Judith, sorry about the frozen pipes, very wise to keep lots of water on hand, hopefully the guy can come thaw them out for you and replace the insulation.

Sally, I started feeding the birds the dry meal worms last year and many of the birds do indeed eat them, I have seen the chickadees with them in their bill, the flickers, hairy and downy woodpeckers, nut hatches, house finches, Steller's jays, starlings, blackbirds during the spring and summer. I add them to the feeders throughout the year, I would definitely buy some for the bluebirds. We have the beautiful mountain bluebirds here in the spring and summer, sadly their numbers have been steadily declining.

Happy New Year, may 2022 be kind to everyone.

Beastly wind from the north here in the Valley. Supposed to be "maybe" 60, but the sun is shining brightly, so that is a plus. It's only for a couple days and then will warm up again by Tuesday or Wednesday. Better than snow.

well, our predicted snow is in progress. 4 inches down and steady.. maybe to 10 inches? and I'm off work today. Tomorrow will be iffy too, as we don't have a very good snow clearing capability.

Birds are happy I got the mealworms - snow always gets lots of birds to feeders.

Sally, it's snowing here too, supposed to be snow showers on and off all day.

Good that you got the mealworms to keep your birds happy. I forgot to mention that the birds are only nibbling on my suet cakes too, even the homemade ones.

Did aquafit. No instructor, but that's OK as I don't usually pay much attention to the instructor on Monday anyway. Not many in the pool; so I opted for a shower there. Left the class a bit early and had all the showers to myself. I had decided that I would generally come home to shower as the showers are too close together for my liking and one can't really wear a mask in them.

We'll see if the pools are even open on Wednesday as the Premier is making an announcement this morning.

It's cold out, but I may also take a neighbourhood walk to a little free library a few blocks away. I've pledged to deposit my copy of Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny's "State of Terror" in that little library. It was a great book unless you are a Trump supporter in which case you probably won't like it.

Happy New year to everyone! Still having sciatic pain, going to the chiropractor this afternoon for the third visit. I'm getting used to sleeping on my back, I never thought I would.
It got really cold last night, 19 degrees, so the lettuce, broccoli and other potted plants are wearing fleece blankets.
I've started the New Year with a renewed determination to dredge the house of stuff I don't want. I fill a bag every day. Also deep cleaning as I go along. I do have to stop and sit down because my leg starts hurting, but I would like to be through by March, because that's when all the Master Gardening stuff really ramps up.

I generally hate all popular fiction with famous people's names attached as authors. Especially kid picture books, they are usually fluff and I sure would like them to use their influence to promote careers of ateggling new writers. Like, we need a book club for kid books such as there are with Reeses or Oprahs etc for adult books.
Rant over.
Yesterday, by the water in tshirt and light fleece jacket

Today, very heavy to move, not often we have this kind of snow so early

What a difference a day makes, eh Sally.

Ain't that the truth! Glad we didn't get any snow from that storm. We might get some on Thursday.

Still cold here - 0 yesterday and 4 this am. My pipes are still frozen - guys came by this morning and put a heater down there, but 6 hrs later, not a drip yet. Bummer. Feel so lucky that the outside frost free faucets are good - I keep lots of gallons of water for just such a problem, and can refill them. No shower though!!

Well, we are shut down again because of Covid. On-line learning for schools for at least the next two weeks. My pool is closed again. However, AFAIK, my hairdresser hasn't been closed down; so I can get my haircut on Wednesday. Yay! I'm glad I did aquafit this morning. I COULD register and go again tomorrow, but my body doesn't generally like two consecutive days.

Judith, I hope you have water soon. Glad those outdoor faucets are working; so that you don't have to haul water.

Our schools and my work are closed again tomorrow (Tuesday) due to our snow. Kind of good actually.. extending the break in the middle of huge numbers of cases. I don't know what I am more in disbelief about, the snow or the spike. ..

Ann, I read about Ontario and other parts of Canada having to shut down…… again. I'm so sorry Y'all have to go through this. Of course we won't shut down here, I think the sentiment against shutting down is too strong here……
Just staying put mostly, I'm not going out many places anyway due to this horrible sciatic pain. Last night I was hurting so bad I was crying…. I don't think I will go back to the chiro any time soon, it doesn't seem to be helping. Nothing is at this point. I will try exercises I found online when I stop hurting so bad. Just hope I don't have to learn to live with it, I'm really tired of it and I'm tired of sleeping on my back.

Lynda - I'm so sorry that you are in so much pain. Wish I could do something that really helped.

Yeah, we are shut down again. Good that I went to the pool yesterday because it's closed tomorrow. BUT this time, I can get a haircut and my appointment is tomorrow. Retail is reduced capacity, but open. This came from my city councillor.

