Obama is not the only one taking up new residence ...

... Pam moved to a new home last week. So, Pam, one week on, how do you like your new surroundings?

I like ... oh, you were talking to Pam.

Well Shelagh there are always the perks that you never even thought of but yet are wonderful...we've moved from a big house into a 3 bedroom roomy apartment -- so my evenings are freer because there is no yard / lawn / wood to look after. I think I have "found" an hour a day which is a great treat! Our neighbours are quiet and really friendly (lots of seniors in here, which I love, and they all know each other). The view of the sun streaking across the clouds at sunset is beautiful too.
Now, if I could just find the lid to my teapot (it's here somewhere, it just has to be!) I could stop making tea in a mug and it would start tasting like it should!

Okay, Dick, tell us, what do you like?

Well Pam, you never know, there may be even more perks. Time will tell.

Dick, inquiring minds want to know, mine included. We know you love Jackie and are devoted to Sophie, but there are clearly other things...

Shelagh, that'd be good. And a little balance for the bugs that I had to kill when I first met the new kitchen. Ah, apartment living !

Don't know about Dick, but you KNOW what I like...

lin wrote:

Don't know about Dick, but you KNOW what I like...

Chantilly lace, that pretty face
That ponytail, a`hangin' down
A wiggle and a walk and the way you talk...
Ohhh baby, that's what I like!

Sorry... flashback...

You got it.

Feelin loose like a long necked goose

You guys are too easy to read!!

Pam, I always hated apartment living, but an older crowd (quiter) would be appealing. It is difficult to think when surrounded by noisy neighbors and energetic children. The bugs are annoying (more so than lettuce, I would think), but if you fumigate, they go back where they came from.

Have fun setting it all up, and good luck locating the lid to your teapot!

J.P Richardson, the Big Bopper, died in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens the year I graduated from high school. 1959.

And the words to Chantilly Lace, which Brew was so kind to remind me of.

______________________


Hello baby, yeah, this is the Big Bopper speaking
Oh you sweet thing
Do I what Will I what
Oh baby you know what I like

Chantilly lace and a pretty face
And a pony tail hanging down
That wiggle in the walk and giggle in the talk
Makes the world go round, round, round
There ain't nothing in the world like a big eyed girl
That makes me act so funny, make me spend my money
Make me feel real loose like a long necked goose
Like a girl, oh baby that's what I like

What's that baby
But, but, but, oh honey
But, oh baby you know what I like

LOL - Thanks, Don. Now THAT'S music! The Big Bopper, Buddy Holley, Richie Valens and all that old gang of rockers were legends!

Pam,
Nova Scotia, ah yes New Scotland, sounds a very cosy place to live. A friend of mine was thinking of buying some land and a large house there. First he wanted to move to America but they refused him the Green Card, so he opted for Canada instead. He read on some magazine that you could buy a really decent size house in Nova for a fraction of what it costs here in the UK.

I expect the winters must get really cold there. Do you get much snow?

zadaconnaway wrote:

YThe bugs are annoying (more so than lettuce, I would think), but if you fumigate, they go back where they came from.

Have fun setting it all up, and good luck locating the lid to your teapot!

Zada I cannot believe that you remembered the lettuce - what a riot! I am fumigating this weekend - will lay the goo and then get out for a bit. It's one of the hazards of a damp climate and I have not seen any of the buggers since I wrote that message (I sprayed vinegar in the cupboards), I cannot take any chances!

Abdul you are right that houses here are way less than in the UK - I have family over there. An average, new 3 bedroom 1000 sq ft row house (a semi or terrace over there, I think) is $200,000. You can also buy a renovated 20 year old 3-bedroom bungalow with a finished basement, nice yard and on a nice residential street for $189,000. They are more expensive near water of course, but Nova Scotia housing is less expensive than many other places here.

Snow is an interesting topic. In mainland Nova Scotia, where Halifax sits, there is not a lot of snow (I grew up in the prairies, where snow is the order of the day). It falls heavy, thick and fast, ices up the roads and buggers up the traffic but then it quickly melts/gets scraped and salted off and the roads are clear again. Unless there is a Nor'easter or a blizzard (once or twice a winter). Most of our weather systems actually comes from the southwest (over the Great Lakes) or straight south where warm humid air flows in. However, Cape Breton, which is a large island that makes up the northern area (complete with our own highlands), get WAY more snow, wind, rain and crap weather than the mainland. I like to think it has something to do with how far it sticks out into the Atlantic. Housing is much less expensive there too, but you don't have a whole lot of job options. Great if you are a writer and want to work from home!

If you visit this link, Halifax is to the left of the D (middle, on the South coast) and Cape Breton is the area on the right, around the F K and 11.

I love the four seasons and I can't imagine living without snow. Each season has its excitement but winter is special. It reminds me of a comment in the movie, "Lawrence of Arabia," where Lawrence was asked, "What do you like about the desert," and he replied, "It's clean." That's how I feel about snow, among other things of course.

