The board is too quiet-I assume this means that everyone figures they don't have anything exciting to share, so they keep checking & (except for the ones inspired by Elspeth's quizzes about Hallowe'en)no one says much.
So, I figure-it's time for me to begin an update thread-but since none of us has much news to share (except for Diane with her pending retirement)-it has to be a "No-News-Update".
From my little home in the boonies of Eastern Ontario-there really is nothing much worth posting.Mike is still in a sling, still uncomfortable after his most recent rotator cuff surgery-but I think "uncomfortable" is a big step forward from the Pain he endured all summer long.He cannot move it-no physio yet-but he is moving more.In fact, I came home the other day to find him vacuuming the entire place-& he's assumed that daily task...one I gladly give over.
Adam is doing ok-he's back in his Community Living program, back giving me mouth for his messy room (not his fault-obviously we have gremlins living here)& back to playing his music too loud(we've added Heavy Metal to Elvis & Country Music in the playlist-sigh!).He had his H1N1 shot the other day-& was sure it meant his arm was swollen & his shoulder frozen, except he kept forgetting whether that was his right arm or his left!
I am well-I am tired of being the only person to drive to appointments or to do the errands, but I am assured by Mike that he will be driving before the snow comes to stay.(I am a wimp when it comes to snowy/icy roads, though I will do it if I must-have done it for 'hundreds of years'-or just 40?-I just don't like doing it).
Our dog is becoming accustomed to the world without leaves to mute the noise from the road-meaning she barks at every sound.One cat surprised us by being incredibly high in a tree this morning-but then the neighbour's dog went trotting home & we knew why Kyle was up there.The other cat-well, poor Patches is old & obese & she does well to make it onto the couch on her own.
My knitting is unremarkable & my sewing too-but between them & my books & the driving I must do, I sure don't have time to be bored!Today is amazingly sunny & clear-I wish this could be the weather for the next 6 months-although I'd probably miss the sunny days when the glare off the snow was blinding.(& then again-maybe I wouldn't-I'll never know!)
And so-there is my no-news-update.I look forward to hearing from each of you-are you busy?bored? or ?? Have you begun your holiday shopping-or do you manage to avoid that?Do you have good weather?-rotten weather?-or typical for your area weather?
Hmmm... I'll start with our weather. It is a beautiful, sunny, soooo blue skies here today. Not real warm - about 56 - but absolutely beautiful. I love these kinds of days in the fall.
No new news here either. Noe is doing okay - also a bit mouthy, but not too bad. He was very wired yesterday for Halloween. Our nearby hospital is getting ready to open a new pediatrics wing and they had an open house trick-or-treating yesterday. Noe and I were both blown away by the awesomeness of this unit. It is by far better than the childrens units we have visited in Spokane and Seattle. It is absolutely beautiful and calming and Noe says he can't wait for his next transfusion!!
Bella is fine and growing like a weed. She also enjoyed Halloween and learned to say "tea o tit" or something very much like that. I really do enjoy her, but I am still looking forward to getting back a family at home of two.
The leaves are definitely piling up in my backyard and I need to get out and rake them and burn them. It would be a perfect day to do it today but I'm a bit short on energy so I don't know if I'll make it or not.
It is going to seem weird to be off daylight savings time today. Not too sure if I'm ready for those early dark hours.
No holiday shopping here yet but I am looking at the toy catalogs that seem to have popped up all over. I'm still more focused on Thanksgiving and looking forward to that.
I guess that is all of our "no news" for now. I'm going to go bake some apples and make some hot cocoa -- just because...
In about a week's time I'll be boarding a flight to Ontario, to stay with a friend who has MS and is recuperating from a fall that led to her hip breaking and surgery afterward. Her dh is going on a trip (ordinarily he works from home) and so my friend asked me if she could take me up on my offer to come help her out. I mentioned this when she first got home from the hospital and her stay in the ward for for prolonged physiotherapy (what is the right term for that???). Anyway at the time I was preparing for my vacation trip to Europe and couldn't realistically offer my help then. So now that her dh will be away on a business trip, I'll be with her for 8 days. She'll give me my duties as to how to help out (at the moment I don't exactly know what those are) but also we'll have plenty of time to just be together and chat and catch up on news, and that we will enjoy.
