Morning all. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Ceejay - Gosh, things get complicated at the plant when the weather acts up. I hope it's all back to normal now.--- Interesting thought re your friend's marriage to a guy close in age to her son's. Very sad about her loss, and sad that the marriage doesn't seem to be working out.-- Ooh, a sun room and a hot tub at your sister’s place. Nice. You’ll be enjoying that when you visit next weekend. I like being out in our 3-season room when the weather gets nice. I think we're getting close to the time when it'll be warm enough to eat my breakfast out there, and read the paper on Sunday mornings. ---I’m sure getting away from those visiting neighbor grandkids will be one of the best things about moving away! Pretty nervy putting a basketball goal in a shared driveway!

Shad - Nice that your son is helping out with the heavy lifting type work around the house. I hope your dh & his partner take the money and pantry management lessons to heart! I semi-jokingly tell my mom that she needs to start eating out of her pantry - she has a LOT of food in there. I'm sort of glad bf & I don't have a lot of cabinet space, but only from the perspective of not being able to stockpile too much "non-perishable" food.

Susie – Chatty or not, I’m sure you’ll still be keeping tabs on the AD. How nice you received an award! All those offsite events for team-building, etc. are nice, but definitely take time and effort to plan and execute – congrats. Enjoy your gift!---Sounds like you have several nice things planned for the summer already. -–It’s so nice you and your dh redirected some grocery money to your neighbors in need! ---Re the wax – it was the heated kind. But maybe she switched the type of wax?

Annie - That stinks that you paid for a $70 service call to learn that you need to basically defrost your freezer. I’m glad it’s not something costly though. And it’s good you were able to move all your stuff into that other freezer. --- Re the offsite meetings – you must have me confused with Susie – she’s the queen of offsite events. : Good to say no to the kids re $$ - they need to know how to make do when help from mom isn’t available.

Happy – Boo on the snow and missing your PT. Did you end up skipping yoga too? Be careful shoveling that heavy wet snow. ---I'm interested to learn the items you scored in the radio auction. That seems like such a throwback thing to me. Speaking of…the other day, one of the radio podcasts I listen to brought up the Starbeat Dictaphone radio commercials…”Starbeat presents what’s happening.” (cue the cheesy bow chicka bow wow music) Remember?? ---Much as I love dogs, the way this woman lets her dog do whatever it wants would be really annoying. That’s not the kind of dog you can bring with you everywhere. -–Too bad the gazebo would need to be rebuilt, but I’d take a screened-in room over an unscreened gazebo any day…---Re the movies – mostly I don’t want to go out at night in winter. And not as much appeals to me lately, though there are several movies from last year I still want to see. Also - the cost keeps going up – even with discounted tickets. And now it seems that a lot more movies are well over 2 hours long. It better be a good movie for that kind of time investment.

Hi Michelle!!

==

Well the 30-50 mph winds yesterday knocked over the already broken section of fence in our yard. Well, it’s actually 3 sections of fence now. Bf was worried about the dog not being able to be in the yard now, and that an emergency repair was needed. We had a brief tiff over “shoulda woulda coulda” re how we should have supported the fence until it could be fixed (instead of twine and a propane tank, LOL), but we didn’t and now there’s surely a larger repair in order (one post broke off where it goes into the concrete in the ground). Sigh.

After that, bf left to go buy a rotisserie chicken and a hunk of corned beef brisket at Costco. In the meantime, I remembered a roll of wire fencing and metal stakes I had in the garage that I once used to enclose the veggie garden. (I’d switched to a lightweight plastic mesh for that, but this stuff was still sitting on a shelf.) Thankfully the roll was long enough to cover the open area, so I set about pounding the stakes and attaching the fencing. Now that I think about it, those stakes are a PITA to attach to the fencing – probably why I switched to the other type of fence…Anyway, I got the fence installed by the time bf got back home and, more importantly, before dark. The fence is only a couple feet high, but doggy isn’t doing much jumping these days, so he should be able to go out in the backyard without us worrying that he’ll go wandering out and about.

