Glass Chatroom Board

So this week is summer, autumn, winter all in one. Yesterday it almost hit 80, today is more Autumnal with a breeze and low 60s. And then tomorrow a cold front will come through so that on Saturday the lows are in the 30s with the highs in the 50s. Yay! Of course one of my pepper plants has a bunch of flowers on it -- guess they will never become peppers.

Actually feels like October today -- sunny, breezy, and cool. Leaves are starting to change (except for those that came down in all of the rain).

We seem to have made it through the Nor'Easter -- rain is finally tapering off. Our immediate area got lots of rain and some wind but no apparent damage. And we didn't lose power. Low-lying areas, especially at the coast, really got slammed. We vacation every year on Long Beach Island, NJ, and I've been seeing videos. It looks like the entire island was covered in water. The causeway leading from the mainland was flooded. Looks like a mess.

Happy Labor Day! It's actually feeling like the end of summer -- sunny buy cool & breezy. We'll be BBQing at my sister's house later. I hope everyone is having a good end of summer!

Just as a PSA, be very, very careful with your PayPal account. I just went through a very nasty time. Apparently my account was compromised 2 weeks ago. AmEx texted to ask about a charge & after calling them, they canceled my card and sent a new one. When I got home I immediately checked my account and found there were now two outstanding charges ($1950 each) to be taken from my bank account. I immediately disputed both charges and took my bank account off the account. I decided not to take any changes & went down to my local bank branch & explained what was happening. As the charges hadn't actually come through yet, we closed the account & opened a new one. (This particular account had no direct deposits or auto payments so it was easy to do.) Got home & found that the disputes had been closed in the "sellers" favor! Next day called PayPal -- absolutely no help. Talked to AmEx just to be sure nothing could go through on the canceled card -- they put PayPal on a "banned merchant" list. PayPal started sending me emails & texts that my account owed $3900. Called them, said I wasn't paying as those were unauthorized charges. Was given email address to appeal my claim. And amazingly the appeal was accepted. The charges were reversed so I had a zero balance. And I have now canceled my PayPal account.

@panishklo Marson, good to see you! Weird weather here in NJ too -- heavy rain, hot & humid. I finally broke down and got us a portable AC unit. Our bedroom is on the 3rd floor and there are skylights, so it's always hot. When we had that spell in early July when it was 100 without the heat index, I knew we needed help. Only used a few nights, but it definitely makes it more comfortable.

@carma Carl, how lovely!!! Congratulations!! Always nice to have good things to look forward to.

@carma Carl, how disappointing!

We have been very lucky -- lots of rain & storms here in NJ. There has been a lot of flooding, trees down, etc., but we've been spared. And my garden seems happy. Sun is finally out today.

@carma Carl, the weather is so strange! I'm currently with my daughter in Virginia which involved being a support person for the EMS memorial bike ride she was in yesterday. I was texting with my son in the morning & said I was outside sipping my cold brew & trying not to breathe too hard. He responded "Wow, you guys are purple on the airnow.gov map. We're red but it actually doesn't seem that bad right now." Our forecast for this afternoon is severe t'storms, hail, maybe a tornado. {sigh}

Another heat wave rolling into the east coast. But I'm ready -- turned the AC unit on in the bedroom this morning so it will be nice & cool tonight. Of course that just makes the rest of the house feel even worse, but at least we get a good night's sleep.

@wattleihavenext Julie, we are totally into summer here. The temps for the rest of the week are in the high 90s & low 100s, without the heat index!! So it was back to Best Buy yesterday to finally purchase an air conditioner for our bedroom. Our son will be over later today to get it out of my car and up to the 3rd floor. I hope weather conditions are good for your next BlazeAid journey.

The actual router installation was easy and all the computers and phones are connected. However, I've yet to have gotten my two printers to connect. It's been so long since I first connected them that I don't remember how I did it and none of the online directions are working. May have to call the Best Buy Geek Squad for help. {sigh}

Even though it's really tomorrow for us, Julie will see it when it's actually her birthday.

