Coffee and...For, Wed. January 25, 2006

Morning all,
Here's the daily con't from
http://davesgarden.com/place/t/570640/

Have a Gret day,

Kelly

101 If Mr. B could have an evil grin he would!!

night all.

Thought I would leave a short note before going to bed; seems I can't get there before 1:00 am any more.

It was windy and cold here today, and I heard it is supposed to be worse tomorrow. I don't have to go anywhere until tomorrow night, so I'll stay warm during the day at least!

I hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow.

Take care,
Jody

Looks like I'm the first REAL morning person today. Was everyone else up late?

Off to work in a short time. Hope you all have a good day.

Ann

No Ann I am a morning person. I am up at 5am a lot of the time. I liked your pictures but do not know if I would have liked walking around in all that snow. Seems like the older I get the colder it is. At the same time I do not like real high summer temperatures. Had a heat stroke in Port Said Egypt when I was 19 yrs old and have had problems with high heat since.

Good morning everyone . By the look of things outside, winter is still not here . Last night we had horrible winds and rain to go with it. Nice way to go to sleep. At least we didnt have thunder and lightning like a week ago. The dog and the cat hate it , and they curl up beside me in bed when this happens at night.
I Like to see winter, now ! in winter, not a month from now or better yet around March or April, It has happened before. Mother nature Must have done away with the calendar or is getting so old that she does not remember when winter is... Some of the people that dont like the coldand are quite happy about this 50 and 60 degres temperature. I like it too but I like to see winter too. Maybe we get it all in February , snow , ice cold all at once... Actually I dont mind Winter it permit's me to do things inside the house, plan my yard for the coming season and so on.
this morning I am working on one of my projects , It is supposed to be nice outside this afternoon. I will take advantage of this nice temperature and finish to rake the rest of the leaves that my oak tree finally shed , I will mow them and put them in the compost pile ... have a cup of tea by the pond and enjoy the winter sun....

Here is a cartoon that all of us who have a cat can relate to regarding to the high price of gas and oil this winter.

Sorry about the cartoon sideway my grand son copied it and I didnt realise that it was not straight.

Good morning all! Hope everyone had a good nights sleep. DH was called into work at 3 a.m. for ice. It couldn't have been much, roads look fine here.

Today will be my short day at work, but I'll be more than ready to leave at 3:00. My day will start with a call to the FedEx support system. Not something I enjoy doing. I usually get transferred through about 4 people before I get someone who thinks they can solve my problem. And then its not always fixed. The problem I'm calling about today has been going on for a couple months. Sure hope they can nail it today.

Mary - Be careful with that truck and trailer. There are alot of crazies out on the road.

Ann - Beautiful pictures. Glad you had a good time.

Well, the wind hasn't started here yet, but the weatherman said it will be comming this afternoon. Gotta go get some things done before I leave for work. See ya later!

Orchid - That cartoon is too funny! I like winter as well. These warm temps have been making me want to start doing some gardening. Much to early to even start projects. I like the cold weather as an excuse to sit in the house and catch up on my reading.

Orarkian: I can deal better with winter than summer. Since I had a heat stroke ten years ago , I have a real difficult time with the heat. During the summer drink a lots of gatorade to keep my body stable. I keep about the same hours that you do, I get up most days between 4 and 4:30 AM so I can have coffee with my husband , he goes to work at 6 AM...

My favorite thing about winter when it is real cold or we have snow on the ground (not often enought) is to sit in the den by the fireplace watch the snow fall with a nice hot buttered rum in my hand , ask few friends over and make it a party....or just enjoy the drink, the calm , watch the flames and chat with my husband and lets not forget that the cat and the dog are both there too as always....just no privacy.....pets pets pets......

