Cindeea Seems like both you and i have found a treasure to share our lives. Wood floors are sooo great. In New York, as well as in Europe, hardwood floors were the norm, but we were told, in Florida it is not a good thing. Well, my asthma forced us to remove all w/w carpeting, and install wood floors in all the bedrooms, I have to say, makes me feel like i am home again. But for the pain, we had a spa built next to the pool, with therapy jets, and it has been a life saver for me. If they ever get the MB finished, my husband had a spa added on to the room, complete with a huge steam room,sauna and the most incredible 2person tub i have ever seen, with a comfortable seat for your lounging time, with therapy jets everywhere, icluding the end of the armrest. All this just to get some relief from the everpresent pain. Actually, seems like an old friend, not one you like at all, but one who seems to have come for a visit, and refuses to leave. Do whatever you can to keep cheerful, and give a big hug to that man of yours for us too. irene

THE YEAR IS 2013 MONTH JUNE I am posting from a mount high with my Valkyrie horns and piercing Wagnerian Opera singing voice strong enough to break a crystal goblet. -- trumpets blaring singing highest praises to the best vacuum cleaner I have used in my entire life! I am 52 and housecleaned for years in my youth before I became a forensic psychologist. I cleaned households of wealthy cocaine dealers in Marin County, California in the late 70s early mid eighties and the houses of Rock stars thereby becoming acquainted with all of the best, most expensive, well established vacuums in the entire world. Naturally those days fell away as I was able to escape the depraved world of my criminal drug dealer rock and roll roadie father I was born to, to attend UC berkeley and Post Graduate School to enter forensic psychology as PhD assessing dangerousness for highly violent psychopath inmates in the California criminal Justice System. Though very busy and engaged in this high paying, dangerous work cut out for the select few, I always cleaned my various domiciles myself, availing myself of fine vacuums on a high salary. It was not until 2002 that I came across the vacuum cleaner of my dreams! This vacuum has been with me for 11 yrs. requiring nary a single repair and works as well as the day I so luckily bought it for pennies from a young gentlemen who bought it brand new but was suddenly forced to leave the country in 24 hrs. to catch a flight to Germany to work at his dream job of a lifetime, at Adidas Headquarters! The vacuum!? A Miele 246 Naturelle cannister vacuum cleaner. This vacuum is wonderful! It will suck up anything on anything! I dont even change the attachments, I just take off their standard floor rug head, and use the tube for corners and all else. This is because the power suck is so strong there's no need to jack up the PSI with attachments that narrow the square inch factor for smaller harder areas. In fact this vacuum is so strong I almost sucked up my parrot! It's not a large parrot like a Macaw, its barrel chested and stocky but only the height of a Robin. My poor parrot ran in front of the field zone of my vacuum path and got sucked right into the entrance hole of the hose! Horrible, The sqwauking and screaming that entailed!!! Because he was larger than the circumference, and a strong, athletic little tough bird, he wasnt dragged up the tube, but he was momentarily pinned at the ingress. I flipped off the power in 2 seconds, releasing him, befuddled and recouping while he rustled his feathers and scampered like a bowlegged pigeon toed football running back across the floor to safety. He was not the worse for wear and hence forth he was caged during vacuum times. Nevertheless my parrot's frightening experience speaks volumes to the vacuum power this cannister has and still does!! This Miele is lightweight on wheels and easily maneuvered. It has not required a single repair. I just change the couple filters when needed and keep it in a warm dry storage. It never blows dust or stinks like so many vacuums do after awhile. It handles wood, tile, low carpet, ciellings and corners equally beautifully and it is pleasantly quiet for a vacuum cleaner - really helpful when I feel compelled to push the limit of shared wall apt. living by vacuuming compulsively some visually irritatting debris off the floor at an off hour. I havnt received a single complaint even for a 20 minute vacuum session at 2am in the morning right below my upstairs neighbors bedroom!! This leads to my last point. Which is I love this vacuum cleaner so much after all these years, and this will sound a little perverse maybe - but I actually look forward to almost any time I get to use it! The ease of use and the immense gratification of such dramatic clean up results while feeling the power of this little muscely whirring German mini- tank of a machine is just so satisfying, at times, I can scarcely stand it :-) :-)!! This German engineering and quality reminds me of a very high end little racing power coupe BMW. As Ive had those too. No machine engineering rivals those pesky Germans! Why do you think they almost ruled the world?! Kiss your Kirby, Hoover, Oreck, Dyson... blah, blah....goodbye forever and invest in one of these cannisters from Miele and you will never have to buy another vacuum cleaner your entire life!! I personally have the Naturelle 246. I believe its pricing is highly competitive and its the best of my life as a discerning, intelligent and highly experienced house cleaner as most women are anyways.

We had a wonderful mutt we named Woodstock Nation. When a kitten adopted us, our 4 yo dtr named her Dorothy. I have no idea why. We had her for many years. The most beautiful cat we ever had was very tiny with the longest, softest, all black fur you can imagine. Her name was Malificent Underwood. Beautiful as she was, she didn't like to be bothered with any one but our baby boy. (We got them at the same time.) As soon as could walk he carried that cat around all day long, and she slept with him. We called her Cat. I love this old happy thread.

May snow again tonight...but will hit 60° by Sunday, so the shovel will remain retired. Thus far, with two hawk nests across the street and the return of the red squirrels, it appears this will be one of ' those' years -- the type of year where the survival of the fittest theory will test its efficacy. Hard shooting into a rising sun, but, that's when the bluejays decided to settle a score with a hawk. And, the meanest little guy in town likes the deck railing. If one could package chutzpah, this guy would need a garden cart to carry all the audaciousness and arrogance he has. So, between 4 resident hawks, red-tailed and red-shouldered, and the red squirrels, it may be a hellishly red summer! Jane P.S. The farm store just delivered my order and the chap said they are seeing a different type of customer now. The pandemic is bringing out future gardeners - more people are interested in and are beginning victory gardens. Here's hoping that may become a trend.