What's happening in your neck of the woods .. Nov/2011

It was +18 in Ottawa! Unreal for November.

It's nice an sunny here today and not too cold. I still have some plants in pots on the porch that are hanging on.

But basically, just had a thought - I go to this site where you can do jigsaw puzzles on-line. All different sizes.

Best thing is, you can use your own photos to make puzzles either to share or else just for your own amusement.

I use a lot of my flower and animal pics and it is really fun. Some of you might enjoy that for these months coming when we're not going to be out and about as much. You can check it out at http://www.jigidi.com/ - site is a wee bit slow right now as they are migrating to new servers. A lot of new users since one of the puzzles went viral and had nearly a half a million solves. Usually you might get around a hundred or less, since some folks like different sizes and some want just buildings, scenery, animals or what-have-you. It's kinda fun for my coffee breaks and so on.

Keep warm, and for those of us who have sun today, let's enjoy it.
~marilyn

Marilyn, after I post I'm going to be running quick/quick to check out the puzzle thread..love puzzles!You go for it girl, get yourself a furry companion..big blitz going on right now for taking in dogs re Humane Society..was just thinking, a lot of the time I'm not so sure they should encourage families who many on a whim will take on a dog/cat for Christmas season then realize it's not what they want and back into the shelter poor things go.

"M" good luck with the frame, I received one last Christmas and there is still sits..will have to show Kyle perhaps he can do it for me..computer savey I'm not.Laughing at your extra baggage!

ViolaAnn, suppose to be 13 today but cooling down for the weekend. We'll miss Mother's Nature giving us an additional heat wave bonus. Not sure how we get summer like weather and in a few days, major blizzard like we had on Friday.

Noon hour, working from home today, bit on the dizzy side, some would say I am always dizzy!

Snowed a bit, goes from dark and gloomy to hot/hot in the sun , feels nice as i lay on the couch

See the. Black sky further north so be careful, brunt of the storm might be Going your way!

We have scattered flurries at the moment .. nothing too exciting thanks LoL

Had the strangest thing happen, and, before I recount the tale I want to say that I am a NON SWEARING kinda person. Sure sure, if I drop something on my foot, or break something I might spew an expletive, but, on a day to day basis I use solid language to get my point across
So .. it's 9:30am today .. I am off down the driveway to walk the dogs on the country road .. as I left our driveway and headed north a vehicle came barreling up the road from behind .. I grabbed the dogs leads and went to the side of the road. The car slowed, passed us, then braked and backed up .. inside was a very nicely dressed gentleman .. in a suit and tie .. the car was upscale .. and I realized he was a realtor .. he said, and I quote .." where the 'f' am I"? I blinked in disbelief, shrugged it off and asked where he THOUGHT he was .. well .. my lord .. he was SO lost .. insofar as even being in the WRONG municipality !! WELL .. he LOST it .. how could he be in the wrong place, his GD secretary was going to catch what for for this .. I thought he was going to have a stroke he was so angry !!! The dogs, especially Lilly, started to get quite antsie .. he proceeded to cuss everyone involved with the appt he would inevitably be late for ... I finally just wished him all the best, turned around and went home .. he sat there for a bit talking on his cell .. i could hear his ranting .. then he 'peeled' away .. still headed in the WRONG direction .. I walked the dogs on the property .. would rather listen to Chic kadees and Nuthatches natter at one another rather than listen to someones foul tirade.

It's official .. got a call from our Township office that I'll be a 'medal bearer' when the Rick Hansen entourage reaches Murillo in January .. I am to walk 2 long blocks .. not a problem, just hope it isn't too cold out !!! Lorna is so excited about us volunteering to do this .. she was to have been the medal bearer, but, it would have been way too difficult for her ...

Kind of a lazy day .. one of the few 'stay at home days' we've had in awhile ..

Hope the dizziness subsides Betty ..

Enjoy your day

~M~

Omg "M"' he must be be a real gem to work for..shaking my head, think I would have given him further directions that really would have gotten him lost! Poor furries, his antics must have frightened him!

Snowing and blowing here, not nice, picked a good day to be ill..everyone must have known I was sick and thought not to call..so quiet that a few times I checked out my phone to make sure it was working.

Fantastic about being a torch carrier, perhaps it will be a sunny day..

Laying here thinking of all I could be doing..took out pork chops and will bake boxed scalloped potatoes, should be easy enough

Hope that snow doesn't reach us until after I'm home from bells. They were predicting some snow late afternoon. That would make the rush hour a real mess.

ViolaAnn, full blown blizzard here, guess its not moving to your neck of the woods.
What time is bells?

Wonder if this weather could stay till early tomorrow morning so I can stay home? Lol

congrats, ~M~!!!!!!!!!!!! wow - a torch bearer!!

I got to babysit my neighbour's dog for a couple days - he's such a sweetheart, except for his habit of barking at every animal on the TV.

