KELLY WANTS TO COME HOME BUT THE DOCTOR SAYS 'NOT YET!!'

Kelly called shortly after 11 this morning.  She was sounding better and I was able to get a few chuckles out of her.  She is chomping at the bit to get out of the hospital but the Doctor told her that until her hemoglobin levels stabilize....she wasn't going anywhere.  They have taken out some of the IV lines.  Friday morning she is going to undergo another more intensive endoscopy as the Doctors probe deeper for the cause of her bleeding.  She also found out that last Monday night when she reached London's University Hospital by ambulance that it was a very close call for her.  With both her blood pressure and hemoglobin levels so low she nearly didn't make it.  I asked her again if I could bring her anything from home and she said no.  She has convinced herself that she is coming home tomorrow and knowing Kelly as well as I do....she just might:))

Another fine Summer's morning with a warmth in the Sun and a touch of coolness in the air.  Unlike the previous morning with all its noise and outside activity with Hydro One trucks and others coming and going I could actually hear the birds tweeting outside our open backyard patio door.  I felt a sadness when I awakened and it stayed with me for the day.  Decided we needed some newer scenery so Pheebs and I went a little further afield this morning.  But, only a little in case my cell phone should ring. 

A Tim Hortons coffee to go in Clinton and it was northward we headed, skipping off the west side of the Hullet Marsh before turning left on Conservation Road across Highway 4 and then north again on Base Line.  All the time my mind was on my Aunt Jean, Kelly, and Pheebs.

There is a scenic little road running east/west between Base Line  and River Line called Little Lakes Road and it is one of my favorite drives.  An old iron bridge crosses the Maitland River near the east end of Little Lakes Road and there is an old gravel pit at the halfway point.  At the west end this sleepy and slightly hilly little road crosses between two small lakes.  Many of my photos over the years have come from here.  The bridge at the east end of the road is called Ball's Bridge and the two ponds at the west end are referred to as the Little Lakes.  I stopped briefly at the west end of Balls Bridge and took a few photos.

A NARROW FISHERMAN'S PATH LEADS DOWN TO THE RIVER

Continuing on we soon came to the old gravel pit where I curiously found the gate open.  I decided to drive into the gravel pit instead of parking and then walking in.  My good buddy Richard and I sometimes stop here and for a walk around the shallow pit but it was Pheebs and who I drove in this time, parked the car, and got our legs out for a walk.  We had only been there for maybe 10 minutes when I heard the rumbling of a big truck slowing down out on the road and sure enough, here it came into the gravel pit with a big load of branches and debris on board.  It was a big yellow County dump truck and I thought 'Oh-Oh' I'm in for it now but the truck drove slowly by us with a big wave from the driver.  Deciding not to push our luck we quickly made our way to the car and got the heck out of there.

 HEADING DOWN INTO THE GRAVEL PIT

 PHEEBS CHECKS OUT THE OPEN JAWS OF A HURON COUNTY STUMP GATOR

 PEERING THROUGH AN OLD BURNT-OUT FALLEN TREE

 WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THIS BRUSH LADEN DUMP TRUCK WE SOON EXITED THE OLD GRAVEL PIT

Our next stop a few minutes later was at the side of the road where the two tiny lakes border the road crossing between them.  Originally years ago this was probably one single lake that this road was built across.  A steel culvert under the road joins the two bodies of water.  This is a scenic spot in all seasons and this morning it was all the lily pads in the water that garnered my attention.   It is when I am surrounded by Mother Nature's beauty with a camera in my hand, that my mind finally takes attention off itself.

 THE LAKE ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE ROAD

 SMART PHONE USERS WILL KNOW WHAT THESE ARE

 A LITTLE LAKES LOG GATOR LURKS NEAR THE ROAD

 THE LAKE ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE ROAD

SO MANY LILY PADS HERE EVERY YEAR

Twenty minutes later, we set a course for home and I promised Pheebs some weenie snacks when we get there.  Her always smile widened and away we went.  How fortunate I am I thought to myself to still have my best Pal beside me for all these years as most every morning we travel freely around the countryside with no particular place to go.  Home again, I fixed up my usual hot dog and sliced up some weenie snacks for Pheebs.  It was time to edit 73 new photos down into something that I could reasonably fit in today's blog post before settling into some reading.  I really didn't have any interest or matching energy to do anything outside.  Besides, it was humid enough outside to stick my lower lip to my forehead.  Our sunroom is the next best thing to being outside so that is where I spend the bulk of my time whenever I am inside.    

