Cost of Building a Gazebo

The gazebo is just about ready for siding.

As the building season winds down, we are starting to look at how must the gazebo has cost so far. You may remember that we had budgeted about $4000.00 for this project based mostly on hopes and wishes (and the amount we had saved). Well, okay, we did have a little experience with the potting shed project so we knew at least which materials we would need to buy if not how much of each. The shed was a very expensive project though, coming in at around $7000.00 if I remember correctly, and it was a lot less wasteful of materials than the gazebo has been. There are lots of big triangular plywood offcuts lying around that just couldn’t be used in the roof of the new building just as an example. Even with that and with Hubby over-engineering just about every aspect of the project like he’s building a skyscraper we have somehow managed to spend less than the budget.

Here’s a rundown on what’s been spent so far…

Item	Number	Cost Each	GST	PST	Total
H Clips 1/2 inch	50	$2.50	$0.13	$0.26	$2.89
Bevel Square	1	$7.99	$0.40	$0.84	$9.23
Bolt Lag 5/16 X 6	16	$12.64	$0.63	$1.33	$14.60
Construction Adhesive	2	$9.98	$0.50	$1.05	$11.53
Corners screen frame pkg.	1	$3.30	$0.17	$0.35	$3.81
Deck Block	9	$53.91	$2.70	$5.66	$62.27
Deck Boards cedar 5/4 X 4 X 12	8	$48.16	$2.41	$5.06	$55.62
Deck Boards cedar 5/4 X 4 X 8	60	$193.80	$9.69	$20.35	$223.84
Deck screws 2.5 inch pounds	10	$52.90	$2.65	$5.55	$61.10
Deck screws 3.0 inch pounds	5	$26.45	$1.32	$2.78	$30.55
Deck screws 3.5 inch pounds	8	$40.74	$2.04	$4.28	$47.05
Deck screws 2 in pounds	2	$10.58	$0.53	$1.11	$12.22
Drip Edge	9	$78.03	$3.90	$8.19	$90.12
End Cut Preservative	1	$8.99	$0.45	$0.94	$10.38
Fibreglass screen 48X100' roll	1	$108.35	$5.42	$11.38	$125.14
Frame screen 4 ft pc	4	$25.32	$1.27	$2.66	$29.24
Gripgard ice dam roll	1	$64.00	$3.20	$6.72	$73.92
Hanger Nails Box	1	$20.69	$1.03	$2.17	$23.90
Hinge pair	1	$6.87	$0.34	$0.72	$7.93
Joist Hangers 2 X 10	20	$32.00	$1.60	$3.36	$36.96
Landscape Cloth	1	$8.99	$0.45	$0.94	$10.38
Leather Tool Belt	1	$15.98	$0.80	$1.68	$18.46
Nails 1 1/4 Aluminum White	1	$7.49	$0.37	$0.79	$8.65
Nails 1 in Roofing lbs.	5	$11.45	$0.57	$1.20	$13.22
Nails 2.5 in Spiral box	2	$11.98	$0.60	$1.26	$13.84
Nails Finishing Galv. 1.5 in box	1	$5.99	$0.30	$0.63	$6.92
Nails Roofing 1 in. box	1	$14.69	$0.73	$1.54	$16.97
Paint Behr Ultra white	1	$45.97	$2.30	$4.83	$53.10
Patio Stone 18 X 18	10	$59.90	$3.00	$6.29	$69.18
Pine 1 X 4 X 8 clear	8	$50.56	$2.53	$5.31	$58.40
Pine 1 X 6 X 6 clear	8	$95.36	$4.77	$10.01	$110.14
Pine 1 X 6 X 8 clear	5	$71.74	$3.59	$7.53	$82.86
Plywood 1/2 in Select Spruce PT	6	$215.82	$10.79	$22.66	$249.27
Plywood 1/2 in Std Spruce	11	$237.17	$11.86	$24.90	$273.93
Plywood Meranti 1/4 in	3	$47.37	$2.37	$4.97	$54.71
Post Base 4 X 4 galvanized	8	$35.92	$1.80	$3.77	$41.49
River Stones 20 kg. Bags	30	$134.70	$6.74	$14.14	$155.58
Sandpaper 100 grit disk	2	$1.38	$0.07	$0.14	$1.59
Sandpaper 60 grit disk	2	$1.38	$0.07	$0.14	$1.59
Screen Door	1	$135.20	$6.76	$14.20	$156.16
Scrub Brush	1	$10.49	$0.52	$1.10	$12.12
Shingles Black Bundles	9	$209.67	$10.48	$22.02	$242.17
Shingles Cedar bundles	2	$42.00	$2.10	$4.41	$48.51
Skewable Hangers	6	$13.74	$0.69	$1.44	$15.87
Spline screen roll	1	$4.95	$0.25	$0.52	$5.72
Spout paint can	1	$1.58	$0.08	$0.17	$1.82
Spruce 2 X 10 X 10 PT	2	$33.94	$1.70	$3.56	$39.20
Spruce 2 X 10 X 12 PT	7	$136.22	$6.81	$14.30	$157.33
Spruce 2 X 10 X 8 PT	10	$131.72	$6.59	$13.83	$152.14
Spruce 2 X 4 X 10	18	$54.80	$2.74	$5.75	$63.29
Spruce 2 X 4 X 10 PT	10	$42.80	$2.14	$4.49	$49.43
Spruce 2 X 4 X 12	20	$76.80	$3.84	$8.06	$88.70
Spruce 2 X 4 X 8	26	$86.22	$4.31	$9.05	$99.58
Spruce 2 X 4 X 8 PT	22	$83.38	$4.17	$8.75	$96.30
Spruce 2 X 6 X 10	6	$30.00	$1.50	$3.15	$34.65
Spruce 2 X 6 X 12	6	$36.00	$1.80	$3.78	$41.58
Spruce 2 X 6 X 8	12	$43.20	$2.16	$4.54	$49.90
Spruce 4 X 4 X 8 PT	10	$88.88	$4.44	$9.33	$102.66
Tarpaper Roll	1	$24.99	$1.25	$2.62	$28.86
Thompson Water Seal large	1	$44.99	$2.25	$4.72	$51.96
Thompson Water Seal regular	1	$22.99	$1.15	$2.41	$26.55
Washer Flat 5/16 Zinc	16	$0.80	$0.04	$0.08	$0.92
Weathervane	1	$86.45	$4.32	$9.08	$99.85
Wind Brace 11 ft.	4	$23.96	$1.20	$2.52	$27.67
Work Gloves	2	$4.00	$0.20	$0.42	$4.62
Grand Total	512	$3,350.81	$167.54	$351.84	$3,870.19

