Skyler is doing quite well now. He's breathing on his own and talking, somewhat incoherently. He has a fine nurse, male, named Archie. Perhaps tomorrow he'll have tubes removed and move out of intensive care and into another area. We can't tell yet, but likely he already feels better in many ways than before.
This is the same doctor who saved his life 10 years ago. He's quite amazing.

great news 'bug..

The best news! I hope Skylar is continuing his recovery.

Noon today:
They are "in the process of" pulling his drainage tubes, and moving him out of the PICU to the pediatric cardiac ward. We are packing up our stuff to head over right away.

Skyler has also been eating a lot of ice chips and they are slowly getting him back to clear liquids and solids. Chicken soup sounds about right so we are going to bring some. If he eats it, fine. If he doesn't, I will!

I haven't checked in here for a while. I am so happy to hear that Skylar is doing okay. I hope that continues and he is home soon.

Hi Chelone. I figured you were busy getting things done.

I believe I wished Saucy Happy Birthday on FB, but here is another.
Happy Birthday Saucy! and
Happy Birthday Mary! Would love to hear an update from you.

I have been consumed here with winter prep and setlling in with Joey. He is coming along but is not quite where I would like him to be yet. Could be that won't happen before spring, because of inclement weather. I'd rather have quality progression than quick. Aparrently he wasn't treated kindly with the bit before, so we are reschooling with a bitless bridle. Not sure I wanted all this extra work, but he has such a good personality otherwise, I think it will be worth it.

Woody is your FIL still with you?

Hi Julie and Kathy and anyone else checking in. Need to get my day started.

Norma

Good to know that things are looking good for Skyler. Scary stuff, to be sure... bet there are several chewed fingernails in assorted homes. May things return to "normal" as quickly as possible. No family should have that sort of worry on their plate.

Beautiful cards, everyone. Just lovely.

Do you love your new mount, Norma? (wouldn't you like to pummel the ding-dong that roughed up his mouth?!)

Spoke to Skyler on the phone last night. All he can say is "HI!" in a croaky voice, but it's the best sound ever!

Skyler's been up a couple times, had his morphine taken out around 10am, eaten a little, drunk a bit, sprinted to find pizza, and slept a whole bunch. The nurses talked about sending him home tomorrow, but his parents are both hoping that he will be in for longer (Sunday).

I bet he's exhausted. When Mum had her surgery a friend (a nurse) told me it takes a week for each hour of sedation for the body to fully rid itself to the sedatives used. I had no idea, and the anesthesiologist said nothing about that... or the hallucinations that regularly plague the frail elderly following major surgery! Skyler has been through nothing less than a marathon and you must be very proud of his courage in the face of it. What a brave kid.

Prowling through the depths of Compound photos I've gleaned these:
Spring/summer '08, no path and weeds abound
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And today, fall '11, showing the new line of the shrub boder:
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Spring/summer '08
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I don't have a readily available shot of what it looks like now; you're looking south toward Vegetable World, though.
Baby Arbovitaes (Dark American), I fretted I'd spaced them too far apart...
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And now... we have a very private sitting area along a very busy road:
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Original driveway entrance:
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A little better:
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Magnolia "Butterflies" is planted:
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The "bowling alley", the 6' path between the hedge and Vegetable World:
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I haven't stumbled on the shots of the Great Drainage Project that permitted success with the Fertile Crescent, but they'll turn up and usher in some smiles, no doubt. And thus concludes our tour. Too "Holiday Inn", or what?

Wow! Chelone - looks great! Look how much that weeping tree grew in a couple of years.... The noble pooch looks king of all her surveys :-)

NOT Holiday Inn! Just wonderful and thoughtfully executed! Terrific! I just love before, during and afters. I enjoy the textures and colours of course. Congratulations!

Today my friend Denis is helping with Haiti preparations, photos of penpal exchanges, translations, etc. Thank heavens, he's a great help.

