Sudokuaholics Anonymous 10

Thank goodness I checked; this comment is too long, so here's the rest:

Suzy, I can't imagine how difficult it must be to be watching the fires that are so close to you. I'm sure it's not something you could ever get used to. Hopefully, they will soon be in complete control or out, and the danger will pass. What a great poem Dana wrote!

Rolanda, how awful that some vandal broke your window! Luckily he/she didn't get in and cause further damage. You and P obviously quickly got in control of the situation - and also further work to be done on the outside of your house. Hopefully the stress won't take too much of the shine off your holidays!

Mama, as always, you did an excellent job of putting thoughts into words! Thank you so much! Are you still doing car research?

I need to call it a night, so will save further reading until tomorrow. Sending lots and lots of {{{{{{{ H U G S [ }}}}}}}, healing vibes, prayers and positive thoughts for everyone!

Apache Blessing:
May the sun bring you new energy by day.
May the moon softly restore you by night.
May the rain wash away your worries.
May the breeze blow new strength into your being.
May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.

I've been a productive girl today. I painted a set of shelves, a coat stand and 2 end tables...

Wow, what a chatty lot.
Will not even try to comment in order and may run ou t of steam.
Zusy/Bean, arriving in Melb Thurs arvo, brother is picking up me and then we get the car. Shopping for supplies then heading to Echuca/Moama on Friday. Meandering back to Qld probably Mon/Tues hoping to catch up with Zusy and possibly June if they are available(hope the GPS works!)
Cyn, cannot stop laughing, I still think I am 18 but body tells me otherwise.
Heidi, most people want to come back as my animals, I want to come back as one of yours.
Julie, loved your 2nd from the topp. Sleep well my friend.
That's all folks, brain meltdown but still loving my new job.
Love and Hugs.

PS: My Christmas present to myself was a Robomaid.....love it.

PPS: My cousin's new word for the day is 'Coad Tane' (for our friends over the pond 'Cane Toad') metinks one too many drinkies hehe!

Broni, THIS weekend?? Definitely won't be working then!!!

I just had the strangest dream. I was driving from here to Florida, (with IH and a dog of mine named Lyric who passed away 13 years ago) and suddenly spotted a sign showing a route to Australia. IH and I stopped for gas, and I continued on my way to Australia, leaving IH at the gas station. (and my cell phone wasn't working) After a meandering drive across islands and causeways between them, I arrived at the farm of total strangers, and discovered that they, and their friends, were expecting me next week. One of the strangers looked at me and told me not to worry, she had called everyone and they'd all be arriving within 3 hours. Just then I realized, guiltily, that I had left IH behind in a gas station in Asia, without directions to this farm, and I couldn't call him to let him know where I was or how to get here. Just as I was deciding to drive back for him, I woke up I have no idea what that dream means, but it was VERY vivid. I clearly remember the drive along tiny lanes, with gorgeous bright green verdure and lots of colorful birds flying around.

FIL fell at 2:00 this morning. Hubby has gone to the hospital there to see him (an hour and a half to a 2 hour drive). From all reports so far it is mostly bruising of the face and arms and pain in the arms (nothing broken). I have a feeling our life is about to become more hectic. This might be the start of him being moved to a nursing home if his doctor wants him to. He won't like it, but it will be out of our hands. He has a life-alert button and he managed to push it when he fell, and an ambulance was called immediately and my sister-in-law informed.

Thank god for the life alert button, Theresa. It could have been much worse!!! I hope the doctors make the right decision for him and for you.

Tomorrow is IH's 64th birthday. He's freaking out over being so old, and for some reason, they keep playing the Beatles classic ''When I'm 64'' on the radio. I had nothing to do with it, but his reaction is priceless.

Off to do some grocery shopping. IH want roast chicken marinaded in italian dressing and green beans for his birthday, and I promised him the other wild blackberry pie that I made, with whipped cream on it. I want to make a corned beef for tonight. To be served with blintzes.