Just to say hello to every one, I am a morning person too, have been up since 5:30, do not like the heat either, Oz, had two heat strokes, one in Puerto Rico the other playing golf on a very hot summers day, was sick both times for days, just awful
Love your pictures of the snowy landscape, Ann and your afghans are just lovely, my MIL always knitted afghans every member in the family has at least one.
It is wonderful to read that you feel much better, Susan, I hope sleeping in bed last night was OK?
Finally had dentist appointment yesterday after I had to cancel twice because of icy and snowy wheather, need to have one tooth capped and two fillings to be replaced, this surprised me, have not had a problem like that in years.
It is snowing again and sometimes it is rain, making it a messy and icy wheather. My daughter and husband are coming for dinner this evening, DD told me husband loves "Sauer Kraut mit Bratwurst und Dumplings". I don't care for it too much but made it yesterday any way as it is always better the next day. Also bought pumpernickel bread to go with it
So I better get busy to cleann the messes From all the shedding hair Samson leaves on the carpets and floors, is he ever shedding!

Morning!! Oh you girls/guys are gonna be sooo proud of me!! I just emailed my brother and told him NO for both dates (house/kid watching) I did tell him why and I'm not gonna tell you all - you would die laughing!! Anyhow, it is written, sent, and done! I am sure I will get a call tonight, but with caller ID, I can avoid him for a week or so until I am more sure of my decision. I tell ya, I spent an awful night, tossing and turning and thinking up what I would say. But it is done. (M5- I had to reread your post from yesterday to give me an extra ounce of courage!)

Still windy here and schools south of here all all delayed. Today is my non-exercise day, so I will stay toasty in the house.

Vi - those snowshoeing pics looked beautiful. I'd like to try snowshoeing, but would have to do it alone as DH is anti exercise at this point. Says he gets enough doing all the stuff around here. I'll just watch you! LOL

9kit - glad you are on the mend - eating spaghetti proves you are well along the road to recovery!! Keep it up!!

I grew purple hy beans for two years. The first year they were beautiful, but got mites, last year I planted them and they were the same size in Sept as they were in June when I planted them. Don't know what went wrong! I"m gonna give them a try again, but in a new place.

Where's Maria and Bal? Haven't seen them around in a long time!

LOL - HI Maria!! Samson thinks spring is coming!!!

He certainly does, Sarv, he must know more then the weather man lol

Morning all
Hi *waving* at MariaOZ and Orcad. Good to see y'all back today. Ooooh, you make me wish for cold weather and a nice warm fire. Imagine that ... a south GA girl. What in the world would I do in the cold! We have a fire place, but never get to use it. *smile* The DH says the only warm person is the one sitting in front of it anyway. :) I have learned to build a fire but admit to being scared of tending it when here by myself. By the time he gets home ... it's usually too late to fool with. ;)

All the plants think it's spring here, also. I know winter will come sooner or later though.

Sarv, you are soooo brave. I'm no good with standing up to the family. I did that a couple years ago and am still paying big time. LOL

Susan, hope you were able to get a good night's sleep last night.

Kelly am hoping you have a good day today and your legs are feeling better.

M5, give Sammy a hug for me if you can catch him. LOL Hope your shoulder improves.

Mary, how is Amanda Panda? Will she have to go back to the vet when you go pick up your horse?

Well, got to work today. Will catch y'all later.
Hi to those I've missed ... Elaine

Good morning everyone. I was awake a few hours during the night but stayed in bed because I was warm and comfy. I kept thinking about the trip with the trailer and have about decided that it is not a good idea to try to cram too many things into one weekend. It would save some expense if I could combine trips, but sometimes things just don't work. Maybe next week she could meet me half way and I would avoid the heavy traffic with the trailer. We'll see.

Yes, Sarv!! Good for you. Now stick to that decision. They're his kids after all and his vacation is not a necessity.

Maria, it's good to see you again. Samson must have his seasons mixed up!

AmandaPanda is herself again. Several times already this morning she has jumped into my lap and run over the keyboard, or jumped from the desk to the keyboard, I think she enjoys the noise, plus I always grab her, she purrs, switches her tail and squirms, I put her down and she runs off only to return in a couple of minutes. Right now I'm safe because she is eating.

Susan, I hope you had a comfortable night, and I'm so glad you got outside for a while.

I'll be back later, kitten in fast forward again.......