- indoor gatherings limited to five people or fewer
- outdoor gatherings limited to 10 people or fewer
- indoor events limited to five people or fewer
- outdoor events have no limits on the number of attendees, but face coverings and/or masks must be worn when distancing (two metres or more) cannot be maintained

Weddings, funerals, religious services, rites and ceremonies are permitted under the following conditions:
- indoor services are limited to 50 percent of the capacity of the room
- outdoor services are limited to the number of people who can maintain two metres distance
- drive-in (motor vehicle) services permitted
- social gatherings associated with these services must adhere to the social gathering limits

All retail must operate under the following conditions:
- 50 percent capacity
- music played is not above a decibel level where normal conversation is possible
- active screening at photography studios and services
- safety measures for vehicle test drives sales, such as a maximum of 10 minutes for a test drive, a - maximum of two people in a vehicle, including one sales representative, windows must be rolled down, active screening, masking, etc.
- safety measures for shopping malls, including capacity limits, no loitering, distancing in line ups, food courts closed and active screening.

Restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments, including those with dance floors (such as nightclubs) and strip clubs, must operate under the following conditions:
- indoor service closed
- take out, drive-through and delivery allowed

Outdoor areas open with restrictions including, but not limited to:
- no more than 10 people per table
- patrons must remain seated
- no dancing or singing
- active screening
- limited hours for the sale, service and consumption of liquor

Recreational amenities must operate under the following conditions:
- indoor recreational amenities closed
- outdoor recreational amenities open

Please note that these are only the highlighted restrictions and there is more information available on the provincial website.

Lynda, a very strong argument could be made that the USA should have much stronger controls than you do. You had over 1 million new cases yesterday. On a per capita basis, that would translate to about 100,000 in Canada. Instead, we have about 30,000.

Lynda, sorry about the awful sciatica pain. Sometimes ice will help with nerve pain. Have you talked to your doctor as well as with your chiropractor? Imaging might be needed to determine if the sciatic nerve is being compressed or inflamed due to bone spurs, a disc problem, or spinal stenosis (narrowing). Getting a prescription for physical therapy may be better/safer than trying some exercises you found online. Also, steroid shots can help with spinal nerve pain. If your sciatica is due to muscle spasm rather than to spine issues, checking your electrolytes might be helpful. You could be short on Magnesium or ? And of course your doctor can prescribe muscle relaxants to give you relief and hopefully help turn things around.

In short (LOL) -- this has gone on long enough, and it's getting worse. Get thee to the doctor!

Bummer on the shutdown, Ann. They are requiring all staff and students in LA Unified School District to be tested before school starts next week. I think there are something like 800,000 students. I don't know if there is still the option for at-home learning. Today there was a news article that said that increased testing was straining the system. (duh)

I didn't click 'watch' when this thread was created, so I was way behind. Christmas was nice. New Years was the usual non-event. We went to Yuma, Arizona for a few days between Christmas and New Years. It was the first real vacation we've had in two years. (El Paso is a semi-vacation. If you have stayed at someone else's house, you know.) Yuma is a small place but I had a lot of fun. I ate unhealthful things but didn't stuff myself and we walked a lot, oodles more than I would around home. We originally planned to go to Kingman, AZ, but they were calling for 40F and rain. Nope. Yuma was low 60s and all days but the first were sunny. Now it is back to more discipline. I don't bake for the holidays and don't have many special meals, but I get lazy after everything is cleaned and decorated.

It rained like crazy last week. We got 4.55 inches. Sometimes we hardly get that much in a whole year. It has been colder than usual, or at least the past 5-7 years. Last night was the first in maybe a month that it didn't get into the 30s. That is enough make it feel like a distinct season, but not enough to make it miserable.

Hi Kelli, I was wondering where you were, I'm glad you are ok. Sounds like you had a nice Christmas and enjoyed a nice little vacation.

Well, no muscle spasms and I take supplemental magnesium, calcium, vitamin D, zinc, and another handful of pills. I do have an appointment with my PCP so I will be asker her about what to do. Being an osteopath she know how to do adjustments and massages, she might adjust me right there in the office, she's that kind of doc. May she never retire! I don't think I have bone Spurs, disc problems, etc, but will get x rays at the end of the month to rule that out.
Ann, You may be right about our restrictions. All due to this whole thing being so highly politicized? And with just over 30% of our adult population not vaccinated and not likely to, we will just have to ride it out.
I couldn't help but be amused by one of your restrictions that said when a potential customer takes a test drive in a car the windows have to be rolled down. I would think that this time of year car dealers would sell very few cars due to that restriction. Of course here in the good old U S of A the car dealers would raise a big stink about a restriction about that.

Lynda - I got a good chuckle about that too. It's even colder here than where you are. But at my dealership, we've dealt with them so long, they would likely hand us the keys, attach a dealer plate to the car and wave us on.