Haha love your title. I saw your post to Amazing and thought I would pop over.

Weather here in the Northeast has been crazy too. Tomorrow cooler but then in a few days up to 70!

My sister in NC has all the dogwoods in full bloom. Six weeks early.

I'm a little worried about my fruit trees. Even in a "normal" year they get frosted a couple of times.

When I fed Sam at 0800 the temp was 1° ambient; and -14° wind chill.

I think I'm a Grumble Gussy today.

That one lonely degree is banging all around the open prairies looking in vain for companionship.

Cue the 1980's music and a very thin Travolta 'Looking for Love' to commiserate with that lonely degree.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1MnU6p3sGSw

This is becoming tedious.

How am I suppose to stay motivated to decide on garden plants, start seeds, fix gourds, and think "Spring!" when it's minus 14 degrees?

Grrrrrr and grumble and moan and groan and stomp and shout.

"Deciding on plants" means catalog shopping only. The Garden Centers won't have garden plants available until the very end of April. It won't be safe to set them outside until the end of May or first week of June. By mid-June the centers won't have any plants left.

I am having a tea break with Tetley's.

I've prepped a pot roast for dinner. Now I have to clean the kitchen, top off bird feeders, mop the kitchen floor, re-boot the laundry, take a shower, and work on laundry until 2 p.m. when a friend comes over for our weekly "Tea and Mystery" afternoon.

I'm tired all ready.

I have pork, carrots and potatoes in the crockpot today. On Sunday a friend and I went to a nursery that has tons of houseplants right now and a nice assortment of cold hardy pansies for us to look at and gain inspiration.

Caroline, on Saturday I went to a different nursery for a potting special and I came home with a green shamrock plant!!! No need for you to worry about making that happen for me anymore!

Today I get to/have to setup and start the farmers market by myself!! Our fearless leader is at a conference today learning lots of great things to share with us about farmers markets. I am a little intimidated as it involves disarming an alarm system, but I think I can do it without having the police arrive! :)

I have Danish Puff in the oven. I serve after church on Sunday and thought I'd better start baking something. I'll get the sheet cake going when that comes out. I have glorious sunshine. It's really wet so no motivation to be outside. I'm not going to start any plants this year. The volunteers always catch up with the started plants so I'm just going to go with those. I'll buy some pepper plants later on. I have no idea what to expect for spring/summer. I would not be surprised it it didn't come until middle of June. We will pay for the spring weather we had in February.

My house is a pit and I don't even care. As soon as I can have windows open I'll get motivated. I think this will be the year I rip up the OLD carpet upstairs. I think sheet vinyl and an area rug. But that carpet goes out into the stairwell/landing and down the steps. How to stop... It's glued down :-(

It's a beautiful day here so I thought I'd post but I really have nothing to say. lol I need to get some trees planted before it gets too hot, but trees are sooo not in the budget right now.

btw, Danish Puff sounds wonderful. Wish I was there

My sister-in-law stopped by to drop off she and my brother's set of keys to Mom's house. We had a nice visit. Actually I think it's one of the very few times she's stayed longer than a few minutes and we sat at the table in the kitchen and talked for an hour or so.

It was so cold today. The wind was brutal. Had spitting snow this afternoon, now at 7pm there is a steady snow shower with some accumulation. Too dark to tell how much.

I had a pot of Earl Grey Supreme and instead of a pastry I had a slice of veggie pizza. Love that stuff. I don't make it myself, I buy slices of it at a market deli. Veggies and tea? Eh, this will only last awhile and I'll be back to scones or cookies. lol

I got the Danish Puff and the sheet cake into the freezer unsampled. Pat me on the back! I think the cookies on Saturday evening.

Here's a long drawn out discussion question. Bear with me as best you can. A few years ago I started an ancestry tree for my computer guy's wife. (He is my handyman's son & I married into that family a few cousins removed. I've been divorced since 1973 so I've had limited contact with the family other than these 2.)

