Jan...I'm happy to tell you that the Sidneys are doing well and look good according to the ground crew. Unfortunately they abandoned the nest with the cam in the old dead tree and built a new nest across the road in a better tree. The farmer who owns the property will not let David put the cam up there this year SOOOOO no Sidney family this year!

We do have a lot of other terrific nests if you want to see eagles!

Hi Elaine My Dad has been very happy with this year's mild winter. The lake up there never even froze at all!! I think that might be a first!

Wonder where the others are??

OH it is so good to be back in touch again. You all sound good from the posts I read. i have been sorta out of touch. Leading up to and during and after my trip to the rheumatologist in Miami at Mount Sinai I have been pre-occupied with "me". So much to consider and do. I knew he was going to want me on the biologics and I did not like the sound of it. I guess I have no choice. I will start them on the 3rd of February and a shot once a week should put me in good form. He said after 3 months of the Embrel once a week I will be able to walk 2 miles. Now THAT I will look forward to. Wish me luck.

CINDY - love the avatar of BobCat. he is my favorite next to Munch.

JANET - such sad news about the Sidney's. Also the Hornby's are off line as well. I will miss the Sidney's terribly and I think it totally unfair of these people. Some people just like control I guess. their loss!!

ELAINE - you will turn into an apple one of these days!!! Wished I lived closer - I would surely eat my share. Mmmmm can smell them now. most of the fruit we get here has been kept in cold cars for 2 or 3 days and the fresh smell is gone - especially the tomatoes. In Miami grocery stores, I linger just to get a whif of those fruits and veggies - ate my share too as they are so much fresher.

MARY F - where does your Dad live?

I remember 2 years ago when the racoon was in the same nest - hope they can shoo them away, they can be vicious if there are babies there or eggs even.

Well have to go and get back to work. Weekend !!!!!!!!! Ya!!!!!!!!

Vicki...i sure hope that Embrel treatment works for you! My Mom and Grandma both has RA and there was basically no treatment.

Dad lives in Michigan at the same lake where I now go every summer. He's a little North and East of Elaine

Good Morning Everyone,

Jan~~~Our weather sure has been weird this winter. Not too much snow to speak of and mild temperatures. Gosh, the other day the afternoon temperatures was in the 60's. That was so strange for us here in Michigan. Nice, but strange. Now it is back down into the thirties, but I'm not complaining. Much better than being around the zero mark.

Mary~~~I'm sure the people that like to ice fish were plenty disappointed this year. We had some around here that tried to ice fish. A couple of close calls as they fell in. I can't for the life of me know why they even take the chance.

Vicki~~~I should count myself as fortunate to have apples to eat that are pretty good tasting. Especially the Gold Delicious. Well now that you mentioned tomatoes, they aren't very good around here this time of year. Just no flavor. I can't wait to taste them when they are grown locally later this year. Yum!!! I do hope that the Embrel works well for you. That has got to be so painful. How's that Munch doing? He's so pretty.

I've been watching the Norfolk nest this morning an have gotten to see both the eagles at the nest. They are both so pretty, but I sure do miss our Sidney eagles.

Well, I had better get back to work here. Wishing Everyone a Wonderful Week-end.

Hi also to Diane and Cindy.

Hi everyone,

Elaine: I know what you mean about the winter being 'weird'. Our area is experiencing the same sort of winter. Little snow, compared to last year - but everyone keeps saying: "winter isn't over yet"... . I thnk they are just trying to scare me a little.

We too miss the juicy taste of fresh tomatoes this time of the year. The ones in the store look awfully nice - such a lovely read colour - but the taste is not there. Some folks up here have greenhouses and they grow tomatoes all year round. I''m not that good at the green thumb stuff.

And ice fishing isn't something that interests us, either - but we did hear that the people who love to ice fish are being extra cautious on the lakes this winter. They had to wait a very long time before the ice was 'ready'.

I am booked to take an iPad course on Monday afternoon, for an hour and a half. They are going to have to work really hard to teach me 'new tricks' as I am definitely an 'old dog' in the computer area. Once I have taken the course, I may be able to post a couple of pictures of the new house. Things are progressing very nicely there and the sheetrock guys (or Rockers as they call themselves) are busy putting up the ceilings and the taper guy is busy covering all the cracks and screws. These people deserve a pat on the back - they do awsome work.

Vicki: I sure hope the medication helps your RA. My sister suffers terribly from RA, but I have not heard her mention Embrel. I will have to ask her about it. And, I agree, with Elaine - Munch is such a pretty fellow - you must give him a pat and tell him a big hello from the forum gang!

Mary: Do you think you are going to have to suffer the horrid drought conditions this coming spring/summer? Can you tell from the winter months moisture what lies ahead?

Cindy: I hope you and your hubby are feeling ok. With your family expanding to include a lovely baby boy, I am sure you are feeling the days just whiz by. Your pets too deserve a pat on the head from the forum gang and I sure hope you aren't experiencing a lot of that heavy snowfall we have witnessed on the Seattle news reports that we see on our t.v. I sure hope all the babes and their folks are doing ok, too.