Broni, I have sent you an email. I did not think you were going to Melbourne to get the car till early next month.
Next round of the bowls competition today. Hopefully it will not get too hot.

Sorry Zusy/June, yes I am flying down 7th Feb.

Back from shopping. I have a large corned beef in simmering, and my mouth is watering. I may not want to share any with IH. I adore corned beef.

Heidi - my grandchildren sang 'When I'm 64' to me for my 64th birthday. I like corned beef. Have you ever had it cold with pickled onions, pickles, cheddar cheese and thick white bread (not exactly a traditional ploughman's lunch, but what passes for it in Australia) Yummo!!
Theresa - thank goodness for that life alert button. Hope your FIL's injuries aren't too bad and that it doesn't add stress to your life.
Hey Broni, on your way home you'll be coming near my place, are you calling in here too?? lol
Julie - loved the Apache Blessing

I adore corned beef cold, but I'm not big on the other ingredients, except bread. Rye is great, but so is any fresh baked french or italian. Plain white will do as long as it's holding corned beef. Of course, whole grain mustard is essential.

IH didn't want to wait for me to cook the blintzes, so we just had sliced corned beef, spinach and cranberry sauce. Then I thrilled him. I gave him his birthday present tonight instead of tomorrow, because the temperature has plummeted and will be in the teens tonight and tomorrow. I gave him 3 new alpaca sweaters from Peru. He needed new sweaters and alpaca is 3x warmer than wool.

I like corned beef with a white onion sauce. Cold I like it made into a fritter, ie dipped in batter and fried.
Hope Gil enjoys his birthday tomorrow.
It got too hot to finish our bowls game. We were leading when the temp hit 35*c in the shade. Our policy says you must stop playing at that temp. Our opponents cannot finish the game at a later date so we will play in the next round next Tuesday.
Broni, that means I will have a bed made up for you if you need it.

Theresa, I do hope things sort themselves out for the best with your FIL. Would it be an advantage to you if you had to move to the farm at this stage in your lives?
julie, great TOP.
Judy, it is great to see you posting. I do hope you get through the next stage of your treatment without too much hassle.
Bean, just keep hanging in there and just hope all news coming your way in the future is good news.
I should go and do some chores. MIL will be coming to stay with us for a few days as from tomorrow night. She has always been a much tidier person than me. Her bed etc is all made but a few other things need doing!

I'm off to bed early. I didn't sleep well last night. I need to make IH's birthday meal early because he's going out of town about 7 pm tomorrow night. He'll be doing some work for Merck in Nebraska.

Hi all! I'm still alive but got relatives coming to stay tomorrow....busy....busy....busy. I thought they weren't coming until Thursday.

HI, Everyone! I have done a quick read, but no time to comment, other than, 'Ditto!' to pretty much all responses. Anyway, my brain is a sieve tonight; not nearly enough sleep last night. We are puppy-sitting for our D and SIL. They get up around 5 a.m. and puppy goes out right away for emptying. We managed to sleep until about 7 this morning before puppy became insistent. If I get moving, I might be in bed by 1 a.m., so 7 a.m. doesn't sound quite as horrible as it did this morning.

Sending along lots of {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, positive thoughts, prayers, healing vibes and for everyone!

Hmmmmm... quiet night here.
I had a good night's sleep and feel great this morning. Even though it's only 15℉ / -9.5℃ this morning and won't get much warmer today. IH has taken off for the plant with a load of sheep and goats, and will be back this arvo. He'll be getting his birthday supper at 6 pm, then he goes out of town until Thursday night,

Morning all. We are still in a deep freeze here. With the wind chill, the current feels-like temp is -25C ... a good day to stay indoors as much as possible.

FIL will be in the hospital a few days. His face is pretty banged up and his arms still ache. My hubby stayed at his dad's last night so he could spend some time at the hospital with him today.

June, with FIL being off the farm, it makes life that much more difficult for us financially. We cannot afford to run two houses at the same time. We had been hoping by this time that our daughter would be able to take over our current house, but with her and her hubby separating in March, she can't afford it. In fact, we are having to help her out a bit.