Yesterday I collected letters from the two room schoolhouse across the road for taking to Haiti. I'm overwhelmed! The teachers, on short notice, put two days of effort into lessons for us. The responses were written thoughtfully and personally in perfect penmanship The teachers even agreed to having their photos taken...highly unusual. The letters are book worthy, opening up their thoughts and rural lives to their Haitian pals. I'm so touched....
Miss Martin teaches the youngest ones.
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Here are models of different kinds of houses from around the world- made by the students.
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Miss Bauman teaches grades 5-8. She has worked in Haiti a few years ago.
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Here is her class's project on exploration. After each explorer is studied, they cut away the dark tissue paper to reveal the enlarged world discovered. This is an ongoing project begun in September.
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Skyler continues to thrive, enjoying undivided attention from family and friends. I imagine it will be difficult later on to share time with others, but for now, WHO CARES! There is talk of return to school in 2 weeks, but he will not be allowed to wear his backpack or attend gym. (I have sent books to Ivy & Leo who need a bit of attention too these days!)

OK, off to the dump before beginning dinner and translation work...

Hello to ALL OF YOU, lurkers too!
'bug

How super is that?! such a nice way to explore the world and learn your place at the very same time. It's all about fit, isn't it?

1.) I believe in penmanship. "Push, pulls, and ovals", baby! I was thrilled to receive a cartridge pen for Christmas... and different colored cartridges! So cool.
2.) I believe in phonics and basic arithmetic. Those are the most basic tools we must have in our personal "tool kit". ("A Rat In Tom's House May Eat Tom's Ice Cream")
3.) I believe in art and music. Creativity is a natural part of who we are and tapping into it punctuates our lives, adding depth and color, wit and fun.

I know you guys do, too. And I bet Miss Martin and Miss Bauman would smile and nod right along. How old are the misses, 'bug? They look awfully young... ;) , but being young means being fresh and full of great new ideas, too, doesn't it?

As I sift and sort I will share. It was fun organizing that and doing more of it will do me good.

I know Miss Martin is 35 because she wrote about her life to the teachers in Haiti. (How very nice of her! I didn't ask!) I don't know Julie's age. Both teachers are amazing! They work in their classrooms until 6pm each night organizing work for their 4 simultaneous classes. Each child has the teacher's attention every minute of the day. Teachers play sports WITH them and build igloos etc too. I'm so impressed!

Howdy Idylls! My only day off this week and I've made some progress here on the homefront. Most importantly, I turned the dining room into a 'spray booth' and using lots of blue tape and poly drop cloths , I succeeded in spray painting my worse for wear chandelier-though chandelier is a bit of a stretch in this case, lol. Next is the picture frames on the botanical prints .

Chelone, really first rate progress you have going on there my friend! And that damn dog makes a nice piece of garden art too. Applause !

'gb, so much happening in your world ! What a relief it must to be to have Skylar recuperating at such a brisk pace.

Must work tomorrow, to off for now �

Kathy in Napa

Chelone, I think the best penmanship lessons will be these pen pal exchanges. Seeing the handwriting of these pals will amaze everyone!

The laptops which Adam programs help a great deal with arithmetic, and even make it fun with games, mazes etc. I'm very surprised what good practice this offers, especially with a good mentor, when awful to no teachers are around. Yet, I am bringing flashcards anyway, and the trick up my sleeve, a ball which you toss and the recipient must provide an answer (or the next verse or whatever). This really speeds things up!

I've packed my recorder and will do vocabulary with songs and crafts...if given a chance. I just can't be seen as the "blanc" who has all the answers.

DS is very excited to be asked to teach cartography next term at a college. That has been his hobby forever and he adores map making with GPS to help in all sorts of ways: maps of hospitals, banks, water wells, bus routes and more. He's eccentric, but so cool and hard working!

Sleep is calling my name. Tomorrow? Our Christmas party in the town of Guelph. So much to do.....

'bug

Party was fun, then home to do more translation work. That is finally DONE and tomorrow I go to print and laminate the last of the educational materials. YEAH!

Packing progressed.

Then a phone call saying that Skyler is OUT of hospital. Mighty amazing....

Tomorrow DH collects school projects to grade and then needs to submit course grades.