Obviously, the building is not yet complete so that $3,870.19 figure is going to go up but it won’t be by much. We have a lot of supplies already purchased that are just waiting to be used. We have the rest of the framing for the door and windows; we have the door, flooring, screening and some of the shingles. In fact, about all we have yet to buy is the remainder of the cedar shingles and the metal framing for the screens. We might just be able to buy that for less than $129.81 you never know!

Clothes Pegs, and other thoughts...

Clothes pegs, who would have thought that there would be so many different kinds of wooden clothes pegs? In my experience, there are well engineered pegs and some that won’t even last their first hanging. I’ve had some of each and others that fall in the range between, but believe it or not, there is a Ferrari of clothes pegs.

I was transferring my clothes pegs from the old peg bag to my new waitress apron and it struck me that I had quite a varied selection of peg types. I’ve put up a few pictures of the best and the worst just to show you what I mean. It seems to me that the bigger the curl is on the spring the better the peg holds the clothes on the line and the more it resists skewing to the side and falling apart. Luckily for me, I found some of the Ferrari types at Lee Valley Tools. I ordered some earlier this winter along with an indoor clothes line but the pegs were back-ordered. Honestly, who is hanging out so many clothes in the middle of winter that there would be a run on clothes pegs? Oh, maybe people like me.

I really try to cut down on our electricity bill as much as possible because we heat our house with an electric boiler. We built a R2000 home, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not going to try and save as much electricity as possible. With Hubby coming home with wet boots and clothing after working outside all day and needing them for work the next day, the drier has to be running along with a heater on the boots to dry them out. He does have two pairs of boots in rotation but they still take time to dry out. Wet feet make for a very unhappy Hubby! Using the clothes line, either the one inside or the one outside, reduces our need to run the electric appliances.

These clothes pegs do withstand the wind, which saves money because they don’t twist apart and fly all over the acreage. We don’t want to be chopping up clothes pegs with the lawn tractor and we really don’t want to be chasing clothes down the hill, so it is worth the few pennies extra to buy Ferrari quality pegs if we can find them.