After Annie mentioned how Samsung was not good in the appliance department, I panicked trying to remember whether the laundry equipment we have on order is LG or Samsung. I accessed our Consumer Reports digital subscription to jog my memory. It's LG, not Samsung. And it’s good I looked because it turns out CR showed an update for the LG washer model we ordered. I think I posted a while back that the LG washer had originally been scored very low by CR and they weren’t recommending it because of a software glitch, but we went ahead with buying it because we figured/hoped by now the glitch was fixed. Well we were right – it’s been fixed and now it has a decent score. But these days one still has to hope for the best, right?

Okay, that’s it for me. Off to grab a quick lunch. Enjoy your day!

LAURA...hate to burst your bubble but the repair guy said after Samsung appliances the next worst was LG.

Ok, we're back. It's STILL snowing out there but it's just above freezing and the snow is wet and heavy but once you clean it off, things are melting quickly. I feel sorry for the animals slogging through the stuff. Speaking of which, we haven't seen lame Chester the deer in several days. Poor guy. I don't think he made it. That is the sad part of Mother Nature.

I went for my blood draw this morning. The receptionist said the nurse made a mistake and scheduled my draw for next Thursday and I said that it was supposed to be today so that the doctor could hopefully have the results back by my appointment next Thursday. Fortunately they had no problem taking me although I had to wait a few minutes. Got to try out the new comfy chairs in the waiting room. The phebotomist who came to get me had on a green tulle fairly/leprechaun outfit over her scrubs and something funny on her head. She said she felt silly, I said she'd bring alot of joy to people today and that she looked cute. I also said if you are going to "stick" people, then at least soften the pinch with a smile. She was pretty good at hitting my tiny, rolling veins - I drank about 8 small cups of water before hand and it still took a long time to fill up the vials. My body does not like to give up blood easily. By the time I got done, the girl had managed to set up for the farmers market so I picked up some carrots, lettuces, kale, fresh herbs and for my new item I tried "pea shoots". She said they tasted like green peas but I think not. They taste like sprouts. Not a bad taste, just one you have to get used to. I was hoping but don't think DH will be interested in trying them.

Then we headed to pick up my auction items. I spent over $700 but saved almost $500. I got: septic pumping (needs to be done this year), pontoon rental (for summer fun), gift certificate at jewelry store (my birthday is next month), a 3 month gym membership at the place down the road I do yoga at, 2 pool passes (now NO EXCUSE not to exercise more intensely), discounted certificates for gardening centers (spring will eventually show up here), and about 10 discounted dining certificates for local restaurants including current favorites and 3 new ones we have never tried out. All in all it was a pretty good score even if I did spend a heck of a lotta money. We will use it though.

I was going to try and go use the pool today but the roads are kind of dicey and with the snow there were times visibility was pretty bad. DH has some things to do so I don't want to bother him with driving back and forth again so I'll leave it for another time. The snow on the trees is just gorgeous. A contrast of white and dark bark which we both admired as we were going along. DH tried to get some shots - we had a snow covered pine branch that was dripping melting water and several really neat shots looking down the path of snow covered trees as well as the woodpeckers eating at the feeders - don't know what he got, if anything.

I have heard mixed reviews about LG appliances. I hear their cell phones are good. I can't say I have been disappointed with our Kenmore washer (replaced a Maytag) - it's just they aren't built to last anymore. We got a Bosch dishwasher and I think we opted for a Whirlpool stand up freezer which are holding up fine. I sincerely think it's the luck of the draw even if like me you read as many reviews as possible before deciding on a particular model. Our Maytag dryer is running like a champ but it's mate the washing machine molded out after only 18 months due to a major design flaw. One lady here bought a Kenmore (Sears) refrigerator, didn't buy the extended warranty and the compressor died right after the regular warranty went out. I'm very sorry you are having all these issues Annie - especially with things that can't be fixed. And this is supposed to be a frost free unit???