Lots to do before having dinner with Woody on Thursday!!!

Happy Daze!
'bug

And now, bed again for this ole lady!

Dexter arrived last night for an overnight stay. He'll be going home this afternoon and then Copper arrives for an overnight stay. Thursday Phoebe arrives. We had Blue on the weekend. Lately a few neighbours have stopped when they pass us walking some dog or other to say 'Another dog...?!' We are definitely the neighbourhood eccentrics I think :-)

gb - I'm sure Skylar - and everyone else - is very happy that he's home!

Yay! That Skylar is well enough to be home! That's so good to read.

Bug your DS certainly favors his dad. I'm happy to hear that things are progressing for your trip.

Chelone,things at the compound are looking much improved. You are going to very happy with the end results of your hard work. Nice to see "Wrecks" there too.

I do like Joey very much. You couldn't ask for a better mannered horse to work around. He just needs to learn to slow down on the trails. The area he came from was much more open country and they must have really pushed him into his fast gait. That does'nt work so well on my wooded trails. I have been working with him to go up and down the hill from the barn and across the creek to the pasture by himself. He thought he should only be led and turned loose when he got there. The first three days I led him. The fourth day he went on his own but wouldn't return on his own. Two more days he would not cross the creek to come up on his own, and didn't want to cross the creek with me leading him either. I don't have a clue why not as he rode through the creek fine. Tonight I was prepared to lure him across on his own with a carrot, but when I called from the barn he came of his own accord. I was quite surprised and pleased.

Winter has arrived here. Colder than normal for this time of year. Still trying to walk most days. The cats want out but won't stay long. They keep asking for the door but when that cold air hits them they retreat. Rebel has been coming in to warm up often too.

LOL the spray booth in the dining room Kathy. Sounds like you are taking charge of some of those maintence chores. I have a few of those lurking too. How about an updated pictue of your grandson. He must be getting to be a boy and not a toddler by now?

Time to go poke the fire. Have a good evening. N

Well, progress on the home front.
DH's grades are submitted and students have had their chance to talk about them.
Our cat sitter has come and everything has been explained.
Today is dentist day. Somehow we made this appointment almost a year ago for this crazy time!
Looking forward to dinner with Woody tomorrow! But all the work before that has me in a tizzy.

Last night we had a Skype visit with DD and the gang. What fun to watch Ivy dancing and describing her colored markers, naming each one. She did summersaults and all that show-off 2 year old stuff. Leo was his wiggly self and wouldn't show us his walking talents. It seems he only walks for Skyler!

So on the Skyler front, he's at his Mom's place for 2 weeks, then with his Dad for 2 weeks. They visited briefly on Monday and it seems his color is better than before surgery. Things are looking good.

We have had a beautiful snow, but now things are at the muddy stage...When walking Phoebe this morning, DH could still see tracks of various animals and their activity last night going to and from the stream and barn.

Happy holidays to one and all. I'll try to email from Haiti if the power supply is in order!
'bug

gb and her DH just left and are on their way to the airport - with 800lb. of luggage she said! Checking in is going to be a lot of fun - NOT! Phoebe is currently lounging in the front hall, looking a bit sorry for herself :-)

Dogs were high on the agenda here today. This morning (from 10:30 - 1:00) we were at the Dog Guides facility for the volunteer orientation and training. We'll be working with the Hearing Ear and Special Skills dogs (for physically disabled people.) Most of what we do will be routine stuff e.g. grooming and providing social contact (a lot of cuddling and patting involved :- ) There are a lot of strict rules on handling the dogs so as not to inadvertently mess up their training! So, while there were dozens of adorable dogs that I was dying to cozy up to, I was afraid to touch them in case I did something wrong! Next Wednesday afternoon is our first real volunteer day so that's when we'll get to handle the dogs on our own. There's a very detailed manual that lays out the specifics of what to do with them/how to handle them in a variety of situations etc. So we need to thoroughly absorb that before Wednesday next week. We also have to stop by a police station and get a clearance certificate from them to show we are not dubious characters :-) It's all very detailed. But it's going to be a lot of fun.

