We had our first frost last night and it was a doosy. It was a killing frost, coating the environment with a lovely white. I’m not complaining. It was very late this year, giving us a warm and delightful fall so far. We still have some leaves on trees but I’m assuming those will be dropping fast and the first snow won’t be far behind. There is nothing prettier than the first snowfall and nothing worse than dirty snow.
Mom said the only way to get to the other side is through the angst. Our kitchen renovation starts next week. I’m looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. We will go through another set of holidays with few decorations but by the beginning of next year we should have one of our biggest projects done. All materials are in so there shouldn’t be any supply delays.
Welcome Alexa! The beloved husband has been frustrated because he couldn’t get his favorite sports radio station in his basement workshop. He tried wireless antennas (they didn’t work) and was just about ready to put on an aluminum hat. Then he read that an Echo would be able to wirelessly receive the signal. He’s on it! Now that Alexa is here we will look into what else she can do for us. Unfortunately she can’t do dishes or errands but she can close blinds and lock up. It’s a new world!
Views and Mews by Coffee Kat 
I work enough in cyber security to be reluctant to get Alexa or Echo. But I can see how helpful it can be, particularly for your husband’s situation! Good luck with the renovation; we’re about half-way through ours, but it isn’t near as incapacitating as it would be if we did the kitchen. That sounds hard..
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For me the kitchen is hard. It’s a long one too. The last reno was 2 weeks and that was long enough.
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It’s really good to hear that your kitchen components and building materials are already arranged, since the last thing you want is a delay once the project is opened up. It will be beautiful and worth the disruption I’m sure. And I love Alexa for streaming music. I haven’t mastered her other secret powers yet. 😉
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Just like my car, I probably won’t use all the things she can do but hopefully I can learn some to make life easier.
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No frost here yet, but I did need a sweater and a hat when I went for my walk today. I have thought about getting Alexa but have been trying to only buy what I need and not what I simply want. Good to hear the new kitchen will soon be a reality. I hope there will be pictures!
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There will be pictures but it will take a while. I’m going to be practicing patience for the next two months.
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Sports Radio is apparently a deal breaker. How funny. It would be TV for my husband. I was away for a little more than a day and came back to a mess of a house (the litter box was the WORST). But he’d gotten a new Apple TV remote because apparently the old one died while I was gone. Priorities, you know.
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Men’s sense of urgency sometimes (all the time) seems off.
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I love Alexa for timers, adding to my weather, trivia, stock market updates, grocery list, music, reminders, etc. Her “by the way” suggestions drove us crazy, though. So we made a child account. Now she occasionally does a “did you know” sort of thing, but the totally unrelated “by the way” tips are gone. Thank goodness.
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She is being installed as I write this. So far she’s been picking great music.
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Sending all kinds of positive good thoughts for the kitchen re-do. We are determined to not have a relationship with Alexa. We have so many lit up tech things in the house that it looks like a spaceship at night. The last thing was a thoughtful gift from SSNS to me for my birthday… a weather station. I love it but it’s very busy reporting its weather watching. I throw a towel over it at night to cut the glow. Good Morning, Kate!
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It’s like a canary you put to bed by covering at night! 🙂 We resisted Alexa for a long time but as more and more things are “Alexa-activated” we had to revisit. The thing that took us over the edge was my husband not getting his sports radio station. Isn’t that a hoot!
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It is a hoot and I get it… SSNS can’t live without CNBC on the TV ALL day. At least it’s on mute. I told Jerry about Alexa in your blog post and I think I saw a little gleam in his eye.
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Oops!
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No frost yet here but we’ve come close…..I did bring in my “delicate” plants from the front porch for the season though. Hope the reno goes well !! Alexa hasn’t set up camp here….at least yet.
Hugs, Pam
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Another hard frost this morning. We are moving into fall-winter for sure. Alexa gets set up today so I’m sure they may some posts as our relationship builds. It reminded me of my mom passing on a microwave because she had the time to heat things on the stove. Yikes! I couldn’t live without one! Our installer (who is a bachelor in his 30s) says that the last thing he does at night is tell Alexa to lock up and shut off all the lights.
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Early frosts and clean snow are really so beautiful 🙂 I hope your kitchen renovation goes quickly and smoothly!
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Quickly? Probably not. Smoothly? I can hope for that. This is a different contractor with a different style. Loved the last one but he was definitely more of a type A. This one is laid back and doesn’t speak much. I’m sure the crew will show up in my posts.
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🙂
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Paws crossed that the renovation goes as easily and quickly as possible, and that all is done well before Christmas!
