What a delightful thing...Christmas in March, Nikkic! Merry Christmas with your new coffee pot. Have you ever had one with a charcoal filter in it? About seven years ago, I bought one made by Krups. It was nothing special or extra expensive but it had this little filter trap with disposable filters that you change about twice a year. It makes my coffee so wonderful. In our town, every so often (far too frequently to suit me) they put something in our water for purification purposes I guess and it makes the water taste bad for a day. DH says he can't taste it, but my buds are extra sensitive! Anyway, the filter has solved the problem and the coffee always tastes perfectly lovely! I broke the glass carafe a few years ago and called the company to see if I could get a new one sent to me. Yes, yes, they said. Same thing this last year. I know I could get another pot but I don't see the same kind with that filter anywhere. Don't know what will happen when this one blows up completely.

Kitty Kitty??????? Come on, now! We will all help you when you add to your menagerie next time. I'll bet we can come up with Miss Kitty or Pretty Kitty or ......... Sounds like you and I better both stay out of the Mexican restaurants this next week. We can go for months and never eat out, much to my chagrin , so whenever I get a chance...even HALF an offer...I hop right into the truck and away we go! I can't leave anything on my plate either! I was raised in the old days when we had the "clean your plate" club at our house. It is absolutely a soggy mess to bring home too! Best to just shovel it all in and rub your tummy! Eat in haste; repent in leisure!

My gracious, what a great day it has been here. Nearly got up to 70! About noon the girls and I went out to begin the clean up on the water garden area. We worked right along, moving plants to get ready for the new path which DH hasn't quite found out about yet for sure , dividing some, replanting others into better spots, picking leaves out of the heather one at a time!!!!! By the way, do any of you have any heather in your area? It isn't supposed to grow in Missouri because of the humidity, but I have coaxed about a dozen plants into living and they are in full bloom...pinks, purples, whites...and have been since January in the snow. They are great. We are very Scottish. Both sets of DH's grandparents came over from Scotland, and I am Scottish on my father's side and pure Bohemian on my mother's....both sets of her grandparents came over from Bohemia. What a combo, DH says!

On with my tale...about 4 when I was going flat out trying to get finished so I could go in while I could still get to the house, Rosalee took a header into the stream! Well, that's a slight exaggeration. She was sitting sunning on a flat rock projecting out into the shallow part of the stream right before a fall, I called for Lucianne to come, Rosalee turned to watch her and slid off into the icy water up to her tiny ankles. About an inch of her skirt was swirling about her. She was perfectly still. Shocked with the freezing of her tiny feet, I should think. I grabbed her up, wrapped her in my turtleneck bottom, and bundled her into the house to pop into the warm sink bath. Lucianne was frantic with worry. She was on the cabinet, sitting on Rosalee's towel, trying to lick on her head which was all soapy by that time. After they both had been washed and dried, they snuggled down in my lap and haven't wanted to get up! They are exhausted from their day in the fresh air and wild adventure. Still more work is waiting out there, but it will have to be another day.

Hope you all have great weekends.

Sugardrop

Your weather sounds soooooo great. It wasn't bad here but we still have snow we were out for a few minutes to see the mud damage and to sit at the fire pit and watch the water for a while. woke up to fly fishermen in the river so I guess spring is here. I was able to get a picture of Coco for my wallpaper. Called DB this morning and he walked me though the screen saver bit but it appears I can't do it with my windows 98. He is going to check with his "teckie" and get back to me. Had our "when are we getting another dog" conversation yesterday. DH still very upset and can't think about it now. Wants to wait a few months. Also very concerned about our ages (50+) said we could die before our next dog!! I said don't be rediculous DD or DS would never let something happen to something we love. I will get DD to talk to him and will respect his wishes for a bit of a wait. I did get him to agree to getting a dog if what we want came up and we had to decide quickly. So that is that. I now hate saturday's, today is rainy & dull.I will probably bury my head in a book for the day to make it go faster. Hope you all have a great day and I will talk to you tomorrow.

