Saturday February 19

[Shirlv]

Morning All, still windy here so feels chilly. Woke up at 5am, refuse to get up in the dark so finally fell asleep again. Now still drinking coffee and in my lounge wear. Lol. Will move the lettuce out in the sunshine and wrap a black trash bag around pot hoping it will help warm the soil. I try to find something to post but it is hard to do if you lead a limited life. I didn’t realize but guess my hobby is gardening. Hope I don’t bore everyone who could care less about dirt and pots. I watched a video of a woman help her mom decorate her garden shed and even had a chandelier. How fun is that. I would love a garden shed with a chandelier. Be safe

Beth, I think your casita needs a chandelier.

[Acadianmom]

Shirl, I know women that have chandeliers in their vintage campers. One of the groups I belong to have the themed campouts and you should see all the decorations they travel with. I am not into dressing up to camp so just watch. Most of their campouts are in East Texas so I don't go much anymore but am camping with them in May in Louisiana. There is usually one campout in Louisiana every year. Next weekend my Louisiana group is having a Mardi Gras campout and are wearing Mardi Gras gowns one night. Not going to that either. I'm sure I could get a gown if I wanted to but no.

The first cruise I went on was with my son, brother, his ex-wife, his daughter, and couple of her friends. They brought Mardi Gras gowns to wear on the cruise. One night there was a cocktail party to meet the captain. By this time I had learned not to wait on them. My son and I went to the party and they finally showed up after it was over. They were late for everything.

I'm still eating the rolls I made the other day. I was trying to open a jar of jelly this morning to put on a roll and couldn't get the jar open. I have some giant pliers in the camper so had to go out there to get the jar open. The cats were happy because they got fed early. I don't know what I'll do today. If I can find the pruning shears I need to prune the roses. That's suppose to be done in February. My Mr Lincoln died so need to go by a nursery the next time I go to Lafayette. If I wait too long they sell out of all the good roses.

Martha

[Othersharon]

Good morning Shirl and all to follow. They’ve been warning about snow squalls all morning and it just hit! Hard and fast, went from a bit of sun to total whiteout and now clearing a bit. Just wow! I had quite a day yesterday. Realized temp in the house was down and furnace wasn’t kicking on. I checked all the things I knew to check but all was good there so called my furnace guy. Left a message and waited for a return call but instead he just showed up about half an hour later! He ran his checks and finally found the float for water level (steam system) was stuck. A couple of well placed “taps” and it immediately turned on. Plus I had him replace a couple of thermostats since he had them and old ones were very old and acting up. So all that was good but then later in the day it quit again so this time I “tapped” it and it’s still working. I will notify him to see what we need to do next. He and I talked about it and the next step is going to be super messy and probably super expensive. Not what I want to hear but I kinda like staying warm all winter! So that on top of Rascal having me up at 4:30 in the morning and I couldn’t get back to sleep it just wasn’t a good day. At least I slept last night! I did manage to go to the store yesterday afternoon and managed to get a couple of turkey thighs! Mentioned wanting them to the fellow stocking the meat and he said to wait a couple of minutes and checked in the back. Apparently I caught them cutting up some turkeys so he brought out two of them for me as I had requested.
Velda, hope you’re feeling better. Karen, glad that you are starting to feel more like yourself. As I’m writing this the wind is still howling but the sun is trying to make an appearance. Crazy weather! I had wanted to go drop off my taxes today but think I’ll just wait a day or two! Temps are supposed to go up into the 50’s for a few days before winter returns by the end of the week. So that’s all the news I have. Exciting life I lead. lots of laughs! Hope everyone has a good weekend and stay warm and safe.

[Shirlv]

Martha, I never have a problem opening jars (probably just jinxed myself) I use a can opener, the kind that has the pointy end (church key) to punctuate a can. Use the point to wedge under the lid and lift slightly which releases the vacuum. I also use a piece of nonskid rubber shelve liner to unscrew lids. Hope I explained this so you understand.

[Acadianmom]

Shirl, I tried the can opener but that wasn't working. This was homemade jelly my sister gave me and I think the lid was rusty.

