THANKS TO READERS FOR THEIR CONCERNS

Thanks to everyone for their thoughtful concerns & hopefully my worries will all be for naught.  I debated whether to write Thursdays paragraph about how I was feeling of late but I've always been straight forward with readers about that kind of thing on this blog & I'm not about to change that now.  Besides, I'm not good at hiding feelings & emotions anyway.  Well not here on my blog anyway……………….

Rained most of the night with some of it being heavy.  All that rain left us with a cloudy Friday for the most part & aside from walking out to Kelly's car to carry in some butter tarts  & one short walk with Pheebs I spent a big chunk of the day inside.  Kelly had been out to the Mennonite Bakery south of town to pick up a small Thanksgiving turkey which she popped right into the oven soon as she got home & we had it for supper tonight with all the fine fixins.  Well not the whole Turkey of course but Pheebs & I will have lots of turkey to eat over the week-end.  Wait, what about Kelly??  No turkey for Kelly because she won't be here.......

AUTUMN REFLECTIONS

Due to illness Ricardo's parents flew back to Spain today so Kelly's heading to Guelph Saturday morning to look after little Miss Ella while Ricardo & Rebecca attend a wedding Saturday afternoon.  She will stay over till Sunday & do a bit of visiting with other family members living in nearby Cambridge.  Pheebs & I might be into some mighty fine cooking again.  Peanut Butter Soufflé, soup a-la Peanut Butter, & Peanut Butter Cheerios with a nice visceral hot Carmel fudge sauce.  Maybe fry us up a big tin of Spaghetti & toast too:))

THAT’S LITTLE MISS ELLA ON KELLY’S LAP LAST WEEK-END

 

 

I THINK PHEEBS IS A LITTLE JEALOUS OF ELLA BEING ON KELLY’S LAP GETTING ALL THE ATTENTION

 

 

 

For more fabulous photos from the Albuquerque balloon festival don’t miss Nina’s latest post entitled, ABS BALLOON FIESTA - FIRST IMPRESSIONS.  She has some truly remarkable photos here.

A reader (Kayak lake) sent me this cartoon below.   She saw it in a recent New Yorker magazine & with it she says, “Al’s two interests – UFOs and travel with Pheebs – in one image. Or we could say it’s Al’s doppelganger in outer space”.

IF I COULD FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET LIBBY OFF THE GROUND & INTO OUTER SPACE PHEEBS & I WOULD BE OFF LIKE A ROCKET EXPLORING THE GALAXY FOR SURE:))  

Our gloomy skies began to clear late this afternoon & of course it’s always a spirit lifter to see those wonderful rays of sunshine beaming down through our surrounding pine trees.  If skies remain clear I can feel a nice relaxing country photo tour coming up in the morning:))

BAYFIELD’S PIER

GROANER’S CORNER:(( The Parents who drugged us!!!

At my 50th high school reunion a  friend asked me, 'Why didn't we have a drug problem when we were growing up?'

I replied that I had a drug problem when I was young:

    I was drug to church on Sunday morning.

    I was drug to church for weddings and funerals.

    I was drug to  family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.

    I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults.

    I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the pastor, or if I didn't put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.

    I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity.

    I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's garden and flower beds.

    I was drug to the homes of neighbours to help mow the yard, repair the clothesline, and if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, my dad would have drug me back to the woodshed.

Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect my behaviour in everything I do, say, or think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin, and if today's children had this kind of drug problem, Canada  would be a better place.

God bless the parents who drugged us.

OK, SO HERE’S WHY I FIGURE I’VE BEEN FEELING A LITTLE BLUE LATELY

ALL PHOTOS TONIGHT ARE FROM THE BANNOCKBURN CONSERVATION AREA LESS THAN 10 MINUTES EAST OF OUR PLACE

Well it’s about that time of the season where we can count on our fingers now the number of truly nice Autumn days we have left this year & today was one of those countable days.  Sunny & in the low 60’s.  A nice day for a 2 hour drive through the countryside enjoying our areas scenery, but it wasn’t Pheebs with me this time.

It was a coffee morning for my good friend Richard & I as we made the most of our last traveling coffee break until next Spring sometime.  A nice Autumn day’s Jeep drive through picturesque countryside & as usual it was another 2 hours well spent.  We were back to our Park about noon.

 

Didn’t have any photos for tonight’s post & with weather still remaining nice Pheebs & I took ourselves for a short 8 minute drive over to the BANNOCKBURN CONSERVATION area.  A great hiking place with boardwalks, a river running through it, forests, a cedar swamp, natural springs, hills & trails.  Bannockburn has it all & is at it’s finest from September to about mid October.  Pheebs & I didn’t do the whole loop trail but maybe one morning in the next couple weeks Pheebs & I will see if we can get back there again.

SAW THIS VERY STRANGE TYPE OF FUNGI GROWING OUT OF AN OLD STUMP ON THE FOREST FLOOR

 

THERE’S A PHEEBERS IN THIS PHOTO

 

The grey cloud I have allowed to drift over my head this past week & a half has to do with my last & next medical appointment.   Because my PSA numbers have risen for the third time in a row I have a feeling my Urologist Dr. Bukala (he lasered my large kidney stone a few years ago) may order more tests for me such as a biopsy for example.  Here in Canada with the way our medical system works that would mean a waiting time of who knows how long.  Can you see where I’m headed with this……..yep, our departure date for the South-west is 2 short weeks from this Saturday & I see where that could now be in question.  I know I should not be worrying or assuming things but there’s a real possibility our departure date could be shoved back into November or December sometime & depending on what ‘possible tests’ found (if anything) I could see our whole trip south this winter going down the tubes.  Yes I know I have the cart before the horse here but I’m just trying to prepare myself for a big possible disappointment if it happens & therein I think lies the travel funk I have been in these past 10 days or so.  My mind reasons there’s no point in loading up the rig or allowing myself to get all geared up to go if there’s a good chance we may not be able to go.  It’s just the way my ‘realistic’ mind works.  Next Doctor appointment is Tuesday morning & I suspect we’ll know if & when we’re going South by the time I walk out of that office next week……………

  

Another important reason for us to head south soon as we can is our upcoming Arizona house sale & we both really need to be there to do that & get the ball rolling soon as we can.

 

Some of our Snow Bird friends are already on the road heading south & I see our good friends JEAN & SKIP have left Vancouver Island & are now in the States heading for one of our favorite scenic places, Lone Pine California east of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  They will soon be boondocked in Lone Pine’s Alabama Hills.  And I think that SASSY Gal is southbound right now as well.  Fellow Canadians GEORGE & SUZIE are at the starting gate biding their time waiting for the flag to drop before they make a mad dash over the border as well.  Yep, RV Snow Birds are definitely beginning to flex their hitches & itches alright.

 

At the time of publishing tonight we have another heavy cloud cover over us & it’s raining again.  I was hoping for a 2nd sunny day so Pheebs & I could do a little gravel run around the area first thing in the morning but weather heads are predicting overcast skies with no sun until Saturday so we just may have to wait till then.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll carry out another pair of socks to the rig.  Now how’s that for being optimistic eh:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A friend of mine mentioned that she had an appointment with her son's Spanish-Immersion kindergarten teacher. I knew that regular parent-teacher meetings were not due for a while, and when I asked if there was a problem, she related a conversation she had, had with her son.  "Mom I can speak three languages now!" he said excitedly.  "Three?" she questioned.  "Yes" he replied proudly. "English, Spanish and Inappropriate.