Our clocks used to be on the same schedule as yours, PURPLE, but two or three years ago now, the USA decided to start changing earlier in March and not going back until later. They are our largest trading partner so I guess that's why most of Canada decided to follow the same timetable. I say "most of Canada" only because Saskatchewan has never gone to DST anyway and still do not. Maybe I should move?????? I do not do well with time changes.

But . . . I won't bore you with my usual harangue about the evils of Daylight Savings Time . . . why would I want to do that when I can still complain about the delights of our weather. It has been snowing pretty much all day. At least it has been straight down and pretty wet so probably won't last long. It definitely looks all fresh and white out there once again.

I could happily eat oatmeal porridge every day. As a child I never had it. My poor Mother got it shoved at her everyday when she was a kid and she hated it. Consequently she never made it. I really only discovered it in fairly recent years.

HI LADIES ~ DH was up at the crack of dawn and went around turning all the clocks ahead; he said NIKO woke him up at 5 am. I think he can read clocks too!

MEOWEE ~ you probably aren't the only one who thinks that way, I'm sure (DST). It seems anyone who had too much porridge as a child, dislikes it when they are older; but if you didn't have it, you like it later on because it's something different. I like it, but only want it now & then because it was better than that rice puffed wheat stuff which I really hated (that came in those giant bags), so I would eat toast one day, then porridge the next.

PURPLE ~ DH and I couldn't understand why they were putting it ahead so early, so we checked our 2008calendar and it was put ahead on the 9th last year. For the last few years, they have been putting it sooner and sooner. Meowee explained in another thread that the US puts their clocks ahead at this time, so our Canadian government decided to do the same. I had always thought that it coincided with the alleged first day of spring which used to be March 21; that has been changed to the 20th as well: why? Who knows?

Anyways, everybody knows that spring doesn't arrive until APRIL: you know, April showers bring May flowers, but what can you do? I do like having more daylight though, but I was never really sure why we put it back in the first place, and I'm still not sure ... Maybe we learned this when we were kids and I just can't remember anymore!

A CUBBY ~ is short for CUBBYHOLE which is a small cupboard or closet or pantry, of sorts; you can use that name for any of them really. We have cubbyholes here; one above each closet and another one above our washer and dryer closet. In one place we lived, I had one above my staircase and often you can find them in attics too. So, you guessed right!

The only cereal I can eat dry is granola or those ones with the sugar on them like Captain Crunch and so forth; but I don't buy that kind much anymore. When we got out on our own, my SIS (Numpster) and I shared an apartment and one of the first things we did was buy the kind of foods we liked, like Captain Crunch Cereal (which has a kind of honey coating on it: yum). Once there was this really nice one made of bran and honey squares with holes in the center; and I loved it, but they don't make it anymore ~ shucks -- and I could eat them plain too, esp for a snack!

We had lovely sunshine all day today, but yep ... you guessed it -- it was very, very cold here today as too. Well, I'm glad we had the sun at least. DH worked on getting his bike ready for summer and I did stuff in the house today; very little really as I was restin' up my back and it worked. I am feeling much better now, but I am gonna take it easy this whole week and give my back a good rest: a March break, so-to-speak.

That show with Monty in a stone cottage sounds really interesting. I think England has lots of interesting shows. Over here, they don't seem to have any imagination or creative thought about shows at all. I just finished an interesting book written by real women who lived in our province who talked about their lives from childhood up or some other real-life happening from their marriages. I really enjoyed it; and some of these stories would have made a wonderful show or some really nice movies. You know, the pioneering women of Canada type stories ...

ANYHOW, it's time for me to go as it's getting late. We had a nice steak dinner with lots of mushrooms and other veggies (some were leftover roasted veggies from another day). I had cauliflower and a salad with mine as well, and DH had a new potato with his. It was very yummy. Take good care ladies ... ROSEBUD

It was actually today but still quite cold. Same kind of stuff is supposed to continue tomorrow. Just wish I felt better so I could enjoy it more.

Our local evening news is doing a review on whether the earlier move to DST the past couple of years has actually saved any power costs (the reason the USA said they were doing it). Wonder what the verdict will be for us. I can see that it might result in electricity savings in the southern states. I'll let you know what they have to say.

