While our temps don't compare with yours, Patricia, it is cold here - 17 degrees at 5:45 pm.  The wind has been blowing and we've had some snow that relocated because of the wind.  I have not gone out at all and I let Tom get the mail.  I wonder if we could import some of the hot weather we had last summer, even the warm temps of a few weeks ago!  Brr.  I really am not complaining because I know how we all talked about the hot weather during the summer months.

Mary Ann

Actually MaryAnn, you are colder I'm sure. We rarely if ever have humidity and we have sagebrush in these hills. We are dry like Arizona. You have the wind which is rare here with four rings of foothills and behind that three of the largest mountain ranges outside of Nepal that we hide behind. And add to that a persistent high-pressure system that has set above us for over three years.

I'm sure you haver us beat. I froze in Tennessee and Texas's wet weather and I have walked ten miles to work in minus sixty-eight and sweated as I had too much on and not natural materials.

Before considering plus or minus, consider wet or dry colds. I would freeze in your winters! 

I remember one year, Jan or Feb, when we went south, it was so cold the gas pumps had a hard time working because of the cold & "no additives put in down south".  When we went out on the beach along the Gulf & then over on the eastern side of FL, it was so cold (how cold you ask?)... the only other person on the beach was a young guy from Alaska!  I had on a winter coat with ski headband & hood up, my husband was also bundled up... and miserable, the kid from Alaska was pretending to enjoy the sand & beach but he didn't look all that happy.

Patricia, I'd love for you to be here or my tree there so you could graze.  I'm afraid it will be a bust if the grands don't let their little ones eat any candy at all.  I may get a little huffy (not really). 

Mary Ann, have you & Dot thought about renting a place in FL & spending a few months where it's warm?  I have a number of cousins & a brother & wife that go south for the winter.  One of my friends stays near Padre Island from Thanksgiving to April...keeps begging me to come, her husband died the year after Cas.  She also has a cat that travels with her.  I would enjoy the drive south but not a lengthy stay.  Everyone brags about the fresh fruit & veggies harvested during those winter months, worth the drive to me!

I'm going to park myself by that tree until I get the last piece of candy hanging tonight.  I may have to wait until a little light to take photos since Jack gets his great light photos with a tad of daylight showing. 

So far I'm not going to complain about the cold.... but can I (may I) please gripe about the wind?  It cuts through a coat & stocking hat like being bare, have to wear nylon over other clothes (including cap) to stop the  icy wind.  I look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy when I go out. 

Enough sitting time, on to the tree duty!  Patricia, Russell Stover has a new kind to me.... caramel-apple with their usual good chocolate over.  Looks almost like pecan "turtles".  Nice that they come in a pretty red wrapper, tasty ornaments.  Photos tomorrow~~ Oops, I smell the roasts so better move fast!

Jack. Now Mimi was giving a little smile on the Second shot.

Nice you daughter will be doing the driving for Christmas. You are having it pretty cold also. No quite as bad as us.  Glad I am not a Christmas shopper. What a mess the town is.

Did go out in the 9 deg freezing weather  this morning. Warning us to stay indoors tomorrow. Will be 6 below freezing tonight. and not above 10 deg tomorrow. Ice is not helping. I had to go over into the Mall area and unbelievable how the traffic was. Doubt I go back over in that area until after New Years
Today  I took my new glasses back. Just could not use them as Progressive.  I Tried but  gave me a head ache and bothered eyes.  Dr. today told me not to go with Progressive, Just to stay with reading glasses as I was in before.  He said after the Cataract surgery few years ago. That is all I need. My far sight is good but need for reading close. I just thought I would like to see if I could keep glasses on instead of On and Off all the time.  Now will have to wait 4 days to get them.

Shirley, would you believe that neither Dot nor I like Florida?  I am content (in my old age) to stay inside if necessary and I don't think Dot has any place she would rather be.  She is still driving, however, I was driving at her age, too.  I think I quit two years ago when Tom took over my car after Annie totaled his.  I don't miss driving, but occasionally I would like to go to the supermarket for something in particular.  I don't miss driving as it never was a passion of mine - I drove for necessity and convenience and I'm glad I knew how.  I drove for 66 years.

Mary Ann

MaryAnn. I am different. I dread the thought of not driving a car. Suppose the time will come. We do have the best public bus service in my are. Specially with the Big university. Great buses also. Take you everywhere and never longer than a 10 min wait. I could go back to using them. Not this weather though. We do get a free Bus Pass. and 50% off all taxi rides. Don't know about these private cabs that are now running.  Ask Tom if seniors get a break near you.

I was pleased when the state renewed my license till 2020, when I reach 90.  They then renew annually.  I drive daily, still love it.  We have a city bus that passes 2 blocks from my home.  I have lived here since 1960 and have been on the bus just once.  No idea of the schedule or cost, would not matter, I will drive. Think nothing of the 6 hour drive to my daughters. 

