Glass Chatroom Board

Happy Birthday Nancy!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANCY - have a great day . Marson

Happy Birthday Nancy!

Katie @fyrqueen Thanks for the update on Shelly. So very very sad 🙁

As per the Pottery gang: Shelly's son lost his battle with COPD and cancer July 8. This is so sad, and I'm speaking as a mother of sons and one daughter. Losing a child is about the worst thing that can happen to a person.

It's good that some of us are still here to offer comfort. Such a sad time.

Hey everyone! Kids are back after a wonderful trip along the French Riviera. Wonderful food.

This week I have sold so much. A few things made me sad. Not many though.

I have Shelly's email, will touch base with her.

After some brutal heat and 9" of rain, we now have reasonable weather at last (low 80s).

Hi Julie, Hope you are feeling better and whatever you had is long gone. I always liked a good search and tried and tried to find anything on Shelly but came up empty handed. Going to miss seeing her long posts saying hi to everyone.

Hi Carl, I like your new road! Always like reading your posts about Maine as I have a granddaughter living there. That's a neat mug you added to your collection, glad it found its way back to Maine.

Just want to say Hi to Katie, NancyP, and Marson. Always enjoy your posts!

Carl @carma Lovely piece and so nice to see some glass being posted. I hope you had a lovely Birthday.

Has anyone seen Shelly @shellyrae37 She has not posted in a long time on FB. I have sent her a message and also posted on her Timeline asking if she was OK. No reply

I have been sick with some virus (coughing and headaches) for almost 2 weeks. I think I am over the worst now and hopefully on the road to recovery. I actually had some energy to do a little bit of work around the house this morning.That was after sleeping till almost 10 a.m I rarely get sick and if I do it is usually only a day or 2 . I have not had a cold/flu for years, since before the beginning of the covid pandemic so I am not taking this very well.

I'm actually going to post something about glass. And on the Glass board! WOW! Who da thunk it!

Found this rare little cutie listed on Ebay by a dealer in Southern New Hampshire. It's an old original Carnival era Cambridge Nearcut Souvenir Mug, lettered "Souvenir of Wilton Maine". It's signed with the "NEAR CUT" trademark. Wilton is only about 35 miles from here by road (about 20 miles as the crow flies). I go thru there all the time. Very few Carnival Glass souvenir pieces with Maine places on them turn up. I've only had one other & that was 30 years ago. So I was really thrilled to win this little beauty & it came the other day. It's back home now & here it's going to stay.

Hi folks! Our son and GF flew off to Nice and are now wandering around. Last stop was a Portuguese restaurant. I think they are gouing to visit Monaco tomorrow and Menton soon thereafter as they fly home Thursday.

I have sold so much stuff we have an echo here. I am actually selling my old Fire-King.

Nice new road, Carl!!

Hi Nancy;
No, we've got nothing really special planned. Going to have a typical 4th grill out later. Just hot dogs or burgers, homemade baked beans & I made a big bowl of potato salad last night. No big fireworks shows anywhere near us anymore. Nearest worthwhile one is 50 miles away & we're really not that keen on going down into the crowds that will be there, most of whom are out of state tourists. just planning on staying put & relaxing.

The new road is a joy to drive. No more obstacle course or holes, cracks & washouts. There was a lot of road damage during the winter storms all over this area. They're still re-doing some other local roads & will be at it pretty much all summer.

@carma Carl, looks really good! Happy 4th of July! Doing anything special today?

Our nice, new road!

Julie--what a photo!

Carl, good going on your new road. I think the state of Missouri owes me a front end alignment. And the garden sounds wonderful. I have a window herb garden and it seemed to have crop failure till I oved the whole thing outside. Then it went wild.

Good Morning. brrrrrr it's a little chilly here on our 4th day of winter. Of course I am sure some of you would think it hot compared to your winters. No snow here, just a little early morning frost that melts very quickly once the sun comes out. Our sunrises have been spectacular.
I decided to postpone my road trip, north to the coast. Heavy rain was predicted for there, plus by the time my van lock was fixed , the time frame of going there and getting back in time for an event closer to home, I had organised to do, just didn't suit. A 6-7 hour drive only to stay 1-2 nights and then a 6-7 hour drive back. Just not worth it. Not enough time for me to do the exploring I want to do of the area. I will go later and I will break to trip up and do it in 2 days, stopping at some favourite overnight camps up and back.
I can't take credit for this photo but this is our morning skies.

