Good morning everyone

10° F here this morning and it looks to be a clear day. Taking hubby to the foot clinic  this morning then home to work about the house.


Jane, have a great day at work, short lines and smiling customers.


Gloria de, good for you enjoying the 3 parties! Nice to get out for a bit.


Shirley I was at a yard sale one and there were 3 GE irons all with the cloth cord. I told the lady that I would buy one as they were only 3.00 and she put all 3 in my van . I am still using one that doesn't have steam for my quilting. One slowly died and the other one is still in the box it came in.


Gloria, we are to get rain /snow by Friday here. I had thought of going to our Christmas potluck for quilting but if that is what is coming, I am staying home!


Joy,I have two those blenders and they are great!!! Easy to use and store. one came with a lot of different plates to grate,slice  plus a container do it in.



Larry, hope this new med has you feeling a lot better..


Better scoot.

Enjoy your day everyone..

Hi Everyone.  It is 36 degrees here according to the weather app on my phone.  It will remain cloudy with a high of 42 degrees with a 20% chance of rain until late afternoon when the probabilities go up to a max of 60%.  The termite inspector is suppose to be here this morning to do the annual inspection and refill the traps.  A friend will also be here  to work with me for an hour.  I have contacted the heating company to come and look at our heat pump, which remained frozen all day yesterday and I still see ice on the condenser this morning.  They will be here sometime today.  Fortunately, the emergency electric heat has kept us nice and comfortable.  I do have to take the car somewhere to have the air checked in the tires again as the warning light has been on for several days.  I also need to make a quick trip to Costco to return the curtains we forgot to take back last week although that doesn't have to be done today.  I think that will be plenty for today.

Gloria, nice to see you are expecting some warmer weather later in the week.  I saw on the news last night that North Carolina and a few other places got slammed with snow.  I am also ready for some dry and sunny days here but this won't be one of them.  My wife still uses starch on some things. 

Joy, when I looked at the Immersion blender link I recognized it.  We have had something similar but just not that kitchen tool.  Your color and font changed on your message because of the link and the fact there are closing html tags.  If you do a quick edit you can removed the tags with the [/] tags and then you will continue to use the original font and size tags.  Or you can simply highlight what is not as you want it while in the quick edit and put the tags back on that part of the message.  I hope this makes sense.  Computers do what they are told to do and your message was doing what the HTML tags told it to do. 

Jenny, the lady I talked to at the Heating company indicated it must be low on Freon gas.  It was checked within the last year and the gas was fine.  I do hope there isn't a leak but it is what it is and I want it fixed asap.  You might want to try the stuffed peppers from Costco as we find them very satisfactory.  I hope those who went to Vail had no problem getting home yesterday.  The Atlanta Falcons also did not play well yesterday.  I did get your email with that sweet picture of the new addition to your family and the proud parents.   

Jane, getting background on something like the movie does usually make it more interesting.  The best memory I have of visiting one of the Smithsonian Museums was a tour conducted by a docent in the National Portrait Gallery.  Her explanations brought the portraits to life. Did you sing along?  You are right that Don Shovein is Carol's husband.

Lindancer, certainly glad to see your posting.   You have certainly been busy partying.  So sorry to read you are dealing with more gout. 

Shirley, your mother's neighbor was probably right about it being cheaper to use the taxi than to own a car.  It sounds like your cats were having an off day. 

Lloyd, the news can be very depressing if we spend too much time thinking about it.  However, I like to know what is going on but sometimes thing how can it get any worse but it always seems to find a way. 

Amy, so far the new increased dosage of medicine seems to be working.  I really felt good this morning when I woke up.  I hope it is a routine appointment your husband has today with the foot doctor. 

Phyllis, it sounds like you still have a good weekend even with all the snow with no roof leaks and your power staying on and no trees coming down on your house. Hopefully the heat pump will be fixed today so hope the electric bill won't be too much for less than 2 days.  However, whatever it costs it is worth it to stay comfortable as my dollar bills have no warmth at all. 

Good Morning Cotton Candy.   

Yes, we did get "slammed", Larry.  They had predicted 1-3 inches of snow and we got 7!
 After the snow we had rain and freezing rain, wind and cold temps.  Nearly everything (schools, etc.) is closed. It has not been a pleasant weekend.  But, my new roof did not leak (yay) and the power did not go out for us even though for many in the area it did, and no trees came down on the house.  Some things to be really grateful for.

Still did not get the cookies made.  I didn't want to start only to have the power go off and be left with a mess.

I hope you got your heat pump fixed, Larry. Running on emergency heat is REALLY expensive.
 We turned on the gas logs for a while to warm up because the wind was blowing hard and making the house seem extra cold. 

