For Older People with Sense

Kathy, I'm glad your GD recovered quickly.  It's seems the younger the child, the greater the worry when illness strikes. 

I can't imagine living with all that snow and ice, either.  DH and I spent a winter in VT the first year we were married, and the winter wonderland was a novelty for me.  We both worked at a ski lodge.  But come March, we loaded up our little car and headed south where we knew the azaleas would be blooming.  On the opposite end of the weather scale, the northeast has much more pleasant summers.  We load up our rv and head north when the summer heat and humidity become unbearable.

Today is very nice here in southern Louisiana.  I walked this morning wearing shorts and tee shirt.  Later this afternoon we're headed to New Orleans to see the Endymion parade.  Endymion is one of the big, pretty mardi gras parades.  Our situation for viewing it is ideal because we're invited to a company party on the parade route.  There will be food and beverages and, most important, a bathroom!  Last year we collected a huge shopping bag of beads.  When a float goes by, you have to be careful and not get hit in the face with flying throws!

Spring is definitely just around the corner.  I saw daffodils blooming in a yard during my morning walk.  Our tulip tree (type of magnolia) is in full bloom.  There's a LOT of yard work to be done. 

Have a great Saturday.

Carole, we've learned to hand over some chores too. One of the reasons we live in a condo-townhouse as our grounds are maintained. They don't do the snow removal though. It's hard for us this year as there's really no place left to shovel snow to!! The piles by our driveway are over 6 feet so where would new snow go? It's hard turning corners and pulling out of the driveway as visibility is so crappy. You really can't see if another car is coming until it hits you!

Mac, that is so AMAZING how much work has gone on!!!! And windows, are those new?

Hoping you are safely home soon Chrissy. 

Safe driving Chrissy! And the piles of snow are all along our driveway and over our front lawn. We blow the snow to the centre of the lawn first and that area builds up until it can't hold anymore and you have to build up the sides so it doesn't collapse. So the mountain goes right to the curb. Weird getting out of the car against a wall of snow; kind of like being in a garage I guess. Snow maintenance is a fine art and best left to Canadians! hehehehehhee

(I STILL think that North America is divided the wrong way! Should have been a line from north to south...sigh. But we Canadians are so polite we didn't argue when the border was drawn west to east...)

Glad you're back, Chrissy.  Have you tried the compression socks when travelling?  I bought a pair for the long airplane trip to and from AUS and they really helped with the swelling.

Funny idea about dividing North America north and south!

Lovely view, Lisa!

Lisa, the picture is gorgeous!

Welcome home, Chrissy. And welcome home to my DS, who returned last week after 6 months in the U.S. I love when my chicks come back to the nest.

Leah

I went to the foot doctor today and we drove by the harbor on our way home. Saw the old ship and the modern aircraft carrier

love the new pic, chrissy!

green is still in the future for us, but it is nice to see it in a picture.

As for heating bills, snow actually acts as an insulator. We keep our house at 68 and I walk around in my nightie. I do wear slippers though. We don't adjust our heat all winter, just get used to differences in wind chill by wearing a housecoat. So the bills are about $90 a month in natural gas heat, not electric, that's for sure!!

Barb, fabulous snow picture which captures the snowy winter.  Your heating bill is about the same as my natural gas bill in the winter.  Our heat, hot water heater, clothes dryer and stove are all gas.  We also have an electricity bill which brings our winter utilities up to about $200, maybe less, and we have a small house for this area.  2000 sq. feet of living space. 

Happy Mardi Gras!  The parades will be on the local news stations all day.  You don't have to go to New Orleans to see the festivities.  The weather is cold today, 36 degrees in NO this morning.  I live on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain and our area is supposed to have a mixture of rain and sleet.  Needless to say, I'll be staying home today! 

No, I didn't hear about that, Barbe.  What a thing to happen!

I asked my husband and he said our last Gas bill was $300 for one month. It was cold and this house is large but we shut the  vents in the upstairs rooms. He tries to keep the house at 68 but that is too cold for me. I now have a small radiator style heater close to me to turn on if I need it. Natural gas costs more here on the west coast than it did in Chicago where it is much, much colder  in the winter.   I agree with Barbe that the snow is a good insulator especially if your house has good insulation. We have only had very light snow here a couple times this winter. The nearby Cascade mountains have had lots of snow. Mount Baker had over 400" so far and the Route 90 Pass, (Stevens I think)  the main route in and out, has had over 300" so far. Trucks and cars were stranded a day ago for over 20 hours due to an avalanche.   Not a good ride in the winter. 

Our thermostat is set for 70 during the winter.  It's programmed to drop to 55 at night and click back on at 6:30 in the morning.  We like it cold at night.  DH usually opens the bedroom window if it isn't freezing weather.  During the summer we set the thermostat for 78 but I often click it down to 76 if I'm in the house.  Thanks to arimidex my body thermometer runs warm.  At night we turn the A/C down to 68 so it gets cold enough for a light blanket.