Evenin' All: just stopping in to say "Hi".

We got our garden all planted this past week. We've scaled way back this year & likely will from here on out. We've got a dozen Early Girl Tomato plants, 4 bushes of Pickling Cucumbers and 9 poles of Roma Italian Pole Beans. Marsha also planted some Basil, Parsley and a couple other herbs. That's ample for our needs and those are things we like the most. Anything else can come from the numerous farm stands nearby.

They are re-doing our road.........FINALLY!! They've got the shoulders all re-graded, all the old pavement has been torn up & ground into new road bed. A large, 100 yard long, low lying section of the road just a 1/4 mile below us, which always flooded during spring melt or heavy rains, has been elevated a good two feet & a culvert installed which should solve that issue. They're going to start laying down the new pavement tomorrow. It's only 4 miles long, so shouldn't take them too long. I'm thinking they'll have it done by late Wednesday.

Hi everyone. We have weathered storms, cicadas (what a racket!) and I am still selling things at a steady pace.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. We had the whole gang here yesterday and had a sudden, unforecast wild storm with high winds. The charcoal on the grill went out so we cooked inside.

Mike has had a tooth extracted so today he gets scrambled eggs, ice cream, pudding. I am eating yesterday's leftovers.

Good afternoon. I've been on a little road trip , seeing some of the country side and I have just called into home for a few things that need to be done and once that's all done I'll be gone again for at least another week. The most important thing needing done, is getting the lock on my caravan door fixed. I can lock it from the outside but can't from the inside and it's very important to me, travelling on my own, to have security.
HAPPY VERY BELATED BIRTHDAY KATIE @fyrqueen

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE .... have a great week. Marson

***** Happy Birthday Katie *****

'Afternoon All: Just checking in to say Hi and catch up.

Yard is going to get it's first mowing of the season today. Early flowers are blossoming & our Hummingbirds are back. Things have greened up rapidly over the past week. They are supposed to start re-doing our road soon. It's been 25 years since the last re-surfacing & and there was tremendous storm damage to it this past winter. Lots of washouts, brutal pot holes & missing areas of pavement everywhere. People's cars are getting ruined on it & everyone is very upset with the town for letting it go so long. You have to crawl at about 20 mph on it or you'll start damaging wheels, rims, tires & all kinds of other stuff.

Just got my Jeep back after a week at Dan's shop getting a huge amount of work done. It has a new oil pan & seals. New muffler, tail pipe and intermediate pipe (whole new exhaust system). New brakes, pads & rotors all the way around. New tires. New air filter & oil filter. Virtually everything else checked, tested, adjusted as needed. It cost $2,500., but she runs like brand new now. It should be my "forever" Jeep. Sure can't afford a new one. They start now at $42,000.!! Even at decent used one will run you around $20,000. At my age...........Nope! This ones got to last, so the $2,500. I spent is an investment & well worth it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!

Thanks, NancyP! I am going to be 77 tomorrow. Not sure if anything is planned. Frankly a day of rest is always appealing.

I thought I was going to be 76, what a bummer.

@fyrqueen Happy Birthday, Katie!!! I hope you have a great day!

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been MIA but we have had neuro, VA, oral surgeon appointments galore.

Good news is I've sold close to $700 worth of things I found behind furniture, in the backs of drawers, etc. Astounding! I even sold the ruby bud vase. Working on a stack of newspapers from the end of WWII, the Challenger tragedy, Nixon leaving office, etc.

@wattleihavenext Julie, great going on the sales! The weather here in NJ has been very odd -- lots of rain, a few dry days in the middle where we were under fire watch because of a dry wind, hot days, cold days. As it's May, I refused to have the heat on in the house. My poor husband was complaining as it was only 59F in our bedroom one night, just a few days after it was almost 90 outside.

I'm just back from the EAPG Society annual meeting where I connected with two members of our old Glassaholics group -- Roger Haworth and Karen MacIntyre, now Karen Welch. Hopefully this photo link works. https://photos.app.goo.gl/MUb6GVQvfDSks4CT9

Cold and very wet here. We have copped some very heavy downfalls which has caused flash flooding and road cuts in some areas. Apart from a very wet soggy yard, I have not been affected.
I got a little spurt on and listed a couple of items to sell on FB. All have sold and all have been picked up. Even an item I listed a long time ago, it never sold after having it relisted several times. I never deleted it and to be honest I had totally forgotten about it. To my surprise the person buying one of the newly listed items said they would take the scales as well. I had to stop and think for awhile..what scales? LOL

Happy belated birthday in Heaven Toby @abzoid

Happy Birthday to Toby (@abzoid)!! I still miss him -- his friendship, his immense glass knowledge, his wicked sense of humor.

