General topics.

Thanks PBear, its strange because a message she sent me was gone this morning but back now. I'm seeing her name on posts again. How bizarre

Catskie, I noticed that too. I'll report your post to Admin.

What happened to Needhelpwithmom?? I'm seeing references to her posts but not the actual post.

🥰 today's inspirational quote...

“The will to succeed is important,
but what’s more important is the will to prepare.”

cwillie, I tend to have a love affair with emergency vehicles, so I would be happy as a clam.

But for those who have a history of being taken to the hospital via 911, it could be unnerving to keep hearing the sires and horns. Especially someone who wasn't familiar with the food drive. They would think something terrible was happening in the neighborhood and should they evacuate.

I remember visiting the step-grandkids when they were young, it was Christmas time, and the local fire department had Santa on the truck, and was driving through the community. One grandchild started crying as she thought Santa had gotten hurt, and no amount of convincing her that he was ok. She still was upset the next day.... [sigh].

Our local firefighters are having a food drive this morning and are rolling up and down the streets and blasting horns and sirens - does anybody over the age of 3 really like that?

What a trek!
Said birds must be penguins, petrels and terns.
Watch the skies. Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies! 🤪🛸👽

not canada.
believe me, meters and meters of snow. you have no idea what i went through to get out my front door, and make it alive to this cafe, where i'm typing right now. the birds have no idea how i made it either. they watched me.

”Meters” of snow? Are you in Canada? I am. We have bare patches of lawn but about 30cm/1’ (I’m bilingual) of snow in the shade of the woods.

Maybe the birds are frustrated. 🎶 Chirpity chirpy chirp! 🎶
“We’re freezing! Why won’t anyone take us seriously?! Dang our melodic sweetness!”

hi everyone!

i'll continue to be mostly gone from the internet.
in case anyone's wondering where all the snow is, it's HERE.
spring.......? oh boy. spring, with meters and meters of snow. the birds are totally confused, but they continue to sing like crazy at 5 am. how do birds manage to be in such a good mood every day?

bundle of joy :)
❤️🙂

Need: How interesting that your DH was offered a job near Boaton.

Ana,

I love Danes. I wanted one so badly but my husband didn’t want a dog quite so large.

I see Danes at the dog park when we take our granddog there to play. Huskies need so much exercise, so when we are dog sitting it’s easier to take him to the park to run and play.

We went from a mini schnauzer to a greyhound. The schnauzer was sweet but a yippy yappy pooch, the grey was a couch potato! I loved both of them. They lived to be 13 years old.

NeedHelpWithMom, it rarely dips below -30F here and we average about 15F in the winter. My Great Danes are old, so they’re satisfied with half mile jaunts, like to meet the school bus and get the mail. They are indoor dogs but have the run of the property while outside. The male shadows us indoors and out. Mr Curious.

Ana,

How do your dogs handle the bitter cold?

My daughter lived in Colorado for a couple of years. She is back home in New Orleans now.

Her Siberian husky misses the colder climate. He loved playing in the snow in Colorado.

Margaret,

That’s quite an accurate description of some places in November!

Way,

Hawaii would work! 😊

Yikes Margaret, that’s pretty bleak!

For Anabanana, from Thomas Hood:

No sun — no moon!
No morn — no noon —
No dawn — no dusk — no proper time of day.
 
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member —
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! —
November!

I'm up farther than that Anabanana, Windsor and Leamington are the extreme banana belt 🤣.
But the snowdrops I planted last year beside my driveway are blooming today and people with sheltered yards do have crocus, some heavy rain last week really pushed things along. Now if only the rest of the snow would hurry up and disappear.

(sounds like we probably aren't all that far from each other)

Cwillie, if you’ve got crocus and snow drops in bloom, you must be in or very near Windsor, my home town. Now I’m a bit northeast, in that strip between the banana and snow belts.

I am in the banana belt of Ontario so I've always counted March as the first month of spring, we may still get plenty of snow in the coming weeks but by March the sun is strong enough that you can see snow melt even on days below freezing and the early birds arrive and hardiest snow drops and crocus start to bloom. When the spring peepers and toads start to sing it's a guarantee we're well on the way to warm weather - it's still always magical to me :)

Anabanana, March is cold and windy here, when I’m yearning to get outside more.
November , although it can get gray and yes no leaves, there is something crisp and fresh about the air and when the sky is not grey , it can get pretty deep blues in the afternoon.

Need, You should live in Hawaii . I’ve been there twice . I tagged along when my husband went for a business trip, then we stayed a bit longer . Best beach island weather .

We suffer most in the heat of summer here!

I don’t especially like the cold weather. I love warmer weather and sunshine.

If I could live anywhere in the world it would be on a sunny island near the beach with a nice breeze blowing while I sip a refreshing drink.