Morning... getting a late start today. Weather has turned cooler and windy. Actually it got much colder overnight than the forecast, and I left the veggie seedlings outside assuming they'd be safe. They were but only by 1º! Tonight they must come back into the house. I now have a hi-lo thermometer in the new pump shed and will know tonight how warm it stays overnight to see if the seedlings will be safe in there under lights. Just not gonna chance it tonight.

The Forest Service person for this county is coming at 10:00 to walk these 5 acres and give us recommendations on what's good, and what's bad to plant (or keep) in the way of trees. Our tax money at work! (Jeremy wants to line the long driveway with something.)

BBL...

Good morning all! DH and I both slept soundly until 7 a.m. this morning! Unbelievable! I had woken at 4 and made a trip to the bathroom but promptly fell back asleep....was I surprised to see it was light outside when I woke again!

Ann, the snow pictures were beautiful...snow down the back of your neck made me laugh, It's quite a sensation! I did that just recently, had the hood down on my winter jacket, loaded groceries into the car, went to put the cart back in the corral and flipped the hood up because of the wind........not realizing snow had collected in it.....got my attention real fast!! LOL

Susan, glad you are feeling so much better! Those pain meds really took a toll on your system. Now all you have to do is solve the memory problems....(snicker)

By the way, I have lots of moonflower seeds if anybody wants to try them. Mine bloomed really late last year, I should probably have started them indoors (but where?) so if you are in a warmer zone it should be ok to put them in the ground. The flowers were as big as saucers....

Maria, if Samson is blowing his coat already, it's likely due to our unusual weather. Brushing daily will probably help keep some of it off the floors, but Goldens do shed a prodigious amount. My daughter has worn out vacuum cleaners until she got the Dyson. That one is holding up pretty well, and her experience was what prompted me to get one.

Orchid, I felt such a strong draft coming in through our fireplace that I sealed it up for winter. We don't usually use it when the weather turns very cold, but it's lovely for fall and spring evenings when you don't want to turn on the heat.

Sarv!!! Way to go!! I've found that some people will ask anything, figuring that it will be harder for you to say no than for them to ask....I had a former friend, who just drove me nuts with her requests. Go with her to her son's birthday party, because she didn't want to go alone as her ex- was coming with his wife. (She was divorced over 20 years already.) Take her to the hosp. for her colonoscopy, and stay with her all day. (She has family here.) Go the the airport with her and see who her exboyfriend was going on vacation with instead of her. Drive 40 miles to pick up a large heavy item at a store that she was within two miles of, because she didn't want to get up early and she knew I did. It just went on and on until finally I just stopped taking her phone calls and blocked her emails. It's too bad because she was a fun person, but I got tired of the constant requests for help. It's not like she ever offered or reciprocated in any way.

MaryE, AmandaPanda sounds like she has recuperated just fine. I get a lot of help on the keyboard too. Sammi is getting lessons on what he is not allowed to do. Bite. He loves to play with your hands, which is fine, but then he gets carried away and I have to tell him loudly, NO BITING. If he continues, I repeat it. Then he goes down on the floor and I won't pick him up. He is getting the message, I only have to say it once now, so he's getting the message. Right now he's getting toasted in the morning sunshine, on the back of my reading chair.

Caught your post Darius, because I previewed, for a change! Glad the seedling survived, you just can't count on weather at this time of year. I pity my poor tulips and other bulbs that are trying to come up because of the warm spell we've had here, because we are sure to have plenty of freezing weather ahead, and everything will have brown tips.

And good morning to everyone else.....I need to get moving here....it's already after 9.

In celebration of my saying NO, I am eating a frozen malted for breakfast (actually had the real thing long ago - a small serving of leftover casserole with cottage cheese) I never eat conventional things!! I'll think of it as my 'dairy' Mary will be aghast at me!!, but it is only in a 4 oz little cup.. LOL

Got the bed made, dishes still soaking and clothes put on. I'm still planning my day - I need to go in opposite directions...hmm may have to save some of it for another trip!