In the conitnuing of the weird weather, we had a day of summer yesterday in NJ. It was in the 80s. The thunderstorms (and hail) did not make it to our corner of NJ. Today it was back in the 60s and it's supposed to rain tonight. I have turned the heat off in the house -- tomorrow is May, enough!

The weather continues to be weird. A few days of sun and warm. Then a few days of clouds, rain, and cool. I tried turning the heat off in the house, but it got really chilly again. Our third floor (our bedroom & bath) has its own electric heat while the rest of the house is hot water heat. So I've got the thermostat set low on the third floor so it's somewhat comfortable. Next week I see the forecast is for the high 30s two nights in a row.

Julie thank you! I will keep sleuthing!

Katie @fyrqueen My first thought was anchor Hocking's Ruby Red but then realised the base is a bit different. So I was then thinking made in Japan and imported by Lefton. I did a bit of a look around on Google and see the same being advertised as Empoli but as you know not everything on Google is correct. Anyway its a couple of ideas for you to look into

Here is another view.

I have sold about $350 worth of glass, china, old comics, postcards and what have you this past two weeks!

If anybody recognizes that bud vase let me know. Thanks heaps!

Good afternoon! We have had high winds for DAYS here!

Good news: son's cardiac issues resolving after a nasty bout of COVID. Bad news: Both cars broke down.

I did not know about Jim L. If that is true this makes me very sad.

I volunteered at the Habitat for Humanity sale pricing items. I would have done more but Mike had a big VA appointment. He is slowly progressing in both Parkinson's and dementia but we have held both beasts at bay for over seven years! Our couples counselor and my caregiver group counseling is all very helpful.

Any idea who made this? Almost 8" tall, very thin ruffle that rings when tapped.

Good Morning to those that pop in here.
It is Perfect Autumn weather here today but that can't be said for a couple of days ago. Heavy rainfalls, dumping excessive rain and causing lots of issues .
Shelly @shellyrae37 I haven't heard anything about Jim passing away. Very sad if that is true.
Yes I do have a few trips planned for this year. In May I am heading off on a road trip, with no particular plans. I will be making it up as I go and I have no real time frame. But it will most likely be 2-3 weeks on the road travelling from town to town. I will have a friend, in her van, travelling with me for the first week and then after that I will be travelling solo. Also later in the year I will go back and volunteer at a BlaizeAid camp for a couple of weeks, helping farmers devastated by Natural Disasters, repairing and rebuilding their fences and whatever else is needed. At this stage I am not sure exactly where that will be. It will depend on Mother Nature and where we are needed
Carl @carma I'd say that Jenny has been a very good investment for you.
Nancy @jerseystar27 I heard about the earthquake on the radio and I immediately thought of you.

I see it is beautiful Betty's heavenly birthday. I still have the lovely Fenton basket she sent me when my DH was very ill. She was such a lovely lady

Well glad to see NANCYP is ok, and good to see some of the others, still hanging in there..

Do I remember right that Jim from NY Niagara Falls passed away? Anyone know the details on that.. Besides a bad knee, I always thought him so healthy as he was always so busy, at the Hardware store as well as doing Taxes..

HI CARL, we also had a light snow this winter, not sure what Spring will bring, but surely another snow storm before winter is over.. All we have had was Rain the past week, most of our Spring flowers are blooming.. the Lilac trees all leafing out, and the Forsthias looking good. Oh we did have a light snowfall over night, but this morning it was gone..

Hi NANCY, glad you are alright.. Are you still traveling with your DH.. '

HI JULIE, I hope you are enjoying your weather and nothing drastic is going on.. any trips this year or are you still recovering from your last one.. Wish I was able to feel as robust as you seem to be.. I think at 86 old age has set in..

HI MARSON, I think the Pottery Board is dead in the water.. Even Katie deserted us, I guess, not enough people left there to keep the interest up..

We still do not know what happened to SUSAN, Not sure if she passed, or if in a nursing home somewhere.. No one around to let us know for sure..