@wattleihavenext Julie, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Wishing you another adventure-filled and happy year!!!

Okay, where did June go? This claims I last posted over a month ago -- it certainly doesn't feel that long ago. We've had all sorts of weather since then. Some cool days, some hot days. And this week we finally had some real rain -- my garden is happy.

I took the tech plunge today. Our router had reached the end of its life (no more updates) and my little laptop has been obsolete for a while., so I headed to Best Buy this morning. Now the proud owner of a new Orbi router and (once it's delivered) a new HP laptop. Not looking forward to installing the new router -- the actual installation I think is easy, but there are multiple things around the house that will need the new password. Will wait until Sunday to deal with it.

@carma Good to see you, Carl! It's been a very strange spring here in NJ. And today it hit almost 100 -- not at all ready for mid-summer weather in May. My garden is so confused.

@fyrqueen Katie, HAPPY BIRTHDAY (one day early)!! Sending birthday wishes today because there's a good chance I'll forget tomorrow when the reminder isn't up. I hope things are going okay for you.

@panishklo Marson, sounds like fun. That weather sounds like a week ago Sunday when I was helping my sister at an outdoor craft/antique show. One side of the booth was the jewelry & stuff she and her friend make. The other side was older books (Nancy Drew!), glass, and other vintage things. Usually I bring several boxes of stuff to sell, but I was going to have to leave early, so I didn't. Good thing. It was cold & windy. At one point the wind gusts blew over some shelves and several pieces broke. Plus jewelry was flying all over -- I rescued several orphan earrings. Nonetheless, they did well selling. And my sister was able to sell several larger & heavier vintage items that she was really tired of toting around.

@wattleihavenext Julie, glad to hear it was an easy & not expensive fix. We never realize how much we enjoy hot water until we don't have it.

Our weather has been so mixed-up. We had a week of summer, a few days of winter (at least we didn't get snow, only frost warnings), cool & rainy. Today it was supposed to rain all day, but the sun is out. Tomorrow was supposed to be warm & sunny, now it's going to be cool & rainy. I'm never sure how to dress in the morning.

Missing Toby on his birthday (not that I don't miss him on other days).

Good morning & Happy Earth Day! So good to see Marson/ @panishklo and Susan/ @susu46 and Julie/ @wattleihavenext !!! It's supposedly starting to warm up again & it's rainy today. Will put my hanging baskets back out and may try potting my new herbs. Because it was so warm last week, the trees really sprouted and it's very green out now. But I'm sure the ground isn't that warm yet, so the usual spring flowers are still slowly coming up.

False summer has ended, we're back to winter.Frost advisory tonight and freeze warning for Monday night. I now have two large hanging basket of frost-sensitive plants sitting in the bathtub -- I couldn't think of anyplace else large enough to hold them. And I have a variety of little plants that just arrived from Burpee on a window sill. The Thai Basil is definitely frost-sensitive as is the pineapple sage. The mint might be okay outside, but I don't want to chance it.

And we're back to summer for a few days. But next week, the lows overnight are supposed to be back in the 30s. {sigh} Wait a day and it's a new season.

And now we're back to winter -- frosty morning. But my daffodils are bravely waving in the breeze. Of course next week it's supposed to be in the 80s. Crazy, crazy weather.

Happy Monday -- sunny but chilly this morning. The weather keeps bouncing up & down. I hope you all had a Happy Easter, Happy Passover (still going), or just a nice weekend. Today's (or probably really tomorrow's) birthday brings back some lovely memories -- Betty was such a delight. Never got to meet her in person but did at least exchange emails and at least one phone call.

I could just say "ditto" to Monday's post. On Thursday it was warm -- I had an iced cold brew at my favorite coffee shop. Today it's low 40s & windy -- I had a hot peppermint tea. I think it is supposed to warm up next week for April. We'll see.