Not too much going on for me . . . nursing sore ankles (back is not too bad) but have been really experiencing a lot of pulmonary edema lately -- you know coughing more and enjoying it less, especially when I go to bed and start making those sizzling 'coffeepot' noises. Finally get to see the doctor on the 23rd so hopefully he can give me something.

In the meantime, I am happy to report that this is day 9 of my good eating and the scale- showed me 210.5 this morning. I know that probably means the exiting of a lot of water but, hey, that has to go too. Hope I can hold it together, because I really want to see that new decade again soon. I caught a very fleeting glimpse of 209 for a couple of days waaaaaay back last September.

Other than that . . . nothing exciting for me. Have a good evening, all . . .

HI LADIES ~ we had a gorgeous sunny day; and tonight there is clear skies with a beautiful full moon. We had lots more birdies come today: some starlings are now coming every day, plus we had the two kinds of finches, chickadees, and I have to make a correction -- as I finally found an exact picture of my newest birdies: they are actually HOUSE SPARROWS (not female juncos), which are bigger and different than the Song Sparrows we get in the summer. These ones have a black mask on their faces and the others do not, but they have beautiful markings on their feathers and grey bellies and heads. They are a bit skiddish too; gathering as much food as they can, and going back to their homes/nests hideaways rather than hanging around for long.

I also found one picture of the hummingbirds we used to get in the country; the only one even close to it -- is called the 'Ruby-Throated Hummingbird' although we used to call them the red-banded hummingbirds because ours have a red circular band all around their necks; the females didn't have the red band and were just that lovely metallic blue-green with white bellies. I find many of the birds we have here are very pretty and much brighter in color than some pictures I have seen.

MEOWEE ~ oh, thanks for the info about DST; as we don't have TV right now, we didn't know the reason they were putting it back. I thought it may be because of SAD, but I could see that they might think people will use less hydro with more daylight, which remains to be seen, I guess. I know at my Dad's cottage, there is no hydro hooked up; and we just used the daylight and then just came home before it gets dark. We mostly ate cold picnic lunches, and my DAD used a small propane burner stove for a hot soup or something like that. This year, we plan on taking our BBQ up there too.

on losing 4.5 lbs -- surely some of that will stay off; you are doing really well. Hope you are feeling better soon though, and your doctor finds a way to help you ...


HI PURPLE ~ WOW, flowers blooming in MARCH -- you are fortunate over there. We are still buried with snow, but I'm looking forward to seeing how my SPIRIA Bushes do this year; last year, the pink ones bloomed twice.

Here we have closets for putting all kinds of things in: food, linen, clothes, coats, laundry machines, and tools. I even know some people that have 'fridge closets' or coldrooms. I had a friend who had one in her apartment in the basement; it had a door just like a closet and you walked in and that was her fridge. Some people call them cold rooms these days but hers was quite modern. Some are walk-ins and some you just open the door.

One Italian family I babysat for -- had a DRESSING CLOSET where they put all their clothes and they went in there to dress. After I told my mom about this, she made one for my sisters to keep their clothes out of the bedroom, and off the floor. Numpster could attest to this, but she was a neatnic like me (the youngest one was messy then but not today; shhh ... don't tell her I told you this).

Well, we had a lovely roasted chicken dinner tonight with cabbage, celery, onions, baby carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli with new potatoes. We have enough left over for another dinner too. I am really liking roasting all these veggies -- this is very handy and you can put them in soups & casseroles too. I had leftovers from last night for my lunch today.

Well, that's all the news for today; letting my feet, legs, and back rest today; DH has been helping me quite a bit too, which is nice; and last night, he did the dishes for me too. He says he appreciates all the delicious meals I cook, so it goes both ways.

HI to VAL, and NUMPSTER, and RONNI, and BEVERLYJOY ... hope you all had a MARVELLOUS MONDAY!!!ROSEBUD

Hello, everyone! I've just had short spurts of time to get on the web the last few days, so just don't seem to get to post everywhere I want. I do try to get here and read even if it's just a couple quick postings, though. I've decided I'm going to have to try roasting veggies after what you've said about them-sounds delicious! We've had some varying weather too-one day sunny and nice, next day sleet, today rain, sleet,and maybe sleet and snow again later. But, when I looked out the window at our front flower bed (which is right up against the south side of our house), I noticed that the crocuses and daffodils have just started peeking out of the mulch! Finally, a sign of spring-I thought I heard a robin the other day also, but haven't seen it yet, so could have been something else, like one of those mimicking cat-birds.

