What's Happening in your neck of the woods?

Thought it might be time to move us over into a new room..

Hope you drop in to chat..

We moved from here...

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1138774/

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1138774/

smart alec!! Warming trend, indeed!! btw - it's now -10!! LOL

I'm first?? Well, guess that goes along with my lucky streak -

you are not going to BELIEVE what just happened.......
y'know I got offered the job yesterday... well, i was going to call our mobile salesman and let him know to put the house back up for sale. I hadn't, and the sign is in our house, cuz without a job, I couldn't afford a mortgage....
Well, doorbell rang, and a young couple were there asking if we were selling....!!!!
I COULDN'T show them the house..... since Aug, I have "let it go" and it's in a terrible state! I gave them our salesman's ph# and name, then I called him, and shocked him with both pieces of news!! Our previous contract had expired in Oct anyway, so we'd need to "re-up it"............
O my Goodness!!!! What a couple of days!! Bob said "I don't relish moving in the winter" I told him we'd move if the place sold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And no arguing!!!! LOL

AND - I just found a $20 bill when I was clearing out the recyclable newspapers!!

Susan, what wonderful news - all of it. Things are really rolling for you now, girl!

And Marilynne, good grief! I'll keep my fingers crossed that you actually have a working laundry pair by this weekend. I hope you're sending the president of Sears Canada a bill for your laundromat costs at the very least.

That sweet potato bread sounds really good - I'll have to try it. I've made pumpkin bread often, but not in the bread machine though.

Gotta get to bed now. It's been cold the past couple of days - dips below zero at night, and bed is the only place I'm warm until I adjust to this weather. Crawling out in the mornings is just painful. At least if it's going to be cold, we could have a bit of snow, yeah?

Keep warm, y'all . . .
~m

~m - I hope you have a restful sleep!
The sweet potato bread was great! It's a nice, heavier bread, and sweet, because of all the brown sugar, etc!

I think I'll buy a lottery ticket LOL I never do, but maybe now's the time?! lol

You be careful in the east, see that bad weather is in your area, hate freezing rain, may it miss your community.

Was listening to the news and it was saying that many stores in Toronto will have a Black Thursday today in efforts to attrack the masses that usually head across the border..trying everything to keep the $$ here for our economy. Hope it works...

Cold, calling for snow and rain mix, best I go get ready so I can leave earlier than normal, don't want to be rushing with roads having ice spots..

Susan, they say things come in 3's..

Gab with you all later..

Slug, Slog, grumble, groan !!!
We had about 8-10cm (drifted) heavy/wet snow overnight !! I have made one path across the patio and down the sidewalk .. talk about 'BREATHLESS in Murillo' .. lordie .. will HAVE to fire up the big snowblower once the ?sun? is up. The dogs were less than impressed that their 'play paths' were gone !!

Susan .. I do believe Wed night 649 was worth quite a bit, if it didn't go, I would think you SHOULD buy a ticket for Saturday !!

My 'Thursday agenda' is simple .. SNOW REMOVAL !!!! But .. temps to +4 today .. SNOWMAN weather :-)

Marilyn ..I wrote Dene Rogers CEO of Sears, sent the letter registered, it was rec'd in Toronto last Friday and I have heard not ONE word. I am dealing with SEARS Customer Service as well, a VERY frustrating go with them. I have most certainly demanded reimbursement for my inconvenience and cost of laundromats, THAT whole train of thought is completely avoided in ANY correspondence from customer service.
I'll keep slugging away though ..

Off to feed the furries, then, out to tackle the snow ..

~M~

Good morning. thanks, Betty, for the move.

Mayilynne - here's hoping that they get that missing part and your dryer is functional soon.

Have a great day.

Betty ... never did comment on your pic that goes with this thread .. love that Father Christmas, looks so serene .. I always think Christmas should be kind of 'serene' .. mind, it seldom ever is except for a few moments along the way to dec. 25th .. sometimes I just want to sit quietly by the woodstove, Handel's Messiah playing (or something along that line), and just do NOTHING .. stare at the fire .. scratch some furry ears .. that is IT !!!
Almost doing that now, but, the laptop is right here too today .. looking up some 'stuff'.

