Coffee and....For Sunday, February 19, 2006 =^..^=

Here's the daily continued from
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/577151/
Have a super day! ♫
Susan
=^..^=

Hi kittymom, no you are not alone. I am having the usual insomnia, but will try in a bit to see if I can persuade myself that sleeping is good. Have been having hot flashes all day and night. Thought they were over with. So going to go to bed and do the fan thing, covers off, covers on all the rest of the night I suppose.

DGD went to bed about 10:00, after being sick, and she hasn't moved, so hopefully that is a one time thing.

Still haven't heard from DH, so don't know what is going on with DMIL.

Well, I will check in early tomorrow, to see what everyone is up to.

Good night all.

Good night, Defoe, am awake too

Well hi ... don't go ... I'm waving at y'all. Can't you see me way down south? I'm also up. Just don't feel sleepy tonight. Bonnie those heirlooms are Homestead tomatoes. I have 6 of those and 12 of a variety of my others. I also have a few herb trays that are questionable ... but now maybe they'll do better under the light. I have a sick looking spider baby that's coming back out and some thyme that could possibly make it. I have the cuttings that Darius gave me from her Christmas cactus and those pieces have successfully rooted. I also have a tall piece of one of her epithilum which got broken in the move. She showed me how to root it, and it's doing just fine. If you look close you can see the little spiney things along the edges. I'll try to post a pic tomorrow so you'll understand what I'm talking about.

Well, it seems I must be sleepier than I realize cause I'm making goofy mistakes and saying *dumb* stuff so I'm going to bed! LOL LOL See y'all in the morning
... Elaine

I'm up for a while too. I took a nap before (actually, I fell asleep during a movie, lol) so who knows when I'll get back to bed.

My dad came back over this afternoon. He brought an electric space heater and 2 electric blankets. Nathan has one of the blankets in his room and DH and Jenna are sharing the other. The space heater has helped to raise the temps about 4 degrees in here to keep it around 62*. Our furnace is working, but our attic insulation is not enough to keep the heat in. My only problem is that the space heater makes me nervous. I have it sitting on a bunch of pavers and it's plugged into a GFI outlet, but it's an old heater and I just don't feel super comfortable leaving it on unsupervised. So before I go back to sleep I will shut it off. I guess I'd rather wake up cold then on fire. Our electric bill will probably make me sick when I get it.

I just checked the weather. Brrrrrrr again. It's -10* and the windchill is -25* with a 7mph wind.

We didn't win the Powerball Lottery. Darn it, I had some nice dreams about that, lol. Oh well.

I think I am going to go watch a movie. I made a huge batch of chili in the crockpot for dinner and there is a ton leftover. My fridge is so full of milk so I stuck the chili out on the deck in the snow. Now do I really want to open the door? Maybe I'll just make some toast, lol.

I hope you all are having pleasant dreams all snuggled in your beds.

;~)

mg

A frigid morning to ya all!! Actually it is warmer here this morning- not below zero, but close. I think our furnace ran all night despite the woodstove going too. Still have many with no power and news reports of carbon monozide poisoning to some families. What a mess!!

We have pink skies in the east with a soft snow falling- very pretty!

Yesterday I went shopping with DIL. She got some new curtains/rods for their family room. When we took them to their house DS threw a fit and told her to take them all back -pronto. It was uncomfortabale being caught in the middle of their spat. DIL was very calm and repacked everything back up. DS runs a tight budget and he said there was no $$ for curtains. He however just bought a GPS and a bow. He comment when DIL made reference to that was that 'they had talked about that first" My DH offered to give her the $$ and she could pay him back $5 a week. DS said no to that too. I"d love to slip her the $$ but don't want to cause problems. Shoot, the curtains looked nice too!

Well Bal, I'm proud of you. Now we know what you had planned for the day - good boy!!! Who cares that you didn't accomplish what you wanted - there's always tomorrow!!

Gosh, there was so much news yesterday....must be everyone was stuck in the cold mold. Enjoyed reading about it all, but don't have the oomph to reply...

Where's Mary?? out in the barn?? Awaiting chapter 3 of your lambing!

Morning, still cold here too. The sun is just starting to show on the horizon but I don't think it's going to do much in the way of increasing the temperature.

