Daily January 3, 2004

[Lesley]

G'day all
Still hot here. At present we are sitting inside with the airconditioner going. Am having a rest today because tomorrow I am taking the pictures for my nephew's engagement party. I thought that Canberra our nation's capital would be cooler- that's where he lives- but the forecast is for 38 degrees there.

The Sydney festival is on during January. There are a lot of activities on for visitors and I think that the authorities were surprised by the number of people out even yesterday because there were problems with the queues on the ferries to go across the harbour.

Anyway I am being a tourist guide for those of you who would like to come and visit. Great place to visit!!!

Hope everyone is having a good day and the weather is improving at your end.:)

[DuncanBerenice]

morning Lesley and all that follow,

it's still dark out, at the moment nothing planned for today, maybe get the housework done that didn't get done yesterday :( :D our kids always seem to enjoy throwing things everywhere, do one room and they wreck another

we'll see how the light is working to see if we can get out with the camera, if not then it'll be candid shots of our kids :D maybe start planning trips out over the next couple months when the weather changes, decisions, decisions what can one do :D

better go folks for I hear the thunder of rumbling feet, me kids must be getting up :D

Keep on being creative folks

Duncan

[AriadneArts]

Thought I'd pop in and say Good Morning, Duncan and Lesley, before I hit the sack.

Don't envy you the heat, Lesley. Went through a long hot summer this last one, preceded by a very warm winter, so I'm enjoying every minute of the rain and cold we're having presently.

Cya in my morning. G'night John-boy and everyone!

[tazzles]

It's just after 9pm here and with daylight saving, that means the sun set a few minutes ago.

It's been a nice sunny day, we stacked 100+ bales of hay in the shed for winter and pruned some trees overhanging the driveway.

Then I grabbed a Boags Premium (http://www.boags.com.au/Files/00190_BoagsHomepage.asp?flash=true&), the camera and watched the sunset:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/03-Jan-2004/23169-sunset05-web.jpg

[marilyn h]

Sitting here reading WC while my 3 year old grandson is on grandpa's computer playing Thomas the Train game. Isn't it amazing how small ones learn the computer faster than us adults.

My joy for this coming year is watching smiles and joy in little ones eyes and the fascination of learning. Maybe I will learn along with them.

Beautiful morning in North Carolina.

[TeAnne]

10PM West Oz time.

Hi everyone.
Taz, that's a gorgeous sunset :D

Not much happened, I got a numb bum sitting here catching up with threads and answering a mile high of PMs :D

So many of you have become really great friends and special to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. :D

(((((((((GROUP HUGZ)))))))))))))) and vinni sends leg rubs :cat:

[sherloc]

Good Morning Everyone.
Thanks for all the well wishes and good thoughts yesterday.
46.5 hours and counting. Yesterday was a very difficult day. But this morning I'm feeling much better. Be thinking of me this afternoon. Have to drive to Sacramento to pick up my youngest who has been at my daughters since New Years Eve. What a nice brother he was to babysit so big sis could go out and party. Anywhos 2 hours is a long time to be in the car by myself without smoking. I never smoked when someone else was in the car but I don't have anyone to go with me this afternoon.

VACATION!!!! starts this morning at 11:30. Yehaw!!!!!!:D :D :clap: :clap: :clap:
I am soooooo looking forward to this time off. Have absolutely nothing planned but haven't had more than three days off at a time in almost two years.

Lesley send me a plane ticket and I'll be happy to let you be my tour guide. :D

Duncan just put off the cleaning till the kids move out. There really is no point to it till then.

Eileen I'm hating every second of this cold. IT SNOWED!!!! at my house yesterday. Granted it only snowed for about an hour and of course didn't stick but that is not the point. IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO SNOW AT MY HOUSE!!!!! I do not have sufficient body fat to retain heat when it is cold. Which in turn makes me very crabby. and on and on and on......
OK enough whining.

Taz, gorgeous. Looking forward to the days of 9pm sunsets.

Marilyn, 3 year old grandsons are THE BOMB!!!! Mine loves to play on the puter too. Don't have any programs on here for him tho. I'll have to look into that. Mostly he likes looking at his pictures.

