December 2011 - Snow and Christmas!

I got some Wandering Jew (Judio Errante and Zebrina Pendula, they are all the same apparently, it has many names, they are all on the label!) starts to show! These 5 starts started out as cuttings Nov. 8th - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=8882088 It was funny on these, they never even drooped or wilted before they started growing, they always looked encouraging! They are doing very well it seems. I plan on making a bunch of them. I put one of them in a plastic-lined weaved basket from Savers, it was bought there for 49 cents. I got happ's, anybody else want one? Or I could mail a cutting, I can do a stamp, no problem. They are SO pretty, they make an awesome houseplant, and they are hard to kill. If they're anything like the all purple Wandering Jews that I also have, they are very hardy indeed, and not just cold hardiness. They are very tolerant of neglect. I had to neglect a big pot of Wandering Jew Winter before last because I had nowhere to put it except in an unheated garage with no light, (very little light that peeked thru a window that was sealed off, the WJ leaned towards that little bit of sunlight, and it was enuff). I had to do four houseplants that way that Winter and only one other houseplant made it, a pot of Aloe Vera also. So, in a way this is "Show and Tell". For anybody that might not know what "Show and Tell" is, it was a thing in Grade school here where kids brought stuff from home to show the other kids! I don't know if they did that everywhere. Tell your kids not to take Dad's gun to school!
Will

My grandma gives us a basket of that every year and we kill it every year. lol

Will,
"Worth the deliciousness!'' Cracking up!

Smart move with the foil. I think the reflected light also confuses some bugs that like to hide underneath a leaf, because they can't find the dark side.

Happ,
It looks like I wasn't the only one who had to walk away for a while.

Will,
Once you try the sprayer, you will work it just fine. Remember all the things you already do. It shouldn't be bad and the shed will be painted in no time.
The thing to do is get it all put together and then set it aside. Read the instructions and set them aside. In a few days you will get the urge to paint and with a bit of review, off you go :o)

Awesome Great Uncle!!

Pepper,
I started taking Zinc and I think my sinus is much less for it. It's more like a cold.

Will,
I got my flu shot and I honestly felt pumped after. It was a good month ago. Sept. 30th to be exact. I never felt a bit sick. I can tell you I am NOT having H1N1 ever again!!

Birder,
Your 15 people make me nostalgic for the Thanksgivings we used to have. We had the biggest house so everyone came. I have great memories of those days, sigh...
We're doing pork loin for Christmas :o)

Will,
Sounds like shady people checking you out. Awesome on the TV and camera! I doesn't hurt to let people know you're home either. We flip on the outdoor lights at all times, but, we are usually looking to see if the outdoor cats are home, LOL! Being predictable gets you robbed.
Grinning over the intent in Grubworm's eye :o)
It is a cool picture!
Those are vwery nice plants for the money!

Rusty,
I hope you made some profit. Shipping is terrible anyway!

Pepper,
Grandma will be thrilled with her island. Funny how the deals are only for certain things. I wonder if most is discontinued or overstocks?

Will,
It sounds lke one of the flus. I hope you're over it by now. I too hate wasting time being sick!

Rusty,
Before my sinus set in I had one night of sore throat. It's good to know of products that work.

Will,
Smith Brothers or Ludens wild cherry are like candy. Halls icky stuff is a cough drop :o)
Nice car memories and cracking up over the dream!

I don't even want to consider an ice storm! What a mess you cleaned up!

Ouch on the poor arborvitaes!

I had show and tell!

Those are nice starts. I can't have plants with my cats :o(

Snow taken out of our forcast down here and instead it will be all rain. Darn it!!!!!

I'm gonna make quite a few of those if you wanna try another one, Pepper! Well, billyp, nice to see you again! Thanks billyp, but I think its too cold now to paint outside, so alas, I've procrastinated too long yet again!

You felt pumped after a flu shot billyp!? I want a flu shot there! Yeah, shady people skulk around I'm afraid! I can call the police as well as anybody, but I don't know if The Keystone Cops will be much help!

Grubworm gets very naughty indeed! She has charged Bucky several times and swung at him, but Bucky is twice as big as her. As soon as he swings back, she runs off. We don't encourage them to get in squabbles, one of these times Grubworm will likely get hurt or one of them will get relieved of an eye, Grubworm sneaks up on Bucky! He usually sees her, but she stalks him.