Purple-so sorry to hear about your friend's wife. He and his family will be in my prayers, as will you, because I know it's hard to see our friends suffering. That's excellent about the money for the MS center, though. I know what you mean about walking being difficult in the wind gusts. We get lots of wind here too-sometimes it just rattles the windows and I've been blown nearly off my feet before(even when I was still at 260!). Our county is said to be the 12th windiest county in the US, so all the utility companies have put up wind turbines all over the place. I think it's great to be using that free resource, although my DH works in a natural-gas fueled power plant, but he wants the company to use as much renewable energy as possible too.

Rosebud-We get hummingbirds here too, though, not usually till fall when they're migrating. We have put up feeders in the past, but not in this town, because they fog for mosquitoes every week during the summer and the insecticide they use would make the hummingbirds ill, so we don't encourage them to come. I had to laugh about you and your sisters! My sis was the messy one, too, but now her house is always a showplace. She has big, big closets in every room, while, I, unfortunately, haven't had a closet bigger than 3 feet across since I got marriedand DH gets 2/3 of that! Someday, I'll have enough closet to actually hang up my clothes and not keep everything folded in drawers or laying over the ironing board

Meowee-4.5 pounds lost!!! Every loss is a good loss in my book! Really sorry you're having those health issues, though. Praying that the doc will be able to help ease the symptoms.

Not too much going on here, but must figure out something for dinner, so I'll talk to you all later!

Another gorgeous day -- sunshine and temperatures right at the freezing mark.

I was out and about for most of the day and am glad to say I managed to avoid all the chocolate bunnies that were calling to me. So my tenth day in a row is still in fine shape.

The verdict for Atlantic Canada (and I imagine for most of the rest of Canada, too) is that there has been no difference in power usage because of the earlier and longer switch to Daylight savings time. No surprise -- what we save in the evening we are simply using up in the morning.

PURPLE. . . in Canada most of our power is generated from fossil fuels, although most of South-Western Ontario is working on hydro-electrical power thanks to Niagara Falls. Down here in the Maritimes, they are starting to lean toward windmill power (boy do we ever have wind), but it will be a long time before they can phase out the dependence of coal.

I did buy some more yarn so guess I'll just keep knitting -- good way to avoid those chocolate critters -- hard to do 'busy work' that requires both hands and eat at the same time. n

HI LADIES ~ we had a mixed day of sun on and off, but it was mild too, so we'll take it for sure. I spent most of the day backing up all my files and pics onto discs while doing laundry and other daily chores. I try to do that regularly, and it's easier to do while doing something else; not so boring, etc.

MEOWEE ~ so I guess the experiment didn't produce any benefits, so I wonder what they'll do now??? I think they should harness all that free energy from the sun and wind; I think they are putting up Wind towers near Sudbury now.

HI RONNI ~ so nice of you to drop by; we love hearing from you. Did your DH go ahead and put that application into another place after all? Maybe a move might make him happier, and you may like to move into a bigger place too. I like to make a few OVEN DINNERS each week where I use a large roaster and do lots of veggies; then use them over the week; they can be frozen in containers also to be added to soups and casseroles. I just put the 'meat of choice' in and surround it veggies & new potatoes with skins, adding water & seasonings, and let the oven do the rest of the work -- so easy! Sometimes, we have red or white new potatoes (a small one for me and a medium one for DH). I have even roasted corn on the cob this way; it's great!

HI PURPLE ~ yes, so sorry to hear about PETE's wife passing; he's in our prayers too. That is so nice that someone left something to the center to help them out. Will it be put into a trust or an annuity? Because, if they did it that way, investing the bulk of the money (in safe stocks & bonds & GIC's) -- that would guarantee them an annual income perpetually, and help the center for a very long time.

