Its snowing right now, just a light one. Just started and the kitties and cur will be thrilled to experience it when Daddy gets up. Wow, Eden! Id forgotten you had a chandelier in your boudoir. It looks great, especially decorated for the Yuletide season. Did you use one of those plastic medallions to add the detail to your ceiling? Ive looked at them repeatedly over the years and have never used one before. Seeing yours got me thinking about the possibility of using one over the stairwell in the Salon (whenever I get around to replacing the cord and the bare bulb, lol). I have to agree with you on the annoying aspect of Spike and the necessity of him remaining in Bellas home! You could always give her a lump of coal and tell her its what ultimately became of all the dinosaurs, you know. ;) Books were always a huge part of gift giving in our home. And like Bella, my brother and I were never disappointed to receive them. I love that you and Bella read together; so, SO important, and not only for good reading skills, but also for relaxing and cementing the bond of affection and trust that will make the "tough" years easier. Michelle, I love the idea of making puzzles for Kenzie. I can only imagine the squeals of joy when theyre completed and pictures of her favorite haunts at your home are revealed by her hard work. There are so many inventive ways to use technology to keep those distant close. Weve had none of your bone-chilling temperatures here but they will arrive as they always do! Still, though, we rarely see zero degrees F here in the "banana belt" of the Pine Tree State. Ive yet to get working on the decorations for the outside of the house, PM. That wreath picture is so pretty. I havent decided whether or not to fool around with the wet saw today or apply myself to the task of stapling greens to frames. The helpmeet brought home a bundle of "brush" (trimmings from Christmas trees) the other day. Which reminds me that I ought to move them inside the bahn before they are covered with snow . As usual, Ive gotten several chuckles from Cynthias post. Will today be the day the window candles are displayed at your house? Do you make winter jammies for your peach-skinned canids for the winter season? The image of the girls peeling around the yard pretending they were pursuing the "Yankee" cracked me up. Mary, the generosity of musicians never ceases to amaze me. There is a definite kinship there, a shared experience of learning something, practicing, and mastering it. Hard work and joy in the subject elicits the generosity of such a thoughtful loan. Several years ago the cellist, YoYo Ma left his Stradivarius in a taxi. The instrument is valued in the millions of dollars and it was returned as soon as the oversight was reported. There was a similar story about another musician who left her instrument in some sort of public transport not too long ago . Hard to believe anyone could forget something so obvious, but Im sure it happens more than we know. I love the sound of the Lute, when I hear it now I always think of Mary I of England, who was the most accomplished musician of all Henry VIIIs children (all of whom were quite talented). I think my favorite composer is Handel, though I am a fan of Georg Telemann, too. I am particularly fond of the bright, cheerful sound of brass. I purchased a pair of speakers for the Salon yesterday, having stewed on it for some time. We have rather a lot of stereo components kicking around the Compound, certainly enough to cobble together some sort of "system" for music delivery, but speakers are in short supply. I am not particularly skilled in programming remote controls but Im shooting for the Holy Grail, you guys. ONE remote to control volume and program/control a receiver and disc changer from anywhere in the room. Mind you, no such feat has ever been accomplished in this household before, so Im clearly shootin for the moon on this one. Speaking of the moon, I DID enjoy the convergence in the heavens, Martie. It was very cool and both the helpmeet and I commented that we always think of the generations before us that looked up at the same thing, and considered the possibility of what a knowledge of the stars could provide them. I wish Rich lived near me. The helpmeet attempted to install the staircase railings last spring. He was irritated and when hes like that he tends to hurry. Anyway, it looks like doggie poo-poo and Ive quietly decided Im going to look into hiring someone to do it with less "attitude". Ill bet itd be childs play for Rich and Ill bet he wouldnt mind if I wanted to "prefinish" some of the pieces before they were completely installed. You are so right about the importance of thoughtfulness in gift giving. The point of the season isnt the "booty", at all. My list includes several rather small items that will flesh out my tool collection and thats about it. Helpmeet has yet to present his wish list, so Im not certain whats on it. Hopefully no Spike! I lol when Eden worried that your "out of work" friend doesnt appear at your door, Cindy, looking for another winter of protection. Repeat after me (while giving a nod to Nancy Reagan), "just say no". And I dont "get" keeping the dead plants around, either. Thats probably why there are no houseplants in this house! All the suggestions on how to address them made me laugh. Im always interested in your reports on the news from the heart of our nation. Marian, Rex would make your yard a regular stop if you set out a turkey buffet for him. He might even bestow a certain "gift" on the edge of your lawn area, too. Speaking of which, he is giving me "the eyes". Hes had breakfast and now hes jonesin to go out for his morning constitutional. Id best get suited up to chaperone him. Keep warm!

