Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

Gekko my friends.
Just thought I would let you know how Ian's Ann is doing.
She continues to make very slow progress. She is in for a battery of tests this week. I hope they discover more about her condition - and fix it!
Luv and jugs.

Thanks Broni, I did see that post last night.
Sorry about Sugar, Heidi. Your dogs are your family and always hard saying goodbye.
Last night Laura found a book where she had written something about her Mother so sat and continued (asking how to spell some words) to write all about her Mother and when she died etc and how she would always remember her. It was beautiful but brought many tears to my eyes.
We will take Laura up to Belinda's place today and she will stay there for the rest of the week.
School goes back on 28 January. It is our long summer break.

Laura is a very wise young lady, but I've said that many times before. She will treasure that book when she is older. REALLY treasure it.

I just walked outside to get some clean hay for the finches (they love it for nesting) just as IH got his 4WD truck stuck in the mud in front of the house. It's now pouring out and everything that isn't paved is slippery. So I fired up my tractor, took the front hay spear off, and pushed him out by the bumper. He was expecting me to go to all the effort to get the tow chain, hook it up between the tractor and his truck, then pull it out. Then I'd have to disconnect the chain and put it away. Taking the spear off and putting it back on takes 3 seconds for each procedure.

Wise move Heidi. Just think of all the extra stress on your back doing things HIS way.

Gout attack!!!!

The temperature is falling fast. Three (3) hours ago it was 54ºF / 12.2ºC, and it's now 27ºF / -2.8ºC. And snowing. In another 2 hours it's supposed to hit zero (0)ºF / -18.8ºC!!! I just added a warm blanket to my bed.

Can't sleep. Gout is screaming at me. I have it primarily in the right foot.

I hope Julie and Theresa are okay up there in the deep freeze. They have it much worse than I do.

Did I tell you we lost Dimmie? I think I may have only put it on tos. He was hit by a car very near where nomnom was hit. No more cats! It's not safe here! Of course Tahli keeps meowing. Yesterday at the store she kept meowing at the cat food while I was picking up the dog food. Insert sad face. Which reminds me, I need to do a trip to the RSPCA to donate the left over cat food.

Rest in peace, Dimmie.

Suzy.... you can have another cat; it'll just have to be a house cat completely. No going outside to hunt and try to survive in a scary world of machines that don't think, but just run over defenseless little cats.

Greetings! Just here for a brief visit.

Heidi, I'm so sorry that Sugar will need to be put down. She sounds like she has been a wonderful companion!

MizT, a good plan to get what you needed on a quick run to the store before any storm arrives.

We had more snow last night and today, so hubby was out twice to shovel. I'm guessing the total on the ground since New Year's Eve is close to 2 feet (,6 meter). Today's high temperature was 12* F (-11.1* C). Tomorrow's high will be -20* F (-28.9* C). Those are actual temperatures. The wind chill over night is predicted to be -45* F (-42.8*C). I suspect we won't leave the house tomorrow. (Many schools and business will be closed. Some grocery stores are out of milk and bread.) We should be fine.

Broni, thanks for the update on Ian's Ann. Sending prayers and positive thoughts their way. How are you! I hope the new year is off to a good start for you!

June, I think Laura is an amazing little girl. I'm glad you were able to have some time with her - and that she'll also be able to visit Belinda!

Heidi, your solution to Gil's truck in the mud was priceless! So sorry you're having a gout attack. Do you have meds for that? Hubby takes something for that. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow! An extra blanket on the bed sound like a good idea here, too!

Suzy, to sorry to hear about Dimmie's demise - another pet crossing the Rainbow Bridge. Is it possible to have an indoor-only cat? Our cats have only been indoors.

Sending today's dose of healing vibes, , positive thoughts, prayers and {{{{{HUGS}}}}}! Stay safe, Everyone!

It was funny watching IH jump out of his truck as soon as he saw me, and try to direct me as to how and where to hook up the chain to tow him out. What took the longest amount of time in the whole operation was arguing with him to get back in the truck so I could push him out of the mud. He always wants to be in charge, and he always wants to do everything the hardest way.

No, Julie, I have no meds for the gout, except pain killers. Yes, there are gout medications out there, but my doc doesn't want to risk them on me. You see, I have only one full sibling, and he, too, has gout. They tried the meds on him and he had such a severe allergic reaction to them that he was in intensive care for nearly a week. They had to restart his heart several times! So, it's felt by all that it's safer for me to just put up with the gout than try the treatment.

It's presently 3ºF / -16ºC at 10:35 am!!!!! This is the coldest it's been in Kentucky in 20 years.

Since I decided that Sugar needs to be euthanized, she hasn't had a single accident in the house!!!! I don't know what happened, but she's given herself a reprieve!!!! She's not going to the Vet until it's absolutely necessary.