I'd sure hate to be that realtor's secretary. I imagine if he was still going the wrong way, he probably was given correct directions but is just too arrogant to actually be bothered following them, then he'll blame someone else for his problems.

Marilyn - way to go - walk those two blocks proudly!

Going to Cambridge tomorrow for the weekend to see my daughter and grandsons, so really hope the weather doesn't get nasty. I've just got a Smart car, so while it's great on the highway, high winds and/or ice don't really make the going easy.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend . . .

Morning all, seems I'm not the only roadrunner...Marilyn enjoy your weekend. When I bought my vehicle I so wanted a smart car..told myself to pretend I had one, re space I could use..after about 2 days I knew I could not have one..would be ok if I had a secondary vehicle! Was watching a tv show some time back, we're saying they now how movies for cats/dogs to watch and say its amazing how it draws their attention to the movie..enjoy dog sitting

Getting ready to leave for Markham craft show and a few hours of shopping at Ganz so another long day ahead of me.

Best I get running

Enjoy your day!

Have fun Betty !!
Smokey rousted me out of bed around 5:30am .. guess he was lonely. I KNOW he sure does not want to go out .. it's about -12C and, I have to do some shoveling. We've had about 3" of snow over the past 2 days, and, it has stayed !!

Really like the look and economy or the SmartCar, but, living in the country and sharing the roads with logging trucks kind of made me stay with the choice of an SUV .. not to mention the 2 dogs and Lorna's equipment .. sometimes I think a tractor trailer would do me well LoL

Off to the dump today and a craft show .. the Santa Claus Parade is also today .. kind of think I'll avoid the city for that reason.
Have to wrap and package the gifts going east to Lorna's parents .. i want them mailed this coming Monday or Tuesday. The last 2 years we have dragged our collective feeties and have had to pay an atrocious amount of money to ensure the parcels arrived BEFORE Dec. 24 !! NOT this year ^_^

Enjoy your Saturday everyone

~M~

only -12c......... that sounds lovely. We have -20c now, with a windchill of -30c ..........

Shouldn't you go to the craft show, Then the dump (to get rid of your extra, to make room for the new?) LOL Cuz once you've bought, you Know how much room to make, and won't overdo the dump LOL

AYE Chi wa wa !! It's -20C here .. much too cold for this time of year!
Stalwart that I am, and because the sun is shining and there's a breeze .. I hung sheets out on the line .. fingers crossed they won't crack in half !

The craft show was just 'so/so' .. bought my grandkids some mittens ... otherwise, well.. way to much 'nic nac and bric a brac'.

Plugging away at getting the Xmas parcel for down east done .. getting there .. SLOWLY .. but almost done ..

Have a great Sunday !

PS Betty .. you mentioned scalloped potatoes, and, the Milk Calendar arrived on Friday with the local paper, and, the recipe for Feruary is Scalloped potatoes .. gonna give'em a whirl tonight ^_^

~M~

AFTERNOON everyone..drats where did the morning go?

Had a wonderful day with cousin and dil, not often we have a day together out shopping..long day thought, was after 8:30 before I got home!

Up early this morning as they were calling for a mild day, is indeed a mild day..had Kyle come over and we got all the lights on, neighbors must have been wondering about all the Christmas music, I have the Christmas sound system that you plug in and all outdoor lights swynchronize with the music it plays..hard to tell if the lights are are they should be in daylight so tonight I'll go out and check.

KYLE kept teasing, told me with all the totes of Christmas goodies, I either have to purge or buy a bigger house..so now I sit, trying to determine how much energy I have left..shall I unpack them?? Put the tree up on front deck, tempted to do the living room tree, little cafe tree can go up anytime, basement tree takes a lot of thought sooo what to do, what to do..one tote emptied and already I see color lol

If the scalloped potatoes are good "M" can you share the recipe

hope you are all enjoying your day!

The scalloped potatoes turned out very well .. will scan the recipe from the milk calendar and share it ..

Put up the large wooden Santa (has to be 40yrs old) it's made of plywood and all painted up .. it hangs on the garage .. and .. Frosty the Snowman is now out sitting on the old milk can to give him some height .. wonder how many times I'll have to pick him up this year !!
Was going to carry through into the house and put up the trees .. but .. had a movie to watch .. called "INHALE" .. very good movie.. basic story revolves around transplanted organs and how to get them illegaly if necessary .. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur. With Dermot Mulroney, Diane Kruger, Sam Shepard, Rosanna Arquette.

This morning was just frigid, but, as the day wore on, the sun warmed thing up nicely .. we still have snow though ..

Off to start supper

~M~

"m" was bitter cold here as well..you will have to take photo's of the Santa..how do you have him anchored?
No snow here, went as quickly as it came.sooo hoping that we can hold out Neil mid December..would make for a shorter winter.