We didn't win the Powerball either, MG, although DH said he bought tickets (which neither of us remember to do) and they read the numbers while I was getting ready for bed but I didn't hear a big WHOOPEE from the den so I guess we are still not rich. That's ok, I didn't want to hear from all those long lost relatives anyway.

I had to stick my leftover chili in the garage and when I went to DD's on Friday, I looked at the containers and thought about how much I didn't want to have it for two or three more meals and brought one along for her.

Elaine, I think I have only a few pieces of Tupperware left. And those are sitting way back in a cupboard, because I hardly ever use them. I keep my lettuce in a cheap spinner I picked it up at TJMaxx about 15 years ago. It has held up extremely well and just has a small knob on top for turning the basket. Fits right on a shelf in the frig. Sometimes you just get lucky. My potato peeler is from the Pampered Chef and I bought two just in case I ever lose one! That, and the spiral whisk are among the tools I wouldn't want to part with. Other peelers get dull and rusty after a while but the PC one stays sharp and the stainless steel blade never rusts. The other tools I love are the silicone scrapers but you can get those everywhere now.

Bought a big bag of Macintosh apples yesterday, thinking of making an apple pie. Oven helps warm up the house!

I think I've got the Hot/Cold temperature variations figured out, I get a big one around 9 pm, once that's over, I'm good until sometime in the middle of the night. Then it's the same old covers on/off etc. Doesn't take too long to cool down at night, thermostat is on 60....

Gonna go jump in the shower, and get it over with. I'll drop back later today to see what's up. Maria, bundle up if you go out with Samson, and hang on to whatever is handy to keep your feet on the ground!
See y'all later.

Sheila

mg~I'm shivering here just thinking about you!! I know how you feel about the space heater! When i've needed to have one on I don't sleep, I just catnap and watch it. We got to 5 last night, but it's still above zero!! We also have a woodstove so keeping that real hot really helps, but when we get below zero with the wind our furnace can't keep up either.

m5~let me know when the pie is ready, i had SUCH a craving for apple pie last night, but I'd have to go buy apples and decided it was WAY too cold to go out!!

Hi Elaine (who's the only one not shivering), sarv, bonnie, 9kitty, magoobu (nice seeing you again!), bal, and all.

Mary~I hope things are going okay with the lambing. It's so cold here it's painful to imagine doing what you're doing.

McCool~LOL about being unstylish too. You have salt and pepper hair? Why did I think you were in your 30's?Or are you? probably because you're creative! I was very creative at a younger age!!!

Okay, gotta get ready for church. See y'all later. Prayers for the sick and suffering from here.

Going to get my crust started and chilled, then I'm going to tackle that looooong scarf I picked up at LNT and see if I can convert it into drapes....let you know how it works out.

Still shivering, spent a couple of minutes with DH chopping the packed ice off the driveway where we drove over the snow/sleet/rain before he got the snowblower out. Too cold to stay out there long, but the sun is bright so maybe it will melt a bit ...

Morning everyone,

It's still awfully cold here too, but our furnace, antiquated as it is, seems to be keeping up with it so far. We don't have much insulation here either. My parents had some blown in in the worst spots years ago as none was put in when the house was built. My mother is off visiting one of my brothers for a week or so, otherwise the heat would be cranked way up. She takes blood thinners and so is always cold while DH and I are roasting!

101, LOL, no Slim isn't looking for another home. He knows just how to play "loveable" and "adorable" when it's needed. He's a real character. I just have to remember not to leave anything like that out where he can get at it. I can't really blame him too much as he was a skin and bones stray when he came to us. Even though he's getting to be rather blimp-shaped now, he seems to think that he's still in danger of starving to death.

D'cat, we still had the pork loin for dinner. Slim had only managed to tear the aluminum foil and plastic off of one corner and had barely gotten a tooth-mark into it when I discovered him. The whole rest of the meat was still tightly double-wrapped.

MG, so sorry about your lack of heat! Isn't there any low-cost remedy that you could try to keep a bit more of the heat inside?

Dmcd, in my thirties?! Don't I wish! I'll be 58 in a couple of months, but I guess I'm pretty lucky at that. Barring the sleeping difficulties and somewhat creaky starts in the morning, I don't really feel my age (as long as I avoid mirrors).