Sharon, I don't know why everyone but me can find turkey thighs. I still check every time I go grocery shopping. The stores here get the turkey parts already processed somewhere else. I would be really worried if I had your weather and the heat wasn't working.

Martha

[Colliemom]

O’Sharon, you are getting the front that just came through here. We got about 5 inch’s of snow and strong winds whipped it all over. It’s still blowing out there and sun making and appearance once in awhile. I did go out and blow out my drive and some of my yard. It’s all ice out there from the rain we had and walking is very treacherous. Tomorrow is supposed to warm up pretty nice, so that will help melt it down I hope. My fence guy notified me that he was planning on coming out to put in more posts in tomorrow, while the weather is warmer. Next week it goes downhill again.

I woke up at 5 a.m. too, laid there for a bit and the heck with it and just got up. Other than blowing the snow, haven’t done anything yet today, but think I will head to the basement and put some stuff back on the shelves. Need to make up an order to LL bean too. Got Bean Bucks piling up and a $10 certificate to use by the 22nd.

Judy, if you can’t find anybody to recover your sofa and you are coming back to MI this year, there is a gal by me here who does reupholstering for boats and that kind of stuff. And there’s a private campground called Headwaters not far from her. It’s on Big Bradford Lake just a bit south of here.

Martha, you burning up papers reminded me that I want to do my yearly purging of my files too. And review my End of Life wishes, information etc., that I prepared for the Executors of my estate. Need to see if I want to change or add anything. Being the last member of my family, I need to be prepared for the unexpected. And no guarantee the executors can or will be able to handle the details of my will and estate. They are both older than me. So could get physically or mentally unable to do it. So whomever steps in, needs to know tbe what’s and where’s of my accounts, utility companies, passwords to online accounts, lawyer, Will and all that good stuff.

So, off to do something constructive.

[Bethers]

Judy, you can buy any sofa from anywhere as long as it fits in the space and you can get it through the door or window.

Sue, gotta spend those Bean Bucks. That's a fun project! And I know I need to organize things for if and when something happens to me. Like you, Sue, the people I have down are just as likely to go first.

Welp, a few minutes ago I started doing dishes and all of a sudden, no water. I went out and have water from the CG and the hose isn't kinked. So now I'm going to take the hose off the RV and make sure it didn't get blocked somehow. Beyond that I'll be at a loss. My pump is working so am planning to just keep my tank full and use it if it's not the hose. So strange how it just stopped!

[chalet05]

Good morning!

Shirl, I like hearing about your green thumb - impressed you know what steps to take for different plants. Friend gave me a hibiscus plant so I had to learn. Of course, have it inside and trying to make sure it gets enough sun.

Ready to make cruise reservations for next January 7. First thought this morning was 'what if we have another winter of pass closures'? I think one reason I never cared to cruise was the dressing up part which is no longer an issue.

I have my ducks in a row for when I'm gone except time to update list of contacts for Monica. Also promised her I'd leave a letter for her sister to explain the decisions were mine alone.

[JudyJB]

I really wish I could just put any old couch in this spot. The problem is that my couch was specifically made by Flexsteel for that space and nothing else will fit. It is sitting on a slide, but with the front part hanging down so that it is covering the front of the slide. Here are some photos that show how this dumb thing is built around the slide:







I suppose I could get someone to cut a hole and install the heater vent, but the couch needs to be short, front to back to fit on the slide and also not too tall. It would also need to have part of the back and the bottom removed in order to fit in the furnace ductwork and other stuff. I could remove the shelf, but I don't know how much more extra space this would give me.



It also would need to be screwed to the slide floor, also. What I would really like is a loveseat with two recliners on it, but they all are too tall in the seat when you add the 4" that the slide adds, and the backs would cover part of my window. I suppose I could live with a small part of the window covered, but not much of it.

