Hello dear friends {Smile}

Just starting up the new string as we are now in February {smile}

See it has been quiet in here so I guess everyone is busy in their own nows. I have been doing some of that with catching up with long overdue paper work and filing stuff and getting rid of old stuff in readiness for Mercury going direct today so hopefully tis week I can get back to a lot more writing as I will have finished all the old outstanding stuff {Smile}

The weather has turned so cold and we are now waiting for the snow to arrive later this evening and then a huge amount will be dropping tomorrow having travelled all the way from Siberia! Talk about February coming in with a freeze! I had noticed all the snowdrops and winter aconites were out this week and now they are going to be covered with a duvet’s worth of snow rather than just a blanket! Fortunately we had a load of wood delivered last week and also the propane gas tank has been topped up so we can just do the minimum outside for the sheep and dog walking and stay tucked up and warm inside.

Paul decided to stay at home for the remainder of the week which was one of the reasons that I haven’t posted that much. He is going back to work tomorrow yet from the weather forecast I think he won’t be there all day else he won’t get back home again without a snow plough in front of him {chuckle} I always wonder why this country has to come to a complete standstill when we get snow whereas other countries in Europe are always ahead of things and don’t shut for the day! {smile} No doubt schools will be shut and businesses as well and hopefully we won’t have power outages either though if we do we will be ok as we can at least cook and keep warm with the AGA in the kitchen and the log fires (if the heating doesn’t work).

Talking about weather, whilst I think of it –

{{Haggar}} how are you coping in Melbourne with the heatwave? We were speaking to our friends in Canberra who represented us at Mike’s funeral and they said it was fairly horrendous with the heat there yet nothing like Melbourne! Hella said it was too hot to even get in the pool at some stage. Hope all is well and that you are not getting power outages there as we have seen the fires and things on the news here. Hope you can check in soon and let us know you are ok.

Well enough of that methinks as I will have to go and feed the dogs their breakfast and get them walked. I hope to go through the other posts from last month a little later today so til then wishing everyone a happy Sunday and a good start to the new month. {smile}

Love always

Mermaid…xxx

Hi guys,

Haggar, wishing you the coolest of wishes and prayers of continuing health. Take Care Dear Friend. ENJOY! Where there is the one extreme the other exists. I wonder what our summer holds? {{{HUGS}}}

Mermaid, birthday month Going to watch the puppy bowl today. ENJOY FRIEND Hi to Paul {{{HUGS}}}

light, love & peace; Kermit and Friends {{{HUGS}}} bOM bOBBI HERE. Kermit is doing well though a few things aren't going as quickly as he wants. Once told by a reader that he was patient as long as he got it now. Take care my Friends, WE LOVE ALL YA'LL!

Hello again dear friends {smile}

Making a start on the catchup response to messages from January at long last {smile}

We have the snow and it is quick thick at the moment so heaven knows what it is going to be like in the morning. Paul has shut the top of the stable doors on the south side as the wind is blowing from the east-south-east so hopefully the sheep are all snug as bugs in a rug. I feel sorry for the birds yet they have been stuffing themselves full of the food we put out for them today so hopefully that has increased their fat content and warmth ratio as well. {smile} It will be interesting to say the least as to what is going to greet me in the morning time that’s for sure {smile}. The pups have been having a great time of it… eating the snow and rolling in it so now they have had their dinner and are all resting up having had another run around in the snow and then had to get dried down for their troubles as well. {Smile} I have a little time before dinner as Paul is cooking a pot roast chicken with veggies so thought I would take the time to come and write up a bit more.

{{{kermit}}} lovely to see you posting again and please remember to at least attempt to be a patient patient right? {grin} Yup it won’t be long before all of us Pisces folks will be celebrating our solar returns will it and we can have a cracking good party in here to make up for all the sadness and stress in recent weeks that’s for sure {smile} Do you know if Bill ever got my email as I have not heard anything back from the one I sent him and it hadn’t got bounced back to me either. Mind you ole Mercury Rx can do strange things can’t it? {smile}

{{{elfina}}} sheesh I wish I was in florida right now with all the snow outside. Sounds as though you are really busy at the moment. Has little Scooter recovered from his allergies with the treatment he had? Reading back through your posts I realised I missed answering a question from you. Yes the Voice Recognition software I have is Dragon and it is ever so good – I really must think about starting it up again as haven’t used it for ages and the headset is sitting here on my desk! {chuckle} I hope that you are enjoying life and are not working too hard and also that your Pat is not hogging the computer for too long either! Perhaps you should buy him his own laptop with a wireless connection then you wouldn’t have to not be able to sit and write when you want to! {grin}