Our mantra is “don’t buy cheap goods, buy goods, cheap”. Clothes pegs, included!

Shiny New Pots!

It’s been awhile since I’ve written about money issues but this week I’m going to tell you how we saved ourselves $600!

You may remember awhile back that I mentioned receiving an inheritance from a long lost relative. At that time we decided that we would buy a piece of original artwork from the money so that we would be able to remember receiving this gift for many years. Well, it turns out that there were more assets in Eric’s estate that needed to be distributed and so; we will soon receive another small amount of money. The question was how to use this in such a way that we would think about him and what he had done for us.

We’ve had the same crappy old set of cooking pots for over 30 years. It’s been this mismatched amalgamation of an old set from Sears and 2nd’s from factory outlets in the States that my Dad bought for us. We also had a few extra pieces we picked up here and there. The lids of some of the pots had started to crack off years ago. Hubby has had to reattach them using various methods including hot melt glue (not advisable) and epoxy. It was embarrassing for us to let anyone see them and we have wanted to replace them for a long time. What a perfect way to use Eric’s money!

So I started to research different cookware manufacturers. I was looking for both high quality and Canadian manufacturing. There were not too many manufacturers that fit this set of requirements but Paderno soon rose to the top of our list and we began to look for stores to buy them from.



Last weekend we spent a whole day crawling every kitchen supply store on the Witch’s Island looking at pot sets. Have you any idea just how few pots available in our stores are actually made in Canada? Not many, is the short answer. Paderno sets were particularly hard to come by and we ended our shopping experience by deciding to do some more research.

While on the internet I decided, just for fun, to look at some used goods sites and to my great surprise, I found someone who was selling a set of Paderno pots for $500! The set she was selling is listed on Paderno’s website for a staggering $899! On top of that they had apparently never been used and were still in their original box. What kind of crazy person spends this money on pots and doesn't use them? Apparently, someone who receives them as a gift and who already owns a set.

This is a much bigger set than we had even considered but it had everything we needed and more. Here’s the description from the Paderno website:

“Paderno's largest and most complete set of "Pots for Eternity" are made in Prince Edward Island and feature a heat conductive bottom pad for superior cooking performance, durable welded handles and a flared, no-drip lip. Paderno's precise heat control, durability, ease of use and elegant design make it ideal for both home and restaurant use. Backed by our exceptional 25 year warranty. Set includes: 1.5L, 2L & 3L Saucepans, 3L Steamer, 6.5L Dutch Oven, 24cm Frying Pan, 1.5L Double Boiler, 4L Casserole, 6 covers List Price: $899”

I decided that I would try and get even more of a bargain. So, I called and told the woman that I was looking for a Paderno set but I only had a $300 budget and would she consider this amount? I was amazed that she said “yes”. I even said it again that I could only spend $300, okay? She agreed again and the next day we traveled all the way to the Big City to see the pots. They were exactly as advertised, still in the box, still wrapped in plastic and still with their original price tags in place! Wow, we grabbed them and ran, thinking that there had to be a catch somewhere. We even had to stop in a Timmy’s parking lot to count all 14 pieces just to make sure. They were all there; my faith in humanity is restored! All we have to do now is sell off the old stuff at a yard sale this summer. The “Urge to Purge” will be the theme! Thank you, Eric.





After all the excitement of bargain pots, we went to the Village to look for some bargain clothing. I found some great stuff there, too. I got two pairs of jeans, a game for next weekend’s “Game Night” and a flower vase to replace the one Hubby broke last year while “dusting”. I bought this all with the last of my Christmas gift certificates meaning no money out of pocket. The vase is “Hoosier” glass and it weighs a ton so it’s not going to tip over, easily. I can hardly wait to put some flowers in it. Hubby, are you paying attention?



Then it was on to grocery shopping. Why, oh why, do we go grocery shopping at the busiest grocery store on Witch’s Island at the busiest time of the week? We had to line up just to get down each aisle. Then we had to wait for almost twenty minutes at the checkout line. Hubby was set to blow and swears never to go back to this store again, we’ll see.



We did get some good buys, though. We spent $100.02 on all the stuff you can see in the pictures but $40 of that was for the chicken which we split into 8 two breast packs. That’s enough for eight different meals for us so it was a real bargain.

