Jennifer, I only this month started messing with sour dough. Having fun with it. here are the croutons from yesterday:

I have a couple of links, for the sourdough starter, and a recipe for baking some bread. I don't "feed it every day", but will also see about letting it sit in the fridge for a week or longer after tomorrow. There are sooo many different opinions... and I picked the easiest sounding one.

I remember you finding the bottle and hoping it would make a nice scoby. Glad it worked for you, even if it took a long time. ;)

I split my scoby yesterday, when my last batch of Kombucha was just perfectly ready. Kat is coming in the morning.. she wants to start making it.

Didn't do anything with the mulch/chips today... but advertise on craigslist and facebook market place.

Someone is supposed to come this evening. I am crossing my fingers.

My fridge is just about empty... but that is what I was aiming for. I want some fresh stuff. :)

The cold frames are opened a bit daily, and closed for the night. Nothing is really growing. The last seeds I spread in between, where things were missing haven't sprouted. Not sure, if the whole thing is/was worth while at this time.

I am sure loving this first day of winter... sooo nice out. :)

Moni

In case I don’t get back here

y’all have a very

Merry Christmas.

I will be working on my new garden space. The first section is 50 x 50. We will lay 3 layers of cardboand around the perimeter putting the fence on top. Mulch around the inside and outside of the fence.

i hope to get it all done By the end of January so I can plant onions.

Kim, you are really a hard worked, I cant make myself do anything. My old body just seems to go on strike.

Kim if I didn't already have plans... I would be there to help... Hoping you can get it all done. Wish I could just magically transfer some of my woodchips to you. :)

Moni

That would be awesome.

although my kids got a load in the summer and after putting it around over 20 trees there is still a pile. And over 20 wheelbarrow loads in old garden area I still need more for the new garden.

I hauled mulch in my car Once.

I looked in rear view mirror and there was a lizard next to my grandson. I just about drove off the road.

HJ, also regarding sourdough, George has a terrific course on it in Homesteading University. https://www.homesteadingedu.com/

That Kim DOES have a lot of ambition, I agree! Good luck with it, Kim. I'm like you are, Larry, for now. I have so much cleaning to do! Can't seem to get to it. I think that's why I've been baking so much. If I'm busy baking, don't have time to clean, right?

I just shamed myself into working. lol Two bathrooms done, 2 loads of clothes done and put away, fridge cleaned. Okay, I think that is quite enough. In the next couple days we need to put out some raised bed soil and mulch. Not a big job, just a couple beds. It's pretty nice out right now; maybe I should look at the weather forecast.

And back to baking and cooking this afternoon. Fudge, mac and cheese, and chex mix to deliver. I do have a few addresses now. Uh-oh. Now GDW got up and began working. So the pressure's on. Best to you all.

Nancy, the weather in very nice here, 65* and sunny.

Madge has gone to deliver baked goods now.

I need to go work on a tractor. The old tractor that I bought from my neighbor a few month ago is still sitting up at their house. They tell me that it is not in their way, but I feel that I should bring it home anyway. The tractor is 70 years old and has been modified. I am not sure what has been done to it. The son has worked on it, I dont know what he has done to it. The dad has dementia and is not sure of anything. I did not need the tractor, but I bought it because they needed money. I need to get it away from there because the husband is bedfast and the wife may not be able to stay there when her husband is gone. She wants to stay there, but may not have the income, plus their house is the back side of nowhere and I am not sure she would want to stay alone. I will help do what I can, but my health is going down also.

Amy, that baby is adorable! <3

My salad was the curly kale. I do have dinosaur lacinato kale too. Kale is a bit chewy, but chopping it small and using a good dressing makes a great difference.

The white bean and kale soup sounds delightful.

I'm so distracted because the SNL Christmas special is on. It's funny that I remember all of these skits because I really don't watch SNL any longer. I also think it's funny that people's opinions on the best seasons depend on their age. The boomers love the original cast. I was a little girl then and didn't watch it unless I stayed the night with my cousins and uncle/aunt watched it and we all piled into their king bed and watched it.