My computer guru's wife is from another country and was illegitimate. She knows who her father is but he doesn't acknowledge her. Some siblings do, some deny her existence. Her father's wife is rabid about the subject and it's a forbidden topic. In a round about way she has limited contact with a sister. OK. Cut to the chase. The other night the computer guru was here and we added some names to his tree. The next day there were green leaf hints so of course I looked because being alive there should be no hints for him or his wife. I found the tree and sent him the screen name. Turns out it's his sister in law. She is not a very nice person he says. My question. Do you think she put their names in public to help his wife find her family? Or did she do it because she's not a nice person? I'd like to believe she did it FOR her but knowing not nice people myself I suspect it was her way of getting back at this couple for slights unknown to anyone but her. I have advised them to contact ancestry and have their names removed from view. At least their kids names weren't added. On the other hand, they have businesses and their names are already "out there" for anyone to find. So all in all, the names made public isn't new news. Should I really make a case for them contacting ancestry and having their names removed? What more repercussions could the sister in law make for them? She's always looking for some way to cause trouble. Fortunately, she is there and they are here.

I would say that as long as the information is true, to leave it alone. Is there some danger to them to have it out in public?

Well, it's against ancestry rules to show living people. And I suppose as much danger as you having your real name used here.

On another forum. I smiled as soon as I saw it!

https://theveteranssite.greatergood.com/store/vet/item/62852/Excuse-Me-Squirrel-Mug-Single/101231?origin=VET_GPLA_62852&gclid=CMLRqbGHudICFUxLDQodkecEwQ 

Sorry I missed Tuesday Tea and Thursday too. LOL Was busy doing who knows what. I am sure I drank the tea though as i usually have a pot or two daily.

Imhappy clueless on what you should do. If he is not upset about his name being out there then maybe let it go. If it is really against the rules of Ancestry then maybe it needs to be reported.

UGH Caroline I feel for you. There were some vegetable plants out for sale in town yesterday. YIKES I will not be seeing my ground for another month or two. I already have three vines,one blooming now, in my guest room along with garlic elephant ears and ferns. The elephant ears and ferns have not poked out yet. They have only been planted a couple of weeks??

Awaiting my car to be delivered. I ended up getting an old car/truck '95 Chevy Blazer S10. Low miles. It will be for my hauling and emergency winter driving. It is four wheel drive and much higher off the ground than my car is. It was very inexpensive and I think it will be the perfect car/truck for me. It has a hitch so it can tow my trailer too. One more step to knowing where I am going in my new life.

Adding car picture. Also so happy to see that 12 foot tall snow pile going down in height. Still pretty tall but I can now see the trees over it. All I could see for awhile was straight up.

OH, Shades! I'm jealous!

Really ImHappy? Why?

I do love the way it goes flat in the back and 6 foot long open area. I think I can even carry 8 foot 2 by 4's in it if I pad them carefully over the front seat laid down. I can go camping in it. I am going to have a whole new life style. Even if I just go away to camp over night with the dawg and my 38. Just go up the road it will be nice to be out. Do some fishing.

OH and notice my driveway with no snow on it finally!!! And dry. Except at the very edge of the garage cement slab where those little boogar quail dug it out to get grit. They made a little mud. Guess it was the only place the ground was not frozen solid. I will have to rake the gravel back up to the edge but my rake is in the garden shed and I still can not get to it.

that's a beauty Shades! l love it too! I get a pit in my midsection every time I think of getting a crv for my wagon. I've liked the wagon also to put long shelves in and misc other stuff. and its big front end.

yours looks to high for me to get in / out of tho.

ImHappy I forgot what you bought. DOH on me. I pictured it as a small SUV. I do think this one is about the right size for what I need. It is not really all that much longer than my car. They are parked side by side in the garage. I will have to measure them. I pictured it longer. I did measure inside and there is a 6 foot long totally flat space in back with back seats laid down which is exactly what I want. AND this is not going to be my all the time driving car. Just when I need it it is there for me to use. No longer need to depend on others to go get some thing for me. I was seriously considering the Subaru and it would have been very expensive even trading in my car for it and it would be my all the time driving car. I think this was a better fit for me.

I have not seen a lot of rust on cars around here so maybe they use some thing different on the roads. I know what they do use is kind of sticky and gets on the cars. A hard wash off in the spring.

