Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
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What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
Jim wrote: "I thought I'd share this with you, ProQuest's top horse moments of the year. I think it's fun to look at for anyone. Of course, if you know who George Morris is, had kids competing with ponies, o..."Thanks, Jim. I'll check out that link. The pics look interesting. Personally I wouldn't want to bump my "baby bump" like that. :)
If you've noticed, the moderator of any group now has a highlighted 'Moderator' next to their names. I find this awful & distracting, so I went through all my groups & turned it off. Go to Settings, then scroll down toward the bottom. You'll find a check mark you can take out of 'Moderator posts are highlighted'. Remove it & save the changes.
Thanks, Jim. I went to our group settings and took out the checkmark.
I'm hiding inside waiting for Marg to get back from the grocery store. After a week under freezing, we got rain & went back over it today. I spent part of the morning trying to knock the ice loose from tearing off gutters on my shop & the barn. Cold & wet.
We have snow coming down tonight. It's 12 degrees here. Freezing temps make me worry. Sometimes our pipes freeze if we don't leave a trickle coming out of the faucet.
I wound up going out before she got back from the grocery store to do the horses. It's a mess out there. Upper 30's but with the wind & rain, it felt colder than when it was dry, calm & 20 out. It's a real mess trying to get across the fields with anything. Now the ground is frozen underneath with slick mud & ice on top of it. Yuck.
Hope your animals will be OK. You and Marg too.I hate going out in the cold but it's funny what motivation can do. I wanted certain Xmas lights and decorations outside. Eddie had done a lot already but I wanted a bit more done and didn't want to ask him. He's having enough trouble with the sump pump! :) So today I put on several layers of clothing and surprised myself by all I did outside. It's just a matter of motivation!
We didn't put up much in the way of decorations this year. We still haven't gotten the presents wrapped & shipped. Just finished the Xmas cards last night, but still need stamps for some of them. I put up the wreath on the end of the porch (I can do it by hopping up on the railing & leaning out.) but now Marg wants it plugged in. We usually do that with lights on the railing of the porch, but I skipped those this year. We're only going to have a tiny tree, too. No kids coming around, except Erin & Josh at some point, so it doesn't really seem worth it.
There's too much else to do. Chip has thrush (a bacterial infection) in 3 feet due to the wet, Indy in one or two. (Some horses are more prone to it than others.) Cleaning their hooves & getting the bleach or thrush medication in there is a messy hassle. Last night, they had about an inch of mud all over their hooves.
If the family weren't coming for Christmas, I probably wouldn't be as motivated to decorate for the holiday. With the kids coming, it's fun to do because I enjoy creating a festive atmosphere for them. Besides, it brings back so many wonderful Christmas memories. I guess it's just the magic of Christmas that gets me going.
Today's going to be a busy day, since it's the day I'm going to put on a push to get all of our Christmas cards and letters signed, addressed, sealed and into the mail. (Yes, I know I'm late; it's that way every year. My goal is to get it done before Dec. 25. :-) )
Thanks, Werner. (From the weather topic.) We did get all our gifts out, although it cost me a bit extra to get some there on time.This year, I used Shutterfly.com to make calendars up. They were about $18 each & then cost about $10 to ship (An unexpected extra cost. I thought they'd be $5 or less.) but they came out very nicely. I uploaded the pictures I scanned of Mom's fawns & arranged them on each page of the calendar. Some had 1 picture, most had 4. The software allowed me to put in all our anniversaries, birthdays & such.
Werner, good luck with those cards and letters. I always feel so good after that job is done. The reward is receiving cards and notes from old friends and relatives. Ed and I sit down and open them together. I love the tradition. I know that some people are sending their wishes by e-mail but it's not the same as hard copy cards. Something is missing, IMO.Jim, I'm sure your family with love those calendars! Great idea! Shutterfly.com looks like an interesting site. I took a look at it. I had never heard of it before.
http://www.shutterfly.com/
Here's their section on calendars: http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars
Mom got hers & loves it, Joy. Shutterfly offers a lot of different things like cards, picture books & such. It is a great idea. Hopefully they'll offer to ship items soon. That was one issue. We have a lot of boxes at work, so I was able to make up mailers for the 12"x12" calendars, but it was extra work & caused a delay. I would have paid some extra to just have them mail them to some of the family.