HI KATIE, Pray you and Mike are doing well.. I Grandson who moved back home rented a Subaru, It made his trips home from South Dakota OK, but has since bought some property and returned the Subaru to buy a Nice Truck which will be more useful out in the country then the car..

HELLO and Welcome to LIZ, I would have to ask how active she is on Ebay and how you found out about this board.. Always nice to have a new inductee.. Hope your around a long time..

Hard to believe its been 3.5 yrs since GEORGE had passed..

Not sure if GAIL is still active in FB or not, Miss seeing her, and always think of the Tornados out there in OK.. Seems DON is still active there; and I was until for some reason Facebook, has once again blocked me out, not sure even why.. What did I do? they tell me I cannot ask for an Appeal.. My family & friends all upset as well as me.. Oh well..

HI to FRAN2 as well.. is anyone still selling on Ebay besides me?

Well I carried on here long enough I know none of the boards are active much, except the book board..

You all take care..

Good Afternoon to all the Glassies !

Read about the Earth Quake in NJ and just checking to see if NancyP. Is OK.. had to change my password as they did not recognize my old one.. Guess I have been inactive too long..

I heard from MAX that Joanne from NY has passed away, in Dec. She was active on the Book Board, mostly..

I pray every one else on here is OK..

@carma Carl, I saw you were getting snow. Glad to hear you did okay but how sad for the other areas. The windy was very scary.

What a storm that was. Wednesday night around 8pm we lost power as a tree in front of our neighbor's house split. She was very lucky as one piece landed to the side of her house, damaging her fence. The other piece fell on the sidewalk and street. We got our power back around 11am yesterday. Other areas took longer, including just around the block where a piece of falling tree hit a transformer. And now today there was an earthquake, 4.7. Epicenter was in western NJ, about 50 miles away.

Mahnin' All: Been a wild couple of weeks here. A little over a week ago we got dumped on with 24" of snow And 200,000 homes without power. Took days to repair the damage, but all that snow melted in about 5 days as temps soared into the low 50's.

Just got out of the woods on that one when another one hit here yesterday. This one is much worse! Snowfall amounts vary widely around the state, from as little as 5-6" to as much as 22" of heavy, water logged snow. We got around 9-10" here. But, the damage to the electric grid is mind boggling. Over 340,000 homes without power & many will not get power back for 7 to 10 days! Hundreds of trees, poles & lines down everywhere. Entire towns & even entire counties are in the dark. Winds were gusting as high as 70 mph! And we're still getting some light, mixed snow, sleet & freezing rain.

We were lucky here. We lost power around 10 AM yesterday & "Jenny" kicked in. Figured we would be on Jenny power for a long time, but we got our regular power back just 2 hours later. Haven't lost it again since.

Looking forward to the solar eclipse on Monday, as we're right on the edge of the totality track, so we should be about 95%. Supposed to be sunny & temps in the 55-60 degree range Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, so all this mess is going to melt off very quickly.

I hear New England is getting a Spring storm!!

Greetings from VERY windy Missouri!

Good news: son and Subie both well. I have sold glass, china, artwork and other treasures this week and they have all gone to good homes! Not enough to cover everything but close!

Weather appears to be wacky everywhere!

I want to alert everyone that this virus may appear as "just a cold" to some, it is NOT to everyone.

Subie has been transferred from my regular mechanic to Subaru as there is more going on that they can not identify/. Sigh. I'd best start selling faster.

Thankfully my neighbor took me to the Farmer's Market and the grocery so we're well stocked. I can at least relax while we wait.

Lots & lots of rain in NJ! So far not a lot of wind although there is still a wind advisory and a flood watch. I was going to a glass show/sale this afternoon but think I'll just stay home warm and dry (the road I'd need to take has a tendency to flood.)

@carma/Carl, I went from Windows 7 to Windows 10 on my laptop a while a go. The real shock was going from Windows 7 to Windows 11 on my PC -- I really hate Windows 11, everything is an app not software. I'm holding out as long as I can to keep my laptop. So sad that you'll miss seeing the girls again.

Yikes, @fyrqueen/Katie, I hope your son will be okay. My poor brother & SIL (who both have medical issues) just got Covid -- their first time. They've been very careful and are current on all of their boosters. Glad you were "rescued" quickly when your poor Subaru broke down.

@wattleihavenext/Julie, it's pretty amazing the friendships we've all made through our glass. I'll be going to the EAPG annual convention in May and will get to see Roger and Karen, two long-time glassies.

