Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

''Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.''
Leroy ''Satchel'' Paige

Vicki, so sorry to hear about your MIL. Always sad to lose someone we love.
Suzy there are animal back packs with long tails for the parents to hang on to. Intended as a harness. I had Laura strapped in a pusher until she was about 5 as I could not chase and catch her.
I cannot imagine the cold you are all having in US. The coldest I have experienced was -6*c in Prague back in 1995. Keep well and keep warm and hopefully you can all stay inside. (I know that is impossible for Heidi with all the animals)
Tricia, I talk to Laura a lot about her mother, especially when Sharon was growing up, the things she did and the places she had been.

Heidi, so pleased Sugar has a reprieve.
Yesterday I noticed I had Tricia's old phone number and thought I could phone and say HI if I had her new one. It was amazing what I could find out you Tricia without actually getting the phone number. It was frightening, but I gave up before getting all your criminal history etc. One site would give me your number if I paid.

Good morning all -
I can't remember who asked what question about the fires on the island - they started from a lightning strike from a previous storm.
The townships have been kept safe so far.
And fire crews and equipment have been taken over by ferry. Plus water bombing aircraft have been deployed.

Heidi - glad Sugar has been good and has been given a reprieve.
June - I've seen those animal harnesses for toddlers. My friends with the Ethiopian boy had to have one for him until he was nearly 5. He had so much energy and if let loose would run so fast no-one could catch him!!

Morning all, I don't think I have any clothes warm enough for the temps I'm hearing about from topsiders. Stay warm!

June, you've made me remember the meeting we had with the funeral director when mum died. For record keeping reasons they had to ask a whole lot of questions about family history. My youngest brother had no idea what our grandparents did before they retired! My grandmother was a piece worker and head of the union in her factory. Paul asked what a piece worker was. I told him she put a small screw into a larger car part hundreds of times a shift, maybe thousands, who knows. My grandfather was head of maintenance for a major car place, not sure if it was a manufacturer or seller.

Our grocery stores have carts, but few specialty stores do. The stores I went to with Tahli were specialty stores. I think the fruit market has carts but I only needed 2 things so thought it would be okay. I'm tempted by the harness things.

Suzy, Thanks for the answer, we do not have such specialty stores here, or at least nit many. I do think the harness/backpack would be ideal for both you and Dana to use with Thalia. It gives her some bit of independence, but keeps her safe, and Mum or Granny from pulling out hair. I can only imagine how difficult it is for Dana to keep up with the needs of the two of them. Does she even take them both out without assistance?

Most of us here in the south do not really have proper clothing for this kind of weather. I saw one lady up north out in much colder weather, and did not look so bundled up as we do here, putting on layers after layers of clothes not designed to be layered. she looked slim and chic, in down filled jacket over ski pants. I am sure she had on nice thin warm silk longies, and a thin knit sweater for her layers, but they did not show as bulky. I did go out across the drive between the buildings today, to take a glance at the flowers. Oh they look sad . but the sun was out, no wind and I managed with just a sweat suit. could not have lasted more than the few minutes I was there, though.

OH my house smells yummy! I had the oven on for second time today. First I made a veggie slice for brunch. Ham and tomatoes and zucchini and a touch of onion, it was yummy and had neighbors drooling. I just now, at dinner time, took a peach bread pudding out of oven. Lovely vanilla smell escaping from my kitchen. Bread pudding is comfort food, and served warm just the thing on a cold cold night. Now to think of something to do with the cooked shrimp I purchased Sunday. I almost forgot it, needs to be eaten today!

Cyn, makes sense, ferrying in the needed equipment. I hope they can continue to keep the townships safe.

JUNE, I sent you a private message. I am sure Laura enjoys hearing about her what her Mom did when she was young. glad you are able to talk to her about it. Did you find reference to the company Al had, the dome company? I know as long as that website was up and running, it was easy to find out a lot about me, including my old phone number. glad you did not pay for my criminal record, a waste of $$$, cause I do not have one. I did get a traffic ticket once, but I paid it!