Hey sarv, never thought to ask you before, but when we built my greenhouse we ended up with a little bag of black plastic and gasket material numbered in the high 40's to low 50's that weren't mentioned anywhere in the instructions. I thought that they might go on the window somehow and am now wondering whether some might go to the door to make it less likely to come off. Did yours include these and if so did you guys figure out what to do with them? On another note, sorry, but I've gotta say that your DS sounds like a bit of a PITA to me.

Maria, I think you've made a very wise decision vis-a-vis Samson. I'm sure you'll both be better off in the long run. I hope you're enjoying the same sunshine and mostly blue skies that we're having at the moment. At least it looks nice as long as you don't open the door.

Well, I'd better start being industrious or will get absolutely nothing done today. I may be back later.

McCool~you must be very young at heart!! I do think it's the creativity! I'm 47 but feel pretty weary...maybe it's the three teenagers? I think the OLDEST I ever felt was when I was 33 but had 3 kids under age four. I looked pretty haggard too LOL

Great story about Slim and the pork, by the way. I can just see how hard he worked to wrestle that down, and just when he's about to get his reward.....BUSTED!!! Poor dude....

Yes, McCool, Sun is shining, very cold was 8 when I gor up at 6, much better noe, actually I love winterdays like that, clea, fresh air, I even open the door for 5 minutes to bring in that nice invigorating air.

You are all so very young, I am a great grandmother, but don't let that fool you, I still have what it takes, lol.

Mc C - yes we had several black pieces left over - ours belonged on the edges - can't see that they were worth much tho - mainly to keep from cutting yourself I think. We gave them the heave ho!! I don't remember any gasket stuff - rubber things that go along the door bottom/top I think tho. Actually DS is a great kid - his wife is such a generous person and they just got a new vehicle/boat (both used) and $$ is tight. She has never handled the $$ and sometimes needs a little stern talking to. They are both delightful kids and we love them both! Just part of being married I think!

Maria- I agree, you have what it takes!! Age is a frame of mind... Do you have an appointment for Samson yet? I only like winter for Christmas - after that it can go away. Summer is my favorite season...love it hot and sunny.

I mentioned to DH that Menards was having a bag sale - he announced he HAD to split some wood. He hates to shop, plus he is one that always says NO first...control thing I think

Off to fold some underware..

Good afternoon all sounds like we are all very cold today~~ popping in to say a quick hello and off for a family trip to some stores.

Wishing you all a great day!
Stay as warm as possible BRRRR

Anne/Mags

Just took a couple quick shots of Sammi harassing poor Mini, he thinks those are love bites and she just moans and whines....but still follows him around. I think she just needs lots of attention and if it involves getting pummeled by the squirt, well, so be it.

Is this a love-in or what?

I have been reading your thread since the 7th or so, when found out was sending Fette to Kelly (GG). You seem to have built such a comraderie. Isn't DG great?!

Sarv - remember you saying that you never get $ back on taxes. May I suggest you review your W4(s) that you currently have? They may be older and need updated or just increased a little.

Sorry to hear about the health probs and the cold everywhere! Hope it all eases up soon!

Hope you don't mind me just "dropping" in. ~ Suzi :)

m5~a"love in" - or Sammi just trying to keep his hands warm??? LOL
I can't type, my fingers are freezing....maybe i'll go bury them in a kitty!!!

Welcome Briar - as far as taxes go, pay now or pay later - it seems it all comes out in the wash. I would love to get thousands back like some do tho!! Maybe in my next life!

Jump in here and join the party - tell us about you/your life etc. Pull up a chair and have a goodie - I'm making caramel brownies - they'll be ready in 30 minutes...yum

DH just came in from splitting up some more wood. He thought his wood splitter was fixed, but it is still giving him problems. Shooting wood off in full speed- and he wants me to come help him!! No way!! I give him the excuse that my arm is still killing me.

