The rain-filled days of this past week have been perfect for those of us who can't seem to get anything done in the house when the sun is shining outside. Working on projects inside while the rain hits the roof sounding like Santa's reindeer doing the foxtrot on the outside is soothing. The everyday cleanup is easy but it seems the more complicated projects are always put off for another day -- Scarlett O'Hara channeling maybe.

By far the one that is easiest to put off is pulling out the appliances, refrigerator and stove, to clean behind them and scrub the floor underneath.

It is amazing what accumulates in a few short months. Removing every can or jar from the pantry, wiping down the shelves and putting it all back in alphabetical order or taking all pots and pans out of cupboards to wipe down and rearrange are other things that get done on rainy days.

But, now that the rain is gone and the weather is cool, the main focus is pulling stubborn weeds.

It is also wise to wait until those giant black and yellow garden spiders have left for the year.

The hedges don't get trimmed until the wasps have left but trees can be pruned if the limbs are no higher than the second rung on the ladder.

The anticipation of cold weather is palpable. It is hard to choose a favorite time of year; spring and summer bring flowers and unfortunately too much heat, but winter makes being out there so much more pleasant.

What a boon for hypochondriacs this new age of scientific breakthroughs has brought. There seem to be pills for every ailment real or imagined.

There seem to be pills for ailments I have never heard of but there is a catch, as there always is; most of these miracle cures have side effects that may kill you.

There are times I wonder if the drug companies don't make up new diseases just so they can sell pills and maybe those medications are the products of some previous attempt at a cure for something else and these diseases they now cure are made up so they can be sold.

The older I get the more I believe that most, if not all, of the larger companies are linked.

Although there are laws preventing monopolies I am quite sure they have found a way around it or the watchdog over such things just does not dig deep enough or care.

Think of the circle -- doctors diagnose, drug companies sell and insurance companies approve or disapprove, but you can bet insurance companies linked to drug companies approve because of the bottom line, and I bet if you did research you'd find that they are all linked.