Building one here (I am in building 2) was without heat for about 4 hours this afternoon. both maintenance men were up on the roof in the cold working on it. that building has central heat, and the boiler or furnace or whatever is up on the roof. I saw Zaire when he rode elevator up with me, he was headed back to the roof. He said they would not leave until residents had heat. He said we were like his 'babies' and he had to take care of us.

I have commented on posts on this page, so I will post before I loose it. Maybe later I can check back one page see if I missed anything. now for some shrimp! (prawns?)

Hugs to each of you with extras, till later.

Sugar is now back to an accident every few hours. Drat.

Hi all,

Still braving the cold here for a few more days. It was a high of 8 degrees when I took Angelique to school about 12:30 this afternoon...not sure how warm it got. It wasn't as bad then as it had been at 4:00 in the morning. Jazz woke me up wanting to go out and the wind was gusting then too. Happily, he took care of things quickly so we could get back inside.
Vicky, sending condolences your way. I feel that your MIL was so loved that she could feel the love even if she didn't hear you and family say the words. I do know through experience through that much is heard when one is out. Sorry to hear Sugar is once again having accidents...my heart goes out to you Heidi.
Suzy, I too enjoyed your granny story. Little ones have so much to see and do when shopping and its hard to keep up with them. We need to smile afterwards cause you don't have time while chasing them. The harness sounds like a good idea.
Julie, hope you and hubby have been able to stay close to home and get a bit of rest. Of course all of the shoveling your hubby has been doing isn't too restful. How is your shoulder now? Were the aches from the cello practice? Take it easy...and that goes for both of you.
Tricia, you have a great group of folks looking out for the maintenance of the buildings there....love the attitude of making sure everyone had heat before they stopped even in that extreme
cold.
Oh, about my doctor's visit...you were correct Tricia...Heidi. I had an incision from last year,2012 when they first inserted a tube to drain the gallbladder since they couldn't remove it. I had to wear a bag which required surgical removal/changing to maintain. This didn't need general anesthesia to fix, but had to be done every 6/8 weeks. The tube would come out or move about...that was what was causing most of the trouble that I was having. It's now slow to heal because the tube was in for so long...just shy of a year.Hope that clears the comment up enough that you understand what I meant.
It's getting late so I'll post this before I lose it...take care all...hugs and jugs aplenty.

Hi, Everyone!

Cyn, I misunderstood about the rain and thought it had nearly put out the fire on the island. It's good to know that there was no loss of human life, but what a loss to the animals and their habitat, the 3 townships and their infrastructures and the facilities for camping. Is it likely that the people who lived there will rebuild?

MIzT, I'm glad the worst of the cold seems to be moving on.

Heidi, I'm glad Sugar seems to be doing better and you're able to enjoy her company for a while longer! Great TOPP for this page!

June, Laura is so lucky to have you as her Gran! She may grow up knowing more about her Mum than many children do because of the stories you are able to share with her. I love the idea of a child's backpack in the form of an animal with a long tail to help keep a child closely! I wonder if we have anything like that here.

Now I see a later post from Cyn about what started the fires and that townships have been kept safe so far. Hoping that continues!

And now, Heidi has posted again that Sugar is having more frequent accidents. I'm sorry to hear that, but at least IH is/was away for a good portion of the day.

Mama, I hope the worst of the cold will be leaving your area soon! Do you drive or walk Angelique to school? Stay warm and toasty, either way!

Hubby did a bit of 'clean-up' shoveling today to clean up drifting snow due to the strong winds. Then he made a quick grocery run. I stayed in the house, practiced, paid bills, etc., then helped him get things put away when he got home. Tomorrow I have my Quartet Strings class and cello lesson, so we will both be going out. Predicted high is above zero, possibly 8 - 10* F! We will most likely have D and SIL's puppy next week, and are VERY glad it's not this week! (Thinking of you and Jazz, Mamacita.)

