West Coast checking in
Hi, Heather! You are right on all counts -- our weather is not like yours (it is raining and the snowdrops are blooming here) and I have indeed been both busy and sick. I caught flu in early December and have only in the last 10 days started getting my energy back. It was a rough time and really put a crimp in Christmas. At the end of November my little old lady got to the top of the waiting list for a bed in the nicest care facility in this part of the world, after being on the list for a year, and moved into her new place. She had lived in her home for 35 years and her daughter and grandson had also lived there for about 14 of those years. No one ever threw anything out in all that time, I swear! As soon as I could function after Christmas I started the huge job of cleaning out the house and the outbuildings, with help from DH and our son and occasional bits of help from others. It is almost done now, with only a couple of days left to go. And then I will be able to do some of the many things that have gone on the back burner for the last few years -- like quilting, gardening, travelling... It is almost like retiring all over again!
Jane, I am sending you healing thoughts. I hope all goes very well for you and you make an amazingly fast recovery. I know what you mean about the iPod. My kids and granddaughter have them and they are way too complex for me! I got a very simple to operate player from the people who make the cards for digital cameras (San something?) and have loaded several books and a lot of music on it. I am planning to listen to Anna Karenina when we go to Europe in the summer.
Did I tell you all about the feral cat colony that my rescue group has been trying to relocate? About 17 feral cats that we have previously spayed and neutered that were suddenly to be evicted from their home? With no choice but to euthanize them if new homes could not be found? I am pleased to report that with a lot of prayer and good will from a number of great people we have found farms and barns for almost all of them! There are only a couple more out there and I *think* I have a place for them to go if we can trap them. We consider this a huge victory! It is so hard to get people to care about wild cats.
Here I go again! There were several posts I was going to comment on but I did not write anything down and now my fuzzy post-menopausal memory is playing its usual tricks! Very frustrating! But as soon as the house clean up is finished and the sale completes I will be able to drop in here more often and maybe even participate again. I would love that!
Jean, ready for an early night
brrr...
Snuggle under those quilts, gals. Sounds much too cold for me. We had frost this morning after 2 freezing nights. All is covered; need to protect those new plantings after the last freeze. 65 today, warmer weather is coming.
Jane, best wishes for a speedy recovery. And for finishing the quilt before hand.
Am working on two Christmas quilts. Got a run of 5" squares from the Moda line. Made those into an Around the World top. The other quilt is still in the design stage. Need to do them now to leave here for fall classes. The quilt room looks like I'm working, a cluttered mess. Stacks of colors for each quilt on the floor, getting to be a usual thing.
Blessings,
MJ in AZ
It was great
Our trip to Texas was just great. of course we did all the "too
muches". Like too much food, too much travel, too much shopping(yes you can do that). Saw some terrific sites and heard a lot of history. Can you tell I really enjoyed the trip. My brain still is not at home and we both still are really tired.
Our luggage finally arrived late this afternoon. It travelled a different route than us. Don't ask it was a real mixed up event coming home.Suffice it to say that the suitcases travelled an extra day.
Now to get up to speed and start working on the details for the retreat.
Bee, you were asking about Precious. She is fine except that I seem to notice that she has become more
aggressive. Either that or she is now always ready to defend faster. Her body is all healed so that is a real good thing.Just about
all her hair has grown back so we can see no scars. Good to hear that you Gus is coming along so well.
Jane , good vibes are being sent your way for Tuesday . Hope all goes real easy.
Well I am going to see if I can catch up with some rest,
Hello Heather, is that were all the cold is coming from. We have been warned for the next couple of days.Oh well another month and a half and we should
start warming up.
Hugs to all
Grace
Just Hibernating !!
that is if you are living in most parts of Canada these days, except for maybe the West Coast....???What about it Jean?? I seem to recall that you have been super busy with settling your elderly woman into a new place and disposing of hers as well as being ill....Hope all is well and you are finding some time for you!
Jane, will be thinking of you as you have your surgery.....best wishes for a good recovery.... #1 son just had knee surgery on Thursday and is hobbling along...too stubborn to take much for the pain but the prognosis is much better than predicted and looks like he won't need the 2nd follow up operation at this point...
Rosey....are you getting this freezing weather.....we are certainly on that express train, I imagine that Brenda is as well....but since having lived thru 3 really frigid northern Manitoba winters I am trying hard to remember that this won't last forever 'down' here....and perhaps I will actually see spring flowers in April and May, rather June and July!
Sara....a while ago you requested some colder weather sent down....could we just do a bit of an exchange ???
Heather (in N/W Ont where the temp is around -41 Celsius with the windchill)
WORLD WIDE DISASTER
I get the feeling that everyone outside western NC has vanished from the face of the earth. I get hungry for human contact that isn't medical and
nobuddy's posting.
