Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

''Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a lot of ailments, but I have never heard of one who suffered from insomnia.''

Joseph Wood Crutch

I couldn't get hold of MizTricia. I tried repeatedly. I'll keep trying.

Nice to see Saltie and Viv posting.
Well, Christmas is over and so is the food gorging. I have hardly eaten in the last day or so, ate too much on Christmas Day. We had a lovely day at Karin's new home and best of all was that the weather was mild enough that we didn't even have the AirCon turned on.

Have my New Year avatar set now. It's hard to believe that it is 20 years since the Millennium. How life has changed since then. Social Media was in it's infancy, Facebook hadn't even started. I joined FB in 2009 but I joined Sudoku in 2007. Mobile phones were just phones. They didn't have cameras and apps. Donald Trump was just some rich guy, who knew?? I only had 1 grandchild. Now I have 5, 4 of whom are adults!
I turned 52 just after the millennium, which makes me 72 in a few weeks. I don't feel it in my mind, but, oh my body tells me every day.
I am hoping that 2020 is kinder to my dear hubby, I think he's had enough.
And I hope it kind to us all.

The rain won't start for 3 more hours and we're already under flood watch. They must be expecting a humdinger of a storm!

I hope the rain wasn't as bad as expected Heidi!

It's still coming down in buckets.

Ahhh, 20 years ago... I was still riding horses to muster wild cattle, building or mending stock fences, chopping down trees for flood fence rails, climbing windmills, pulling cattle out of muddy waterholes, laying or mending pipelines, running water pumps - all the jobs involved in keeping a large cattle property running. How I wish my body would still let me do those things now...

Let's hope the next 20 years has some interesting advances for us all.

Hi everyone.
Send some rain this way Heidi please.
💦 💦 💦

Finally, some time to pop in again!

Something for Heidi about Gypsy Vanner horses: https://www.cutencountry.com/gypsyvannerhorse/?fbclid=IwAR1t6aAln6IZ_rifh_liaMFQiMWlwZAh3JS7y_pb16ur EM0RX7EW3nc4chY

I didn't sot any spaces, but they might be in the line breaks?

Very late, so I'll try to visit again tomorrow.

Sending healing energy, prayers, , {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, and positive thoughts for Everyone!

Celebrated gift giving, yesterday. One of the ''benefits'' of split families, resulting from divorce. It was fun, though. The 'kids' are growing like weeds. I actually selected a few gifts that appeared to be hits. It was worth the 200 mile, plus round trip drive, though it was a long day...

to Y'all, down under...

Hi, Everyone!

Sounds as if nearly everyone had a great Christmas! Here's hoping the coming year brings good health and much happiness for everyone!

It's so nice to see posts from a few more people this holiday season! I hope everyone has something to look forward to in the New Year!

We're hoping to see our local daughter and her hubby and little one tomorrow. We have all been busy, including preparations for a very full January. I haven't even had time to practice cello for a week. The calluses on the fingers of my left hand will need to be reformed, I'm afraid. I had hoped to get some good practicing in before my first lesson in January, but it's not looking very promising right now.

No big plans for New Years Eve for us. We may go for an early dinner with neighbors, then home and most likely in bed before midnight.

I hope everyone will have moderate temperatures in the coming days, and hope the fires will be controlled. I haven't been hearing much on our news.

Sending strong positive thoughts, healing energy, prayers, and {{{{{HUGS}}}}} for Everyone!

I'm going to have a busy day today. Mike and I are working the cattle tomorrow, and FINALLY sorting out the calves. I need to make a change in some fencing to make it easier to feed and water the weaned calves, so I'll be setting up a smaller outside pen for Phaeton and giving the calves most of his area. That way we'll be able to use his good sized water tank to water them with, instead of breaking our backs hauling water to them in buckets. He has a smaller tank available, as well as a water bucket in his stall. So I'm off to the farm store for 4 cattle panels (16 foot long, 4 foot high, welded wire panels designed to hold cattle) to use for 2 sides of the pen. The barn will be the 3rd side and existing fence the 4th. Once the calves have been sold, I can take it down if I want to. Or I can just add a gate and keep it permanent.

It's 2020! Had a nice night with my kids and youngest 2 grandies playing games and being noisy at midnight and probably annoying Karin's new neighbours. Our older 3 grandies were, from snapchat pics they sent, at a pool party at mutual friend's place doing tequila shots. I think they'll have headaches this morning. No sympathy!

It worse news and considering she's probably not up to sharing herself, Suzy has had to be evacuated from her home, near the very worst of the current bushfires in southern NSW. She is safe but doesn't know about her house. Please keep your fingers crossed - or pray if you are so inclined, for Suzy and for the thousands of people down there displaced from their homes, some having to resort to waiting on the beaches in case the sea is their last resort. This is the stuff of nightmares. Red or black skies in the middle of the day.
Just heard on the news, the Australian navy has been mobilised to rescue those people on the beaches. A mini Dunkirk! So, so sad.

