[lizzieb]

Matina arthritis in the feet sounds horrible! I'm sorry you have to deal with that! I had to look up what 38 degrees Celsius was in Fahrenheit and wow that is hot! Still I would trade with you in a heartbeat if I could.
Have an enjoyable time at the pub!

[kathlyn]

Evening all hey Stretton and Lizzieb like Matina in SA
we're expecting the same here in NSW atleast 39c, tomorrow is supposed to be 41c
so melting of a different kind Lizzieb I guess cause we don't experience the snow and cold in Australia like you all do, we wish for it anyway, you wouldn't like the heat , our summer here is really hot Nice to see you hello bear and ice how are you both hi john I think we need snow porn today Good morning Pj I hope you are ok and the mountains are cool as usual Matina wish I was going with you enjoy Have a good day or night everybody else

[Stretton]

Oh Lizzieb black ice is not a good thing that's for sure... stay off the brakes and drive safely!!

No, Matina I definitely wouldn't want your heat.. I'll have a snowy winter and a semi mild summer any day!! We have equalized power payments here, do you have that? We tend to use a lot of power over the winter, so it spreads the payments over the summer... and when they read the meter at the end of the year, your monthly payment either goes up, down, or stays the same depending on your usage for the year... I would think with your A/C usage over the summer, it could be spread over your cooler winter months...

[br195]

Evening all

so unlike Stretton it is below 0 here and roads and sidewalks are snow covered..... first snowfall of the winter has come and stopped for now...

Matina stay cool and if possible off your feet... katy you stay cool.... looks like you are both in for some hot times....perhaps you can take a little trip up to pj's...

Hi lizzieb

[pjmpjm]

Good morning to matina and Alessa and Katy and all the other eastern hemisphere folks. It's a beautiful, sunny day up here, with a fairly strong breeze, but the temperature has crept up to 26 degrees over the morning and I suspect it will get even hotter today. Not that it compares at all with western Sydney and Penrith . . . nearly 40 down there?

Nice to hear from you again, lizzieb. We get 'black ice' up here in the Blue Mountains during the winter . . . once in a while. Nothing is done about it. The Great Western Highway is closed and everyone just waits for it to melt! My brother in Maine had some wet snow yesterday, but I think it's mainly changed to rain now. Very miserable weather there at the moment . . .

Stretton, I just switched energy providers again last week, for electricity and gas, to the cheapest option I could find (Energy Australia) and they offer a discount if you pay on time and also promise to 'lock in' prices for a full two years. So if supplier prices go down, my bills will drop, but if they go up, my bills will stay the same. So they say. I think some retailers here also offer the plan you mentioned, that 'smooths out' bills over the year. My brother has supplementary wood heating in his house, and uses it instead of oil as much as he can. His business offices and sheds are all heated only by wood.

Hi to br bear and Ice, and John and Diva, and all the TFBWL regulars. Am including a photo I took yesterday of some of the decorations at our local supermarket.

[Stretton]

Oh that's interesting that you have multiple providers... we only have the one in our province, it's a monopoly... Can you not pit the companies against each other? Like say to your current provider that you will switch if they don't give you a better deal? Well, not now that you're with someone new, but can you do it down the road?

[pjmpjm]

Found this beautiful new rose next to my driveway when I returned from my 1 pm 'skin checkup' with Dr. Wong in Katoomba. Also had a black 'whatever it's called' frozen off my neck. It was harmless but a bit unsightly. Dr. Wong will retire at the end of the month; he's almost exactly my age. We had a nice talk about retirement. He was born in Hong Kong but has spent most of his life in NSW.

matina, I sure hope you can find relief from your arthritis. Have you ever tried the various kinds of TENS machines? I have a couple of friends who've found them helpful.

https://www.tensmachine.com.au/

Katy, up to 27 degrees here now. A heatwave!

Hi to booktopia, AuntBessie and Blue as well . . .

[matina]

@PJ nice rose.No i haven't tried those ,but i did try the circulation booster that Dawn Fraser advertises, i got it on the 2 week trial 3 years ago after the 3rd day of using it i got severe nose bleeds even ice on the neck wasn't helping. i told my gp and he told me to stop using it immediately and said those things will not be good for me, i dont know why. but as soon as i stopped using them haven't had a nose bleed since except the odd one where i need to burn the blood vessel close to the surface that happens every 4-5 years.
Plus those Tens machines are more for the back and shoulders not the feet themselves and not much one can do for that except manage pain and swelling which now most of my medication is being reviewed no more anti inflammatory's for me Advil was my drug of choice. so trying new stuff to see what works ;-(
in Australia we have no ozone layer protection the hole in the ozone layer is directly above us so in our heat you burn even in the car on a nice 20 degree day through tinted windows you burn if your driving for more than 25 minutes. So you can imagine what happens in 35 -38 degree days or even 45-48 degree days. Id rather freeze than cook to death
@ stretton no when our quarter usage comes you need to pay or work out a payment plan (which puts you on a bad credit list)
we are with simple energy PJ a Victorian company and we get discounted rates as we are R.A.A. members and pay on time discounts.

[kathlyn]

Hi Pj that's a beautiful coloured rose my poor plants are not happy it's now reached 37c here and they will need a good water later on Matina I hope your doing ok although I know your poor feet won't be in the heat and yes I'd rather freeze than cook like we are at the moment john send us some snow porn hi to diva, alessa, Stretton, auntbessie, booktopia I hope your all well nap time for me bye for now

[pjmpjm]

The above picture is from one of my 2016 Christmas cards, when 'the kittens' were only a year old. They still look quite similar and haven't grown very big after two years. Both are very healthy, though.

matina, sorry to hear that about the TENS machine. In theory, it looks like a great option . . . but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I was thinking of those Allan Border TV advertisements, where he sits on his couch and reads his Kindle while getting good circulation back into his feet and legs. I guess Dawn Fraser and Evonne Goolagong Cawley did similar commercials too.

Katy, up to 29 degrees here now, which is about as hot as it usually gets in the upper mountains, except on rare occasions. And it usually cools off fairly quickly when the sun goes down.

Stretton, yes, we have an energy system in Australia now where various 'retailers' compete to sell you the exact same electricity. As matina says, our prices have been going up and up, even (natural) gas prices . . . and Australia is one of the world's biggest natural gas producers. Anyhow, I might save a few dollars. Every little bit helps . . .

Heading back over to the post office now . . .

[matina]

be safe out and about PJ let me know when you are home. hugs to the triad and special ones to the big boy Cosmo

[13Ice]

Here is a little snow porn for the Ausieteers , the is the view out my front door, please come and take it away...far far away

[matina]

i could just face plant myself in that and stay there till i became frozen solid. oh and the little mountain of it just across the road i would turn into a snow Jacuzzi lol katy where are you girl???? thank you for sharing Ice i would like to take a photo outside at the moment but you wont see anything but the heat waves coming off everything its a microwave out there, i think it would fry my phone

COFFEE TIME!!!

[pjmpjm]

Ice, will leave the snow for matina, since temperatures here didn't quite reach the 30 degree mark today.

Back from the PO so have got everything done for today, including my 'whatsit' removal.

Katy, am sure you had a very sunny day . . .

Photo above isn't by me, but shows the Mount Riverview fire station at dusk . . .

Nap . . .

[kathlyn]

OK outta my way I'm goin in heading for the big pile of snow

Matina I'm right there with you Thank you ice ,it must be freezing for you but it's a little bit of heaven to us here sleep well Night bear too Pj it's currently 38c have a good nap
I'll say good night to you and Matina take care both of you always John have a good day I hope your ok Good morning to all just waking up hi nonny and Kat