Time to wash up the dishes from the brownies..

m5- those kitties look like they are having fun. Remember when you used to chase others around?? LOL

Today will be a challenge, in a way. DW is having the pinochle group here for the monthly game. (been doing it since sometime in late '60's) Luckily each person only has to host it once a year. So the kids and I will have to keep out of the way, sneaking out only to sample the goodies now and then. The Jumbles were not too good. A victim of brash over enthusiastic mixing. Next time will be better. Imari is attacking the vacuum cleaner as DW does a last clean sweep before "the girls" arrive. I cleaned up the front yard a little bit and removed my 'debris' from the kitchen table to provide a better appearance and room for the food. Today from noon to 4:00, or whenever the party ends, will be spent in seclusion somewhere, and I have several shops and get-away places to use. Can 't take the kids into the darkroom though due to the chemicals and getting under foot in the dark.

Mary, how is the lambing coming along ? How long will this be going on ? Hope there aren't any more fatalities.

I feel sorry for all of you caught in the freezing weather. It makes me realize how fortunate we are here to have the Puget Sound and two mountain ranges for protection. It is cold, the ground is still frozen in the top couple inches, but the sun is out and the winds that hit south of us are over. Days are slowly getting longer and things are starting to show signs of growth. Only one hour til 'zero hour' so I'd better stash some emergency provisions while I can.
Wishing you all a happy and joyous day.

Hi all
Please please excuse me for my excitement today while I share with you some of the things I have found growing in my yard. The DH took a few pics for me and I want to show them to y'all. I don't have a picture of this, but my little hyacinth that I planted last year is coming up and already has the sweetest smelling blooms on it. They are that deep blue ... almost purple. Now the biggest surprise was the little tiny bloom I found on my Christmas cactus that Darius gave me. Actually, she gave me a bunch of little pieces that had broken off hers during the move down to FL. She told me how to root them, so I stuck them in a pot. The DH was moving my plants around yesterday after making my plant stand and noticed the little bloom. Anyway, y'all look at this!

Okay, now here's another view.

Okay now look at my plant stand. Isn't it just wonderful? You can see all my babies on it.

Okay, here's one more picture. LOL Just can't help myself. Have to brag on him a bit. Isn't this stand just perfect?

I'll come back and answer everyone's posts after a bit. I've got beans and squash on the stove right now. We're going over to see the DH's grt. uncle later and I'm trying to get it done so I can take him a plate. Still need to fix the chick strips.
< Elaine >

Sarv,
Those that get thousands back either have kids and get the EIC +/or Child tax credit OR are paying in way too much during the yr. I would rather pay in $10 extra a week and come out even than have to pay out $500 in April.

Thanks for the brownie! It was great!

Elaine,
Your plants look happy to be on their new shelves! A friend gave me a cutting too, but it isn't doing as good as yours. Don't think it likes being in my kitchen window +/or the mean plant momma forgetting to water it, lol

M5,
Sammi is soooo cute!! Esp loved the one where he was jumping up to turn the fan on/off.

Bal,
So, you have a darkroom?! I do too, but unfortunately, it is still in boxes since moving. Do you take lots of photos? I haven't taken b/w since my younger DSD accidently dropped my camera bag... Still have my mom's negatives that I would like to print out some more of though.

Defoecat,
Hope the DGD is better and hope her friend didn't get ill to boot!

Dr Mary,
I too am awaiting the lambing news! I know I wouldn't be a good farmer, unless could afford to pay someone else to go out and bring in the babies. Isn't there a way to put them in pen closer to the barn where you put them after they have the babies?

Later, Suzi :)

The cards have been dealt! So far so good.The kids and I napped and watched TV till it was time to go out and grab a snack. Now with the dogs outside it is time for me to hie away to the shop and work on the carving. Only a couple hours left.(they really are a nice bunch of ladies)

Suzi, One of the joys of a darkroom is being able to develop and print various formats from infra-red to pinhole to paper negs. Rolling your own film makes it so much less costly to blow through roll after roll of B&W and not worry about the 1% of "keepers". Hope you get your darkroom set up soon. Its great fun, even if you use ready-made chemistry.

I snuck a couple shots of 'ladies -at-work'.

Of course there is another table.

You are a sneek, Robert, but a nice one.
I don't think you fooled the ladies :-)

Hello everybody and happy Sunday. Hi Briar, we're glad to have new faces here amongst the moldie oldies!

