What's Happening in YOUR neighborhood today #11

I like the World Vision Catalogue. Made a donation through it in the name of my handbell ringers last year. Also for friends with whom we exchange Christmas gifts. But they are shoppers and I am not. I always get them a Polar Bear Calendar - order two one for ourselves and one for them ( http://www.polarbeargallery.com/ ). But they always ended up getting more for us than we did for them; so I've started making a charitable donation but arranging for THEM to get the tax receipt.

And we make a charitable donation in honour of my sister and brother-in-law in Alaska. Costs us as small fortune to mail them something and they, like us, don't really need much any way.

Ann

Carol and Ann .. I, too, have done as you have a few times .. I usually give my donation to the local FireFighters 'Toys for Tots', and they are happy to provide a 'gifting' receipt for giving to friends. I find it quite a bog down at this time of year when friends .. actually acquaintences pop in with a gift you were totally NOT expecting ..

CURVES is on my New Years 'resolution' list .. I do have that treadmill here at home .. but .. I think Curves may be more beneficial .. I like the fact that they cater to the more mature woman .. and .. ONLY women ..

Well .. I should have kept my ol yap shut with regards to our lack of snow .. a steady snowfall started about 2 hours ago , and it is going to hang around for a bit. Ahh well .. the frigid temps have gone .. and I thank my lucky starts we aren't in Ottawa !!! SNOW plus no BUSES !!!

Off to look up a recipe ^_^

~M~

You're right. 30 cm or so of fresh snow and the first day of a city bus strike. I heard on the radio that people still aren't allowed to drive in bus lanes. I don't see why not if they've got a car full.

We have snow tires and we got out, but people with all season tires were stuck until the plow came by which wasn't until some time this afternoon.

I turned down a dinner invite before playing chamber music because I couldn't see myself trying to get across town at rush hour.

Ann

My gosh Ann .. the video and pics from Ottawa are incredible to say the least !!! It has to be rough for folks who depend on transit to get about the city, always feel bad for the collateral damage caused by a strike in the Public Sector.

It snowed enough to necessitate the use of the SNO BLOWER .. I was beginning to think the poor thing was NEVER gonna get a chance to roll its wheels !!
Blew all night, so, I can imagine there are some dandy drifts out there. Glad I am staying PUT today. Like it or not .. i THINK I am coming down with a cold :-( I certainly have armed all my bodlly defences .. so .. we'll see where it all leads !!

Take care all

~M~

Oh my we have had it easy here in Edmonton. It's back up to +3 after taking a short trip to -21 over night the other day. Our snow was very late and I think the plants were wondering where their blanket was.
At our curves we have a challenge right now between the am and pm crews , who can raise the most pigs. We have a catologue from World vision and everyone is putting their spare change in a pot. When there is enough to buy a pig , one gets put on the tree and of course gets bought at World Vision. I'm afraid the pm ladies are more piggy than the am ladies.
Anyway my family have been doing the other gifty thing for a while and it was a hoot to see my Mom and Dad open up theirs one year, it was an outhouse!
I always like to hear how other people are making a difference in the world, whether it's down the street or accross the ocean it can always inspire a new passion in an unsuspecting soul.
By the way Curves is fun. Carol , once you have been a few times you will start to see the same women and it will become a bit of a social thing and while you may not want to exercise you won't want to miss the visit!.
Ann , you are the person who decides if something doesn't work for you. There is one machine which bothers my neck so I skip it and do a leg one instead. You can modify most of the actions or slow them down very easily.
My baking is done!! Yahoo.
Bye for now Ann. (edmonton one)

Yep it has warmed up and been melting a bit the past day or too but apparently we are headed for a deep freeze starting Friday night -20's C they say. Guess I better get an extension cord out to plug the car in ( no garage) . Problem is all my outdoor lights are plugged into all the outdoor outlets so I will have to switch back and forth! And one of my outdoor outlets decided to die a couple of days ago. Got somebody coming sometime this afternoon to put a new one in. Hope he gets here before dark.