Te, get up and shake some life into that bumm and then sit back down again. A splendid way to spend an evening.

Have a great day all. I'm off to work.

[SunnyJon]

Hello All!
Sherl-You can do it(wish I could) and vacation coming-WOOOHHOOOO! Relax if you can & enjoy, you have it coming after two years!

Taz-Just beautiful! Ah for long days to return!

Lesley-Make that two tickets & I'll meet you & Sherl at the airport! :D

Te-Have your honey give that bum a rub! :D I love you too!

Marilyn-It is amazing isn't it? I wasn't allowed to monkey with the tv until I was 6 I think! Of course we didn't have one until I was three or so! LOL!

Magic Buttons-So wasn't the new Ab Fab a scream?! I laughed so hard I missed a bunch of punch lines!

Well, it's hustle here for me today. I have to finish my computer room with a counter & some shelves cuz I am taking down my show Monday and have to have someplace to put it! ARGHHHHHHH-the down side of not selling it all is dragging it home!

Hope you all have a grrreat Saturday! :clap: :D :cool:

[Mike Jordan]

Morning everyone. Well, our New Year's day snow is about gone. At least here in the valley. Still lots and lots of snow up in the mountains and east of the Cascades. The report is for another snow storm to come in Monday night or Tuesday but there is a good chance it will end as freezing rain because of the way the warm and cold air masses are going to over lap each other. Freezing rain is something else besides snow we haven't had in about 6 years... and I don't miss that.

Lesley, 38 doesn't sound hot, at least before the conversion. ;) I hope it cools down to a more enjoyable temp for you soon.

Duncan, isn't those moments of peice and quiet nice? :D We have one dog that doesn't believe the sun will come up unless she wakes it up. So I rarely get to sleep in on my days off. It's funny that she doesn't seem so inclined to bark up the sun on days I have to get up at 5am to go to work.

Eileen, I wonder if the west coast is going to see a weather shift for the next few years. It seems the mid west, south and east coast have had some major changes over the last few years so maybe it's our turn.

Taz, that sounds like a lot of hay, depending on how big your bales are. The farmers around here do their hay different. Some bale into nice 60 or so pound rectangle blocks, some bale them into several hundred pound bales, some roll them up into shredded wheat shapped bales and some put them in rolled up rows. So many different ways to store the same thing. I did a lot of baling as a kid. Hay was ok. Kentucky Blue Grass always made me itch because it was so fine and got down my shirt and I really hated Alfalfa because it was so heavy. There's nothing like the smell of a fresh cut hay field though.

Marilyn, my daughter was 3 when she got on her first computer, in 1979. By the time she was 5 she was loading her own games with the floppy drive (they didn't have hard drives back then). She decided she wanted to learn to type like her mom and I did so we got her a typing game, which she played constantly. By the time she was 8 she was typing over 100 wpm and not long after that was hitting 120 wpm. This was with numbers and letters and very good accuracy. It was amazing to watch her. Of course this was on a computer keyboard and not a typewriter keyboard.

Hi TeAnne.

Sherl, hang in there. I quit smokeing when I was in 2nd grade... I found out just how hazardous to my health smokeing was when my dad caught me. :D I did smoke a pipe for awhile one summer when I worked on Kodiak Island, Alaska... but that was in self defense as it was the only thing that would keep the miskitos away... and that was only for a short time till they got their gas masks. So keep it up. And have fun on your vacation.

Sunny, what kind of show were you having? You have probably said in other threads but I missed it.

Well, I guess I should go feed the dogs. They have a tendency to fix it themselves if they are made to wait too long... and they never clean up the dishes afterwards either. :D

And hello to those that follow. Have a great day.

Mike

[moore hill graphics]

mornin' all!

This is a quick one before brekkers just in case the power goes out. Everything is white and lovely, and is promising to be even whiter and lovelier as the day and the weekend progresses. It's not a question of "if" the power goes out, it's "when"!