Speaking of
doggie wee (somebody else
brought it up so don't blame moi. Shadow has become so comfortable with my neighbors who offered to take her in while I'm laid up that some territorial behavior has shown up. They are pretty serious hikers and often drive up to my house to pick her up to join them and their three vigorous dogs. The old very arthritic Brittany stays home and snoozes. Shadow is not at all happy about their new puppy that, of course is very cute and gets the center of attention. The other day they came to get Shadow and Ken was standing outside the open driver's door of his truck when Shadow shot out the door to join the fun. She
leaped upon the seat and discovered Lulu there so Shadow showed her a thing or two and peed right on the driver's seat. The whole incident bothers me much more than it seems to bother them. I heard Ken call her sweetheart today when they came on foot to take her with them on a slushy local walk. I remarked on his calling her a pet name after she'd claimed his truck seat. He said that if that were the worst thing ever to happen to him he'd count himself to be a lucky man. I will be very comfortable with her with them while I'm hospitalized and cross my fingers that Shadow feels that she's made her point and doesn't need to repeat it.
My girls went together to get me a top of the line
IPod for Christmas. It comes with virtually no directions other than referring to the web site. The web site is virtually useless and there are even terms left undefined. I've sent out a rescue call to the grands to call and help me get set up. I want to download a book or two before I go under the knife.
I'm getting close to finishing Greg's quilt so there is still hope that I can get it ready for mailing before I leave Tuesday morning. Monday is a federal holiday (Marten Luther King, Jr. Day) so the post office will be closed.
Just this week I have been invaded with spam. I installed a spam blocker supposedly developed in conjunction with
Microsoft. So far all it has done is
install a spam file in outlook express and has caught one piece of spam while I have caught and had to drag and drop about seven of them. Of course they are pushing to upgrade but I'll be darned if I will. I could have made my own special file for it without taking the time to download the program.
It's been very dark with temps in mid 30s all day, just warm enough to keep the snow that's been falling all day from accumulating. Now I remember why I ate and slept my way through those MI winters, especially February.
Cheers,
Jane in NC
The hot days continue ...
Still very hot here, the countryside is tinder dry and the gardens are drooping rapidly. Dh and I went over to the bay to spend a night with DD#2 and grandchildren. We took Holly with us. She didn't like the hilly journey and was sick twice and then did a wee (in the car).......Charming !!! The children were pleased to see us and we had some fun in the sea. The building project has gone well but SIL and his father look absolutely exhausted, they have worked long days out in the sun. DSIL goes back to work on Monday... The house is nearly finished (they've rebuilt the holiday home while staying in it ...) DD has been able to take the children down to the beach but they have missed the company of their father. I think they are coming here today, DSIL returns to Auckland on the "red eye" on Monday, and DD and the children have another week. Not much of a family holiday for them really..
Off to the shops to fill the fridge and freezer... It never fails to amaze me how much food a family gets through in a week !
All the best to Jane for the surgery.
Marion.
Best wishes to Jane in N.C. / this & that
Jane- hope all goes well with the knee surgery, which I think is Monday. I'm sure you will be busy in the next few days, so won't have time to check here. We will be thinking of you and praying that all goes well and the recovery is quick.
We haven't had snow, just rain, and dark, gray skys. For about an hour the sun was out this afternoon. I'm so glad I went to the Fiber Artists group this morning. It was between that and the garden club meeting. Why are things you like to do always at the same time?
If anyone knows Dee Bresden, I'm going to hear her talk on the Friendship of Women tonight. She wrote a book by that title a few years back, darn if I can find it today. Even though there are many "things" on the plate, it's important to keep those girl connections. I wanted DD to go with me, but Fridays are always spelling test days, so Thursday nights are practice times. Oh, how I hated spelling test in school! The boys are doing well in the public school system. There are always horror stories of kids not learning, but glad to say that the teachers at this school are truly fond of the children and do an excellent job.
I planted some pansies in the 1 hr. of sun we had this afternoon. They will live through the cold, and brighten up the dark days. The neighbor is having a new roof put on, and the puppy is gong nuts from all the banging.
I'll put some pansies in the front yard in the morning, it's time to chill for an hour or so.
We have early voting in Florida, so I did my civic duty while at the library getting a mystery book. If I could vote for no TV adds and peace and goodwill among the candidates I'd vote for that too. Some Florida stuff on the ballot also.
Going to try to book a cabin in the Boon-Linville Falls area of N. C. to take the grand up for a week in June. With mom & dad also, couldn't do 4 little rascals with just the 2 of us. Would love to go tubing, fishing, and just kick back for a week with them.
OK, off to decice between iced or hot tea. It's 75 degrees, but sticky, 100% humidity here.
Sara in Fla.
no snow day,,,
I can hear the cries of sorrow from my students all the way from home... It quit snowing and warmed up over night. We have school today. Instead, I'm sure we'll have snow Saturday, which will mess up an Academic Team competition we're scheduled to do. No sewing for me today! :( I guess I shouldn't complain, because if they had cancelled school, quilt guild tonight would have been cancelled too.
Laura
It's snowing in Alabama! Of course, nothing so far is sticking.
The kids at school are all hoping for a snow day. Their teachers wouldn't mind having one too. I'd love to have an extra day to sew on my mom's quilt.
Laura