{{Maggy}} felt a bit strange re-reading the procedure for Nick. To do all that with a local anaesthetic made my knees go a bit! Good to see that all is well with him though. Did you watch the tennis today btw? I can’t believe that they will still playing at midnight your time as they were showing it live here. Guess they played in the evening as it would have been a bit cooler. Hope that you and Dan are OK with all the high temperatures and will look forward to seeing you call in to say that all is well with you both {smile}

{{{robynne}}} I think I did write that Paul is now fairly ok about Mike as he said it was the best thing as there was nothing that could be done. So he is now quite philosophical about it and I hope it stays that way. He had a long chat with Rebecca (Mike’s wife) on Friday night our time (Sat morning yours) and I think it probably helped the pair of them. Glad you liked the pic of little Scarlet – I have a framed copy here on my desk. We had to baby sit her for the first time on Friday afternoon…. So we took her shopping so she could smile and gurgle her way round Hadleigh for a couple of hours which is what she did! {smile} Don’t know who was more nervous about it all – Paul or myself – probably me! {chuckle} It did all go well though.. hope you are enjoying your summer Down Under sweetie and sitting here when it is dark with the snow on the ground makes me yearn for a walk on your beach and round the mountain at Tauranga – remember? {Smile} think I would be bouncing between yours and elfina’s in florida at the moment I must admit…ah well spring will soon be on the way. It is such a pity that the snowdrops and aconites are now all covered up with a blanket of snow.

Well I think I will pop this post in for now as looking at the clock I will be getting a call from Paul to say that dinner will be done shortly. My apologies if I have left anyone out as it would not have been intentional. I hope that everyone is well and enjoying what is left of the weekend though of course for our friends Down Under soon they will be waking to a Monday morning! {smile} My time zone feels a bit like a sandwich filling with Down Under ahead of me and US behind me….{chuckle} Leaving a {{{warm group hug}} to {{all}} who may enter…

With love always

Mermaid…xxx

Good morning Friends
Whew-now I know how hell feels-it was HOT for 3 days-43oc,44oc and the best-45.1oc,before that ,most days were 38 -39o. Our power stayed on so we were very blessed,because, altho', there were no confirmed deaths,those with no power must have felt terrible.There were people stranded in lifts,in trains with windows that do not open ; the contents of freezers and fridges were destroyed-the cost of all this must be in the millions . As we are Ok, i don't know if it covered by insurance. But Adelaide is far worse off than us-they have another week of constant high temperatures,AND there have been 29 deaths already.
There were some bad fires but they are out for the time being,about 30 homes lost,and unfortunately firebugs started the fires, so they are to blame--God help them if the people get hold of them !!
Here today, it is much cooler but warming up much more later in the week. You know, Australians can converse for ever on the subject of the weather,we are THE experts!
Just watched he BBC news-yes, you have snow-and how !We have another fire !
The world is going mad-except thee and me, and I'm not sure about thee !!!!!!!LOL

Kermit, I hope that all things are going well for you and BB-scratching his tummy will help both of you! Just keep follpwing doctor's orders and you'll be right.
love and waving
Maggy

Wow is the weather crazy everywhere. Mermaids snow and Maggy's heat. My daughter has had 310 inches of snow so far this winter and it is only half over. They are really snowed in. The towns know how to plow real good so they can get in and out but not always when they want to. The restaurant is open 6 days a week and is holding it's own with the slow economy and the snow every where.
It is even cold here and we are expecting a very cold night near freezing. Pat just planted a new flower garden for me today and I have to cover the plants tonight to keep them from freezing.

John is here this week for a few days so I haven't had much computer time and Pat is working on our taxes so I let him have the computer all he wants.

Kermit you can't expect to be well over night...it just dosen't happen that way so relax and let nature take it's course and heal you in it's own time.

Scooter is getting better, the medication is working and the scabs and sores are almost all gone. He gets another bath tomorrow. He has to keep the shampoo on for 10 minutes so he dosen't like his bath at all. He wonders why we are being so slow bathing him. I am thankful that we have a large sink in the garage to bath him in as he gets 3 a week. Perhaps this will be the last week for the 3 baths as he looks and smells wonderful now.

We are going out for Mexican tomorrow night with friends. It should be a fun night as they have giant Margarita's on sale this week....2 for 1. We will be going to Mexico in a few weeks on a cruise which I am really looking forward to.

John just came in and wants me to help him with his new computer so I've got to close now. So until next time....be happy, be healthy and enjoy the day.

