Fabulous Freedom February

[dill]

Hello friends, looks like we are going to have just a couple more days of clouds and cold but heading towards some really nice temps at the end of the week! Yay!

I have been feeding the birds this winter. I had gone a few years without feeding our fine feathered friends, because I was tired of battling with raccoons and squirrels. But I just couldn't resist it this year what with the grand kids being here so often. And then I came across a squirrel proof feeder! It seems to really work, too. But, I became puzzled because my feeder was emptying so fast. It might be half full at sunset but at sunrise...empty. No sign of raccoons. Then a couple mornings ago while gdaughter was here, the mystery was solved. We went to look out the window early one morning to watch the birds when to our surprise we saw two deer taking their turns at the feeder! LOL! The feeder was not deer proof! HA! It was magical tho seeing them up so close to the house. I don't think gdaughter will forget that anytime soon. Our solution was simply to put the feeder up higher. My seed is lasting much longer now!

Lav, Pauly, Cyn and Star, I hope you all have peaceful af nights.

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Lav, the weather was milder yesterday, so hopefully it is coming your way. Sunny and in the high 30s, woohoo! It is truly winter if I am excited about that. My son came over for dinner last night and we brainstormed about 25 businesses he can explore and see if they have work he might be interested in. I know there is a job out there for him, he just has to find it. I was talking to a friend and she reminded me that it took her a few months to find a job, about two years ago, so I have to be realistic, it can take time. Looking back it took me two months, too. Hope your granddaughter was able to get home to mom and dad.

Dill, feeding the birds is so much fun, I used to experiment with different feeders, too. We used to get lots of deer at our old house, they are so beautiful. Probably hungry now too. How fun for your and your granddaughter to see all the wildlife. Very excited today, getting my piano. I ordered some basic piano music on line, it will get here tomorrow, so downloaded some sheet music for free from the internet. Looking forward to coming home from work today!

Pauly, hope you slept better last night.

Hello to Cyn. To everyone, Happy Hump Day!

[paulywogg]

Morning friends, Dill,that's awesome to have seen the deer up close like that Star,I love when the birds come around too,I just throw bread in the backyard and different ones pop in,I love when I'm out back and a hummingbird zooms in,makes me feel like its a sign that I'm being blessed,that's kinda weird sounding haha,Lou's dad got his job back,he does work really hard for them,especially running the whole shop on the weekend opening til closing by himself so I think they realized nobody else is gonna do that,I've got my 3 books here I need to start but once I start I'll be in lala land til they're done,maybe read and take breaks but that's soooo hard! Hello Lav and Cyn,hope we all have a nice Wednesday

[Lavande]

Good morning friends, happy Hump day too!

Oh boy, heading up to the mid 40's today & 60 on the weekend, woo hoo
We had a super heavy rain yesterday morning which cleared the roads, nice. I was able to go meet my daughter at the halfway point for a late lunch & granddaughter transfer. Everything worked out just fine.

Dill, deer at the bird feeder? That's unusual but fun to see I imagine.
I don't know where the deer have been hiding, haven't seen them lately. They sure do make a mess of our veggie gardens in the summer but they are fun to watch

Star, congrats on your new piano! I hope it's something the whole family will enjoy. Did you go with the electronic?
Glad you were able to help your son think about possible employers. My son-in-law worked with a 'head hunter' to help him find his current job, just a thought.

Cyn & Pauly I hope you are both well.
I am returning to my semi-normal routine today & starting out with a trip to Curves.

Have a great AF day everyone!

Lav

[paulywogg]

Do any of you take fish oil? I used to but stopped I keep reading that its beneficial but they say that about everything these days

[time2quit]

I use to as well pauly. Haven't for years. I read a lot of contradicting info. I do know if you do take it pay close attention to the source and type of fish. Generally you want it to come from small fish as they don't collect as many toxins i.e. mercury. I myself prefer to just eat fish non farm raised. Even tinned if it is the right kind and sourced right.

[treegirl]

Hello all -

Quick hop-on; I tripped over my laptop cord yesterday and sent myself and the laptop flying. I'm OK, but the laptop is questionable. I just now got on the internet. AAAAArgh, in the middle of taxes. Quicken is glacial - I'm about to tear my hair out. Oh well. Keep breathing, right?