Way2tired, November is my least favourite. Vegetation is dead, so the world is brown and grey. If we do get snow, it’s just enough to be annoying, not fun. The dogs track in mud and dead leaves. Worst of all, the hours of daylight are still getting shorter.

We designated November to be comedy movies and shows month, Which my husband needs after our youngest and I put him through spooky October.

I’m ok with March because I enjoy the sunny evenings. And birds are singing! We have seeds and peat pots ready to start. It’s an optimistic month. We’ll likely have a few bouts of snow and freezing rain in April so no outdoor planting until mid-May.

June and July are my favourites. Bring me summer!

Anabanana

You are right . There are fun ways to spend the winters indoors. I have noticed also that we do seem to see the adult children more in winter , cook, bake watch movies on the weekends. I do enjoy the slower pace , just hanging out together .

I think March is the toughest month . By then we want spring .

We’re in an area of Canada that gets 4’-5’ of snow per year. Intermittent melts, so it’s never that deep all at once. We put crampons on our boots to walk the dogs when it’s icy. We have snow tires on the car November to April. Our house has a generator. We have fireplaces. I keep tabs on the forecast and snowfalls rarely strand us, but when they do we hunker down and enjoy the beauty. Movies, puzzles, games, books... we embrace it. Husband works from home so no commute.

Online education has dampened the thrill of “Snow Day!”

Right now my bird feeders are bustling with overlapping juncos and returning spring birds. I still get excited the first time I hear Spring Peepers, Wood Frogs and American Toads!

We frantically cram all we can into summer.

There’s still 4” of snow but I’m already planning this year’s
(after having been suspended a few years due to COVID-19 and my mother’s needs) live music and karaoke dance on the lawn see old friends make new friends eat too much enjoy a day in the country camp if you like pool party and bonfire.

Sadly, the blah four weeks of January usually feel longer than the four months of summer. But we do appreciate the seasonal changes.

Need,

Interesting, the perspective that people have in regard to weather and seasons .

My husband had various opportunities to move to warmer climates . We couldn’t do it.

Although I no longer love snow as it gets more inconvenient to shovel the older we get , I would sincerely miss the definite changes of seasons. I would sorely miss when the leaves change color , how the color of the sky changes as well .

We have gone south on vacation a few times at Christmas time and the kids did not like seeing Santa’s on the front lawns with palm trees, 🤷‍♀️


Winter can get cumbersome and I long for Spring now . But I know and anticipate a show of fragrant flowers will be emerging soon along with baby lime green leaves . Sometimes I can’t decide if I like better , the Spring sea of lime green or the multicolor collage of Fall leaves.


The holiday season marks the beginning of Winter . Spring makes everything seem new and fresh . Summer reminds me of when the kids were young and home from school . Besides Fall’s colors ,there is the crisp fresh air and November sky that also has various color changes day to day .


But it’s all I’ve ever known . I totally understand how the winter would not be appealing . It can drag on . It is the reason so many retire to Florida . I guess it’s a trade off . I put up with winter because I do like the significant differences of the 4 seasons . It seems to pull me closer to nature and I find that comforting .


We did move “ south” to Pennsylvania from Long Island , NY 18 years ago . It was the compromise for an opportunity that was too good for DH to pass up . The weather and seasons are mostly similar to what we were used to .

I do miss being able to drive the car onto the ferry and in no time we are in Connecticut , on our way to anywhere in New England . The kids loved the ferry ride , it was part of the vacation to enjoy unlike an airplane .

When DH and I were dating , the ferry ride was sometimes the date. We would bring along our packed picnic meal , parked the car at port , bought tickets for walk on passengers for the ride, never getting off on the other side , to return again when the ferry turned around. We called the ferry our yacht.

I could go on and on about how I miss going to the beach anytime I wanted and how it changes with the seasons as well . We do miss the smell of the sea breeze .

I always struggled with organized religion . But in trying times when I needed to feel closer to God, I would drive to the beach by myself and sit where the ocean meets the sand , for me that’s where God was . It was constant. The water a constant . The waves come and retreat , but they always come back again.

With my sister ( and best friend ) in hospice right now , I could really use my solitary moment at the beach altar.

Many years ago my husband was offered a job in New England, just outside of Boston.

I have been to New England on vacation to see the fall foliage. It was absolutely beautiful, as if God took a paintbrush and painted all of the leaves red, orange and gold. I loved our trip.

The thought of moving there terrified me though. I didn’t think that I could handle those long New England winters! So, my husband didn’t interview with the engineering firm.

Now, I sort of regret not trying it out. I have never lived anywhere outside of New Orleans.

I think it’s easier for people to adjust to a warmer climate than for us to adjust to a bitter cold climate. I could be wrong. I’m sure there are some exceptions. My daughter loved living in Colorado. She adores the snow and mountains.

Llama,

Maybe you didn’t say the exact time frame. I just remember that you said that you had moved away.

Need: I honestly must be losing it as I don't think I'd ever mentioned that.