AND THAT I TAKE AS A GOOD SIGN

It has been a week since Pheebs trotted off to be with the rest of the Bayfield Bunch, Kelly, Max, Checkers, and Cora, the little Motormouse.  It has been a difficult week for me, and I am going to tell you about a couple of unexpected things that happened that I did not see coming, had not even thought about, or expected.  Last Monday was a traumatic day, to say the least.  After agonizing over the difficult decision in my mind daily for the previous weeks and days, I finally picked up the phone Monday morning and called our Zurich Vet.  It was time.  I knew it was time, and Pheebs knew it was time.  An appointment was made for 2:10 in the afternoon.  I was grateful it wasn't for the next day.  Once that kind of decision has been made, it is time for all concerned to get on with what has to be done.  It was around 1:30 when I picked up Pheebs and carried her to the car.  Lorraine wanted to come along but I said no, I wanted to do this myself.  Just Pheebs and I.  It was a slow tearful drive to Zurich because I knew it was our last car ride together.  This day had been coming since we first brought our sweet girl home on August 9th, 2011.  After sitting in the car for a few minutes, Pheebs, under her own steam, walked with me into the Zurich Vet Clinic.  Everything went well and Pheebs was a true Trooper right to the end.  I lay down on the floor with her on a blanket and we were about face to face from then till the end.  It was peaceful.  When it was over, the Vet left the room and I kissed Pheebs goodbye, looked at her for one last time, told her I loved her, and sadly left the room, walked through the lobby, and headed outside into a beautifully big bright sunny day.  I said a silent 'thank you ' for that.  I slowly made my way home along a few dusty old country roads.  Mentally, I felt  reasonably okay, but physically I felt like I had been hit by a speeding freight train and then run over by all eighty-five loaded train cars it was towing.  My whole body just felt wrecked.  And it felt that way until later that night when something suddenly happened that I had not expected and had never happened to me before.  It was about 10:15 when I stood up from the couch, took a few steps, and felt a cold chill go through my body like a rifle bullet.  I began to shiver, and within seconds I was shaking uncontrollably.  I felt so cold.  The only thing I could think of was that I had probably gone into a delayed shock reaction.  I've read about this happening to people after traumatic events like car accidents, etc.  In hindsight, I think it was the culmination of Kelly's death, Richard's death, and Pheeb's death that my mind and body finally succumbed to.  The violent shaking lasted for well over an hour until I finally fell asleep with the help of a couple of sleeping pills.  The night did not go well.  With a driving thirst earlier, I had consumed a lot of water so I was constantly running to the washroom all night every hour.  By the time morning rolled around I was exhausted, but somehow felt a touch better.  At least the shaking had stopped sometime in the night.  I made it through the day sort of okay, but Tuesday night a second odd thing happened.  Although I slept straight through the night without having to get up once, (that hasn't happened in decades) my upper body was soaked with sweat in the morning.  My T-shirt was wet, as were my pyjama tops.  Even my housecoat felt damp.  I had never ever had anything like this happen to me before either.  Luckily, since that body trauma, I've been feeling better despite tiring a lot more easily and occasionally feeling very run down.  Mentally, I think I am still doing okay, but some days I do have my moments of doubt.  I was so thankful to have Lorraine here with me through all this, and her help was paramount.  I had suggested she go home to avoid all the stress last week and a half ago but she was having none of that.  She was determined to stay by my side no matter what.  She sometimes gets pretty frustrated with me when I don't eat right or don't eat at all, but it has been hard for me to retain an appetite lately. When I stepped on the scale this morning, I was 169 pounds, and that hasn't happened in decades either.  Physically, I did not have a good evening Sunday night but I slept well and felt better this morning.  I know I'm nowhere out of the woods yet, but typing this earlier at 2:15 this afternoon, I was so glad it wasn't last week at this exact time.  For the first time in a while, I had a wee inkling of interest in my blog again.  And, that I take as a good sign.................

THIS IS THE LAST PHOTO OF PHEEBS AND I MOMENTS BEFORE WALKING INTO THE VET CLINIC

With sunshine pouring through the living room this morning, I felt a wee surge on the bright side of things.  Grabbed a tank of gas at the Bayfield Garage, snagged a coffee at Bayfield's Tim Hortons, accompanied by a 'lemon-seed poppy muffin (they didn't have carrot) and headed north up Highway 21 to Goderich.  First stop was at the St. Vincent de Paul center to drop off a carload of stuff, and then it was down to the harbor I went.  Following that, it was a quick stop at Walmart to pick up a prescription and grab a few grocery items.  It wasn't long before I soon skeedaddled myself for home.  Decided to take a break from the backyard clean-up project today so I doddered around a bit outside in the carport.  

THIS ALGOMA'S BRAND NEW SHIP THE ALGOMA ENDEAVOUR IN THE PORT OF GODERICH FOR THE FIRST TIME TAKING ON A LOAD OF SALT

 BARELY A SCRATCH ON ALL THAT NEW PAINT

 AT THIS POINT I DECIDED TO WALK OUT TO THE END OF THE PIER FOR A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE OF THE SHIP AND SURROUNDING LANDSCAPE

LOOKING SOUTH ALONG BAYFIELD'S MAIN BEACH TO ROTARY COVE AT THE EXTREME RIGHT A MILE AWAY

 YOU WILL BEGIN SEEING MY PHOTOS FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES NOW

I DIDN'T MAKE IT TO THE END OF PIER BECAUSE WHILE TAKING THIS PHOTO IT BEGAN TO RAIN AND I HAD TO TUCK MY CAMERA UNDER MY JACKET AND MAKE A BEELINE BACK TO THE CAR

 A SECOND SHIP IN THE HARBOR LOADING GRAIN WAS THE OSOGOVO

 TULIPS IN GODERICH TODAY ALONG THE WAY

Al's Music Box:)) Let's Dance sung by Chris Montez was written by Jim Lee, who produced and released the song on his own Monogram Records. The personnel on the original 1962 recording included Joel Hill on guitar, Ray Johnson on Philicordaorgan, Ray Pohlman on bass guitar and Jesse Sailes on drums. When initially released, the song shot to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S., and to No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart.

Groaner's Corner:(( Judi and Gayle were walking down the street. Judi noticed a compact on the sidewalk and leaned down to pick it up. She opened it, looked in the mirror, and said, "Hmmm, this person looks familiar." Gayle said, "Let me look." So Judi handed her the compact.  Gayle looked in the mirror, then turned to Judi. "You dummy -- that's me!!!

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A German asks a Mexican if they have any Jews in Mexico. The Mexican says, “Sí, we have orange jews, apple jews, and grape jews!”

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A little boy asked his grandmother what year she was born.  She told him she was born in 1935.  "Wow!" the boy exclaimed. "If you were a baseball card, you'd be worth lots of money!"

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A guy walked into his friend's office, he found him sitting at his desk, looking very depressed.  "Hey, what's up with you?", he asks.  "Oh, its my wife," replied the man sadly. "She's hired a new secretary for me."
"Well, nothing wrong in that. Is she blonde or brunette?"  "Neither, He's bald."

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly and Pheeb's Corner

Al's Art Gallery

I FOCUSED ON MY SPRING CLEAN-UP TODAY

An okay day folks.  I spent most of it in the backyard focused on my big Spring clean-up.  It was a very busy fire pit I had going.  A lot of old memories went up in smoke and into the garbage bins today.  More to go tomorrow.......

Al's Art Gallery

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