Lambs and more lambs, but only one born last night. I was relieved to not have another night like the one before. Briar, there are too many sheep to have them closer to the barn and since it is an organic farm we don't want to put them in the corrals to have their lambs, too much opportunity for disease and if we have to give antibiotics the lamb is no longer organic. After the lambs are a few days old they can go into a corral that has a shed for shelter for a few days, or out into a different clean pasture with shelter. This year we have 120 ewes, down from a couple of hundred in past years, but the adjustment was made for drought conditions and needing to take some pastures out of production for a year to get them replanted and established before they can be used. Oregon Tilth, the certifying agency, has very strict rules about antibiotics and wormers, if we have to use any the lamb is not organic and has to be marketed through the usual systems. No chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbacides can be used anywhere on the farm and that limits production.

Today's project at home was to unplug the kitchen sink drain. OOOO what a mess. The clog was way down the line and probably has been forming for several years. I helped my hubby clean it out with a cable snake, water, snake again, more water, about 6 times until it worked. We need to level up the drainpipe that goes across the basement ceeling to eliminate a couple of low spots where things tend to settle, and then be very careful about what goes down the drain. Thankfully we have a basement and were able to do the drain clean out where we could stand up, and at a reasonable temperature, instead of under the house in a crawlspace when it is about 20 degrees. When we have family here the kids do the clean up duty and I think they have not been careful about scraping the plates before they went into the dishwasher, or trying to scrape food residue out of pots and pans that get washed by hand. A friend who used to live with us was probably the worst offender, a guy who loves to cook and can make the worst messes! He ends up with a lot of potato peelings, lettuce trimmings, chunks of onions, etc in the sink and he takes the sink drain basket out. It would catch a lot of things if he left the basket in place, and when I have said anything he said "don't worry, it's a 2 inch drain and it won't plug up". Wish he had been here for the fun we had today!

Elaine, nice shelf. The empty spaces will soon be full and you will probably wish you had two of them. The bud on the Christmas cactus will get quite a bit larger before it opens but that only seems to take a few days. I also see several new leaves.

Here is another way to do the tax refund thing. If your income remains pretty much constant, instead of upping the deduction just take that extra amount out every payday and put it in an interest bearing account. The government does not give you interest.

I'm going down to the barn to see what has happened since last night. One of the owners daughters came yesterday and will help with a lot of stuff that I have been doing, so I won't be spending quite so much time there during the day, but the night duty won't change. Back later.

Mary E that pipe is not suppose to be level. It is suppose to drop a few degrees.

Hey, M5, love the cute kittie pics. Looks like Sammi is king in that house, hehe.
Mg, hope you aren't freezing your butt off too badly, hehe. Feel for you to be cold, don't like to be cold.
Robert, howdy, long time, no see or hear from you. I may be coming up your way next week. I need to see my parents so may stop by on the way back home. Will let you know more later.
Yes, Robert, you do have a few workshops to hang out in and you sure won't get bored in them either, hehe.
As for the weather here in the NW, well, you must be better than us up there. It has been so so cold here, in the teens and the wind, so unreal here. It was in the single digits with that wind chill factor. The wind blew open my baby plastic greenhouse on one end, so the zipper doesn't work anymore. So one end is totally open to this nasty weather. So am not sure what I am going to do about it. I really like having a greenhouse to work in even tho it is small.
I worked out in the greenhouse today with my kitty taking a nap in a flat. She looked so funny sleeping on that shelf.
Mary, you are quite a women to be working out in this nasty weather with those baby lambs.
IO1, love those plant shelves. Plus that color of the christmas catus is so pretty. Am glad they are growing well for you.
Sarv, those brownies sound better than what I just made. I made some Rice Krispie cookies with peanut butter in the batter. They are ok but I usually put Cocoa Krispie in the batter too for extra flavor too so the ones I made are rather bland.
But hey, have a bite all, they are on a plate for all of you to nibble on.

Hi Suzie, good to see you here. These guys are great to chat with here. They have helped me along with some things in the past few months.

Well, have been busy with running errands lately. Haven't been to the store for awhile because when I go, I spend. So had to load up on a few necessary things yestereday. Then I worked outside in the freezing but sunny weather with filling up my retaining wall area still. Went to an indoor farmers market and bought a couple irises for a buck a piece. They are to be fragrant. Also bought a chocolate/cherry desert bread and it was very good. Never have had anything like this with dried cherries, dark and white chocolate in it.