Once again we are promised 6 to 8 hours of freezing rain.It is snowing now but it looks like another day of school closers.I have three teacher in the family, They hate to miss another day of classesLOL. I hope we don't lose power. My orchids are all bloomingJOY

a FEW MORE

Joy .. the Orchids are wonderful .. how nice to have them to look out with weather like you're experiencing ..

We are back in the DEEP freeze here in Thunder Bay .. -32C at present .. always feel bad for Lilly and her wee paws.

I guess I am officially 'infirm' .. I have fought the good fight, but, I think that today I may just have to 'GIVE IN' to this cold .. it is squarely centered in my throat. My voice has gone on a little hiatus, and swallowing is NOT any fun at all .. will have to keep my fingers crossed it does NOT bloom into strep :-( I KNEW I should have been more vigilant with the PURELL after handling shopping carts !!!

TGIF ^_^

~M~

Good morning,

Day 3 of the transit strike. Yesterday was worse than the 1st day because on Wednesday there was so much snow that school buses were cancelled and many people stayed home with their kids or just because of the snow. I thank God I don't have to drive downtown in the morning. And I'm not likely to drive downtown at all on a work day during the strike because there's no place to park.

My aquafit group has breakfast/brunch after class today as we do on every 2nd Friday of the month.

Must write my Christmas letter today and there's lots to do around the house since I fired my cleaning people a couple of weeks ago.

Hope you all have a good day.

Ann

Get better soon Marilynne.
Ann in Ottawa you sure do keep busy.
The Alta girls, enjoy the warm stint as the cold is a comin.
Love those orchids Joy.
I'm home baking today. Yesterday I built a quasi GH to protect my tender palnts. I had 2 beach umbrellas stuck in the 2 biggest pots on each end, then covered the whole deal in plastic . I've got 2 300w lights in there providing light & heat.
Theres actually an advisory for a 'significant' amount of snowfall. Now don't laugh too hard, they're forcasting 2-4 cm.

Linda

We are predicted to have a snow storm starting this evening (5-10 cms predicted) and then temps plumating into the- 20's maybe even close to -30 at night for the next 3-4 days. So I went out to Curves this morning and to Safeway to get everything needed for baking etc so I dont have to go out this weekend and g uess what - it started snowing already! Not supposed to happen until this evening!
My outside outlet was replaced yesterday to the tune of $100.00 service call and this morning I sorted out the others so I dont have to plug and unplug to have the car plugged in - got that one on a remote so I can turn it on from the house! When I reprogrammed the lights after the outlet was fixed I didnt get them all right and was quite surprised to find the lights on the backyard spruce lit when I got up this morning. My neighbors must have been surprised too!
So I am planning to make cookies - paper had some good sounding recipes last week - I am going to try Chocolate Orange Pinwheels and Chocolate-Cherry Oatmeal with cranberries instead of dried cherries which are hard to find.
Stay safe and warm all!

Tuck yourselves in fellow Cowtowners. This is predicted to be a baddie. Stay safe and warm. ps I might just pop by carol's though for homemade cookies ^_^
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/index.php?product=alerts&placecode=caab0049®ion=wwcaab0006

Lawsie .. that weather report is nothing short of depressing for sure dhalia .. I think visiting Carol for cookies and tea might even be ill advised !!!

We are still in the deep freeze here ..and Lilly is babysitting me as we sit by the wood stove, funny how animals can sense and/or tell when a master/mistress is unwell. Fact of the matter is, when I opened my mouth to speak this morning, I was in the kitchen, Lilly was in the living room .. my voice came out as a croak/squeak/bass .. much deeper than usual .. now THAT was a HUGE emergency in Lilly's books and she came into the kitchen full tilt and barking to see who had invaded our space without her permission!!! When she realized it was me, well, she was very concerned .. LoL

Hope everyone west to east coast and in the middle .. has a fine weekend .. I think mine is going to be very low key !!

~M~

Just finished baking the Choc-cherry (cranberry)-oatmeal cookies - pretty nice especially when still warm - but I think you better stay off the roads Les! Even the dogs dont want to stay out more than a few minutes!

droooooool Ya I hear ya carol but I can smell your cookies droooool. Galeforce winds are carrying the aroma my way droooooool.

