Fran, your crane is a real beauty!! With the car in the shot, it's a good perspective of how big they are!! I just saw them for the first time a couple of years ago when I was visiting my brother and sister-in-law. Their daughter had just rented a house near the University of Central Florida and we went to see it. Really nice, new neighborhood. As we drove into the development, coming down the middle of the street were 3 large cranes!! Beautiful, fantastic birds.

Fred is recuperating from his surgery on Thursday. He had a growth removed from his side. I get the results of the biopsy back sometime this week.

Igmd_gaz, that is so pretty and peaceful. It's wonderful how cool and green it is. I imagine when you visit your daughter, it's a small measure of comfort knowing she is in such beautiful surroundings.

kittywhiskers: The nature of those icicles indicate to me that you need more attic insulation and possible sealing of air leaks into the attic. You are in danger of ice dam damages along the outer edges of the roof with possible wetting of the wall. I have already been through that experience with my house until I reroofed with larger anti-ice dam sheets plus having my interior vertical walls sealed and super insulation added to the attic. Result: No more icicles or wall damage. My gas bill dropped 15 % as measured by comparing Btu per degree- heating day. This measure is reasonably comparable. Comparing gross btu per winter month is not very good owing to the wide weather variation possible from one season to the next.