Abe, I know what you mean. The snow here is very different than it was on the prairies, and last winter (my first here in NS), I saw the most amazing thing. The snow here is so heavy and wet that when you put the snow shovel to it and push, it compacts together and you get to see the same blue colour that you see looking into glaciers or icebergs. It's one of the most spectacular sights of nature I have ever seen -- and I am sure to see it this winter too. I'll have to try and capture it with my camera.

Snow may be nice to look at, but it sure is a pain trying to wade through it to feed the animals! The phrase 'pure as the driven snow' comes to mind, and I think of all the yellow spots that get left in it and the poor trees that sag from the weight of it when it gets deep. After a day or two, I find myself wishing it would just melt so I only have to contend with the mud!!

Zada,
after your comments about the snow, I just felt I had to share the following with you.

Dear Diary
Aug 12 Moved to our new home in Pennsylvania. It is so beautiful here. The Mountains are so majestic. Can hardly wait to see them with snow covering them. I love it here.

Oct 14 Pennsylvania is the most beautiful place on Earth. The leaves have turned to all the colors and shades of red and orange. Went for a ride through the beautiful mountains and saw some Deer. They are so graceful, certainly they are the most wonderful animals on earth. This must be Paradise. I love it here.

Nov 11 Deer season will start soon. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to kill such a gorgeous creature. Hope it will snow soon. I love it here.

Dec 2 It snowed last night. Woke up to find everything blanketed with white. It looks like a postcard. We went outside and cleaned the snow off the steps and shoveled the driveway. We had a snow ball fight (I won), and when the snowplow came by, we had to shovel the driveway again. What a beautiful place. I love Pennsylvania.

Dec 12 More snow last night. I love it. The snowplow did his trick again to the driveway. I love it here.

Dec 19 More snow last night. Couldn’t get out of the driveway to get to work. I am exhausted from shoveling. Damn Snowplow.

Dec 22 More of that white shit fell last night. I’ve got blisters on my hands from shoveling. I think the snowplow hides around the curve and waits until I’m done shoveling the driveway. Asshole!

Dec 25 Merry Christmas! More friggen snow. If I ever get my hands on the son-of-a-bitch who drives that snowplow, I swear I’ll kill the bastard. Don’t know why they don’t use more salt on the roads to melt the damn ice.

Dec 27 More white shit last night. Been inside for 3 days except for shoveling out the driveway after that snowplow goes through every time. Can’t go anywhere, cars stuck in a mountain of white shit. The weatherman says to expect another 10” of the shit again tonight. Do you have any idea how many shovels full of snow 10” is?

Dec 28 The stupid weatherman was wrong. We got 34” of that white shit this time. At this rate it won’t melt before next summer. The snowplow got stuck up the road and that bastard came to the door and asked to borrow my shovel. After I told him I had broken six shovels already shoveling all the shit he pushed into my driveway, I broke my last one over his frigin head.

Jan 4 Finally got out of the house today. Went to the store to get food and on the way back a damned Deer ran in front of the car and I hit it. Did about $3,000 damage to the car. Those frigin beasts should be killed. Wish the hunters had killed them all last November.

May 3 Took the car to the garage in town. Would you believe the thing is rusting out from the damn salt they put all over the road.

May 10 Moved to Georgia. I can’t imagine why anyone in their right mind would ever live in that God-forsaken State of Pennsylvania.

Abe - hilarious!

Zada you reminded me a of Laura Ingalls and Little House on the Prairie with your thoughts on snow. I too am fair weathered snow lover - it's nice to look at, marvel at the beauty and science of it all. But it's a pain in the butt if you have a long driveway or a long drive to work too.

That was great, Abe. So true as well, at least for a lot of people. From a sixth floor balcony, a snowfall is truly beautiful. Riding the elevator to ground level and finding your car blocked in brings on a different feeling. Still, I'd hate to live in a place where they don't get snow. I spent a winter in Georgia, another in Louisiana and I'll swear both places were colder than Ohio, perhaps because of the dampness.

There is nothing more beautiful than being in a basement and watching it snow.

At our daughter's house in Michigan we built ourselves a basement bedroom.

I feel as though I am in the midst of a snowglobe when it snows.

Our son-in-law got a snowblower for the driveway.
The shovelng was very tedious.

That was great, Abe. I had seen a similar one, but it was on Oklahoma and the heat. Both are hilarious.

Pam, I hope your new digs are great, but everytime it snows now, I shall think of you!

Zada, we are dubugged and -- drum roll -- I hung pictures and found the teapot lid. Things are looking good...and I have the Christmas music playing too.

When the first flakes start to glide down in the breeze... I'm drawn into a magical existence in a parallel universe:

http://jeh.5u.com/christmas/snowfall/snowscenes.htm

Beautiful pictures, Abdul!