MY favorite is the David Spade/Chris Farley/Adam Sandler seasons. Typical Gen X, I guess.

Anyway, that had nothing to do with anything other than the TV is distracting me.

Amy, this is a good year to skip the "after christmas" sales at HL if your store looks like ours. It's already very empty of holiday items. Which sucks, because I neglected to get a nutcracker for Ethan. He collects them and Santa brings him one every year. Until he was 13, we read that book every December.

Nancy, sorry about your sick friends. Two friends have died this week.. One was an older man. Honestly, I think he was ready to go. He had been talking about it even before he got covid. His wife died 13 years ago and he lived with his son and son's family (my friends), but he's had a harder time getting around for over a year pre-covid. I just think he was ready. It's hard to explain in a post. The other man wasn't hardly older than me. He was over the covid, but had lung embolisms a couple of year ago and as a result-- COPD. And the covid caused pneumonia, I guess. I don't really understand. This one is just incredibly sad. The other man....I know he was ready and his passing was actually very peaceful, but this man was not. It's just so hard to believe that he's gone.

Danny, maybe you could try some of the burgundy okra. It's very pretty. If you could tuck in a few seed here and there. To feed just you, you would only need a half dozen plants.

Merry Christmas, Kim!

Larry, you're a good guy.

Nancy, noted about the leeks and sourdough starter. Thanks!

Here's the deal: I can either make food/goodies OR have a mopped floor. I can't do both. I'm a hard worker and rarely sit down...but I do have my limits. And I've been on my feet all day and want to sit now. Tomorrow will be a repeat of today. I actually love working hard, but my body is aching right now. It's funny that simply baking/cooking/cleaning can cause an achy body. Even wrapping gifts. Love it all, though.

I'm making food for the families mentioned above. I'm so glad Tom smoked turkey breasts for them, so I just have to do a couple of sides tomorrow and drop them off. And maybe search for a nutcracker.

HU is coming in the morning to recover everything.

Okay...I'm fading fast.

Merry Christmas!

Ok, if inquiring minds (are there any?) want to know...I have wandered over to Swallowtail Seeds and made a decision or two. The winner to go in the whiskey barrel will be perhaps 3 honeybaby winter squash along with a few dill plants (for me and the swallowtails). I love pumpkin and winter squash, so this will be the pumpkin maker we hope. Baring stupid squash bugs (suppossed to be somewhat resistant) and other hazards.

Of course, I couldn't order just two sets of seeds, so here's what else clambered into my cart: (cleome 'Sparkler', agastache 'Fragrant Delight', zinnia 'Aztec Sunset', thunbergia 'Blushing Susie', cosmos 'Daydream', and tradescantia 'Shimmer mixed'. I can't usually grow cleome (maybe too wet), or agastache (usually too wet)..but I have some siting ideas that might work...worth a try. One mistake I'll try to not make is to start them too early (like zinnias this past year). I would direct sow, but 25 seeds isn't much..so I will probably have to start in containers if I want more than 1 or 2 plants (lol).

Anyway, not expecting to start any of them till March probably, and the tradescantia will probably not get started till early summer, since it's not going to do anything the first year anyway.

I realized this morning, I should probably get the smoked turkey breast into the fridge...it's only two cooking days away! Being just me, I think the menu is: velveeta/rotel dip for snacks/appetizer, smoked turkey, lima beans, and mashed potatoes. If I remembered to restock the cranberry sauce, that too. I'm likely to either decide a pumpkin pie or possibly a cream custard. That's enough for one person.

Danny, the Christmas meal sounds good to me, I love all you listed.

I think I will try more butternut and Seminole this year. I can give them away much easier, the old timey cornfield pumpkin is great, but they are too large to please many people. I think that store a lot of food with sweet potatoes, butternut, seminole, and old timey cornfield pumpkin. We have a pretty good supply stored in out 2 spare bedrooms.

I was glad to see my neighbor and two other guys over in the wildlife garden yesterday picking turnips. They were older men, it seems that the younger folks wont eat turnips, if they were raised like I was, they would be glad to get almost any food they could.