We just had a quick dinner of 'Bangers on buns' (a large lean Sausage on a whole wheat bun); and I had a salad with mine. I love these as they are really easy and quick to make; while the sausages are sizzling, I make up the salad. This made it kinda feel like it was summer.

DH worked on his bike and trailer all day whilst I did my thang; time to go have a fruit snack with a tea; and do my puzzles too. Hi to VAL, and BEVERLYJOY, and NUMPSTER ... Hope you all have a WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!!! Take good care ... ROSEBUD

Hi gang . . .

Sunny again this morning, but snow/rain is in the forecast for this afternoon.

I think Canada will stick with the same timing as the US regarding DST. Too bad. Personally, I like to see daylight earlier in the morning.

HI LADIES ~ We've been having a blustery snow storm here all day; the winds started late last night and woke me up a few times. We have been fortunate that the snow is blowing south, so out of our yard and across the roadway. The weather is too bad to do anything outside, so we decided to stay home today, and will until the nice weather returns. This is what is great about having a pantry and a freezer; if the weather gets bad, we still have lots of food in the larder to choose from.

PURPLE ~ speaking of hydro alternatives, we have our own hydro plant here that is fueled by a renewable source: wood dust and chips that are leftover from the manufacturing of other wood products. I know it supplies our town with quite a bit of hydro (not sure if all); gee, I'll have to inquire about that ...

PURPLE ~ you once commented that you think that you contracted MS during your RN training. Does that mean that you believe MS is caused by a form of Virus? I have believed this for some years myself. I know there are other theories out there, but there is just so much evidence that points towards the viral factor, ie the reason they want to test people's spinal fluid.

I read a medical article a while back about a doctor in the US who is a specialist in the field of MS, and he has only MS patients in his practice. He discovered by accident that ALL of his MS patients had the same viral infection in their bodies. This amazing discovery has led him to doing some research for the US government regarding this matter. Have you heard anything about this? I am hoping that some day they may be able to make an anti-viral shot for the prevention of MS, and some other auto-immune diseases and/or cancers that may be caused by them, like the Epstein Barr Virus (sp?), for instance.

ANYHOW, I'm so glad that you were able to meet up with your friend PETE today, and that he seems to be doing well at this stressful time. Sounds like your center wants to find a more permanent home; it looks like it is a progressive organization and unfortunately, there will likely be more people with MS in the future, not less. I wish it wasn't so, but there may still be many who just don't know that they have it, since it takes so long to diagnose this illness. It would be nice if they could develop a blood test that would detect MS as well, so people wouldn't have to suffer through spinal taps, and could get help much sooner too.

Well, I have to go now and put dinner on, but I hope you all have an absolutely THRILLING THURSDAY!!!

ROSEBUD

HI LADIES ~ WOW, March is almost half way over already! We woke up to lovely sunshine today; thankfully, the storm finally stopped and we are still standing! The temps were cold though ... -20c this AM, and now we are sitting at about -7c, which is much better, but DH says that there is a bit of a cold wind and it actually feels colder than that.

Just had leftovers from last night's dinner for my lunch; made a bunch of bran muffins for snacks yesterday afternoon. Will likely do some linen laundry today as I changed the bed yesterday too. We are having leftovers for dinner tonight (chicken and veggies with rice); nice and easy for me.

PURPLE ~ hmmm ... we think alike on so many things. I have been waking up earlier lately too; with the sunshine peeking through my bedroom window, mostly. Hope you have a wonderful trip to Ashborne today.

HI to VAL (TGIF tomorrow), and BEVERLYJOY, and RONNI, and MEOWEE, and NUMPSTER ...

Not much else to report today: just keepin' busy doing the daily stuff. Well, that's enough for this old bod anyways. Take good care and have a FANTABULOUS FRIDAY!!! ROSEBUD

Had a busy, busy day yesterday but I did manage to keep the eating in check. March is going well for me in the food department and I definitely plan to do my darndest to continue this great trend.

Today is our second day of nice sunshine but definitely winter-like cold temperatures and, undfortunately, lots of wind. Not that it matters much today since i will be in hibernation mode. Not that I'm superstitious or anything but -- well -- as the old saying goes -- better safe than sorry. so it will be a knitting day, I guess and I might even throw in a little nap.

Hope you all have great fun things on the go. See you later . . .