M5- my moonflowers bloomed so so late - just a bit before the frost hit. Morning glories give a longer show for me. Maybe I'll try mixing them together- best of both worlds!

My kitty doesn't do the keyboard anymore, just wants a place on my lap - she's slowing down. In fact I've noticed she spends most of the day snoozing.

Now, I must get a going!

GM! GOBs and 'Ettes!

oO/~ It's a lover-ly day in the neighbourhood, a lover-ly day in the neighbourhood....won't you be my neighbour?!? oO/~

I'm actually home this morning and I'm going to get after some laundry.....right after I finish my post to Coffee and.... I've been quite busy these past many days and I'm actually getting a break being home long enough to do my laundry. I don't know if I'm going to be able to stand it! LOL

The dogs are going nuts, running through the house in stampede fashion and yapping like there's a deer in the yard or something. I think they are so happy I'm home, they are showing off for me, or maybe it's their way of expending their pent-up energy.

My sister is giving me a break for a few hours and I'm not going next door until later this afternoon, if at all. I've got Home Health set up for the neighbour (he has pancreatic cancer) and I'm weaning the wife over to their care a little more. I can't keep up the pace I've been keeping these past few weeks and between caring for my own home and hubby, my Mum and the neighbour, and working my own shifts at the ER, I've been chasing my own tail. Whew! I don't mind helping out, but I can't do it all, I'm just not strong enough.

We had a day of sunshine here yesterday, but it's coming to an end today. It was the first day of sunshine in >40 days. Too bad we are starting right back into the mess again. I could use a few days of sun strung together.

I've tried catching up on the past threads, but I hope all will forgive me for being so behind. I don't think I can devote the time to actually putting it all together, but I think I have the highlights. Has anyone heard from Ernie lately? He seems to have fallen off the edge of the world :-(

I think of you all often and wish I had more time, but maybe things will settle down soon. I send my best wishes to all. Take care and enjoy your days....~Babs~

Babs - You really are an angel, but it does sound like you need some down time. Your neighbor is very lucky to have you.

Babs, I find it very sad so many persons want to be nurses but we do not have enough instructures, do need devoted nurses like you, but do take it easy, you will not be able to help any one if you are on the sick list.

Meezers, I have a Oreck vacuum, it is about 30 years old and still going strong, takes up his shedding like magic but of course I never used it as frequently as I do now, so who knows when it gets tired, lol

When Samson came back in this morning I realized I forgot his fence collar, scarred me, but he did not go out of bounds, guess he still respects the little white flags.

Going back to the kitchen, making a true viennese apple strudel for tonight, it is quite a bit of fussy work, do not do it very often. Lately I have been trying to be very carefull not to get any of Samson's hair into my cooking, would that not be embarrassing?

YMMMM, Maria ... that viennese apple strudel sounds so good. I *do* hope there'll be left over's to go on the counter. I've never had anything like that before. You're always fixing such delightful sounding recipes. :)
... Elaine

Yes, Maria, you do seem to do some good cooking!

I made some baked chicken and stuffing mix in one pan last nite. Was kind of lazy and very tired so just thru them together and it sure tasted good to eat last nite.
Have a bite, more in the frid for dinner tonight for all.

We have had several days without rain!!!!
Unreal, but is so nice. The sun is showing elsewhere in the NW but here in the valley, we have fog all day. But hey, I will take a day without rain any day!
So after work the past few days, I continued to fill in my retaining wall with mint compost. Still have a long ways to go. I need to get it filled in with some soil too so I can plant my beloved dahlias!

All you guys post each day and is fun to read what you all are doing each day. I do read them just don't have time to respond all the time. But do enjoy your lives!

I will tell you tho. The past couple nites haven't slept good and you want to know why?