I thought I'd be spending today cooking but haven't made it there yet. And I have no idea what we're having for Christmas food. No clue. I made big batch of lasagna, then penne pasta with bolognese/Ital. Sausage; pulled pork. Chex mix and fudge today. But I was out of many important things and won't be picking them up from the store until tomorrow morning. And so I think I'll postpone delivering things until Friday. That's Wagoner deliveries.

Meanwhile, instead of hopping to it, I decided today was a fine time to be organizing photos. I am an idiot. Still, it has been fun. And since GDW and I don't really do Christmas, anyway. guess it doesn't matter.

I thought I'd share some pictures of our place. I was so interested to hear how much trouble you have growing cleome and agastache, Danny, and then I was remembering Dawn writing about what grew well for her and what didn't. We all have such very different microclimates within our zone, no? Cleomes freely self seed wherever I have planted them here, as do the agastache. Do you grow any been balm, Danny? It also grows rampantly here. I have trouble with zinnias! They always always mildew. And much of the time they get too tall and flop over. I'll get it fine-tuned one of these days. Salvia's pretty much out of the question here because of the lack of full sun; same with cannas. I have a whole patch of cannas in the back, but they don't bloom--or barely bloom. I've let them be just for the plants, as they're nice to look at from the back road. The entire back "half" of our place is woods. I talked GDW into not going nuts about weed-wacking back there last year, and was delighted to see many native flowers and plants show up.

It is so very rocky here. Not a bad thing, really, except there is no way any holes can be dug for planting. The property slopes downward from west to east and also from north to south--and so it certainly is rarely too wet, except in the SE corner of the yard if we have torrential rains.

I wish we could cut just a couple trees down, but seems hard to imagine in the immediate back yard because of power lines. And in the front, I don't really care. hmmmm. . . maybe I could re-think that.

I envy Larry's wide open spaces, and others'. But have sort of made my peace with ours. It IS divine out on the deck in the hot summer (Except for head indexes of 105 and up--as Amy can remember.) with a lot of shade moving over in the afternoons.

Looking back through the photos made me vow anew--since I don't have a greenhouse, I will NOT plant things early in 21. What a pain that was, hauling large plants back into my everything room a few times last year.

Are the rest of you scurrying around preparing for Christmas? How liberating it is not to be. lol Best to you all.

Random photos from last March. . .including the annual pygmy rattlesnake.

THIS is why I won't be planting things too early in 21!

From the very back of the place--Can see the shop in the back, on the left. Neighbors on t he right.

From the deck looking to the northeast. Veggie beds in the back, and neighbors beyond.

And this one is also from the very back with the house and shop in the back.

Nancy, I'm taking a break although there has been some scurrying today.

HU showed up right after all the animals were feed and we covered the plants and added mulch.

Then, I baked some Seminole pumpkins for the dessert I'm making for dinner tomorrow.

Larry...I can't believe how well these are holding in storage. They were harvested October 2019. I only have about 10 left now. I'm hoping HU has great success with winter squash in Okmulgee since I'm not growing any squash in 2021. My garden needs a clean out of squash pests for a year or two. If we didn't have plants in the garden, I would put the chickens on it so they could scratch around and clear out any overwintering ones.

I was able to grab some kale, green onions and parsley to use in recipes today/tomorrow.

Got the food delivered and had success in finding a nutcracker. It's empty out there, y'all. Well, empty of merchandise. There's LOTS of people out and about. (In fact, if you live near the Moore area, avoid 19th street near I35 at all costs.) In the stores, people are all wearing their face coverings and keeping distance. On the roads, not so much. They're pulling out right in front of you and doing all sorts of driving bad choices.

Your meal sounds good, Danny. Mashed potatoes are my favorite! I could eat my weight in them honestly.

Larry, I think younger people aren't really familiar with turnips. I wasn't. It wasn't something we ate growing up, although I think my Mom ate them growing up. Turnips are actually very good, I've found....and I just started eating them this year. I want to mash them like potatoes and see how they taste. ANYWAY, if they became familiar with them, they might eat them. I know I am now.

