Sudokuaholics Anonymous 7

NIGHT GAIL, good to cross paths with you. Missed you on your coming and going though, bummer! I hope tomorrow will be just a bit better for you.

Good morning all!

MizT, wish I could take that job, or at least know the person who got it. It sounds like a beautiful spot!

CynB - I vote for Clive...I do love Johnny and George, but Clive has been my latest heart throb.
Susan - so glad you are holding your own through the storms....keeping good thoughts for you.
Hi Steve...love the flybys!

Morning Stella and MzT - Tricia, that job sounds unbelievable!
Broni - feeling for you and your aches and pains (in places you didn't know you had!) coz I'm literally right there with you...been doing lots of heavy work around the house and have to take my back meds coz the poor thing is so tender! Hope the boat is close to being ready.

I vote for Jewel!

Can't wait for all of the kids to be out of the house on their own. I'm not holding my breath though. My sister has a house full. Her oldest daughter and her child lived at home for 7 years. Moved out for two years and then came back with two more kids. (Initially, she came back to help my sister who was going through chemo.) Her 3rd oldest daughter left for school in NYC. Finished school, got a teaching job, got married, had a baby and then her husband had to go back to Panama for a few months to take care of his sick dad, so she moved back home a year ago, and all three of them live there, and she got a teaching job at my sister's school. The youngest son went away to school, didn't like being so far away and came home to go to the local college, so he lives at home. Her 2nd and 4th oldest daughters are out of the house. Matter of fact, D2 is expecting a baby at any moment. Her and her husband don't live that far away so they're at my sister's a lot. My sister's house is always full. I don't know what she'll do when they finally all leave!

MizT, I can't remember the last time I had to defrost the freezer. I think hubby must do it or else it is frostless!

I had to go grocery shopping on Saturday morning because hubby had to take his state exam and I don't know how people do it. Stopping in for a few items is one thing, but actually doing some shopping is another. I'm just so glad that hubby does it every week!

YEAH, Phantom came when called this morning, he came from under the house so he had found a safe and almost warm place to hide. He knows when I call him it if for food, so he usually comes running. Today it was a slow amble, but he got here. I put him a big bowl of food, but will have to bring it back inside once he is finished (I do not want to open the neighborhood kitty cafe). this cold weather, he needs more food to keep warm and also now to heal. I will invite him back to eat again later today. I am soooo glad he appeared again today, I was worried about him. Yes, Gail, kitties and their boo boos.

Trying out physical therapy for my shoulder today. Hopefully they won't hurt me. I'm not too sure about it based on past experience, but I'll try it.

MizT, is Phantom a stray or one of your kitties?

Need to get some ffuts done. Have a great day!

Just dropped by for a quick HELLO to all of SA7! Will need to read later.

Yipeeeeeeee I have just caught up on reading.

Had some very bad news yesterday. Dan (workman) was a bit dubious about the state of the roof trusses in our extension. We had noticed a slight sag in the roof line when we bought the house but surveys didn't highlight it as a problem. Now that slight sag has become rather more than slight. Dan called in a mate to see what he thought, turns out we need to have that part of the roof renewed as it is becoming rather unsafe.
Ball park figure for this 'repair' is about £15,000. Hopefully our building insurance should cover this.

Brenda, I also hope your insurance will cover the "repair!" That estimate suggests something major - maybe a tear off, new trusses, and completely new roof. Good luck!

Now, off to do some ffuts.

BRENDA, I am so sorry to hear about your need for repair of your roof. for a Job that extensive, I would seek a second or third opinion and estimate of the cost. the " mate" of your worker would not be enough for me. In this slow economy, people are hunting for work and might be a bit more flexible with the truth. Just what I would do.

Stella, Phantom is a bit of both, a stray and one of our kitties. He came upon our property a full grown and slightly underweight cat. Al and he became close friends. He waits on Al mornings and leads him to the dome. He visits in the dome with AL, has his favorite chair there. He follows Al when he comes to the house. If Al is going to be a short time inside, he tells Phantom, "Wait right here, I will be right back." Phantom patiently waits, even if it is hours. If Al is coming in for the night, he tells Phantom, "goodnight buddy" and Phantom immediately leaves for wherever he goes when not here. He on occasion is gone for 2 days or so, but then he is back, waiting for Al to go to the dome.

On cold days, he shows up on the back porch early before Al is awake. He knows I will be up, see him and feed him a handful of food to "tide him over" till Al wakes. We do not spoil our kitties, no not at all.

You are correct Julie. Thankfully it is just the extension roof which is affected. The 'cowboy' who built the extension tried to be clever and copy the roof trusses from the existing house, but failed to do it correctly (this is over 20 years ago.) It will mean that the master bedroom will have to have a refurb too as the wardrobes are built floor to ceiling and the ceiling will have to go too. We will have to have a reshuffle of rooms and the girls will end up sharing while it is being done.

