Let It Snow

Talk  about rain for 40 days and 40 nights, it feels like we've had 40 snowstorms: fluffy snow, heavy wet rain and snow, and more fluffy snow and even some rain.  Will it ever end?  It certainly is making my impending move to FL a lot more appealing.  My body hurts from shoveling and I didn't even do that much.  Larry used
the snowblower and did most of it.  I cleaned the vehicles and did a fair amount of shoveling the stairs, the areas where the sb doesn't fit etc.  It is still snowing as I'm writing this and TC is still meowing to go out. I tried to tell him it was too cold and wet, but he was determined.  But I didn't give in.  One of us has to have
and use some common sense and I guess that I am the one.   I feel sorry for all the little animals like squirrels and birds that are out in all this stuff.  It's hard for them to find food and shelter.  I spent today( and a few other days when it snowed) running outside with sunflower seeds and peanuts for the birds and squirrels.  They come to door and bang on it and the birds come up to the door and sit on the rails. I give them the peanuts and they prefer the shells be removed first (the squirrels seem to like the shells better).  I get
great joy and fun from  giving them the seeds and peanuts and other leftovers.  My concern is who will feed them when I'm in FL?  Even the birds seem to trust me they ignore me when I'm under the bird feeder, and just this week I had an exciting experience.  I saw a little bird in my shed banging against the windows trying to get out.  I quickly put shoes on and a sweater and rescued him.  He was a bit afraid of me, but I was able to pick him up and put him outside.  Now I check the shed every day just to make sure no birds are stuck in there.  It was a tiny bird, smaller than the palm of my hand.  It was also
an exciting experience for me, not so sure about the bird's appreciation of the experience though.

Tick Season: Not Yet Over

I found a tick on me last evening when I put my PJ's on. I'm not sure what kind it is, but after looking around online I think it may be just a plain dog tick which would be good news. I will call my MD today and find out what the nurse practitioner thinks. Lyme ticks are usually abundant in the spring so that also gives me hope that this won't be a serious problem. next day So the tick was one of the Lyme/dear ticks. Size and color gave some clues, but the defining issue is the bullseye welt it leaves on your skin - an outer red circle and dark spot in the center. It itches and hurts at the same time, but scratching doesn't help. It also feels hard to touch. You must have antibiotics, doxycycline as early as possible to prevent the Lyme arthritis disease. Doxycycline is the drug of choice, but if you are allergic there is probably an alternative. The thing is these ticks aren't through for the season yet. A mild autumn has allowed them to reproduce more than usual so they willcontinue to be a threat for several more weeks. I still have leaves to finish raking and bagging. I'll have to try clothes that cover most of me snugly. Not the best thing to wear for hard work in the yard. Pets can bring them into the house, but my cats don't go out so I only have one way to pick up these horrible creatures-- being in the wrong place - outdoors. So I guess I'm staying inside until the first snow. My advice to the readers -- Be careful out there. It's a tick jungle.

Plans for Christmas

Well Christmas is near, most of my shopping is done - all but my SO.  I'll have to come up with something for him.  I gave him a gift certificate once, but he never used it.  So my money was wasted, but I didn't make an issue of it.  I have Elle to thank for giving me ideas for gifts that I could order online and have them delivered.  I don't have to bring the gifts with me when I visit her for Christmas this year.

For the last year or 2 my friend and I have been working on renovating first my mother's house then my house after I moved into my mother's.  We are about 97% finished; when it's ready  I'll  put the house on the market and hope it sells quickly.  I have some bills to pay for the renovations and more. We have just a few things to clear from the basement and that's all.   I hope it sells quickly.  It does look nice and I certainly wouldn't mind living in it, so I think someone should like it enough to buy it.

The only thing wrong is that we're driving to FL. which is tedious, but these days if one isn't very wealthy, flying is expensive and not very pleasant either.  Oh well those are the only choices I guess - driving or flying.

My daughter and granddaughter are now involved with the sport of horse-back riding.  They both seem to love it.  Many years ago I saw an episode of one of those evening news magazine shows that was about little girls and  horses.  It seems that girls much more than boys love the big horses and love  being able to manage the huge animals without fear.  And the horses (according to this program) liked the girls more than the boys, though I don't remember why or how they
figured that out. I do have a picture of my granddaughter riding a horse and
leaning forward with her arms around the horse's neck - hugging him.  He
seems to be enjoying it to.

Good wishes

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.  I have a cold and cough, but I did have a nice day.  I just hope I didn't infect anyone else.  We had a nice quiet dinner with friends and family members.  There were no kids there, though.  That was too bad because I always like to see little kids.  There were 4 dogs though and they were sweet.  A little noisy, but still I liked them.  Right now I'm heading to bed because I'm still coughing a lot and I have a headache so a little brandy and some rest might help.  I'll write some more in a few days when I feel better.