Look forward to the recipe for the scalloped potatoes..

Lordy, tired tonight..just walked through the door, bath running and I'll be in bed early! Put in almost 16 hrs non stop yesterday but got the lights up outside, decorated 3 trees inside and ne on front deck, emptied tote after tote..too stubborn to stop and finish this week..thought if I'm going to be in a mess might as well make it for I day only..looks so pretty.

Bath is calling

Betty .. I have not, nor will I EVER have your 'sticktoittiveness' .. I'm kind of a slow and steady typa gal .. do a bit here and a bit there and it all seems to work out in the end.

Am attaching the recipe for the scalloped potatoes .. very tasty .. only changes I made in the recipe was I used a cup of grated cheese for the topping, and, I used the Balsamic vinegar.

Will take a pic of the Santa next time I'm out to the garage .. it's held up by a rope behind it that catches a nail in the brick of the garage.

Off to watch Movie #2 ..

~M~

Just home .. whew .. what a day .. seem to need roller skates some days.
ANyway .. here's a pic of the Santa .. sad to say he some how lost a set of toes !!! Going to have to see if I can repair that

Cheers all

~M~

"M" he's adorable.. Perhaps not this year as you already have him hanging, you or DH could use saw and saw off his feet, re-cut the boots making them 4 -6 inches taller and screw to the back of his pants..if you are not sure you want to takle the painting send me what you cut off and I'll cut out new ones and pant them for you!

As for keeping up with me, my own making..have to learn to not take on as much as I do, especially when not well..that being said, I'd only lay on the couch and be furious with myself for wasting so much time

Anyone heard from Carole??

I'm here- have just been lurking.
Sorry to say I have bad news .
I had a CT and Bone scan last week because of the abdominal discomfort I have been having for a few weeks and heard some results on Friday but today got the whole story. The ductal cancer has returned and is mainly in my pelvic area ( not in the bones) It has caused some lymph nodes to swell and partially block the tubes from the kidney to the bladder which may create a problem and might require outside drainage ( hope not it does not sound pleasant) I am starting chemo tomorrow! Fast move! This chemo is different from what I had before and it will involve an injection once a week for 3 weeks and then a week off – I forgot to ask how long that will go on. I also have to have blood work every week the day before to be sure the blood count is back to normal. I remember when I had chemo before there were some problems with that and the chemo kept being delayed . Hope that does not happen again. Apparently this chemo does not produce such severe symptoms as what I had before but they will give me a prescription for nausea and my hair will fall out. Well it happens I just had it cut really really short so that is OK.Last time I had it shaved off before it started to fall out. Maybe I will try a wig this time- it was summer before so I just wore hats.

Cross your fingers for me please!

Omg, that is not what you wanted to hear for sure...you must be overwhelmed!!! They are indeed moving quickly and that is a good thing..will they see how chemo works before deciding on outside drainage?? They've come a long way with chemo, hoping that the after effects will be minimal. Do you have family living nearby? You will be not only in my thoughts but prayers as well

I don't have family here but I do have good friends and neighbors.

I will not agree to the drainage procedure until we see the results of the chemo- if the lymph nodes shrink then would not need the drainage. The oncologist did not sound very positive about having the drainage done.

Im so glad you've someone close by to watch over you! After undergoing chemo and understanding all the pro's and con's of having it done I'm sure you will along with your doctor consider all possible options..just don't know how you get through your days...it takes great faith. Sending soft hugs

Carol - definitely not what you wanted to hear. You've got hugs and Ts and Ps from here for sure. And as Betty said, it sounds as though you've got a good doctor guiding you.

Morning all,

ViolaAnn, sure hoping you didn't get hit with the freezing rain and snow they forecasted, looking at breakfast television and believe you may have, do be safe if you have to go out!

Carol, as I wake know you came to mind..morning prayers being said.

Mostly snow now and the storm is expected to be east of here by the end of the morning rush hour. I've had snow tires on for 2 weeks and my Audi is a Quattro - so I'm good. Hope the others who aren't will stay home till the roads are clear.

Well .. from the deep freeze to the PLUS signs .. a real roller coaster of weather here .. can't say as I enjoy the dampness, but, it doesn't have to be shoveled !

Carol .. all I can do is wish you the best, and, like the others on the forum, you'll be in my Ts and Ps as well.

Am considering a run to the border today .. there is ONE package there, but, I am expecting three .. so .. will check later this morning to see if the other 2 arrived yesterday.

Take care all

~M~

Had to drive on the cautious side this morning, not enough freezing rain to keep me home but icy conditions none the less! Waiting list a mile long to get tires on so I will try a few places in Barrie, hopefully someone can schedule me in for the snow tires shortly.

Have to check what USA city you are near "M"...it will be busy/busy with it being Thanksgiving weekend!