Bon Voyage to 'bug and DH ! I expect the trip will be exciting and exhausting..

Woody, you are so perfectly suited to your Special Skills dogs volunteer work.. how lucky they are to have you . I will gladly provide references affirming that you and Randy are not dubious, lol.

DS's run in 'Annie' closed on Sunday, and now he is in rehearsal for 'Gondoliers' (Gilbert and Sullivan) for a theater group in San Francisco. This show will take him through December , and he is currently 'at liberty' for Jan and Feb, though he has been offered an emcee part for a cabaret show in Jan. Only a one night gig , but good experience if he accepts it. After that he starts rehearsals for 'Zorba'.

I had the landscaper maintenance dudes over here after the office today to quote me on getting some mature shrubs removed..all of them beyond my upper body strength . Way cheaper than I expected, and I will remove what I can down to the stumps this weekend so that will likely lower the hourly rate a bit as well. They will also take care of some annoying irrigation issues-leaky hose bibs etc.

Norma, I love hearing about your progress with Joey, and I hope you will continue to share his successes. photos too ! And incidentally , I think it/s crappy that Albert bailed �I have a sentimental attachment to him since I had him on my fantasy team in his rookie year and a few years there after. If he was going to head to California at least he could have signed with my team ! Jeesh.

Ok, waves to all.. catch you later

Kathy in Napa

This weekend bit the dust pretty quick. I�m trying to reassure myself that it was productive. I made spaghetti sauce, and cleared some pathways for the landscape dudes that will be taking out 5 shrubs this week. Leaky hose bibbs will be replaced as well. I filled both my 55 gal yard waste toters and 2 32 gal reserve trash cans too. Another month and it�ll be time to prune the roses.. though I have 5 less of them this year. There has been very little rain the last few weeks here, and if it stays dry I�ll plant my bulbs next weekend.

So where is everyone ?

Kathy in Napa

Hi Kathy! I'm here! I'm here!

So here's the thing: every weekday morning I get up and wrestle TCS off to the bus. Then I do the newspaper, coffee (2,) crossword, Sudoku, and hit the laptop. I read the FB, the Idylles, e-mail, a coupla other forums, and then I hit the Spider Solitaire. I tell myself "just one", ha, I tell myself that with the glass of red too, but inevitably...

Just to let you know, I have realized that I suck at Solitaire.

So often the morning has been whiled away and I have not even contemplated my JulieJob for the day! So I think, well, I'll go do *******and then I'll reboot and post. You know where this is going.

So, Good Morning all! Congrats on getting your gardens tucked and your leaves raked, your baking done, your decorations up and your gifts bought!

I'll not be so neglectful, I promise! (and I know, you've heard this before *LOL*)

Cheers,

Julie

Kathy - that sounds like a productive weekend to me!

Julie - that sort of morning routine that eats up time before you know it sounds very familiar :-)

Usually when Phoebe visits I take lots of pictures to post for gb. But, since she's not expecting to have access to her internet account, I haven't been taking any pictures of her 'baby' for her.... Phoebe's settled into our routines quickly and seems quite content.

Today's main task is to put together annual Christmas letters - with pictures - to send off to my late mother's best friend (who has been in a nursing home for the last few years) and to another friend in the wilds of northern Ontario (bears are her main garden pest!)

A picture from walkies this morning:
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Phoebe was focused on Rambo, who she could see approaching. When Rambo arrived, they were all getting restless and wouldn't sit still for a picture! Rambo wanted his share of cookies; Dawn and Baxter (basset hound) wanted to keep walking; Misty and Phoebe wanted breakfast!

I wonder how 'bug fares ? Shes likely warmer than the rest of us.. I put Port au Prince on my iphone weather app, it shows 82 degrees at 12:24 am , 70% humidity, and a low of 64..

Doggie day care at the Woody house ! How nice that Phoebe has a place to hang out .

Hi Julie ..my JJ's this week involve sending off gifts and rearranging the art in the dining room. I'm making progress.