Afternoon All: I haven't posted in quite some time, just life getting in the way I suppose. The last few days I've been busy setting up & getting acclimated to a whole new computer system, which took me from Windows 7 to Windows 10 in one fell swoop. It's quite a bit of a learning curve, so much is so different, but I'm getting there with it.

We were well on our way into Spring here, with pretty much bare ground, after the warmest & least snowiest winter on record. Only 52" of snowfall for the whole winter thus far (less than half of normal), but that's about to change. HUGE storm coming in for tomorrow and we're forecast for anywhere from 16 to 24 inches! going to be cold too, only in the teens, so at least it will be light, fluffy, easy to move snow.

So, made a trip up to the store for a few supplies we were low on, "Jenny" has plenty of fuel in case the power goes down, so we're in for the duration now. Won't be going anywhere for 2 or 3 days. Marley & Emma are both home for a few days & we were going to take them out for a seafood lunch tomorrow, but that's not going to happen now. The restaurant we were going to go to has already announced that they're not opening tomorrow (along with just about everything else). We haven't seen the girls for a year now & looks like we won't until summer.

I love hearing about when glassies actually got to meet each other. I still have some old emails from some who have gone on now. Those old days were fun, and I leared so much from them.

Youngest experienced cardiac issues from a nasty case of COVID. It's still out there and can be devastating. He is in care of a cardiologist.

My old Subaru broke down very publicly on the bridge on Broadway here that goes over Highway 63 as we were on the way to the oral surgeon for Mike. Amazingly, as police were nearby working an accident scene I had oodles of help! Tow truck arrived immediately! I think it was the original fuel pump that went. NO advance warning as I'd had the car checked out the week before (oil change, etc.). I need to sell something quick!

Nancy @jerseystar27 that is so lovely that you got to meet George and you also have a piece of glass to always remember him by. He was such a wonderful man. I have a lovely Fenton basket to remember Betty, that she sent to me to cheer me up when Gordon was not well. And I have the lovely Candlewick heart dish from Fran she gave me on my visit over there, for the Glassie Get together. I will always treasure them.

Remembering George on his birthday.. It's been 3-1/2 years since he left us and I really miss him. I was lucky enough to go antiquing/glassing with him several times when I was out visiting Seattle. So besides having a piece of glass I bought from him on eBay, I have pieces of glass I can remember buying while with him.

Welcome, Liz!

NancyP I can't sign in to the Book Board with my regular sign-in. Gorgeous weather here.

Friends from college (1968) will be through town towing a trailer with a 1954 Rolls Royce inside! This should be a fun meet up!

@emische Liz -- welcome to the group! Yes, you use the same sign-in for all the boards. On the right side you'll see links to the other boards. We're happy to try to help with id's.

@fyrqueen Katie -- nice & sunny (but chilly) here in NJ too. Most of the snow has melted.

Good Morning -

I'm new and seem to be dealing with adult onsite ADD.

Will my login on this board also give me access to pottery? I'm slightly (!) vexed trying to identify both glass and restaurant ware.

Thx - Liz

With all the crazy weather all over the country, we've lucked out. Sunny and decent enough for daily walks!

Well, today is delightfully sunny -- the better to reflect off of the snow we got yesterday. Probably 4 to 5 inches here in northeast NJ -- areas around us got more. It was a very wet snow as the temps were just above freezing so I think it started melting as it hit the ground. Roads are clear today as is my car, so I can enjoy looking at it without being too inconvenienced.

Greetings from delightfully sunny NJ! Last Friday (after about 10 days of gray weather), I drove down to Virginia to visit my daughter. It rained almost all the way through NJ and then in Maryland there was bit of brightness behind the clouds. By the time I made it to her place there were even patches of blue sky. And it was sunny the whole time I was there (came back home yesterday) and it's still sunny. Yay!!

Happy Birthday Marymelodee!

Good gloomy, wet morning. Off to the Farmer's Market in an hour.

NancyP, I got my ears done and no dizzies! But I took a CBD gummy and I know that helped. I usually get White-coat Syndrome and with the gummy, my BP was normal. I love my new ENT nurse and go back every six months now. Not three years!!