I'm taking a lunch break. So grateful for the veggie soup we canned back in the summer. Super easy dinner or lunch. And it tastes like it was just made fresh...not like store bought canned soups. I opened a jar last night and fried up a bit of hamburger meat for the guys. Had a small bowl leftover for lunch today.

Nancy, I think going thru pictures is a perfect thing to do during the holidays. Ethan has been messing around with my ancestry tree and wants to show me some things, but I'm too busy right now for more than a quick look. I wish he wasn't leaving for Portland on Sunday. THAT is when I'll have extra time.

Also, Nancy, I know you don't watch gardening/homestead vids on YouTube, but Roots and Refuge are in Arkansas and their ground is very rocky. Last year they built a garden around one of their pretty greenhouses. I was SO jealous, wondering HOW they could afford all of that rock. Well, they dug it up out of their field. It's super pretty, however they didn't keep up with it in the summer and it out out-of-hand. I'm pretty sure she put bulbs and roses in the beds there. I think she calls it the "hobbit" garden.

Speaking of...a FB memory came up from 7 years ago. HOW was it 7 years ago that The Desolation of Smaug came out??! I really enjoyed the Hobbit movies.

And I'm wearing the same sweater TODAY that I had on at the movie theatre 7 years ago. lol

All of that to say...I think your property is very pretty.

Seriously, shouldn't have sit down. Now I want a nap.

edited to add a picture of the FBmemory and old sweater which was new at the time.

and to say, thanks for sharing the pics, Nancy. You posted them while I was writing my post.

I have an amusing (and embarrasing) tale to tell. It happened last night, just before midnight.

I got up and thought I'd best run the dogs right out (avoiding any problems), so I went to the front door, and noticed it was AJAR (door was not closed), however it was locked. I sleepily went through it and closed it behind me.

Yeah, 5 minutes later, I found the door was locked when we tried to go back in. OMG, I can't get in. I'm locked outside in my black bathrobe and my houseshoes.

Ok, I know the backdoor is locked (sliding glass doors) because otherwise they won't even stay shut. I tested it anyway...yep, it's locked.

I went to the garage where I *used* to have a key hidden in a magnetic holder behind a power outlet. I knew it was gone when I tried to find it about 2 years ago. I turned on the lights (florescent tubes..which don't work about 80% of the time), hey I got light..amazing.

I look and look and look and then give up and look for any sort of tool I could use to break in. (after the fact, I could have taken door knob off..screwdrivers out there..didn't think of it..thought of breaking and entering)

It occurred to me to break in the back porch window (lowest/widest/easiest), however when I inspected it, I saw the screen was one piece over both top and bottom of window, didn't see any handy way to remove it w/o tearing it up (in the dark). I gave up on that idea and it wasn't till midmorning today that I wondered why the heck was I trying to get through window in back porch, the door there isn't locked and I had already gone through it to try the sliding glass doors (panic maybe?)

Ok, so I spent an hour outside, mostly thinking of what now (1 mile or more to the nearest possible pay phone...no coins, no car keys), waking neighbors and hoping they answer to weirdo in black bathrobe on their porch at midnight. I had about steeled myself to the later idea, but I thought I should check front door once more.

I pushed on it, and though door knob would not budge, it slid open with a click. After going in (and letting frantic anxious dog in), I tested it. It's totally broken, doesn't actually lock at all. And that is probably why the wind (or an unauthorized visitor?) blew the door open while I was in bed.

I've wondered if I should just leave it...and start using the deadbolt to lock when I do want it really locked, to prevent being successfully locked outside again. I think I will replace door knob (thus fixing it), sometime in January. I will have to find a way/place/method to hide a key that I can only hope stays where I put it this time.

I hope you enjoyed my panic!

Love it Danny! Good story! LOLOL Oh man...................... all's well that ends well, I guess. I'm so relieved!

It was just good that it was 57F last night and not 20F snowing and windy. And Nancy, the sad thing, is it's all true!

Great story, Danny! I'll bet you're exhausted today!