It is cold indeed, I'm kinda glad they took the snow out of the forecast, I think it's 100% chance of rain tomorrow, here is our 7 day forecast. - http://www.nbcactionnews.com/subindex/weather/forecast/7_day_forecast . Rain I can do, I don't have new tires yet!

Thanks Sally, I hope those starts stay nice. There is several cats here, but that doesn't stop me from having houseplants. I know there are quite a few "poisonous to pets houseplants". Grubworm eats on that Wandering Jew regularly, it's probably one of them on the poisonous list, but it doesn't seem to faze her. I hung it from the ceiling but she stretches up there to eat on it. I try to keep the poisonous to pets ones out of their reach, but they always get to them and it never seems to faze them. I'm not trying to kill them or anything, I like the company of cats!

Thanks, I wish I was all the way over it, I feel okay but I still cough quite a bit, that part won't go away so fast! Mucus in my lungs seems to be hanging around too. It may be a week or so from now even before I'm back to the normal routine of robbing liquor stores and holding up banks in my Ronald Reagan mask, just a joke!

I did some raking today but I have a long way to go! I've filled I think 8 leaf sacks so far and I will prolly fill 40 or 50 before I'm done. The leaf stand thing in the photo is a big help. They were proud of that thing at the store, ($24.99) but I had to have it!

Pepper,
We have to pick the boys up in the rain today. Now, I'm kind of wishing it was snow instead :o)

Will,
Now you know how to break down the painting next year :o)
Cats, you can't ''herd'' them too much.
Mucinex is the one med that actually works on the lungs. I keep it on hand!
I'll bet you get more cash from the liquor store than the bank!
I like your leaf stand. I wonder why you can't leave the leaves on the street side? Especially since they seem to be mulching the shrubs.

We get the boys today so I'll be a bit of a no show again.

Will, you need to find a way to keep those leaves and turn them into compost. Maybe get some pallets, wire them together and store the leaves in there. There is never a thing as too many leaves if you are a true gardener!! lol. You can also run over them with the mower to chop them up then use as mulch.

We may get our snow on Friday. As long as it's Friday and not Saturday when it hits. I have a hockey game on Saturday that I'm going to and really don't want to drive in a snowstorm after dark. That's my only exception to the snow. lol

Haha! We do got a small herd of cats! Remember that Super Bowl commercial from the past?! In that commercial, budweiser I think, all these housecats are running in a herd like horses! I'd love to keep those leaves but my friend here would be saying, "why are the leaves still here?"! I'd be all for leaving the leaves too, way less work! Haha! More from a liquor store eh?! Probably so, I'll make a fine homeless guy, I don't drink!

How about this mess that the cable installer left for us about a month or so ago? I took a photo of it yesterday. He tried to hide it behind a Dwarf Alberta Spruce bush but we were bound to see it eventually.

I ditto Pepper. Leaves are gold!

Cracking up over your snow exception!!!

Will,
Sheesh, he didn't have a twister tie?

Busy day today. I need to get the rest of Christmas set out inside. I love inside jobs :o)

Yeah, leaves are gold! I'm gonna have plenty of opportunity to get some because curbside pickup of yard waste ends Thursday and I won't have nearly all of them raked up by then. I'll have probably 30 sacks or more of leaves to keep if I want. I might lobby for one of those leaf-blowers that vacuum and shred leaves into tiny bits, they're only $99 at Home Depot. It would be way to slow to do the whole yard like that but I'm sure it would be okay to do that for a couple sacks of leaves. I'd like to get something like mulched leaves maybe to help insulate some Banana 'Basjoo's from the cold, the leaves would do the job I think.

That cable installer guy was a jackbutt! For examples, he took off the ceiling tiles in the rec. room and just left them off, he missed the appointment for the installation by an hour and a half and of course the mess with the cable in the yard, that he left for us to do something with. My friend here says we should complain some more now with the pic I got 2 days ago. I told a customer service lady back then that I was about to poke him in the eyes like the The 3 Stooges and she gasps and she said she should have him disciplined, "he shouldn't be representing Comcast", she says. Even back then was only about 2 months ago. I hate to get people in trouble like that, but he messes people's houses up. When he had the ladder up against the house, my pretty, variegated, Hosta leaves were poked thru the rungs of his ladder, he had been stepping on the leaves, before I got it!