Typical March weather -- warm, cold, warm, cold. It's chilly & damp today but will warm up later in the week. My snowdrops flowered. The daffodils are pushing up and the hellabores are starting to bloom. Yay!

Actually experiencing some spring days. Almost all our snow has melted and my snowdrops are flowering!!

Wow, almost 5-1/2 years since George/Gabla left us. I met with him twice during my various Seattle trips -- I miss him.

Rainy, chilly day here in NJ -- at least more of the snow is melting. Supposedly it's going to hit 70F next week, before going back to more normal March temps. I bet there will still be some mounds of snow around even after that.

And we indeed are having a blizzard. Lots of snow around my house. There was definitely wind over night (snow plastered over many of my windows). But so far we still have power.

Just waiting around for our blizzard to show up. At least this time it won't be followed by frigid weather. Though if it really rains later in the week, we'll still have a mess.

I'm guessing the update went okay.

I know that Julie, @wattleihavenext, is having a grand time in Sri Lanka. I hope everyone else is doing okay.

Our snow has been melting in fits & starts (it melts during the day & refreezes at night), but we're supposed to have several warmer days and even some rain, so maybe we'll finally get rid of some of it.

@wattleihavenext Julie, that sounds awful!! The weather is so crazy -- here in NJ we're getting record low temps. It's supposed to be a low of 4F overnight. At least the last few days have been sunny.

@carma Carl, YIKES, that is cold!! And a ton of snow.

I think our total was around 15". Today was our warmest day for the week -- it was in the 20s. It's supposed to go down to 11 tonight. Friday is supposed to be a high of 18 and a low of 4! By next week our highs will be in the low 30s.

Here in northeast NJ we probably got close to a foot of snow. It's still snowing/sleeting. Our son came over a few hours ago to do some preliminary shoveling -- it looks like at least a couple of inches more snow fell since then. Sound like most everything (schools, municipal offices, garbage collection, etc.) will be closed tomorrow. There has been ongoing plowing (small plow following by salting truck just went by). We might actually see a little sun tomorrow afternoon but still very, very cold.

@panishklo Marson, good to see you! I would guess that up your way people know how to deal with snow, wind, and cold. It is very brisk today, will be even colder overnight. Nothing like seeing in the forecast "cold temperatures will result in the risk of frozen pipes tonight". I think we share the same opinion of a certain president. {sigh}

Oh, and the forecast for this coming Sunday is "watching a potential winter storm". We'll see if it lives up to its billing after this past weekend of inch or two Friday into Saturday, Saturday into Sunday, and Sunday into Monday. It wasn't a lot individually but my son came over Saturday & Sunday to shovel the sidewalk & steps and clean the cars and then I had to clean the cars again on Monday.

@shellyrae37 Shelly, very sorry to hear about your sister. {{hugs}}

We probably got about 2 inches of snow. But we're supposed to get another 1 to 3 inches tomorrow. It is January, it is supposed to snow in January. {sigh}

Well, our "less than 1 inch" of snow has turned into 1 to 3 inches -- it's coming down fairly hard but only supposed to last another hour or so. I was hoping to run into town to run some errands, but that may have to wait. Glad I got the birdfeeders filled yesterday -- though our resident buck (Sir Reginald or Reggie) was scarfing down the bird seed this morning.

@fyrqueen Katie, it's good to see you!! Glad you're making progress on emptying the house -- I hope things continue to improve for you.

@shellyrae37 Shelly, you definitely get more snow than we do. Between December & now January, we have gotten some snow and cold weather. I was just getting used to the snow being gone and now everything is covered again.

@shellyrae37 Hi Shelly, it's good to see you! Glad you had some fun on your birthday. The weather has been so odd. All of our snow is gone after the warmer temperatures and the rain over the weekend. Now it's back to being chilly.

@wattleihavenext Julie -- Yikes!! I can't even imagine it being that hot for so long. Hoping the cool weather does come soon. {{hugs}}

@wattleihavenext Julie, I have no clue what day it is!! I kept thinking yesterday was Monday (because we didn't get mail the day before, which would have made it Sunday). I sort of know that today is Saturday because I had my Yoga class this morning. It will be good to get back to a regular routine.