Beautiful, if damp day here .. made it to 8C .. tomorrow 10C .. then back to 'normal'.

Betty, nearest US city to Thunder Bay is Duluth Minnesota .. 330 miles south .. love going there, but, I must say I am NO good at driving in a strange city!! I do know Duluth fairly well, but, there is ALWAYS something under construction and road work which entails DETOURS .. next thing ya know you;re in Wisconson LoL.

Am hearing that shopping ONLINE on Black Friday (past midnite Nov. 25) is the way to go .. will be watching that's for sure ..

~M~

Carol - I've just read your post, and know that today you were going back to the Dr. How did the visit go?
Many thoughts & prayers going your way. Take care of yourself - glad to hear you have friends and neighbours nearby.....

Thanks for your call Susan.

My first chemo went very well- it takes about 2 hours as they give you several medications first ( by IV) to combat any problems the chemo might cause and then the chemo IV takes 1 hour.
They asked me not to drive in case I had any reactions so neighbors helped out but I was fine so next time I will drive myself.It only takes me about 10 minutes to get there ( although of course then I pay for a couple hours parking!)
Itook some snacks and a book with me but in the end I just dosed during the treatment as I had not slept well the night before and when I came home after some lunch I slept for two hours. But after that I felt really well and actually ate a full meal for the first time in weeks!
Next chemo is in one week and each time I have to get blood work the day before but I can get that done anywhere, dont have to go to the cancer centre.

Glad to hear all went well yesterday..no wonder you didn't get any sleep, I'd not as well..Hopefully you will not have any side effects. You are lucky you live so close to the hospital that provides chemo..lordy, here you have to travel to Toronto or to Sudbury both over 1 1/2 hr. drive

Carol
Many T's and P's are going your way from Edmonton.
Alberta Ann

Good to hear your first chemo session went well Carol .. fingers crossed your bloodwork remains stable and there will be no cancellations.

Did some visitng today .. my dear Aunt Fran is now in a home, Alzheimers has robbed her once vibrant mind, and voice .. she was a beautiful soloist .. the home is new, and the staff is nice .. I left after about 20 minutes as she was getting sleepy .. besides, she thought I was her daughter in law, not her niece. I'll go back closer to Xmas ..

Have a Palliative care workshop tomorrow, only 4 hours ..

Best get things straightened away here ..

TTFN

~M~

BOO YA ~~~~ we have snow !!! HEAVY wet stuff .. ugggg .. so happy to be able to call up the farmer fella and have him plow us out .. we can deal with the stuff on the patio and have a few times already !!
I guess it will be a WHITE XMAS !!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend

~M~

Omg "m" it's mid 50's here, please don't send it my way. They are calling for snow later this week though, am hoping it comes and goes as I'm taking mom to buffalo but not if it's snowing and blowing..

Sorry to hear about your Aunt,so hard on those visiting with her not knowing who they are..

Had a perm this morning, now I look like a grannie..then off to take sailor to the vets to have her nails cut..sad to say I got a quote on euthonizing ..wow, $500 which includes cremation..almost as much for a pet as is a loved one.

Up since 4:30 working on quilt, sitting here typing and I feel my head nodding..I had best get a move on!

Euthanizing is expensive. I think the lions share of the cost though is the cremation.
I hope Sailor will make it through this winter ..
My son has told me (I am NOT impressed) that Mojo, the wee Bulldog pup he rescued .. had a midnite liason with their UNspayed Boston Terrier Molly (who was in heat) .. so .. it's off to the vets for Molly tomorrow to see what can be done :-(
I was going to 'blow a gasket' but have decided it's a lost cause, what's done is done .. live and learn .. and.. if the cost to remedy the situation needs our help .. well .. MERRY XMAS !!
Life can just be so flippin interesting sometimes !!!

Happily, the snow has stopped falling .. I am sick of shoveling .. once the plow comes and cleans out the driveway, things will look better ..
Still so dark here ..

Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend ^_^

~M~

I do wonder what people are thinking when they have males and females and the females are not spayed,

We had a dog only 10months old surrendered to us a couple of years ago - he was not neutered and neither was another dog ( forget breed ) in the house - guess what - she had a litter of 6 pups to sell just before Xmas!

Things are going OK here - had a bad day on Friday but Sat was OK and today seems pretty good although it is early. Hoping I feel well enough to dom y shift at Lougheed House today- it is the annual Xmas show when all the rooms are professionally decorated . We dont do tours but are just available to answer questions so I can be sitting a lot.

Warm and windy here.

I hear ya Carol. When Murray and family got Mojo I mentioned the neutering issue. It was thought he was too young to impregnate a female .. WRONG assumption ..

Hope you are able to attend the Xmas show at LH, it'd be so pretty :-)

Made pancakes 'from scratch' this morning .. haven't done that in years .. there IS a difference !!!!

TTFN

~M~