Oh, he likely had a tie he coulda put on the cable at least, but I guess he'd rather try to hide a loose pile of cable behind a bush.
Boy, I'm glad I put that plastic sheet over the waterpond!



This message was edited Dec 6, 2011 4:47 AM

I know I mentioned me being homeless up there, but I'm not going to be homeless. Actually, it did come close to it, but my friend here didn't want me to go. I won't air my problems like that anymore, I am sorry.
What it was, is her Sister is now here visiting and her Sister has a big dislike for me. The Sister is in big denial about everything that I do here. I had made arrangements to leave, Sunday afternoon being my departure day. They had a big blowout this morning in my favor. My friend here knows who helps her in a big way and it's not that Sister from Virginia, it's me. I'll be surprised if that Sister doesn't leave early now. I don't plan on exacerbating it or anything, there is a lot of tension now. For ex. of the Sister's atrocities, before that, she was taking my plants out of the window, (depriving them of sun), that burned me up. I told my friend, "can I just ask that you stop giving her clearance to go over all my stuff?" It was my decision to be homeless. I couldn't take it the way my friend was choosing sides with her Sister, (who does absolutely nothing for her). I cover between 3 and 6 hours a day, watching their Mom (when nobody else can be here to do it), not to mention the extreme home improvement and housework I've done and do and running to her Mom's side the hundreds of times that I've done, (at all times of the day and nite). When it came down to me leaving my friend was crying and hugged me and told me she didn't want me to go.
Psychologically, I think the Sister just has regret about not ever helping her little Sister like I have and doesn't want to believe that someone else is doing it, so she is trying to push me out. Blood should be thicker than water, I respect that their Sisters, I haven't rocked the boat at all, I don't think the Sister even knew that I was on the verge of leaving, I never made a big stink to her (or in her presence) about it. Oh, you should've heard the yelling this morning. I have a place in Kansas to go to if I need to, I wouldn't be sleeping on a park bench or anything, (at least not for a while..lol).
I was all ready to head out, I got 4 new tires, a 12 volt heater for my cigarette lighter and a new car battery for my car. Actually, I did think I might have to possibly live in my car until I built a structure on my property in KS.
But, all is well, the Sister just don't speak to me now. I didn't like the facade friendship she was trying to have with me anyway, I knew she didn't like me, now it's out in the open.
But I am sorry, this is not the place for me to air my dirty laundry.

On a somewhat brighter note, we got our first snow of the year. It's only maybe a dusting, but it's something!

Hi all! Life has been busy--but that's the way I like it. Uh Huh, Uh Huh! Some of you "may" recognize the song. :)!

BP: You are going to have pork loin! How are you going to prepare it? I brined mine, and then smoked it. It was a cold day, so it took a while to get completely cooked. I didn't care for the smoked pork loin too much. So, I am wondering how you are going to prepare yours. I have another pork loin in our freezer, so will be making another one somehow.

Will: Promise yourself you will get a flu shot next year. We get one every year and haven't had the flu since....well, hey, I can't even remember the last time we had the flu. Of course, I know that could certainly change.

We had some snow once this year already. We don't usually get snow until January. It melted as the ground was way too warm. However, we have had lousy weather for about two weeks now: over cast, mist, wind and cold, cold, cold.

I got up in the attack to get the outdoor lights. I put them on our shrubs only to find out the lights would not work. My husb. and I went over each light and replacing burnt out bulbs--still no lights. So, we threw them away. Bah! I bought some more lights, but I am not sure I am going to put them up or may take them back. The lights sure don't seem to last very many years. Humbug! If anyone has any good tips I am listening.

Well, my tree is decorated, wreaths are up/out and decor is on tables etc., and gifts are wrapped and under the tree. My Christmas letter is written, but I need to address the envelopes and write a little note in them. Then, I am done. I don't think I am going to bake a lot of stuff this year. We sure don't need to be eating it. I do have potato water waiting for me to make cinnamon rolls. I will probably do that. I do enjoy making yeast breads, rolls, and sweets. I have always baked different favorite Christmas cookies, but I am not going to do that this year. Bah! We end up going on a diet and then, they don't get eaten. Humbug!