Diane: I haven't seen any posts of late from you an sure hope you are doing ok. Winter is almost over and soon spring will be here to recharge all our batteries. I am sure of this. I am not watching any eagle nests just now - there is so much to do each day that I cannot believe that I have not been going to work since the end of December! Where did the time go?

Take care, everyone - have a super day.

TTFN

Jan

Hi Jan~~~Gosh, I'd be scared to take a class. That's so brave of you. I'm having enough trouble with our new computer system. My second year on it and I'm still learning. It's not so bad out today, but tomorrow they are predicting snow.

Jan has e-mailed a picture of how her house is coming and I just asked her if I could post it. She gave me the go ahead so here goes. Oh cool, looks like it worked.

Jan~~~If you have anymore I can always post them for you.

Hello to all of you!!

I am at work ... but just couldn't let another week go by without at least stopping in to say hello ... I've missed staying in touch .... I will try my best to get some photos on this weekend of the fur critters and the grand-babies.

It's been crazy here between the weather and illnesses. We still had snow falling here yesterday, and there were road closures recently for ice, for flooding and landslides. Spring and summer cannot get here quick enough this year!!

The grand girls have RSV and have been very, very sick. Two sick babies at once is definitely a handful. On a positive note though, Katelyn has cut two teeth and learned to crawl!! She is sort of leaving her big sister behind, but I don't think it will be long before Alexa is up and mobile as well. Thankfully Andrew was not exposed to their illness and is well so far ... My hubby and I both contracted that horrible stomach virus that is going around ... I haven't been that sick with a stomach bug in years. And we can't blame the munchkins at school; hubby brought this one home from his workplace and then shared it with me .... hmmmm..... Thankfully the rest of the family has escaped it, as we simply hunkered down at home and kept it to ourselves.....

BobCat and Pete both have big birthdays coming up this month....BC will be 10 on the 15th, and Pete will be 10 on the 31st ... guess we'll have to celebrate with them big time this year.

Well, must get back to work so that I can get done and go home....take care all! for now....

Hello and good morning to everyone. I have been home sick with this nasty flu bug as well and not feeling too great and am bored on top of it all!!! I had to delaly starting my new medication as you can not take it if you have an infection. Even if you get an infected cut you have to go off it and get onto anti-biotics which will be real nuisance. But it has to be tried and it best work after all this hastle of flying to Miami to see the rhuematologist and now having to delay treatment. What next!!!!

JANET - YOU ARE brave to take an I pad course,though it will probably be fun. I have a Galaxy 10.1 pad and I love it now that I have the Keyboard dock for it. I like this one as I can put in a sim card and get access to the internet when I am away from the WiFi at home or just want faster access. I even downloaded NetFlix now and can watch movies on it also. What a treat.

CINDY - Hope all is well at your house, and you certainly do have important birthdays to celebrate? What are you serving the specials on their special day? New toys perhaps? Be sure to take pictures for us.

MARYF - Yes I hope the Enbrol works for me too - I had a grandmother and an aunt who were all bedridden with this arthritis and I can not imagine the pain they suffered not having the meds we have access to. I hate putting this chemical stuff into my body but what to do?? At least the embrel is a stem cell and not chemicals completelly. The hardest part is I don't like needles and now I have to give them to myself!!! YIKES one more week to fret about it.

September will soon come and then my move back to Canada. I am really quite excited about it as I am ready to go now, though it will be a sad and anxious time, it needs to be done. Every day I look outside in the yard and as it is a Cayman Style yard, it is covered in white beach sand with flowering shrubs and greenery and palm trees galore with the Mocking Birds and Banaquits flying about and that is what I will miss and of course all the wonderful friends of 21 years. Now that my mind is settled that this move is necessar, it is easier to prepare.

My boss and his wife move back to Vancouver Island the end of this month and they are taking two boxs of my freight with them and store them for me until I get there to pick them up. Really helpful as the cost to ship from here is reallly terrible and I would hate to leave some of these memories behind. Someone gave me a king size down quilt which i will surely use in Canada, then there all the tiny smaller ornaments that I have been given as gifts (mostly elephants) an some others. I will take up an extra suitcase of clothes when I go up in May to see what arrangements I can make re the move in September. That will lessen my load a lot and when I come I want to pack some soaps, anti-biotic creams I get here from England and a few other luxuries I have become acustomed to.

My biggest worry is Munchins. I am not sure I can handle him on the plane and in the airports with this arthritis. He is a big boy, but I have to work something out as I surely cannot see leaving him behind. At least so far I have not found anyone that I can leave him with here and feel comfortable about. Moving to canada will also be hard to set up an apartment with a pet. That is one thing I need to check out when I go up in May. Time will tell. He is so spoilt and such a wonderful pet.

Well, have a great Sunay everyone and hello to all the others. I have company in the driveway so need to run.