FOUND ‘CORNER GAS’ AGAIN:))

SHEETS OF PROBABLE RAIN ON THE HORIZON

Noticed Monday night after checking our computers weather channel a small fast moving storm cell galloping across Lake Huron with Bayfield dead in it’s sights.  Grabbed my cameras, loaded up the Pheebs & headed for the harbor to see if we could get ourselves a few photos.

LOOKING OVER TOWARDS THE END OF BAYFIELD’S NORTH PIER
Dark clouds out over the lake with what appeared to be large volumes of rain were sweeping across the horizon against a deepening yellow sky.  Wind picked up substantially with flecks of rain.  Thought we might be in for a good one but it was not to be.  Nothing came of it & I suspect either the storm swung north or simply dissipated out over the lake somewhere before reaching land.  Half an hour later skies cleared as Monday's sun calmly edged closer to the horizon finally sinking slowly into the vast watery expanse of Lake Huron.

PEOPLE ON THE END OF BAYFIELD’S SOUTH PIER WATCHING THE STORM BREW UP OUT OVER THE LAKE

A FELLOW PHOTO BUFF SETS UP ON THE BEACH

WITH STORMY SKIES LIGHTENING THE 3 PIER FOLKS HEAD BACK IN & WITH TEMPS PLUMMETING I’LL BET THEY’RE FEELING THE COLD WIND BLASTS
Thankfully for me Monday night's weather drove out the day's miserable humidity & dropped our temperatures into a much pleasanter zone for today.  However it did over compensate for the heat & tonight our temps are predicted to go down to the freezing mark.  Sure has been a crazy Spring.  Monday we had the A/C running & today it was the furnace!!

UNSETTLED STORM CLOUDS MOVE INLAND OVER BAYFIELD

BAYFIELD’S PIONEER PARK ATOP THE CLIFFS OVERLOOKING LAKE HURON IS WHERE MONDAY NIGHT’S SUNSET PHOTOS WERE TAKEN (LAKE IS BEHIND ME)

IN SUMMER MONTHS PEOPLE CONGREGATE HERE TO WATCH OLD SOL SLOWLY SINK INTO LAKE HURON EACH NIGHT

Kelly headed off to Goderich to do some banking & stuff so Pheebs & I headed off to do some gravel running.  Not too far mind you but we were out long enough to grab us carrot muffin & go for a walk in an old gravel pit.  Sure was glad I had a warm jacket in the Jeep. And it was nice that Monday's pesky gnats & mosquitoes were grounded because of colder weather today.  I love it when the insects are grounded.

A WALK IN A GRAVEL PIT THIS MORNING & A TRILLIUM FLOWER ALONGSIDE A NARROW FORREST ROAD

The more I am driving the Jeep Liberator the more I am liking it.  Out of an old manual downshifting habit I still have a tendency to rest my right hand on the automatic gear shift when slowing down but I have not lifted my left foot to depress the clutch yet.  Certainly am enjoying the better sound system as well & oh how I love those two extra doors & that extra space behind the back seat.  Pheebs now has her own back doors to either enter or exit the vehicle as well.  Makes me wonder why we didn’t maybe move to this kind of a set-up sooner.  Also am enjoying the smoother ride which I credit the larger tires with.  I guess the true test will be to see how Libby performs in the deserts of the Southwest later this year.  With basically the same 4x4 off road system as the Wrangler I think she will do just fine.

Most week day mornings at 8 a.m. I can now be found in front of our television.  Yep, discovered a few weeks ago that all the Corner Gas re-runs are now on in the mornings.  Despite seeing probably most if not all the episodes over the years I still enjoy dropping in on the Dog River gang whenever I can.  It’s a great way for one to take one’s mind off all the worldly woes for half an hour each day:))  Here is a link to my post about the day we dropped into Rouleau (Dog River) Saskatchewan on October 8th 2014.  A SAD FEELING COMES OVER ME AT THE CORNER GAS SITE

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A father spoke to his son, "It's time we had a little talk my son. Soon you will have urges and feelings you've never had before. Your heart will pound and your hands will sweat. You'll be preoccupied and won't be able to think of anything else." He added, "But don't worry, it's perfectly normal ... it's called golf."