Humongous storms yesterday - more like a typhoon than a rain storm - winds blowing at 55 mph for hours, eeeek. Then I called dear neighbor to see if she was OK, and to check on the condition of her basement. She hadn't checked, but when she did, there was an inch of water, and more water gushing through a basement window. Long story short, I went over and helped her and she got it under control and cleaned up. She said: 'I have just one word about this experience: CONDO!" She's over being a homeowner, and I can't say as I blame her!

More soon when I get a little more caught up --- hope all are well -- Star, congrats on the piano!

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Love the piano, a 1983 Storey and Clark upright, a beautiful piece of furniture. I bought it from a family owned business, they deliver and have a piano tuner come out in about two weeks after it settles. I was attempting to play last night, it was fun. I love it and feel very lucky. We also had painters over as we have to have our house repainted inside, the previous owners used white flat paint and it is already a mess, so next week will be crazy with painters over at 7:30 a.m and my house a mess, but well worth it in the end, right?

Cyn, so sorry you fell, that is really scary. Are you OK? I am so glad I don't have a basement anymore, although it didn't leak, that would be a nightmare. I bet it smells fishy after it dries, what a mess. I like being in a house though, after five months in an apartment, I think I'll stay for the time being. I really appreciate the benefits of privacy and more room.

Pauly, the only vitamin I ever take is the All-one that I originally found on here, or the LIV 52, from Dr. Sandra Cabot, which is a combo multi vitamin and liver tonic. I tried to take other vitamins in the past, including fish oil, but immediatel started getting headaches and listened to my body and quit. Mostly I try and eat well, lots of protein and veggies and sunflower seeds. Not a big fruit fan, myself. Oh, and at least 6 glasses of water a day. My husband takes many vitamins and swears they make him feel more energetic. I guess it depends on the person. So glad to hear daughter's BF kept his job. My son is still looking really hard. I had a nightmare last night that I was going to get fired for a weird reason (going to work naked!) and was so happy when I woke up and realized it was not true. Aren't dreams weird?

Dill, hope things are going well. We are in for some lovely weather the next few days, and I plan on being outside a bit if it turns out to be true. Have a good one .

[dill]

Good morning Friends, sorry I missed posting yesterday. I bet I'll be cross posting with Star this morning.

Star, congrats on the piano! How fun!

Pauly, I don't take fish oil. Like you, I used to, but I have decided that eating a balanced diet is the best approach unless the doc specifically tells me I need a supplement. My eye doctor suggested I take it to aleviate my dry eyes symptoms, so I did but I never found it to make an improvement really. So I just use drops when I need to.

Cyn, sorry about your fall. I hope you aren't hurting from it. It definitely would not be a good time for your laptop to give up the ghost, right in the middle of tax prep! Yiiikes!

Lav, the deer don't bother our veggie garden so much because Mr. D puts an electric wire around it. But they sure do get into our fruit trees! I guess all your deer came here to visit for a while because I have seen loads and loads of them and of course as I think I mentioned, I even hit one while driving a month ago. (Car is fixed now). My neighbor hit one last week. Actually, the deer hit him! It cam out of the woods and ran into the driver side door and front panel. Fortunately he was ok but his brand new car wasn't!

Hello t2q and welcome!

[dill]

Star, we did indeed cross post! The piano sounds just perfect! I'm excited for you! And yes, the temporary mess while painting will be worth it. I think it is great to be able to hire someone to do it. We always do our own painting. Are you going to use a semigloss? Are you going with color or just an off white.?

[paulywogg]

Morning friends,Cyn,yikes!luckily you weren't hurt,Star,I was gonna ask the same question as Dill,what color? I hate flat paint,it gets dirtylooking quick and over the years gets chalky,the girls at work had a "painting party"(booze and paint) at the shop a few years ago and used matte white paint,its so ugly,makes it look dull in the shop I said they shoulda used semi gloss at least, easier to clean,I agree that I'll probably skip the fish oil obviously there's a reason I quit taking it, I just worry cuz I don't eat fish and I know its important for those omegas,Lav,can you recommend a good probiotic, I'm taking trubiotics now,I started taking it in the morning instead,hope everyone has a great Thursday

[Lavande]

Good Thursday morning friends,
I'm in granddaughter-land once again
Nice to drive in the daylight for a change. Driving northeast into the sun though creates other issues

Cyn, tripping over laptop cords......you sound just like me, I do it all the time. Glad you are OK! I think my Cutves workouts have strengthened my legs, I can recover my balance much easier, ha ha!!! We really do have to be aware of safety, clear walkways, etc.
I am grateful to have a very dry basement. We have had damp basements in other houses, what a pain. Sorry your neighbor has to deal with that.