Good morning,

We just came from our town hall/library and got Lacee's dog license. We live in such a small town that they are only open a couple of evenings a week and every 3rd Sat. of the month. Dogs have to be licensed before May 1st, otherwise you have to pay a penalty, and we won't be home in time before May 1st to get her license. So...now she' legal again. On the way home a car passed us going going in the opposite direction. They had their sunroof open and a Great Dane or a Girraf was sticking its head out the sunroof. DH & I laughed so hard when we saw it.

ANNE, glad that you had a good work week and that was too busy to bother you. I was surprised to hear about Tammy Faye Baker having lung cancer. She was never a favorite person of mine, but I do feel bad about her having inoperable lung cancer, and hope that she beats cancer again.

nikki, remembering you had the coffee must have been quite a pleasant surprise for you. What brand is the coffee maker? Having a built in grinder is interesting. How was the coffee this morning? Speaking of coffee. We usually buy really good coffee and grind our own beans. A brand name coffee that you find in every supermarket, has this huge resealable canister. DH thought the canister would be good in storing our coffee, and we bought the coffee. DH usually is up before me, so he makes the coffee in the mornings. He made that coffee yesterday morning... He figured he had adjustments to make because the coffee is already ground. He made it again this morning I told him never make it again. The coffee even had an unpleasant aftertaste. Where we used to live, we had this neighbor who always named her dogs Buster. When we were first married, we had an orange tabby cat who we named Sunkist and our last dog we named Shamrock.

Sugar, we also had the clean plate club when I was growing up. I even remember one time I was in grade school, can't remember which grade. I didn't eat all my lunch because I was full and didn't want anymore. A boy in my class raised his hand and told the teacher in a snotty voice that I hadn't finished my lunch. Instead of telling the boy to mind his own business, she reamed me up one side and down the other for not finishing my lunch. When I go to restaurants I try make a game of how much I can leave on my plate to take home. Poor Rosalee, she must have been so cold. It's a good thing you were there to pick her up. We had a Boston Terrier many years ago, named Casey. DH & I were swimming in the lake and brought her down with us so she could sit on the dock. Then to my horror, she jumped off the dock into the lake and sank nearly to the bottom. I got to her within seconds and her eyes were wide open as she went under water. I grabbed her so fast and brought her back up and hugged her until I calmed down. I was never so scared in my life. Your flowers sound so lovely. I don't believe Heather grows in our area, but I'm not flower savvy. We do have a wild flower, Lupine, that grows in the fields. When they are in bloom, towns to the north of us usually have a Lupine Festival. They are different shades of purple and are really beautiful. I have a garden of daylilies, as they aren't very much work. Right around June/July most of them are in bloom and there is a riot of color in the front yard.

lynn, that want ad is so cute, I got a good laugh out of it. Where do you find them? Glad I didn't confuse you when I explained about wallpaper and screen savers.

Have a fantastic Sat. everyone.
Aleka

Good morning,
It is sunny and suppose to be 55 today. It really does feel like spring here. Last night, a friend of DH's called. He lives in Tucson, AZ and he will be coming back to visit in June. He is younger than us and we both love him like a son, and a brother at the same time. He wants to go camping with us, and he's bringing his son who is around 8, if I remember right. I can't wait, but this has inspired me to stick to my diet better and exercise more routinely. He hasn't seen me for a few years and I want to be slimmer than the last time he saw me.

Sugar, I use bottled water, even to make coffee with. Our water is so icky here, I can barely stand to use it to wash dishes with. We live in southern Iowa and the thought of all that run off from all the farms up stream just makes me want to, well, buy bottled water, when I think about it. I bet that flilter does make your coffee better. Do you have heavy calcium down there like we do here? I wish we could get a filtration system for the whole house, but we need so many other things first. After talking to DH, I convinced him that a new furnace and central ac would be the first thing to get for the house, rather than the siding and windows. So at least, I think I have a year reprieve from that chore. Our furnace is over 40 years old and every winter, I'm sure will be it's last. It will be a relief not to have to worry about that.
I have never even seen heather and I have never heard of it growing here. You must be a master gardener.
Poor little Rosalee, that must have been a shock for her little feet. How is she doing today?

