I plan on going to town for a few supplies. We have too many gnats in the house, they may be coming from the sweet potatoes and house plants. Some of the plants have been brought in from outside, so may have anything in them.

I plan on picking up some supplies, hopefully starting on a tractor shed and getting a few things done to the house, and getting the garden cleaned up. The repairs, and cleanup will be a long process, but it is something that has to be done.

I start another round of DR. appoints this week, I have no idea what that means, but I have to be making plans to shut everything down. I have already started getting rid of some of my junk, if I live long enough to get rid of it all, I will die a very old man.

Hug Larry and to Madge too. It’s a hard season of life

Kim, Madge and I were just talking about we not wanting to be at any other stage in life. All stages have their challenges, but we have already gone through the others, and don't want to try them again. If we had life to do over again, we might not be as happy now.

We had a great Thanksgiving, we had 31 here for dinner ( lunch ) yesterday, those were all Madge's folks. I had lunch with some of my folks Thursday, Madge had a couple of her kids here Thursday, so did not her to go with me. I get to see my folks more often than Madge see her's, and I have a smaller family.

Larry, that's so great that you and Madge got to spend so much time with family last week.

I finally went to the doctor this morning on the way to work. Whatever this is, it just wasn't going away. Very strange because usually I can kick my illnesses with herbal type of remedies. Apparently my sinuses are inflamed and I got a med for that and one that will help me sleep by stopping the cough. It's been a frustrating 2 weeks. I didn't feel bad enough to just lie around, but don't feel good either. He did give me a prescription for an antibiotic, but knows that I really don't like to take those. He said to give the other meds 3 days and if it doesn't clear, fill the prescription for the antibiotic.

He told me to keep up with the elderberry and stuff, tho. And maybe I was just extra rundown from being so busy.

I made turkey noodle soup with leftover turkey for dinner. It was easy and quick. But, my onions are not storing well at all. It was a bad onion year for me. The worst one in years. Same with the garlic. I'll be buying onions by the end of the month and garlic by the end of January. Bummer.

Hoping for a better onion and garlic year in 2026.

Well, Jennifer, I can commiserate with you. I caught some little bug from my grandkids Thanksgiving. My son‘s family caught it as well, but thankfully, I am on the mend. My son said his wife got over it really quick and I thought yeah because she’s on prenatal vitamins. Her immune system is stout right now. They are on their way to Disney in California so I hope that my son and the baby feel well enough to enjoy it. I was going to work in the kitchen all day, but with the sneezing and coughing, etc. I knew that was not a good idea. So hopefully tomorrow I can get two batches of jam done and six batches of herbs.

Sorry you got sick at Thanksgiving, Kim. And your son's family too. Maybe they'll all feel better for Disney.

For me, it was nagging--a sinus headache and the dumb cough. Not horribly sick, just irritating and not going away.

It's cold out there! And the chickens are requiring some extra care right now due to issues with "pecking order". It's all shifting around because my main roo is getting older. And he molted some this year. I don't recall my roosters ever molting. It was a light molt. Anyway....

I've learned to bring one water into the house and leave it by the backdoor and switch them out. The one I left against the house, but outdoors actually froze. Sometimes they'll not freeze if next to the house but we got to 22 this morning. Luckily the shop didn't freeze. The shop cats' water bowls aren't frozen anyways.

It's always a little extra work when it gets this cold and in extreme heat too.

I do need to figure out a place to put the sweet potatoes indoors. The utility room stays cool this time of year, so it is perfect for storing food. Problem is, it's packed. The turtle tank is in the utility room as well. I noticed she is a bit sluggish so it's time to get her heater going. Jen, do you use a heater in your turtle tank? I've not had to use heaters in the past because she's been in locations where the house was warm enough for her.

Remember when one of our first threads of the year was often about onions? That was fun times. Dixondale is pricey but I'm going to order 4 bundles: Texas Legend, Red Creole, Southern Belle Red (never tried this one), and Highlander, which is a long day, but can be grown in intermediate day too.

I wish the utility room was as cool in the summer as it is right now. Dream.

I'm going to stay inside today, although would like to bundle up and do some outdoor clean-up. BUT, I'm going to stay in. Super happy about having a day at home. Was hoping for 2 days this week, but have to work tomorrow. I'm going to finish up my office area finally and do a little laundry.

What are y'all doing on this very cold day?

I am not doing much these cold days, I am too soft. I have a lot of things that I want to do.

I am not sure that I have any garlic and onions left. I am sure That I have some Egyptian walking onions, because I left some in the ground, but I may have lost the others, but it is time for me to cut back. I go to the DR. today, tomorrow, and the next day. I need to devote my time to doing other things.

I am getting ready to load my new booth and ready for Market. I made Christmas jam, strawberry jam and as soon as I get some more sugar, I will make apple pie jam. My new favorite beverage is brew hibiscus tea, very strong and pour ginger ale over.

Sounds like a busy day, Kim.

Your hibiscus drink sounds really good. I saw a recipe on TV the other day but didn't take down notes. She brewed a strong hibiscus tea. Added it to OJ, water, and sugar. Then put whole cloves into orange slices and dumped those in. It looked really refreshing. I would cut the sugar a bit, tho. I seem to remember that she added a cup.

I had a great day at home. A day at home alone is a treat. I got so much done. The house just feels better because it's tended to.

Kim, the eucalyptus survived the freeze! I can't believe it. It's a Silver Drop. I'm stunned.

I had a change to look over the kitchen garden and pulled a radish and salad turnip to add to my salad.

