Merry Christmas to everyone here.

I know I've been absent for a long time. I'm going to try doing better at posting in 2023. Hopefully I'll get started on it tomorrow!

Not a creature was stirring.

Great to see you, Beverly! Been checking for new pics of the kids!

Are you frozen, Rick?  Our temps took a nose dive this morning. I should not have gone back to sleep, dropped about 10 degrees when I woke up 2nd time. 

Back to lunch, nothing tastes really good with less salt (notice I didn't say NO salt). Dr said I can have all the sugar I want so Russell Stover pecan delights are my fav food today.

Hello, Beverly!  Good to see you here.

Big Christmas news here is that Miss Emily (local granddaughter) is engaged!  They'd looked at rings but choice and Christmas Eve proposal were a surprise.

Her Dad picked me up late Christmas Eve for an overnight and Emily/Toby were waiting at her parents' home to tell me before I had a chance to see Facebook posts.

Busy day yesterday with all adult kids (and some friends) in and out and back again  , so I was glad to get home and sleep in my own bed until mid-morning today.  Now I'm looking at all the "stuff" that needs to be put away. Will do so "leisurely", as usual.

 Stay warm and well, everyone.

Thanks, Shirley! Most of the pictures of the babies now are videos and they are perpetual motion. I have never seen toddlers as active as these two. They are a joy! And so is cousin Keani, one month older.

Rammel - If not a creature was stirring they weren't in my granddaughter's house!  Hope you had a nice Christmas.

It's been over a year since I lost Chape. This Christmas was much easier for me. I still feel like half of me is missing.    I spent the day with Donna and Mike and Michael and Jennifer. Michael has been at his home down here since October. Jennifer fixed a lovely dinner and this morning Michael brought over a complete meal packaged up for me to have today.

Florida has been having a cold spell along with the rest of the country. We had a temp. of 23 two nights in a row. It's supposed to warm up by the week-end to 80!

It's a beautiful day with sunshine and blue skies. The temperature is up to 51!

Hello Callie! You had quite a busy day. Congratulations to Miss Emily, who is planning to become a Mrs.!

Quote from: Beverly on December 26, 2022, 02:53:15 PMIt's been over a year since I lost Chape. This Christmas was much easier for me. I still feel like half of me is missing.

Beverly, --- I'm in the same boat as you. Only it was no easier. I have only my one remaining son (he lives here with me). No other close relatives. The empty space will never be filled. So I come here to S&F and enjoy the stories of everyone else.

Good Morning everyone. Today is the 27th, so we're moving quickly toward a brand new year.    Now we can sit back and hope for an early Spring . . . my favorite season.

Beverly - Good to see two messages from you, and looking forward to seeing some pictures of the twins, and Keani.  I can't imagine a temp of 23 degrees in Florida!   Colder than here in the coastal area of California, where we dropped into the low 30's last week. That's about as cold as it ever gets here.  This morning we woke up to a warm rain, with temps in the mid 50's. Feels so good!

Callie - I'm happy to hear that you will be attending your granddaughter's wedding in the near future!     Congratulations to Emily and Toby! 

Hoping that your dil, is feeling well, and that the chemo she is getting is working for her?

Mary Page - Looks like you had a wonderful Christmas, and spent time with many of your adult children, grands and great-grands.  I see that you went on a sight seeing tour of Christmas lights and decorations in your area?   I love doing that over the Holidays!  We had some spectacular decor right here in our immediate neighborhood, that I could enjoy from my windows, or driving by in the car at night.   

Shirley - Good to see you posting here!  Hope you're feeling better, and have adjusted to your oxygen?  If you like salt, and salty snacks, you would love the Chex Mix that our granddaughter made.  Really tasty!  I have a difficult time chewing anything crispy, but I did eat some anyway!

Rick - Happy to see you here also!  Thanks for posting so many beautiful videos of Christmas music, over the past couple of weeks.  I heard all of my favorites this year!   