Be sure to share these {{{{{HUGS}}}}} and JUGS, positive thoughts, prayers, healing vibes and with all who would benefit! Off to dreamland! Good Night!

Gekko my friends.
Vicki, my heart goes out to you, Kevin and family. Please send our regards to all.
Cannot believe it is almost a year since I flew to Melbourne to pick up my 'Urban Assault Vehicle' and since you asked Zusy..Bella and I am off to the Southern 80 Ski Race to catch up with the family early Feb. Have not made plans yet eeek! but am taking two weeks off to actually have a holiday this time, so might even swing by to catch up on the back deck. Will be buying a roof top tent for us girls.
Heidi, understand your dilemma with Sugar.
Did catch up with all that is happening but cannot remember to comment.
Luv and Jugs.

You need a nice holiday Broni.
I bowled today. The ladies do not go back till next week so today was mixed. We lost by two points but it was a good game and the three women in the team played better than most of the men. (One of the men plays in a lot of the state competitions and he was definitely the best player).
We are having some lovely cool weather so I am getting some jobs around the home completed.
Tricia, I got your message and have answered.

I'm SO glad that you're getting a holiday next month, Broni. You do need it.

IH is taking off with my truck to pick up those calves at the dairy, them deliver them to the research facility in Tennessee. He won't be doing the work of caring for the calves every day, but he's providing the coccidia that they'll be infecting them with. Coccidia (a protozoan parasite) is a major killer of calves, and up until now there's been no REALLY effective treatment. They're testing a new product for a pharmaceutical company to see how effective it is.

The temperature is heading up, but it's still well below freezing... 23ºF / -5ºC. They claim that it will get above freezing today.

It has just gotten one iota above the freezing mark!!!

Sugar is driving me nuts today. I've gone through 4 rolls of paper towels today cleaning up after her. Tomorrow will be the day.

Vickie sorry to hear about MIL
My condolences

What a waste of a day today. Pain meds did what pain meds do, and treatment for that problem did not work. So today was spent trying to get bowel function back to normal. Just one reason I do not like pain meds! I do, however like pain relief.

Missed playing quiddler with friends today because of above problem. Mary does not play scrabble on Second Wednesday, and it is her scrabble board, so we three remaining scrabble players have started playing quiddler that day. I was not only one who could not make it today, so I don't feel too bad.

Much warmer today! Above freezing by 10:30 am, and it is hovering just above freezing now at midnight, so YEAH, a full day of 'warm' hehehe.

Heidi, sorry to hear the reprieve for Sugar was short lived. Hugs to you having to do this, but I agree, it is time.

From TOS, Rolanda is enjoying the cooler temps on holiday as Perth sizzles at 43C. Enjoy these last days of your Holiday, Rolanda. Will Gil be back with your truck? Or will you drive his tomorrow?

June, how many people were on a side for bowls yesterday? You mentioned 3 women and then 'men' so that is at least 5. I did not realize that many were on a team. Hope you enjoyed your day.

Broni, hope you enjoy your Feburary holiday with your family.

Julie, how cold did it get at your house? I kept seeing photos of chicago, not sure how close to the city you are. Way too cold.

OH, saw the cutest thing on local news tonight. A Birmingham family was disappointed we had no snow with this cold, especially the 3 children. So their father did an internet search on how to make a snow blowing machine. He got together an air compressor and some misting nozzles for water and filled his back yard with 1 inch of snow! He built a ramp and covered with snow for launching the sled into the flat back yard. All the neighborhood children came out to play in the snow. Now that is something those children are going to remember!! YEAH DAD!

Time to try the bed once again. maybe I slept to much today between bouts in the bathroom, but having trouble sleeping now.

Hugs to each of you, with extras.

Warm Sudoku Greetings!

Broni, that is fabulous news! You definitely deserve a holiday! I hope every day of it is memorable (or, at least, relaxing)!