Happy 2026!! About an inch of snow overnight & now it's cold and windy. Glad we're not in Syracuse where they had an historic snowfall. No plans for today, our son will join us for dinner. He only lives three blocks away and was out for his morning run, so he grabbed the shovel off the back porch and shoveled the sidewalk and steps.

@wattleihavenext Julie, the weather sure has a mind of its own. We're waiting for an actual snowstorm -- they are saying 5 to 9 inches of snow starting around 4pm today and going through Saturday morning. Just back from a run through the food store (not hard to find a parking spot but by the time I left they were running out of shopping carts). So after my 1:30pm pedicure, I'll be set to just curl up in the house.

@wattleihavenext Julie, it all sounds delicious! A very Merry Christmas to you and the family!!

And a very Merry Christmas to all of you!!!!

@wattleihavenext Julie, YIKES!! That is awful. We're back to another windy day, but not super cold.

Happy Birthday (maybe a day early) to @shellyrae37 Shelly!!

It snowed overnight in NJ -- yay! My son came over this morning to shovel us out and clean off the cars. I think about 3 to 4 inches. At least the sun is out now.

@Carma Yikes!! That is cold. Here in NJ, wind chill was only down to about 20. At least today it's sunny, while windy.

@wattleihavenext Julie, that is awful!! The weather has become so unpredictable. NJ is in drought-watch as there hasn't been a lot of rain. Now it's been cold enough that we could get snow. Unfortunately, much of the time now it freezing rain or sleet which is so much harder to deal with than snow.

I hope everyone is either keeping warm or keeping cool, depending on where they are located. Chilly weather here in NJ -- cold enough tonight that our weather forecast includes keeping an eye on the pipes so they don't freeze. My husband & son are currently visiting family in San Diego -- I heard complaints from nephew that it was so chilly they had to wear jackets (it was 60F!) My son, on the other hand, was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt.

Happy Thanksgiving!! Picked our daughter up at the airport this morning (she flew up from Virginia). We were at my sister's house (about 20 minutes away). They made the turkey & stuffing, sweet potatoes, string bean casserole, and pumpkin & sweet potato pies. I made roasted brussell sprouts, two types of cranberry sauce, apple pie, & cranberry-pecan pie. My son made the baked carrot ring. Good time was had by all.

To update my earlier post -- it was not breezy & chilly, it was WINDY and COLD!! And there were indeed a few white flakes blowing around. Definitely a wintry day.

@Carma Carl, it is indeed November. We may get a dusting of snow here in northeast NJ. Definitely breezy & chilly this morning.

The weather is still trying to decide what season it is. We've had several days in the 60s -- some sunny, some cloudy, & some rain. Starting tomorrow, though, it's going to act like mid-November and get chilly, even during the day.,

Made it through the rain. Today it's cloudy and the wind is starting to pick up. National Weather Service has nicely pointed out that with the wind gusts Halloween decorations, and other unsecured objects, may blow away. :~)

Rainy & windy in NJ today. I ran my only errand of the day first thing this morning so I can just hunker down for the rest of the day. Tomorrow it will be dry but still a little windy -- slightly better for the trick or treaters, but not very warm.

@panishklo Marson, it's good to hear from you. Lots of fond memories of the old gang. {{hugs}}

@wattleihavenext Julie, and why shouldn't we just be on your time? :~) Wishing you only happy memories for Gordon's birthday!! {{hugs}}

@wattleihavenext Julie, I keep forgetting that the birthdays seem to be on Australia time, so Marson's & Gail's birthdays are actually today (10/27). And remembering Fran yesterday. {sigh}

@panishklo Marson, wishing you a very Happy Birthday!! I'm guessing as it's chilly here in NJ that it's chilly up by you too.