Jim, perhaps you might send Shutterfly a suggestion about mailing your individual items to different people.
Jim wrote: "Already done, Joy."Jim, I shoulda known. :)
It's Christmas Eve but our family won't arrive until tomorrow. So we're relaxing and enjoying the evening. There's something to be said for solitude. :)
""What a gift solitude can be when one is old. It is a thing the young simply cannot know yet."
-p.457, Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons (1992)
Merry Xmas, all. Our main event was yesterday since the kids are leaving for Nashville today. Had a good time. Got to spend over an hour on Skype with Brandon, Ashley, & grandson Colin. Erin & I went for a short ride & gave the dogs a good run. The damn goats got into the sweet feed briefly for dinner, so they had an unexpected Xmas present. We played 500 Rummy for dessert & kept making Marg laugh, which she loved/hated since it sent her into coughing fits. She's feeling better, though. Still weak, but good enough to curse me for stealing her cards & beating her. She gave me a few framed photos I'd taken of Lily. I uploaded the large, 8x10 one to my profile here:
https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/...
She also got me Knit Your Own Dog: Easy-to-Follow Patterns for 25 Pedigree Pooches. They look tough, but very good. Santa (me) got me a bunch of little tools I've been wanting for ages, too. It was a great day. I expect today will be nice & quiet. I expect to get some shop time in.
Merry Christmas all!Jim, what kind of dog will you choose to knit? It's a perfect gift for you!
The family will arrive today. Wish they played cards like you do. On Thanksgiving, our son played a game of cards with a couple of his kids. So that's a start.
One of my fondest memories on holidays is playing cards for pennies with my aunts, uncles and cousins, around an oak table in the kitchen in Brooklyn. We played a game similar to Blackjack (aka twenty-one) but it was "seven & a half", "Sette e mezzo" in Italian. (We used to say "settamenza".) I'm surprised to find it on Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sette_e_...
"It is traditionally played in Italy during Christmas holidays."
I'm in the middle of a hat/scarf combo now, so no decision on the dogs, yet.
Jim, I never knew anyone who had as much energy as you do!
No energy at all. I'm tuckered & was happy Erin & Josh did most of the horse care while they were here. It was nice to get a break, although I still took care of the goats & the water. The goats only seem to get along with me for some reason. They give everyone else trouble. Rosie wound up on top of the hay pile after knocking over the cart & a table she used to get a leaping start when Josh went after her. I sent him out & called to her, she came right down & followed me out to her pen.
Most of the horses didn't get their Xmas apples tonight since the weather warmed up (37!) & they refused to come in. Only Rascal came in on time. Topaz & Indy came up for a drink, then ran off. Chip came up after I put a bale of hay in the south field & 3/4 of a bale in the north, so I told him he was too late. They'll have to get by without being fed tomorrow morning since I have to work & Marg is too sick. She said she'd let the goats out, though. That will be enough & probably wear her out.
The dogs & I picked up a lot of sticks tonight, but I didn't get into the woods to clean up any of the trees. Maybe this weekend. The dishes are clean, the kids' bedding is washed & remade. All the rest of the clothes are washed & folded, too. The dogs are fed, so now I'm going to make us dinner - left overs from last night. I made BLT's for lunch. Bacon is yummy!
Christmas is a good time for holiday traditions. In the Lind family, unfortunately, one of ours that's been often observed is to have some people sick over Christmas. Some of the grandkids were obviously coming down with a bug last night; I caught it as well, and woke up in the middle of the night with a shivering fever. After going back to bed and sleeping until about 10:00 this morning, I'm feeling better, but not 100%, so don't plan to be very active on Goodreads (or anywhere else) today. :-(
Hope you feel better quick, Werner. It's no fun having little ones sick, either.I've been trying to take it easy as I keep getting achy, like I'm going to come down with something. With Marg down for the count, I can't afford that. I wish the kids lived closer at times like this.
