Howdy all,
Sorry I've been MIA. Started to get a scratchy throat on Tuesday which proceeded to a full blown sore throat which lasted until Friday. I was about to check in with the doctor but a snow storm sidetracked me. Mid Friday sore throat cleared up, now stomach was hurting badly - in the upper part where the top of the stomach is (approximately). It burned like I had eaten some firey, spicy food. Persisted into today and I figured out that I did it to myself taking too many pain relievers when my knee flared up. I only took them once a day but waited until the pain was almost unbearable and then I'd pop 4 at once. Silly me because sometimes the pain reliever did nothing. Now I am sucking down tea with honey and ginger to calm the gut. Thursday night we got a whopper of a snowstorm - 14 to 16 inches of dense snow. Not exactly heavy and wet - just heavy and dense and not at all like the powdery snow flakes we sometimes get. The trees are heavy and bent and Friday DH and I spent over 2 hours shoveling knee deep snow. He plowed and snowblew - I toted and shoveled until I couldn't any more. This did wonders for the big ski race. Those people had to deal with a bunch of logistical problems - caved in warming and food tents, having to regroom all the trails, reschedule races and deal with skiers and volunteers who were snowed in and could not be where they needed to when they needed to. But still they pulled it off. Friday it didn't start snowing until the late afternoon so they were able to run the tiny tots race - 8 years and younger. They are so darn cute - many of them dress in costumes. They had to reschedule the juniors race yesterday ages 8 to 18. After that they had the Barkie Birkie where you can "skijor" - skiing with your dog leading in front of you. About 49 people did that. Then Saturday was the big race. It was cold, the wind was bitter, and the new snow really slowed people down and made it very difficult. The announcer said those who finished really deserved their win. Many people towards the back of the pack could not finish I heard. The final leg is over a frozen lake and they said the wind was brutal. A local woman won the women's run and a German man won the race. They had 2 styles of racing and Shad - a Kiwi took second place in the classic race and an Ozzie won the Lumberjack Championship last summer so you are well represented on this side of the pond
I did not go into town, and instead rested my leg outside of shoveling and that's just what I needed. I feel much better today - thank goodness because I cannot take any pain relievers at the moment. We are running out of room to pile the snow. I will take some pictures tomorrow. I'd say the snow is piled 8 feet in some areas. You have to be careful at intersections - the snow is piled so high from the street plows that it is difficult to see around them as you pull into traffic. Good thing we don't have much traffic but with 30,000 extra people in town this weekend, there are a lot of people who just go zipping by.
Shad - your picture are gorgeous and now you have me longing for a summer's walk in the botanic gardens again.
It sounds like you not only had a good walk but got in a lot of exercise today. Good on yah! I laughed at your post of "get me out of here" the other day. Long week, eh?
I know nothing about cricket - must be like watching golf
Ceejay - I like the idea of a plain spread and some accent pieces - this way things don't look dated and it's much easier (and cheaper) to switch things up. I have some flannel zebra print sheets and I'm already tired of them but I just cover them with a plain comforter and no one's the wiser.
Terra - now with the new freezer you have room to cook up some extra meals for later in the week. Saves money and keeps from the temptation of grabbing something otherwise not so healthy to save time.
Susie - good news on DH's health front. I'm not so sure DH said he felt so much more energetic but he definitely said he got a good night's sleep with the cpap. And bonus for me - he doesn't snore with it. Well he didn't at first. He somehow worked around it but there's not the snorting that he has without it. I hope DH is feeling a bit more encouraged. And my dear - you can go back and back enter your food in MFP - I do it and so can you. You missed a couple of days - if I don't see an entry for tomorrow you are getting detention young lady
Ok, ok I'll do mine too.
Michelle - I'm glad the migration went well - always a million details to check!
Annie - glad to hear that your brother's numbers are improving. Will continue the healing prayers for him. Also glad to hear that Royce is not going to be the little peanut that Lil Man was - 6 pounds is small but a good start! Have you picked out a nickname yet or will you wait until you see him?
Laura - I'm glad you found your photo cd! That would be horrible to lose your vacation pictures - you'd just have to go again
And you are right - gutter covers are the best!!!! We had them in TN where we were surrounded by trees - we still got pine needles and those gawd awful sweet gum pods stuck in them but they were a godsend compared to what it would have been if the gutters were open. Totally worth the price!
Sorry to be quick - I realized I didn't post and I want to get a short soak in the tub before bed so I'm posting quick. Be back tomorrow.
So we do what we can. We have a fox that comes around - not sure if he's scaring off the deer. He is SO skinny - his tail is wider around than his torso. He eats the deer corn and the occasional chicken bones or carcass we toss out. 