And remembering Gail on her heavenly birthday -- a very sweet and lovely lady.

We're back from a quick weekend trip to San Diego (Friday to Monday). My husband's sister and her children all live out there. Two of them are married and the older one & wife just had their second daughter. Sunday was her official naming. So we had a lovely time playing with all three of our great -nieces and catching up with the niblings (the generic plural for nephews & nieces) as well as cousins who came down from LA for the celebration. Weren't really gone long enough to settle into west coast time, so no real jet lag, but still tired from trying to catch up with laundry, etc.

@carma Carl,that's a beautiful photo! Leaves have barely changed down here (one of the concerns for the storm -- lots of leaves on the trees!) Our reservoirs need some replenishing, so that's the plus side of the storm.

Waiting to see how bad the storm/nor'easter will be. I've taken in some of my garden decor (glass pieces, things that could blow away). Here in northeast NJ, we may only see moderate winds & rain.

Truly feels like October today -- bright blue sky, lots of sunshine, breezy, and 56F. The high is only supposed to be 60. Sudden change after the last few warm days, but it is October. Hoping this means the leaves will speed up their color change.

Happy Birthday to @susansselections, Susan!! Haven't seen her here in quite a while, but she is around on FB.

And the two "biggest" Jewish holidays are over. Last week, from Saturday to Wednesday, we were in Virginia at our daughter's to attend Rosh Hashanah services with her (Tuesday & Wednesday, with a celebratory dinner Monday evening). This week we went down to Virginia on Tuesday, home today, to be with her for Yom Kippur (Wednesday evening and all day Thursday). It was good to be with her and the very lovely community at the synagogue she belongs to, but it is also good to be home.

And just like that, summer is over. Temperature-wise, next few days will be more summery than autumnal, but by next week it looks like it will definitely be cooler. And I guess this means it's officially spring for @wattleihavenext Julie -- enjoy!!

@carma Carl, that does sound like quite the event. Looking forward to the pictures. Bummer about the computer -- glad you have no one. And the weather really has been awful for the garden -- I mainly grow herbs which, except for the mint, have made it through. I did have three big pots with various pepper plants which were a bust. It was either too cool and wet or to hot and dry. And then our resident buck (named Reginald by my husband, but I call him Reggie), knocked over one of the pots and ate half the plants. {sigh}

@wattleihavenext Julie, we're finally starting to see some healing. I think another few weeks and he'll be ready for some PT to get his leg muscles back. I will be so happy to not have to provide him 3 meals-a-day (breakfast & lunch and sometimes dinner in bed) and change his dressings.

It's the last full week of summer. Weather is pleasant, but the days will start getting shorter. :~( I'll miss the sun.

Good to see @panishklo Marson, @fran2 Fran, & @wattleihavenext Julie -- thank you for the birthday wishes (it was the end of the July, but always happy to celebrate!)

It's been a strange summer. Very long story, very short -- DH (who is diabetic) had a blocked artery in his right leg and had bypass surgery on the leg on July 23. The surgery was successful but the healing process has been very slow requiring weekly visits to the Wound Center at our hospital. DH has to spend most of his time in bed with the right leg elevated. Poor thing hasn't been out in his kayak since the end of May (which is when we realized the severity of the non-healing wound on the side of his foot which led to all of this).

Wow, we've missed a few birthdays (including mine). Where is everyone? I've seen @wattleihavenext Julie on FB, so I know she's around. @carma Carl, I hope the wedding was lovely. Between the weather and some issues at home, I barely looked at my garden. Most of the herbs have survived although the mint is puny. My various pepper plants did not do well -- it was either too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet, and then the buck that decided to live in my backyard ate most of one pot of pepper plants.

Yikes, missed a birthday!!

@Carma Carl, belated Happy Birthday!! Sounds like it was a lovely day.

@wattleihavenext Happy Birthday, Julie!! Looks like you all had a wonderful time in Thailand.

