Been sick for three days. On the plus side: lost ten pounds. While I was lying in my bed with two pups and one cat, I reflected on my five days in the hospital at about this time last year. Read all you want. No dietary restrictions. Food arrives, was pretty good, didn't have to make it myself or do the dishes. Watch whatever on your own little t.v. Go to take a shower and someone makes your bed for you and tidies up your space. Bring you your meds with a little cup of juice and tucks you in. The last three days were almost the same except no food, no t.v., but did have the pups and cat. I do not want to spend time in the hospital unless it is really necessary when I get such kind care at home. Last year it was necessary, but this time only the flu! Just started feeling better when DH came in looking very serious. Guess what: wet basement. Finished and carpeted basement of course. Called in the specialist; he came quickly, told DH and DS where he thought the problem was. Rip out the drywall and insulation, tear up the carpet, he will come back and fix it. Of course DH and DS didn't accept the location the the guy indicated so they tore out drywall etc. about five feet away. Nope, the leak was right where the man (the EXPERT) said it was likely to be. Waiting now for the repair. For few hours I thought IU8 was fading from my future, now not so much. We saved the carpet, we still have half a can of the wall paint, so when the repair is completed and new drywall installed and painted. it is likely that you would never know there was a problem. Expert said he'd had 18 calls in the last 24 hours due to a huge rainfall on the weekend. With the ground frozen and unable to absorb the water, it had nowhere to go but inside if there was any tiny crack or opening anywhere. Le sigh. One more project....Expecting huge snowfall today and tomorrow. Better than rain this time. We had a flock of about 50 Redpolls this morning at the wine deck birdfeeder, and one stunningly luminescent male Cardinal. Sure sign of spring, when you see little birds you have not seen all winter. Hopefully all of you are seeing more spring-like weather than I am *LOL* But we always get wallopped in March. The last hurrah of winter. Cheers, Julie

Thank you so much for all your kind words and thoughts. I go from total disbelief and denial to being brought to my knees with the truth of it. It's a loss we'll all feel for the rest of our days. Coe was really beyond something special and we are all better people for having known her. Sooz

I'm having more trouble recently too. I think our bodies know when Winter is coming, and we're supposed to slow down. I got out my old Bright Light the other day, hoping it would give me a little help. I'm also coming off Zoloft, because its giving me too many irregular heartbeats, so I'm not looking forward to the next few months. Hopefully on December 21, when the days start getting longer, we'll get a little energy back.

Jin, Jackie, Stephanie, Lisa, Sheila, Perma, thanks for your responses. California does sound like it's fighting a battle against fire. Jackie, our local council passed the worst tree ordinance in the history of mankind, basically requiring a significant portion of the wood cover of the area to be cut down, at owners' expense. Fortunately they got voted out of office, sheerly by accident (this is Italy), and the new center-left council recognizes that trees actually have their positive side and repealed the ordinance. Also they planted trees around the middle school after the previous council had the ones there all cut down. I wasn't familiar with recall, but thank goodness you have it. Also thank goodness your wonderful garden, inspiring to us all, isn't going to fall entirely victim to the (legitimate) demands of fire safety. Congratulations on your incredibly energetic and hard-working helper! We all need one or two of them in our lives. Jin, planting's not over. I think we might complete basic planting in five years of so, and since DH will be nearly ninety then, whether we'll finish is very much open to doubt. We do what we can. Stephanie, agree with your ideas about the importance of structure. Also, trees and large shrubs produce a wider range of conditions in which plants can grow the when there's just meadow: think cyclamen, hellebores, epimediums, forest floor bulbs; all plants for which I struggle to find places to grow. Trees have an ecologically stabilizing effect, I think, helping keep weeds under control. Unfortunately they grow very slowly here, at least, ours always have. Even once we get all the trees we want planted, it's going to take a couple of decades for even the faster-growing species to reach a decent size. Our clay soil is fertile enough once amended with organic matter, but the amendment is a gigantic task. We've put over a hundred tons of old hay into the garden, and it could absorb another hundred tons without the least difficulty. It's an illustration at least of how effectively soil can sequester carbon when properly managed. Congratulations on your rain, Lisa and you other Californians! Rain has gotten more capricious here in late years. We had a wet spring and early summer, then dry late summer and early fall. In November it finally began to rain, and rain, and rain, and now the watercourses, ponds, and aquifers are brimming. I hope you'll be able to say the same soon. Part of what I'm interested in in my gardening is capturing that rainfall instead of letting it run off. And preventing topsoil loss. The year 2017 lives in my memory, and not in a good way. My guess is more years like that are going to come. We're doing our best to get our garden and land, and us, in the best shape possible to resist prolonged drought. Shade! we need shade! I wish you all happy gardening, or, for those in cold climates, a pleasant break from gardening! And happy holidays! P.S. I think I cross-posted with Kes, to whom: thanks for the good wishes!