Well, I have been having dreams about getting seeds started! I can't believe that! My subconsious (sp?) is telling me something I think. Guess I need to get some started but am being lazy. Don't really have time to babysit them right now. Maybe after my son finishes more wrestling. My weekends are taken up on Sat. watching him and that just leaves me Sunday to do it all.
Oh well, later in life, like all you guys I guess.
Well, back to work.
Have a good day.
Carol (DR)(the even one)

Hi Carol
I don't blame you a bit. Enjoy your sons. You have plenty of time for planting seeds. It's a lot of fun ... but the kids will be gone and the wrestling will be over. :)

Y'all I got this today as an Email from Pastor Tim, a popular pastor and comedian who sends out little jokes. We have so many cat lovers, I thought y'all would get a kick out of this.

Today's CleanLaugh - "Excerpts From 'A Cat's Guide To Human Beings'"
1. Introduction: Why Do We Need Humans?
So you've decided to get yourself a human being. In doing so, you've joined the millions of other cats who have acquired these strange and often frustrating
creatures. There will be any number of times, during the course of your association with humans, when you will wonder why you have bothered to grace them
with your presence.
What's so great about humans, anyway? Why not just hang around with other cats? Our greatest philosophers have struggled with this question for centuries,
but the answer is actually rather simple:
THEY HAVE OPPOSABLE THUMBS.
Which makes them the perfect tools for such tasks as opening doors, getting the lids off of cat food cans, changing television stations and other activities
that we, despite our other obvious advantages, find difficult to do ourselves. True, chimps, orangutans and lemurs also have opposable thumbs, but they
are nowhere as easy to train.
2. How and When to Get Your Human's Attention
Humans often erroneously assume that there are other, more important activities than taking care of your immediate needs, such as conducting business, spending
time with their families or even sleeping.
Though this is dreadfully inconvenient, you can make this work to your advantage by pestering your human at the moment it is the busiest. It is usually
so flustered that it will do whatever you want it to do, just to get you out of its hair. Not coincidentally, human teenagers follow this same practice.
Here are some tried and true methods of getting your human to do what you want:
Sitting on paper: An oldie but a goodie. If a human has paper in front of it, chances are good it's something they assume is more important than you. They
will often offer you a snack to lure you away. Establish your supremacy over this wood pulp product at every opportunity. This practice also works well
with computer keyboards, remote controls, car keys and small children.
Waking your human at odd hours: A cat's "golden time" is between 3:30 and 4:30 in the morning. If you paw at your human's sleeping face during this time,
you have a better than even chance that it will get up and, in an incoherent haze, do exactly what you want. You may actually have to scratch deep sleepers
to get their attention; remember to vary the scratch site to keep the human from getting suspicious.
3. Punishing Your Human Being
Sometimes, despite your best training efforts, your human will stubbornly resist bending to your whim. In these extreme circumstances, you may have to punish
your human. Obvious punishments, such as scratching furniture or eating household plants, are likely to backfire; the unsophisticated humans are likely
to misinterpret the activities and then try to discipline YOU. Instead, we offer these subtle but nonetheless effective alternatives:
* Use the cat box during an important formal dinner.
* Stare impassively at your human while it is attempting a romantic interlude.
* Stand over an important piece of electronic equipment and feign a hairball attack.
* After your human has watched a particularly disturbing horror film, stand by the hall closet and then slowly back away, hissing and yowling.
* While your human is sleeping, lie on its face.
4. Rewarding Your Human: Should Your Gift Still Be Alive?
The cat world is divided over the etiquette of presenting humans with the thoughtful gift of a recently disembowelled animal. Some believe that humans prefer
these gifts already dead, while others maintain that humans enjoy a slowly expiring cricket or rodent just as much as we do, given their jumpy and playful
movements in picking the creatures up after they've been presented.
After much consideration of the human psyche, we recommend the following: cold blooded animals (large insects, frogs, lizards, garden snakes and the occasional
earthworm) should be presented dead, while warm blooded animals (birds, rodents, your neighbour's Pomeranian) are better still living. When you see the
expression on your human's face, you'll know it's worth it.
5. How Long Should You Keep Your Human?
You are only obligated to your human for one of your lives. The other eight are up to you. We recommend mixing and matching, though in the end, most humans
(at least the ones that are worth living with) are pretty much the same. But what do you expect? They're humans, after all. Opposable thumbs will only
take you so far.