I have a little white flower bulb blooming outside. I could not believe it is blooming. I meant to take a picture of it today, but forgot until it was too late--dark outside. I really don't know what it is. I thought it was Galanthus, but it doesn't bloom this early, and the shape it not quite right. It's kind of flat star shaped - not bell shaped. The leaves look like daffodils. I checked for an early white daffodil but did not find anything. The flower is quite small-maybe an inch.

Birdie

Well, Will, there's about two weeks before the Winter Solstice and then, the days will slowly start getting longer.

Will, at least you know that your friend knows what all you do to help her. The sister, who may hate it, now knows too.

I want more snow!! LOL. The next snow won't be much either. It will be all up north of 36 hwy. Blah.

Hehe! Yes, two weeks then more daylight! Then, by gosh, we'll be able to see the snow!! All kidding aside, then Spring is just around the corner! Oh, I'll get a flu shot this year still, I don't want no steenking killer flu!
I'll be getting flu shots from now on. I remember that song!
Yeah, my friend here knows what all I do. Her Sister won't believe ever, I don't think, how much I help out here, she is in total denial. I think she hates me more than ever for being here and "coming between them".
She is the one that rocked the boat, not me, I never said anything hateful like she did. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be eating anything that she prepares! I saw this new thing on tv for renewing a string of Christmas bulbs that have one bad bulb making the whole thing useless. I forgot the name of it but it's an "As seen on tv" thing.
Will

birder, is your flower a crocus? If so it is to bloom in the wee days of cold early spring, not the cold early days of winter...rofl. It is one of the first flowers I have up and out in early early early spring.

Lots of friends, family and coworkers have had the flu and most have had a flu shot. New strain so they are saying. I have a cold but no flu.

I have been Christmas shopping, and I love Christmas, altho this year I am late decorating, late wrapping, late cooking cookies, tick tock tick tock. I am usually decorated by the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so I am way late.

Will good thing you covered your pond. I have got to get out and put the heater in mine and hope I haven't killed the fish yet.....I have been sick with this cold and just couldn't bring myself to go out after I get home from work in the dark with the cold winds and get it all plugged in. The next problem is I need to make sure the new puppies don't chew on the chord.....

Happ: Nope, it's not a crocus! I forgot again to take a picture. I must remember tomorrow. I will write myself a sticky note and put it on the microwave. We use that every day. The leaves and stem is about 12 inches tall and the leaves look like daffodil leaves. I have crocus and really like them as they are a harbinger of spring.

We have one radio station that plays all Christmas music. It sure puts you in the holiday spirit.

I listen to not so good Christmas music at work everyday, all day. lol. It's the "canned" version as we all call it. lol. The music on the radio is better but I have a hard time listening to it since I've been listening it to work since day after Thanksgiving. I try though!! LOL

More snow coming tomorrow night!! Whoo hoo!! Still a dusting but I'll take it!!

I too am glad I covered the pond, but now it's all frozen! I want to take that plastic cover off, but get the leaves out first, but it's all frozen! I'd also like to put the waterlily root-mass thing down to the very deepest part of the pond which I'm quite sure it's not at now. It's supposed to get up to 50 degrees Sunday, I'll try to get it all done then, if it's not too late.

I did some more raking today. In this photo, you can really tell the difference between a 1994 car (blue, mine) and a 2011 car (white, not mine..lol) Tomorrow is the last yardwaste pickup of the year here. I've only raked up maybe 20% of all the leaves, I'll probably need to take the rest to the landfill in my trailer. I've set out about 6 more yardwaste sacks, but there is about 40 to go!

I can attest that feeling under-the-weather does hold you back from doing stuff! I was outside today just walking around my planted plants. I hope my vision of a yard that looks like a million bucks in my mind comes true next year! It looks like such a mess right now! That visiting Sister must look at it and think, "geez, what a mess he has made"! She won't be here long enuff to mess my yardwork up and upset me some more, so I should be okay there.

I like Christmas music too, it's comical how when you go shopping that's all you hear!

For anybody that has been following my stories of the elderly, disabled lady, unfortunately, she isn't talking, eating or drinking. By saying that here, it's not like I am telling anything that might insensitively surprise family members out there, her family is all here, it's only 2 people, 2 daughters.

I log out of DG now, so no chance that the Sister will see what I type.

Will



This message was edited Dec 7, 2011 9:09 PM

I always wonder how people that work in retail can stand Christmas music by the time Christmas gets here.