Carol - good idea - it took me 1.5 hours to get home - left work downtown at 2:30 and got home at 4:00. The roads are terrible.

Looks like we're in for a white Christmas for sure!

Joanne

Wow - lots of snow out there - figured I better go shovel the sidewalks since it might snow all night and then it would be a huge job!

Snowing in Thunder Bay as well .. but .. we are NOT expecting a huge amount. MAYBE 2-4cm ..

Was just out with Lilly .. thought the fresh air would make me feel better (it did) .. and .. the temps have CLIMBED !! I even made a snow angel .. I;m sure Lilly thought I had fallen LoL .. she was all over me .. so .. the 'snow angel' looks sorta like a big DENT in the snow !!! But .. I'm glad I did it .. the laughter made me feel better ^_^
Wet clothes dry .. and my hair was a tad on the messy side anyway :-)

Off to look up yet ANOTHER recipe .. then bed for me .. hopefully the 'coughs' will stay away !!!

~M~

The following message has graced my INBOX 4 times since about 0900 this morning. Never again will I call meteorologists 'Story tellers', unless , of course, this misses us as well.

I had thought I was cured .. felt wonderful this morning .. took Lilly for a walk, shoveled the patio, fed the deer and the birds .. and then .. BAM !!! I was back into bed for 2 hours !!! However, I do feel more up to snuff at the moment ... pretty hard to type with fingers crossed !!!!

~M~




WINTER STORM WARNING for:
City of Thunder Bay

..MAJOR WINTER STORM TONIGHT TO MONDAY MORNING.. THIS IS A WARNING THAT DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS.
ISSUED BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA
AT 11:58 AM EST SATURDAY 13 DECEMBER 2008


A MAJOR WINTER STORM BREWING OVER WYOMING WILL MOVE TOWARDS LAKE SUPERIOR BY SUNDAY. THIS WILL AFFECT NORTHERN ONTARIO WITH SNOW BEGINNING LATER THIS EVENING NEAR LAKE OF THE WOODS. THE SNOW WILL SPREAD EAST THROUGH THE WARNED REGIONS OVERNIGHT WITH HEAVY SNOW CONTINUING TO FALL THROUGH THE DAY ON SUNDAY. MOST REGIONS WILL SEE AROUND 10 CENTIMETRES OF SNOW FALL BY SUNDAY MORNING WITH AN ADDITIONAL 15 TO 25 CENTIMETRES OF SNOW BY MONDAY MORNING. REGIONS ALONG THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN SHORES OF LAKE SUPERIOR WILL SEE LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS SINCE THEY WILL BE CLOSER TO THE CENTRE OF THE STORM. THIS STORM WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY STRONG WINDS WHICH WILL CAUSE BLOWING SNOW REDUCING VISIBILITY AT TIMES. TONIGHT..COLD NORTHEAST OR NORTH WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 50 KM/H WILL PRODUCE COLD WIND CHILL VALUES NEAR MINUS 35 TO 40 PARTICULARLY OVER NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO WHERE A WIND CHILL WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR RED LAKE. THE FRIGID WIND CHILL CONDITIONS WILL RETURN SUNDAY NIGHT AND SPREAD EASTWARD AS THE STORM MOVES TOWARDS NORTHEASTERN ONTARIO. THIS STORM WILL MAKE TRAVEL DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS DUE TO THE SNOWFALL AMOUNT - REDUCED VISIBILITIES IN BLOWING SNOW AND COLD WIND CHILL VALUES FOR OVER 24 HOURS IN SOME LOCATIONS.

PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST PUBLIC FORECASTS FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

M. Thats probably the storm that we had here yesterday - said to be moving east along the border. and now we have an arctic front coming down from the north!
So I am home until Monday at least - have backed out of two things booked for Sunday. Making more cookies this morning - seems a reasonable thing to do when the weather is like this! Just went out to check the thermometor on the north side of the back porch - about -25C and there is a flock of chickadees flitting around the willow tree. No food out either. Guess I better trudge out to the shed and get out the sunflower seed for them.