Elaine, that is really cute. I recently saw a cartoon that went something like this: "meow, meow, meow (translation, feed me, feed me, feed me). Human responds "oh, do you want to go outside?" and puts the cat out the door. Cat looks annoyed and says "why do we bother?"

Too cute, Mary. I really bet that's the way our furbabies feel, don't you? We're sitting around talking for them and everything ... and they're probably thinking to themselves ... these people are *crazy*! LOL When they get around their friends, they probably laugh at us. *grin*
... Elaine

Elaine,
Love your article from the pastor!
Is so so true tho.
Mary, my cats seem to have figured out what I know what they want. They now seem to know the words, "go inside", "go outside", and "food", lol
But of course, if they really want that item or way, and I don't, they are probably thinking, "Geez, what an idiot she is".
Carol

My cat has found a way to get my attention . Whenever he see's me on the phone for long periods of time , as a rule when I call my mother oversea's. he sit's on my left shoulder and hugs me with his paws and stays there until I end my call. Also in the morning he will not have his food untill he has greated me properly like rubbing his face against mine , purr , sit on my shoulder while the dog is outside, then he goes to my husband and give's him the same routine, then he eats his food...

Baby Boo on the window sill and Dozzie , they think that I should go to bed at 7:30 PM they are wainting for me to go to bed....

Hi people,
Nice to "see" you again, Babs. It is very good of you to do all of that, but it really is important to remember to take care of yourself as well. Nobody can do it all.

=^..^= so glad you're feeling better! You had me worried. I bet your furkids are relieved too.

Maria, are you making your own strudel pastry? I've thought about trying it, but I just don't have that much extra time these days. If I did it I'd probably cheat and use frozen phyllo (not too sure of the spelling there) dough.

Sue/Elaine, loved the cat's guide ---- particularly the part about feigning a hairball attack over a sensitive piece of electronics. Unfortunately for my husband, my cat wasn't pretending when she picked out the cable box as a good perch on which to barf.

Do the rest of you get the idea that we've scared away the menfolk (except for Oz)? I've been wondering what's happened to them too.

Sarv, good for you! I hope you'll be able to stick to your resolution once your brother does manage to get hold of you.

d'cat --- wallpapering? Yuck! I've only done that once along with DH when we were stupid enough to own a three decker house. It didn't "take" real well and the walls were nowhere near plumb which made it even more fun. Good luck to you!

Orchid, you're making me slightly green with envy. I would love to have a fireplace, but I'm afraid it's not to be. Still, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool New Englander and I want my four seasons! Actually, I get a little concerned for the flora and fauna when the weather gets weird. The snowdrops and summer snowflakes in my little garden in front of my store are already up and ready to be frozen solid. I already lost all my crocuses last year because of unseasonable mild weather just before a cold snap.

V'Ann, glad you finally got a chance to go snowshoeing (is that really a verb?). The pictures were lovely. That's another thing I keep promising myself that I'm going to try "someday". There's a small Audubon conservation area less than half a mile from the house that has nature trails and offers snowshoe excursions in the winter. My mother and I keep saying that we want to go there but have yet to acually do so.

M5, I really think you need a second opinion even if the parking isn't so convenient! Why throw good money after bad, as the saying goes, and why continue to be in pain if there's some way to ameliorate it? Sounds like you're making great progress with Sammi. Lately my cat has taken to just patting my face in the morning with "soft paws" instead of the usual claws (I really wondered sometimes whether or not she knew how to retract the darn things). Maybe she got tired of being bopped on the head or of my pulling the blankets over my own head and "locking" her out.

Hi to darius, suzie, and anyone else I've left out (didn't mean to, honest!) I've been on here too long (what else is new?) and promised DH home-made mac and cheese tonight. I'd best go do something about that.

Sheila! I WANT moonflower seeds... PLEASE! (Molly and I both are in the addy exchg, I think)

VA, loved the snowshoe photos!