OH NO!!! What a nightmare, CynB! Poor Suzy! I hope she evacuated everything of importance to her from her home. And I REALLY pray she doesn't lose her home. I worry so much about her living alone after her history of strokes, and now this!

We're all set to work the cattle at 10 am tomorrow. Mike just put out a fresh bale of hay for the cattle and shut the gate behind them, so they're all caught. I have the inside of the barn ready as well as the paddock to hold the calves and open cows in. There is hay and water in there already. We'll be preg checking the cows as well. Open cows qill be sorted out and sold. Heifer calves will be weaned. Steer calves will be weaned and sold. Mike has a few calves too young to wean, so they'll go back out with the herd.

To all my friends!
May the new year be MUCH better than 2019.

From the BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-50956318

Near the bottom of the page there is a graphic depicting the locations of all the Wild Fires in Australia, over the last 7 days. Mind boggling...

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Heidi, I hope you and Mike are able to get everything done tomorrow!

CynB, your celebration sounds fun! I'm not sure about the young adults and their tequila shots, though.

Keeping Suzy in my thoughts and prayers. I hope all goes well, she stays healthy, and hope the fires stay away from her house!

DOrA, thanks for sharing the information about the fires!

Thinking of everyone and sending healing energy, positive thought, , {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, and prayers for everyone!

The herd has been worked. Everyone vaccinated and treated for external and internal parasites. All cows preg checked, and NOBODY open! The one cow who had been maimed by Smokey was even 6 months pregnant! Mike and I were both surprised at that. All older calves have been weaned. There were 3 of Mike's that were too young to wean and they went back out with the herd, after being castrated. The whole thing took less than 2 hours. It went very smoothly despite 2 very stupid animals (one of mine, one of Mike's) that somersaulted in the chute and got wedged in. The new pen I built for Phaeton helped tremendously, working as a funnel to get the cows and calves in the barn. I hadn't even thought of that when I built it. It probably saved us 15 minutes. I rewarded the cows by giving them a nice grain feeding. Mike was quite pleased at how smoothly it worked today. I am tired, now.

Sounds like a successful operation, Heidi!
No direct news of Suzy but she has been posting on FB but has not said whether she is back home or not. I suspect not yet but I did hear yesterday that things were slightly better in her area. However they are expecting severe temps again today. I feel like I am witnessing Armageddon.

Hedi, you and Mike obviously work well together as a team to work the herd, get them vaccinated and treated as necessary, check for pregnancy, wean, castrated, etc. Sounds like a well-oiled machine to get it all done so quickly! Happy New Year! It's no wonder that you're tired!

Thanks for the update, CynB. I guess no direct news is good news and we'll continue to keep our fingers crossed.

Lots to get done tonight, so I'm off for now. Take care, Everyone!

Sending healing energy, , positive thoughts, prayers, and {{{{{HUGS}}}}}. Stay well, Everyone!

Facebook post from 2 days ago by Suzy: 'I live in Nowra Hill in the Shoalhaven. I’m not there now though. I’m safe, I don’t know if my house will stay that way, but I’ll stay hopeful until I hear differently'

Posted by Suzy around 7:45 or 8 p.m. Thursday (currently 10:45 p.m. Thursday in Central Time Zone, U.S.: 'The fire spread prediction for tomorrow covers my house...'

I'm estimating the time of posting, as Facebook says 3h, so 3 hours ago.

What a nightmare. So many people being left homeless. So many people dying. SO MANY animals dying. I've heard that 1/3 of all koalas have perished! I wish there was something we could do to stop the fires, but I can think of nothing.

Hi, Everyone!

Heidi, I'm with you 100%. I feel completely helpless and wish there were something to do that would be helpful! For those who pray, it seems that's about the only thing that can be done. It's so frustrating. I hope Suzy's house is OK, and hope that SHE is OK, no matter what happens!

It looks like it will be a quiet weekend here. I'll be thinking of everyone and sending a multitude of {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, positive thoughts, prayers, , and healing energy! Take care, Everyone!

It looks like a busy weekend for Everyone! I hope everyone is safe and healthy and well away from the horrible fires.

Sending healing energy, prayers positive thoughts, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}. poairicw rhoufhra, and

I just took 2 of the steers to the sale barn. I'm interested to see what they weighed, and what they'll bring. When I got back, Mike was in with the calves counting them and looking confused. He was relieved to see that we didn't have 2 escapees.

A slight lull in fire conditions today but expected to get worse quickly as two fire fronts look like joining up.
News from Suzy that her house is still safe but I don't think she'll be able to go back yet. She said she is with her grandchildren - what better place to be?