Every muscle in my body is angry with me, most especially my hands and shoulders .. that snowfall was a dandy .. the FLASH FREEZE warning has been cancelled though .. that's always a bonus ..
Wind is to be picking up overnight ..

Was making supper a bit ago, looked out the kitchen window, and, for the second time in 2 weeks, there stood a Mastiff ... BIG DOG .. on the outside of our dogs enclosure .. LORDIE .. he was/is HUGE .. gotta weigh at least 80 to 100lbs .. dark brown/mottled in colour .. and not afraid when I opened the kitchen window and told him to SCAT over the SHRILL and frantic barking of Lilly and Piper who, I am sure, would have flipped had they SEEN him !!!!
I called the by-law Enforcement guy .. of course, voicemail .. told him about it in a message ..am thinking a small child would be scared half outta their wits were this guy to walk up their driveway.

Been watching a few good movies .. last night it was Kevin Costner in 'Thirteen Days" .. very good .. about JFK and brother Bobby and the handling of the Cuban Missle Crisis in the early 60s .. I was very young, but do remember having to leave the convent (where I went to school) and having to hurry home .. it was to see (if I remember correctly) how long it would take us to get home .. good movie for the History buffs amongst us, as was, 'The Young Victoria' ..

I am off to go outside and clean snow from the satellite dish .. guess it's occluding the signal because of a snow/ice buildup ..

Stay safe all

~M~

hmmmmmm this almost looks like an Ontario thread LOL - Toronto, Victoria Harbour, Thunder Bay, and Ottawa LOL
Marilyn - did they tell you what time your dryer part is coming, tomorrow?
Hope you take it easy - sore muscles tend to "kick" you now & then LOL
I'm definitely going to get a ticket tomorrow!! We also have a "Friday" draw for something......
Betty - I would hope things would come in 3x3 LOL Then maybe a ticket would be a winner?!?!?!
Ann - how's your day going???

TGIF and good morning ^_^

Susan .. besides their ability to make me feel sub human by delivering faulty/damaged/incomplete appliances, SEARS has another VERY distressing HABIT!!! "We'll be there to do 'whatever' between 8am and 5pm" !!! Well .. thanks a lot .. I'll just shelve my life ONCE AGAIN, and wait with my heart going pit a pat for your esteemed arrival !!!
I have three things I HAVE to attend to today in the city. I do not want to leave Lorna home with both dogs .. so .. the only way I can accomplish the day, is to take the dogs with me and leave Lorna here to await the Princes of Installation.
Sorry if I sound a bit more than SARCASTIC, but I am fed up !!

One VERY good thing .. NO SNOW overnight .. what a relief .. had I have had to start blowing/shoveling snow once again I think it might have been close to impossible.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day, and a safe and happy upcoming weekend !!!


~M~

Let's hope today is final time Sears' agents will appear at your door..you've every right to be upset! Somebody is probably missing their doggie, am sure they've put in a call to the Humane Society and searching for him..mighty big doggie...yikes!

We had the FLASH FREEZE warning here this morning, I left the house early and got to work late, roads were extremely icy, took back concessions so I wouldn't have to rush but got to tell you those following me were not impressed, was doing 60 on an 80 so not that bad considering the conditions so I moved over and let them pass..

If you didn't get the snow you were waiting for know that it's heading my way, thank you kindly, lol..warning on the weather network keeps flashing on my computer, nothing like getting your nerves in a tangle..ah well, it was bound to come..like you TGIF..3:00 can't come quick enought..

Be careful out there everyone!

Oh Marilyn - I'm "with you" on the annoyance of the "between 8 & 5"...... then they show up at 5:30!! or 6:00...... cuz they're running Behind!! Not a thought for the fact that you may "have a LIFE!" outside of their schedule!! Hopefully the manager will put a tack under their seats and make sure you're one of the first service calls.........