June, seems like your team represented yourselves well today! I'm glad it's cooler, so hopefully enjoyable. So glad you're able to accomplish some household tasks with the cooler weather!

Heidi, what a shame that Sugar (and you) had such a difficult day today! {{{HUGS}}} Thinking of you tomorrow!

Hi, Rolanda! Hope all is well in your part of the world!

I'll be donating platelets & red blood tomorrow, so need to get to bed. I'll see you all tomorrow! {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, prayers, positive thoughts, , and healing vibes for Everyone!

Hummm, part of comments to Heidi got separated and were down with Rolanda comments. I hope you could figure out that I was talking to Heidi about Gil and his truck.

Missed MizT by | | that much. I hope you are able to get to sleep! I know we got to at least -16* F, MizT, but didn't really keep track. Hubby said it was -0.4* when he went to bed about 30-45 minutes ago.

Good Night, MizTricia!

Tomorrow.... or later today since I have to be up in 4 1/2 hours.... I have to take Spike and Bear into the Vet clinic for their previous scheduled appointment to have their family jewels removed. Neither one will step into my truck to ride to the Vet's (they both insist on being carried in!), and IH won't be returning my truck until around noon anyways, so I'm taking them in using the RV. Both boys love climbing into the RV. Since both boys are hovering around 75 lbs in weight (not bad for 8 month olds), that's the only really viable option. I'll try to take Sugar along, too. But that might risk having a major clean up in the RV. And I really don't want her saturating the carpeting in there with pee and poop. She's lost control of both functions now.

Heidi, you need to buy a large incontinence nappy for sugar before you take her anywhere in a vehicle. The EV sounds a great idea for the 'boys'.
Mizt, sorry about the side effects of the medication. Hope that problem is OK now.
What fun for those kids who missed out on having real snow. They use snow machines in our Snowy Mountains if the coverage is not good enough for good skiing.
Julie, hard for us to think about it being that cold.
MizT, yesterday we were playing 'triples' three in each side. You can also play singles, doubles and fours. We had two ladies and one man on the opposition and I was bowling with two men.

It's time. I had two floods to clean up already this morning, and it's only 8 am.

BTW.... this avatar is not a picture of Sugar, but it looks exactly like her. Or at least when she was younger. She's got a lot of gray/white hairs on her face now.

I'm back from the Vet Clinic. The boys are there to be neutered, and Sugar has been put to sleep. It's over. I've had a good cry.

Hugs Heidi. I know it is hard losing one of your family.

Sleep well Sugar.
Heidi, I am trying to imagine the greeting you will get at Rainbow Bridge?
Bella is about 70 lbs(31.5 kg)and I thought she was heavy!
Hopefully will be buying a rooftop tent and roof racks today for my holiday.
Have a great day everyone.

I've been too shaky all day to get any work done that I was supposed to. I do need to put some hay out for the cows before picking up the boys in an hour. I no longer have any intact males, so shouldn't have anymore accidental litters.

RIP Sugar. Hugs Heidi.

If I have wacky words in the middle of my posts these days, blame my tablet! The autocorrect is relentless and I haven't yet developed the habit of always checking what it is going to change my words to before I move on to the next word.

Vicki, I'm still thinking about you and hoping things are not too bad. (((((Hugs))))))

We were supposed to have a warmish day today in the upper 40's. Instead, it's snowing!!!!

Spike and Bear are home and doing just fine. And IH has returned my truck. At least something has gone right.

RIP Sugar - had to be done but still a sad day for you, Heidi. I was thinking the same as Broni - what a reunion at the Rainbow Bridge when you get there!

Maddy turned 13 yesterday - so now I have 3 teenage grandchildren, by mid-November this year I will have 4 when Em turns 13. But they're all turning into lovely people and no real teenage troubles - so far!!
My diet is still going well, I did put on 0.4kgs Christmas week but took more than that off last week. I've lost over 12kgs now and feel much better for it. This next week will be a challenge with my birthday, Andrew's birthday and the celebrations that go with them.