Col had his last Chemo on Thursday - now to get over the side-effects. He goes back on January 30th to have his portacath flushed - that stays in for the present until they are sure he is clear of cancer. Same day he has follow up appointments with the surgeon and his oncologist. He has to have a CT scan the day before and blood tests.
Next is to have his lens inserted in his eye. Supposed to be this month but still no date. He'll be checking on that today.
We want to get this all over and done with and start leading a normal life and perhaps have a holiday.

My new avatar is for all the animals - native and livestock, estimated to be half a billion, who have died in these fires. The koala population, already threatened, has been decimated.
Anyone interested in donating for the animals: https://www.wires.org.au/donate/emergency-fund
An Australian female comedian set up a FB page to donate to the hardworking heroes of the fire services. In just a few days the total is over $30 million.

Heidi, I wish I could have seen the look on Mike's face as he tried to account for the 2 missing steers. What a relief that they hadn't escaped. I hope they bring a good price!

CynB, it's good to hear that there's a slight lull, but horrible that they expect two fire fronts t join forces! Thanks for the update on Suzy. I'm glad she's with Dana and her children. At least that way, they aren't worrying about each other! Did Alie go with her? I hope she is also safe!

Hooray for Col! He has made it to the end of the scheduled Chemo! I hope his side effects are mild and pass quickly! It sounds like January will be quite full for both of you with all of his follow-up appointments and tests. I hope nothing interferes with scheduling to receive his new lens! I hope by the end of the month both of you can relax and have a holiday!

I like your new avatar, Cyn! I think the site you mentioned is one of those that Jane Clifton delPino Bailey posted on Facebook. It's good to know that it is a reputable site. Good for the Australian comedian who set up a FB page to donate to the many heroes fighting the fires and rescuing/treating animals!

Does anyone know where some of our former Sudokuaholics might be? I hope all are safe and well!

Thinking of all of our Sudoku friends and sending healing energy, prayers, positive thoughts, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, and !

Thanks for sharing the good news that Col is done with chemo, CynB. That must be such a relief to both of you. And we need all the good news we can get, what with worrying about the fires in Australia and worrying about an insane president in the US trying to start a world war.

My fingers are crossed on the steers. Cattle prices are low, but those 2 are really good looking steers, and I let them know that they are purebred Red Angus, fully vaccinated, and freshly treated for all parasites, inside and out, besides being weaned and started on feed. Those things are all worth extra. And I watched them write that all down for the auctioneer to announce.

The farrier is due here in about 45 minutes, so I have to go out now and bring all the horses inside.

Yes, Heidi, I also worry about your insane president starting a world war because our 'almost as insane' Prime Minister will just join in and send our troops as well. It's horrific to think about. Not getting much publicitly here because of the fires dominating our news. I think the fires have eased off a bit, still raging but more contained. However the temps are expected to rise again by the end of the week which will set them off again.

Julie, I'm not sure whether Alie went with Suzy or not but, rest assured, Suzy wouldn't have gone if she thought Alie wasn't going to be safe.
As far as other Sudokuists, you would have seen on FB that Rosemary from Wangaratta is close to the fires, although safe for the moment but the smoke there is hazardous to say the least. I don't know of any others in danger.

Col's enquiry into when his lens operation would be resulted in him being told - at least 2 months yet. Not good enough! He got onto his liaison person at Workcover (Compensation), fortunately she agreed that's not good enough and started chasing them up. The surgeon isn't available until 13th January. She will contact him on Col's behalf then. Although it is being dome in a public hospital, Workcover is paying for it, so he is technically a private patient and should be done asap.

I hope Col gets his lens implant as soon as possible.

I was pleased at the price my steers got, and the interest. They got the top price for their weight. I would have liked a lot more, but cattle prices are the lowest they've been in over 15 years.... which is crazy because beef prices keep going up. SOMEBODY is making some real money, and it's not the cattle breeders.

Greetings to All!

Unfortunately, our person in the White House is not only insane, but a few other words that make our position at present less than reassuring. i've joined a group that is praying for Australia, and wonder if we ought to include prayers for world peace.

CynB, I'm glad Col's liaison person also feels that 2 months is not acceptable for Col's lens implant. Hopefully it will be taken care of by no later than the end of the month! It's time for things to go in his favor!

Heidi, I'm glad you're pleased with the price the steers brought. But I also wonder WHO is making the money that comes from the higher beef prices. It seems like the cattle breeders should be reaping some of the benefits!

Did all of the horses get their hooves trimmed and new shoes?

I need to be thinking about getting to bed earlier, but have some things that need to be done first. Sending positive thoughts, healing energy, prayers, , and {{{{{HUGS}}}}} for Everyone!