 A FEW PHOTOS FROM A DRIVE AROUND OUR PARK THIS MORNING

 ONE OF THE BIG MACHINE HAULING AROUND LOGS

 A TALL PILE OF PINE TREE BRANCHES

LOG PILES IN THE PARK ARE GROWING

I have forgotten where I am on my book journey and I may have told you I recently finished both Lucy Maude Montgomery's books in the Pat of Silverbush series.  Since then I have also finished After Anne by author, Logan Steiner.  This is not a work of fiction and sadly tells the story of how Lucy Maude Montgomery's later life brought her so much sadness and sorrow.  {On March 23rd 1942 L. M. Montgomery wrote. "My life has been hell, hell, hell.  My mind is gone --- everything in the world I lived for has gone --- the world has gone mad.  I shall be driven to end my life.  Oh God, forgive me.  Nobody dreams what my awful position is."  Thirty-two days later on April 24, 1942, Lucy Maude Montgomery was found dead in her bed in her Toronto home. The primary cause of death recorded on her death certificate was coronary thrombosis. However, in September 2008, her granddaughter, Kate Macdonald Butler, revealed that Montgomery suffered from depression—possibly as a result of caring for her mentally ill husband for decades—and may have ended her life through a drug overdose}  I look at a picture of her as a young girl and wonder how that little mind of hers behind those staring eyes would eventually bring and continue to bring so much joy to so many people around the world.

 

LUCY MAUDE MONTGOMERY AS A YOUNG GIRL

In these times of difficulty now I find solace in her imaginative and soothing way of words and phrases.  I love how she paints wondrous pictures in my mind.  And to think, just a few short years ago I was only a few hundred feet away from her final resting place on Prince Edward Island and didn't even know it.  I am currently reading another book of hers called, Kilmeny of the Orchard.  Maybe one day we can make a pilgrimage back to her beautiful Island of wondrous childhood memories, rich red soil, windy poplars, and sparkling waters.

 DRIVING ALONG SLOWLY IN AN ACCOMPANYING CLOUD OF FINE DUST

'SSHHH, SHE''S COUNTING LOGS'

Al's Music Box:)) Glamour Boy is a song written by Burton Cummings and performed by The Guess Who, and was featured on their 1973 album. The song was produced by Jack Richardson.  Burton Cummings on "Glamour Boy" in 2016.  "One of my all-time favorites. It was originally inspired by David Bowie, and now that he's gone I can kinda do it as a tribute to his amazing career. I was very threatened ... I felt very threatened when David Bowie came along, because it all changed. Music took second or third place to the appearance, and then theatrics came into Rock n Roll."

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A mother was anxiously awaiting her daughter's plane. She had just come back from a far away land trying to find adventure.  As the daughter was exiting the plane, the mother noticed a man directly behind her daughter dressed in feathers with exotic markings all over his body and carrying a shrunken head. The daughter introduced this man as her new husband.  The mother gasped in disbelief and disappointment and screamed, "I said for you to marry a RICH Doctor! A RICH Doctor, not a WITCH Doctor!!!!"

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Why God Created Eve::

10. God was worried that Adam would frequently become lost in the Garden.

9. God knew that one day Adam would require someone to locate and hand him the remote.

8. God knew Adam would never go out and buy himself a new fig leaf when his wore out and would therefore need Eve to buy one for him.

7. God knew Adam would never be able to make a doctor's, dentist, or haircut appointment for himself.

6. God knew Adam would never remember which night to put the garbage on the curb.

5. God knew if the world was to be populated, men would never be able to
 handle the pain and discomfort of childbearing.

4. As the Keeper of the Garden, Adam would never remember where he left his tools.

3. Apparently, Adam needed someone to blame his troubles on when God caught him hiding in the garden.

2. As the Bible says, It is not good for man to be alone!

And finally, the Number 1 reason why God created Eve...

1. When God finished the creation of Adam, He stepped back, scratched his head, and said, "I can do better than that."

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Every Wednesday night at St. Rocco’s Catholic Church is a marriage seminar for husbands.  One night Father Gill asked Fabio to share his secrets for staying happily married for almost 50 years.  Fabio explained that he’d tried to treat his wife nice, buy her a few things, and best of all, he took her to Rome for their 25th anniversary.  Father Gill asked, “So what are you going to do for your 50th?”  Fabio proudly answered, “I’m gonna go pick her up!”

