The good news is that today I'm home from work, with the
whole day in front of me to do as I please.

The bad news is that it's 15 degrees Celsius in the house.

Yay, the furnace is dead! Let the bells ring and the
banners fly!!

Certain unhealthy noises (like a fan whirring at
high speed, but off kilter and in need of oiling)
from the furnace whenever it was about to start up in
the past two days gave us warning that something was
not right. The noises got louder, and last night when
we got home from visiting Mom the noise was very
loud indeed. DH called our service provider and
requested a repairman come out to check things out.
They said that they'd be here sometime this morning.
I got elected to stay home and wait for them. Hurray!
A day off work.

This morning when we got up the furnace was dead.
(Whoopee, a day off work in a freezing cold house!!)
So DH called again to let them know that we now had
no heat and the request for service was to be upgraded
to URGENT!!

And so here I sit. The little portable heater is in the
bathroom trying to keep that room warm and the
pipes from freezing. The gas fireplace in the den
is roaring and keeping that room cozy. I'm in the
computer room above the den/fireplace, which is a
bit chilly, typing this entry. We'll see how long I
can last before my knees freeze. Hopefully the
repairman will be here before too long else I'll
have to think about turning off the water next.


It's been pretty cold around here during the
past few weeks, so being without heat in the
house is not a good thing. We don't get the
cold-cold temperatures here in Southern
Ontario that other parts of the province and
country can and do get more regularly. I
think that the average temperature for this
time of year around here is around -5 Celsius.
Lately it's been around -17 to -24 Celsius,
which is a BIG difference.

After years of complaining about not getting the wonderful,
old fashioned winters of our youth these past couple of
winters appear to be trying to make up for lost time. It's
been great weather for hibernating, either because of snow,
snow and more snow, or because the temperatures have
been incredibly frigid.

It was wonderful to have a white Christmas, although
the torrent of rain that we had on boxing day made it a
close thing, but now we're heading towards the end of
January and we've still got at least two more months
of winter weather to suffer through.



At least winter weather is a great excuse for spending the
day indoors, keeping warm (assuming your furnace is
working) and stitching. Not a lot of progress on "My
Needle's Work" but there has been some. Please excuse
the wonky, tilted picture. I really love the clothes that
this little lady is wearing, especially her striped underskirt
and her high button shoes.

*****************************************************

This week my Mom will be evaluated by the doctor,
therapist and others at the rehab centre and they will
decide if she is able to return to the seniors residence
where she's lived for the past five years, or if she no
longer meets the physical standards that the seniors
residence has set for those living there anymore and
should be living in an assisted care facility.

She has made remarkable progress in the past months
even in spite of the two week hospital stay in December
because of the C-Dificile. She is now getting herself
up in the mornings and is washed and dressed and
sitting in her wheelchair when the nursing attendants
arrive expecting to "help" her get ready for the day.

She has been using her walker to go to and from the
dinning room for meals, and for walks up and down
the hallway to strengthen her legs and build her
stamina. If she returns to the seniors residence she
won't be able to use a wheelchair so being able to
walk safely and dependably (with a walker) is
imperative.

Mom is nervous, both about the assessment and also
about returning to the seniors residence. She does
not mention the possibility of moving to a long term
care facility. That is something she does not want
to happen.

On Sunday when we visited her DH and I packed up
some of her belongings to return them to her room at
the residence. I have to call this week and arrange for
the cable and the phone in the rehab place to be canceled
at months end.


I had a lovely package left squashed into my mailbox by
the postman yesterday from Stitching Bits and Bobs. A
few things that were on sale, and a few things that I'd
been wanting for awhile now. The two Lizzie Kate charts
and the LHN chart were designs I've been wanting and
am delighted to have. I have seen so many stitchers that
have stitched the Lizzie Kate Christmas is Forever and it
is just lovely. Soon as I finish with Halloween and Fall
projects, sometime around May I should think, I will be
starting this Christmas project.


Last weeks read was a popular fantasy novel which is
the first of three in the series....of course. I think these
may be classified by bookstores and libraries as Young
Adult books in case you're looking for them.

Anyone who loves books has probably fantasized at one
time or another about the possibility of having one (or
more) of their favourite characters popping out of the
book and existing in the real world.

In Inkheart it is revealed that Meggie's father Mo has
the ability to "read" characters and things out of books
when he reads out loud. The downside to this is that
whatever comes out of a book to our world has to be
replaced in the book by something or someone from
our world.

When Meggie was a very young child Mo discovered
his unusual talent while reading aloud to his wife and
daughter from a magical book called Inkheart. Suddenly
three characters from the book, including the evil
Capricorn and his henchman Basta, appear in their
living room, and Meggie's mother and their two cats vanish.
Unable to duplicate the feat and return the bewildered and
ruthless characters to the book and recover his wife, Mo
flees with Meggie and spends the next nine years in
hiding from Capricorn. But they are found and betrayed
by Dustfinger, the third character brought out of the book
who is desperately unhappy and out of place in this world
and is desperate to return to his life in Inkheart.

This was such a fun and fascinating book to read. I knew
that the movie Inkheart was coming out soon (this weekend
actually) and at first I planned to see the movie first and
then read the books. But somehow I couldn't wait and
grabbed this book when looking for something to read. I
really want to see the movie, if time allows, but I have to
say that after reading the first book and then watching the
trailer for the movie there's very little happening in the
trailer that I could identify from the book. Oh well, isn't
that almost always the way???

****************************************************

Would have liked to have had yesterday off work so that
I could have watched the presidential inauguration down
in the States. Instead a group of us from my department
gathered around a computer (while our supervisor was on
lunch) and watched the live feed on CNN during the
crucial part of the ceremony when the oaths of office were
administered to Biden and Obama. The feed kept freezing
but at least we didn't miss anything.

We knew that we could watch the highlights on TV last night,
but we wanted the thrill of actually seeing it happen live.
Something to remember for the rest of our lives. It was very
moving to watch and most of us had tears in our eyes and grins
on our faces as we watched it all unfold. And all those people
who turned out in the cold and stood for hours just so that
they could be there when this historic event happened was
an incredible sight to see. What a wonderful day for the
United States and it's people.


Rupert is down in front of the fire, while Phoebe is sticking
close to me here next to the computer. When I'm done here
I'm moving downstairs and will sit and stitch in front of the
fire. Hopefully the repair guy will be here soon.

Have a great week folks and thanks for visiting.

Cheers!