Laura - wow - blast from the past Starbeat... I sort of enjoy those bits of whimsy when mentioning things from days gone by. Sucker for nostalgia I guess I was debating about yoga yesterday and the teacher emailed and canceled both class sessions yesterday. That's good because she's about an hour's drive away - not good for any unnecessary travelling yesterday. I didn't even get on the exercise bike yesterday but I did get alot of things done and did numerous sets of stairs. The gazebo we have is nicely screened in. The deck guy said it's a kit and could be taken apart and rebuilt once the deck is redone. Just don't know if we need a gazebo AND a 3 season room. DH likes the gazebo since it's in the shady part of the deck and overlooks the yard. Nothing says we have to put the gazebo back on the deck either. When we first bought the house I thought we might be able to sleep outside in it on nice summer evenings. Then when we got the webcam picture of a bear walking around at night right next to it, I thought NO WAY. DH said we COULD sleep in it but... it was not a really enthusiastic COULD. I'll let him sleep on the side that's closest to the door and deck (the gazebo is elevated off the ground about 6 feet). Bummer on the fence breaking but for you for figuring out a fix for it! I think it will work as you say - just enough to let Coal know it's not an opening to wonder world out there.

*ok short break for lunch...*

Back now. Remembered I was supposed to report on a new WW product I bought last session - Tasty Bite Madras Lentils. I added some sauteed vegetables, 1/2 can chopped tomatoes and some ground turkey and it made for a decent chili over 1/2 cup of rice. Rather filling.

Ceejay - I had a bad week last week also - too much eating out. Just get back on the wagon and get right again. It's just frustrating re-losing pounds we already lost once. Bummer on the basketball hoop. Don't hate me but the older I get, the less I want to interact with kids.

Annie - now that I have been going through physical therapy I am realizing how connected the lower body is and how many parts can get out of kink and cause one pain. I do most of my exercises but I can't keep up with all of them and the few I can't are easier done with the therapist who is checking alignment as you are doing them - hard to do alone and while DH would help, he doesn't know what he is doing any more than me. So I am afraid we will all have to deal with pain for the rest of time. (Maybe it's God's plan to make us tired of being on this earth and be more joyful to go and see him one day ) Once we get the hot tub installed at the commune, we will all feel much better.

Ok girls - you both cracked me up - Anne with your review response to your boss and Laura - with your idea of writing up that you walk on water DH wanted to know what was so funny but he didn't find it as hysterical as I did.

Hello Susie, Shad and Michelle. Kitty has decided she is cold and keeps resting her head on my hand and bouncing along as I type. What a pain.

Oh oh. Those lentils are "reacting" and that is not good when I have to go sit in a WW meeting with ladies I barely know.... Later chicks.

Morning all,
Well DS2 has finished his week of night shift which will make life easier all round. Hard to keep the house clean and tidy and the dog quiet while he is out to it. Especially if the dog decides to bark. His bark would wake the dead.

Not much to report on really. I think I told you that one of the oven elements went out a while back. DS2 took it to pieces yesterday to locate the element and finally found the offending culprit. Didn't realise there were four elements in there. So we ordered the part and it should arrive today. Better since J has said that she has volunteered to add some goodies to a bake sale on Monday. While we could cook in there, it was a hit and miss affair with temperature and heat circulation etc. so I wouldn't guarantee the quality of the goods coming out of it. So we are minus cooking at the moment until we get that element. The cooktop won't go without the oven being switched on either.

Laura - good for you building fences while the b/f procrastinates. We are having to watch the ODDU when he is out front since (although he hasn't realised it yet) he could leap part of the fence in a single bound. It won't be long before he realises he can jump over that one bit. He has worked out where the gate opens, although he hasn't yet worked out how it opens. That's probably not far away either.

Happy - pea shoots go in my salads. DS2 eats them without working out that they are there although he has remarked on the odd occasion about the stringy things. Fussy eaters can get up my nose from time to time. Hope the snow doesn't last too long. It's time your winter disappeared. We are having a late summer resurgence with some much needed rain, humidity (not needed) and high temps, although it is cooling down at night. Hope you find Chester again.

Annie - totally awesome! well why not. Might as well tell them that since they can't see much more than the end of their noses these days in the office.
Can't quite agree about the LG appliances. My fridge is LG and I have had it since Townsville days (2000 to 2002). It broke down once and I had it fixed - something to do with the electronic computer in it and it has gone well ever since. It doesn't look bright and pristine anymore, and one day I might paint it red or green or blue because the white paintwork is cr*p. The rest of my appliances are Fisher and Paykel and they are like the Toyota car. Just keep on keeping on. Occasionally have a hiccup but then go on for years and years. Having said that, they will probably all go at once and then I will be in the pooh.