When the "big storm" they're talking about for Monday hits, it'll either be sleet or snow, as Mike said. If it's snow, it looks like being another record-breaker like in '96. AT that time, we didn't get the wind that Victoria did, so it was easy to tell how much fell - 3 ft in a day and a half.... Almost a week without power except for the odd hour or so. So, we need to spend today preparing, getting food in, etc etc. Can't help enjoying it all - my favourite memories as a child were of being "snowed in" - no school, gathered around the fire for warmth, endless monopoly games.... you know the drill :D

Hang in there sherl - have you thought of hypnosis as a help?

So hugs to you all! Hope to write again later, power permitting...

[hawkwind]

Good morning all. Here's a couple of early morning submissions. It'a alternatly sunny & raining this morning. Had hail about 5 am.

[hawkwind]

oops. missed one!!!:p

[Oldthumbs]

Good Morning, All (barely, but it still is here) -

Lesley - I would love to have you guide me around - I'll take a plane ticket, too, if you are handing them out. :D

Duncan - that's why I don't bother with the housework - it's going to get messed up anyways. :)

Eileen - I know I can say "Good Morning" now, instead of "Good Night."

Taz - what's all that hay for? And that sounds like a great way to end a day of hard work.

Marilyn - nothing makes you learn better than teaching - so get those grandkid(s) involved in something and you are sure to be busy with it, too.

Te - the disadvantage of too many friends - too much correspondence! :D I'll bet it's worth it, though.

Go Shirl, Go Shirl, YYYAAAAYYYYY SHIRL! (Best cheerleading imitation I can do. :)) Two hours in the car by yourself can be a trial, but put on the radio or music to keep your mind off of it. Besides, you are supposed to keep two hands on the wheel. :) And vacation? Can life get any better? :D Just keep busy and don't fall into old habits.

Sunny - Hey! You CAN do it - all it takes is the proper amount of desire. Unfortunately, the proper amount of desire only comes after finding yourself on a respirator somewhere, thinking "Jeez, I sure wish I had quit smoking." I'm trying to avoid the same kind of motivation - having a heart attack to encourage weight loss ain't my idea of positive motivation (but it sure would motivate).

And how did the show go? I've asked you this several times in past dailies (tapping my foot here) and you haven't said, or maybe I've missed it somewhere. I hope you got some benefit out of it.

Mike - the weather always seems screwy - yesterday here in the Chicago area we just set a record high yesterday, and on Sunday we are supposed to be forty degrees colder with 6 inches of snow. Go figure!

Veronica - I sure hope that misses you. Fun to be snowed in perhaps, but it sure can be dangerous and miserable, too. Not too bad if you have a source of heat and plenty of food, though.

John - is that from today? eeeyyyuccchh! Nothing better for bringing down the 'ol power and telephone lines.

Well, not much going on here. Working around the house just trying to catch up. You all have a great day and stay safe and warm (or cool :)) wherever you are.

Ray

[hawkwind]

[QUOTE][i]

John - is that from today? eeeyyyuccchh! Nothing better for bringing down the 'ol power and telephone lines.

Hi Ray. No, i took that last month on the north side of the olympic penninsula. Though it was pertinent for the weather around the area today though.

John

[meriadoc]

put my back out again.....

dang this cold weather!!!!!!!!!

[bairam]

The daily today seems to be all about the weather. Hot down under and cold up north. Right now the sun is shinning here and the frost that covered everything this morning is retreating. Hope to be able to get out for a walk this morning. I need it as I'm getting very stiff from just lolling around the house.

Hang in there Sherl...you can do it:clap: :clap: :clap:

Marilyn you are so right about the kids. I think they must be smarter than we were at their age. If you want the TV programed than have your grandkids do it.....I could have used one of them yesterday on that fancy thermostat....

Hi Sunny, Ray, Lisa (Oh no), Hawk, Mike, Te, Taz (beautiful sunset), Eileen, Duncan and Leslie (stay cool).

Veronica, batten down the hatches and I hope you have a generator.....

Have a great one everyone.....