The dogs have gone out twice the second time Bailey didnt even want to go out and then he just sat on the top step until I opened the door again! When they were younger they would go out and play and lie around even in weather like this. Old age tells!

Stay warm

Well .. we are still waiting for flakes ... and I will NOT complain that they have not appeared. Right now the weather is wonderful .. Lilly and I went for a nice walk .. it's mild and I am in seventh heaven coz I don;t have to worry about bears !!

Not much hapeening here today .. like Carol I did bake .. most of it to be donated .. has to be frozen though as the bake sale isn't until the 23rd.

Guess I should mosey on off to have a shower and then hit the pit ..

~M~

Carol you can still 'trudge' at your house? I'm now wading. Man its nippy.

Well see Les what I do is I take the snow shovel and make a path circling the back yard and also straight out to the shed area - takes about half the snow off and then thats where the dogs mostly run. And so I can trudge instead of wade!
But yup - it is nippy.

update from Victoria: it's snowing, and really blowing with arctic air. Windchill is about -10. I know, we're wussies.

Ha! It's -26C @ 10 pm here in Calgary and with the windchill -37C!!!
Victoria sounds down right balmy right now. LOL ;)

When my cat went out this morning, he made it about 5 feet and fissed at the snow & cold air, turned around and wanted back in the house. It was very funny.

My DH and I have just arrived home from his work's Xmas dinner dance and boy was it scary on the Victoria roads ! We left as soon as the word went around the hotel that it was snowing outside. There was a mass exodus because, as Linda said, we are a lot of wussies !
Heatherbelle

WUSSIES & SNOWIES UNITE LoL ... seems we are ALL true Canadians. I can't imagine SNOW in Victoria .. I know it happens .. but with accompanying frigid temps like that ??
Calgary .. keep pushin .. we are just starting to reap your cold and blustery inheritance .. once it gets light enough, I am sure I will be seeing major drifting .. hard to tell whether it's actually snowing out as it's still 'darker than the inside of a cow out there '!!
No one has checked in from Sask or MB, but, according to the weather channel they are experiencing EXTREME cold!!

Much as I hate to .. I am going to go outside before Lilly leaves her warm bed, I'll have to shovel her areas off .. sheesh .. what we won't do for these animals!! Smokey did the same as Joanna's cat .. shook his paw at the cold and scooted back in by the woodstove ..

Take care everyone

~M~

My cat is Smokey as well. I put an electric heating base in the dog house for little Todd (Pom) and he has an electric heated water dish. He loves to be outside, even if it's inside his warm dog house. I bought the stuff for Todd from Princess Auto. Even at -30C, the water did not freeze. I stuck my hand in the dog house & it is quite warm. He will probably come in when he smells the bacon cooking.

it's still snowing and blowing. there's a foot of snow and then there's at least a couple of 2 foot drifts i shovelled to get the car out. I was nice and toasty, I had my boots from when I lived & worked in the arctic. Cooper, our 3.5yo lab was crazy happy in the snow, good thing he's black and he pops up every once in a while.
Linda

Out to clean up after the dogs first trip outside this morning and the thermometer says -30! Bailey refused to go out, Fancy did but in a few seconds was limping around even though she was reluctant to come in - just cold feet! I was checking on one of my neighbors and she was talking to somebody in Moose Jaw and said WC was in mid 40's there.

Well .. HERE IT COMES .. the snow started falling in earnest about 40 minutes ago .. and the wind has picked up .. sooo it looks as though we will be getting a THOROUGH workout later today. The shoveling this morning was just a wee teaser !!

Had an email from relatives in Merritt BC .. they have about 3" of snow, but temps are not too bad ..

All in all .. this is a CANADIAN winter .. gotta luv it !!! ^_^

~M~

This chickadee flitting around in the willow tree outside the kitchen window! Not sure if he found anything but he was sure looking!

Here's my Christmas cat snuggled up under our tree...