Ceejay - Guess the kids need somewhere to play, but they could move the thing when it is not in use. No common sense anymore. Get back on the bike, no need to give the pounds any excuse to come back.

Okay, so this isn't getting anything done. I'd better get dressed and get out there before it gets too hot. Then I will dust and sweep in the lounge and hopefully not wake the DS2 too early. Such is life - at least he took the dog for a walk before he went to bed. Dog will be a bit quieter now (she said hopefully). Tomato tonic time today and probably the beans and corn as well. I see the cherry tomatoes have some fruit on them already. We are eating the red oakleaf lettuces and the beans are flowering. Hopefully something should happen to the rest soon. The corn is growing, but not very fast - or am I getting impatient. Probably that since I only planted out in the first week or so of February. I might take a drive out to look for some more pony pooh or cow pooh to speed things up today as well.

Glad this week is over and it is Friday. Too many irons in the fire for me. I don't see how CHELLE does all that she does. All that running around. Guess I am too much of a home body these days. Nothing too much on the agenda. Tonight is my friend, Nellie's viewing and tomorrow is the funeral. I am happy she is with the Lord and no longer in pain, but I will miss her tremendously. Just not feeling like it. My boss will be out of the office a couple of days next week. I am happy about that. It is so nice to just get things done and not be interrupted. I leave at 1:30 today for my 6 mo cardiologist check up. Hopefully the ole ticker is ticking nicely. I no longer have the weird food tastes so probably won't mention that.

Not doing personals as I need to wrap up some things before I scoot outta here. Have a great weekend All. Hugs

Happy
You got some good deals from the auction.

Annie
I'm a home body also. I really do not want to go to Paragould tomorrow either but I will call my uncle later on to see how things are going.

Hello's to the rest.

-----

I mowed the lawn yesterday. It took me 66 minutes to mow but I didn't do this all in one setting. Divided the lawn up into 4 segments which took about 20 minutes each. Afterwards I had to take some Advil for the arthritis pain (lower pack pain) and a potassium to keep my body from cramping on me but that's okay. I had no problem getting out of bed this morning. I'm thankful for that.
Some one was trying to hack my account on Facebook so I had to get that taken care of. Hope none of ya'll got a friend's request from me. If you did ignore it.

Morning all. I had a nice day off yesterday. Nothing too exciting, just some relaxation, a bit of housework, & a few errands. We had bf's mom over for a dinner of corned beef, sauerkraut, and boiled potatoes & carrots. Due to lack of time (i.e., planning), the beef was boiled the traditional way and was not as tender as desired. Not much of that was eaten...more room for dessert (mini lemon bundt cakes we'd picked up), and we'll have leftovers for making corned beef hash. Fine by me!

Annie - Re these appliance brands...with all the electronics in them now, there's just so many more things to go wrong (vs. our very simple 30+ yr old Maytag dryer). It all feels like a crap shoot, even when something's been rated well by this site or that. I agree with Happy - hit or miss, & some luck will be involved. How did the cardiologist appointment go? Glad you're not have strange food tastes anymore!

Ceejay - I'm glad you weren't sore after the mowing yesterday. Safe travels if you go to Paragould.

Shad - Hope the heating element part arrives & is installed without too much trouble. Better keep an eye on ODDU to see he doesn't decide to make a break for it over the low part of the fence. Funny how some dogs have that inclination and others don't. Our neighbor's previous dog never wandered (just lived to chase a ball), but their current dog has escaped the yard often, starting with crawling under the fence and into our yard as a pup and working up to taking down their gate and ending up getting hit by a car on the busy street a block over (& thankfully living to finally reform his ways.)