Jim, like your dog picture. Hope you are all better beginning with the New Year. Joy, I, too decorate no matter who is ocming. Mostly, it's coming and going guests and sometimes family but we go to my daughter's on Christmas day. Christmas Eve had ice covered streets which proved difficult to drive down, especially for my husband who had to back up the car down one of them which was too narrow for two cars to pass one another as cars were parked on both sides of the street; but he did it.
Jim, Why did I think BLT'S were summer fare?
Old school thinking, Nina! We get pretty good locally grown hydroponic tomatoes here. They're kind of pricey, but without the kids, the grocery bill isn't that bad.
Joy H. wrote: "Jim wrote: "I thought I'd share this with you, ProQuest's top horse moments of the year. I think it's fun to look at for anyone. Of course, if you know who George Morris is, had kids competing wi..."Me neither, Joy. Not share my baby bump with a horse.
Werner, your sick ones at Christmas reminds me of the only time we took ours to Midnight Mass. One of our sons at age seven was an altar boy and we wanted to see him march down the aisle in his red cassock with his red hair gleaming from the candlelight and it was quite moving until his four year old sister leaned over the pew in front of us and vomited onto the lady's coat that was slung over the pew. We never attemped Midnight mass after that.
While we're telling our good and bad Christmas adventures, I'll tell this one:I waited on Christmas Day for the kids to come. Everything was ready. The house was decorated and Christmas music was playing. The first ones to arrive were Son #3 and his very pregnant wife. I was so happy to see them. No sooner were they in the door than our Maltese dog, Romeo, jumped up and nipped the mother-to-be in the back of the leg. It really hurt her; and drew blood. She cried out in pain. What a way to start the celebration! It really burst my balloon.
The leg was fine eventually but I got an immediate scolding from our son for not disciplining our dog. I tried to explain that the dog was just excited. He even nips at me when I come in from shopping, but I've learned to protect myself.
Anyway, all went well after that disappointing beginning. It was almost a comedy scene from a sitcom if you could see it that way.
Hope all the people who are ill will recover soon. We're just recovering from all the excitement. Everyone is still here except the mother-and-dad-to be. (One more month and we'll have our fifth grandchild.)
Jim and Joy, thanks for the recovery wishes. Bed rest and Vicks will do wonders; I'm fever-free and feeling well today, and more than ready to get back to normal life.Joy, sorry about your daughter-in-law's dog bite, but glad no lasting harm was done. And I rejoice with you in the impending arrival of another grandchild!
Werner, glad to hear you're feeling better!
Werner hope you can celebrate New Year's in good condition and start out the new year right. Joy, how many grandchildren will that make when the newest one arrives? We now have twelve great ones. Well, I guess they all are "great." All eighteen grandchildren; twelve grandsons and six granddaughters; one still in Africa. One granddaughter was born in Germany, two were born in France, one was born in Venezula. One grandson was born in France, one in Santo Domingo, one in Nicaragua, two in Mexico and I have probably forgoteen where the others were born. It was a multi-national family for a while when all the babies started coming home.
Nina, that's quite an international family you have!To answer your question... we have 4 grandchildren. The one expected in Feb. 2014 will be #5. We have no great-grandchildren yet. Our oldest grandchild is in his first year of college.
"Just when I thought I was too old to fall in love again, I became a grandparent. -Author unknown
Happy New Year to all!Below is a link to a very touching YouTube related to the New Year.
The link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhiF-...
(I found it via an email.)
This YouTube video has been viewed by over one million people. It's called: "Auld Lang Syne...".
The scenes from nature are worth your while, if nothing else. Very well done!
Marg felt well enough to take the dogs in to the vet's today. Pip finally got his puppy shots & Pixie is getting her eye removed. Pip is now up to 11 lbs. He was 2 lbs when we got him not quite 3 months ago. He's still cute, but growing like a weed.Pixie's eye has been giving her bad headaches at different times, especially after she plays tug of war with Pip. She loves it, but then feels so bad she won't get up to lick out a pan. For a Jack Russell, that's really, really bad. For Pixie, it's next to death. She's a real piglet. I'll pick her up from the vet's on my way home.