Here's the picture of the blooming flower bulb. I am sure it's a daffodil. I was just puzzled as it's the wrong time of year for a daffodil to be blooming! I wish I knew which cultivar it is. Note the width of the flower compared to the width of the leaves. If anyone knows which one this is, let me know. The flower is flat rather than a "trumpet". There's a little white "ruffle" around the center. It's so cute and such a surprise in December.

Here's another picture. I believe it's better.

Definitely a daffodil!! It must be confused. lol

That is a daff! Keep an eye on it, you may end up with a "sport" maybe a reblooming fall and spring. I would love to have fall blooming daffs. Could be your path to riches.... ;)

Sorry to hear about your friends Mom, hope they make it thru the holidays, it is always hard no matter how well you think you are prepared. My nephew was so afraid something would happen to my Mom on his birthday, but luckily she made it past that point and time.

Tree is up with lights, but that is about it. I will be a busy busy girl this weekend....heavens how do I get so far behind.

Has anyone ever had daff bulbs that didn't get planted? What happens if they freeze? I bought some and just don't have time to plant them and wanted to store them in an unheated shed.

Happ, if your ground is not frozen dig one hole and put them in it. I think they are so much better off in the ground. I just ordered some bulbs at a huge discount and plan to plant them. P. Allen Smith says you can plant bulbs as long as the ground is not frozen. If it were me, I would just bite the bullet, dig the hole, put a marker in them and be done with it. It would probably take no more than thirty minutes of your day. I always feel better once I get them in the ground--somewhere. I lose the nagging guilt.

Yes, it's a daffodil, but I was thrown off because it was blooming in the fall--Late fall! Oh what fun! And it's such a cute little thing!

I made gumbo last night. We always had it on Christmas Eve or within three days of Dec. 25th. when Dad was living. He always made it. I tried to keep the tradition going but my son doesn't like seafood and there's a couple of others that don't like it. Then, you have to make two soups and on and on. Plus, the family doesn't get together for Christmas since the folks are gone. I made the soup early as my son will be home for Christmas and I'm not having it when he is here.

Sorry to hear about the elderly lady. She's like a part of the stories on this web site. I think the best thing would be t keep quiet, stay out of the way and be supportive by your actions: like making meals (even if they are simple), keeping the house clean, and offer to run errands. Hugs to your friend are nice too! :)

I have Nandina bushes I can look at from my living room window. The berries are very bright red-orange and huge clusters. So nice. The berries on my beautyberry are a gorgeous red-violet. They have turned a deeper color now that it is freezing outside.
The berries on the Brandywine start out white, then pink, then light blue, dark blue and now dark navy blue. This is the first fall we have had it and it has been fun to watch the berry color progression.

Birdie

Daffodils this time of year! How cool! The elderly lady passed away yesterday here at home, she wasn't alone when she passed. Thanks happ and birder, she was an interesting lady.
I do that stuff you said most of the time birdie, I gave my friend about 5 hugs since yesterday. I am sorry to hear about your Mom happ, losing family members stinks too. I'm kinda glad I'm the oldest kid.
Will





This message was edited Dec 11, 2011 6:24 PM

Sorry to hear about your friend's mom. At least she is at peace now.

Thanks pepper.

I swept the leaves off the porch and did some dishes, nothing much exciting. Yesterday, I did some gutter cleaning. I kinda procrastinated on that, now my fingers get as cold as the dickens! I come in after every few feet of the gutter to let my fingertips get feeling back! It's my own fault for putting it off so long! I'm almost done, I have maybe 20 feet of gutter left. Well, only a few more days then Winter Solstice! I got a pic of my gutterjob, it's a pic of something! I wish I had a pic of a pretty flower, but not yet! Spring is just around the corner tho! Oh happ, we were in East Independence doing some shopping this morning and we went by the old Indep. airport and it's just a field except those 2 Oak trees and a housing development further up on that property to the North. I heard the owner man of that airport restaurant with the good pies went to a restaurant in Independence called The Big Biscuit.
Will

The Big Biscuit is on Old 40 across from Stevenson's. Never eaten there but it's been there a loooooonnng time!! Heard good things though.

I haven't gone down in the old airport area since before the bridges were done. I don't really want to see the damage. I hate the airport is gone just so they could heavily develop the area.