Happy - Wow, I know we had a pump out of our thingamajig for a few hundred bucks, so it sounds like you did great with the radio auction for everything you bought. Glad the blood draw went alright. Is your snow gone yet?? Huh, tough decision about the gazebo - so you'd gain free space on the deck? With the bears in your area I agree about opting out of sleeping in the gazebo!! That book "A Walk in the Woods " had a whole chapter about bear dangers on the hiking trails that was scary just reading, let alone experiencing.

Hellos to the rest of you. Better get busy. Our washer & dryer are being delivered on Monday! Need to clean up that area. We put the old dryer up for sale on Craigslist & one of my FB garage sale sites last night. We'll likely have to reduce the price to get any bites though.

Okay, I'm off. Have a great rest of the weekend everyone.

Afternoon
Had a bad night with an allergy attack at 3 this morning. Got and took some Mucinex and stayed up till 6 then I went back to bed. I slept till 9 got up for a potty run and then back to bed. I was dizzy headed. I slept till 11. Ooops to late the to go to Paragould. Oh well, didn't really want to go. I emailed my uncle and told him why I didn't come.
I've been reading a cousins blog and she tackled cleaning the lint out of her dryer. So I'm going to try this. I may get myself into a lot of trouble. I usually do when I start taking things apart.

Laura
I'm with you one the to many bells and whistles on the new washers and dryers. If you are happy with your purchase enjoy them. By the way have they arrived. Good for you in in tackling the temporary fix on the fence.

Evening all,
Had a fairly lazy weekend. Apart from planting some new plants and seedlings and putting in a line of rocket and doing a little weeding, I've been pretty lazy. So not much to report. J has a bake sale coming up at her work and she has been busy in the kitchen after which I cleaned up again) and then she cooked dinner and DS2 and I cleaned up after that. DS2 provided breakfast and J provided lunch today. I was going to cook for dinner, but I am just pooped with doing nothing so they have taken the dog out for a run and will pick up something on the way home.

Ceejay - waking up with allergies is not fun. Hope you are feeling better now. Sometimes just good to go with the flow and sleep in sometimes.

Laura - sounds like you were having a German St. Paddys day with corned beef and sauerkraut. Should have been corned beef and colcannon. Still you did better than I did as far as St Pats went. Nice to know your dishwasher will be here next week.

Annie - so sorry to hear of your friends passing. Keen to know what the heart doctor says.

Happy - sounds like you had a good win at the auction. You got some good stuff there.

Okay, they have texted to say they will be back in a few and I need to get the table set and drink some wine and probably pass out in the chair before they get back.

Afternoon all
Not to busy today. I could sure get used to retirement very fast. I've loved my four days off and not having to drive anywhere. Went to church in town this morning too. I really like the young pastor.
It's cold this morn and with a north wind. The weather people put out freeze warnings for last night.
Not much else is going on.

Shad
Sounds like you have your hands full and sounds as though you've become the maid. At least they've taken ODDU out for awhile.

just lost an entire big post - MAD!!!!!

Good Morning All....

Let's see...first the cardiologist appt went well. I asked him why I am so tired and have no gumption to do anything more than I have to. At first he chuckled, I just stared. Unfunny, thank you. He said well two things...one, you just had a heart attack 5 1/2 mos ago and your body needs AT LEAST a year to recoup from that. Second, the one drug I have to take that keeps the stents open and also lowers my BP- Meta-something or rather, causes tiredness. Can we change that?? No he says. Bleh. Also I am getting older, 56 the next birthday. So just deal with it I guess. Down 31.2 lbs today. I will take it. 22.8 lbs to go! Also, I forgot to report that my boob squish came back normal. No issues this time. Amen. All and all two great reports. Now if my ankle and knee would quit giving me fits of hurt. The ankle is non-stop these days.

Saturday was meeting and a bunch of running around after. I picked up DD and off we went on our adventures. lol. Grocery, hair supply, Marshalls so DD could use gift card to get a new purse, Chick-fa-li for lunch and home again. Fixed homemade chicken and noodles for dinner. Used the noodles I made and froze a while back so really it was quick and easy. Mashed potatos.