It's back to normal duties today so must be on my way.  Take care all.

Phyliss..reading you have a gas log set...I am wanting to buy me one...do you Ming telling me about yours..is it propane...vented..and what BTUS...also does it have remote...I would probably have to look at Lowes...thank you CC

Phyllis, watching TV and seeing that some places, especially NC, had up to a foot of snow in one day, I could not remember the last time we had that much snow in MI in one day.  We get about 75-80 inches of snow a season, but not all at once.  We have hardly any on the ground now.

Amy, we were not nearly as cold as you this morning - more like 27 degrees.  And that's brr enough.

Larry, I'm glad for you that the increased medicine seems to be working.  It isn't good to be feeling low on energy all of the time.

Gloria, it is nice that your town has a vehicle to take Seniors to their doctors' appointments.  I've never heard that we have anything similar, but I'm thankful I have Tom.  I try not to abuse the help.

Like you, I gave up driving voluntarily or maybe I was eased out (Tom had to drive my car after Annie totaled his), and I seldom wish I had a car to go to a store, after all, I have trouble walking far, anyway.

Jane, between you and Amy, I'm all tired out after reading about your activities.  Two workaholics, but I can tell you both enjoy what you are doing.

I got up later than usual so it is later now and it is time I get dressed to start my day.

Mary Ann

Quote from: undefinedPhyliss..reading you have a gas log set...I am wanting to buy me one...do you Ming telling me about yours..is it propane...vented..and what BTUS...also does it have remote...I would probably have to look at Lowes...thank you CC

CC, I had to look it up but think I have answers for you.  My gas logs are propane so we had to have a large (50 gallon) propane tank installed outside the house since this house is an all-electric house.  It is unvented and is manual.  Very difficult to light the pilot light at the beginning of the heating season so I would suggest a remote.  I wish we had gotten that but my son is able to get down and light it manually.  The max. BTU is 38,000, med. is 27,000 BTUs, and min. is 22,000 BTUs.  It is 26 inches wide and that pretty well takes up most of the space in the fireplace.  And it puts out a LOT of heat even when turned on low so we don't leave it on for any length of time.  If your area has power outages from time to time it is worthwhile to get one.

Hope this answers your questions.  Good luck.

Mary Ann, we had an additional inch or so this morning so the total was 8+ inches.  I think that is more than enough....for now.

I was told to introduce myself in the Soda Shoppe. I don't know if this is the right place, but let's hope that it is. I'm from Eastern-Europe. I was baptized a Christian. I like literature and art. I used to make videos on YouTube. I have administrated forums (like this one) a few years ago. It's nice to meet you. I hope you're a friendly bunch.

Lucian, this is a very friendly bunch, in fact, much like family.  We have people from Israel, England, Canada, US, Australia, Japan; some post more often than others.  Join in and let us know what you're doing, where you're from.  Other greetings will follow mine as time goes on.

For the benefit of many of us, we'd appreciate it if you would BOLD your posts and use size 4.  Some of us have older eyes than others.

Mary Ann

Thank you Phyllis...I will be looking...as long as the pilot is near front where I can reach it...I could light it...CC

[/Good evening again, on  bitter cold night.

I Just lost a very long post, it is somewhere out there in cyber space. will try to write more to morrow.s I do not know what happen, I went to preview and saw Half was written 4  and boldize][the other half had gone back to small/b]

Mary Ann I did remember I told you I just bought a humidifier for the bed room and a small one here by the computer.this morning I woke up with a nose bleed. I do not know if it is the dryness or the nose piece from the oxygen

Jenny I take colchicine for the gout, I also had to have blood test

Gloria De, I'm sorry about your nosebleed.  Your post reminded me that I must put water in my humidifier because I think it ran out.

While I very seldom use Preview, when I tested it, only part of my post showed but it was all blue, no small letters.
 
Mary Ann

Gloria de.... I recognize that name of the gout meds as one Cas took as well as the name that Jenny's husband takes. One he took all the time & the other he took only when gout got really bad. In his case I was convinced that every time he drank the 100% grape juice or ate a lot of grapes, his gout got worse, but because grapes weren't on the list of no-nos, he refused to cut them out to prove it. Red meat, beans & some things he didn't like were okay to avoid.    He expected the meds to do their job so ate red meat anyway. Do hope you can discover what triggers your gout ... and same for Bob, those meds come with many side effects.