MarsGal - Just a short message from you?   Let us know what you did for Christmas Eve or Day?   Hoping you had dinner with your sister?

Marilyne, not sure about wedding being "in the near future".  "Kids" today don't seem to think that way.  The daughter of my niece became engaged earlier in December and niece told me she's "thinking" about New Year's Eve 2023.

Good news about DIL (Mandi) is that the liver enzymes that had given her so much trouble were actually lower this week than last week. This 3rd medicine (which isn't a chemo) seems to be working well.  She was bustling about this weekend as normal - although she was pretty tired by Sunday evening.

Miss Ellen was supposed to fly back to NYC today but "got caught" in that Southwest Airlines confusion. She was told that the first available flight would be this Saturday.  Of course, the family is sorry her flights were cancelled - but very glad she'll be here another few days.

Sunshine and warmer today.  I've actually been to get my hair done and do a couple of errands.  Wondered if my car would start since it had literally been a week since it had been out of the garage.  However, it did just fine.   

Sounds like everyone had a nice Christmas.

I went over to Sue's house for Christmas dinner even though I felt more like staying home this time. One of her friends joined us. Dodie likes to cook, so she never comes to dinner without bringing something. This time it was mashed potatoes, pumpkin custard, apple cobbler, and sparkling wine. After dinner, I managed to extract myself and get home before dark.

When I arrived home, I thought I heard a loud noise, but thought it was something from the rail yards below. Shortly after, I noticed a tree branch down and the neighbor's brand-new fencing with a even more new gap in it. I plan on going down this afternoon and check it out. At first, I thought it was one of my pine trees, but on Monday, in better light, I noticed that one of her trees had broken off. The fence panel that is out is leaning toward my property and into the privet so I don't see how it could have been one of my tree branches. Investigation planned for this afternoon when it has warmed up some.

I am net surfing for apartments again, but the rents have gone up even more outrageously in the last few months. Nevertheless, upgrades and repairs to the house and yard are likely to cost me more than moving into an apartment. The yard is a big problem for me these days. Unfortunately, finding competent, reliable yard help is difficult around here. Over the last few years, I have had one service that did such a crappy job that I will not use them again, one that wanted to charge me commercial rates, two that went out of business, and the others either did not respond to phone messages or did, but then never showed up. Well, maybe the new year will be different. First up is have my real estate agent come over and give me an idea on how much the house might sell for and what I might need to do to get it ready. Also, talk to some apartment rental people to see what I can actually afford apartment wise.

Oops, nearly time for the furnace guy to show up for its' annual cleaning.

Sorry about being so morose this morning. Much better now.

Nope, it wasn't one of my pine branches. Someone got careless when they cut down some of her dying trees out back. Anyway, I got outside for a little sunshine and "fresh" air and began to do some yard cleanup. Tomorrow I will bag what I did for the Friday morning trash pickup.

Watched a fun YouTube clip of snow in Mexico City this morning. Only the third time since 1967, so they said.

It seems the locks on the Great Lakes shipping routes are still open, for the most part for a few more days. Sault St. Marie is not scheduled to close until Jan 15. Welland, January 7, and the others east of Lake Ontario are closed or closing in the next day or two. Best I can tell. In the meantime, lots of ships are taking advantage of the lack of ice (or much of it) to contend with so far.
 

 MarsGal -  You didn't sound morose in your earlier message!  Can't blame you for being upset when you hear a noise and see tree branches down on your neighbor's new fence.    Glad it wasn't your pine tree.

Maybe you have a minor case of the "after Christmas blues?"  Happens to me every year at this time, but usually when the New Year arrives, and things get back to normal, I start looking toward better and brighter days ahead.

Callie -  I got a big smile from your comment about young couples now-a-days, not being in any hurry to get married!  Seems they're happy to drag an engagement out for years!    My cousin's oldest daughter is 32, and has been engaged for about five years!   She and her SO, met in high school, for Heaven's sake!   You'd think they would be ready to get married, but always some reason they keep waiting and putting it off? 🤔

I finally ran out of leftovers from Christmas, so will have to go to the grocery store and restock the fridge.   Sounds like a good idea, to get away from the house for a while.  Then when I return I'll start reading one of the two books I got for Christmas presents.