Things work in funny ways; we were waiting at the vet's today-Toby has a nasty itchy spot on one of his paws-had an injection, tablets and cream-have you ever had a dog that just chews his tablets ? I didn't think they existed til him !
Anyway, this old fellow was asking the lass behind the counter about schnauzers-so we got talking,and he lives local,so will pop over this afternoon and take the monthly magazine with him.Apparently his wife is semi invalid,and a mini would suit them, but I'll tell him, perhaps an older dog would be better-no training etc.
Received our xrays yesterday,the surgery is open now ; the doc was not too happy re the hips and back of either of us, nor the tummy one ! So ,have made scads of appointments during the next 6 weeks.But today,Dan was walking and all of a sudden,he was in agony,his back just 'went' he said he felt like a knife was going through him.
I don't know,life wasn't meant to be easy !!
I shall take a taxi in 3 weeks to nr 1 son's house so he can drive me to the Wedding--my dear grand son will be getting married -at the zoo! So I have to go,don't I ??? I am quite sure they will arrange everything between them ,the 2 sons!
love Maggy

Hello dear friends {smile}

Just popping in quickly til later as I have to run some errands whilst the snow has stopped and we have a little window of opportunity weatherwise {smile}

Well it has been interesting for sure with all the snow! {smile} We have had a bit of a respite yesterday and today so I am off to Ipswich shortly to get some animal feed as the forecast is for more snow tomorrow and Friday. I don’t particularly like having to drive in the snow in my car as it is automatic though I don’t mind driving in it in a manual car.

It is so cold at the moment that although the sun is shining the snow is absolutely frozen so it has made walking the dogs quite challenging at times. The pups loved it on Monday and played and played yet little Shula hurt one of her back legs so she is now on limited exercise as is Noosa. I am having to take them separately walking now so chakhotay and Kirri walk together and then Noosa and Shula are limited to garden only under supervision. At least we have blue skies today though and the main roads are now all clear so I will be back later today to go through the posts.

Til then leaving a {{{warm group hug}}}

Love always

Mermaid…xxx

Back again {Smile}

I managed to get my errands done and loaded up the back of my car with sheep feed, bird seed, dog food so all the animals, birds etc will not go hungry. Then I went over to the garage to check out some sun visors that I need to get for the little MG. It is looking lovely, all polished and shiny and just waiting for the paperwork for the number plate change. Tony (the garage owner) hopes to get that done tomorrow and then I can change the insurance to show the new number plate and then it is a question then of when I want it to come home to me! I am not sure if I can wait til my birthday as although it would be tucked up in my garage here I could at least start it up and drive it down the drive and back…(when the sun is shining that is!).{Smile}

Although it has been lovely the clouds are coming in again and the weather people are not sure if we will just have rain then ice, or snow and ice. I checked with Mother as she had a lot more snow than us and she is snug as a bug in a rug so that is ok. I am going down to see her in March when Babs and I will get her spare room sorted out once and for all then mother should be well and truly sorted out. When I spoke with her today she asked me where some items of her clothing were so I could tell her straight away (from when I had sorted them out last December) so we had a chuckle about that. {Smile}

{{{maggy}}} I think the weather has gone a tad crazy don’t you? I just can’t imagine why people would enjoy starting fires up as it is bad enough with them starting due to bottles being left outside (or broken glass). Am remembering when Canberra was hit with the fires and our friends there nearly having to evacuate as the fires were at the end of their road. Then the wind changed direction and they were safe. It reminded me when Pete said about the problems people had with not being able to get their cars out of the garage as the power had gone and the doors wouldn’t open. Think the first thing I would do when there was a hint of fire would be to get the car out on the drive ready to make a run for it if needed. When I lived in the Sudan the temps would get to 135 degrees in the shade and we wouldhave the power going off with then no air conditioning and having to keep the lids shut on the freezers though fortunately the outtages were never for too long as it was all generators anyway. It was still enough to be stifling though. I can’t imagine how I would feel trapped in a lift though (am shuddering at the thought of it). Yup Britain closed for the day on Monday – it was ridiculous that everything shut down. I can remember when a child having to walk to school in the snow as the schools didn’t close as they do now. They just don’t seem to want to get things in place to deal with snow. All a question of the local councils saving money by not having the resources in place. Now what is that about thee (me?) being mad? {grin}

Talk about the Universe providing with your being able to help the couple with the Snauzers. I agree re the older dog probably being better for them. Now what is this about surgery??? Is that for you and Dan? I hope that he is feeling better and am sending out some energies to him right now whilst you are both sleeping and hope that he wakes feeling a little better. Please let us know how you both get on with the appointments when you are able to. So you also have a wedding to attend as well that should be lovely and I hope it all goes well. It’s nice when you don’t have to organise things so that you can just enjoy the day. Hopefully the weather will also have eased up so it won’t be quite as sweltering. {Smile}