Good Morning All:
Rainy and very windy, but mild...43 degrees at the moment, but expecting the same changeover that Heidi is experiencing shortly. This will be a busy week, car to be inspected stress test and follow-up surgical visit to treat the gallbladder area close-up...all of this after a three day birthday celebration for Angelique...once past this week things will be able to settle down for me...yay!
Heidi...so glad Sugar has gotten a reprieve, I know how difficult those decisions are, and happy that she is not in pain.Hoping your gout will ease up...far too much pain going on in that poor body of yours.
June, such a touching experience for you and Laura...As Heidi mentioned, I'm sure she will treasure her writings as she grows older. I can only imagine the pain and the loving beauty of her feelings, that your heart had to deal with, memories can be so good yet evoke suck sadness within our heart of hearts.
Broni, I thank you for letting us know about Ann, sending thoughts and prayers for a full recovery or at least a recovery that will allow her quality of life to be enjoyable.
Suzy, I am so sorry about Dimmies loss too, and know how hard it is to keep opening up the heart to other animals but...your heart is so big and loving that I think an indoor cat may be in your future...not sure, but with you, I never say never.
Hello to the rest not named but thought of just as often as those who are named. May the sun shine on you and the weather brighten your lives rather than adding to its hardships. Yet it is better to whine about the discomfort of the weather and have peace in the rest of our lives, rather than everything go to hell in a bucket at the same time... Given this choice, then I say bring on the bad weather...lol.
Whatever comes, enjoy the gift that is life as best you can. Peace.♥

I am SO glad that the docs are doing something about your gall bladder, Mama. That problem wasn't just going to go away, as nice as that would have been.
Please give Angelique an extra hug and kiss from me. She can never have too many from those that love her.

IH came inside a little while ago to tell me that he did an ''oops''. Yesterday he hooked up the float valve to the hydrant for the cows water and forgot to disconnect it. The hydrant froze solid. Ice expands and breaks metal pipes, and the last thing we needed was a broken water pipe. I grabbed a bucket, filled it with very hot water, and rushed out there. Slowly pouring the hot water over the hydrant and hose, I was able to remove the hose, then defrost the hydrant so water flowed freely through it again. THEN I shut off the hydrant. This is the type of hydrant that once you shut it off, the water rains from the pipe to below the freezing depth. Disaster averted.
Unfortunately, it's so cold that my tractor won't start. And this one hasn't had a plug-in installed yet. Oh well. I can survive without it today.

rains = drains.

Morning all,
A good night's sleep and I'm up and around again. Some of you will have seen how I spent yesterday on tos... I should copy it over here. Maybe after I've said hello to everyone.

June, as hard as it would have been helping Laura write in the book I'm sure it was also wonderful to see her wanting to remember her mother forever. Hugs. I bet she has a wonderful time at Belindas.

Julie, I couldn't live somewhere that I had to shovel to get out. I'm too lazy I guess. I hope you're not dogsitting in that weather! I can't imagine trying to get dogs out to do their business in those temps!!

Heidi, I'm so glad Sugar has given herself a reprieve. I had friends who kept a dog when they had to lift up her rear so she could go without soiling herself. She was a teeny tiny dog though. She also went to a dog psychiatrist and a naturapath....

Mamcita, happy birthday to Angelique! I hate to say it, but don't hold your breath that things will settle down. I don't think that ever happens...

I always said that I would only have a cat if I wasn't the one scooping the litter box. Dimmie refused to use one anyway - he'd use it for one wee or poop and that was it. Scooping didn't help, once it was dirtied once, that was the end of it. Since changing the whole litter box out a few times a day was out of the question, he became an inside/outside cat.

From TOS. If you've already read it over there, you don't need to read it again....

Adventures so far today. Dressed herself out of her aunties dirty clothes basket - over shoulder undies are the in look this season! Poured an entire box of Cheerios in the dogs dishes because,hey, dogs like cereal too. And while I was typing, dipped my hat in the dogs water...

Continued adventures: a trip to the fish/meat market... Started off really well with her holding my hand happily. Then I had to pick her up so she could look at the meat. She's a 2 handed carry now so I had to juggle the basket, still okay. Then she decided she wanted down so I put the basket on the ground to let her down. Still okay. I'm working my way around the different types of meat but by the time I got to the chicken breasts Tahli decided to take off down the pay line. Giggle, giggle, giggle. Oh look she's done a runner says the guy serving me and they all have a giggle while I run after her. She then decided to help me carry the meat and picked a package out of the basket. Oh that's heavy Tahli are you sure you won't put that back? So she takes another one. We finally start down the last little bit where you pay -and where they but the impromptu purchase stuff. Tahli decides to put the packages down - and step on them. Now she's looking at chocolate bars and drinks. Just look, don't touch Tahli. Which lead to throwing a chocolate bar over her shoulder, spotting the open door and taking off. By the time I'd picked up the chocolate bar and also spotted the open door, she is out of it. Quick grab and she is back. Then she stole a tub of Ben and Jerry's icecream out of another shopper's basket. Back with me and holding my hand - until I have to let go to put the meat on the counter, out the door again, another quick grab and I manage to pay for the meat and collect it while maintaining a firm grip on the escape artist's hand.