Speaking of Pine Trees. --- I have one tree left on my little 50 x 100 building lot. It is a Pine Tree. --- This morning when I went out to retrieve my trash can I looked up at my tree. Something just didn't look right. I moved to get a better look and saw a light colored spot right at the top and something hanging downward from it. --- Looks like a branch ripped off from the top, This is the second time this happened. The tree was topped years ago and this has become a weak spot. I'm waiting for the tree guy to call back now. Better get it taken care of before it falls. Safety First. Probably happened during the storm the other day.

I actually have two (2!) great granddaughters who are waiting for Covid to be over so they can have Big Weddings!  I swear!

Each has a wonderful beau and they have, in both cases, bought homes together.  Courtney lives five minutes from me, while Emily lives in Missouri.  Courtney is a very successful accountant, while Emily is an architect.  I asked for, and Courtney granted me, rights to flirting with her Mark.  He is just the Best looking thing, and gives the most wonderful hugs.  So we make a big deal of carrying on when the family gathers.  He calls me "Girlfriend."  Courtney never bats an eye.  I cannot imagine why!

Anyway, that is seriously what they are waiting for.

Marilyne, go over to SeniorLearn in the Library section where I posted a really long message. Kind of explaining my Christmas or lack of.I simply couldn't try to copy and/or paste over here.

Joanne/Tome - I looked into SL, and so sorry to see that your daughter caught  a bad case of the flu for Christmas!     Here's hoping she will be well, in time to celebrate the New Year, as well as your birthday!

So many different varieties of flu happening around here, that
I've lost track of all the names and numbers?  Younger daughter and her bf left the day after Christmas, and he got sick on the long drive home.  Fever, chills, cough, sore throat . . . the full catastrophe!  Covid test was negative, plus he is fully vaccinated and also had the yearly flu shot.    The other two illnesses that are raging here,  are RSV and adult strep.   I haven't heard from her today, so hoping she is okay, and doesn't have it?

Marilyn, my daughter has had all her shots: Flu, all Covid & Boosters.  Her Covid test was negative also.  The cough is awful, and sad part is that drugstores here are all out of Nyquil/Dayquil and other cough remedies that work on flu-type coughs. If you can take those, I would check and see if your pharmacies have any, and buy some just in case.  She has had chills & fever with the cough and sore throat. She was on vacation most of the week before she came down with this, so who knows where she caught it?

Hope your daughter's boyfriend gets better quickly.  From what I've heard, it's at least 5 days and more for some people.

Tomereader, I hope your daughter is improving and will soon be up and about. It is not at all fun to be sick during the holidays.

The local news has been reporting a number of accident-related deaths, more than usual I think, including several pedestrian vs vehicle encounters. Two murders caught my attention this past week. One was a woman found dead in the "sunken garden" in Riverfront Park several days ago. The police are looking for a person who was seen with her shortly before she died. The other happened on Christmas Eve just a few miles away in one of the newer, expensive townhome complexes. A domestic incident where the husband claims he and his wife had a major fight where she unlocked the gun safe and retrieved a gun which went off when he tried to get it away from her. However, the police have charged him with homicide, aggravated assault, strangulation and tampering with evidence. Sounds like there was a real battle going on and the police are not buying his story. The man's dad (who is in Florida) called police after his son called him. This certainly isn't a happy year ending for more than a few families around here.

Also, I read with interest that Gettysburg is starting a new tradition by raising Abraham Lincoln's hat on New Year's Eve. We've got all kinds of oddities being raised, or lowered, on New Year's Eve around here including Harrisburg's Strawberry in Strawberry Square, a white rose in York, and Dillsburg's Dill Pickle. I wonder if Lancaster raises a red rose to counter York's white rose. They have had a little friendly play on the War of the Roses theme for years. 