JeanneP and Jack, wait until you're 90+ and you may feel different about driving.  I drove until I was 90 and, as I've mentioned, Tom's daughter totaled his car so he took over mine.  At the time he was working away from home and I got used to not having a car handy.  The state did just renew my drivers license until 2020 but I feel I would drive only in an extreme emergency - if the person driving became incapacitated while driving and I was with the person.  Now if I lived alone, I probably would feel as you two do, but I have Tom living here and he has been very willing to take me to my appointments and that is important.  If I did not have him, I probably would be in a retirement home because I know Dot would not want to drive where some of my doctors' offices are.

We have a bus system here but it isn't as convenient as what Jeanne's seems to be.  The line by me is up at the former mall but I'd have to walk up a hill, cross a busy avenue, then walk the equivalent of a block to catch it.  And as I type this, I'm not sure it comes this far any more.  People around here sure do love their automobiles!

We're all the way up to 15 degrees now.

Mary Ann

I am going to be writing to the STate of Illinois. It is not right that at 80 they can start having people only get a license for 2 years and then after 85 goes to every year.
And even then one has to take a street driving test.  I still say if had no accidents they should go by that.

Jeanne, my father had no "official" accidents. Yet at age 85, he was driving recklessly because of some dementia caused by strokes. One time he had strangers follow him home and tell me he almost clipped them and they weren't the only ones. I called the police for answers as a 5'6" woman had no way to wrestle the keys from a determined 6'4" father. The police's advice? Disable the car as they were not legally able to do anything. My brother-in-law disabled the car and my dad had a total fit!

Did your dad ever drive again?  Now I know of a few around here that are still driving in the 90s.  Makes me wonder if they are driving without a license. So many young people are.  Many with junky cars so if they hit you not much you can get out of them.  Just messes up your insurance.

He had some strokes that caused dementia. Soon after that incident, he was admitted to a nursing home after another attack. I had cared for him at my home but was no longer able to work and leave him alone for any time.

My point was he was in no condition to drive, yet he would not give up his car. This was in 1992. I hope that now there are rules set into place for that type of situation. Some people may not realize or believe that they should not be driving for their sake and others.

I drive daily, even to Pittsburgh.  Do not like their traffic but did not when I lived there in the 50's.  I usually drive even when my son or daughter are along, and never a complaint.  Understand the time may come when I am not aware of my abllity to drive.  In the meantime back to the photos with my latest happy companion. Her only concern - did I bring the treats?

Mary Ann, I'm another that wouldn't want to live in FL.  I do/did enjoy driving along the coasts but the waves & coast, not sure what it is, makes me feel sad and uneasy when we walked the beaches.  I don't like water and the 8 days on ship board going to & coming home from England were the worst times of my life. 

JeanneP, I think KS made me start getting the license every 2 years at 75.... and it cost as much as when it was for 4 years and at one time they issued it for 6 years.  That only lasted one time.  Since I've kept my motorcycle license all these years, I do have to pay extra for that (wonder why?) and have a separate license for "conceal carry" permit.  It wouldn't surprise me if the state came up with a "long fingernail permit" and charged for that every year.     I have to get my new driver's license before my birthday in Jan so will wait until after the holidays.

I do love to drive so dread the time when I can't.  We could get a license at 14 in MO without any test, just pay 50¢ & you could drive. My father had an accident when he was in his late 80s & never enjoyed driving after that. He would ask me to go fill his car with gas when I visited (anyone else when I wasn't around), and would syphon out for his lawn mower.  He scared everyone with his fast driving, especially when my mother's twin sister & her husband came to visit.  They loved going to the lake & even bought a lot next to Mom & Dad's cabin..... so my aunt would roll her eyes and whisper about him driving 90+ on those winding roads. Dad was not fond of that uncle so just wanted to get the drive over so he could get outside & away.  Mom would give Dad "the look" to caution him that he'd better be nice.    

Patricia, my parents had a friend on the Highway Patrol and Mother threatened many times that she was going to call him to watch for Dad to give him a ticket.  She didn't and don't think he ever got a ticket. 

Oh, Jack, she is smiling again.  You have no idea how happy that makes me! 

As I've said, I stopped driving because Tom needed my car worse than I did.  He now does all of the grocery shopping - from a list that I give him.  So I really didn't give up voluntarily but I did see the wisdom of it.  My dad also was one who did not want to give up driving but he had had some small strokes.  One day he wanted to drive to the drug store which was a block away at the corner of our street and a main street.  He said he'd go slow.  I saw the keys on top of the TV so picked them up and threw them under the davenport and he didn't see me do it.  I told him I didn't know where the keys were.  Dad was one of those people who would read about a medicine and decide it was for him so he'd call his doctor to ask for a prescription.  I think the doctor felt if it would do any harm, he'd prescribe it.  So when he wanted to drive, I told him to call his doctor to see what he thought.  The doctor told him he should not drive - and that settled that!  Like a lot of people, he took the doctor's advice even after refusing the same suggestion from us.  I did the driving after that, including taking the car to work!

Dad died at 75 so I have a lot of years on him.

Mary Ann

Posting for JeanneP   Her comment;

My Texas daughter got her first litter  of puppies last Thursday. Look So cute. 9 little Labadoodles. She has orders for them already . Will be for Valentine Day. I would love having one. Just can't.