I hope everyone is surviving all of the crazy weather. When it's colder/icier/snowier in the southeast and the Pacific northwest than here in NJ, you know the weather is crazy. That is not to say we haven't had some cold weather and a little bit of snow & ice (probably no more than 3 inches total from the two storms last week). Past few days have just been rainy and in the 40s. My husband was out in San Diego for a week visiting family. This past Monday they had the rainiest single day in January they have ever had with lots of flooding, cars being swept away, and more. Luckily my SILs house is up in a hilly area so they had no flooding. And by Tuesday, all was well for DH's flight home.

And even though she hasn't been here in 9 years, a very Happy Birthday to @MaryR Marymelodee!! I have seen her selling on eBay, so at least I know she's still around.

Happy Birthday Shelly!!

Happy New Year a bit late. We expect the first winter storm on Monday. We have a standing order for snowplow if over 3" accumulate as we have a very long, steep driveway.

I'm a bit late (it's day 5 of 2024 here)

Turned my phones to "mute" so the crank new years calls don't come in. Went to bed before midnight & treated myself & slept in. Through out a pair of slippers & walking into the new year with a new pair. Not much snow on the ground and may go and shovel the deck & sprinkle de-icer on the driveway. All is well and wishing the glassies a wonderful blessed and healthy & prosperous new year. Marson

Happy New Year everyone!

@favoritegram Happy Birthday, Lainey!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAINEY - Have a wonderful day.
Good morning glassies - hope you all had a great holiday and are in good spirits & health. Marson

Merry Christmas Everyone!

@carma Carl, that is wonderful!! I'm so glad you'll be able to celebrate Christmas with Marley & Emma. Wishing you a safe and wonderful trip!!

Great News! Made it into Rumford this morning (the town is a mess & will take weeks to fully clean up) & the gal doing the bagging at the Hannaford Market comes from Canton, Maine, nearly halfway to Auburn & she said the road is open all the way to Auburn. So, we'll be heading down to see Marley & Emma after all! Can't wait to see them.

Carl @carma Take care
It sounds very much like what is happening in Queensland, down here.

DW & I just took a little jaunt in the Jeep. Our road is now passable & open the entire length. We CAN get to the store in Andover. The road to there is partially washed out, but open in one lane. A fair number of cars are coming up our road now, which makes me think to road connected to it that goes to Rumford is now open. We'll find out in the morning as I'm going to attempt to get to the Hannaford Supermarket in Rumford. I should be able to find out in there if any of the roads to Auburn are open yet. If Hannaford is getting their grocery deliveries, then at least some of the roads to Auburn have to be open.

@carma Oh,Carl, that is awful! Unbelievable that there is that much damage. And I know that in the general scheme of things, it's not that serious, but it really sucks that you may not get to see Marley & Emma. I'm hoping that by Friday things will have improved.

Just got an update from OCEM concerning our area:

"Route 2 in Rumford is now open from downtown through to Bethel. Please be mindful that road crews are clearing remaining debris. There is also fairly thick mud and some ice/water in spots. Please navigate the roadway slowly and carefully.
*To avoid the inevitable follow-up questions: Route 232 in impassable, South Rumford Rd is washed out in the area of 150 and is impassable in other areas, Wyman Hill Road is passable w some mud/ice. Route 5 is washed out just beyond the Rumford line in Andover. East Andover Road is impassable."

The East Andover Road is our road.

Mahnin'All: An update on the wild conditions here. It is far worse than the "passing mention" reported by most national news coverage. Yesterday water surged over the bridge on the Swift River, connecting Rumford and Mexico. A car with 4 people tried to drive over it anyway & was swept off the bridge. Two people rescued, but the other two & the car have not been found yet.

Right now, much of Maine is a case of "you can't get there from here". According to Oxford County Emergancy Management, Rumford is still cut off from everywhere else. All roads in & out are flooded, outright gone or blocked by trees & utility poles. Andover is the same. According to OCEM, we can drive down out road about 3 miles & up our road about 4 miles, but that's it! We can't even get to downtown Andover to Mills Market. There are 4 roads going in & out of Andover and all of them are closed. At least two of them are completely washed away & the status of the other two are both uncertain. Also, as of last night, even if we could get out of Andover, we could not get to Auburn to see Marley & Emma for Christmas. All roads between here & Auburn are closed at some point. In many cases rivers are still rising & haven't crested yet. The plan was to go down to see them on Friday, but we just don't know yet if we'll be able to get there by then. There are still almost 300,000 without power.

We're going to take drive in the Jeep today & see just where we can or cannot get.

@carma Carl, wow, what a mess! And how sad that it is right before Christmas. Glad that you're okay and have power.

