Weathering it

The weather isn't anything to write home about and it isn't very good for photography either. We were spoiled the last two seasons and as with all good things we knew it could change at any moment and it has. We are scheduled to have a day where it does not get out of the 30's for a daytime high. That will be next Tuesday. Fortunately, that is highly unusual.
If it were not highly unusual there would not be much point in driving the thousand plus miles to get here.
Next Tuesday is Jam day and a lunch is served and sold on that day and the menu is going to be a baked potato with chili. I cannot help but think it will be very popular. That is unless people hole up in their cozy little abodes and do not venture out into the cold. We have had enough of this kind of weather that we have hopes that cabin fever will drive them out the door.

From Tuffy

Hi

 Char's mem. was today @ 11:00 AM, very cold, 4 degrees, She would have frozen to death. Our Minister was real personable, talked about Charlotte, her achievements, her desire to do well, and how particular she was about herself.

Her many friends in Magnolia Park, Her many years in park and how she was a part of  the park, and  how many things she did in the park, her pool,  Jam, held park association jobs, and was an ambitious person, worked in the garden, helped with the farm work, loved the cattle, the horses, doing chores, real partner in the activities.  We had some of the jammers from up here sing and played, they sang "Teddy Bear" and ended the service with "I'll Fly Away", had a luncheon at the church, served by the church ladies. It was very nice and I believe she would have approved of it, She is missed so much, it can't be said how much. 

Please pass this on to our Magnolia friends, and I want to thank all of them for the cards, prayers, and Hospice donations. As of tonight, we have $500.00 to donate to Hospice, which will be greatly appreciated.

I will send the funeral announcements.

Thanks Barb

Tuffy

2017’s Worst Passwords

2017’s Worst Passwords
We have written numerous articles, like this one, on why using strong passwords is so important. Unfortunately, apparently many people don’t take us (and many others) seriously. The top 3 passwords for 2017 and the same top three passwords for 2015 and 2016 also.

123456
Password
12345678

Really? None of you are using those passwords, are you? We hope that none of you are using any of the passwords in this list of the top 25 worst passwords for 2017. Or even anything similar. We suggest you use a password of at least 12 characters consisting of at least one uppercase letter, lowercase letters, symbols (like $ % *) and at least one number.  There are many online password generators, but the trouble is, you can generate all the strong passwords you want, but you won’t use them unless you can remember them.

We have long recommended LastPass because it can generate strong, uncrackable passwords like 8HNPWse*SGp8 and remember your passwords and enter them automatically whenever you need to log in to a site for which you generated a password.

But many of you resist using a password manager, and you’ll never use one. For those of you who don’t want to use a password manager here’s a way to make strong passwords you can remember:

3y3W@ntc@ndy$fr33

Just think “I want candy free”. And according to My1Login it would take 5 years for a hacker using password cracking software to crack this password.

MyC@t$n@meizBarn3y2

“My cats name is Barney too.”  According to My1Login, it would take 16 centuries for someone to crack this password.

Want to test your passwords? You can check them at:

My1Login

or

LastPass Password Checker

A new year is only a few days away. Now is a good time to make sure your passwords are strong and you don’t use the same password for any sites that deal with personal information such as Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, credit or debit card number, home address, driver’s license numbers, license plate numbers, or any site dealing with money – including online shopping sites.

Now, here’s the list of the top 25 worst passwords for 2017 from Time magazine:

123456

Password

12345678

qwerty

12345

123456789

letmein

1234567

football

iloveyou

admin

welcome

monkey

login

abc123

starwars

123123

dragon

passw0rd

maste

hello

freedom

whatever

qazwsx

trustno1

Taken from this website:
http://www.thundercloud.net/infoave/new/2017s-worst-passwords/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thundercloud%2FIapJ+%28Cloudeight+InfoAve+Computer+Tips+%29

Christmas Pictures of 2017

Doug & Sharon

Caught Santa with his eyes shut.

 Marty and Don Tank

 Fred Rabe with his daughter and son-in-law

Irma and Shirley

The desert table

Pat K. and Don F.

From Tuffy Wolfrom

I wanted to send a Merry Christmas to our magnolia family, and thank everyone for all the cards and prayers, it has been a week today, and a lonely one, but I have to know she is at peace.
It has been a long time since I have been in Michigan on Christmas day, its snowing and we will have a white Christmas and the forecast is for bitter cold for the next 7 days, I am going to spend the day with my son and 2 grandsons, I will miss that Turkey and dressing, seems funny not going to the hall for dinner.