Time to turn in, I will try to post again tomorrow.

Kathy in Napa

Good Morning!

The pups look so content and well-behaved, Woody. You have the touch! You may recall that I had a bad neck injury about a year ago, and as a result I dropped Tucker out of doggie school. I have now reregistered him, and, to my delight, I was given a seven lesson credit for our last attempt. I didn't expect that. After I finish with Tucky I will take Ajax. They are both quite well behaved but get over excited when they see other dogs, so socialization is my main goal.

I send five cards every day now as part of my JJob. Today my last gift that requires mailing will be sent out. But best of all...

DH didn't know what to get me for Christmas. We have a pine table that we have used for 30+ years, every day, through kids, guests, homework, crafts, whatever, and it was showing its age. There's "patina" and there's "cruddy and beat up". DH thought the table had the former, me, the latter. So, for Christmas, DH bought himself a sander (!), sanded this table, and has applied five coats of finish to it. It looks absolutely amazing! And so today the patio table that we have been eating on for the last week or so will head back out to the wine deck, and the improved pine table will find its way bqck into the kitchen. In lots of time for Christmas. I am so lucky!!

I am almost done with the shopping, but haven't done the baking because the kitchen has been in an uproar with the table work going on. So I will be busy next week.

I feel like I am with Bug (LOL) as our temps are so high for this time of year. No snow, our ground is not yet frozen, and rain, rain, rain for the next few days. Interesting to note that here the feeling is that Christmas sales are down because it doesn't look like Christmas. Um, where has everybody been? People don't have as much disposable income anymore and prices sure haven't come down. Gee Whiz.

Off now, to try to improve my solitaire rating....

Cheers,

Julie

Julie it is raining here too. I do like the warmer temps though. Good for you getting the dining table refinished.
I like spider solitare too and it is a good way for me to unwind if I need to.

The mud from all the rain is making it hard to do much with Joey. The silly boy has free acsess to his stall and prefers to stand out in the rain.

I was going to head into town but am trying to wait out the worst of the storm. Maybe I'll just give it up for the day and take a nap instead. Whatever I need can wait until tomorrow.

Good to see pics of the pups Woody. Wow 800 lbs of luggage sounds expensive. Can't wait to read all about Bug's adventures.

Kathy, it won't be long till you will be telling us about your spring garden. Actually I have stayed so busy this fall that I'm thinking winter won't seem so long this year. I hope I'm right, and I hope we have a more normal weather pattern next year.

Not a lot of Christmas prep here. I just don't get into decorating anymore. I did swap out the dead foliage in the hayracks on the barn to some pineboughs and a little decor.

Well it has cleared up a bit so I need to make my decision about going to town.

Looks like the Nov idyll needs to be rushed along or just switch to a Dec one.

Norma

Raining here today too.

Julie - the table sounds like a lot of (high quality) work - picture...?

We had a very doggy afternoon. We just got back from our first real volunteer afternoon at the Dog Guides facility. What we do is basically reinforce the training while giving the dogs social time (i.e. lots of cuddling!) So, we take each dog to the 'relief' area (i.e. go to the bathroom...) - 'busy-busy' is the command for that... - then walk them back to a lounge (at heel; no pulling allowed...there are specific procedures for going through doors that depend on which side of the door the hinges are on!) to groom and play with them, which also gives opportunities to reinforce basic obedience ('sit'; 'down', 'off' if they jump up; 'OW!' if they try to lick your face or rub against you etc.) - while trying to remember to give the commands in ASL and sign 'good boy/girl' etc. We worked with 6 dogs - most are small poodles or small Labs or small Goldens. They have their own breeding facility, although dogs are sometimes donated by breeders as well. Definitely a fun place to volunteer!

Interesting Woody. I will be waiting to hear more volunteer stories.

And no I didn't go to town. I went out and got Joey in the stall and dried him off.

n

So where is the pic of the table Julie ??? tap tap tap...Got the Christmas tree today, it's in the house thanks to help from DS, who had no rehearsals tonight for change. No decorations yet ! Will make progress on that tomorrow.Boy, did I get caught short this year, I kept thinking I had more days til the hols than I really had ! I still have 2 more presents to buy, so I need to strategize that for crowd control purposes. At least I have the menu plan down, lol.

