Howdy all! It's granny Barb here, oldest of the TD coots. Why do I have to log on as a member here now? Even wickedcoolstuff.com remembers me from my email address. I've been visiting with you all by email cuz I thought you were all chatting away there to bypass GW new confused state. Gee I sure missed a lot! BTW I'm fine. I've dealt with paraplegia for 55 years and even a nasty surgery won't stop me, tho I may be off my feed and so on for awhile. Life goes on, and I enjoy most of it, you all especially, most of the time. I hope I can stay and watch the fun, even if I can't do up boxes while I recover. Very comforting to have friends around while healing. And they may not want to operate after all. In which case, I'll be permanently slowed down. If so, you are still a lovely bunch of gardener types to hang out with. I'll keep you posted. The deciding appt. with surgeon #2 is Feb. 3. Wow, I'm so behind! Greenhouses and businesses, kids and grandkids with good news and not so good, daylilies and orchids, kitchens and chocolate! I'm paying attention here. The brugs are growing in their pots, out of the cellar, but I did lose my favorite, Yellow Wedding Bells. The 2 cuttings I kept just screamed, rotted and passed away. I never plan to collect them, tho; all I want is a modest brug forest beside the knifophias. Doesn't matter if half of them are the same. That's the joy of lotsa land. I'll never fill it all up! Our old friend of 30 years M was here for the weekend. He's recovering from open heart surgery last Aug. and the change in him is phenomenal! He's lost 50 lbs., he's happy and agile, all rosy and the twinkle is back in his eye! He about drove us mad picking arguments over politics before. Now he tells silly jokes again! Wore me out, tho. Deni I looked up your illness. It's like my everlasting nerve pain, but with some added bonuses just to keep you guessing. You get a lot done despite. Terrific. What is going on in everybody's ponds? Are the fish ok with all this nutty weather? I think we should all post our animal pictures nefore Jan is over, as part of the Jan swap theme. Any hints on keeping raccoons out of suet feeders? It is already hoisted quite a ways up a tree. They climb, then hang on the feeder and pull everything down with them. And during this animally time, I just have to say it out loud, corner nothwithstanding: I REALLY LIKE FROGS A LOT! TOADS TOO! I do. DD Sara had an enormous toad she called Frank she used to kiss on the lips. We told her not to, but you all have kids and know how much they listen sometimes. Ol' Frank got so used to it he'd just hang there, with his legs dangling; he was about 7" long from lips to toes. Wish I'd taken a picture! Next time I'll be all caught up and post something more germane... hugs all around Barb

Hi Everyone, Just a quick hello. I am cooking, cooking, cooking. We are having friends over tonight, a Boy Scout banquet tomorrow (pot luck) and ofcourse goodies for tomorrow night. DS#2 is getting some awards tomorrow at the banquet. He is going up another rank in scouts. He will be at the Star rank. Six more months to his Life rank and then he can start working on his Eagle project. Not bad for 13 years old! (Can you tell I'm just a wee bit proud?) Tikanis, good thoughts are being sent to your friend Scott. (((HUGS))) Dee, I hope hubby is doing better, and you as well. Suzanne, it is 45 degress here. I hope to get out in a little bit. The most I've been outside today is to let the dog in and out! Enjoy, it won't last! QOD: Quiet. DH does not like to go to Super Bowl parties because he does not want to socialize during the game. He likes to watch the game on his own couch with his own remote and bathroom! So DS #2, DH and I will watch the game but I am making some special munchies. Two mexican dips, marinated mushrooms, shrimp and pork pie. I know it is a weird combo, but DH doesn't do the mexican stuff. Go Pats!!!! Love, Besh

Finally found my way back to this topic. LOL I'll give my input on Facebook. I'm on Facebook. but I wouldn't want to use it for something like this. I don't want to post my comments about why here, but will be happy to share them by e-mail if anyone is interested. And now for today's Bingo word: Love Story Did I forget to post one yesterday? I'll have to look back over the list. Our internet connection seems to go out several times a day lately so I don't know what's up with that. Sometimes if I try to sign on several times that day and can't get through I give up and try again the next day. It went down to 12 degrees last night. Also our high for today was a new LOW for a record high if you can understand that. I think it was for 2 days in a row that happened. Brrrr! But no snow so that's a plus. I do have some good news. The round robin package from Melinda arrived here today. She enclosed a note that she can't get on houzz so I hope she gets it worked out. There were really nice things in the package. I think some members added more things than they took out. I won't list all of it, but I got flower stickers, baking cups with a snowflake design, a spool of wired ribbon, tissues, magnets, and note cards. The seeds are great, too -purple fountain grass, big juicy strawberries, baby's breath, variegated tomatoes, and several more. Thank you, everyone! I haven't done it yet, but I'm going to try to e-mail Melinda to let her know her package arrived. I'll ask how she's doing because I know we all hope she is doing better. Well, the later it gets in the day, the colder I get so I'm going to burrow under my afghan again. It's supposed to be warmer tomorrow. Jeanne

We actually celebrate quite a bit then, as our anniversary is in January, and both our birthdays are in early-February. My theme then is the celebration of Winter. Post-Christmas. Post red and green. When Christmas is packed away, I decorate with dark blue, white and silver. Lots of candles. Bare branches. Crystal. I love every season. In my opinion, why fight it? I choose to embrace the beauty of Winter and, since our anniversary and birthdays are during it, I use it as a theme for our parties. Chilled vodka-based drinks. Crackling fires in the fireplaces. There are many directions to go from there.