The cabbage/kale/decorative-whatever is still alive and seemingly turning into a palm tree as Donna described it. It sucks water like nothing I've ever seen. The soil is moist all the time but the leaves begin to dry out if I skip a day of watering it.



Aside from that, the holidays are long over in my opinion even tho people still have their outdoor Christmas lights lit. I know that some people do it until January 7 (or so) for religious reasons, but that doesn't interest me. Anybody who knows me understands that it's the commercialism of the season and they way it breaks up the long cold winter that I enjoy.

As far as winter goes, it didn't start until two days ago. We had a record warm December and not snow although we did have 4+ inches of rain. That mixed with November's precip could have translated into four feet of snow. The lake-effect snow began to fly on December 31 and that's the part of winter that I like least. With temps below freezing and annoying snow showers every two days, it's impossible to keep a vehicle clean.

On the bright side, the days are getting longer and the first time it's not cloudy when the sun goes over the mountain it will be noticeably light at 5 pm. So, I look at it as the worst is over.

We haven't started burning wood yet and depend on the temperature I might not have to. The price of fuel is way down for two years ago so the budget buys almost twice as many gallons. No matter how it goes, I won't need to order logs this summer and by the following year I'll be 64 and well qualified for senior housing. That's not something I look forward to and I haven't applied yet even tho I'm old enough but it worse comes to worst, I'll have to do it. A house and property can get to be too much work even with a new knee.

Cheers!