Well done Cyn! 12kgs is a great effort. I need to lose all that and some more. Motivation is the missing factor though.
Funeral arrangements are going well. I'm organising the power point to run in the church during the service. One of my nieces' husband will conduct the service while another's husband will be playing the piano. Kevin and his sister Sandra are still finding it very difficult with either of them likely to tear up at any time.
It will be worse tomorrow when the rest of the relatives start to arrive. I can see lots of tears.

Happy birthday to Maddy.

RIP Sugar. She must be madly playing with all her 4 legged friends who crossed the Rainbow bridge before her.

Thank you everyone for your words of sympathy. They really do help and mean so much to Kevin and me. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers on Sunday afternoon for the funeral. I know it's an unusual time but we had to fit around lots of family who are coming from interstate.

It is evening again, not sure where this day went. June, yes, yesterday's problem is a thing of the past now. Thanks for asking.

I did get laundry done today, well one super sized load, and most of it put away. That leaves room in the basket for sheets when Mary changes them Tuesday.

For reasons unknown, I have volunteered to make soup for the resident's association soup lunch on the 17th, I think it is. I could not find my recipe for broccoli cheese soup, so went online. I found one very similar to mine, and they call it Panera Broccoli Cheese soup, supposedly their recipe. I just need to find a really good sharp cheddar cheese for it. Aldi's sometimes has it, sometimes not. Good cheese is the heart of this recipe. While looking for a recipe I liked, I found many that sounded just gross, using tinned cheddar cheese soup, or cream of chicken soup, or Velveta Cheese Food Product. NOPE, that is not my recipe hehehe. I will have to make 4 batches of this to be enough for my contribution, I might can do double the recipe at a time. I think 4 recipes worth will fill the crock pot more than once. We use crock pots to keep soup warm and serve from them. Not sure who I will find to take the soup pot of hot soup downstairs for me, not something I can do in my chair.

Tomorrow I have a haircut scheduled. The top is just getting too heavy to do anything but flop. I hope she does not get as scissor happy as she did before!

OH, my poor pansies look so sad. Some of them look like they were cooked! Just too cold even for Pansies. But no help for it, with 60 hours below freezing, covering them would not help, and they were too heavy and to many of them to bring inside. Hopefully roots are not frozen and they can put up new shoots. If not, I will see if I can find replacements for some of them, if any survived in the nursery greenhouses. I am so sad though, I have really enjoyed the pansies.

HEIDI, hugs to you, I know you are sad about poor Sugar. Glad you had the RV for taking in the boys for their surgery. Silly pups that will not climb into your truck but love the RV.



Happy Birthday To Mandy! Turning 13 is a milestone.

Heidi, I heard on the news that you had some rain in KY, but no mention was made of snow. How much did you get?

Suzy, my sister has a lot of problems with auto correct on her phone too, so I am accustomed to reading auto corrected messages. She swears her message will be fine until after she hits send, and then it changes. I think she just forgets to check hehehe, but some very funny posts result from auto correct.

Broni, just how do you get into a roof top tent on your vehicle. Do I have totally the wrong idea about a roof top tent? Could someone please explain.

Heidi, sugar was a good name for her just from her coloring, as white as sugar!

June, they use snow machines here in USA, up north were it is cold enough. What I

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June, they use snow machines here in USA, up north were it is cold enough. what I thought so different about this is the father made his own snow machine. It did not make a lot of snow at a time, I am sure he spent some time covering his back yard in snow. Still think he should get dad of the week for doing that.

Well, wonder if I can go to sleep now. I could not stay awake in my chair, eyes kept closing. but after I got up and did a few night time chores and took the last of my meds, I am not so sleepy. Just my luck.

Going to give it a try, so I must close for now. hugs to each of you, with extras, till later.