Betty- I'm glad you left early.... I know that my DH is one of those that drives the speed limit when it's miserable weather and he wants the other drivers to "get on with it, already!!"
Mind you, last Dec 4th, when they had travel advisories All Over Alberta, and one of the wickedest storm in my memory, we had to go from Calgary to Edmonton, and he went 40/60 on a 110 km road.... but he also had a 1,000 lb steel weight in the bed of his truck - we just Couldn't See.... and about 40 vehicles (cars and 18-wheelers) were in the ditch..... It's a 4 hr drive, so That's A Lot!
We go back to Edmonton this Dec 11th for his company Christmas Party - head office is in Edmonton, and one of the big bosses has a country club they rent. We don't pay a thing, except for our travel to & from, and they put us up in a lovely hotel, too ^_^
I'll get to meet Annabell (Ann) for the first time!! We'll meet for coffee the day after, at West Edmonton Mall! ^_^

Betty .. be careful driving home!!
I went to town (Sears is due between 1-3pm) I was shocked with the call but VERY happy I did NOT have to take Lilly and Piper with me ~~
At any rate, we have very high winds, and LOTSA blowing snow, SO, the roads are 'slicker than goose doo doo' in some places LoL I drove 65-70k in an 80 .. but, at least I got home and back with no problems !!!
I remember that trip to Edmonton you took last year Susan .. awful !!!

Gonna park it and make some bags of dog food .. went and picked the veggies up at the supplier today ..

Say .. has anyone heard from ECHOES ? Haven't heard a peep from her in a bit ..

Toodles ^_^


~M~

Although my alert comes across my computer screen not much is happening out there, famous last words..know better than to say that, takes but minutes to be completely white..brrr wind is up but I'm not sure "M" from what the weather people say that it's anywhere near what yours is..

Bet you are counting the hours for Sears to arrive..

Please do stay inside everyone who is getting bad weather!!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !! I am doin LAUNDRY !!! The fellas that were here to stack the machines were quite amused with my 'HAPPY DANCE' .. LoL ... what could I say .. after having to wait to do laundry for 6 weeks it is almost making me 'HEADY' to think I can just do it at will !!!
AND .. in a very nice upgrade I must say .. I'll try to take a pic, kinda tuff to do though as the laundry area is small ..
SO .. I am happy, tres heureux, slap monkey kaboodled LoL
I do have to admit to bein kinda intrigued with watching my laundry get washed too LoL

Ciao

~M~

~M~ I just spoke to Echoes... she's doing fine, just hasn't been on DG much lately. She tried to contact you on FB with no luck - do you have something "blocked"?

wooooooohoooooooo Laundry!! never thought I would be so excited about laundry!! LOL

Betty - sometimes those "warnings" pan out, and sometimes they Don't - let's hope this is one of those "Don't' times LOL

I've been making ice luminaries - had the darn form for a couple of years and never got around to doing it! Only 3 made so far ( takes over night to freeze and now it has warmed up so much it does not even start to freeze) Found some LED fake candles at Cdn Tire today, they even have an on/off switch- so mcuh easier to deal with than tealights!

Very pretty Carol ^_^
I take it the forms are available for sale at perhaps a craft shop? Martha Stewart LOVES Luminaria LoL .. watched her speak about them on some decorating show once, she looked like a small child catching her first glimpse of Santa Claus as she spoke about them and what they meant to her.

Susan .. Brenda found me ^_^

Did 2 loads of laundry last night .. will take some getting used to .. I find the clothes tend to fall out of the front loader onto the floor, so, now I use a basket to empty them into.
Does anyone else have a front loading washer? Find the wash cycle quite a bit longer, but, that seems to be due to the fact that the clothes are spun so many times in order to remove the water .. makes drying time quicker.

Off to the Landfill site today .. always a banner day LoL

Take care/stay safe

~M~

M I got the form at LeeValley. Bundt pans would work too! And I am told you can do something similar with balloons although you could not let them freeze hard as you would have to hollow out a space for the candle.

Enjoy doing laundry! I recall how great it was when I had my own home to have my very own laundry instead of having to go to the apartment basement and hope there were machines free.