Merry Christmas to one and to all

Tuffy

Microsoft won't do it

Last night I had a visitor with her computer running knock on my door. Her computer was telling her, "This is Microsoft. Warning, warning your computer has a virus. Call this number immediately!" She was not sure what to do. She would normally shut her computer down in this situation but this was from Microsoft and that made it different. The truth of it is that does not make it different because Microsoft will never do that. They will not email you or put a pop up on your computer screen. The correct procedure in this situation is to shut your computer down immediately. Most often that means holding down the power button until it shuts down. This is not the best way to shut down your computer ordinarily but these incidents are an emergency. If all is as it should be your computer will be okay when you turn it on again. These scammers cannot get your info unless you click on the message or call that number so never do either one.
As it turns out she was on Facebook when this happened and when we tried to return to Facebook it would not let us in, which told me that is how they had gained access. We tried different browsers on her computer but we were not allowed to sign in to Facebook on any of them. So I had her get on my Chromebook as a guest and she was able to do that and get access to where she could change her password on Facebook. That done she signed into her own computer and was able to get on her Facebook account with her new password.

The last time I had this happen was last summer. After a minute or two of conversation on the phone, I remembered that she had a Chromebook! I said, "Wait a minute here. You do not have a Microsoft computer!" We both got a chuckle out of that one. The scam still could have worked had she called the number.
Change your passwords frequently! I use a password protection program. and this is where you can find it.
Lastpass.com

Another one is Dashlane.com. 

Either of them is secure and safe.

Christmas Greetings from the Spanglers

We want to tell all of our Magnolia friends Merry Christmas from Wisconsin. It's the first time we've been home for Christmas in many years so it is much different from last year down in Texas. As I recall it was a pretty warm Christmas day. We had a fresh snowfall here yesterday and this is what it looks like looking out our window.

Last Christmas Eve Larry & Noreen took me and a couple of others to the Basilica and it was so beautifully decorated. This year I was asked if I would play for the Christmas Eve Service in my church as well as accompany the choir which is something I had done for more than 60 years until I retired a year ago. I agreed and am looking forward to it.

We plan to leave for Texas somewhere around the 4th or 5th of January depending a lot on what the weather is doing. The high on Christmas day is going to be below zero and it's going to stay cold for several days. Hopefully it will warm up a little before we start out. Jim has been busy splitting wood for his shop trying to keep it warm. Some days it's almost a losing battle. The wood gets burned up pretty fast but it gives him something to do to keep him busy before we start out.It is always an adventure trying to decide where we are going to get fuel and where we can stay along the way. We don't fit just anywhere, that's for sure.

We are looking forward to seeing all of you soon and getting caught up on what is happening in the Valley.

Jim & Deon

As Christmas nears...

We have been on a roller coaster of a ride with the weather lately. Not too unusual this time of year. We get to exercise the furnace and the air conditioner and sometimes on the same day. When we are in a cool spell it feels a bit more like Christmas in the air. It is cool today.

I have signed up for a reading on Christmas Eve. I haven't done that for a couple of years now. I am relying on some failing memories because I do not yet have any new material and I may have to fall back on one I have done before.

We are experiencing Fall in South Texas despite the date on the calendar. The leaves are changing color and falling from the trees. And you didn't think we had 4 seasons here, now did you? To be honest, we do not always. Sometimes we have one season all year, and sometimes two, rarely three and virtually never four. Any of those seasons can last a day or a week.
Very soon the trees will be bare and in a few short weeks, they will begin to sprout new leaves. It is always a shock to me when we return to Iowa in April and find the trees are still naked and will be until sometime in May.
Due to this flip/flop weather we have is it no wonder that Christmas can sneak up on us. It is discombobulating to plan for Christmas dinner when the thermometer reads 87 degrees. We do our best.

Forgotten pics

Thanks Andy for taking such good pictures of us.

From Kay Voss- in case we forget!

We are getting some snow.  I noticed how the dead leaves can still hold the snow...they are stronger than they look!

The weather outside is delightful.

Very summerlike. They are telling us we will be having a cold Christmas day with highs in the low 50's. This is the time of year we might have the AC one day and the furnace the next. Whoa!!! Hold everything. While I was typing the above a weather message came in on my phone. Christmas will be a high of 71 and a low of 58. Now that is more like it.

There is quite a bit of park activity this week. Some sewer work has been going on and is now resolved and the hollow trees are getting removed. I am feeling for the birds being evicted and suddenly homeless.

And now for another picture blast from the past. 2007

Mary is ready to ride, on a cold Wednesday morning with the bikers.

And on a much warmer day, Ron and Cynthia Daigle were washing windows.

Browsing pictures

I have been going through cupboards, organizing, discarding and getting ready for the January garage sale. I have several years where I put pictures on CD's and I have popped some of the older ones and in my mind some of the better ones, into my new computer to see if I still like them and yes I do!
Here are a 3 from 2006/2007:

Kay and Norma- I have always liked this picture.