D'cat... I have a wallpapering job coming up soon. I do it okay, just not great.

Sarv. hang in there!

IO1, take care of those baby tomatoes... frost tonight.

Maria, save me some streudel!

Everyone I missed... sorry.

McCool. I do like to have 4 seasons and we need them for the soil to kill bacterias and bugs that I dont want in the ground. Today we have high wind s , some snow florries and the temperature is going down fast , the 20's tonight. And yes the fireplace is burning tonight. We didnt have one when I bought my house but when I had an addition put in I had to have a fireplace. that was one of the best thing that we have donewe enjoy it tremendously...

Just taking a quick break from the vacuum. AmandaPanda is a brave little thing, she sits on the couch and swats at the vac as I am doing the cushions. However, she is afraid of the vibrator head that I use in the one carpeted room we have, she stands about 10 feet away and arches her back, fluffs her tail and hisses at it. How will I ever get anything done with help like that?

My other house kitty, the yellow cat in the picture I posted yesterday, is a real talker. She comes to me and tells me she wants something, then I follow her and she goes to her food or to the door. In the evening she knows when it is bedtime and pesters me until I give up and go to bed. She either sleeps on the windowseat or on the bed, but she wants to know where I am. She could put herself to bed but she wants to go with me, or rather, wants me to go with her. When I go on my trips she doesn't come near the house, my hubby says he never even sees her, but when I drive in the driveway with my truck and trailer she shows up before I can even unload the horses. I pick her up and she smells like the haystack.

Oh Lordy, you will never guess who just called me....my brother. I saw his name on the call id and told DH not to answer it. I need to make myself be strong and I'm still feeling guilty and weak....

My gardening buddy neighbor came over and invited me to an all day gardening gathering- it is 6 classes - an all day event. I cut her a check right away and put the date on the calendar! I needed something like that to get me outta the winter blues....

Stopped at the bread store because I was looking for a certain type of bread. Picked up two loaves of bread, pkg of hamburg buns, pkg of rolls, and a box of muffins - got it all for $2.58!! It was senior citizens day!! LOL getting old is worthwhile some of the time!!!

Stopped at Loews and they had two full racks of their reject plants- gal was just tossing them in the trash - they cannot give them away as they get reimbursed somehow for junk. I don't understand that kind of mentality -it was a whole load of mum plants. I did get two of those sprayer type things (that you use to put on weed killer or fertilizer - tank things) Got them for half price. I was excited!! I hate to use the same jug to spray weedkiller, then use it again for fertilizer. Now I am all set -plus have one to spare!!

DH made dinner tonight- shrimp drenched in garlic, man did it taste good. He served me while I did the crossword in the paper. What a guy - won't need the 2x4 tonight!!

My neighbor got Park's catalog - she brought it over for me to drool over. Hopefully I'll get mine soon....

Hi all,
I am out of town on a job since yesterday. Worked until 11 last night then back here at 8 this morning. I found some plants yesterday, on the way here and at the Ace Hardware in town.

There's a private home a co9uple miles down the road that has 4 cres and is selling plants. I stopped by there this morning, looked around a little bit and waited for someone to come out of the house. A cat came round.

Now mind you, I like cats, more than they like me. I like to pet and huggle. They like to do things in their own good time. This one seemed to welcome the attention I gave him while I was looking and waiting. I petted and scratched then looked at plants. The darned cat got ticked at me and slapped me in the leg with claws out. Well that put me on the defense and I moved a bit carefully. Next thing ya know (I'm browsing and not looking at the cat) the cat hauls off and clamps his teeth into my ankle. I turn on him and wait. I won't hurt an animal unless it really looks like it's gonna hurt me first. Well, I had to watch my legs until I got in my car and left. The people never did come out to sell me some plants even tho I knocked on the door, and they had some I wanted!!!!

Molly
:^)))

Holy cow, you guys have been talking. I'll say "Hi" now and then read. Haven't been home from work long.