I'd like a front load but figure I will hold out until/if my old one dies. I bought my pair 'reconditioned ' at the Sears store when I bought the house in Dec. 1988!
I bought a fridge the same time ( but a new one) and it just died 2 years ago.

Our little sheltie /pom cross from Montana( named Montana!) went to his new home in Edmonton last evening!

You'll miss Montana Carole..I purchased my 2 at LeeValley in Toronto as well, knack to getting them out of the mold! Looks very pretty though.

I shovelled for a little over 1 hr. this morning, started to do pathways and then instead of taking the snowblower out or wait for my plowman I did it myself..quite the workout.

Ann came over about 8:30 and we started doing Christmas arrangements..lordy, I've six more to go but not sure I have enough energy left, perhaps if I get up extra early tomorrow before I go to jewelery making class I could fit a couple in..lol

"M" doing the happy dance for you, finally!!

Tired, bath is waiting, once I'm refreshed will see what I can get into

So glad the laundry is settled. If you wrote the president, it will take some time to filter down through the ranks, then back up. Working for a big outift, I know that things sent to the top go to each level on the way down for a report, then stop at each level on the way back up for comments on the report/solutions proposed. It can take forever, and there may be a good deal of butt-covering, or not, depending on who has to action it - but don't lose hope yet.

Montana is such a cutie, I bet he'll be missed.

Spray your moulds with Pam, that helps. And for the balloon moulds, just leave room in the balloon for you to plonk an appropriately sized and shaped object on the outside of the balloon, where it will then form a nice space for what you need. The thing you use to plonk has to be very heavy though, or it won't sit down in where you need it against the tension of the balloon skin and the weight of the water.

Had our first snow that stayed on the ground here today. Oh well, we've actually had a pretty good run of autumn so can't really complain. I spent a lot of the day trying to get a big nasty raccoon off my front porch. A friend had given me a small 'tailgate' BBQ still in the box and I'd left it on the porch since I'm still trying to get the parging in the basement fixed as some is falling off again and it's just all ugly dust down there with everything all over as the shelves had to be moved. So this raccoon ripped into the box, pulled out the solid packing styroform forms and the BBQ, stuffed in some of the chewed up styrofoam and some paper from somewhere and made himself a nice cozy nest, AND HE WASN'T MOVING! Not for anything. I went out every half hour hand bothered him - poured water, sprayed vinegar water, whacked the box with the broom, stomped around and made a racket and no dice - he wasn't going anywhere. Growled and bit the broom though. So I waited until he left tonight and then went out and threw the box away and cleaned up a bit. Hope he gets the hint!

Just finished watching Songcatcher. If you're a music fanatic, it's a must-see.

Took my first ever Pilates mat class this morning and feel as if I've been run over by a towmotor. Think I'll toddle off to bed now . . .
Keep warm everyone,
~marilyn

Sounds as though you had an exciting day as well, hard to believe racoons still want to live in the city..lol

They teach pilates here at the rec hall, always say I'm going to join and then don't..

I would say we got about 6" but likely in the morning it will all but be gone, guess I needn't have shovelled but once it's hardpack it's almost impossible to do it.

Late, tried to go to bed, tossed/turned for about 2 hrs. and finally gave up, no sense getting frustrated so I've a movie on, making a few more arrangements, even pulling an "M" and have a couple of floormats in the wash. With any luck I might be able to clean my craft room, it's a battle I'll tell you, clean,mess,clean and mess again!

I do those luminaries each year for a big party I have in early January - my "Epiphany" party. Got my forms at Lee Valley too. I've seen links making them in buckets with a smaller bucket inside the larger one. What I like about these is there is a drainage hole for water that accumulates. Works as long as they aren't put too firmly into the snow. I use votive candles and have had them burn for 7 or 8 hours.

I've also messed around with putting food dye into the water or using coloured candles. They always make a big hit with guests.

Ann

This message was edited Nov 27, 2010 11:31 PM

Ah I wondered how one would deal with getting the 'hole' for the candle when using a balloon to shape Seems a bit more work. I had no trouble getting them out of the mold, put upside down in the sink left , fill hole with hot water, wait about half hour.