Good morning from sunny Florida! it's 65 at the moment going up to 80. Our cold spell is finally over.

Yesterday Michael repaired the sprinkler at the corner of the lanai. The lawn mowers break them and turn them into geysers!

So sorry to hear of families being sick. When Donna and Mike went to a camper's reunion near Cape Cod in October, they came home sick. Donna got very sick with some kind of flu. She tested negative for Covid. I wasn't able to see her for more than a month. Then, before Christmas, Michael and Jennifer had Covid. Theirs was more like a bad cold. They've had all the Covid shots. Fortunately they were cleared before Christmas and we were able to celebrate together.

Rammel - Have they done anything about the pine tree yet? You are bound to have more windy storms before Spring. I hate to lose trees. Several years ago my favorite tree, a Queen palm, had to come down because the roots were beginning to raise the concrete driveway.

MarsGal - Rents are terribly high now. I hope you can find something
 by Spring. They will also have to accept your kitty family!  The income level in Vermont is low and the rents are unaffordable for many.

Callie - Was Ellen able to get a flight back to New York? I'm glad that none of my family have trips at the moment. We use Southwest a lot. My granddaughter, Erin, is flying down on the 1st but on another airline.

                                             

Quote from: Beverly on December 30, 2022, 11:09:32 AMRammel - Have they done anything about the pine tree yet? You are bound to have more windy storms before Spring. I hate to lose trees. Several years ago my favorite tree, a Queen palm, had to come down because the roots were beginning to raise the concrete driveway.

The tree guy said he will be here next week. Will call the night before. I worry that if there is any wind by then that the broken limb will fall. I don't want anyone or anything to get hit. Those branches are always bigger when on the ground than they appeared to be when they were way up there.

Hello everyone:   It's been a rainy couple of days  here on the West Coast.  We need all of this and more, so I'm not complaining . . .  yet!  Like others here, I'm worried about heavy  tree branches  falling from our trees, especially the  Redwood.  It has dried out a lot from years of drought.   Wishing it weren't so close to the house, but when we planted it, we never expected we'd be living here long enough for it to grow so big!

Rick - Hope your pine branch hangs on until the tree guy gets there next week!

Beverly - Our cold spell finally ended also!  It was as cold here, as I can ever remember.    Hard to deal with when you're used to a mild climate.  Non-stop talk on TV news about all the different varieties of flu that continue to circulate here.  They say that the OTC medications like NyQuil and such, are sold out in all the pharmacies!

Yesterday, our son and wife came by in the late afternoon, and brought us a container of ham and Navy bean soup, that she made from leftover Christmas ham.   Also a tray of biscuits and another of corn bread.  Enough so we can have it again tonight. 

MarsGal - Your mention of the homicides and car accidents in your area,  sound very much like what's going on here.  Add to that a high  number of suicides - especially among young people and teenagers.   People are unusually stressed and unhappy.

Interesting comment about Gettysburg starting a new tradition by raising Abraham Lincoln's hat on New Year's Eve. (And the other cities, raising different things.)   Does that mean that it will be raised on a flag pole, or on something else?    That idea has not reached California yet, but I'm sure it will eventually catch on out here as well!   

Jenny - Hope you drop in soon, and tell us more about everyone in your family?   Hoping that Jonah, is used to his cast by now?

Remember when everyone would sign your cast if you had one.  I wonder if they still do that.

Marilyne, I found this article about our local New Year's Eve traditions including some pictures. It looks like some of them are raised along a building or at the corner by chains. From the list, it looks like they will either dropped or raised. https://local21news.com/news/local/from-wacky-to-traditional-central-pa-will-ring-in-2023-in-some-very-unique-ways Too bad they don't have more pictures. Lebanon is dropping a Lebanon bologna and Duncannon is doing a sled.
 