I've got a few other stops to do on the way home first, but I may push them off until tomorrow. They're right near the vet's office, but the rain has changed to snow & it's supposed to be ugly by the time I get off work. It may be a good day to do as little as possible & just get home. I can pick up new spark plugs & horse feed tomorrow.
I'm glad that Marg is feeling better... I sure hope that she gets all better very soon!
I loved listening to all the beatiful Christmas songs. Thanks for posting it. Hope all you aliing ones are improved and can start the New Year well.
Thanks, Jenni. It's nice getting my wife back. The horses & goats still have to put up with me taking care of them & will for a while yet. It took me over an hour tonight & I didn't even pick out any feet or doctor any cuts. It was 20 degrees out & windy. Tonight & for the next week we're supposed to be hitting the single digits at times. Next Tuesday, possibly even go below zero without the wind chill, which is unusual. That's too much for Marg to take for a while.
Oh yes, make sure she stays out of the nasty cold. Here in Iowa it's supposed to get really cold. I mean REALLY cold. I realize that we can't really complain, but still.
Jim, how is Pixie doing after her eye surgery?We've got a big snow storm here with temps around zero F. It feels cozy to be indoors, as long as we have heat. :)
It got colder than expected here last night. It was 4 degrees when I got up this morning. While it was a little warmer in Louisville, it was still too cold for ice melt or salt to work. Traction in the parking lot was minimal & my tires were coated in snow when I parked. The high today is supposed to be in the low 20's. Brrr! At least it's sunny & the wind died.Pixie was fairly miserable all night. I got up around midnight to let her out. She wasn't up to navigating the dog door in her cone, but I found her asleep on the couch this morning, so she managed to jump up there.
Pixie is a Jack Russell. Tough is their middle name. 'No sense, no feeling' is their rule of life. The vet told me to keep her quiet for a week. I asked, "A Jack with Pip & Lily around?"
She looked chagrined, as well she should. She has 2 Jacks herself & knows our animals. She told me to do the best we can, but didn't look as if she had much hope.
We'll try, but we'll probably have to take all their toys away & confine Pixie to the back yard.
Joy H. wrote: "Nina, that's quite an international family you have!To answer your question... we have 4 grandchildren. The one expected in Feb. 2014 will be #5. We have no great-grandchildren yet. Our oldest gr..."Another grandparent quote:If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I'd have had them first." Lois Wyse/add executive for Smucker's. She did the add: "With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good."
Joy, I watched, "Birdsong," last night. As my husband said when it was finished, "That was an ordeal." I agreed. It was mostly grim scenes, one after another of WWI in the trenchs and underground and a few sexy affairs with a married lady. It was three hours long. Scenery in France was a stunning relief.
Hope cold isn't headed your way, Jim. Forcasting ten below by Monday morning. Not such a great winter so far. I am looking forward to february. Sometiems we even get a 70 degree day during the month/Chinook wind from CO/it hits the mountains and bounces back with warm air.
Oh, the cold is here, Nina. It was 4 degrees this morning & we're supposed to go below zero on Tuesday morning. Yuck. The high today was 21, but it was well down into the teens when I went out to do the horses. Thankfully, no snow & wind like we had last night. Still took over an hour with 3 wheelbarrow loads of manure to get out of the run-in shed. Then the dogs wanted a run in the woods, but we just did a quick walk around the place, maybe half an hour. I was getting cold.We had to lock Pixie in the crate the whole time. She's trying to play with Pip & the other dogs now. I had to take the rope toys away from her. She's not happy with her cone & is bouncing on to the couch without a problem. She's also running under my bed & through the dog door. Both sound like a train wreck as the cone catches on stuff. I'm glad they gave her a new one. I have a spare in my closet. I might need it.
My thermometer here reads -12.6 F! That's MINUS!The online weather report says -20°F! That's MINUS!
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick....
I'm comfy, sitting under an electric blanket. :)
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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