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AN UPDATE ON KELLY AND A LONG MR. BLABBERFINGERS STORY ABOUT OUR POWER OUTAGE

 IN OUR FRONT YARD I THINK THIS MIGHT BE A  GREEN LOP-EARED FROG RABBIT

Kelly's 2 p.m. Update Today::  The results of yesterday's Cat Scan showed nothing and her colonoscopy this morning showed nothing.  I think the Doctors are baffled.  They are now talking about inserting some kind of a camera into her system.  All the time she was talking to me she was undergoing an Iron Infusion.  She said with all the IV lines in her arms it is even impossible to get to the bathroom and I think she is still on her anti-nausea medication.  Very little sleep last night because of all the Colonoscopy preparation.  She doesn't take any phone calls and doesn't want to see anyone.  They are still monitoring her very closely because her hemoglobin and blood pressure levels are going up and down.  Her voice wasn't quite as strong today as later yesterday and I can tell she is discouraged.  All the time I was talking to her she was undergoing an Iron Infusion and will be getting another Iron Infusion Thursday morning.  At this point, we don't know which direction we are going anymore.......I called Aunt Jean in Florida this afternoon at 4 p.m.  I wished I had encouraging news but I am very worried right now about her condition.  Like Kelly, Aunt Jean is a fighter but I can hear that fighter in her voice fading.  I will be talking to her again Friday night at our regular time.    

Okay, here's the scoop on our power outage.  It was exactly 1:38 a.m. this morning when I was completely jolted out of a sound sleep by a loud 'BEEP' followed instantly by a flash of light, then a second flash of light, and a third flash of light that stayed on.  The loud beep was our TV coming on and the flashes of light were from a tall lamp standing beside my living room recliner.  In other words, our power was finally back on after being off for slightly over eight hours.  And, I 'might' have taken a small part in getting the power back on.  I do emphasize the word small.  So okay, here's the back story.....Our power went out sometime late Tuesday afternoon around 5:30 p.m.  Hydro One Ontario power company was informed and their first estimate of power being restored was 8:15 p.m.  Well, that didn't happen.  It was somewhere around 10:30 p.m. while sitting in the darkness of our living room with a few candles flickering and reading my Kindle when I heard, then saw a couple large trucks stopped outside nearly right in front of our house.  I determined they were power company trucks but I didn't go out.  By the way, all our power lines here in the Park are underground and not on poles.  About 10 minutes later they both reversed back up the street and left the Park.  About 10 minutes after that with my ingrained Senior curiosity at its peak I grabbed my flashlight and took a walk outside.  Glancing to the east I saw some flashes through the tall trees.  I thought right away it was lightning from a storm cell going on east of us.  But, there was something different about the flashes and I then realized they were flashlight beams being played up through the trees from behind the Park's main office and shop.  I made my way over that way and seen a Hydro truck there with a man up a pole near the road.  I thought 'good' the power will be on any minute so I walked the short distance back home and resumed my reading.  But, the power never came on.  Maybe half an hour later I heard trucks in front of our house again, and voices.  By this time my mind had put together a possible cause for the power outage.  I could tell they were confused and looking for something.  At the same time our power had gone out a crew from the Precision Directional Drilling Company had been using a machine to pull fiber optic cables underground just kiddy-corner across the road from our place.  Hmmm, maybe I should slip out and tell the power company guys about this.  So, that is what I did but accidentally scared the absolute ba-jeebers out of one guy when I emerged from the darkness behind him.  And, it's no wonder because I had already put my dentures to bed for the night and I was in my dark colored PJ's.  Hair all mussed up and all over the place too.  (Note to myself - I gotta get a haircut)  Another worker walked over and I explained to them about the workers pulling the cables through the ground where there just happened to be a power line running according to the pre-marked small triangular red flags in the ground.  One of the power company guys came with me down the road and around the corner to where I was able to show him where the drilling companies machine had been.  There was a hole in the ground there covered by a piece of plywood with a brightly color safety cone sitting on the top. The power guy affirmed there was a power cable running through there.  We walked back to where the other power guy was and the other guy immediately got on his phone.  I came back in the house and resumed my reading but I could hear the two guys out front talking and of course as you know with my Seniors curiosity level peaked again I slipped back outside to see if I could hear what they were talking about.  One fella walked back to the truck while the other fielded a call on his phone and I heard him say, "we have a bigger problem here than we figured and my estimate to have the power back on is between 8 and 10 hours.  The trucks left but before long they were back again at the same spot in front of our house.  I couldn't see what they were doing out there but I know there is a large green above-ground metal electric box located there.  After about half an hour the trucks drove forward and went around the corner.  I figured they would stop at the spot I had showed them, but nope they kept on going down the road further and stopped.  Of course I am right back outside watching all this.  You know, the Senior curiosity thing eh!!  Our power was still not on and it was pushing midnight by now.  So, needless to say, I finally fell asleep until 'BAM' the power kicked on at 1:38 a.m.  Well, I was wide awake now with little chance of falling asleep again anytime soon so I fired up my laptop computer and worked away at the blog until 3:20 a.m. when I finally hit the publish button.  The last time I remember looking at the clock was 3:40 a.m. until I was once again roused out of my sleep at 5:15 a.m. by a loud humming buzz sound.  Seconds later I was on my feet peering out the window. (ya just can't keep we Seniors down when there's stuff going on)  There appeared to be a number of large vehicles at the spot I had shown them where the drilling crew had been.  I was definitely up for the day now so I kept tabs on the proceedings over there as dawn's early light made things a bit more visible.  That loud humming buzz sound continued for about an hour until finally all went quiet and 2 out of the 3 large trucks departed.  One white truck looked like a large stake truck, another truck had a hugely big container on the back for maybe either carrying water or sucking water up, and the third truck that remained had a flatbed on the back with large white sacks of whatever with a machine on the back of the flat bed that confirmed by suspicions as to what that humming buzz sound was all about.  So, here's my 'theory' of why our power went out.  (hang on folks I'm almost at the end of this long story)  The drilling company's drilling machine uses a lot of water under pressure to tunnel its drill bit head horizontally underground between two points and then latch onto a cable to pull it back through from point A to point B.  Using water pressure from a different machine, holes are also dug at the entry and exit points of A and B.  I think the drilling crew yesterday either nicked or cut the close proximity power cable.  Even if it was just a nick, the amount of water being used could easily come into contact with a bare wire and short out the power.  That would explain them being at the electical box across the road.  I should add here too that not all homes in our Park were out of power and this had puzzled me the night before when I walked over to the street behind us (in my PJ's) and saw houses with all their lights on.  Now, quickly back to the one big truck that remained for 10 minutes at the scene this morning.  As it turns out, it was waiting for a reason.  At precisely 7:04 I heard another vehicle pull up out in from of our house.  It was a black pickup truck from the Precision Drilling company.  An orange-vested fellow got out of the truck and walked over to the power company truck where another orange-vested fellow climbed down out of the truck and the two Orangemen walked back to where the drilling machine crew were working the day before.  I imagine the Precision Power drilling company and the Ontario Hydro One company will be having some rather serious financial discussions today.  And with that, Mr. Blabberfingers will now get on with the rest of his day:))

