Been sick for three days. On the plus side: lost ten pounds. While I was lying in my bed with two pups and one cat, I reflected on my five days in the hospital at about this time last year. Read all you want. No dietary restrictions. Food arrives, was pretty good, didn't have to make it myself or do the dishes. Watch whatever on your own little t.v. Go to take a shower and someone makes your bed for you and tidies up your space. Bring you your meds with a little cup of juice and tucks you in. The last three days were almost the same except no food, no t.v., but did have the pups and cat. I do not want to spend time in the hospital unless it is really necessary when I get such kind care at home. Last year it was necessary, but this time only the flu! Just started feeling better when DH came in looking very serious. Guess what: wet basement. Finished and carpeted basement of course. Called in the specialist; he came quickly, told DH and DS where he thought the problem was. Rip out the drywall and insulation, tear up the carpet, he will come back and fix it. Of course DH and DS didn't accept the location the the guy indicated so they tore out drywall etc. about five feet away. Nope, the leak was right where the man (the EXPERT) said it was likely to be. Waiting now for the repair. For few hours I thought IU8 was fading from my future, now not so much. We saved the carpet, we still have half a can of the wall paint, so when the repair is completed and new drywall installed and painted. it is likely that you would never know there was a problem. Expert said he'd had 18 calls in the last 24 hours due to a huge rainfall on the weekend. With the ground frozen and unable to absorb the water, it had nowhere to go but inside if there was any tiny crack or opening anywhere. Le sigh. One more project....Expecting huge snowfall today and tomorrow. Better than rain this time. We had a flock of about 50 Redpolls this morning at the wine deck birdfeeder, and one stunningly luminescent male Cardinal. Sure sign of spring, when you see little birds you have not seen all winter. Hopefully all of you are seeing more spring-like weather than I am *LOL* But we always get wallopped in March. The last hurrah of winter. Cheers, Julie

Thanks Sarah and Sleepless, I'm just using one of those little box filters over the pump, sitting in the bottom of the stocktank. I'm thinking that, yes the deicer only turns on below 40, but how warm does it actually make the whole stocktank while its on? When the pump is running, I wonder the temp of the water? Duh! I guess I could put my thermometer in there! And I suppose that the temp wouldn't fluctuate that much in the bottom of the stocktank?? Thanks!

So sorry to hear about all the problems with your floor, pbrisjar. When I saw your subject "Fourth time the charm?" I thought you were going to say you had four loads of cabinets, which is what I'm up to now! After 14 months of working with Diamond, Kraftmaid, Merillat, and lastly Omega, I am still cabinet-less. If we had a complete do-over I think we'd go with pre-finished. Who knows, if we had maybe I'd have a functional kitchen already. It's so easy to get caught up with "maybes." Maybe if you had a different brand, or wood type, or different stain, or...or...or. I do the same thing every day. But, in the end, all we can do is keep working and know that one day we'll be able to enjoy our kitchens! So, for the both of us, the fifth time will be the charm!

Maybe should start a wings thread ........but these are my all time favourite baked wings. Recipe courtesy of Shaun....a lovely person. Hot sauce on the side of course. Am I the only only who doesn't like sauce softening the skin? Chicken Wings - Shaun CF 1/3 Cup salt 1/3 Cup paprika 1/3 Cup cayenne pepper...I use less 2 Cup flour Chicken Wings (she used drumettes) Mix coating ingredients together in a ziplock bag. Pat wings dry. Shake in mixture. Spray cookie sheet w/Pam, put chicken on, spray top of chicken w/Pam Bake 375 - 40 mins flipping over half way thru. Note Cathy cooked for 50 minutes at 500 Note: makes 8 pounds of wings so only use what you need and save the rest..lasts forever