Cute!

JACK WV....
...If she has any girls left over, can you ask her to send one over on the plane to UK, I shall then give her my directions....

Jackie.
$1400 and then plane. Pretty expensive puppy. Now can dogs come into uk and not go into quarantine ?

Quote from: jackwv on December 16, 2016, 03:41:08 PM
Posting for JeanneP   Her comment;

My Texas daughter got her first litter  of puppies last Thursday. Look So cute. 9 little Labadoodles. She has orders for them already . Will be for Valentine Day. I would love having one. Just can't.

Oh Jeanne, those puppies are sooooo cute. I would love one too.....but same as Jack, "just can't." trish

They are darling!  All puppies are cute but at this stage I think I'll follow Jack's lead and adopt an older "pup".  That is if I can every find one that doesn't object to cats.  Does your daughter have both parents, Jeanne?  Our German Shepherd was "the pick of the litter" because our friends had the male and had 2 pups due that month.  We were allowed to get her at 4 weeks.... and she really did believe she was one of the mothers of our kids.  She was older than the youngest son & the older son was not yet a year & half.  Our daughter was a little over 6.  I hope you will show us more photos before the babies are ready to leave home. 

Thanks for posting, Jack.

JEANNE P....
....I jest,    but 30 plus years ago when I was living in St Lucia the Caribbean I had bought a puppy and went through the process of having it flown over to UK after I had come back...a long and sad story which I shan't go into as sadly it didn't go ahead but it was so so close...he should have been on the plane on this day and I had quarantine kennels all booked up.....
Jeanne they have now done away with quarantine kennels, you can now get a dog passport, but that seems quite a complicated process to go through not something I have ever needed to do, but compared to the six month quarantine of not seeing ones dog, it has to be far better...

I think Jack already knows that if I decide on another dog it will be a rescue dog and an older dog...maybe another Cocker Spaniel, or I wouldn't say no to a Mimi lookalike as my Petra was a X Labrador and she had a lovely temperament...Labradors and Retrievers very similar...

What a cute litter!

Now I think my daughter has 3 females that she can breed and 2 males. She only breed her females 3 times. 2 to get Labradoodles and 1 to get  GoldenDoodles. She will be having her puppies next few week from the Golden.
  Pays a lot for her stud dogs. All this blood line tracing, I can't keep up with what she does.  She has done it for about 35 years now. Its work. She does a lot of her own Vet work but does have a Vet close. I love animals but could not do the breeding part. She did horses for years. Cut that out. Watched her do a breach birth on one one time. I couldn't do that. She also has 2 of her favorite  puppies which were not perfect to sell but loves as house pets.  As  her dogs age she has lots of friends that take them for pets. They are Beautiful dogs.

Remember when the little male  Doxy she has got one of her female Labodoodle females pregnant. She had 7 puppies. They were so cute. She had to donate those. 4 went to family or friends. I still laugh about that but to her not funny. But everyone loves those dogs. Now I think I would have liked one of those.

JeanneP very cute puppies.

Jack, your campanion,  looks very happy.

I will be 93 in Feb, I still drive to Stop & Shop which even has a bank, It is good for me as I can walk around with the help of the cart. I can take my time also. Richard one of my neighbors from down the street went with me last week, and he said my driving was fine. As I wrote before this is a big park,  Glenwood Village, and has about 580 home, I do not have to leave the park, except to drive through the car dealers on the courner  and their drive way goes right into the supermarket. I Do not have to go on a main rd.

I keep saying, I am not going to put up the Christmas scene, but of course I did again this year, not quite all I have, I have a picture of Taffy setting in it from last year. If I remember how my neighbor told me how to put pictures in I will try.

JeanneP, those dogs so cute.  After our poodles were gone, Larry said no more dogs.  They can get quite expensive with the vet and groomer visits.

Jean add to that the cost of food.  I was buying the best for Jessie, now Mimi is on a so-called raw diet.  I did not want to handle a lot of raw meat, so buying freeze dried dog food with meat/fish, now that is expensive.

Well I am fortunate, I do not travel, nothing I need,  so happy to spend my kids inheritance on Mimi.

JACK WV...
...yes Jack, you got it right, our dogs come first, every time... ...yes spend, spend, spend....even my other half now knows his place...

" so happy to spend my kids inheritance on Mimi..."

What a couple of days it has been fact since Friday. Car froze down then. Got it jumped and started but froze again Sat. Sunday. Today cost $55 to get it jumped again. Took it to the Place I got last battery and found that it was put in just Oct of 2015. So they put a new one on.  Hope when I get up tomorrow it starts.
I don't think I have seen such cold weather in Illinois this time of year.  Maybe a couple days in February. 

When we watch the news things much worse for many. Sad when it is the week when lot of people travel by air and most are close down.  I am glad I stay home.

JeanneP, we lived in Zion, IL, a couple of years in the 60s.  Once it got down to 20 below 0.  We were told to open cupboard doors so the pipes wouldn't freeze but the kitchen pipe did freeze.  I had the thermostat on 90 and still couldn't get that small apartment warm.  Was glad when we got transferred to VA.