[kaleidoscope eyes]

Morning all, well as Veronica told you already the world went white overnight and I'm really hoping my van will slide around so much that I'll not be able to go to the dentist this afternoon! I know, I'm a wuss.
Lesley, make that three tickets...I wanna come too!!!!!
Duncan, never mind the housework~you've got kids AND your sanity, what else matters??:D
Taz, beautiful sunset...roll on Summer.
Te, hope you got your bum sorted by now...;)
Marilyn, North Carolina sounds rather nice too....beautiful morning? Ah yes, I remember them!
Shirley hang in there, thinking of you!
Sunny, didn't know you were an Ab Fab fan! Some of the funniest stuff I've ever seen! Still trying to figure out your technique, lots of mess ~ no joy:rolleyes:
Hi Mike, fed those dogs yet? Do you have shares in IAMs? It does look like we're in for a real winter doesn't it, we moved to Thetis in the middle of the last big one (97) Going nowhere this time.
Veronica, well there's a pessimist! Power out? AAAArgh, how many batteries can you shove in your computer? :D
Hawkwind, good morning to you, nice ice....stay warm and cosy there.
Ray, happy catching up...
Lisa, how'd you do that??? You poor thing, seems to me that you get WAY more than your fair share of back outages. Take care there...Does this mean Boo can run riot again ? :D
Hi to any who follow........

[marilyn h]

John, those workboots are painterly! Love them.

The ice is gorgeous. It isn't when you expecting lights out from it. You have to enjoy the moment.

[AriadneArts]

Greetings all!

Gorgeous, bright sunny, clear day but VERY windy. So perfect for IR practice except for the wind. Vee, we very often get power outtages when it's this windy for this long here. Oh well!

Made 26 magic buttons last night. Just need to be stained, painted, polished and sealed -- then I must decide what to do with them.

Sunny, yeah, it was great, as usual, but I missed quite a bit because I was preoccupied with the buttons I was making, and for some reason a poem hit me in the head just before the show started. So I had one eye on the show, and was crafting a rather long poem with the other. When the muse visits, I must obey--impossible to ignore her. LOL. I was going to watch it over again at midnight, but was still into putting finishing touches on the magic buttons and editing the poem, so didn't even turn it on. But you know, they'll keep re-running the new shows and we'll keep seeing new bits in them and catching the bits we missed the first time around. I hope Saunders and Lumley (and French) continue on forever. No one makes me as happy as those marvelous crazy women do. BTW, don't forget to watch the new "Monarch" series starting tomorrow on BBC. I think it's the last season -- seems the show ends after this series. Dang!

Ray, you could have said "good morning" last night if you were still up at 1:20am my time--3:20 yours? Like a sane person, you were no doubt sleeping. It didn't take me long though, to start nodding out over the computer. LOL.

Mike, I'm sure you're right about the major climatic changes coming. Just wish it was to the cooler side. Word has it, though, that we're getting more tropical down here. It's okay. We're moving northward in a few years anyway.

Sherl, LOL, I'd love to see some snow. Sorry you're having a hard time with the cold, but I'd welcome it. Easy for me to say. It does get quite a bit colder (and hotter) inland where you are, though. Just make sure you don't try to get warmer with cigarettes, okay? :D Stand by the heater instead.

John, love the frost pic and the shoe planter pic. Couldn't go back and look to refresh my memory because you attached instead of uploaded. If you use the uploader (top of page) your pix will appear while we post our messages when we scroll down. Also, you can post more than one in a reply post.

Taz, love your sunset, but I miss my Lucy fix. ;) I know, you don't want to spoil us, yeah? :D

Hey to Marilyn, Veronica, Carol, Te, Lisa and Maria. Everybody have a great day. How 'bout let's make great lemonade out of our lemons today--heat, cold, sun, rain, ice, snow, power outtages. Hey, V, Mike and I have had some of our most fun evenings during power outtages--playing cribbage by candlelight, dancing to Klezmer music on the boombox, playing our guitars, ukes together and, ahem, other delights. :D

[moore hill graphics]

Hey, V, Mike and I have had some of our most fun evenings during power outtages--playing cribbage by candlelight, dancing to Klezmer music on the boombox, playing our guitars, ukes together and, ahem, other delights.

well exactly - I did say I couldn't help enjoying it, didn't I ;) (And yes, Maria and Ray, we have a generator and extra water and a propane cook-top stocked up freezers and of course the wood-stove etc etc. Pas de sweat, as we say in frenglish...)

