Wednesday

Brrr was the order for the day in what is usually hot, humid and sunny Florida. I complain about the a/c on whereas now it is the heat on. Luckily it's not to cold that the heat pump doesn't work; but it's downright cold here for the past day or so. It was in the low 30's with a wind chill into the middle 20's. I know I should be thankful I'm not in the northern sections of the country as it's really cold there with below zero temps and minus wind chills, oh well!!!

Tuesday was anything but usual including the weather. It never much got out of the 40's and the wind never stopped blowing. We did see some sunshine but that seemed to make no difference temp wise. I had covered my gardens tender plants with old sheets and they seemed to have survived for now but I will see the difference once it warms up again if they will live and produce. By this weekend we are expecting the temps to get back in the 80's. Usually the cold for some plants stuns them and sends them into a downward stage before finally dying. Cucumbers and green beans are a couple of plants the cold really effects along with sweet basil. The cabbage family does great with the cold so I have plenty in that linage with the collards, Brussel sprouts and lettuces.

I skipped pickle ball today as I drove Nancy to the clinic for an endoscopy as we had to be there at 8 AM.. She has been having pain in the chest and stomach area along with heartburn, bloating and all the symptoms of IBS. Well the procedure showed she has a minor hiatal hernia as well as some gastritis. This diagnosis will cause some lifestyle changes to correct it for now. Hopefully we can do that by using some common sense eating habits and it will require us to limit our indulgence in the huge family meals; in other words we need to lose a few pounds and eat smaller portions. I will continue to eat the hot spicy foods; but Nancy must limit herself with less chocolate.

We were back home by 11 AM and it was still cold as a well diggers drill especially with the brisk breeze. Amy picked up GG and they came for a lunch of canned soup, salad and deli sandwiches. Afterwards Nancy made a batch of ginger snaps which are actually good for the gut except for the sugar. We are anxiously awaiting Amy to go into labor and we thought surely this barometric change would send her to the hospital; but no movement as of yet.

Nancy took the frozen standing rib roast bones from Christmas dinner and made a pot of beef barley soup for supper and wow was that ever delicious on a cold evening. We have enough leftover for lunch today when the gang comes, yumm!! After the clean up we settled into the Fox News channel where the news is broadcast in a forthright manner and not like a bunch of sycophants that want to cover for an inept administration. We learned this bunch in D.C. is letting the terrorists takeover major cities in Iraq that were settled with American blood and it looks as if the same thing will happen in Afghanistan. Those in the region who favored us against the terrorist are now losing faith and their lives. We continue to give into the regime in Iran and once they develop enough plutonium for a bomb they will annihilate Israel and Jordan who once considered us as their allies.

 There is no real leadership in Washington and our state department is a joke; of course " what difference does it matter". We are in trouble not only here at home with once again unemployment benefits being renewed because this administration has failed to promote policies that help the private sector to add jobs so folks can get employment; this bunch has thwarted efforts for that to happen. I'm beginning to think there is no common sense in D.C. and their actions want to keep folks dependent on the government. We are in a world of hurt if we don't get some real leadership and I don't fault just one party. It's the whole bunch that needs to go and I think we need to start voicing our concerns about those who purport to be there for us. We have cantered to the special interests for so long it's now coming back to bite us. There is a major culture shift taking place in America with the government aiding an abetting through legislation to accomplish this shift. That's my take on what's happening with this administration and I wish those who have access to the people through the major media outlets would report what is happening in a straight forward manner. Thankfully we have FOX News which seems to report the facts and doesn't spin it to make some look good or cover up what's really happening in our land and around the world, LATER