Sunday, while getting ready for church, one of Cs bread stops texted him they were out of texas toast bread. Had to nix church, go to the depot then to the stop and deliver the bread. By then it was 10:30 so we ended up eating at Cracker Barrel. I order cob salad and chicken rice soup. The soup came first and I swear there was about a half of a chicken breast in the soup. By the time my salad came I was stuffed so now I am having cobb salad for lunch today. It is all good. C took the SUV and went fishing in the afternoon with the neighbor. I was at home bored so I fixed angeled eggs and a chocolate fudge cake. When C got home he ate leftover noodles/mashed tatos, angeled eggs and chocolate cake for dessert. Yes, you are right, he shouldn't be eating that. When I am bored I bake and cook. Me, not liking chocolate or sweets, I am safe.

Posting coming back for personals.

HAPPY...boo on loosing your post. I love to read your posts. Maybe have to resort to copy/paste from Word or something.

CEEG...me thinks your allergy attack might have been a delayed reaction to cutting the grass. Cut grass gives me fits. Good for you for staying home rather than going off the the uncles.

SHADDIE...even your lazy weekends are much more work than I accomplish. Sounds like you are on the clean up crew after J makes messes. Do we even like her? lol.

LAURA...not a corned beef or sauerkraut person but the potatos and carrots sound yummy. I don't like sauerkraut unless you add sugar, so what's the point? Goodluck on the dryer sale.

Hello to the rest of ya's. Make it a marvelous day/night.

Hugs from rather cold Indiana today.

Morning
Annie
You could be correct in the allergy attack being a delayed reaction to the cut grass. Hope you get to feeling better.

Happy
Losing a post makes me upset also especially a long one. I'm playing it smart and copy and pasting. Even if I type a post here.

------
Think I'm having blood pressure problems again due to the allergy meds. 160/93 the bottom number scares me worse than the top number does. I took the secondary bp med this morning. I really do not want to take the injection that the doctor gives me cause that one really sends it up high. Getting excited about going to Missouri this week end. I haven't seen my sister since last year. Hope my nephew hasn't left for West Virginia yet to work for the summer.

Afternoon all.

Ceejay – Sorry to hear about the delayed allergic reaction to the lawn mowing the other day. Being outside in all that growing stuff will do it – plus all the dampness from the recent rains probably caused a lot of mold to grow? Sorry the allergy meds caused your bp to spike. Try to fix one thing and it causes problems with another.

Annie – I’m not a corned beef or sauerkraut person either, so I wasn’t all that thrilled with the dinner, though it's nice to have bf’s mom visit. I’m glad the cardio appointment went well. Too bad there’s no alternative for the drug that makes you tired. Maybe that’ll pass like the strange food tastes did. Fingers Glad the mammo also went well. Hope C doesn’t do poorly after eating foods he shouldn’t eat…better give away the leftovers. So you’re left car-less now if he uses the SUV?

Happy – Boo on the lost post. Hate when that happens.

Shad – I have a feeling your lazy weekend is equal to one of my productive weekends…So is J making baked goodies to win over new co-workers? (She just changed jobs recently, right?) It sort of sounds like she needs to try to win you over… Irish or German St. Paddy’s – either way, the foods don’t do anything for me, so I could've just skipped it altogether.

Hellos to the rest of you Worldlies. If I have the date right, and if she’s lurking – Happy birthday to Dee.

==
On Saturday I got down in the basement and swept and vacuumed the floor (and wall & window frames) in the area of the washer dryer. On Sunday I used the Floor Mate to scrub it clean. That project was rather unsatistfying because nothing’s gonna make that old floor look good. The floor tile has been damaged by drips of laundry detergent, etc. that weren’t wiped up right away (or at all) and the floor is discolored in many spots. Oh well, it’s just the basement. I might lay down some of those cushy rubber floor tiles in front of the washer/dryer. They’re usually black, so that’ll look good with the new red washer & dryer.

Sunday morning, I chopped up leftover potatoes, corned beef, and an onion and made some hash. I thought the corned beef would provide enough flavor along with some salt and pepper, but nope. Needs some more doctoring up with other seasonings, but I’ll leave that to bf because I’ve left the leftovers to him. My lowbrow taste buds seem to prefer the canned variety.

Nothing much else to report so I’ll finally get this posted. TTFN.