Lynn, my dad got a dog when he was 70. He had terminal cancer, but he decided to take one day at a time. He died when he was 74 (about 3 1/2 years longer than the Drs said he'd live) and I inherited the dog. That dog was really special to me, not just because she was a special dog, but because I felt a bond to my dad through her. She was the best thing I inherited from my parents and the greatest gift he could have given me, even though I doubt that was his intention. She helped me get through a really rough time.
I think giving your DH some time to deal with the grief of your loss is a good idea.

Take care, Nikki

Me again,
I forgot about the clean plate club. I had parents that lived through the depression, I'm sure all of our parents did. There was no wasting of food, period. I remember sitting at the kitchen table until 10pm one night, because I had to finish my plate. I was stubborn and so were my parents. Eventually, I did get it all in . Then there were fried eggs, every morning. I use put the whole thing in my mouth and then say, Excuse me, and run to the toilet and spit it out. Dad caught on to that one and made me show him my empty mouth before I could leave the table.
Aleka, my coffee was great this morning I bought some beans and was so happy with the results. Some coffee sure can taste bad though, can't it?

Afternoon, ladies!

The sun is bright and beautiful but the wind is blowing 100 miles an hour from the north!!! The temps are supposed to fall into the 30s by late afternoon. I don't have long...must get to the front yard to hammer in a sign reading "DH FOR SALE CHEAP!!!!!" Him and saving that $30 by getting the water garden uncovered while the man was in town!!!!! I worked hours yesterday, until Rosalee slipped into the stream, and things were really coming along. This morning, I looked out and the wind had completely filled the stream with leaves from miles away. I was out there in the chilly air cleaning that thing out. Got a huge bag full. My thoughts were none too sweet. It has taken the major part of my working time out there today to repeat the job about 10 times and it is only mid-afternoon. That net is staying up until April 15 next year or .... or what???? I never actually DO anything, just froth a little. Anyway, this is not going to repeat if I can control it. What a waste of my time and energy.

A good feature of the day though. I got a great pork roast tucked into the oven around noon on really low and it smelled devine when I came in. Can hardly wait to eat tonight. I can stay on low carb easily when I have something luscious beckoning. Wish I had some lettace. A big salad with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and asiago cheese would tast wonderful with it. I could be a star member of the "clean your plate" club. Maybe I will just trot out after some in a minute instead of putting up that sign. DH will probably be better tomorrow and I would be sorry to have sold him. I love your stories about what you hated to eat. I was the world slowest milk drinker...which was included in the clean plate thing. It is a wonder my milk didn't clabber in the glass before I would get finished with it. After years of battles with me, my mother finally let me start putting chocolate syrup in it and that made it go down better...but it probably also explains why even today chocolate is not my favorite thing as it is with DH and most people.

Both of you, Aleka and Nikkic, grind your own beans for coffee! Yet another similarity between us. My son gave me a little grinder this Christmas and his bride-to-be gave me some great beans from Gloria Jean's. It is totally amazing how much better really premium coffee tastes! I wouldn't have believed it! I just love the flavors. They gave me pumpkin spice decaf and since I have had some butter toffee. A little shot of whipping cream makes me feel sinful in some of those great flavors. It is like dessert!
Our water is very very hard here. Lots of calcium. DH wouldn't spring for a filtration system for the whole house so I really love the little coffee pot thing.

I told Rosalee we were going out to work again today and she wanted me to wear zinc oxide on my nose and carry a little white tire to toss to her in case she fell in. She wants her own personal life guard! She seems no worse for wear, but is staying pretty close to me! Lucianne is keeping a close eye on her too. Aleka, you have had some great pet names in your family.

Anne, glad you had a better week. It sounded like you needed a break from the stress.

Lynn, how's the water doing? Don't envy me the weather too much today. Our wind is whipping up something pretty poor. Yesterday was a peach though. At least you got some sleep, didn't you? I have been so tired from all the yard work that I can fall asleep standing at the sink doing night dishes.

I'm off on a lettace hunt. One nice thing about living in such a small town...the store is only a few blocks away!

Sugardrop

Sugar,
We've had those aweful winds today too. You probably have some of our leaves from our yard, the way it was blowing earlier.
Hey, I saw that I have some crocus blooming and some other flower that I planted last fall. I forgot to keep track of the names of those new bulbs. It really is starting to look like spring around here.
Nikki

I'll start a new thread for the new week, Nikki