@carma Carl, it's good to hear from you. Marley's getting married -- wow!! Where in Pennsylvania will they be? I've been working on my garden -- all in pots. Mostly herbs (rosemary, mint, lemon balm, lemon thyme, thyme, Thai basil, basil, pineapple sage -- which the deer are eating, lavender) and various peppers, mainly shishito but a few other sweet varieties. I gave up on tomatoes -- between the squirrels & the deer eating them and the vagaries of the weather it's a lot easier just buying them at the farmers market. Weather has been cooperative here too -- lots of rain and some sun.

@fyrqueen Katie, Happy Birthday!! I'm sure it's a day filled with happy & sad memories. Sending you lots of {{hugs}}. Sounds like it was a wonderful celebration. Glad that plans for the future are falling into place.

@donscns Don, a few of us still hang out here. Nice to see you here (as well as on FB). Happy Birthday!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms on the board!! (And furkids count!)

And Happy Birthday to Don @donscns, probably a day early (I think it's really May 12).

The birthday notifications seem to be Australian time as Toby's birthday is tomorrow, May 3. An early Happy Birthday -- I miss him so much!!

Good to see you, Shelly, @shellyrae37! Glad to hear that spring is making it's way to you. My forsythia bushes are now more green than yellow. Apparently my daffodil are coming out in stages -- the plain yellow and white ones are about over but there are fancy yellows and whites and one multi-colored flowering right now. May not see any daylily flowers this year -- the deer are eating the leaves on all of them.

They are making good progress on containing the forest fire in the Pine Barrens in southern NJ -- it's now 60% contained, most of the evacuations have been lifted and all of the main roads and highways have been reopened. I read somewhere that it is a case of arson -- someone set a pile of pallets on fire. It's been very dry for a number of months now so they weren't able to do the usual controlled burns that are done in the Pine Barrens in the spring which meant there was a lot of undergrowth, much of it dry. There has been rain off and on since last night, which I'm sure is helping them get control.

@shellyrae37 Shelly, glad to hear that you are on the road to recovery and are able to move around and drive. I know it's horrible having to depend on others to get around and to get things.

Our weather has been up and down, though we may have finally finished with snow. It has been a cooler spring as my forsythia are only just starting to show some yellow and probably won't be in full bloom until sometime next week.

Remembering George/Gable on his birthday. I miss him -- got to spend time with him twice when I was out visiting Seattle.

@fyrqueen Katie, sending {{hugs}} and love. Do what you need to do for you. It will take time to start feeling better. And I'm sure with all you were doing and all of the stress, your poor body is tired. So just take it easy and don't push yourself to do anything you don't absolutely have to do.

@fyrqueen Katie, sending condolences & love to you and your family, so glad they were able to be there. May you be comforted by your memories. Take some time for yourself and take time to grieve. {{{HUGS}}}

@shellyrae37 Shelly, sorry to hear about the dizzy spells. Definitely try to see your doctor. Or perhaps there is an Urgent Care center you can go to? Perhaps one of your meds needs to be adjusted.

Every day it's been a little bit warmer & thank goodness no wind, so we haven't had to deal with windchill. Today it was in the low 30s. But Sunday it's supposed to be the low 40s. Still fairly cold at night, so even if snow starts to melt, we may wind up with ice.

We wound up with only about 2-3 inches of snow here in northeast NJ. It is cold but no wind -- and it's sunny. The sun is warm enough that where the sidewalk & path were shoveled, it's pretty much bare. Will be colder the next few days but warming up (well, into the 30s) by the weekend.

@panishklo Marson, wow, it sounds brutal. Glad you're able to stay safe inside. It's snowing here in NJ -- not sure how much we're supposed to get, but doesn't seem to be as much as they were predicting. Of course once it's done, we're supposed to get the wind & bitterly cold weather.

@fyrqueen Katie, hospice is a wonderful thing. You get additional aides, an on-call nurse, and support for you. Sending {{hugs}}

@fyrqueen Oh, Katie, my heart aches for you!!! Sending gentle {{hugs}}. I know this isn't easy.