Dorothy, You're welcome. I'm always happy to spread the word about Eliot Coleman's books and, also, about his wife's books. And that reminds me, Barbara Damrosch's wonderful book, "The Garden Primer", was updated and re-released in 2008 and I need to get a copy of it. It has been many years since I originally read her books but I remember that I enjoyed The Garden Primer and her Theme Gardens book immensely. Wait until you see his greenhouses (giant hoophouses really) on movable skids. They are amazing. It sounds like the cold finally reached y'all. I'd try harder to do some winter gardening, but I don't like cold weather. I finally lost the rest of my castor bean plants this week when the temperatures dropped into the low 20s. They had been killed back bit by bit with each successive frost. Having attained heights ranging from 8 to about 12 or 14' in height, they were gorgeous. They froze from the top down, but I left the ugly frozen leaves on them (although some eventually dropped on their own) because those leaves protected the still healthy leaves beneath them. I noticed Friday, though, that every one of them is now totally frozen out. In the garden, though, I still have lemon balm, sage, mint, rosemary, oregano, sweet alyssum, a few Laura Bush petunias in both pink and purple, and dianthus. Everything else is done. Every meal I've prepared this week has incorporated several items raised in the garden...that's how I keep my garden "alive" all winter long....by eating from it. I suppose we need the winter down time to rest and recover from a long garden season. Even as I lament the freezing weather and the end of the garden, I'm also looking at the 2010 calendar and starting to plot out my planting dates. LOL I do still have several pepper plants in pots that are producing peppers. I drag them into the garage at night (aling with the brugs) and back out during the day. It isn't exactly like we need more peppers....as y'all know, we harvested about 4 times our usual amount this summer. I think I keep the peppers alive as long as possible just so something is still green and producing....because I really miss the 'green' in the winter when most the landscape is brown or tawny gold. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: The Garden Primer, Second Edition

Thank you for taking time to respond. Yes, of course it has everything to do with the refusal to give me the new keys... I reported several major problems with the apartment (leaking roof, faulty wiring, flooding of the kitchen when shower is on, garbage disposal broken and kitchen sink is un-usable, etc etc etc) to the landlord at the end of September (7 days before new months rent was due). By the time October rent became due the landlord still hasnÂt lifted a finger to fix any of the problems I reported. So I held back rent. He filed eviction and began all kinds of retaliatory actions: cutting off my electricity for a couple of hours here and there, physically disconnecting my internet cable at the cable box and after I figured that out and connected it back he simply cut the cable that was running through his storage space in half and put a pad lock on the storage door , so I couldnÂt get in and try to fix it; hosing off the deck above me and ruining all of my stuff that was sitting below by getting it wet, etc etc and the latest one is the key withholding. I do have a trial date set but itÂs not until the end of February and I canÂt wait that long until I have my keys. So I was wondering if I can somehow force him to give me the keys or may be the Elevator Association can be forced to give me the keys. After all they are the once ultimately responsible for anything to do with the elevator, including issuing keys.

Somehow I am continuing to (slowly) lose weight. Honestly, if I hadn't recently had a physical and blood tests including thyroid, I'd wonder if something was wrong with me! I am down 8-9 lbs. now since the end of August, which on my small frame means I am down at least one size (I was wearing size 12 jeans; now wearing size 10 AND I have to put them in the dryer to shrink them because they get too baggy...previously, I could never put my size 12s in the dryer because they'd never fit!). None of my dress pants fit. A friend, who I hadn't even told about my "diet," last week told me I was "disappearing." I loved that! And this is all without a super-strict plan other than I have vastly reduced my intake of sugar, junky/processed foods, and even fake sugar like Truvia or Equal. I don't put anything but milk in my coffee (previously I used a small amount of Truvia). I only eat bread that is whole grain, no high fructose corn syrup, less than 3 g of sugar per serving. I generally buy myself a loaf of high-end bakery bread and keep it in the freezer and dole it out carefully. Only have pasta that is whole grain, thank goodness for all the new varieties, AND only have it with veggies and usually protein included. I have had slip-ups, particularly in the last 3 weeks or so, but somehow I still lost 1-2 lbs. I am not even exercising that much. I fell out of the habit after the stitches in my leg and with the holiday craziness, snow, and the fact that my gym closed and now I have to go to a branch that's about 20 min. away... I've had a hard time getting back into it and realistically, it's probably not going to happen until after Christmas. BUT, I just ordered a treadmill for my basement! So pretty soon, I'll have no excuses. I can see that exercise is not the key to weight loss for me, but it does make me feel better both physically and mentally.