Larry, keep us updated about your doctor appointments. If you feel like it, of course. Praying for you.

Jennifer that’s amazing. Eucalyptus was on my list to grow last year but it never got done. I was making my herb blends and A ran out of oregano, so I ran up to the garden and cut my oregano back as hard as I could without killing it and I will dehydrate it and put this blend together in the morning. I have people specifically asking for Italian seasoning and I completely ran out. I have so much to get caught up on. I don’t feel like I’m moving fast enough. But this yucky upper respiratory stuff has got me wanting to sleep all day. Jennifer I use ZEVIA. I do not use any sugar for any of my drinks and I don’t mind it. I got the hundred percent pure Stevia no additives and it does not have a bitter taste. You just have to be really careful how much you use.

Jennifer, I keep you posted, I am happy with my condition. We are all going to go at some point, I think that I still have a few more miles in me. The Dr. that I went to today told me over a year ago, that I seemed to have a little more tread on my tires, and looked like I was determined to wear them out, and he would give me anything that might help me keep going, and he has. I plan to go as long as I can.

Well, I had quite a funny dilemma. Last week my son came took my toilet out because my septic failed and I don’t have $5000 to fix it so I’m going full on composting toilet. Not a big deal but we threw the toilet in the dumpster. The dumpster man said you can’t do that and I won’t dump this dumpster until that toilet is removed. OK couldn’t find anybody to help me and my friend said her and her son would come over and help me. So today they came and we had this. I had the bright idea to hook onto the dumpster and try to tip it over because the neighbor went ahead and filled the dumpster with trash. But she said that would not work so we hooked onto the toilet to pull it out of the dumpster, which in turn tipped the dumpster over. No cars were damaged in this escapade, but as I was pulling to get the toilet out of the dumpster, I just kept going because I couldn’t see what was going on behind me and all of a sudden I hear screaming you’re good you’re good you’re good Lol apparently I was clear of the dumpster. So the boy got to take a sledgehammer and bust it into pieces and we put it in bags and put it into my trash cart. What a day.

That's so funny, Kim! Would have made a funny video.

I'm trying to think of something gardeny to talk about but don't have much. I did finally set up the Hydrovase that E gave me for Mothers Day. It's a pretty neat little deal. I hope it all works out and the flower sprouts and grows some before he comes home for Christmas. It would be neat to have a kitchen herb thing like this.

Other than that, I came home from work and used the tomato press to press a couple gallon bags of frozen tomatoes (I set them out to thaw this morning). I'm cooking it down some to make a pasta sauce for dinner tomorrow. It is nice to have this garden food to use but it does take a lot more work. Much easier to open a jar of marinara sauce from the store and call it good. lol

Not as much fun tho....and not as healthy.

That's all I got.

It would have and I even told them I was going to do it. But like most of the time I just want to get the project done.

Kim, it looks like septic repair has gone up just like most everything else, I am sorry you are have the problems.

Jennifer, the Dr. appointment yesterday was only to draw blood for a test. One of my doctors had ask me some months ago about me taking a test, it had been so long ago that I had forgotten about it. I was told that there was so much cancer in my family that they would like to test for 75 mutations linked to different cancers. I also was told that if my blood test like they thought, they would also test my descendants, if they liked. It may be a study, or something like that, but I went for it, but I wont know anything for a few weeks. I don't think the test will do anything for me, but it may help the kids in some way.

Glenda, I would not want to be taking care of cattle, and I don't like trying to take care of the land anymore. Madge and I are just not able to do the things we use to. We have been taking stuff to Fort Smith and donating it, and still have more to collect. I need to start giving away my tools and tool cabinets next. I will give them away as I sort through them, I will keep any that I think I may need, which wont be a lot because I just don't feel like working on a lot of junk. I do want to build another shed for the new tractor, I am still short at least one parking shelter. I may just give away equipment till I have enough parking space. It seems as though none of the kids want to fool with growing food and keeping up land. I can't say that I blame them, it it is not something that you enjoy, you should not do it.

Larry you sound like my husband. He has always had shelter for all our automobiles, tractors, balers, hay equipment, even the trailers. He doesn’t like anything left out in the weather. We only had enough barn and shed space for about 1/2 the cattle but there was timber for them to have shelter of a sort. Two years ago we sold over 1/2 the herd because of his health problems and all the cattle remaining could get inside. Now the herd has increased again and he said last week (in between doctor appointments) that he needs to build one more long shed. I said no, we need to sell down to the number that fits in shelters we have.

Our kids aren’t interested in cattle or crops, maybe 5 head or less and chickens. One son likes to garden but on a small scale only. If its not their passion they will never enjoy it. We all had to decide what we wanted and make our own decisions but I’m still a little disappointed that they don’t want what we do. They’ve seen us struggle and work too hard and spend more than we get back so maybe they are smarter thsn we are.

Glenda, I cant blame the kids of today. When I was a kid we milked cows. Those cows had to be milked 2 times a day no matter what. I don't think anyone wants a life like that. I have stayed home while the rest of the family went on vacation. I have never like to travel anyway, but I would like to take off every now and then and go hunting, or fishing, that is even hard to do if you have to milk cows.

I just cant get in the mood to do anything gardening related. It's cool and wet here, and I just dont like to work in the mud. In this low area I expect the soil to be wet all winter long. I just don't like growing a cover crop anymore because it is too hard to get the soil to dry in time for spring planting, and a cover crop seems to always improve the soil for the next year.

Larry and Glenda, good to read your posts.

I had a mostly free day and it was good. Got a lot done including holiday things and finally making the fire cider.

Hope everyone else is doing well.