MizT I would be getting other quotes. Dan's friend just gave me an idea as to how much it might cost. If we can use the insurance we will have to get three or four quotes

We will be waiting until the weather is a little warmer before even starting this. Far too cold to have that sort of major work done on a house while we are living in it

Phantom is a very wise kittie. He has his luxury when he wants it and his freedom, but also knows where he will be treated well when he needs it.

Everyone.

Brenda. Nasty job no matter how many estimates you get. Are you sure that you're going to lose the ceiling when they replace the roof? The two don't always go together.

I can't believe how quiet it is here!

The cold front has hit us. With wind chill, it's about 15 F, or nearly -10 C. The flurries are starting, and I still need to go to the store for feed for the critters.

Heidi, get out for the feed during daylight hours. I think it's supposed to get even colder this evening. I've heard below zero* F actual temperatures for us tonight, though we're probably at least 6 or 7 hours north of you. Luckily, the blizzard that was predicted for us last night passed us.

I'm leaving in about 15 minutes.
I don't know about 6 or 7 hours, Julie. You haven't seen me drive. I make it north of Milwaukee in 7 1/2 hours. Less if there's no traffic jams.

brenda- that sounds major! i can't imagine that costing so much. maybe if you need to get all new roofing materials, and pay for the install (especially if it is slate), have new trusses engineered and fabricated, replace all the soffit and faccia etc. if you need to do all that, you could just as easily do a whole addition to the house. might not be that much more. can you tell where my head is? i am supposed to be looking as newel posts, bannisters and railings.

now for a proper greeting. i vote for none of the above cyn. it is beneath my dignity. now, if christian bale were on the list i might loose all of my so said dignity and vote for him!

Morning all!
Brenda, that is bad news!!!
Gail, sorry I missed you.
MizT, that Phantom is a smart cat. I wonder where he keeps warm. It's obviously a good place because he is staying healthy.
Heidi, drive safe! Can you drive without falling asleep yet?
Stella, I bet your sister does a lot of the cooking, cleaning, washing and all those other swear words and doesn't charge any rent/not much food money...

ok, fine! i'll go look at railings. i'm off (in a huff).

Morning Mariana!
I think you'd get a shock if you saw the prices of things here, and it sounds like the UK is at least as bad. The bolts hubby bought to hold our new vege/herb garden together cost $2.50 each - he needed around 30 of them. The wood alone cost about $200. Then there's the concrete... And we haven't even started to fill it yet!

Suzy, hope the garden is out of the reach of the 4 legged lawn mowers. At least they will prove some fertilizer.
Brenda, certainly a major repair job. I hope the Insurance covers the job.
For those of you freezing your buts off we are expecting about 38*c today and 40+*c to morrow. It was 40*c in Melbourne yesterday so my son tells me.

Morning June, not really, but the lawnmowers are only here occasionally. They are here right now due to the sad illness of our lawnmower. It came home from lawnmower hospital yesterday and mowed the front lawn, but we didn't want to tire it out too much on it's first day out so the back yard isn't done yet. We got 4 wheelbarrow loads of fertiliser from the visiting lawn mower's last visit!!

Hubby has left the vertical support posts about 2' higher than the edge of the garden. He figures if we have trouble with the dogs getting into it we can put up a sort of fence around it to protect it from them. I'm planning on hanging plants or something from them because I think they may be practical but they look awful.

Morning SA7, my darling Bella decided I should not sleep in this morning but feed her.
Hi Zusy, June, Mariana and anyone else still around.

You could grow climber beans around the posts Suzy. I can imagine the dogs digging in all that soft soil and fertilizer.

Good to see you around Brenda, not so good news though.
Vici, hope your back is feeling better.
Stella, hope the physio helps your shoulder.
Julie, hope all is good with you.
MizT, Bella goes under the house when I am out, she sleeps under the hot water service where it is warm and dry (and dusty!)
Dag, hope you have a better day today.
Heidi, stay warm but not sleepy while you drive.
June, only going to 30deg here today, so better shake a tail feather and take Bella for a walk before it gets too hot.

I got called away as a little girl wanted my attention. Will have to get her ready for Daycare soon.
We are all going out for lunch tomorrow and she said she would like to have prawns, chicken and lobster!!! I do not think I hav even heard of prawns and lobster when I was three!

Hehe June! That girl has expensive tastes.

Back from getting feed. I stayed awake during the drive, but now I'm exhausted. I'm supposed to go to our Cattlemen's meeting in 2 hours, but I feel too drained. The world won't end if I don't go.

IH has announced that he's not replacing his fried computer. He says he's only going to use the laptop now. He is SO cheap!

June, you are spoiling that little girl! And it doesn't seem to be ruining her. How do you do that?

Heidi, I think I need lessons from IH.

Do you need help Heidi? And did IH agree to buy you the hat?

He hasn't said a word. I'll probably get it for myself.