All in all, it was a very successful shopping day.

Expensive day on Saturday

One of Hubby's computer monitors died this week, just like that, without any warning. So off we went to spend our dough, the Dough-Nuts! I don't know where this saying came from (It came from a cartoon of some sort that tried to teach financial responsibilty to kids and it was from a long time ago. I think that the whole sequence went "Off they go, to spend their dough, without their common sense, The Dough-Nuts!" ed.) but I love it and thought it was the right space to incorporate it. Anyway, Hubby did find a monitor at a good price and seems happy as it is up and running. It's a substantial upgrade as he went from a 15" flat-screen to a 23 incher to partner the 19" he got a couple of years ago. He has dual monitors cause he is "special". Actually, he is very special to me and the dual monitors he needs for work purposes. (Yeah, right! ed.)

I also spent some money on myself as I needed a down-filled jacket for work. It can get very cold at my work station and it's not even winter yet. So after much searching I bought one, on sale of course, half price, but still $100.00. I didn't get down-filled, either, just fibre-filled. The down ones weren't on sale anywhere and were more like $300.00 and I just couldn't justify it. I did check my favourite boutique,Value Village, first but they didn't have anything suitable. The jacket I got is light weight so I can wear it while working away and it looks good on me so I guess it was worth the price.

As I said, it can get very cold in my work area and this chicky-poo doesn't plan on freezing her booty off. I also bought myself a small heater for under my work table. I can handle the heat in the summer but not the cold in the winter. So I'm as prepared as I can be.

I'm gearing up for Halloween. This Friday Hubby and I have the day booked off and we will begin to carve the pumpkins. I'll probably make some kind of cookie or cupcakes and roast some Devil Seeds (spicy pumpkin seeds). I love to bake near Halloween. Maybe it's just the cooler weather but for some reason it just brings out the creative side of me.



Oh, the IT Department finally got some sidebars up for me. I still haven't decided what they should show yet but at least they're working although only in a testing format.

Hope you like the pictures and I'll try to post again before Halloween.

Today at Work

I’m having an interesting time at work this week. I’m on a training course to re-certify for my current profession (one of many!). I’m sorry that I can't elaborate about the work I do, some things are better left to the imagination, but I think that I, and my co-workers, get paid very decently for our skills. That’s what brings me to the reason I'm posting tonight.

Like a lot of workplaces we usually deal with just a certain group of people on a day to day basis, but because of this training a lot of people from different departments have all been thrown together in one room and I have really been surprised how much they have been talking about money and their debts, which are huge! Some have had to take in boarders to help them pay the mortgage and utilities and to just to get by. These people make great money and are spending so far beyond their paychecks that they have actually become too far behind to catch up. SAD... but they are still spending like stupid fools. And it is on such frivolous things like football games away, at an expense they can't ever dream of paying off, giant wide screen T.V.'s to watch the games on, new trucks, the latest and greatest cell phones and some other techy stuff I'd never heard of. I wanted to scream at them “What are you thinking!!!” If I knew that Gail Vaz-Oxlade had a hot line I would have given them the number quickly before they racked up any more bills.

It sometimes makes me feel bad that I don't just go out there and splurge on all these luxuries. Man, I would love to see an NFL football game (I'm a Raiders fan) but then I realize I would never do it because I have responsibilities. When we pay off the mortgage we will have lots of time to enjoy football games, etc. And we won't need the newest and greatest cell phone because we will be retired. It’ll be just one less bill to pay. I do spend some money now and again at a fancy boutique shop, though. We call it Value Village.

Work and Retirement

It has been awhile since I have written about money and work.

I started this blog to help track my goals with money and motivate me to pay off the mortgage before I retire. My goal for both work retirement and mortgage retirement is less than 5 years. Yup, you read that statement right! Five years. I’ll bet that gets you to thinking “How old is the Witch, anyway”. I'll never tell; you'll just have to use your imagination for that one.

When I started things here I had a lot of information in public view in a series of sidebars. It was fun to keep them updated to watch them advance towards each goal. However, I took them down for privacy reasons, (my sister’s advice) and now I find it hard to blog about money anymore, which is a real bummer for me. So, in case you’ve been here from the start, here’s a little update.