Not much to talk about here lately. I put stuff in stockings a little bit ago. Things need to be wrapped. Daughter, baby, boyfriend and his 2 girls and sister were here today. The girls painted ornaments and played with dogs and cat. Old beagle got more attention today than she has on months. Daughter put up the itty bitty Christmas tree.

My confession is that I was clipping baby's fingernails Monday and caught his fingertip. OMG, and he bled all over Ron. I probably cried as much as he did.

I got the lift chair. Not as comfortable as I'd like, but much easier to get out of, even without using the lift it's a taller chair.

The cold front came in. I'm glad the girls could be outside to paint. We can't use the fire places as the stockings hang too low.

Remember the day I was fighting with Chrome? Well it's been a problem off and on. Turns out something got updated on the android app and some people have this problem. So I'm using fire fox, but it keeps dropping the page down below the keyboard and then popping it back up. I'm getting dizzy. So, if I don't say it later, Merry, Merry Christmas .

I guess I needed to set it for the desktop view. That stops the movement.

Merry Christmas you all, in case something happens to me.

HU

https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/129781920_10221371207023989_7262699329804845505_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=2&_nc_sid=ad2b24&_nc_ohc=6zLq8NXWutoAX-gYeiA&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.xx&oh=2369ab177a78d93ad4f787f3c18bfc54&oe=600A32DA

https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/131033577_10221419375188163_5121429595567828247_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=2&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=2JHg-yhHbWMAX8yowM4&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.xx&oh=2c2945f04ac9f13fdccf989fc92d1ed4&oe=600A3A1C

I ran away from home again. Am in Robbers Cave State Park, in a cabin. Got cold here too. So nice to see some different scenery. :) I will have Turkey leftovers with sweet potatoes. There is a nice kitchen here.

Moni sending merry Christmas

I went to Robber's Cave for a photography excursion a number of years ago (2009 probably?). Hope you're comfy there. I managed to get the dogs in and out and still have my house accessible this Christmas Eve morning (midnightish). Merry Christmas everyone!

Oh Amy I know how you feel. My granddaughter snuck up behind me as I opened the door. Lin

bonked her head. She cried I cried. Mom ma said she’s fine not even a red mark. I still cried some more.

now anytime I get near a door she does about face

Merry Christmas everyone. It a little cold here, 25*.

I will go to to Ft. Smith this morning and drop off my heart monitor, then come back home and get ready for Christmas dinner at my Daughters. We are planing on very small family meals through the holidays. I met one of my sons, and a grand daughter last evening. We will have some of Madge's family Fri. and Sun,. We just don't feel right with all this mess that is going on.

Danny, I enjoyed your story, that sounds like something I would do.

Jennifer, I ask Madge to try experimenting with the food we grow, and try to make different kinds of tasty dishes. She made turnip soup that was great, too great, I had three helpings and paid the price. She had also tried different things with the sweet potatoes, squash, and pumpkins, all of which turned out good. We really need to change out eating habits. It is so easy to grow great food, it is a shame not to find different ways of using it.

Years ago my mom worked for the extension service. Her job was to go around to low income households and teach them how to make nice taste food with simple, cheap ingredients. She enjoyed the job, and learned a lot herself. Madge is a great cook, but not as adventuresome as mom.

Danny I felt your discomfort about being locked out. Three of my friends have a house key, because I don't have a good hiding place for one here. But if I don't have my phone on me, I won't be able to call for help.

Larry do you have a dehydrator? Just saw a video, where she dehydrated veggies, made powder out of them, and used that for seasoning. I find that an awesome idea. I'll add the link if I can find it again.

Can't figure out how to get the link. Search

The Purposeful Pantry

on YouTube. :)

I have done that. I love dehydrating. My kids joked that I would dehydrate them if I ran out of food to put in there. Right note I am making calendula salve in there

My cilantro survived another 19* night. I'm really curious now as to how low a temp it can tolerate and how much protection its getting from the south side of my house. I can't get over how much better it tastes than the store bought. We're mixing it into store bought pico and it really improves the flavors.

I've got garlic coming up right next to the cilantro. I'm a garlic newby. I did not plant till the week after T-Giving, is that gonna cause me problems ?