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Looks like a few days before Christmas at the earliest. You start getting into hunting season and the holidays (although our contractor says he doesn’t hunt, not sure about his crew). I have been notified that the contractor takes a week off for Thanksgiving. There are a lot of electrical changes that need to be done. The countertop (last step) takes at least a week, maybe two from taking accurate dimensions to installation. I’ll be glad if it’s done before the most severe weather comes. It’s the loss of privacy and the eternal cleaning (because I don’t think anyone cleans as well as I do) that make me crazy.
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I can understand how frustrating all of this is…can’t wait for it to be done for you. And maybe to see it in person some time! I made your minnestrone soup recipe this week…delish!
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Wegman’s had a lot of good recipes. I love their crockpot pot roast. I end up with enough gravy to save for use with another meat. We had soup last night (barley-vegetable). Dan was lamented the fact that there wouldn’t be any homemade soup until next year. I can probably do something in the crockpot so we’ll see. I just can’t brown the meat first.
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Oh, and browning the meat makes such a difference. But I do have a wonderful split pea crock pot recipe with Canadian bacon (doesn’t need cooking or browning) if you like. It is one of our winter faves. Also have a great potato soup crock pot recipe. Yum.
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If they don’t require frying prep, I’m definitely interested.
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I forgot about that. They both need onions browned. Phooey.
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If you switched to digital locks , she could probably lock up. 🙂
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She could. When we bought the new locks we had that option but didn’t chose it since she wasn’t a member of the family (yet). Now I wish. At some point (long after I’ve recovered from the kitchen job) we will replace our front door and may opt for a more sophisticated one.
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Happy renovating and good luck with lots of take out. 🙂 No Alexa here but I have many friends who have it and have varying opinions. Hope you love yours.
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We’ll see. We resisted for a long time.
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We had frost, albeit a mild one, on 2nd November. After Samhain the energies really change.
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Weather has dipped at least 10 degrees from last week. Fall may be here to stay!
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In spite of all the delays and complications with the holidays, you must be thrilled that the renovation is finally starting. Good on you guys. I’ve fought the good fight against Alexa, but I recently decided I needed a good external speaker for some Blue Tooth devices I have. So that day might be slowly coming after all. 🙂 – Marty
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You are also in the dinosaur category! Yes, I’m excited about the project starting but from the last one I remember how painful it gets to have workmen in your house day after day. No kitchen will be hard too but the ending will be great. (I hope!)
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We got the same frost you were talking about. At 8:30 this morning, I found myself using an ice scraper because it was that thick. Also, I have a friend up near Erie who said they got some snow overnight only it was too dark out to see how much they had gotten. I guess we’ll have no more heat waves for a while!
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No those are done for this year!
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Like Deb Alexa sets timers for me and tells me the weather. She also plays SiriusXM when I ask her to. Something to know about her sharp ears, if she is near your TV she’ll speak up when she hears her name [more or less] spoken in the dialogue of a show, like Schitt’s Creek’s ‘Alexis.’ We had to move her to keep her quiet.
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That is so funny. We will need to be careful!
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That’s great that Alexa has opened this avenue at your house. We have three. I don’t know how David uses his, but mine is near my computer. I often ask how to spell a word, because my word processor isn’t set right for spell checking. John hates Alexa, so I changed her to Ziggy and got a masculine choice for the device. David and I ask questions brought up by dinner table conversation. It’s marvelous to have instant answers. It’s also fun to laugh at the wrong answers. I hope you both will enjoy Alexa.
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I feel like a dinosaur being dragged into the current century. Many of our friends have had if for years. Most got it as a gift from their kids to try to keep them current!
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I bought ours after seeing one in use at John’s sister’s house. It looked like so much fun.
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Is your husband searching for Merril Reese? 🙂 I hope in the future they don’t discover that Alexa contributes to failing memories. Good luck with the renovations!
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Not Merril although he will listen to him. He is a big Angelo Cataldi fan. I am also a big fan of his for his work with animals.
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Alexa tells me the weather and sets timers for me. She also works some lights. I know she can do much more but so far this is all I need her for. Happy Alexa-ing!
Deb
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Weather and timers are good. Right now I set my Fitbit watch to buzz me and that has worked too. My mother is rolling in her grave at the level of technology available today. When she was alive telephones had curly cords tethered to walls.
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Congratulations on your new family member. I wonder if Alexa understands cat talk?
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We’ll find out!
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My son has Alexa doing all sorts of things (turn on/off lights, adjust temps, answer questions, set reminders and a host of other things I’m too unfamiliar with). He loves it and says he couldn’t get along without it. Have fun discovering all this piece of technology can accomplish. And stay warm!
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I doubt that we will use everything it’s capable of doing but we will start. I’m loving the wireless aspect of today’s tech.
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It’s astounding what all can be accomplished through wireless technology. Enjoy those many wonders!
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