Hi silversquirrel, I was going to say I'm still here but it seems like I totally forgot about opentopia the last couple of months.

We started out with a warm April with temps around 85° which was too hot for this time of the year. This week we're now down in the 40s for highs which I rather have than 80s or higher.

I hope you also have a nice summer and you don't have too many 100° days !

Hi NQ and the rest of the members here on Opentopia.  Just checking in and wishing everyone a happy summer wherever you may be.  We seem to be staying silent since the passing of MD.  But I'm still here.  

silversquirrel I could never handle your heat, even if it is dry. At least when it's cold out I can put more clothing on.

Yesterday it was 50° out, light weight jacket time. The snow has mostly melted but I'm sure we'll have some more before spring which is ok because even if we get dumped on, at this time of the year it melts fast.

Hi NQ and Homely.  I'm enjoying the weather here in the Phoenix area.  This is the reason we put up with sweltering summers.  82 degrees and partly sunny.  And dry.  We're having a surge in flu and norovirus.  Apparently having nice weather doesn't prevent our getting The Crud.  Here's hoping that you both get to enjoy an early spring.  Groundhog be damned.  Hello to Stargzr if you're still checking out Opentopia.  Hugs, AZ Sue aka Silver Squirrel 🐿️ 

Homely that's sad that you didn't get to use your deck yet but it's something to look forward to once it does warm up, on the otherhand your garden sounds like it might be a lot of work ! hopefully once it does warm up that the ground will thaw fast. 

N Q, I think we get your warmer weather starting on Monday. Woke up today to 21 degrees in the meantime. It's supposed to go cold again, though, after that warm breakthrough. They're saying we will stay quite cold until mid-March. At that rate, don't know when I will ever get my garden going for the spring. Our weather broke in the fall so quickly that I never got to finish putting it all to bed for the winter, either. We were having lovely weather in October and we put a new deck on the back of the house and LITERALLY the next day it snapped cold and has stayed that way since. Never got to use the deck at all, and my garden remained half taken down from the season. What a year!

Homely now that I'm retired, I keep wishing for a big snowfall so that I can sit here looking out the windows at it, knowing I don't have to go out in it :)

We've finally broke through the subzero temps and am going up into the 40s this week but it's also hockey championship season and we always get a big snowfall during it so winters not done yet.

Take care, hope you remain virus free :)

Hello, N Q and silverquirrel - Still cold and snowy here, though the norovirus seems to be tamped down a bit. Another big storm came in this morning but is delivering us but a glancing blow. I don't think we have had a winter in which snow stays on the ground for a month at a time since I was a kid. Other than that, things are busy and well. Loved your lovely wishes for a box of heavenly chocolates for MD, SS. Well said.

Cheers - H

Hi homely & silversquirrel, the weather here has been extremely cold, we've been in the minus temps for the last couple weeks but homely it looks like the east coast has really gotten dumped on with snow the last couple of months, though I think I rather have the snow than the cold ! So far no flu for me but I see that we have record numbers of people being hospitalized for it this week :(

Happy Valentines day to both of you and silversquirrel would you send some of your warm weather towards Wis !

Hi and Happy Valentine's Day from AZ Sue and silversquirrel (both of my personas) to all the regulars here on Opentopia.  MD, wherever you are, I hope that you're enjoying a big box of heavenly chocolate.  

Hi, N Q, Phoenix, SilverSquirrel, and anyone I'm missing - Things have gotten quite busy around here but I wanted to check in and say that I hope that 2025 is treating each of you well. Still cold and snowy here, with the Norovirus running around, so I hope that has changed for you, N Q! This whole winter feels like groundhog day!

Hi silversquirrel & Homely. It's been down in the minus temps the last 5 days here and I'm so glad that I nolonger need to go out in it !!

The norovirus is hitting Wis pretty good right now so I'm working at staying away from people, from what I heard it 3-5 days of throwing up and diarrhea, something I don't want to contend with !

Hope all is well with you gals :)

Hello Phoenix, NQ, Homely, Stargzr, et al.   Happy and healthy New Year!

Good Morning, Phoenix - Glad to see you! And hello to N Q, Arizona Sue, Moose, Ed Hilver, and anyone else who filters through here on a whim during the holidays. I hope everyone is safe, warm, and happy enough during this season. Best to all of you!

Homely

Hi All, thought I'd come back and say what I think about someone calling themselves MD. I believe it's definately not our MD..doesn't "sound" like her. It's been more than two years since she last wrote, I remember she said that her daughter would let us know if something happened. Doubt if she'd go on Twitter and rally the troops against Trump.. Ok this MD, tell me this, what was my profile before I became Phoenix?? The real MD would know..  Hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas and looking forward to a Happy and Healthy 2025!! 

Homely I was also self employed which is why I maximize my social security with waiting till I was 70 to retire but that's a bummer that your husband will be sitting back and relaxing while you still work :(

I'm sure you'll find something you enjoy to do in your retirement, even if it's just sitting and reading whatever you want which is what takes up a nice portion of my days, it's just relaxing knowing I don't have to get up and go to work.

N Q, I am absolutely spastic with fine motor skills, so I am doubly impressed with your bear! What lovely work you do! I'm finding myself starting to contemplate retirement, but i have a good 5-10 years of working to do to make up for $$ lost putting kids through college. Sigh. DH is retiring in about 18 months. He is older than I, and will get a pension. I am self employed and have to maximize savings for the next several years. I wonder what I might take up when I finally get there?

Homely when I saw Marie Celeste, I also first thought it was MD, until I read the whole post and that's just not her style and when did she ever sign her posts with MD, never !

It was thoughtless of whoever made that post to use her initials, maybe they thought it would lend more credence to the message if we thought it was MD ?

I haven't been out at night lately so I don't know if there's any lit trees around but because it's been so nice out, I'm guessing people are putting up their outside lights now before the weather gets bad.

If you want to post your picture, you can upload it to http://postimages.org/ which is a free picture sharing site. After you upload it you'll see a bunch of link options, copy the "Direct Link" url and post it in here.

Since retiring I've taken up crocheting again, something I haven't done in about 30 years, I just finished this bear, it's suppose to be one of the bears that I watch on the http://explore.org Katmai Bear cams. Those cams are up during the summer, the bears are hibernating now but they have some great highlight videos of them. 

http://i.postimg.cc/LX9DQ0ML/4.jpg

Very solid analysis, N Q - putting me to shame with it! The reference to the Marie Celeste got me, seemed like something MD would say :-) But I think you're correct across the board. 

I saw my first tree IRL this afternoon, actually. I was shocked! I thought of you and took a pic... wish I could put it into this message!

Homely I have a feeling it's one of the old regulars in here who wanted to have their say about Trump but didn't want to use their nic and they knew MD would be a safe nic to use as long as she hasn't posted in a long time.

I basically don't see MD as being that caught up in American politics to care that deeply about it and she pretty much always made political coments with some laughter behind them, unless she had a total personality change in the last two years, which by the way I hadn't realized it's been two years since she last posted !

She cared enough about us to have made some statement as to why she's been away for so long and she didn't have a facebook account so I don't see her as having a twitter account either, especially as long as I don't see her as wanting anything to do with one of Musk's enterprises, she rather make fun of him then use his social media platform or that's my belief.

Christmas tree hunting is going to be easy this year with so few cams left :(