 JUST A FEW HOURS AFTER I TOOK THIS PHOTO THE POWER WENT OUT

 THE MAIN PROBLEM OCCURRED ABOUT WHERE THAT WHITE TRUCK IS AT THE RIGHT

 THIS IS A TYPICAL WATER DUG HOLE ABOUT TWO FEET WIDE AND THREE FEET LONG

 THIS IS ONE OF THE THREE BIG TRUCKS THAT WERE HERE IN THE NIGHT AND THIS ONE CAME BACK TODAY WITH A FULL LOAD OF BAGS

 I'M CURIOUS AS TO WHAT COULD BE IN THOSE BAGS AND WHAT IT IS USED FOR

 THIS TANKER TRUCK WAS HERE IN THE NIGHT AND CAME BACK TODAY AND STAYED UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON

 A PRECISION DRILLING WORKER ARRIVES AT 7 A.M. THIS MORNING

 AFTER TALKING TO THE BAG TRUCK DRIVER HE WALKS DOWN TO THE PROBLEM AREA

A HYDRO ONE ONTARIO TRUCK ARRIVES TOWING A SPOOL OF ELECTRIC CABLE

 WITH MY FLASHLIGHT THIS IS THE SPOT I SHOWED THE HYDRO ONE WORKER LAST NIGHT AND IT WAS HERE THE MAJORITY OF WORK TOOK PLACE TODAY

 I THINK THOSE MIGHT BE FIBER OPTIC LINES DOWN THERE

 HDRO ONE WORKERS SPENT A FAIR BIT OF TIME AT THIS ELECTRICAL BOX ACROSS THE ROAD FROM OUR HOUSE LAST NIGHT AND THIS MORNING

With our power out Tuesday evening I was quietly sitting in our sunroom reading when I heard the the distant rumble of thunder.  Five minutes later I heard it again but it was closer.  With all the pine trees here we can't see the sky and with our power out I couldn't check our computer's live weather site to see where the storm was or how big and bad it was.  Well, there was only one way to find out, and being a wee bit of a storm chaser many Moon's ago I wasn't long in grabbing my camera and heading for the car.  Driving east out of our Park and looking south I immediately saw the storm had missed us and was heading inland.  Skies were a dark gray.  I slowly drove to the end of Bayfield River Road, made a U-turn, and headed back in a westerly direction.  I could see the sky was getting interesting so I stopped at Tipperary Line and took a few pictures.  In the following photos, open wide your imagination and look for teddy bears, gargoyles, dinosaurs, and aliens etc.  There is even a full-length upside-down long-nose Poodle walking upside down on the ceiling of the sky. 