Oh, The Big Biscuit is good! It's always packed with people. It is good eating, I've been there for breakfast several times. You have to fill up your stomach there, the food is too good, you can't stop at just a little!
Yeah, East Independence, or eastern Jackson County was touted as going to have a "population explosion" and "everybody is moving there". Well, I don't think their moving there that fast! I think alot of development was done but not that many people out there as they thought. We went to Bed, Bath and Beyond in that shopping district North of I-70 and West of Little Blue Expressway and we saw at least 2 businesses that were recently closed. Maybe they had relocated or something, but they were closed for sure, O'Charleys and On The Border. There is some population growing out there but I think it's happening slower with less people than they thought. It's probably still people that don't have that much extra money anyway. The new airport people were probably thinking, "oh, there's gold in them hills!". I remember, years ago, when they were hunting a location for The Independence Events Center, an investment company bought this one prime tract of land in East Indep. with the sole purpose of gouging whoever wanted to buy it. The city of Indep. wanted it for the Events Center but wasn't paying the inflated price. I think the city was going to drop the hammer on them for gouging. I forgot what happened exactly but I think the city passed on that plot of land.

Merry Christmas 2011 and Happy New Year 2012...

Tree looks great Rusty!!

Now that is Christmasy Rusty! HO HO HO!
I had a rude awakening yesterday when I figured out next Friday is the 23rd and I am not done, not done decorating, not done shopping, not done wrapping, not done baking (actually haven't even started that...rofl). Geehz, where did December go, now if the rest of the winter will fly by I will be happy!

Hope everything is going good for you Will, and your friend is doing good. Our family made it thru Thanksgiving just fine and we even had a good time, I was really worried, now with Christmas fast approaching I am a little concerned, this was my Moms favorite holiday, so she would not want us sad and I sure don't want to be sad but it has already been hard at times, but mostly good.

I signed up for pottery classes at the Red Star Studio for the month of January. I got a groupon coupon for 1/2 off. That studio is in the building where I work, so I can just go downstairs and be there. Always wanted to try it. I really want to make some vases that actually work for flowers.... ;)

Will, if anything, set the bags of leaves around the house for insulation. I know, it might look tacky, but it might keep some cold air out too.

People who treat their jobs like they don't care don't need to be working that kind of job. He should be foired. There was no reason to not be careful of the Hosta. It sure didn't look like a weed.

Grinning over the leaves NOT in the pond!

Hey, if you can't mention things like that to us..... Getting a little sympathy never hurt anyone :o)

I think your friend knows just how much you do, plus you're good company. If you never did anything but sit on the couch it would be a whole 'nuther story.

Birder,
Uh huh uh huh!

Well, I came across a recipe where you drape bacon over it and bake. Simple! You went to the extreme, but I'll bet your's was delicious!

1 1/4 # loin
3 scallions trimmed, cut lengthwise
5 strips bacon

Slit the pork lengthwise and lay the scallions inside. Fold up. Wrap the bacon around.

Rub 1/2 t. pepper and 1T. sugar over the bacon.

Roast at 425* 20 mins or to 150*. Let stand 10 minutes.

I'm not doing the scallions.

Lights have improved over the years. We are now buying the LED's. When we take them down, DH unwinds and I loop over my arm. We secure with zip strips and hang in the garage till next Christmas. We ALWAYS plug them in before hanging. Learned the hard way to do that!

Grinning, I just used my potato water for refrigerator rolls :o)
We don't need to eat either, but that isn't going to stop me from baking.

If winter goes as fast as November and December, we will be seeing spring! Wooo Hooo!

Pepper,
STILL waiting for snow?

Will,
DH saw the same commercial but can't remember the name either, LOL!

Happ,
I have the same cold I got the day after Thanksgiving. Dang Grandsons!

Will,
Her time may be coming to an end. Peace to her.

Birdie,
I think Daffodil too, and what a great suprise!

Food traditions are nice and at least you had the satisfaction of making it after all.

Yes, she is part of us isn't she.

Your berry colors sound so wonderful!

Will,
I am so sorry. I know she was a part of your life too. At least the sister was here. She can be glad for that.

Rusty,
What a cute little tree all shiny and bright!

Happ,
Did I miss your Mom's passing?