What kind of garlic did you plant, Lynn? Next year you might want to aim for mid to late October. I think I was a little late getting mine in this year. Your production may not be quite as good, planting on the late side. Regarding cilantro, it's like the parsley here. . . both will take very cold temps providing the ground doesn't freeze. You might want to make sure it's mulched well.

I'm sleepy. Best get up and get moving. Party mix, lil Smokies, more pulled pork, more pasta. Anyone have a recipe that calls for a LOT of sour cream? :)

Its a soft neck variety, I think its California soft neck.

I held off because of where I planted it, up against a south facing brick wall. I've read that an area like that can be the difference of a full zone. I meant to plant at T-Giving or week before, but hey, it got hectic.

MerryChristmas everyone! Hope Santa brings us all lots of garden goodies.

Danny, my house in Tulsa had a front door like yours. The knob locked but wouldn't latch. I just left it locked out of laziness. Then one day I went outside & pulled the door shut, only for it to latch. Thankfully my windows didn't lock (looking back, how was it I never got robbed?) so I had to figure out a way to hoist my butt up high enough to crawl in. I'm so glad the backyard was almost completely blocked by bushes.

I have a jar of dehydrated vegetables that I use to season dishes. Having a picky husband who refuses to eat veggies, I have to hide them in his food. It changes depending on what I have an excess of, but the chunks add a nice flavor and the powdered stuff makes a decent vegetable bullion.

Ham and scalloped potatoes are on the menu for tomorrow I think. Cliff's sister offered to do all the cooking since I cooked thanksgiving. I'll probably make the desserts but let her do the rest.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone

Lol, well at least you hadn't concreted the floor yet..that would have made it a lot harder. :)

Christmas morning I think about all the little kids everywhere who are in hog heaven with everything Santa brought them. All across the City, the State, and the globe. Have a cool Yule.

I mostly think about the kids, and adults that are hungry. It is heard for me to understand how it is so easy for many of us to grow more food than we need, and some folks don't even have a roof over their head, or a comfortable place to sleep.

On a food side note, a fellow stopped here yesterday just as we were leaving to go to my daughter's house and wanted to know if I would sell him some greens and turnips. I told him, no, but I would give him all that he wanted. He told me, first I need to tell you what I want to do with them.

He told me that he had a wild animal park, and that he was having trouble finding enough food for them. I think he had been getting food from businesses, but that source had all but dried up. I told him to help himself.

I expect he may be back often. He showed me pictures on his phone of his wife feeding some wallabies, and other pets, they looked cure but I could barely see the pictures. He did say that they loved turnips, and the greens.

Well Larry, now you have some place for your extra produce to go! Merry Christmas!

Nancy sour cream enchilada

Yes, like Larry, I've had visions of children starving across pockets of America, including here. I've been cooking and baking for what, 2 weeks? 3 weeks? I was still cooking today, so won't be delivering until tomorrow. I talked with my friends this morning (both of whom have had Covid for 8 days now. . . they assured me they're about 80% healed. . . but they didn't sound that way. John said the total lack of energy was one of the biggest things, and I could hear them coughing.), and I was worrying about not getting food delivered yet. They assured me that everyone was covered. They said all got some things, some more. So that made me almost re-think recipients I had in mind. . . Trying now to think of elderly folks who don't have anyone. I wish I knew more about people in town. I'll have to find sources.

I'm so tired tonight! Feel like my legs are going to fall off. Cooked all day long. I gave GDW choice of rigatoni with Ital. sausage bolognese and ricotta filling or cold pork sandwiches from a FANTASTIC pork shoulder roast I ssssllllloooowwww cooked yesterday. He chose pork sandwiches. Fancy Dancy Christmas dinner. I grazed all day taste-testing dishes--pecan praline cake (I made four 6.5x9" cakes. This was MY half of one of em. LOL. John gets 1 and a half because he LOVED that cake.).