Steph I am 5'4" now. It is not at all hard for me to get into. But the underneath part of it is much higher up than my car. A good thing. I actually stand next to it and sit down to the seat. Not reach up to it. And getting into and out of my lower car is actually harder for me.

I was worn out yesterday two days going to town and doing the car deal. Slept in this morning until almost 10AM. Now it is time to get back to work and sort the house mess out. Poured down rain all night and this morning. Seems to have stopped for now and is brighter outside. The snow is almost gone off the steep hillside beside the house. You can see it is still deep beside my driveway and all over the rest of the yard. Not sure if this storm coming in through today and tonight will be bring more rain or snow. It is not really cold out there. I have not looked at the weather report.

I bought a Mitsubishi something or other. It's OK but bigger than the Escape was. I back my butt up to the seat and fall in. Swing my feet over the side and slide out. I can not get into or out of a car. My knees don't bend enough and there is no way I can hoist myself UP out of those low seats. Much easier to slide down from a higher seat. I'm 5'4". More or less. I think I measured 5'3" for the physical for the nursing home insurance last year.

It's not melting as quickly as I expected.

ImHappy I went back a couple of tea threads and found it. An Endeavor. I can not see that much difference in the size other than yes it is longer. Guessing 10 12 inches. I am having a hard time finding facts on my Blazers Length. Says 174 to 181.??? Why the big difference? I think car is 178. I will have to go mark the driveway floor and actually measure just because I am so curious now.

Still being super lazy today Just finished my breakfast and did last nights dishes along with this mornings. The kitties use way more dished than I do. LOL

I do fine getting in and out of my car for now. I do not have knee problems.I totally agree it is easier to get into and out of my friends jeep and her escape. I have only been in and out of my Blazer a few times and not after an extended trip to town and back. It seems to me the length of time sitting makes the difference. I do not have electric seats but there is a lumbar support adjustment. I just saw it have not messed with it.

There really are no bells and whistles with the Blazer. Cruz control power windows. Key entry which is good no huge key to add to my already exploding key chain. I did put the small key on it but might remove it as I really only need the key when I am driving it. We always kept the truck key in the drawer in the house. I have car key three house keys post office box key and garage key. I would like to not have to carry so many keys but I use both doors on the house and there are three keys to two doors because we had to replace a dead bolt a few years ago.

I guess my days of leaving the key in the ignition are over :-( I can never find anything and I know the car key is going to be a problem. I had a lanyard for the Escape key. I suppose it's in the sack of stuff I took out before I traded it in. I'd better find it soon. The truck key can stay in. Who would steal a 2000 rusted out manual transmission orange truck? If no one has by now... Friends have cautioned me about leaving it in the Mitsubishi because of auto door locks. Not a problem parked in the garage but a different problem in Menard's parking lot. I hate learning new cars. I'm not interested in them, they are a necessary evil that I wish I didn't need.

I've got bells and whistles I don't even know what they're called. I haven't printed off the cliff notes for the new car. I did for the Escape. I can't thumb through the book for the wipers while I'm sitting along the road in a downpour.

Speaking of water, I heard the sump pump a little while ago so went to the basement to see what was going on. I have some seepage. I wonder why now? There's very little melting today. I've had much much, more earlier and it didn't come into the basement. I guess the frost is out and the water is going down instead of across. The wind is cold. So much for 60°. No doubt somewhere but not here.

I hear you on the bells and whistles I do not know how to work. I am the same for the Focus and I have had it for 2 years +. I mostly know how to use what I need and call it good. Leaving the key in the ignition is not a good thing with the newer cars. I still have not figured out why it locks some times and not others. But I am very careful to have the key in my hand when I exit the car. Some safety thing built in I am not sure any one really wanted. LOL. Even when I go to the dump I pull the key and put it in my pocket. Why I do not really want more keys. A lanyard is a great idea. Mine do have a snap clip to go on belt loop but usually I just put in my pocket.