Merry Christmas!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday. And for tonight, Happy Chanukah!! Not often that we light the first Chanukah candle on Christmas -- and it goes all the way through New Year's day. We're down at our daughter's in Virginia where we will celebrate Chanukah with her as well as going to a friend's house tonight for Christmas (and to celebrate her mom's birthday).

Katie @fyrqueen Sending gentle {{hugs}} to you. I hope Mike will be okay and I hope they find the source of the leak.

@wattleihavenext Julie, and here we've had some of the coldest weather, just in time for it to be December. No snow by us but plenty further north.

@carma Carl, lovely to hear about Marley and Emma. I've enjoyed getting watch them grow up, even if it's from a distance. You must be so proud of them.

Belated Happy Thanksgiving! So good to see @Carma & @shellyrae37! Quiet weather here in NJ but cooler. We did have rain Wednesday night into Thursday -- stopped just in time for the traditional walk between the T'day meal and the pies. We were at my sister's house (about 20 min. from our house) with her husband & son. Our daughter drove up from Virginia Thursday morning and our son drove us all to my sister's. She did the turkey & stuffing, sweet potatoes, string bean casserole, and pumpkin and sweet potato pies. I made two types of cranberry sauce, roasted veggies, cranberry pecan pie, & apple pie (my dad's recipe) and our son made our aunt's recipe for what we call carrot mold (it's baked in a bundt pan). Now we're just enjoying quiet time.

@shellyrae37 Shelly, it's good to see you here. I'm so sorry to hear about your son & your brother. Glad you finally beat whatever bug you had. Don is fine -- he's still very active in the EAPG group.

Spent much of today in NYC -- my son was running in the NYC Marathon. He belongs to a group called Achilles International -- they provide support to runners who have physical or mental disabilities. So my son often trains with a runner who is legally blind -- they use tethers so they can help guide him. Today he was part of a team running with an autistic young man -- their main job was to keep him focused. One of my son's friends was running with a member of their group who uses a handcycle -- she was having troubles with her bike & he had to help push her up hills. The group hired buses to get them to Staten Island (they had to be there by 5:30am). My job was to drive my son & his friend back to my son's car.

@fran2 and @panishklo Fran & Marson, sorry I missed your birthdays! I hope they were great!!

I did see the sad news about Gail on FB in the EAPG group & then saw that today is her birthday. She was a wonderful lady!!

We haven't had any rain in NJ in over 3 weeks. It's been low humidity & windy, so we've been under fire watch. And it's been chilly overnight with a few freeze warnings but then warm during the day.

@fyrqueen Katie, glad to hear that your sister is okay. The amount of damage and the number of people affected by Helene is just unbelievable!

Well, the first full day of Fall sure feels like fall. Our high temperature today is 68 and it's cloudy with a few raindrops.

@Carma Carl, condolences to you and your cousin's family. I'm glad they were able to find him, hopefully bringing some peace and comfort to the family.

Remembering Moose AKA Jim Davidson on his birthday. So sad that so many of the original glassies have left us. :~(

Enjoying the last days of summer -- cool at night & in the mornings, sunny and warmer during the day.

@Carma Carl, good to see you! Glad your garden was good this season. Mine was a mixed bag -- my herbs were good but my few pepper plants were very limited in production. First it was too cool, then too hot, then too wet. And then there were the deer. In past years it's mostly been the mamas & their babies hanging around. This year it was papa & the younger boys. Here's papa: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wom7aFUJJ5C4zfgH8 (tried to do this in Image Wizard but it didn't work -- hopefully the link works). Very sorry to hear about your cousin.

@fyrqueen Katie -- I believe birthday celebrations can be spread out for as long as we want! And today is my daughter Kate's birthday -- so another reason to celebrate. :~)

Actually, my birthday is today, July 27 -- but it's always good to celebrate whether it's early or late. Thank you for the birthday wishes!!!

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

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

@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

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!