Glad to hear braces seem to be adjusting, Winter.  That's some son you have there.  Sorry you're under the weather today.  Smart to stay inside and doctor up.

Can hear town trucks, branch cutting, I think, down the end of the street.  Work seems to have stalled in front of my Nanny friend's house, and I'm sure her mother has gone out to tell them just which branches they can and can't cut - she's a little bit over the top when it comes to some things.  I'm sure they will continue to cut any that are interferring with power lines, regardless of what she says.

Threw a wash in, and am going to pull out old albums to see if I actually have a picture of "my darling girl" handing out home made valentines, or if that's just one I've saved in my mind's eye!  Was emailing her about my GD who was over this week, making up a couple of valentines out of my odds and ends box, and asked if she remembered coming for the week-end, making valentines out of construction paper, glued on lace and doilies, and with a written message inside.  Sunday everyone would come for dinner and she would have all the valentines in a basket and hand them out to each one.  -  At pumpkin's birthday, she had made all the decorations, including wall size posters of some Dr Seuss character, so her creativity and enjoyment of making things, has carried over into her adulthood.

No paperwork today, Kargiver.  Might do some drawer cleaning out/tossing.  Some time set aside for reading the latest book I got from library.  Enjoy her writing style.  this one takes place on the coast of France, and her description of the rugged coastline sets me right there with her characters.

That's awesome Kar! I am probably at my heaviest I have ever been at a size 6. I would love to get back to my 2/4, and as I am reaching the big 4-0, I really am starting to feel the need to drop a few pounds. Its so hard having been that lucky one that never had to diet or exercise as a kid, had a great metabolism, though I also played sports and was on the swim team, but I never had to do anything on a regular basis. I have very bad habits. I am noticing though, I cant eat the way I used to, which is good I guess. Fast food makes me sick and I really only have one meal a day, but my metabolism has slowed, so its not helping me lose any weight. I really do need to start some regular program. I had this yoga tape I did all the time, it really helped. Also, I have to stop with the diet coke. I used to easily go through a 6 pack a day, I try to limit to one or two a day now and drink a lot more water.

So question, a guy I work for was recently married and just returned from their honeymoon. I wanted to send them flowers as kind of a congratulations and welcome home, thoughts? Maybe an edible arrangement, or Mrs. Field cookies?

Yes, a 6 was heavy for me, too, and 14 lbs took right care of that - I can pull those 6s down without unbuttoning them. (ETA: I don't think a six is big for everyone...everything is relative.)  I'll jump over to LoseIt and post for you there in a second.

what a nice thought, JC!  Personally, I'd just send them a congrats card, but if I had to choose between flowers or ee, I'd pick the ee - delicious!  

Tt, I wish I could throw a wash in!  We finally had to give up and send in the computer controller to get fixed.  It's piling up fast!  

More wood...gotta get more wood...

My laundry is done and folded.

Would share some oil with you, Kargiver, but at $3.73 a gallon, even tho we're friends, I might have to think twice.  lol  My house feels nice and toasty today, sun is shining in, and I had the oven going making a batch of cranraisin scones for my GS.  Just made up a dish of macaroni salad with the leftover elbow macaroni from last night, and will settle down with a hot cup of coffee - - maybe one, the smallest one, of those scones????  

Lol, I'm flattered you'd even consider it!  :)  

Yum, scones.  those are one of my favorite baked goods...sweet but not overwhelming so.

Good afternoon,
Another beautiful day here. I see the temps. are up slightly, where you are, but still very cold. 
Had a fun night at the alumni party. Met some very nice people. They were in  awe, that I was actually from Boston and that I had worked at their Alma Mater. Lots of reminiscence. 
Going to return the pants, I purchased a few days ago. They are already too loose. Need yet a smaller size. Nice problem to have.
Re heating oil. We just filled up our tank for $3.36/gal. Going down, but still a lot of money. When we installed the tank it was 90+/- cents. I can imagine it must be difficult to heat up the entire house w/ just a wood burning stove. Stay warm.

Congrats on the loose new pants, Pingo, and we are not exactly in a heat wave here, lol.

In fact, I HAD to bring the neighbor's dog inside despite my misgivings.  He's been on our patio on Gracie's wool blanket most of the day and was shivering so violently I thought he might die of hypothermia.  I wish I could post a photo of the two dogs hanging out in front of the warm blaze.  Left a message with the neighbor.

I'm not crazy about animals but there is no reason to abuse them, and what you describe is abuse. 

Yes, and I had to do what I had to do.  I could not let their dog literally freeze to death.  It took him an hour to stop shivering lying in front of a 400 degree stove.  I so wish we could post photos of Gracie and Dougal together...absolutely adorable.  They didn't even attempt to roughhouse inside even after he thawed out.  As I was writing this, Dougal wanted to go out and Gracie followed.  She just came in without him...maybe he went home?  We missed our walk, but I couldn't do anything different than I did.  We haven't wanted him (permanently), but if they ask I think we better consider it.  It would complicate things to have two dogs and be another expense, but he's a loving creature who needs to be cared for and loved...we'll see. Gracie clearly wouldn't mind, and they get along perfectly.  But, I'm jumping ahead and making assumptions.  I know dh doesn't particularly want him, per se, either, but he was pleased and understood I had to let him in.

Oh, here he is...back inside he'll come.