We can't rent out the farm because it needs too much work that we can't afford to do. The farm property is like a white elephant. We would need to get an engineer in before any work could be done, and it might turn out that it's not worth fixing ... we just don't know. There is little or no insulation upstairs, and little insulation downstairs. FIL and MIL always had repairs done as cheaply as possible without thinking about the future. So it has left a big mess. We might just have to board up the farm house, and that way we would only have to pay insurance and taxes.

Imagine that, complaining about too many places to live. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this would happen. Also, the nearest city to the farm has had a lot of economic downturns with various industries shutting down. So it is an economically depressed area at the moment. If we wanted to sell parts of the farm, we would not get our money's worth at the moment. What to do, what to do. The farm has been in hubby's family for quite a few generations and I don't think hubby wants to be the one to get rid of it.

Good Afternoon All,
Heidi, I hope Gil has a great birthday and I'm glad he's gifting you with a night or two alone also...enjoy.
Theresa...You and hubby are faced with quite a dilemma...just wondering if extended family discussions have been held regarding the farm's value and future. I understand your hubby not wanting to be solely responsible for the disposal of the farm, but it would seem since you two have the most to lose both financially and in time and effort, your combined wishes should be paramount. Hope you are able to find a workable solution and your FIL regains strength and is able to return to the farm, giving you all time to figure things out.
We seem to be headed for weather similar to that you are currently experiencing, although the temps are not suppose to get quite as low...just lows of -4F with wind chills factored in. Yes, Climate change has finally made many believers in the last two years. Hope it will now become something that is taken seriously.
Have a great day all. Peace.

HI ALL
Stay nice and warm in the northern hemisphere and cool in the southern. The fires are still breaking out causing such destruction.
Theresa...hoping FIL has a speedy recovery and you can work something out with the farm.
Happy Birthday Gil.How is your back now Heidi?
Broni...you sound so happy that your comments make me smile.New car & trip to Melb,great job and life is good.
Judy...I hope each day brings improvements to your health!!

I finally have my holidays approved. I asked yesterday and they may have lost my application but all is good now (especially since things are already booked).
Just a few more to bookings to make.
Have a great day all.

Great news about the holidays, Nola!!!

Happy Birthday to IH!!!

Hubby is home. FIL had fallen because he apparently had a minor heart attack. He is being transferred to a different facility tomorrow. Aside from being in a hospital, he is in good spirits.

Julie, I saw on our news that the Chicago area is also going through a nasty cold spell. Keep warm my friend. Our temperature overnight is supposed to be -40C, according to a friend. I hope to be all snuggly warm wrapped in a comforter and many cats by then.

Wow, Theresa! -40 is COLD. It's also a cool figure because -40℉ = -40℃. We all consider it to be inhumanly cold. I've never been in cold anywhere near that. Not even in Wisconsin.
Good Luck!

Gil's birthday supper was a big hit with him. Roast chicken marinaded in italian dressing, fresh green beans, mustard potato salad and homemade wild blackberry pie topped with whipped cream. He had a double helping of everything.

Now to bundle up and go outside to check the water for the horses and for the cows. I'll probably have to fill the tanks.

Heidi, will you make birthday supper for me??????

Hi all. Busy few days here. Mitchell started his new school today and said he likes it. I hope he does better than he had been doing.

Theresa, keeping FIL in my thoughts for a speedy recovery.

Nola, enjoy your holiday. I don't remember if you said where you are going.

Heidi, glad Gil enjoyed his birthday dinner.

Today (Jan. 23) is my 19th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been so long. Time flies when you are having fun.

Happy anniversary, Tami and Mr. Tami.

Today is January 22, Tami.
Happy Anniversary tomorrow Tami and Hubby!

The cow and horse water was really low. I;m glad I went out to refill the tanks. In this weather, we have to fill them manually instead of by automatic float valve.