I'm still paying extra every month on the mortgage as I have for the past two years. I wish we could continue in this vein, but it has come to the point now where we are probably going to have to buy another truck and that will eat up the money we are using to make the extra payments. That might mean that we will have the mortgage for longer than we planned and that may have an impact on my retirement date. Maybe we can still keep the vehicles going for awhile longer (one's 16 years old the other 10).

On a more positive note, I have met and even exceeded my emergency fund goal, it a real comfort to know that it is there as backup, and our modest little vacation was bought and paid for with money left over for next time. So, I guess I’m doing pretty well!

So I guess this is where the work part comes in. I work for a great company and have had a promotion to a new job for which I'm still training. It’s a very complex and difficult position but I really love the challenge. The individual who is my trainer is very knowledgeable and so far it has been fantastic to learn from him. I may be retired before he gets through teaching me, though. Anyway, I guess if the truck becomes a reality I might have to work some overtime to continue putting the extra down on the mortgage. At least I have the option of picking up the extra shifts. Hubby works a lot of overtime and we are both going to retire at the same time (hopefully).

As for the sidebars, I’m going to put a couple of them back up. That is, as soon as I can remember how to do it. I might have to call in my Tech Support Team. “Hey, Hubby! What’cha doing?”

Update To My Goals For This Year

I thought that this would would be a good time to udate my resolution list for the year. I'm actually making pretty good progress for seven weeks! What do you think? How are you doing with your list?

1. Continue paying down that mortgage as fast as possible.
   We have decreased the tax portion of our bi-weekly payment by about $40 while increasing the total we are paying by $30 which means that we are paying about $150 extra per month on our principal.



2. Buy skates and use them.
   I bought a used pair from the old guy at the skate shop. I felt very sorry for him as it seems that he is not very well-off. I think that I will buy him a meal sometime as it looks like he may need it. As for the skates, now that I have them I'm afraid to use them in case I fall and break something.



3. Buy a Kayak and try and get over my fear of the water with a life jacket of course.
   No kayak yet and that water still looks scary.



4. Learn to play poker and get a good poker face.
   No poker yet either and I guess I'm sticking with the face I've got.



5. Smile more often (maybe that will be my poker face).
   I haven't been laughing too much lately because they have been "5 S"ing my shop at work. You'll know what I mean when the program comes your way.



6. Drink more water at work and home.
   This one has been easy and I'm loving it, even though I gurgle now when I walk.



7. Try new recipes.
   We have tried a few but no real winners yet.



8. Exercise more often, and use my hand weights.
   I am still just doing the walking thing, a couple of kilometers per day.



9. Lose 10 pounds (I have to weight myself first, so I may need to buy a scale).
   I haven't gotten around to getting the scale yet so I well on my way to achieving this goal (go ahead, prove me wrong!).



10. Open a TFSA account and try to max it out if the rates are worthwhile without those darling bank fees attached.
    I'm proud to say that I opened my TFSA two weeks ago and maxxed it out for the year. This will be our emergency fund for now.



11. Take a real vacation somewhere in the Maritimes.
    Vacation is still a long way away but it will happen.



12. Try to let go off the past and learn to live in the moment.
    This one is not so easy but I'm trying.



13. Make more time for myself.
    This one ain't easy either, always too much housework.



14. Read more books.
    I'm on my third book now.



15. Have more dinner parties and play some game boards.
    Not yet.



16. Get a complete physical.
    Coming soon to an examination room near me.



17. Learn more about my computer and what it can do for me besides surfing the internet.
    I'm sure it can do lots but right now it's too easy to ask Hubby.



18. Continue to declutter.
    This will be an on-going process.



19. Continue to work on our basement renovations.
    These are on hold for now, there's just too many other ways to spend the money,



20. Paint our t.v room and maybe buy some new furniture for it.
    The painting will happen soon and the search for new furniture continues.



21. Tweak the budget throughout the year.
    We have done some tweaking already and we will continue to maximize our savings where possible.

Valentines week

All week I have been cooking and preparing for the big day when I can surprise Hubby with my amazing Valentine's Day cookies for him to enjoy, (I hope). They have taken a total of three days to prepare and decorate but he is worth the effort. On top of that, I had to hide them for the finally viewing. Not a easy thing to do when you have a cookie hound around.

I hope you all enjoy the pictures. Look good, don't they?!!! Martha I'm still waiting for you to discover me.....