Ann

This message was edited Jan 25, 2006 8:05 PM

Yes, Mcool, I make strudel dough from scratch,. To make a strudel takes most of the day, dough has to be strtched to measure about 31/2 feet long and 18" wide, this takes a long time from a dough that is not larger then regular pie dough for apple pie. As you can see I do not make it very often but my mother made it once a week when I was a child.

My DD and husband loved every bit I cooked for dinner, they took home the left overs, plus the rest of the strudel

here is some I saved for you if you want a taste of it

Oh Molly, take care of that leg now.

Sarv, maybe you ought to just skip town or something. LOL

Mary, isn't it amazing how these babies are? Of course mine's always right here ... but she sure lets me know when it's bedtime. She moans and groans until I give up and go to bed.

M5, when I get the vac out ... Kota does her Elvis impression ... you know the one ... Elvis has left the building. LOL LOL

Darius, my tomato seedlings are in the washroom. I sure hope I know what I'm doing. I don't want to kill the poor little things. *shrugging shoulders*
... Elaine

sarv48 - good for you for having the courage to say "No"
If you get a chance to try snowshoeing, DO. It's not difficult. A good way to nature watch. We've seen foxes, deer and many tracks of animals. Around here, there are some organized groups that go out on trails. (But the one winter I signed up was a bust weatherwise. They kept cancelling the snowshoeing and just hiking. But they did it all over the area. I figured I didn't need to drive 20 miles to start a hike whan I had good trails close by.) There might be some place you can rent snowshoes to try it out. I was stunned when I bought my new ones at how expensive they've become.

suzieq2761 - what do you mean when you say your DH was called in to "work at 3 a.m. for ice"? Does he work on clearing ice from roads?

M5 - what type of moonflower do you have? I've seen several plants going casually by that name.

BabsERNurse - thank goodness for people like you. But you DO have to remember to look after your own needs too.

Elaine, loved the piece about cats.

mcCool - ditto to you , the comments above to sarv about snowshoeing. And yes, it DOES look funny as a verb doesn't it? But WordPerfect's spell checker accepts it.

Was at work until late. Did take about an hour off midday to attend the visitation for a former volunteer. This dear lady volunteered at the FC for a number of years, always bringing in a cake when she came. And at the same time, she went back to university, earning her BA at age 80. It's been a few years since she was able to volunteer and a couple of years since she moved out of the building next to the FC after having a stroke. But she had been doing fairly well until just before Christmas. Fortunately, one of the other volunteers saw the notice in the paper.

I've brought home a bunch of work to tackle tomorrow at home. I know that if I go in to the FC, my successor will distract me and I won't get it done. He swore up and down that he hadn't changed to pass word on the form file for the French tax receipts, but he was able to open it and with a password that was somewhat different from that which we had used for the other files. So I was able to get the final tax receipts done today.

We have a VERY competent volunteer who comes in on Wednesdays to do second stage of data entry and we got her working on entering the 2005 donation data into the master donor list while I sorted out successor on first stage of data entry. Of course he STILL hadn't done Monday's files - not even looked at them carefully as far as I could tell. I ended up entering them into stage 1 so that the vol. could do stage 2 while she was there. (The old computer with this archaic program is in a room we use for interviewing clients; so it had to be done before we opened at noon). We have another volunteer who helps on Fridays, but only every second Friday (she works flex hours at work to get every 2nd Friday off).

Meanwhile, successor continues to reorganize everything, though he has verbally admitted that he knows now he should have taken client data processing more seriously earlier. (There simply is NO WAY an organization like that can operate with volunteers without one person who reviews everything with an eye to consistency).

BTW, there is a local on-line newspaper which has an article about my retirement. It has several typos, but if any of you are interested, its at http://www.orleansonline.ca/pdfs/2006/January/Eastender_Jan25_3.0.pdf

I warn you that it's about a 9 page pdf file with color pics; so it takes a little while to download if you have a slow computer.

Well, I think I will finish off for now and go watch some TV for a change.

May check in again before bed.

Ann

PS Maria, thanks for saving some of that strudel.

edited to fix a host of small errors

This message was edited Jan 25, 2006 8:13 PM