A bit more snow last night. Temps not too bad.

One of our foster moms is an artist ( paints, oils and watercolors) She and 3 others have a show this weekend. 2 of them work in stone and I had seen some of their work so I went to the show yesterday- and am home with something else to hang on my already full walls!

This piece is slate and stone and glass. I certainly don't 'need' it but I fell in love - I have chickadees in my yard all year round, especially in the winter so it seemed appropriate!

Food dye would be an added touch Ann, they do look lovely along the walk or on the staircase..not sure where, think it was in Buffalo my last trip they had acrylic which looked like ice in same form, should have purchased a few, will though try the spray as I can never get them out of the mold.

Love the piece Carole, a treasure for sure..you could always purge yourself of something old to make room for the new piece, a way of justifying the purchase, not that you need one.

Been quite a weekend, couldn't sleep, was up all night finishing the arrangements, off to Barrie this morning, couldn't believe Michael's was open so early, did a few stores then went to my dichronic glass sagging pendant class, made 2 pendants with matching earings..she had to kiln fire the glass pieces to fuse so I'll be excited to see what my design is..sometimes booboo's happen and they don't turn out, oh well, could always do more until they do turn out..bought some extra glass, will design 4 or 5 more then have them fired..

Looked at the kiln, tempted, but $600. + tax, have to do a lot of jewelery but you know me and toys, just maybe Santa will bring it to me..you just never know!!!

Very nice piece Carol .. I am IN LOVE with anything dealing with thos little Chickadees .. I can watch them for hours feeding, flitting and flying ..

The Luminaria look so pretty .. but I am at odds as to whether to make some or not .. there MAY be a plan a foot for a qucik trip to Wpg .. if it comes to fruition I will definitely go to Lee Valley.

OMIGIOSH Marilyn .. I sure hopr the Racoon stays away .. they WERE an oddity here bouts, but every so often someone will mention they have had one visit ..
Laughing re the Pilates class .. I took one too .. it was a 6 week class .. besides being WAY to busy to take it, I was about crippled after class 3 !!!! I have NO Contrology !!! LoL

I did L A U N D R Y today ahhahahaha .. stuff I had left til I had a machine in place .. twas wondrous ^_^
Have also had a "BAD PIPER' day !! Lawsie .. he has had us in a tailspin to say the very least .. into virtually EVERYTHING !!! Poor sweet Lilly just watches and blinks her beautiful brown eyes .. she is as horrified as we are I am sure of it.

Off to shower .. then BEDTIME .. very busy week looming ..

Have a great week everyone !!

~M~

Beautiful chickadee pic, Carol!

Hey Marilyn LeeValley does mail order!

Wow miss a day and all kinds of things have happened here.
Weather has picked up here just like Calgary , nice enough I was able to cajole my DH into putting up the Christmas lights. He was saying it was too cold last week and the light fairy got involved and poof the weather changed for us.
Looking forward to Coffee with Susan in a couple of weeks and I know the time will fly by.

Racoons can be very aggressive so be careful!

The wonderful Ice lanterns are beautiful and we have a gentleman who makes them for neighbors. He has a way of using a 5 gallon pail and freezing for so long then pouring the left over water out into the next bucket. The first Lantern has bubbles and as he goes the water gets very clear, no bubbles. Anyway the tiny votives last all night for us. It is so peaceful to come home to the glow of the candle. I'll have to check out the battery ones.
Did anyone out there know that the schools have Improv teams? We, I just found out as my 13 yr old has made the Improv team. We said great but now I'm rethinking as she has lots of attitude and super come backs as it is and now she's going to train on how to do that better!! What was I thinking...........
"M" I watched my first load of the new washer too,LOL. Happy to hear that is on the go.
I have seen Brenda on FB too but it seems she is found so that is good.
Bye for now.
Ann

Have a new way to spell DAMP .. it's 'THUNDER BAY' .. that kind of seeping into you bones damp.
Going to be +4C and NO snow, so, for that we are grateful ..

