Blow,blow,blow! Are we having March winds already? It was so noisy last night that I got very little sleep. Tommy went out before I went to bed, and I kept listening for his attempts to get my attention to let him back in. It was 2 AM before the noise I heard was him. The hover on our chimney came lose on one end, a few days ago, and was the big part of the racket. Naturally Nolon is no longer able to tend to such things, so no telling when it can be fixed. Prairiemoon, My DH's health problems are mostly from old age. He is 80! He has had heart problems, but that seems to be okay now. He has a very bad back, and emphysema. He also has frequent memory lapses, and mood swings. I am 74, and have battled the Fibromyalgia Syndrome and osteoarthritis for many years. I am the 'queen of Googling', ( smile) for answers to my health and for the meds that I take. I am only taking 2 prescriptions regularly...my blood pressure med, and a rather strong pain med. I have got it pretty well regulated, along with the OTC meds and supplements that I take. The OTCs are for high cholestral, low potassium, allergies, acid reflux...etc. ( I keep telling my friends that I am a factory reject and need to be recalled! ) LOL I really do not think I am depressed. I don't have those type symptoms. Discouraged often, but not depressed. Beautiful swan pic...:-) Marie, I enjoy all your pics of the new family, and I enjoy your DH's humor...:-) The idea of him bronzed is a hoot! Weird...but funny...lol. I saw a red tailed hawk on my way to town recently, then on a later trip, there is a dead one in the highway! I can't think it was hit by a vehicle, and hate to think someone shot it! What a wonderful thing for you and your DH to do... purchase 'half a house' for the new family. I am thinking you are as thrilled with all the 'newness' as your dear grandson is! How wonderful for all of you. We never know what tomorrow will bring. LOL about the old boyfriend's picture. Mary, I liked your "Holland" story. A lot to think about . I love the 'dragon'. Wish I were ambitious enough to make one! I am glad the missing girls showed up and were okay. And I am espacially glad Annie wasn't with them! LOL, V. I have had dreams of unseen friends also ( but then, you have seen many of 'us', and had the pleasure of having a bunch at your home). I can identify with the tiredness from some dreams, also anger or sadness. I have never been to an Opera. A theatrical group puts on shows in Harrison, but I have never gone. Once several of my aquaintences were acting in one. I almost went...:-) Eden, I never did tell you how happy I am that your mom's tests came out good. I hope she is feeling okay. Michelle...such a handsome family!(Both yours and Ricks.) The newlyweds are 'beautiful'. The groom reminds me so much of a dear friend that is a bank manager in Harrison. His nickname is Cub , and he is like a cuddly bear...(smile). Martie, I guess I am pretty strong, else I wouldn't have made it this far. But then, you know from whence comes my strength. Deanne, I haven't been commenting on all your ezcellent bird pics, but you know I consider you a master at all you do! Cindy, I really do not mind winter, but it has become increasingly a challenge with the wood heat! I do admit long dark days can get to me, but I have pretty much learned to 'tune' them out. Stormy weather, regardless of the type, invigorates me. I agree on your analysis of the 'youthful spirit'( Been there, done that!) ;-) That is strange about the PictureTrail pics. That is what most of us use. T, I love your wintry scene. Honey, I hope your funk is lifting. I hope you saw my answer to your xmas cactus question. Ei, I am still enjoying 'your' orchid's blooms. They are hanging right in there. Norma, has the artic express reached you? You are fortunate that the firewood debris is in your basement. Mine is through the breakfast room and into the livingroom. Our aging stove has taken to down-puffing, and blowing ashes out of the draft door! ( Actually, it is probably not the age of the stove, it is the shortness of the chimney. It needs another joint on top! ) I love the BD pic you posted for Taryn. Where is that? Drema, that is great that your DB is improving. I can hardly imagine the heartaches. It's so good that he is close so you can visit regularly. My old Jade plant surprised me with a few blooms this winter. It had never done that before. Woody, I think I am due for more MRIs . It's been several years, and various new problems have came up that xrays don't cover. I will be thinking of you and yours, and praying that you get a good report. I like the sweater. I hope your DH will at least wear it around home. It doesn't look like a target to me. :-) I hope you find the perfect helper. I made another trip to town today. With the incoming bad weather I needed more stuff than I got yesterday. I think we are pretty well set, regardless of what comes! The wind is still strong, but warmer than yesterday. I wore one of my new flannel-lined jeans. It felt good! Marian