Norma, I'm going to do a post flurry so we can close this one out..

Kathy in Napa

Yeah, I already feel as if I missed December...

You are ahead of me Kathy - our tree is still in the basement. It will come up this weekend tho...DH and DS are playing indoor golf on Saturday and TCS and I are going to eat shortbread and drink wine (well, I am anyway) and decorate. Shopping is done, cards are mostly done, menu...are you kidding me? I don't even know what's for supper tonight!

I will take a photo of the table today, before the "patina" starts to re-establish itself.

You are so good Norma...I bet Joey reallt loved his rubdown.

I don't really mind cold, I don't really mind wet, but cold AND wet? No Thanks. and that's what we have right now.

I am going to make gingerbread cookies today. I bake a variety of sizes of stars, stack them up from largest to smallest to look like evergreen trees, stick a star candle on top, and TCS decorates them. They make great gifts!

Off for the solitaire fix. Norma, do you play Spider Solitaire with two colours?

Woody, the volunteer things sounds so neat. That would be hard for me - I want to take in every animal I see. Which is why I have two Bostons instead of one....

Cheers!

Julie

Julie I didn't know about spider solitare with two colors. Do you play on line? I use a version I have on my computer. I will have to check the settins or options.

Good idea Kathy, I will help.

Sneaking in from the awfice for some thread acceleration !My iphone tells me it's 82 and partly cloudy in Port au Prince..54 % humidity..not too bad ! We're finally getting a bit of rain, though I don't think it will be very measurable; it warmed things up though.

Julia nad Norma, your solitaire addictions are not as bad as the da*m farming action on FB !

I'm getting very close to painting my dining room red, which I've wanted to do ever since I saw photos here of Honeys' many moons ago. You can't accuse me of rushing into things !

Kathy in Napa

FIL arrives this afternoon....

Go for it Kathy! Red is the classic color for a dining room.... Ours is a raspberry-red, which goes better with the blue-gray walls of the hallways and living room than a classic red would have. Randy just about choked when he saw the color in the paint can when it was opened! :-) (he's a paint-it-white sort of guy....) but he's come to like it. As usual, the camera distorts red tones a lot so the color in this picture isn't totally accurate, but you can see that the color is fairly dramatic. Go for a red; you won't regret it I'm sure.

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So here she be:

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and with a little decoration:

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To keep the thread going I will add a couple more photos in another post!

I'm on a roll!

Cheers

Julie

Here are "the boys" with their Christmas mat, right where they like it, in front of the fire:

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Thinking of Woody and Chelone when I took that one;

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I'd better stop....

Cheers,

Julie

Your DH did a nice job on that table Julie! Cute beasties on a cute rug :-) Are your walls pale blue or pale green? It's hard to tell in the picture. The color looks to be about the same 'value' as our living room blue-gray walls - a very light-reflective/'transparent' color... very nice!

ooo-ee Julie, that table looks terrific ! And I love the boys on thier Christmas mat too, lol

Woody, thanks for sharing your raspberry walls ..love the drama ! I think this will be a January project for me (along with the long awaited home office) since I will be posssibly doing some traveling in February , so I need to get while the getting is good...

Kathy in Napa

Nice Job on the table. It looks great. Now send him over to do my oak one. My DH swears he will do it every winter. (Fifteen of them)

Can't let the dogs out number the cats. Here are Niki and Jasmine hoping I will share a morsel, and Niki when she hopped into the dryer after I folded clothes.
Clickable thumbs

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I have two pine benches that I have now told DH might be good January projects for him....he is not really annoyed, I think he is rather pleased.

My walls are pale green Woody. They are nice but after 6 years I am getting a little edgy about the colour. But painting something this large (living/dining area, hallway, laundry room) is kind of a gumption trap. I do have a bathroom to do...