Dcat, hope your MIL is doing okay today? Let us know please.

Well, off to eat dinner, so later all,
Carol (DR)

dr~If you really COULD "freeze your butt off" this might all be worth it LOL
Mine hasn't gone anywhere!!!

Bal,
I understand. Printed lots of dif types/styles, but not infra-red. Enjoyed photography lots, till I did it for a business. Have one yr cert of completion in it too. College only offered the 2 yr assoc in it at their overseas campus.

Did my share of rolling my own reels too. Think the classes gave me better knowledge of what and how to capture it so didn't waste so many shots. Instructor's favorite words were "crop in the camera!"

Want to hook it up and teach my DDs (8+20) how to do it and process my mom's negatives again to further protect them. She died in 1961, when I was 5.

With digital cameras, computerized images and modern tech, it will be hard to convince them that B+W really is better than color. Think if they printed their own they might be converts, esp the younger. Printed some color, but like the B/W better; cheaper too. Besides, only have b+w capabilities.

Mary,
Sure is a lot of hard work involved in "organic". Never ate lamb and not so sure I want to, although I have been tempted. Someone gave my older DD a PETA mag several yrs ago... they are just getting around to where they will drink milk again. Real meat is seldom on our menu. And if it is, I'm usu the only one that will eat it.

The thing with W4's is that we figure them out, then leave them in place w/o reviewing them again. Over the yrs, we lose our inc tax deductions cuz the kids leave and circumstances change. Maybe we aren't the M-5 that have on the W-4 from yrs ago, but perhaps should be withholding at M-2. Thus, always owe.

Sarv said they usu owe, so I figured a review might help. Sure, can set aside $ ea payday for interest, but, too easy to use for emergencies that naturally occur.

Maria, I agree, the ladies knew too.

I just gave my DD a bag to put all her Barbies in. She kept saying: sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, bet that hurt, sorry... as she was putting them into it. LOL!!!

Later, Suzi :)

Yep, Oz, understood. What I should have said was that we need to take the waves out of the pipe to eliminate a couple of low spots where debris tends to settle. Plastic pipe is just too flexable. The line does slope a bit all the way to where it enters the main drain line that goes to the septic tank. One of the places where there was a clog is a low spot where 2 pipes join, another was a long backup that developed in another low spot backward about 4 feet from an elbow. We replaced all the old metal pipes which were corroded and clogged with plastic lines when we moved here in '93 and installed a real septic tank. The original system was a holding tank with an overflow that ran down a hill into the orchard. All metal pipes, all flaking major rust on the inside and plugged almost solid with black gunk built up over about 40 years. The house had been vacant for months when we moved in, but as soon as the dried out material in the pipes got wet again the system quit working but it did smell bad. I can only emagine how it must have smelled during the heat of summer when it worked as designed. Now, there's more information than you wanted, right? Good thing you've all had your dinner.

It looks like I might have another quiet night with the sheep, only 3 ewes had lambs today! There are lots of clean empty pens in the barn, and another group of ewes and 3 day old lambs are ready to go outside tomorrow. One little lamb looks a bit sick, seems to have a lot of gas we think, so that one will get some medicine and stay inside for another day or two with momma and sister. Another one Paul thought would not make it is looking good. You just never know.

Somebody wondered why my hubby doesn't help with all of this, well, this is my project and he is not much of an animal person. I work for the neighbor to earn money to feed my horses and do my endurance riding. It is something I took on myself because I do love working with animals. He earns our living, I earn the extras. If I ask for help he helps me with things here on our place, but I don't ask for help with the lambing and other work at the neighbors. I guess in a way it is a reversal of the traditional roles.

Mary,
Makes sense to me. That is your job, not his.

Carol,
Hi there! Long time, no see.

Dmc,
Sorry you are part of the Frozen Chosen. Glad I no longer live up in Ft Ed (92-94) and Providence (94-98) NY. Been here since 98. Cold as it gets here sometimes, still much better than there 99% of the time.