Sorry about your water seeping. Hope it quits soon. Course this is what sump pumps are for to take the water back out. Even with the hard rains we have had all night there are no puddles here. Ground is soft going to the garage but I can usually stay on the grass=weds in the path or the gravel when I get closer to the garage. It was wet in the carport the first thaw we had but even that has dried up. Even with the snow melting right at the edge of the roof. do you have a lot of clay in your ground?

Yes, lots of clay. I was concerned about that for the geothermal but they said it was best. What do I know!

you all are tall people - compared to me. I'm 5' - and half an inch... that 1/2 in might show up when i'm standing real tall... getting in/out is a concern for me. in my buick wagon it's not too bad for now - but, this next vehicle I have to think ahead a bit. it should be my last car.

my problem with the wagon is I have to have the seat ALL the way up - and I still can't reach the pedal without stretching out my foot. I've started just moving the seat back when I get out - makes it easier to get out and back in.

that is something I'll check carefully in next car. I think I was fine reaching the gas pedal in the crv I sat in (at our local gas station... thx to another customer).

I am also considering keeping the wagon and using it once a week to go to W or to HD if I have big stuff to get. it shouldn't cost too much more to just keep it - and have something to drive when the newer one is in shop.

Let's hope the newer one isn't in the shop.

We had a layer of clay at our last house and there was a natural seasonal pond. The previous owners decided to dig the pond deeper and broke through the clay and no more pond.

I am through two cleanings of my grouting process this batch of grout. Still lots more rubbing. Right now I am waiting for it to set up a little harder so I do not rub the grout out of the crevices. Giving my hands a needed break. When I get this section done I will have half the whole wall grouted. Really glad I pre-grouted the lower panels now and all I need to do it grout the seems between them.

Wrote out my comment and forgot to post it. DOH on me. YES Steph lets hope the newer one does not need to go to the shop. You just have to find what fits you.

I'm going to have my south pond remedied this spring! Wouldn't it be great if after they get done making it a waterway I won't have any water running through it anyway! My snow plow man is thinking it will just be a mud hole. And it's not a mud hole now? Why does he think I'm doing this?

Let's hope the newer one isn't in the shop.

ha! yeah, we can hope... but it'll probably be 5-8 yrs old so it'll probably need to go in sometimes. and it'll need to go 'see him' once a year anyway.

then hopefully, I'll still have the wagon to go to the store, bank or doc if needed. it will depend on how much $s more it costs to keep it.

these days I usually make sure I have what I need for 3-4 days before I let him take the car. just in case it takes longer than he thinks it will.

ImHappy from the pictures I have seen of it it looks like the water can get pretty close to the barn. So if your drainage work stops that it is a good thing.

Steph insurance on the Blazer will be close to 300 a year. So you do have to consider that. I am sure i could not get some one to run get supplies for that in a years time. Especially to go get them when I need them and not feel like I am putting some one out. So the added cost is worth it to me.

Don't forget license plates every year. Another necessary evil. Everything always costs more in reality than it did on paper. I don't know how I do it!!

Plates for the Blazer will add another $54.00 or if I go two years it would be $104. Two vehicle discount almost covers the cost of the insurance on the Blazer since the car insurance goes up almost as much if I only have the one vehicle. So crazy but it is how it works.

Yep every one has their hand in the pie now a days.

Two vehicle discount! Wouldn't that be nice!

Did you ask for it ImHappy? I also get a loyalty discount. And one other one I forget now what she called it.

Oh, you meant discount on insurance. yes. I get that.

insurance is higher here in AZ - maybe not in the far out towns, villages (?) but closer in by phx / Tucson it is.

I can only drive 1 car at a time, so don't know why it'd cost a ton more. of course, they probably don't think like I do... I'll call and check in the next few weeks. and I don't carry coverage on the wagon.

I'm deep into hating Dell and MS right now... trying to set up new cpu and fighting the brains of idiots. yep, they're all in cahoots with each other... and all gathering up 'our life history' into their databases - that they sell to others and give to the government...

shades - I tried to set up the chrome browser but their certificate is expired... so, I backed out of it.

the MS browser (ms edge) is so bad. I have ads and other things popping up all over the screen. and they want you to 'sign in' to everything! I found a 'settings' place where I had the option of 'never' and I clicked on that. I'll see if it gets better.