Off to have lab work done (Lorna) prior to her appt with her hemotologist tomorrow. Have this down to an art now.
Because she has her prosthesis .. she can go into the hospital herself while I wait outside. I have mentioned before that the Handicapped parking is atrocious at the hospital, and, vurtually always no spots available.

Woke with a bit of a start last night .. Piper FOUND another dog looking back at him from the mirror in the bedroom !!
He was growling and whining .. and .. all I could do was laugh !!!!
I guess he got up to turn over and caught a glimpse of himself ..

Best get at it ..

Happy Monday all ^_^

~M~

Late yesterday Rose came home from the city, do you know she only has 3 more weeks of staying with me and her placement is over with the Municipality, lordy I'm going to miss her..anyway, she came home, opened the door and a doggy with brillopad hair came running in, thought to myself, this is odd, funny she'd not ask me if she could bring a dog??? nope, she said it followed her in, thought maybe I'd gotten a new one or a friend was visiting and the doggie was waiting outside, have no idea who the dog belonged to but Sailor and the kitties were not impressed..took a bit to shoo outside.

Looking back at the weekend with barely any sleep I sit here, nothing to do, twiddling my fingers..did bring some scratch art in so might work on that...

Ann, what is an Improv Team?

Improv Team - Improvisational talking - say what comes to you, off the top of your head is what it sounds like. No script. So Ann, if she's got "super come backs" then she'll be wonderful! And Attitude!! Sounds like me at that age LOL

~M~ - I'm sure Lorna's bloodwork test is just a regular one? How long will she need to get these?

Ann - I am SO looking forward to finally meeting you ^_^ We never Did say a time though, did we?

Betty , Susan is correct and they follow a little bit of the format from the show "Whose line is it anyway" that Drew Carey used to do. I am proud and partly scared to say my Daughter did very well! Yikes!
Susan I'm thinking about 11ish so you can recover from your party? Or 10ish sounds good too.
Ann

The food colouring and the bubbles in the luminaria sound wonderful. Maybe I'll get some done for dinner on Boxing Day when the family is coming.

Carol - beautiful piece you got there. Hard to purge to make room for the new, when you loved everything you got before so much too. I can't do it and wow, where to put them?

Betty, lots more raccoons in the city than in the country. They thrive here and will have vicious fights over territory as there are so many. Just think - water, lots and lots of food in the form of garbage cans, chip trucks and stupid neighbours who feed them - and NO predators.
A vet told me that the average country coon lives to be 2, the average city coon lives to be 12 - with a litter every year. Some neighbourhoods have started putting out bait with birth control in it I think. They cause an enormous amount of damage in the city, so maybe insurance companies gave city council a push when they got tired of replacing roofs. We see them walking in packs down the streets here and they're not afraid of anything - and yes, they are vicious.

I'm going to go back to Pilates - try the machine next and then decide on either the machine or mat for regular for a while. I figure if it affected that many places, it must be doing me some good in the spots that I'm not doing myself any good - so I may be moaning every week for a while

Keep warm all - it's COLD here today.

I have seen 'whose line is it anyway' and find it fascinating that schools have such programs..omg, wouldn't I love to be in something like that..my mind is always going in a thousand places as a time..lol

Racooon, 12 years..wow..guess in the country to have to brave the other animals..now a litter a year for 12 years? that would be a lot of racoons..no season on racoons is there, know when I was on the farm there was on wolves..my cousin Doug made mega money hunting them down for bounty, just didn't seem right but guess it was for the best.

Did I mention Kyle went on the weekend and got his permit to have a gun and permit to shoot a gun, sure hoping he just wants 'permits' to fill his wallet, can't see him shooting anything..

What fun you'll both have..as you say Susan, don't borrow trouble, will be cold and crisp but no snow, how is that for a weather update for your outing..

Not fond of guns either, but their grandfather/grandmother have 140 acres and grandfather is a hunter..doubtful Greg would allow a gun in his house, if anything it would be kept under lock / key at the farm..

"no snow"........ love that, along with "no black ice" would be Perfect!!!