The piano sounds great Star, enjoy
We have never paid anyone to paint or hang wallpaper in our houses. Sounds like a good idea though, I just don't have much ambition for that stuff anymore.

Dill, sorry the deer have all moved to your yard, ha ha!
I am sure they will be back once my garden is planted, Lol

Pauly, I have tried fish oil supplements over the years but they all irritated my GI system. I have taken to buying whole flax seeds & grinding them in my coffee grinder. Then you can sprinkle it on cereal, salads, etc. I toss some in pancakes, waffles, bread dough, brownies, etc.
you can also buy flax oil (refrigerated) but it's pretty expensive. There's lots of ways to get your Omega 3 when you don't eat fish.
I have tried several probiotics over the years. I have been using TruNature for a while now & get it thru Amazon. You can take it twice/day until you feel better, then drop down to once/day, that's what I do. I take one with breakfast & one with dinner.
I take more vitamin/mineral supplements than I would like to but getting all the nutrients we need thru food is difficult especially when certain foods are no longer consumed. I keep reading about poor soil quality producing veggies with less than stellar nutrient content.

We have been talking to our Amish friend quite a bit about this subject. He works with the Penn State co-op service & has been getting info on how to keep the nutrients in the soil on his farm. Better farming practices for better nutrient quality in the veggies. Organic veggies are the way to go if possible.

Have a great AF day everyone!

Lav

[SnoopyC]

Good morning all...

Friday seems to have come quickly again, yay! It is supposed to get into the 60s today, so excited! The colors I chose are pastels, a satin paint in the living room, Bermuda Sand and a light blue green for a couple of accent walls. All the trim and doors will be repainted in an Ultra White, so it will be bright, clean, and I can actually clean the walls if I have to. Oh, semi-gloss in the bathroom and kitchen, doors and trim. I can't even clean what I have now, it didn't even last a year. Going cheap is not cheap in the end.

Lav, lucky you to have so much grandparent time. What do probiotics do? Thanks for the name brand, I have a friend who just asked me a good probiotic brand. I will pass on your suggestion.

Dill, we have to get out and enjoy this weather, at least a little, spring IS coming, right? I have been playing the piano, a little rusty, OK, alot rusty, but so what, it is fun.

Pauly, I don't know much about omega threes, I do have flax seed but always forget to use it. For me, eating a balanced diet and being OK emotionally helps me to feel healthy, I don't really worry about vitamin deficiencies.

Hope everyone has a fulfilling Friday.

[dill]

Hello Friends,
Star, yes! we are supposed to have 3 days of really nice temperatures! I saw the tips of my daffodils pushing thru the soil, so it's all good. I was at the grocery in the produce department when I came across a small rosemary plant in a 3 inch pot. I snatched it up, brought it home and repotted it. It will be in my herb garden come May! Oh, and your colors sound lovely.

Pauly, lol, a painting party including booze! That would have sounded like a good idea to me a few years ago! Not anymore. That plan would end in disaster! I was reading about probiotics yesterday and how hard it is to get them thru the stomach (acid environment) and to the colon without being destroyed. The article I was reading suggested taking them on an empty stomach and accompanied with a glass of bicarbonate of soda to reduce the stomach acid temporarily. There is also something called a prebiotic which is basically something that the gut flora feeds on which helps your gut flora to flourish. It easily gets thru the stomach without being destroyed.

Lav, have you any comments about prebiotics? I hadn't heard of them before I read about them yesterday. I think people eat too many processed foods and we lose the natural prebiotics we could get thru a good diet. Mr. D is trying to wean himself off of proton pump inhibitors. It turns out there is a rebound effect with those so when you stop taking them the symptoms are actually worse than before taking them for at least a period of 3 weeks. He is really miserable right now, in his first week.

Cyn, I hope you and your laptop are recovered. I am looking out and east window at the moment and the sky is just glowing with early morning promise of sun. Yesteray was sunny too. What a difference it made in my mood! "Too the light!"

I hope we all have sunshine today. Happy af Friday!

[paulywogg]

Morning friends,just a quick hello as I woke up and fell asleep again, so unlike me,I just take the probiotic with food hope its ok,have a lovely Friday