@fyrqueen Katie, I hope your nephew and his family are okay.

There is still some river flooding in areas around us (northeastern NJ) and I heard there were some schools closed today and some delayed openings but we're okay, just a few small branches and twigs down. Not sure if it would have been better or worse if it was snow.

Good morning.

Carl, I have been worried about my nephew and his family along the Maine coast. No word from them. It sounds awful but amazing you have power!

Mahnin'All: Catastrophic day here yesterday & it's going to take days & even weeks to get everything back to normal. Over 6 inches of rain fell amid winds gusting 60 - 70 mph! Over 400,000 in Maine are without power this morning. Roads are flooded or completely washed out. Many more are blocked by downed trees, power lines & utility poles. Whole towns are completely isolated & cut off, with all roads in & out closed. Andover is one of them & so is Rumford. Virtually everything, schools, businesses etc., are closed. A foot of snowpack that we had on the ground is completely gone, which only compounded the flooding issues. In short, it's one horrendous mess!!

We were on "jenny" power for about 5 hours yesterday, but the got our regular power back mid-afternoon. Why, I've no idea! We are one of only 3 houses on our 4 miles long road that has power. Makes no sense at all, but I'm certainly not going to complain. Many folks will be lucky to get their power back by Christmas. Our road is flooded out at both ends, about a half a mile above us & about 3 miles below us, so we're certainly not going anywhere today.

Good Morning. Our weather has been brutal and I am not liking it. High 30 Celsius and over 40C days , day after day. Hot hot westly winds to make it feel like a fan forced oven. Bush fires with people loosing homes and lives have already commenced. I have taken the plunge and I have ordered an aircon, hoping it is here vey soon. My fans are just circulating hot air.
Katie @fyrqueen I am sorry to hear about your friends but happy to hear that Mike is doing well. And ditto to what Nancy @jerseystar27 said.... Remember that self-care is not a luxury, it's a necessity!!
Carl @carma right at this moment (35 celsius at 10 a.m) that snow is sounding so good to me.

@fyrqueen Katie, after napping all morning, by early afternoon I was able to get out of bed and have something to eat. Like I said, this was much milder then the few other times I had vertigo. It's also the first time I had vertigo after getting excess ear wax removed.

NancyP I always worry about that. It has never happened but I know it can. How long did it last? I have no one here to help me if I get that,

@fyrqueen Katie, on the advice of my primary care doctor, I went to an ENT a few weeks ago to have excess ear wax removed. It was quick & pain free. But the next morning I woke up with vertigo. I've had vertigo a few times in the past & it pretty much knocked me out for a day. This time it was pretty mild -- I was much better by mid-afternoon. But I'm pretty sure the cause was pulling the wax out and causing something to change in my inner ear.

NancyP. My next thing is to get of all things an ear cleaning. I realize my hearing is not the best--and I know exactly what it is and should have done this ages ago! Always nice to hear again!

@fyrqueen Katie, it's good to see you! Sounds like some good things keeping you busy. So sorry to hear about your friends. And really happy to hear that Mike is doing well. Remember that self-care is not a luxury, it's a necessity!!

I have been MIA for a while. The trip (two weeks) to NC and GA was a huge success. Thanksgiving brought 7 to our table and I have decided next year to make it a potluck. I was so tired!!

Since then I have a dear friend in hospital with no diagnosis yet, and we lost a darling friend who always made the day a bit sunnier for everyone. It was sudden and we are all still very broken hearted.

Mike is walking better than ever which is amazing as Parkinson's is progressive. Therapy is the key (and good food and keeping busy). The bad news is that caregivers often burn out and die before the person they care for, so I am trying to be good to myself.

Got to get a tree this week!!

Mahnin'All: Winter is certainly here in the north country. We've received about a foot of new snow overnight & it's still snowing lightly. VERY heavy, wet snow, too! We just got our regular power back about half an hour ago after being on "Jenny" power for the past 8 hours. Just got done clearing off the cars & re-shoveling the front deck & steps (3rd time for that). Going to sit & rest a bit and then tackle the rear deck & steps & path to the oil fill. Just waiting on George 2.0 to come & plow. I'm sure He will be along.

Well, we just had two days of winter. No white stuff but it was cold! Back to autumn temps for the next few days. But it is almost December.

It's not something we celebrate down here but.....