From there to the fruit market. She grabbed a plum and was about to sink her teeth in it but put it in the basket when I asked her to. Then she grabbed 2 grapes and threw them in. Then she decided I needed onions, only I had bought onions yesterday. When she went back for seconds I firmly said NO, so she tossed them on the floor. Then grabbed 2 more. NO, she threw those ones all the way across the aisle. I grabbed her hand and fought to keep a hold on it the rest of the way.

Broni, thank you for keeping us up with what is happening with Anne. What is happening with Broni?

We did not get any snow, freezing rain or sleet. the rain stopped before the cold, the wind came and blew the water from paved areas before the freeze, so we got off lightly. Only thing to worry about it the cold temps and even colder wind chill temps. I am not going out, so not a big problem.

Thinking of all our Canadian and US friends as you continue to face this extreme cold weather. Stay safe and as warm as possible.
Our weather is just the opposite, having just survived several days of 40C or higher (well over 100F), we finally had the mother of all storms yesterday afternoon which has cooled things down somewhat for the time being.
One good thing about the storm was that some of the rain fell on a large island nearby which has been ravaged by bushfires in recent weeks. The situation is now under control. As well as the heat, we have been dealing with the smoke haze in the air for days. Today the sky is clear and there's no smoke and so far no need of air conditioning.

Hi all!
I'm back from holidays but sadly my much loved mother in law passed away last night. The hot weather must have been too much for her poor frail body. She hung on until Kevin's sister arrived from the Blue Mountains where she had been on holiday. She didn't regain conciousness in the time she was in hospital but we all hope that she heard us tell her that we love her and say our goodbyes.
I've come in to work today as everyone is still away until later today then I'm going back home.
I can't do much there but I can support Kevin and Sandra.

(((( HUGS ))))) Vicki.

Suzy..... I'm sorry to admit that I giggled through the story of your adventures with Tahli. Don't you wish you could bottle and sell that energy?

Victoria, so sorry for your loss. Hugs!

IH just said to me over dinner (shrimp stir fry) ''Did you know that it's getting down to -17 tonight (wind chill) ? Has it ever gotten that cold here before?'' My response? '' Yeah.... It got down to -29 just last night.'' The idiot was complaining about how cold his feet were, yet he was wearing thin leather shoes. He was amazed at how warm they got once I made him take them off and put on his fleece lined slippers.

Oh Vicki - so sorry to hear about Kevin's Mum. Had a long conversation with him about her when we all met at South Bank in October. Please pass on our sincere condolences. It's a hard thing to lose a much-loved parent. Glad you got to be there with her and even if she was not conscious she would have heard you talking to her.

Greetings from 'chilly' Illinois! Gecko! JUGS to Everyone!

Heidi, I enjoyed your description of your rescue of IH and his truck! And his asking if it had ever been as cold before in Kentucky! At first I was surprised that he admitted his 'OOPS' - until I realized that he had no one else he could blame for it. I'm glad you were able to quickly save the situation. Hopefully your tractor will start the next time you need it! I'm so sorry you aren't able to take gout medicine (VERY understandable) and hope pain meds help to give you some relief! I'm so glad that Sugar seems to be better!

Mama, sounds like you have a VERY busy week ahead of you - and also had a busy week last week! Happy Birthday to Angelique! Wow - a 3-day birthday celebration! Your words of encouragement are always so amazing and positive. Thank you for sharing your wisdom! Hopefully you can stay inside as much as possible this week.

Suzy, I'm so glad you were able to get some rejuvenating sleep after such a busy day with Tahli! She's obviously a very intelligent little girl whose mind is always going. Do you have her on a regular basis, or just random days?

MizT, I'm glad you didn't get rain/freezing rain. The wind and cold are bad enough. Stay inside and warm, please!

Cyn, I'm glad you got some cooling rain! Also glad that the area with the bush fires got rain. With luck, that threat has been averted, and no more smoky haze to deal with for a while!

Victoria, condolences on the passing of your MIL! That oppressive heat can be very difficult to deal with. Being in hospital probably helped provide some relief. I'm sure she heard you and other family members offering love and support! {{HUGS}}

Sending lots of and {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, positive thoughts, prayers and healing vibes for everyone who posts here! I hope to 'see' Everyone tomorrow!