Joanne

You know you are Canadian when you want it to warm up to -10!
LOL
We too are in a freeze and I'm glad we have a blanket of snow to protect my plants!
I have a very kind neighbor who allows me to park in her garage during the winter. I think thats because we do her walks and driveway for her. I'm quite happy with that exchange as going to work in a car I don't have to clean off is great!.
Jagonjune was helping me pick up a free piece of furniture this morning and her pup Zar (sp?) 90 lbs kept trying to be a front seat lap dog. It was just a hoot, he finally decided to sit at my feet but kept giving me the evil eye as I had his seat. Her van has heated seats and I think that's what he really wanted.
Cheers
Ann

Hi all - well I just came in to work at 6:10 pm and after being dumped on yesterday and more snow earlier today , it is now pouring rain and very mild 5+. The roads are so slippery with the slush on top of ice that it took a little longer to get here. I only live about 8 minutes from work, taking into account that I have to go through 4 stop lights. Thank goodness because I was a bit nervous (due to others driving way beyond what the conditions call for). It will be very slippery tomorrow morning going home but at 6:30am there isn't much traffic. It is supposed to drop to -10 for tomorrow. I would really like another mild day, but I don't think I'll get it. Well time to get back to work.
Sandra

DAWG !!!!!!!!!!!! We are in a MESS here .. 35cm of snow .. and -30C with the windchill .. I could handle the snow .. but teaming it up with bitter cold does not a happy person make !! We are gonna be busy Canadians today...

Hope you made it home OK this morning Sandra .. given my drothers . . I'd drother snow than rain !!

Guess I best get warmed up for the FIRST go round with the white stuff !!

~M~

~M~ you've got it worse, keep warm.

The wind ia atill howling. Last evening is the worst windstore I can remember. The house, built into bedrock on a steep hill would shake, windows rattled, and I was surprized to still have hydro. Our road is littered with fir tree branches, abandoned cars left where they got stuck, and lots of shingles. I hope the ones in our driverway aren't ours. We still have a windchill of -18 and my temporary green house has collapsed and covered with snow. I'm not holding any hope for the plants in there. We now have to decide if putting on tire chains will let us get out of our street come skating rink.

Linda in darn cold for victoria. Brrrrrr

Lost a post in cyberspace...

Mother Nature must be confused...blizzard conditions one day, more snow than in February...mild as can be yesterday, rain this morning and now temps are dropping rather quickly, calling for snow...

Did my family 'Christmas' yesterday...now I see everyone bustling around and am so pleased mine is over...well at least for today...lol...

Had a fright on Sat. morning... had to have my 'dressing-stuffing' in at the butchers on Sat. morning by 8:30..butcher de-boned it and stuffed it for me...had done about 8 floral arrangements on Friday night and needed more greenery..thought I might as well leave cleaning until all were done in the morning so off I went on back concession to look for 2 types of specialty greenery....so frigit, -24 I believe...was smart enough to bring snowmobile boots with me...knowing there are ditches along the roadside i decided to test the waters so to speak..yep, held me up, another step, yep..must be solid and flat ground...took a few more steps and found myself waist deep, no gloves/no hat and now I cannot move...

Now I'm in a fix, freezing, snowing and blowing AND I cannot move...traffic???? my car was the only one travelling the back concession..tried moving, tried getting myself out and each time I grabbed to support myself the snow would simply give way... after working for about 1/2 hr. back/forth fighting to get out I took a deep break when finally I managed to surface soaking wet...

Kind of frightened me.. what if I had not been able to get out, I'd have been there quite some time..stupid/stupid thing to do..

Going back to Christmas with family...was wonderful, most came Sat. night, we woke up as families do Christmas morning and opened gifts, spent the day enjoying each others company..

Mom managed to come as well..purpose of having an early Christmas was so she and I could leave for Florida on Friday..now that she had the mini stroke a month ago she cannot get insurance soooo guess that plan is behind me..could go on my own but not sure I want to...

have mega friends who would travel with me IF I was leaving Boxing Day but with having vacation starting on 19th none can come...

What to do, what to do...lol