Well, happy animal news all around - Cat Lady just called me.  Got home from Foxwoods around 2:30 today and there was Harry in her yard.  Quite a while ago she had had a collar made up with his name "Harry"printed on the collar, along with "Call me -- - -" with her tel number.  About an hour later a woman a few streets over called her and said, "Did you put a collar on my cat?"  His name is not Harry but "Oliver"!  She said she had adopted him from a shelter in Fla, and has a hard time keeping him in.  She also has another cat which may be the fluffy one Cat Lady sees  him with a lot.  Cat Lady is going over to the woman's house Sat to meet both cats.  The owner said they do not let him out at night any more, since something got ahold of him.  Said she had taken him to the vets and that's how his leg had gotten shaved.  Told Cat Lady he is quite a hunter, bringing home all kinds of little creatures.  What a relief to know that he's safe in a house these cold nights, and does have someone watching out for him - - other than Cat Lady and me and his myriad of fans.

Kar, call the owners of that dog and let them know that he was suffering from hypothermia and that you had to bring him in,  maybe they just don't get it, otherwise they will assume he's doing okay out there in the cold all day and will continue to do what they are doing...it's a long way till March.

Regarding the cat, please stop feeding it now that you know it has a home, you are only encouraging it to stray and trust strangers (not always a good thing).

PS: He came from a shelter so he's probably microchipped, next time you encounter a "stray" consider containing it and calling animal control to see if an owner can be identified. 

That was very nice of you Kar. I couldnt leave him outside either. This is just dangerous weather for animals.

I am dreading the 2 min walk across the street to the train station.

Yeah Pingo!!! Those make for happy days when you buy your normal size pants and they end up being too big!!

Kar, what an honorable thing you did by bringing in Dugal. Bless you! 

Jeepers, being on Loseit!, I bought  those pants a size smaller, than the ones I wear now. Still, they were too loose. The next size will probably be too tight at present, but I know, I will shrink into them. LOL

Thanks, ladies - any of you would have done the same thing.  He was dying of the cold, literally.

I agree, robin - I left them a message immediately...well, after I called dh, crying.  No return call yet. I'm kind of nervous about the whole situation, but at least he's asleep in front of the fire, not out there half dead.

I can pull the pants that I bought 6 months ago down without undoing them. :)  Long live LoseIt!

Just saw your Oliver post, tt, how exciting and what a relief!

Some people think it's okay to leave pets out all day long,  and it might work for a while but not when the temp is below freezing.

It's best to try to talk to them and work it out, only call animal control as a very last resort (preferably not).

Well, you know what to do,  try to express to them that you're not trying to make trouble but that you are genuinely concerned about the dog.

Don't be surprised if they don't appreciate what you've done.

"No good deed goes unpunished"

Maybe you should give Dougal another name, Kar, like Harry/Oliver...an alias for him to go under when he visits such as the ones the Royal family use when they go on private jaunts.  Let's see...Handsome Harry is really Oliver...Dougal could be Shivering Shamus....

Kargiver, you've been concerned before about their lack of care of Dougal.  Would they take the discussion any better if it were coming from your husband?    Did he live there before you were married, i.e. know them for a longer period of time?  Is this the neighbor he goes tramping through the woods and snow with?

Shamus, I like, Hats, just leave off the shivering, because I'm sure now he'll have a warm fire to lay in front of!

Rats!  My closet clothes pole just broke.  Knew I should have taken some of those things and hung them upstairs.

I don't want to start an up-roar here...and...when I had a cat...she was an inside cat...until her last few days ....but I have a very dear friend...She is from Italy....She lives around me...has 2 or 3 cats...but they never come inside.  I thought it was strange but she says in Italy...the families ALL have cats that prowl their perimeters at night but are content to be fed at the outside of the door. She goes to Italy at the end of January and returns around Easter...and she has done this with various cat since I've known her...circa 1984

Thanks for your thoughtful support, everyone.

Their young adult son just came and got him, and I explained that he was hypothermic, violently shivering and disoriented, and probably wouldn't have lived the rest of the day.  He seemed genuinely surprised by this (how?) and thankful.  We'll see how it goes from here.  I'm hoping the woman of the house calls.  Not sure if they'll "get it" regardless of who talks to them or what we say, though.  When I told the kid he was shaking violently his first reaction was, "Oh.  He was cold."  I said emphatically, "No.  He wasn't cold.  He was hypothermic and freezing to death."  

Shivering Shamus...I like it despite its inherent sad quality.

Oh, there's DH.  Good night. :)

@Icer,  There are many reasons why it is preferable to keep a cat indoors.

For one thing New England is loaded with coyotes and they hunt at night, cat is one of their favorite things to eat! 

 An outdoor cat's average life span is 5 years, while an indoor cat can easily live 20.

Maybe these cats are not considered pets, just feral cats that are expected to do rodent control around the property for an occasional scrap of food.

 Even so, I hope someone is at least getting them spayed/neutered, a rabies shot...and providing them with some form of an enclosed shelter for protection from the elements.

Google: cat hypothermia.

"Under Italian law, cats are deemed to be wild animals, not domesticated pets, and they're treated in the same way as pigeons in the piazza - as monumental pests."

"Most Romans consider the cats to be on the same level as rodents"

excerpts from:  http://www.squidoo.com/cats-of-rome#module115979391

Ok, I'm addicted to this Downton Abbey