Thanks! Was wondering where it was; I look forward to it every year. And yikes, it's in ten minutes - we're in California!

Never had them when I was growing up in town, nor when I moved here in the country. Once I had a friend who rented an upstairs apartment in a grand old house in a small community that had many Amish families as well as English. We were out walking one night before Christmas, and here came a group of Amish youths caroling house to house. We asked if we could join them. We recognized the songs, but they were being sung in German! All we could do is hum along. It was beautiful. Now that small village is a tourist haven and oh so changed and most all the houses on the main street were bought up and converted to shops. You can barely drive around with all the people and tourist buses from the city. This town is called Berlin, Ohio, if anyone knows of it.

@HU-867564120. My surprise at the use of silicone to connect the drain to the copper pan is that I'm use to a brass drain being soldered to the pan and then a PVC 2" IPS adapter being used to glue it to the PVC drainpipe. That's what my plumber did in my shower. But all these methods seem a bit hokey to me. Anyway my plumber and tile guys were wedded to the copper pan and full mud bed so I went with it and then covered everything with Hydroban. 5 years in and It's working perfectly well, but next time I do a shower it will probably be something like a Kohler cast iron shower base and Laticrete board for the walls.

Want a name from Dickens? Or, if she’s a “lap cat”, how about “Lapsang souchong?” If she chirps and purrs and talks, maybe just ”Lapsang.” Mewsic, Muse. I rarely name my pets human names — not creative ”them’ enough. onomatopoeia works well. Or once you get to know her, a nick name will come to you.