Sunday morning, March 4, 2007

Hi, Folks,
Well, good riddance to February! It sure was an interesting month-weather wise. Glad it is over. Spring is just around the corner, although you would not know it by looking out my windows. It snowed again yesterday, and is snowing right now.

Our pond liner rose up due to the extreme amount of thawing of ice and snow in the back yard. I went out the other day and scraped off debris and filled a 5-gallon bucket. I couldn't do too much as the stirring of the debris can cause the water to get filled with sediment, which in turn can cause the fish's gills to plug up. When I dumped the debris in the garden, I found a small koi that had expired, probably a while ago. Then, I also found a salamander floating down in the water. He was gone too. I do believe this is the one I put in the pond about seven years ago. I found him in the window-well out front, and put him in the pond. At the time, he was about two inches long, and he did grow to about four inches. Bummer. Maybe there is another one down in the pond that is surviving so far, and maybe another will make it's way to our pond. I sure hope Herman, the little turtle is doing okay. I did see a frog swimming along the edge, so at least one made it so far. Not sure about the other ones until the water gets warmer and they come out of hibernation. Until the water dissapates under the liner, it will remain floating. We do have some cement blocks down in the pond, and a big plant, but we will more than likely add more to hold the liner down for next winter. Live and learn, huh?

We had water in the basement last week. Not much, but hubby hurried out and got the tractor going and scraped away the heavy snow that was piled next to my stone wall planter at the end of the house. The ground is rather low there, but the snow was preventing the water in the planter from coming out. It was about six inches deep. Once he removed the snow, it started to drain. Then it all accumilated in the back yard and we had a skating rink. I used a long handled chipper to break up some of the ice to get to the bird feeders to fill them. It was slow moving in my wader boots, and I sure didn't need to fall and break something. (I am rather prone to that.) Hubby helped too. Some of the ice was over two inches thick! Then when the rains came earlier in the week, it all melted, then we had a super big wading pool. It is all gone now. We will probably have to get more topsoil this summer and work on building the area up.

Our furnace went out last week, and thank goodness it was not that cold outside. The sun was shining and it helped to keep the house fairly warm, along with the kerosone heater hubby put between the living room and dining room area before he left for school. It stayed around 60 degrees. I just put more clothes on. B-Bob the cat thought it was neat, as he layed beside it and seemed content to just be there and absorb the heat.

I sold two books the other day through my website to some people in Lima, Ohio. Yeah! It all helps. I have more books here at home and if you can, order them through me. I will sign a copy, (copies), and send them out to you free freight-in the U.S.

I started working on a new book last week. It will be like a "gift-book" with poems and uplifting and encouraging things for victims/survivors of abuse and violence. I am also going to incorporate pictures I have taken over the years of scenery, flowers, butterflies, etc. Now I just have to find a publishing company that does hardcovers and also allows pictures and not cost and arm and a leg to have published. Any suggestions?

My sister, bless her heart, is reviewing it for me as I go along. She is really excited about it, as am I.

I have been waking up at three a.m. most mornings, and putting the thoughts that are coming to me in my computer. Sometimes I will be sitting downstairs with hubby, and I have thoughts racing into my brain. I grab a piece of paper and start writing.

I have a big meeting coming up Tuesday night for the new organization. We have a lot to cover as we did not have a meeting due to the bad weather in February. The by-laws will be presented and voted on for the members that attend. We are so excited about this new organization, and we have over 75 members as of now. Great!

Gotta go for now, lots to do today.
Stay safe, be blessed, and remember, you deserve a good life! You are worth it!
My best regards,
Becky :)