I use ADP= Add Block Plus. I do not know about Edge I do not use it I only use Chrome. I do not know about their license. I also turned off all the phone home issues for windows 10. Just google for it. Here is a link or several on how to turn off windows 10 spying on you. Choose one you can deal with.

Stop the spying in Windows 10

It is a law here you have to carry insurance. Get caught with out it and it will cost you more than if you paid for the insurance and they do check every time they stop you for any reason. I do not know how it works in AZ.

shades - thx for the info / link to the spy check things. I'd be on chrome probably by now if google's certificate was up to date. can't imagine they let it expire. but since expired, I don't trust it.

will attempt to look for IE to use.

btw, I found a place regarding the 'sign in to everything' and had the option of that or never sign in - so I checked that one - and that 'frozen' screen page for the office programs disappeared. I do have a # to call this week for tech svc. I got 2 yrs of that svc - and I'll need it on a regular basis.

they do often send me little boxes to respond to how it's going / rating them. and so far I've been truthful.... such as: on a rating of 1- 10 I gave 'em a 2. would I recommend it to anyone else - NO WAY! etc.

I do have insurance to drive... I don't insure my vehicle if damaged/totaled etc. have coverage for other veh, people.

I was hit by a pu yrs back that wasn't covered. he was uninsured. don't know what happened to him. my insurance covered me. there's a LOT of that out here. probably why our rates are so high - to cover all of those w/out insurance. it's disgusting.

Well good luck sorting it out. I guess I have been using Chrome un-certified then.

shades - It says it expired at the end of 2016. probably valid when you downloaded it.

AAAKKKK! The license plates for the new car are over $300!! Surprise! My old truck is $36.

Yikes!!!!!

Imhappy I did have to pay more this year because I had to pay taxes buying the car so total it was $133.00 and a transfer fee on the plates or buy new ones. Transfer is less expensive. Next year it will be $54.00

I paid taxes, title and license difference between the Escape plates which were under $40 and the transfer of plates which is +$300 for 12 months beginning in June when my old plates would have expired. The new price will hit me in June.

Bummer

I need to license my Car in April so I will know how much it is.

It might say on your car title. That's where I saw mine. It just never occurred to me it would be so much!

Now that spring should be on the way, we're going to get it. There's still time for a forecast rewrite so I'm not making any plans yet. Last I heard, 6 inches and wind. That will probably turn into a blizzard. ATA is Sunday afternoon through Monday.

Had a big fight with my sump pump right away this
morning. For 2 days I've heard a humming noise in the kitchen. I've
unplugged everything and still hmmmmmmmmmmm. Today I went to the
basement freezer and realized the sump is running but the water isn't
going down. The hook up between the hose and the pump had come undone
AGAIN. Fixed that and it still wasn't sending water outside. Checked
outside and the drain pipe was frozen solid so I took that off of the
exit pipe. We've had really warm weather until just the last few days.
So beat that with the pliers I had in my coat pocket but it still didn't
work. Back to the basement. Hose was off the pump again. Fixed that.
Back outside with a hammer and beat the pipe coming out of the house.
That finally broke enough ice that the water came gushing out. I put a
plastic 6 inch drain pipe on it so even if it freezes it shouldn't cause
that same problem again. Assisted living is looking better every day.

I will look Imhappy. Never thought of that. I bet it does. I think this is where I saw the amount for the Blazer.

Bummer about the sump pump. I am glad I do not have to deal with that too. I hope your water goes down quickly now it can get out.

Well how about that for timing. I went to the post office and the car registration was in the mail. It is 66.75 for one year and 128.00 for two years. I think I will just do the one year. It is only a savings of 5.50. not really worth it to me at this time. I do not usually drive but needed to get the Blazer out for a spin. All went well. It is an older car but it runs smooth. Big difference from driving my car but that is fine. It feels much heavier too. As it is.

I'd do one year, too. Yours is a '95??

The Blazer is a 95 and 54.00 to register it. Ford Focus is 2014 and the 66.75 to register it.