{{{elfina}}} Hope you are enjoying having John to stay from the sound of the weather up north I should think he is happy he is down there with you as well! {smile} I should thinkyou daughter is very happy with all the snow as remember when you were saying one year that they didn’t have enough so that wasn’t helping their business at all. I can’t imagine it freezing in Florida I must admit so hope that you new flowers are ok though am sure you would have got them all wrapped up nice and warm. Good to hear that little Scooter is doing well and I should think he is all lovely and white and fluffy after his baths. I would have to use my bath downstairs if I had to bathe any of this lot here though how I wouldheave them in there would be another thing altogether! (Noosa weighs over 50 kilos and the pups are catching up fast!) {chuckle} Hope you have a lovely Mexican meal tonight with your friends and hey that cruise sounds wonderful! I am really envious now! We had to cancel out our cruise from Sydney back to the UK that Paul had arranged for this month. It is probably just as well with the economic downturn etc so we will do it another time. Hope that Pat gets the taxes all sorted soon so that you will be able to have more time on your computer and we hear from you a little more frequently. Ours are all done and dusted and submitted to the Revenue so that is that for another year thank goodness. {Smile}

Well looking at the time I think I will pop this post in as Paul will be getting home soon and I will have to go and get the ~wolfpacks’~ dinner sorted out. The pups are so huge now that they are going onto adult food instead of the Junior. Kirri is nearly as tall as Chakhotay now and sometimes I have to do a double take to see which is which! She has a lazy ear so I can tell it is her from a distance! {smile}

Will look in later… til then leaving another {{{warm hug}} to {{{all}} who may enter… {Smile}

With love always

Mermaid…xxx

Pat and I are both sick with a little flu virus. Pat is really a lot sicker then me and has been in bed all day with a fever. I haven't gotten dressed in 2 days. My pj's are saying time for a shower and a new pair of pj's before I go back to bed. I am sleeping in the guest room tonight as John left yesterday.

Kermit I hope you are on the road to recovery.
Waving to the room and now I'm off to the shower.

Hello dear friends {smile}

Just popping in quickly before I go and feed the dog their breakfast to send out some {{{healing energy}} to you dear {{{elfina}}} awww you poor thing as isn’t this your second brush with the flu in the past six months? I hope that you and {{Pat}} are feeling better today and that you make a swift recovery.. sending you {{{warm hugs}}}} and thank you for calling by as I was beginning to wonder where and how you were!

Talking of which… sending out a call to {{Maggie}} to call in when you can as have been watching the fires on the news this morning! Dear God they are terrible and that township in the suburbs of Melbourne having been 80% destroyed and 65 people killed thus far! Sitting here sending out prayers that the winds will abate and give your poor firefighters more of a chance to get them under control. The news has also been reporting about an arsonist who has restarted a fire that the firefighters had actually managed to put out! What kind of perverted minds do these people have?!!? I am sure relatives of the family of six who were found burnt alive in their car trying to escape the fires would have something to say about those kind of acts. Words fail me on that.. I hope you can pop in and leave a line when you are able as realise that you might have power outtages as well with all that going on… so just when you are able please call in and let us know that you are ok.

At the moment we don’t have any snow though more is forecast for tomorrow and Tuesday so looks as though England will close for the day yet again! I wish the Universe would send a load of it Down Under as that would help with dowsing the fires.

Well I had better go and get breakfast ready for the ~wolfpack~ so will post this now with the hope that all are well and simply busy in their lives at the moment. Will look in later and til then leaving a {{{warm group hug}}}

With love always

Mermaid…xxx

Oh Mermaid, To watch the forlorn folk wandering around the shelters is heartbreaking. Those poor souls have lost everything,the clothes on their backs is all they have.Devastation destruction everywhere; Marysville and an adjoining little town are no more-all the homes and businesses gone, maybe 3 or 4 homes left. And so it goes on. I wrote about it on AstroChat in the 50's and Over string ,if you are interested to read more.
Yes, some of the fires have been deliberately lit,as people have died,131 to date,the charge if they get the person or persons will be murder. The hospitals are saying that the burns that they are seeing are far worse that those from Bali,and that was terrible.
The government has a policy -go or stay.everyone is supposed to have a fire plan; but the fires were so quick,the wind was blowing like a hurricane,that it was on the houses and properties without warning-just the dark, the roaring of the fires and the red glow.
There is still 1 fire out of control at the time of writing which is just after 9pm.
Not really much more to say except that bodies are still in the streets and the little piles of ashes under trees are the pets-that last piece broke my heart.
love Maggy