I went to look at & pay for the frig to be delivered tomorrow & changed my mind which model. Basically the same but the handles on one looked better than the other. Picky, huh? They are stunned I was so adamant about no ice maker, but with our icky water, I'd rather use Brita water or bottled water to make cubes & don't want an ice maker to take up space. I don't use as much ice since I've been drinking bottled water & keep a bottle going in the frig at all times. Just something I enjoy, have never been a good water drinker, this way I know how much I drink. I keep a shelf full of cold bottles & that's what everyone expects now. I will be so glad to get everything back in place & get on with the holidays.

Don't think I will do any more decorating... We will have our family party before Christmas & the days until New Year's Day will have nothing planned. Sounds good to me. If weather permits I might drive to MO to visit my brother & sister & be back before the traffic on New Year... I haven't even looked to see what day of the week it is. Good furnace in the RV, but won't take a chance on snow or ice so don't plan ahead.

I have a humidifier that works in a small area but know I must keep distilled water to run in it.... with our hard water it leaves a haze of lime or something over everything. The filter in the furnace humidifier was coated with white lime & was replaced since last year. We had the floor standing ones with the big belt of foam that ran through water when we lived west of town, but it was constantly needing the belt replaced, completely lime coated. Some times those nose bleeds are a sign of needing iron, too. Our youngest used to get them during the winter & I'd give him iron & bone meal & they would stop. Bone meal is different from regular calcium.... the osyter shell calcium doesn't absorb for me.

Guess I'd better get moving, trying to think of anything that needs to be done before they deliver the frig. I think they will need to take the folding wooden door off, have double doors & wide entry hall so easier to come in that way than through the garage, I'll wait till they get here to see.

Just in to say Good night, Have caught up on all messages. Our server was down for the weekend. time to find some supper and so to bed. June

"Day is Done"
Gone the sun"....

It's been a long and busy one and the first thing I want to do is welcome Lucian! This is one of the friendliest places I know.  If I didn't have a chance to come here and visit with my friends, I'd be lost.  I think you have a lot more "smarts" when it comes to using a computer than I do.  I just plod along!

Also, Gloria de, I'm with Shirley when about nosebleeds being caused by iron deficiency.  I'm sure that's not all that causes them but when I was little, I had a lot of nosebleeds and the Dr. told my mother after some testing, that I had an iron deficiency.  I took iron supplements for about a year and during that time, the intervals between them was greater and greater until the dr. decided I didn't need the iron any more.  And I haven't had one since.

HOORAY, the boxes are on the way to Texas and Oklahoma.  And the bags are packed and gifts wrapped to be delivered to Bridget and consequently to my sister, brother, niece and nephew and some for the two girls doing the delivering.  I'll make that little trip tomorrow and then make a stop on the way home at a store I wanted to visit.

I still have to find something for my DIL and Kiran.  She says she doesn't have a list.  I find that hard to believe.  She's going to 12 in 8 days and she doesn't have a list? 

I'm yawning and yawning and yawning.  I guess I better think about hitting the hay!  I wish you all a restful night and a happy awakening!  Good Night All and may God bless us, every one!

Good morning everyone.

Welcome Lucian, yes we are a friendly bunch here. Hope you stop back in soon.

Warmer this morning with a temp of +20° F with a chance of flurries so they say. VON today and then the day is ours. I made 8+ doz cookies yesterday  and just need to do one more square......as the one that was done is disappearing on me.


Jane, that sure brought memories back to me. One of the songs we also sang at the end of meetings too.


Need to put away a few things before VON comes.

Enjoy your day everyone..

Here I am again....last in last night and first in this morning.  Nothing happened between except SLEEP.  And I slept pretty well.  I'm just waiting for it to be late enough to text Bridget as to when we can meet so I can give her the packages.

I have my coffee and I'm waiting for the boinger to feed the doggies and then I'll get dressed and ready to go.  My project for today is to "find my ears" and wrap some gifts.  I've decided to give my daughter a gasoline gift card.  We'll both benefit from that.  She can use it to come visit me!  Now the only hold out is my DIL and two granddaughters...one 12 and one 25. 

Enjoy your day Everyfriend!  Grab it and make it your own in every way.

"Day is done"....Gosh, did that bring back memories!  Made me remember my Girl Scout days----long, long ago.

Cold here this morning but the snow is gone, thank goodness.  Usual chores today and if more melting happens I need to get to the drug store.  We'll see how it goes.

Take care, All.  Welcome,Lucian.

OOPS!  Sorry about that, AMY.  I missed your post between my two.  And you too, PHYLLIS Good Morning to you, Good Morning to you!  We're all in our places with sunshiny faces, good morning to you!

Good Morning everyone. I posted I thought but do not see it it must have went into never never Land. Have a good day everyone. it is 29º and clear here headed they say to 52º and sunny. sun is peaking through now.
Have A GREAT DAY see you all Later.