Yes nice outdoor Christmas tree, Rusty. If that's a Spruce, pretty soon you'll be climbing up it to put lights in it! Thanks happ, everything is okay here. The elderly lady loved Christmas too.
I agree, I hope they disciplined that Comcast installer guy, I think he was pretty inept. Haha, leaves are everywhere, I'm going out in a while to try to get the leaves out of the pond before they get frozen in there, which will look like poo! That's very true, I have virtually turned my friend's life around by helping out here, her Mom always dis-allowed me for years, (and nothing ever got done), but I was eventually able to help not only my friend but her Mom as well in their time of need. Yes, sympathy is good indeed! Thanks, she was a good woman, it wasn't nearly all bad, like I've said on here of her berating me and all, I was just being funny at my own expense. I can't even count all the times I fed her by mouth, held her hand, or gave her drink at 3 am, we were never short or nasty with her, she was a queen. It's unfortunate how things had to end, there was no violence, things got verbally nasty, I shouldn't say much, it's depressing.
If there is another piece of advice that I can give to anybody, it is this: If you have an older family member out of state or long distance, (or any age), visit them as often as time off and finances will allow, send supplies and much money, show you care in all respects.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

YES!!! I'm still WAITING!!!! It's raining now. I'd rather it snow. I'm having trouble with hydroplaning in this winter rain. Snow is much easier to drive in. lol. Well, kinda anyways. LOL

The boys gave me a cold. Arrrrgggghhh! I've had something since Thanksgiving! I'm drinking my tomato juice. I even got up last night for a glassful, LOL!

Will,
There isn't an unkind bone in yur body so don't think for a minute we didn't get the jokes :o)
The sister forgets that she wasn't around to help her sister out, and you were. She'll have to deal with it when she goes home.

Pepper,
Grinning. You want perfect snow. I must confess with Christmas lights up, I'd like to see snow on the ground too.

I am so glad we raked the tree mess out of the flower bed or all those sticks and sawdust would have eventually froze to the ground till next spring. Right now they would be in mud!

So warm and humid this morning, strange. Hope some of my early flowers don't think it is spring, they probably feel like winter really flew by...rofl. Last night on the wet roads people were crashing and burning left and right, good grief. If it doesn't rain or snow every day these crazies forget how to drive.... ;(

Well may have found homes for my two strays, both going to one home. Fingers crossed they came out last night or the wife did and the husband and her will pick them up on Thursday. They just moved out on 16 acres and I think he must travel and I am guessing they want dogs there with her. They are good pups, and so lovey. I have them sitting, they know when I drive up I won't pet them unless they sit. So when she drove up they came around the house and DH told them to sit and down they went..... ;) That is the only thing they know...rofl.

Thanks for the kind words, billyp. I don't mean to sound like I'm tooting my own horn up there by saying I helped my friend alot. I'm just in the process of helping her out of a big, overwhelming household rut here at home.
I went out and tried to scoop some leaves out of the pond, it is easier said than done I'm afraid, it's hard not to fall in head-first! I too, have had a cold or something since shortly after Thanksgiving, whatever it is is hanging on. Last nite, I musta sweat out a couple of buckets, my arms were just covered in sweat as well as everything else. I've been changing shirts most nites.
I bet they really like getting obedient stray dogs, happ. I don't think I've ever had a dog that would sit.
It will soon be cold enuff to snow, Pepper! Today, it is quite warm and muggy, it is 61º now! - http://www.nbcactionnews.com/subindex/weather/forecast/7_day_forecast
I might try later to get more leaves out of the pond, I might just get all nuts and just take the plastic sheet off, the leaves are done falling!
Will

Bring the snow on!!! LOL!!! My brakes much prefer snow over rain. LOL. RIght now my brakes are super sensitive since they are pretty wet. Touch the petal and I'm skidding.

Oh Happ,
It sounds like a wonderful home for them! Finally, a true ''going to live on a farm'' story with a happy ending.
When we were icy last week, same story. Idiots!

Will,
You don't toot, LOL!!
I'm sure she appreciates a handy guy around the house. She knows how much time, trouble and money you have saved her.
I haven't sweated yet, so mine is just a cold, or a touch of sinus. I took night time Coricidin (sp?) last night, slept like a baby and have no signs of a cold today. Yesterday, I was disgusting, with sneezing, being plugged then nose running. If I didn't pass it on to the babies I'll be suprised. Who knew that was going to happen! I took cold capsules that morning too.

Pepper,
No wonder! We can't have that! Especially on your gravel roads!