Norma I don't play solitaire on line, it was already on my laptop. If you have an Options thing you can change it there. You can go up to four different suits I think. I am scoring at 11% with the two.....

The cats are cute - that photo in the dryer is so funny!

Kathy, DD wants to paint her whole house; She is going to paint one dining room wall a kind of red. She will start with some kind of pumpkin colour I think, then fade it out as she progresses through the house. DS is giving her an Orange card for Christmas, and we just bought about $100 worth of stuff so she can get started. She is getting a painted house for Christmas!!

Norma did you post a photo of Joey? or did I see that on FB?

TCS's school concert was tonight and it was terrific. I don't know when I have enjoyed a kids concert as much. He attends a Catholic school so the theme was the "true meaning of Christmas" but it was a light and funny program. Each class did a musical interlude during the play, and the teachers wrote the play and the music. Terrific.

Cheers,

Julie

Oy, decorating the tree tonight, but it will be a 2 night job. The house is a shambles of boxes and cords, ladders and strings of defunct lights. Remind me never to start my decorating so late again !

Tomorrow is a full day.. the landscape dude is coming to do my shrub removals and hose bib repairs (yay !) I have my haircut after work , and right after that the company Christmas party. Not much will be accomplished on the decor front.

g'nite friends...

Kathy in Napa

G'Morning! Sunny and cooler. Ground is not frozen, grass is green, one of my trees is budding. I expect to lose it. When the deep freeze arrives tomorrow it will kill all the buds and it is likely that the poor thing will not have anything to start with next Spring. Love the tree(Gingko) but hey! it goes and some new garden adventure will take its place.

Norma, go to "game" click "options" and you will see: one suit, 2,3,4. I think I will try 3 seeing as how I am already at 11% on 2 after 2500+ tries (literally!) *lol*

O.K. all, the shortbread is done, now for the gingerbread. Made dough yesterday so it's roll and bake today.

Tree is going up and I am ignoring the dust.

Cheers,

Julie

Yee-ha, the landscape dudes only took a couple hours to complete the demolition and repair jobs around the Kathy garden.Totally worth the couple hundred bucks they charged me for stuff that would have taken me all winter to complete on my own. Substantial square footage has been opened up ! If the rain holds off for the weekend I might get my drumstick alliums planted...

Kathy in Napa

Julie I checked the settings for spider Solitare and see I have won 15 out of 21 games for 71percent but that is only from when my computer crashed so not that impressive. I think I will give the two suit a try.

I like the kids concerts too.

Kathy I'm happy for you to have those tasks done. Now you can get on to the fun part.
I was going to paint my bedroom this year but have lost the drive to do it. Maybe after the first of the year I'll be driven to it out of boredom.

The sun has come out today. It is cold but I walked and spent time with Rebel and Joey.
I finished a book I downloaded from the library. I downloaded an adobe reader app that works great. I find the larger print makes reading easier, but I still get sleepy pretty quick. LOL

Woody how long is GB going to be gone?

Marie will be back on the 28th - their flight arrives at 3:00a.m.! The friend who is looking after the cats may - or may not (weather permitting) - collect Phoebe sometime next week to take her home. If he doesn't come, Phoebe will stay here until Marie collcts her on their way home.

Kathy - it sounds like those garden dudes are handy folk!

The Christmas baking hasn't started here - next week... The first priority will be 4 or so batches of dog cookies for the Christmas doogie bags :-) The tree is also not up - maybe tomorrow....

Twas the week before Christmas and the November Idyll lingers.

Come on ladies and wiggle those fingers.

Lol. Hi all I am so boring.

Hi Norma !

A fuzzy but attractive photo posted tonight on FB of our Saucy and Deanne at Sues Christmas party,wonder if I can figure out a way to post it here ?

I am optimistic that my Christmas tree will in fact be decorated by the close of the weekend tomorrow.I put up the bubble lights this year,still working on those electrical connections!

Here is a link that might be useful: Party Ladies !

Tree up and decorated... FIL seems happliy settled in for his 3 week stay.

On to Dec. Idyll....