Lloyd

Welcome Lucian. I am glad you found your way around.
Do you have any special hobby? Maybe related to art? Some of us use Paint Shop Pro and enjoy it.

Good Morning Everyone from the colder,
still,  rocky coast of Maine. 

I spend most of my day listening to
movies and series on NetFlix, Prime, and
Acorn and Hulu  etc.   And less time
on the computer.

I do follow  MSNBC  daily to keep
up with what is going on in the
world politically,  (from my  point
of few)..

Things change so rapidly that
it gets confusing if I skip much.

My old friend Vicki and I talk
"politics",  but we are cut from the
same cloth,  so it is fun and not
frustrating.   

Have a good day,  Everyone,  and don't
take any wooden nickles.   

Sandy
  

Hi Everyone. We have a beautiful, crisp and sunny morning that started at 30 degrees and is suppose to get to 50 this afternoon.  I slept in until 7:30 this morning and have been busy ever sense.  I had to empty the dishwasher, fold a big load of laundry, fix Pat's breakfast and my own but think most of the work is done for today.  We do plan on getting out today to get haircuts and then will stop at Ruby Tuesdays as they have there $5 chicken sandwich today.  As far as I know we have no other stops to make.

Yesterday was really a great day for me as felt good all day.  I did finally get the air up to par in the car tire.  The downer was that when the repair tech was here for the AC, while he was able to get it going again, he had to put in 4 units of Freon at $75 per unit and is ordering two new parts, which will be covered by warranty, but we will still have to pay the labor and for more Freon.  However, we don't really have any choices in the matter as must have good heat and then cooling in the summer.  The man was suppose to inspect our house termite traps and the house yesterday but he went to the neighbors house rather than ours.  Today I get the inspection reports and the bill for his visit.  Something wrong with this picture.  I called them and now he is scheduled to come here late Friday afternoon.

Phyllis, so far the heat is working and I was glad to get off the emergency heat although thankful it was available to us.

 Mary Ann, it appears today is going to be another good day like yesterday energy wise.

 Lucian, what country in Eastern Europe do you live.  I am sure we would all like to know more about you and where you live.  We are happy to have you join us and I can assure you if you start participating you will soon feel you know us all as we are like a cyber family as Mary Ann said.   

Lindancer, the size of what you saw after you hit the preview and came back was because it had put in the closing tags for your message.  You can always reset the tags at that point by highlighting what is too small and then setting the tags or backing out the ending tags you see where the change occurred by going back into the Preview setting. Sorry to read you experienced another nose bleed as those are so annoying.

 Shirley, did they have a refrigerator without an ice maker?  I didn't like the ice trays as seemed like I would always splash some of out on the floor.  I sure hope you get the refrigerator today.  Pat doesn't plan to do very much to decorate for Christmas this year. 

 June, good to see you were back up on the Internet last night.   

 Jane, glad to read you were able to mail off your boxes to Texas as sure that is a relief for you.  A gasoline gift card is a great idea and I bet your daughter will appreciate it.

 Amy, are you and your husband the reason for your cookie squares disappearing?    We gave our son a half dozen of the cookies we got at Costco the other day and he ate three of them and put the other three in a sealed plastic bag.  When he got home from work he found his dog, who he thought was blind and smell wasn't working well had found them, ripped open the package and ate all three of them.  He was not a happy camper.

Lloyd, I hope you have a great day also.  I know I plan to do so.   

Sandy, that is a lot of TV watching. 
 

Larry, my sense of humor is a bit warped occasionally and I think it's funny that Scott's dog found the cookies he had saved.  I'm fortunate that Kendrick doesn't seem to want people food, no matter what kind.

Larry, I have a refrigerator without an ice maker.  I did not notice it when I bought it and I wish I had one - not to make ice cubes, but to store them.  Tom has said he'd put an ice maker in the refrigerator, but I'd rather use ice cubes.  I have plenty of trays.  I really have buyer's remorse because now I wish I had had the other refrigerator repaired (it needed a new motor) as it was more deluxe and it did have an ice maker where I could store cube trays.

Mary Ann

Welcome, Lucian.    I live in Kansas, USA. The wind is blowing even more than usual, cold but could be worse. This place is like having coffee (or tea) with neighbors, any time you have a few minutes to sit. Everyone understands each others aches & pains and cheers when one of us has a good day. We have lost some very good friends over the years, that goes with age, and happy to welcome a new voice. We probably tell this group of friends more than we tell our own families or close friends in daily life. We are what we are, individuals that have a common bond, age.