HJ--I laughed so hard that you had on the same sweater 7 years later to the day! CRAZY. Oh, speaking of crazy coincidences. I was posting pics on FB yesterday. Had a bunch of friends and family pics. One was me in arm slings--with my Dad. I mentioned that at the time both of my arms (actually, wrists) were broken. Two of our great OK gardening friends chimed in that they also had broken both wrists at the same time--one backwards in the bathroom; the other while unloading bales of hay. Sandy and Lori. Sandy commented that we belonged to a kind of exclusive club. Well, through the. years, I knew of another acquaintance in Mpls who did that--while cross-country skiing. This was particularly funny because both of those ladies are friends of mine! WOW. SOOOOOOOO, I don't know how many read these posts--but any of you "two broken wrists at the same time" folks? I'd never broken a bone until I was 51, and then broke 3 wrists and one leg in a year--the wrists from rollerblading; the leg while playing tag with Brisco the kids' wonderful Australian shepherd. I put on the brakes, hit a wet spot, and went sliding with one leg bent back under me/ I hear the snap and thought. . . "Ah, this isn't good." We were in Mpls at Hiawatha park, down a couple hundred steps from the falls, into a valley/basin. Only way out would be the steps or a helicopter. Ankle swelled immediately like a balloon. Thank God Steph (my wonderful DIL) was with Brisco and me--just for moral support. I crawled up the 150-200 steps to the top. Then Steph ran home (was only 3 blocks) to get the van and came back for Brisco and me. This was the year after the 3 broken wrists, so Steph was well-versed in my sudden misadventures. The worst part of it was that Wade was out of town for a couple days, and Steph and I had planned a GRAND dinner out that evening, just the two of us. So we got me home, I told her it'd probably be fine, I'd just put some ice on it and we could go to dinner. I iced it all afternoon, and then took a crutch to dinner. Assured her it was fine, but raised the leg to the empty chair next to me. So that was fine. Next morning, I was going to walk to the neighborhood grocery store 2 houses down and kitty corner across the street. Nope. I called her (they lived right next door) and said I guessed I needed to go to ER. They put a cast on temporarily and I got to go back to my broken arm doctor 2 days later. I liked that doc. Dr. Beck. I asked him if I should be worried about osteoporosis. He said, "No, you might want to pray you'll get over this clumsy phase soon. And stay off the rollerblades." Hilarious.

Like Danny and Jen, I have a few being locked outside stories, but Larry, yours takes the cake! That is NUTS.

Moni, I LOVE your adventures! That is an awesome park--I would love to see it in the spring. Will you please go back then and take more pictures? It looks to be, by gosh, rockier than it is here! And NO, I most likely won't go there. Thing is, I LOVE being right here. I will say, 20 years ago, I loved traveling and loved road trips. But now, I am stuck here with the critters and yard, and it's okay with me--no place I'd rather be. I think it's true--as we get old our neighborhood gets smaller. . . When I was 40 and heard this, is made me feel sad for folks ike my grandparents and other "oldsters." NOW? Now I get it.

Well.................. Christmas has also take on a different tone. I woke. up this morning and felt so joyful and blessed. First to have read and studied Luke thoroughly over the past 24 days (there are 24 chapters in Luke). Second, that I had all day to finish cooking food for others. Third, that I didn't have one ornament to take down, because I hadn't put one ornament up. Also, we didn't have a bunch of gifts to buy. Long story and a lotta kids, but as a result, we just don't do presents, for the most part. That's part of why I go on these cookie-baking binges. I box em up and send to the families. And GDW and I don't buy for each other--if there's something we want, we get it.

It was a GREAT Christmas. I'm thankful for what we have and that we're able to share a bit; thankful for knowing so many good people. Bless you all!

I had problems sleeping last night, kept waking up hot, oddly. Maybe it's masculine hot flashes ? :)

Anyway, since I was having insomnia, I played on the web and it became dangerous when I came across Olympic Orchids and umm, starting filling a shopping cart, which became, 'Pay with Paypal' and umm, I guess sometime next month (if weather allows shipment from Washington), I'll have about 7 new orchid babies (and except for a couple, I mean babies, their prices were low, and they're advanced seedlings/mericlones) If I grow them well, they should all be blooming within three years though.