[MandysMom]

We are still alive here and still feeling pretty puny. Woke at dawn, took meds , checked our oxygen and temps(all good) and out on a talk video and went back to sleep until 11. Still tired, still coughing some, still get upper airway tight sometimes. We will prevail ! Chris said he would eat chicken noodle soup if I'd fix homemade. Put chicken thighs out to thaw.
Velda

[Bethers]

Judy, just some crazy thoughts. How about keeping the base and removing the top seat and back. Fit a piece of plywood over the base then get or make seat cushions and backs. It's something I've been thinking about eventually doing with mine.

Glad to hear from you Velda. I hope the chicken soup hits the spot.

[OregonLuvr]

Good afternoon, just puttering around the house this morning doing a little cleaning. Have leftover turkey thigh for dinner tonight so no worries there. No action on my bathroom other than taking out the tub and doing some prep work as my showers have not come in yet. I have the guest shower so not too impatient right now.

Was super foggy this morning and darn cold. We have a cold snap coming this week, supposed to get down to 18 BBBBRRRRRRRRRR. on Tuesday and 21 on Wednesday. Fog is lifting some now and the sun is peeking out. I need to go out and make sure my faucets are still covered tightly.

Velda glad you are both doing okay despite the fatigue and coughing. I am not coughing anymore but still get tired after doing work. Beth hope you get your water fixed. Sharon glad the furnace was an easy fix....for now LOL but like you I want it to be 100% reliable. Shirl I have Robo Grip wrenches for just those 3rd world problems like opening a jar LOL I also use the shelf grip stuff, that usually does the trick for me. Sue stay warm this too shall pass LOL I cant get too excited about doing much in the yard until it warms up alot more than it is right now. Either warm up or dump lots of rain on us, just pick one mother Nature.

[cnq50b]

HI all,

Just being lazy today. It's finally cooled down a little here - in the 70's today & will go lower mid-week. We finally got a little rain on Thursday. I was driving Jordi home & we drove right into a hail storm - he was terrified! Poor baby really hasn't experienced much rain, much less hail.

Submitted my taxes online last night & then realized I hadn't included last year's state refunds as income. So I have to submit an amended return. Have never done that before but I don't want any surprises down the road & owe them $. It didn't make a big difference but I still want to fix it.

I'm binge watching Versailles. My daughter has tried to get me to watch it many times previously without any success, but since I've been there now I am really into it.

As far as opening jars.... I love my old Gilhoulie opener. https://www.amazon.com/Gilhoolie-Jar-and-Bottle-Opener/dp/B07V1171RH/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 A few years ago, my sister & I decided to buy one for each of our kids. They were only available on ebay auctions so we had to coordinate with each other so we wouldn't run up the bidding. It looks like they make similar ones now-a-days, but I'm not sure they are as good as the older ones we have.

OK, I need to get up & do something around here.
Take care out there.
Catherine

[Bethers]

I should have called the office. It turns out to have been a park problem. So I just fiddled with everything for no good reason lol

Sharon, I hope the final fix for the furnace isn't too bad. Meantime I hope the banging keeps working when it's necessary.

[BarbaraRose]

I didn't sleep well last night. I couldn't get to sleep until after 2am and then woke up every hour after that and took awhile to get back to sleep each time. Got up at 9 to get ready for the haircut at 10.

When I got in my car, I was in for a surprise! A few months ago I had a stone hit my windshield that chipped my windshield. The bigger one just had quarter inch "spider legs" coming from it. I decided to watch it for awhile. Then last week I noticed one of the cracks spread about a half inch. I decided I needed to get it looked at this week and see if it could be fixed before it spread further. Too late! It was cracked all the way across my windshield this morning! Now I need a whole new windshield. I have 2 other chips from when I bought the car that have never progressed.

After the haircut, I stopped at the library to drop off some books, then to my mechanic to get a recommendation for a windshield person. The manager gave me the name of a friend of his that has a windshield business so I will call them on Monday. Then I went to my tax guy and he did my taxes while I waited. I will be getting $1500 back this year. But it is the last year I can take the capital loss on my dad's house.

From there, I returned the house key I had made that didn't work and got new keys made, two sets. He gave me a free key besides replacing the other one for free.

Haven't done much the rest of the day other than watch golf. I will go to bed early tonight and hopefully will sleep better.