Thanks for the birthday greeting for Don.  He wanted to have a Prime Rib dinner and that is all.  We are going to be with the children for two weeks beginning Saturday and they have scads of things planned. 

Jenny:  It sounds like you made a quick trip to California - I hope Bob is getting good care for his gout. 

Tisi:  Robo calls are driving me insane.  They use the beginning of our phone number so I cannot tell if it is a neighbor or not.  Dreadful people!  One actually cursed me when I said "take me off your list". 

Radioman Don:  How is the Santa party working for you?  Is it over?  I hope they give you hugs.

Keeping all of you in my thoughts - stay warm, be careful and don't walk on ice! 

Hello Lucian!  What is your country? I wish you a wonderful Christmas holiday.   

Mercy, I am not safe to let out of the house!! After VON was here we nipped into town for a few things. On the way home I wanted to get the map up on the screen  in the van...when I went to push map 911 showed up and inadvertently I push it! One ring and I disconnected it.....thinking that would be it. The phone rang in the van and it was a number I didn't recognize so I didn't answer. We got home and my cell rang again... private number this time........then the other number rang? Sitting down for lunch a knock came to the door.....it was an officer OPP asking if all was well.......   I explained to him what had happened and I apologized. He said not to worry it happens all the time!! Our neighbour called over to make sure we were ok as they saw the OPP van in our yard. We have had enough excitement for one day  and tomorrow we will take a plate of goodies to the OPP station for them.

Good Afternoon,

Another sunny day in central Oklahoma.  I'm "helping" the housekeeper by Staying Out Of The Way. 

Welcome, Lucian.  Please tell us more about yourself and the area you live in.  We all enjoy "traveling" worldwide with our Soda Shoppe friends.

Last time I posted I had just baked 102 molasses cookies.  Yesterday,  I frosted about half of them with canned vanilla frosting to which I had added some peppermint flavoring.
Also made about half the candy balls and dipped them in chocolate. 

Today,  I began distributing both and will continue to do so through next weekend - saving some, of course, for family.

Housekeeper is here and I'm helping by Staying Out Of The Way. 

Still need to write longish personal letters for three Christmas cards to special friends who live far away.
I don't hand-write letters any more and hadn't been able to figure out settings to print letters on my "nice" stationery.  Just happened to do it right the other day - and have put a post-it note on the stationery box so I won't forget.

My sense of humor is much like Mary Ann's - which is one reason I rarely make personal replies.  Am afraid my smiling tone of voice meant to tease a bit won't come through in the printed word and I'll be misinterpreted.

Wishing Everyfriend Everywhere and Enjoyable Day.  Stay warm!

Callie, facial expression and tone of voice are everything, especially when trying to make a joke.  And we don't get that with the computer, do we?

You ladies put me to shame with all of your baking.  But when you get to your 90s will you be baking up the storms you do now?  I wish I lived beside one of you to get a few goodies.  I will say that our condo board gives homemade cookies to us "elderly" people and I know Dot will bake a few cookies too.  Tom is not into baking.  Of course, neither of us needs the calories that come along with cookies.

Mary Ann

Mary Ann (and anyone else who's interested) I've heard that if you break whatever it is you're eating before tasting it, all the calories leak out.  Now I must warn you that cutting does not do have the same effect.  A knife or a fork will only seal in the calories.  You MUST break it!

I made contact with Bethany and transferred the goodies for the southern part of my family to Bridget's car.  So they are on their way.  The girls were going to leave around 5 p.m. this afternoon.  If they got started on time, they are probably a little more than half way home. 

I've cleaned off my dining room table and I have the Christmas table cloth on and some of the things that usually adorn it.  I got really tired and some zzzzzs grabbed hold of me and I conked out for about an hour.  That was good!  But now I have to get back in gear.  And the doggies are beginning to tell me that it's time to have supper.  So I guess I better go see to their needs.  I had lunch so late today that I'm not hungry yet.  But I sure an thirsty

LARRY, I must have a warped sense of humor too because I laughed at the dog finding Scott's cookies.  It reminded me that one year when Frankie was little, they went home from here on Christmas and since it was pretty late and Frankie was about 3 and Daniel would have been 13, they went about seeing that the kids were settled and then went to bed themselves.  The next morning, they discovered that their dog got into the goody bag they took home from here and had eaten almost everything.  They expected him to get sick on the chocolate but he didn't.  In fact, he was looking for more!

The doggies are getting louder so I'll try to get back later.

Lucian, I'd like to hear a little about where you are from, too.  I live in Central Pennsylvnia about a hundred miles from anywhere.  It's farm country and a small college town.  Lots to do an good things to eat. 

Enjoy the rest of your day, Everyfriend!