@carma Carl, I though I saw white stuff north of us on the weather map. We only had rain here in NJ and today it's in the 50s. Sorry you won't be sharing T'day with the girls.

We're going to my sister's house tomorrow. She's doing the turkey& stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes (I bought them, she's cooking them), and pumpkin pie. On my side, cranberry pecan pie was made yesterday, two kinds of cranberry sauce made this morning. Tomorrow I'll roast the brussel sprouts. I decided I wasn't going to bake my dad's apple pie recipe this year -- bought one from the fancy bakery in town. And this year, my son is making what we call carrot mold -- it's a baked almost carrot pudding, done in a bundt pan. I wasn't going to argue -- just gave him the 2-pounds of carrots I bought last week. Daughter is flying up tomorrow morning and then crack of dawn on Friday we will drive her back to Virginia, hoping to arrive close to on-time for a memorial service for a cousin who died over the summer.

And, as Carl said, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!!!

'Afternoon All: We're having a White Thanksgiving. Got a solid 6" of snow overnight & this morning. Just got done clearing off the decks & steps. Made a Pumpkin Pie this morning & DW is in kitchen right now making a Mince Pie.

We won't get to see Marley & Emma this week. They're both having to make a quick trip home & back this year, due to work schedules. Emma got in last night & has to go back Friday morning. Marley is coming in tonight & also has to go back Friday morning. But, they both have a lot more time at Christmas, so we'll be seeing them then.

Wishing All A Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

After several chilly but mostly sunny days (there was frost on my windshield Monday morning!), we're supposed to have two days in the 60s. Then it might rain and weekend will be back in the 50s. This is a good thing as my son is running the Philadelphia Marathon Sunday morning and cool is better.

Good Morning. Our weather has been good. Hot/warm days and lovely cool mornings and evenings. Rain is predicted for today and it looks like they may be right, the clouds are building. I leave tomorrow for a trip north ( near the Queensland and NSW border) to help out again at BlaizeAid. The area I am going has been battling for a number of years with what Mother Nature has been dishing out to them. Catastrophic floods, followed by extreme bushfires then their worst flood ever to be followed again by extreme bushfires, No sooner do they start to see a tiny light at the end of the tunnel and Mother Nature decides to wipe them out again. I will be helping the farmers rebuild their fences. It's so important for them to be able to keep their livestock in and safe.

Autumn is definitely in NJ -- leaves are really starting to turn (and fall). Freeze warning for tonight. And, for a change, rain.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAIL

Shovelled the white stuff yesterday but it snowed overnight and there's a fresh batch of the heavy snow. Lost hydro & the landline, hence not heat, light, furnace, etc. for 4 hours.
Thank you for the many candles on the cake - they'll help warm it up here and at least I don't have to bake a cake - just enjoy it. Marson of the snow

Carl @carma such a sad and frightening event. I hope everyone stays safe and the shooter is caught asap without any more casualties. I am at a loss as to why he was allowed to own such a gun/ rifle. According to the news we are getting down here he was known to have mental health issues. Here all firearms ( we must be licensed to buy and own them) are confiscated.

@panishklo Marson -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

@songbreeze Gail -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Julie: Yes, Lewiston is only 60 miles from here. We go there at least a couple times a year for shopping. Anne & Tom ( Marley & Emma's parents) live just a couple miles from there, in Auburn. Lewiston & Auburn are twin cities, separated only by the Androscoggin River. Both cities are pretty much on lockdown right now, as the shooter is still at large. Latest is that 22 are dead and over 50 wounded.

Carl @carma I've just read that there was a mass shooting at Lewiston,Maine. I hope this is not anywhere close to you

Good Morning. Temps have dropped as predicted for today and rain is on its way. Overcast sky and you can smell it coming. I heard on the news this morning that parts of Sydney's outer suburbs are being warned to brace themselves for extreme heat this summer with predictions of 50C/122F. OMG I hope they are wrong about that because here, where I live, will get similar. Maybe 1-2 degrees lower. I may have to invest in a new Aircon so I can survive.
On a positive note and trying not to focus on negatives. Last night when I arrived home, a nice big healthy green frog was sitting on my verandah ( frightened to daylights out of me LOL) This is the first frog I have seen in well over 20 years so I am happy about that. It means my garden is starting to be healthy again and creatures are starting to move back in. Sadly no bees this year because of the Varroa mite that has snuck into our country. So many bee hives had to be destroyed to try to stop the spread of the mite.