~ Suzi :)

I'm sad to report my butt is still with me. I do think that I lost a few pounds shivering. It's starting to warm up a bit now, but is supposed to get cold again next weekend. *sigh*

Unloaded the digital camera today. Here is a picture of the front of my house. Sometime in the next 15 years I would like to repaint it. I hate the mustardy brown color it is now. Recommendations? We have vertical wood siding on it. I'm not in love with the white storm door and shutters. LOL.

Might post a few more pics of different things later.

Oh, check out my post in UpperMidwest Forum. Jenna did great bowling and qualified for the State level of the Pepsi Tournament. She's so excited she is about to jump right out of her skin.

Be back later.

mg

Well, I'm back as promised. This will probably be a long post as y'all were chattie today and I have so much I want to comment on.

Looks like Defoe, Susan and MG stayed up too late. Haven't heard a peap out of them today. ;)

Sarv, can't stand to be in the middle of a spat like that. Really makes me uncomfortable also. That is so sad about the families who have suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning. Hope your weather improves soon.

M5, I have a nifty little peeler from the Pampered Chef that makes little julian strips. Very nice for carrot strips in salads, etc. Oh yeah, had to LOL at the long lost relatives.

DMC, you must have jeenksed us down south, cause it didn't get out of the 50's today. Now I *know* you're thinking ... she's a wimp! But remember ... it was 80 here yesterday. :) Makes it feel like 30 today.

Maria, you haven't fooled me in the least. I'm sure your life prepared you for many things. You didn't live through what you did to not have what it takes. :) I'm thinking you can work circles around me. LOL

Hi Mags, Am waving at you and hoping you'll come by more often. :)

BriarRose, so good to see a new face in the crowd. I see you have been properly welcomed, but let me just say ... I'm the one that doesn't bake in the group. I usually try to keep fresh coffee on, though. So when you come by just help yourself to a cuppa and pull out a chair. There's always an extra seat at the table. :)

balvenie, poor guy. Sneeking around like that. LOL LOL Want a little cheese with that wine? You really sound like you lead a tough life! :) hehehe We're needing some pics of your carvings, though.
Mary, glad to hear your night was a bit easier last night. My goodness ... I didn't realize there were sooo many sheep. What with the horses, etc. that *really* does keep you hopping. Yuck on the plumbing trouble. We had that problem a couple of weeks ago. Maybe that's catching like the sniffles? Seems it started out with Sarv?

Carol (DR), so sorry to hear about your greenhouse. I'd love to have *even* the smallest of ones, but right now I'm just glad to have my plant stand. LOL

Speaking of that ... thanks so much on all the nice compliments. I've let the DH read them, and he's walking around all puffed up and proud. ;)

Defoe, how is your MIL today? Hope your DH was able to get home last night.

Susan, what kind of day did your DD have? Hope she was able to be pain free with her new meds.

Ann, you haven't mentioned how your DH is getting along. Have been keeping him in my prayers as well.

Well, this is getting way long, so I'll close with a hello to the rest of y'all. Here's hoping everyone has had a blessed and restful day.
< Elaine >
P.S.
DMC
Quoted
If you really COULD "freeze your butt off" this might all be worth it
LOL LOL

Nice photo....my favorite color on a ranch we had when we got married in 86 was a kind of bluish gray green....sounds odd, but in the summer against the green grass and trees, it looked blue/gray, and in the winter against the snow, it looked greenish gray. And it was a great background color for flowers...!

I mentioned pie this morning. Baked it during dinner, and just now cut two pieces for us to have ala mode, help yourselves, it wont last long. I'll have some of that chocolate cherry bread.....only thing wrong with apple pie is it doesn't have any chocolate in it.

Waving goodnight to everybody, it's time for Gray's Anatomy, and then bed. See ya in the morning.....

(MG, I thought I froze my butt off too, but I looked and it's still there!!! Curses!!)

Nitey nite...
Sheila

Well, Sheila, that pie sure does look yummy! So you like Gray's Ana. too. I love that show and partly because it is filmed in Seattle and that was my old town.
Well, I would love to freeze a few pounds off my butt too. I need to lose some weight before going to Hawaii but just can't do it. With this weather being so cold, I like to cook and eat!!! Too cold to work outside much so.....
Carol (DR)