Prior to this, I am preparing for a dinner party we are hosting for a few friends. I'm working on what I can prepare in advance food-wise, and making lists of what foods to buy and when to make this or that. Aside from that I have a few appointments this week to fit in here and there. So it's a busy enough week. The dinner party is on Saturday. One son's birthday is this Friday (but we'll have a little family celebration for it on Sunday)and I leave for Ontario on the 10th.
Eric, whose birthday is coming up, was here on Sunday with his siblings who also came to dinner, but he was feeling poorly with the flu. (I'm surprised he even came!) But perhaps he wanted some familial company and TLC. He stayed on the couch and we fed him peppermint tea, cold and flu medication and even brought him his supper there (where he wished to stay). We even offered that he could stay here overnight but he chose to go back home. I hope he begins to feel better soon. (And no, I have no idea if it's H1N1 or just a plain old flu). But he will keep in touch with us especially if he gets any worse symptoms.
The weekend weather was just delightful with 'warmish' (for fall) temperatures so that we actually could go out and do some last bit of yard work to clean up dead foliage and mulch leaves and mow the lawn shorter for the winter. There was sunshine, blue sky, and a nice breeze that felt good! Today it's sunny but it won't be quite as warm as on the weekend, but hey, sunshine is always welcome! We've had an October that was too cloudy and gloomy for me.
So that's it from this corner of the world. Shirley
I've been the usual amount of busy, yet occasionally bored! We've been having some really nice weather lately. Quite warm (upper 70s-low 80s) but with low humidity so it hasn't felt uncomfortably hot. The humidity is up tonight so maybe the weather has started to change (as predicted) to some cooler temps--not cold mind you, but about 10 degrees cooler than the past few days. A couple of the weathermen have even said it *might* rain a bit this coming weekend but its too far out to tell. The nights are cool though, low to mid 50s. While that's great sleeping weather it spells the end of tomato season.
I've been plugging away at getting the winter garden planted. I have broccoli and red cabbage and some lettuce starts in the ground, and I sowed seeds for carrots and a bunching onion that turns red where most "green onions" are white. And lots more seeds to start.
Friday was a day that went awry. I had planned to do several loads of laundry, and got the first load in early--then the washing machine broke. It wouldn't agitate or spin. I called a repairman who first wanted to put it off until Monday (no way!) then said he couldn't come until late afternoon. I did get out for a short bike ride, then home to take most everything out of the laundry room so repairman would have room to work. Fortunately he was able to come in the early afternoon and the repair didn't take long but wasn't cheap. **sigh** Later, Enrique and I went out to pick up the chest freezer that I had ordered. Its small, 5 c.f.--looks like the child of Nora's freezer! We need to do some rearranging in the garage before I can get it plugged in, so its in the shed for now still in the packing box.
We had plans for a dinner party here on Sunday night so I did shopping for that on Saturday (got moved from Friday's list), then had Halloween stuff the rest of Saturday. Sunday morning we went out early to the Farmer's Market to get special flowers for the centerpiece (Dia de los Muertos theme) then back to do my watering before 10am, per water restrictions. The rest of the day was spent on housework and dinner prep. I served oven-roasted veggies from the garden (green and yellow squash, yellow bell peppers, tomatoes, and the last of the green beans) over fettucine, assorted seasoned chicken sausages, and crusty bread. Dessert was flan and sweet pan de muertos. After dinner we played Loteria which is an old Mexican version of Bingo with pictures instead of letters and numbers. The guests were two couples, we used to all meet for dinner at restaurants but this year we started dining at each other's homes. We hadn't seen them since May so it was a nice get-together.
This week will be spent getting caught up on laundry, errands, and trying to finish up the planting. And hopefully making some inroad on my too-long To Do list!
There's my no-news update. I don't expect anything exciting to happen anytime soon, but hey, miracles can happen!
