I have to agree with Ray - there is nothing quite as comfee as a fireplace. And if you have your own wood, it is pretty cheap. I have to buy from a friend, but at least it keeps energy costs in the local economy and is sustainable. But Ray, check out my little greenhouse. Even after a freezing night, by mid morning it is in the 70's and climbing. Window fans circulate the excess heat into the house so that it is not wasted. And its a great place to relax with a good book. No TV or computers allowed. :)

And to think I was close to an expert in PC's 10 years ago. Gave it all up for a saner life and a wife, good choice. After a few more grey hairs, swearing, frustration and phone conversations with heavily English accented people from foreign lands named "Bruce" and "Pam", I figured out the problem! There were 3.58GB of temp files on the C: drive. Gardenweb is back to normal after the temps were deleted; it is still the slowest loading program I use though.

Every once in a while, over the past few weeks, I fight my way out of a pile of glittery ribbon and pine cones, throw down my glue gun and come up for air. It's been a busy time in the craft room and no rest for the wicked just yet - a couple more weeks to go. I fear I'll be all Christmassed out before it even gets here. I have one night of entertaining to plan for (a fancy one like Hyacinth's candlelight suppers - anyone watch Keeping Up Appearances? I love that show). We used to do fancy shmancy a lot but since we moved here, hardly ever. Seems that more people prefer chili on a bun on a paper plate and a bottle of beer than 3 forks next to a china plate and a wine glass. (big sigh) Oh well, the joys of country living. It's pretty normal for GW activity to slow down this time of year, but of the dozen or so forums I check in on most days, I'd say it's way, way down. It changed a lot after the iVillage and annoying ads takeover. Some ads still sneak thru my adblocker and irritate the heck out of me, I can't imagine new people coming to the site and not having an adblocker in place - they'd probably be just as glad to quickly leave. Do you think people who are able to garden year round have the luxury of not going full tilt for 3 months out of the year, and therefore don't get burnt out? I enjoy the winter break and doing something different. By September I'm tired of gardening and my mind starts thinking about downsizing the garden (but I won't). By Christmas I'll be so tired of crafting I'll be taking an oath to never do any again (but I know I will). We've been a bit spoiled with the weather lately (a lot of us have, right?). But I think tonight something is blowing our way so maybe our brown yards will be white by morning.

A little more info of your computer would go a long way. How much memory does your system have. What browser and version are you using? What sort of internet connection are you using (Cable, DSL, Dialup)?