 THERE ARE TEDDY BEARS AND ALIENS HERE

 IT'S THE WORLD OF BATTLING GARGOYLS

 MANY THINGS TO SEE HERE IF YOU HAVE THE IMAGINATION 

 AN UPSIDE DOWN-LONG NOSE POODLE WALKS ACROSS THE SKY

Unlike our spate of recent sunny days, we woke up under a drizzling rain cloud cover this morning.  It wasn't enough to keep the furry little Boog-a-loo and I from taking a spin into Bayfield and back.  As I often say, it was just nice to be outside going to, and coming from somewhere.

 A KAYAKER HEADS UP THE BAYFIELD RIVER THIS MORNING

 A CROW AT THE BAYFIELD BEACH

 SECURING ROPES AND LANYARDS

Home again it was an inside day but I noticed  the cause of last night's power outage was still being worked on today.  The big Hydro One tanker truck returned and resumed what I can only guess at was pumping more water out of somewhere.  It stayed most of the day with small Precision Drilling pick-up trucks coming and going.  Lots of orange safety vests walking around.  I hope somebody on the drilling crew doesn't get fired if by chance it was their mistake.  Hey, at 12:45 this afternoon the Sun popped out  and that spiked some interest for Pheebs and I.  I loaded the little Darlin' into the Subaru and off we went to Subway in Bayfield to get our favorite 6" Tuna Sub with all the fixins'.  However, they did't have Tuna so that threw me into a confused frazzle.  With a line-up of obviously impatient people behind me some with angry glares carrying baseball bats I quickly ordered some kind of a Sub and got the heck out of there.  By the time we got home, I couldn't remember what I had ordered.  Opening it in the kitchen I see I must have asked for a 6" Banana Sub with Pepperoni or something.   

 IN OUR FRONT YARD THIS IS THE TOUGH GUY NAMED FROG VADER....'MAY THE FROG BE WITH YOU'

Al's Music Box:)) Detroit City is a song by country music singer Bobby Bare and written by Danny Dill and Mel Tillis.  Bare's version was released in 1963.  The song — sometimes known as "I Wanna Go Home" (from the opening line to the refrain) — was Bare's first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that summer, and became a country music standard.  The song is the working man's complaint, and "with its melody reminiscent of the 'Sloop John B,' describes the alienation felt by many rural southerners in the mid North," wrote country music historian Bill Malone. "Here, [Bare's] earnest and plaintive interpretation lends great believability to this mournful song."  Bob Dylan describes the song as "...not so much the song of a dreamer, but the song of someone who is caught up in a fantasy of the way things used to be. But the listener knows that it just doesn't exist."  Bare's version begins in the key of E, until after the repeat of the refrain, he makes a transition to the key of B for the second verse and refrain. He makes a transition back to the key of E as the song fades out. Bare's version also features a spoken recitation following half of the second verse, before singing the refrain before the song's fade.  The song's peak in popularity during the summer of 1963 came during a time when Tillis was still experiencing most of his success as a songwriter. He had previously written hits for Webb Pierce, Brenda Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and others, but this was one of his earliest major hits as a songwriter outside of those artists.  The song won Bobby Bare a Grammy for the Best Country and Western Recording' in 1963.

GROANER'S CORNER:)) A man running late for his once-in-a-lifetime dream job interview is frantically trying to find a parking spot in a packed lot...Time is not on his side, and he starts to panic. In his last-ditch attempt, he turns to the sky and begs: “God, please, help me out here. I’ll do anything… I’ll quit smoking. I’ll stop drinking. I’ll donate money to charity.” As soon as he finishes his plea, the skies open up, and a bright light shines on on an empty parking space. The man holds up his hand, and goes: “Never mind, I found one”.

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Dentist: "That's the biggest cavity I've ever seen. That's the biggest cavity I've ever seen."
Patient: "I heard you the first time. You didn't have to say it twice."
Dentist: "I didn't. That was my echo."

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- I got fired from Pepsi after working there for 20 years.  I tested positive for coke.

- A Dung beetle walks into a bar...."Is this stool taken?"

- What do you call a man with a toe on his knee?
Tony.

- I wonder what Jeff Bezos does before he goes to bed.  Probably puts his pyjamazon.

- I paid $500 for a belt.  It was a huge waist.

-Hello. If you're calling with bad news, leave your message now.  If it's good news, wait for the tone.
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