I was weak...I bought. Though I guess I haven't really bought myself a gift this year, oh...ok, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I will confess that one of the orchid genus (miltonopsis, the pansy orchid) that is an ancestor of about half of what I bought, has a culture issue that has caused more orchid death by emotional trauma. You see, if you let them get too dry the leaves crinkle and pleat, and then I'm quite tempted to say...DIE DIE DIE, because every time I glance at the crinkled leaves, I know it's my fault and I feel great guilt. Yep, orchid trauma....that's it.

I stole a picture to illustrate quickly what some Miltonopsis look like. Note, I didn't buy straight miltonopsis, only hybrids involving that genus...but some of the flowers do look a lot like this anyway.

A couple have a lot of oncidium blood in them, and strangely it seems that makes them a little less drought intolerant (though crinkling can still occur). I hope I have chosen wisely, every cross (being hybrids) is a bit different, and until you've grown it, you don't know what it's like (lol).

Gardening gifts. These tools are too pretty to use.

Yes, they look like they'd make better gardening ornaments to me.

Danny, they are sturdier than they look....but I'll probably keep them for my herbs and maybe lettuce/kale area. They came in individual boxes and each in a drawstring cloth bag. lol

Also, we'll see how the bamboo tags hold up.

I have some cheap wooden stakes and the stakes generally are fine. It's the writing that washes/fades out by end of season ('permanent' marker)

The writing always fade... no matter what you write on. BUT

I found, if you write on the bottom of markers you lay in your plants/beds, it won't fade. You just have to turn it over to read it... LOL

I tried survey markers this year. Not pretty, but seem to hold up. Except, yes, you do need to write on them again, over the fading letters... within 2 month.

Moni

The industrial Sharpies lasted longer, but they even faded by September or so.

I'm finished with holiday parties now. My sister in law is leaving tomorrow morning. Ethan is leaving tomorrow morning. Magic 104.1 stopped playing Christmas music. So...here I go with the melancholy for about a week or so. it happens every year the last week of December.

On Monday I'll start getting my plans together for the 2021 Garden and checking seeds.

Has anyone seen red periwinkle/vinca seed. True red. My Mom says that she had some a few years ago and hasn't been able to find any red vinca flowers. I would love to start some seed and present the flower to her on Mother's Day.

Other than garden planning, January is a time that I work on the house. I need to pull all the crap out of each cabinet/drawer/closet and reorganize and throw out stuff. I normally try to do a little decorating as well. I want to get a "coffee table" and a new lamp. And other things possibly. We really need to tear out our bathrooms and get that done. They are both small bathrooms, but we can only afford to do one right now, so it will be the hall bath. However, we need to wait to see what happens with taxes. All of the weird stuff that happened in 2020 (won't go into it) makes me a little nervous.

We would have already done the bathrooms except that there will be issues. It's not a straight forward project. And, our bathrooms aren't just an "untrendy" style...they are truly in bad shape. Ask HU.

AND January is usually a time that I watch TV. Anyone have an awesome series for me to watch. Anyone watch The Haunting of Bly Manor? I LOVED The Haunting of Hill House.

Y'all Tom got me this weird foot massaging machine. I might just sit for the next month with my feet in this thing.

Well, I guess I'll put up my holiday dishes and whatnot. Take my feet out of the massaging machine.

I guess I'll leave up the tree for a few days. How long do you leave your trees up?

I use treated wood markers and cut up mini blinds. The wood markers last longer, but they cost more. It I find a blind in the house that needs replacing it works out fine, I only have a little labor in the markers. When I place them in the garden, I try to turn the writing to the north. I rip treated wood scrap with my table saw, some I make stakes large enough to protect the plants from me dragging a garden hose down the row when I am watering. The treated wood seems to hold the ink better than untreated wood. I have very little luck with popsicle sticks. I wish I could make them work for me because they are the easiest and cheapest.

I agree Larry, love popsickle sticks but sucks in 3 months when you don't know what is there ;) Oh yeah, lots of 'I guess' plants last year.