 Mary and Dave had just purchased their place on Rose Street and someone suggested a chivaree. Pictured are Naoma, Marge and Dick C.

And here we have Kay and her son Mike at Pepes on the River. Linda and Bob D. are to the right.

Charlotte Wolfrom Obituary

Char Wolfrom

CHARLOTTE WOLFROM age 78, born December 15, 1939, in Owosso Michigan, the daughter of Llyod and Verna Morgan, peacefully passed away Sunday evening at her home in Laingsburg, with her family by her side.  She is survived by her husband "Tuffy" Wolfrom and immediate son Lloyd Dezess, stepdaughter Ann and Rex Helms of Sheridan Mi., Julie and John Sellinger, of Darnstown Md. stepson Kevin Wolfrom, Dewitt Mi. grandson Micheal Dezess, step-grandsons Kennedy Wolfrom, Forest Wolfrom, step-granddaughters, Julian and Chad Giles, Kady Helms, Helena Sellinger, and Hanna Sellinger. Great-grandchildren, Carter, Megan Giles and Kaydence Helms.
She was predeceased by her parents, brother Leonard Morgan, nephew Micheal Morgan, stepson Rollie Wolfrom.
Charlotte retired from the banking business with 25 years at Bank of Lansing and 11 years at Motor Wheel Credit Union.
She enjoyed watching her grandkids play many different sports over the years, she really enjoyed the years her and "Tuffy" spent travelling and all the years at their home in south Texas at Magnolia Park, playing pool, and the numerous activities that are available, and especially the great friends they have at Magnolia Park, she will be missed by  many.
Charlotte enjoyed playing many different sports, she played co-ed softball until age 55, Rode horseback, loved to fish, bowl, cards, play pool, she won 6 Gold medals in 1 yr. Shooting pool in Texas, She played the guitar and sang at many music jams in Michigan, She was the jam Host at Magnolia Park where she and Tuffy spent the past 20 winters, enjoying the many friends that will greatly miss her.
There will be a memorial service at Watkins Brothers Funeral Home, Laingsburg, Thursday, December 28, at 11:00 AM, Visitation Wednesday, December 27, 2-4 and 6-8 PM, luncheon immediately following the Memorial.
In lieu of flowers, please make contributions to the Heartland Hospice for the care given Char and the comfort of the family.

A Doggy Wonderland

Dog tags ring, are you listenin'? 
In the lane, snow is glistenin'. 
It's yellow, NOT white - I've been there tonight, 
Marking up my winter wonderland. 

Smell that tree? That's my fragrance. 
It's a sign for wand'ring vagrants; 
"Avoid where I pee, it's MY pro-per-ty! 
Marked up as my winter wonderland." 

In the meadow dad will build a snowman, 
following the classical design. 
Then I'll lift my leg and let it go Man, 
So all the world will know it's 
mine-mine-mine! 

Straight from me to the fencepost, 
flows my natural incense boast; 
"Stay off of my TURF, this small piece of earth, 
I mark it as my winter wonderland. 

Merry Christmas

Eula's address

To send her a card-
Eula Henderson
620 E Monroe Apt.1
Corydon Iowa 50660

Pat Jordan's Christmas Parade pictures

Click on the pictures for a closer look.

Another Cold Snap

Yes, we are enjoying another cold snap. For us that word snap is meaningful as they have been over in a snap. The long range picture is for a warmer than normal winter like the one we had last season. These little blips in our near perfect weather are a blessing, allowing a rest from our busy lives. We have many choices on how to weather the ocassion. We can have a "pajama day" and stay inside,watch movies and eat chili or we can venture out and meet up with friends to play cards, shoot pool and all the other indoor things we  usually do.
The weather held for our annual Christmas Parade. The pictures are a few posts down from this one on the blog. The mood was merry throughout the 1.2 mile parade and we then all gathered in Allen hall for a Subway supper served by the current officers and board members of the association.
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Grapefruit!

A Charlie Brown Christmas

From Kay Voss

"I found some summer strawberries in the freezer...so made jam.  Worked great!  The secret is to let them simmer on the stove for half hour to evaporate out the extra water.

I am going to can cream cheese this afternoon;  found a sale at 98 cents for 8 oz, so bought 10 packages.  I have canned cream cheese before and it is wonderful to have on hand.  No turning green in refg!  

We are still waiting for doctor reports for Jim, hope to head south after Christmas if all goes well.  Happy holidays to all.  Kay"

Attachments area

Christmas Parade of 2017

Click on the picture for a bigger and better view,

Hmmm, in my head I look so much better than this.