Duncannon was once home to the Lightning Glider Factory. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=19711 After the factory closed in 1988, someone turned it into a sled museum (called Old Sled Works) with space for people to sell crafts, antiques and other things. Unfortunately, they are permanently closing as of tomorrow. The owners cited staff retirements and a major need for repairs, including flood damage, as some of the reasons. Too bad. It was a favorite of the locals. I never got around to going there although it is just up the river a few miles from me.

I don't expect many of you have had Lebanon bologna either, another regional indulgence, I think. Originally made by the Pennsylvania Dutch in Lebanon County PA, it is still mostly made here. It is more of a beef sausage than a bologna that is smoked and cured. Very strong, tangy taste.

Beverly,  Ellen's flight home on Southwest a week ago on Thursday was just fine.  In fact. they landed a bit early in OKC (layover in St. Louis).  Her flight to NYC on Tuesday was cancelled; she was to fly out tomorrow with a layover in Houston. However, her Dad had "points" for American and, although she doesn't really like American, he was able to get her reservations yesterday - AND he had enough points to put her in First Class.  She enjoyed that!  No problems on that flight.

 #2 Son took down and put away the decorations I'm too short to reach (he'd put them up, too) and I've been "leisurely"  working on the others.  Today was so nice that I was able to wear a sweater instead of a coat/gloves to remove the things from the front shrubs. I can put most of the house decorations in the garage cabinet and the storage tub for the small things will stay in the extra bedroom until someone comes to take it out to the garage.

Have watched two Bowl games (football) this week.  Have to laugh about the name changes.  All My Children's OSU Cowboys did play in the Alamo Bowl but my OU Sooners played in the Cheez-It Bowl.    Unfortunately, both lost.

Off to catch up on some desk work.  Sleep well, Baiters and Tacklers and have pleasant dreams. [/b]

MarsGal - Thank you for giving me a good laugh tonight!   I got such a kick out of the pictures of the New Years Eve traditions in the various PA cities . . . mimicking the crystal ball drop in NYC.  My two favorites -  Mechanicsburg, with that giant lighted wrench, set up on the high platform in preparation for it to drop!      And of course Hershey, PA, with the huge Chocolate Kiss!  It's going to be raised up and then slowly drop.
So nice to see all the happy smiling townspeople, having such a good time! 

Callie - Good to hear that Miss Ellen flew FIRST CLASS back to NYC!  An extra special Christmas present from her Dad.  ❤️ 

Darn, just lost my post. Grrrrrrr! Closed the wrong tab.

It is a delightful rainy, though chill morning at Port Huron. When I opened the website, I could hear CSL Laurentien's foghorn way in the distance, so it must be way foggier on Lake Huron that it seems at the mouth of the river. Even though the webcam was on auto, it managed to swing just right to see her glide under the bridge.

A week or so ago, I discovered that the papermill at Port Huron has permanently closed, so there won't be any more rail deliveries for rail fans to watch. Also, and more importantly to me is that the US and Canadian flags are no longer flying in the parking area between the plant and the bridge. I thought that area was maintained by the city, but maybe it was part of the plant. I hope to see the flags flying again soon. I miss them.

USCG Hollyhock has been in and out of port this week several times. Currently she is sailing down the Detroit River after spending the night there. She is changing out buoys. Shipping has slowed down because of the holidays and will soon be even more restricted once the locks are closed for a few months. It seems to me that they closed earlier last year, but the icing has been minimal so far this year. Still, they need a few months for R&R and yearly maintenance before the spring season.

I almost forgot; I must bring my pork loin down out of the freezer.

New Year's Eve has been cancelled here on the Chesapeake Bay.  We have fog, and I love it!
 I cannot see the Eastern Shore or the Chesapeake Bay Bridge spans.

We will have the fireworks and the concerts tomorrow night.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, ANYWAY!

Hello from dark and dreary Florida! It's not raining yet but rain is expected.

We have fog here too, MaryPage. It got worse as the day wore on. My sister recently called and said the fog is lifting where she is, but here it looks still worse.

Take care everyone who will be out tonight.

Happy New Year!