I learned all I know about onions from the site below. I would suggest building a raised bed and filling it with a bedding mix. You might call Dixondale and talk to Bruce. He will be glad to give you some suggestions. He is familiar with our area and the whole Dixondale staff have always been very helpful to me. My onion bed is 4' X 15' and this year I grew 110 onions.(In retrospect that may have been pushing it a little, but Oh Well) Whites, yelllows and reds. I put out transplants (not sets)on Thanksgiving weekend and harvest late April through early May. My planting times are way different than listed on any planting sheets. I tried adjusting my timing according to Bruces suggestion for my area and my yield increased greatly. As I said, if you want to grow onions next year give Bruce a call this year and see what he suggests that you do. Good luck on your onions. I have a new raised bed I am preparing now and I was wondering what to put in there. Now I know.....squash. I am going to put a reminder on my computer right now to plant seeds in February. Thanks Here is a link that might be useful: Dixondale Farms

No it wasn't anything to do with uniforms or matching, just stain hiding. It doesn't show dirt because the color is so dark. Really the same material we used for the Golf division. I remember we even lost a customer because they got used to the extreme durability and dark color and said that our standard light colors didn't last nearly as long. Then it became a stalemate. We had/have a few cases still left from like 10 years ago, but don't want to sell them because the durability affects repeat sales. So Polly's idea is best. Don't hoard them, sell them at double or triple the price because those guys know that it's the real deal and they can't get it from anyone else except us. Technically I would say they last possibly four times longer than our lighter stock. So for every case of the darks you lose 4 sales of the standard. At double the price it's still a bargain for them. Elections? I believe they do but Fidel is the only candidate :) One thing that I discovered in Cuba is that there seems to be distinct groups. Those that think America is a bed of Roses and wish to go, those that were there and came back, those that are just happy to be Cubans. The latter are usually the industrious ones, educated ones, well cultured ones. And they prosper within the system. All the businesses are State controlled operations but within those there is also competition. So like America, the best workers get promoted, move up, earn more, gain greater material wealth. The Paladar where I ate had a slick young 22 year old who has traveled to Germany, Virgin Islands, New Zealand etc. The thought of leaving Cuba and his palace would never happen. When I explain to Cubans how much a Hospital visit or University education in America would cost, they are quite shocked. And the reality behind the "American Dream" means working 2 jobs, sitting in traffic jams, drowning in debt, etc. etc. All concepts they have no idea of. I feel so relaxed when I'm there because it feels like going back 20 years in time. And that's a good thing. Good old life before the iPad and text messaging :)

The director of my children's preschool taught me a very important parenting lesson early on. She discussed what she called the parenting V where when the children are young you have a great deal of control, as they get older the control lessens as the V opens up. She told me to make sure I exercised my control properly, so that I would never be in the position of needing to exercise it later when I could not. In this conversation that means if your teenager thinks leaving the house with body party hanging out is acceptable, then you are too late to the parenting table and having a battle of wills will likely have an even worse result. As Mamapinky said, the underlying issue with dressing like that is self-respect. And I cannot think of something more important to give my children than that. How to ensure your children have said self-respect is a discussion for another time- as is the difference between self-respect and self-esteem. I am not at all sure those two concepts are the same. The goal is to bring up children who are able to make good decisions from when they are little. And Chi's point about making mistakes in a safe environment is truly key. But if your relationship has become one of a power struggle over dressing by the teen years, then I doubt you will have an effective course of action. The clothing is a symptom of the bigger problem.