Mind you, it ain't here yet, and the sun's just come out, so the snows started falling off the trees.... darn these weathermen, can't trust them for anything!

Here's a shot of the trees before the sun came out...

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/03-Jan-2004/23078-arbutus-in-snow-01-04-sm.jpg

Loved your shots, hawkwind (I keep wanting to say "Hawkeye" - does that date me too?) ice is so lovely for patterns and forms. And those boots are a treat :D

Magic Buttons - what are "magic buttons" anyway?

Tazz, gorgeous sunset, and I LOVED your pic of Lucy in the dog portraits - what an expression :D

Marilyn - where are you in NC? My brother and sister-in-law live just outside Raleigh.

Mike - isn't it amazing how kids take to computers? My brother used to say about my eldest nephew: "When I was a kid, I read comics under the blankets with a flashlight when I was supposed to be sleeping. This kid reads computer manuals under the blankets with a flashlight!!! What's the world coming to???"

Carol - yeah, losing the computer is sure one of the down-sides to power outages. I'm not seriously hoping for this, you understand, but the kid in me still welcomes it :p BTW, hope things aren't too bad at the dentist's today :(

Sunny - I'm with Ray - when do we get to hear about this show? Sounds like you sold some stuff, anyway.

Hey - NumbBum - we love you too!

Lisa - is there a connection between cold weather and putting your back out? I hope you didn't have a fall... :(

Duncan - sounds like you have the kind of household where the kids are happy and you all remember it fondly later. Good for you, that's a real gift :angel:

Hope I haven't missed anybody - love and hugs all 'round.

-v

[BeyondTheNineSquares]

I most definitely want to add my name to the list of dreamers hoping for plane tickets to visit Lesley!

Lisa, gf, you were just sounding like you again! What's up with cold weather and your back? Geez, girl! In Maine you do get a bit more of that sort of thing, what are we going to do with you?

Hmmm. There seems to be concern about Te's bum! I hope it's resting comfortably while the rest of her does whatever her heart desires!

I think I missed something, what's a magic button? I see that phrase a lot, but don't get it?

Have a great night, all!

Good morning (to some of you) and "good night John Boy" to the rest!

[SunnyJon]

Ray, Mike, & Vee and anyone else-I had a two month solo show. The only sales I made were during the reception/opening but without the show I wouldn't have done that so that was alright. I take it down Monday. It was supposed to be two different shows, but the owner had some major family problems & was relieved to let the show stay as it was as she didn't have time to muck a bout with it. Anyway one good thing came of it and that is a fairly swanky place called Sweet Water Cafe(organic food & such) offered me a show with a couple other artists & then when she had a cancellation offered me a solo show from Sept 13-Oct 25, 2004. They have pretty good sales there as it is in a little bigger city than the last one & I was the first show ever in the last place & this place is well established! The owner loved my website so much she said I could put anything up in the cafe but loved my abstracts & said if I didn't show them she'd have to have me back. Well I hope everyone else likes them!So now I am on the local Arts calendar and will be advertised well & I pray it goes well. She wants some very large prints-22 x30 or bigger! Anybody know the pixels to size formula?

Anyway Sorry that was so long-see you shouldn't ask questions! HA!

Carol-Keep playing-maybe you'll discover something much grander than my stuff! LOL! Playing is good-art should be fun, even if it's your living! I am a BBCAmerica addict!

Mike-The global warming thinghas made our weather much warmer in the overall I think-especially summer! But warmer winter here means more snow when we do get it! But we average about 260 inches or so a year so what's a few more- more or less!

Btns-You been on a cruise this year! Get out those pics & wave bye to the rest of us we're leaving you to keep the home fires burning! LOL! Just kidding!

Vee-It is besutiful isn't it?Love the pic!

Hawkwind-Love the pix specially the ice-wow! I lived in Milwaukee, OR once when ice storms blew out transformers all over-it was a great fireworks if nothing else!

Eileen-You'll have to share that poem-sounds like an epic!

Maria-Hope you got in some walking & took your camera along! :)

Lisa-Load some of that snow in a bag & put it on the back then heat then ice... ad infinitum!

Good night John boy!