Hubby got a hair cut today and then we cleaned the house from top to bottom which is a regular Sunday chore. Have I told you how much I hate Sundays for this very reason? Plus, you know tomorrow is back to work. Where do the weekends go?

Today, I'm making a big batch of chilli and then we are also baking a pork loin roast in a honey garlic glaze and some rice. It's a Sunday power cooking day here which will make it easier through the week if one of us has to work late.

We have lots of snow down and it just keeps on coming every day. What's up with that?! I want Winter to be over NOW, YES, RIGHT NOW! Damn, nothing happened, the white stuff is still here. I do have to admit though, that in the mornings going to work it looks like diamonds on the road and I really like that effect. What girl wouldn't like diamonds and plenty of them.

This week we have to go into the Credit Union and deposit some money into an RRSP so we can lower hubby's tax exposure and then take the refund to pay down the mortgage. We have also increased the mortgage payments again slightly by lowering the tax portion and increasing the total amount we pay every two weeks, so hopefully we can get closer to our 5 year goal of paying this off. YAAAAA!!!!!!

I also want to max out my TFSF. I just need $400.00 more and our emergency fund is in place. Out of sight and out of mind. Then I want to start saving for a vacation this year. It will probably be in the Maritimes somewhere because it is really truly a beautiful part of Canada. We are very lucky to be living here.

A Conversation With Gail!

I was surfing this morning and I happened to land on a site where I noticed that they were going to have an on-line discussion with Gail Vaz-Oxlade titled "Keeping your head above water in a recession" and they were inviting readers to send in questions for her to answer. Well, all week we have been trying to decide if putting money into RRSP's was a smart idea this year and now here was my chance to get some advice from a real expert! So, I fired off my question to the comments section...

Hi Gail, I listen to your advice all the time and I love your show.

We have about $10,000 in our savings (thanks to you, in part!) and we want to take the most advantageous use of the money. We want to put it into an RRSP and then use the tax refund to pay down on our mortgage. The question that keeps us up at night is, with the financial state of the world right now, is this a good time to be buying into mutual funds? Would we be better off applying all the money to the mortgage this year and waiting to see some recovery before investing in RRSP's next year?

Thanks,

Two hours later I checked back and, wow, they'd added my question and Gail wrote a response!! I was so excited.

Gail Vaz-Oxlade: *, you're asking me if I think market timing is a good idea and my answer is absotively, posolutely NOT!

Since the markets are down, the money you put in now will actually buy you more units of the mutual fund of your choice than it would have a year or two ago. And that's the beauty of a commitment to regular investing. You don't have to worry about timing the market, you can focus on just doing the right thing. Your plan to maximize your RRSP and use your refund to pay down your mortgage is a good one. Go with it. If the markets scare you, consider an index linked GIC that will tie your return to a positive move in the market, but keep your principal safe. Good luck. G

Wow, what a day!!!!!

That's not all. After lots of discussion, we decided to open a TFSA today and I nearly maxed out my contribution room for this year at $4,600.00. Yay, today was a really goooood day! Plus hubby surprised me and he took the day off work,too. Life doesn't get much better than this.

We are also going through with the above mentioned RRSP some time this week and when we get the tax refund it's going straight down on the mortgage. With all the extra money we have put down over the last 2 years it is starting to drop quickly. My side bars are now adjusted to show this.

I bought a Sandisk Fuze MP3 player on the weekend and hubby and I are trying to figure out how to use it. Actually, it's just me who is having problems, as I've mentioned before, I'm not the most techy person around, but I'm learning. I know that it's not an I-Pod but I really counldn't justify the price of the I-Pod over this unit. With taxes in it was just under a $100.00. I'll let you know what I think of this new purchase in the upcoming months.




I've added some more pictures of my baking which I did last week.
Banana muffins and chocolate chip cookies. Yum, and they didn't last long either so I guess there is no taste testing.

Oh, and here's a picture of the delicious Chinese fondue we had this weekend. This is one of our most favorite meals.

I got my paycheck last week with my retro pay and new raise. It works out to be about $120.00 more a month so now I will have to budget as to where this new found money should go.

Today is Ground Hog day and yes, the bugger saw it's shadow, so another 6 weeks of winter for sure. Plus, I just heard on the news that we are supposed to get another storm and 10 centimeters more of snow. Urg. Poor Hubby as he is the one who has to blow out the driveway each morning and night before we can get in or out. (He is my hero).