Rain wasn't enough for the island, fires are raging once more and evacuations are in progress, I hear. Not a big permanent population - only 3 townships. Holiday campers were evacuated on NY's day.
60% of the island has been burned - full area is 275 square kms. The one good thing about the Australian bush is that fires trigger rejuvenation of trees but with that area affected, the devastation will show for quite a while. Sad for the flora and thousands of lost native animals on the island but no loss of human life.

Vicki I'm so sorry about your MIL. Not a good end to your holidays. My thoughts stew with you while you go through your tough bits.

Heidi that's okay I laughed too. When it was all over. ..

Having problems sleeping.... I don't normally get up at 6 am. The temperature is NASTY.... -3ºF /-20ºC !!!!!

Oh no, CynB. Those poor critters on the island!!! Nature can be so cruel at times. Do they know what started the fire?

It's now warmed up to 4ºF / -15.6ºC (at nearly 11 am), and still heading upward! ''They'' say that it's going to get above freezing tomorrow. I hope that ''they'' aren't lying.

IH has to pick up a load of newborn Holstein calves tomorrow (for a parasitology research project) and deliver them to the parasitologist he's working with in Tennessee, a 4 hour drive each way. I've offered to let him use my truck since it's running better than his. That gives me a good excuse to sit at home and watch DVDs while he's gone.

Greetings friends. I am hoping we have seen the worse of the cold. It was a low of 8F last night, already up to 12 here at 9 am, headed for a sunny 27. It will remain below freezing till tomorrow afternoon, but at least tonight's low is 20, and not still going lower. Wind has also died down a LOT this morning. Might even stick my nose outside later today It is warm here in apartment, but I am noticing my legs are a bit cool in the trousers I chose for today. Might have to put on another layer. those huge windows with only blinds for coverings, radiate cold! Yesterday I stayed in my new robe, and those yards of flannel fabric did a good job of keeping me warm. At the moment, a light polar fleece throw (rug?) is doing the job. I also opened the blinds to let in the sunshine, that will warm things up here quickly.

Cyn, that fire on the island is so terrible. Does it being on an island make it harder to get fire crews out there to fight it? I hope they evacuate everyone safely, but such a job to rebuild 3 townships and all the camping facilities after the fires. At least fires there regurgitate trees, here it would be 20 to 50 years before mature trees could regrow. there are certain pine trees whose seeds can escape the tightly closed pine cones after a fire, if any were p[resent, those would be the first to regrow naturally.

OH HEIDI, you really do have the cold up there. I hope this is your coldest night as it is for me. I wonder how Gil could manage without you. Choosing the hardest way to get truck out of mud, not a clue about weather, leaving the outdoor faucet to freeze, complaining about cold feet but doing nothing about it, what a guy! It seems to be your life's work taking care of Gil.

Vicki, so very sorry about your Mil. I am glad family was there for her last moments. I too believe that unconscious persons can hear, and think that she gained comfort knowing you all were there. Hugs to you and your family in this time of grief. May memories of better times comfort you.

JULIE, I listened with interest to the reports from Chicago, they were calling it Chi-beria, because your temps were colder than some places in Siberia! I hope you were able to stay inside and stay warm.

JUNE, what a wonderful thing for Laura to do, writing about her Mom. I know it was hard for you, but perhaps a bit healing also, to relive those bittersweet memories with Laura. If she is wanting to remember her Mother forever, perhaps you could tell her some things about her mother when she was young, to add to her book? without you to tell her, those memories will be lost to her. Just a thought.

Heidi, how is the gout and how is Sugar doing today? Still accident free? About your comment to Mama about gall bladder. I read that to mean docs are treating the surgical site, the area of incision, not treating the gall bladder. Did I get that right Mama?

Suzy, that was indeed some day with Tahlia, what ever happened to lead strings for toddle

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Suzy, that was indeed some day with Tahlia, what ever happened to lead strings for toddlers? You could have used them that day, but still would not have controlled those little hands! Do your markets not have trolleys with a seat for a toddler? Our groceries all do, and wal mart and Target and many other stores. My girls could only 'help me shop' if I parked the trolley (cart or buggy here) close to the shelves and bins, which I tried to keep to a minimum Thanks for posting that here, I had missed it on facebook. wonder what I need to do to be sure to get your FB posts? I think we are already friends.

Well, I need breakfast, and I cannot think of anything I really want. I guess I will force something down this morning. coffee is good, though hehehe.

Hugs to each of you, with extras, till later.

There was no surgical site or area of incision. Mama never got the surgery. So she still has the original problem that she went to the hospital for.

Sugar has only had one accident in the past 48 hours. I can live with that for a long time. I really love that sweetheart.