Forgot to add - I told some of you i would be sending you cuttings and various seeds. I don't want you to think that i've forgotted, it's just that i am hesitant about sending them for fear that they will be damaged by the cold.

Good morning, exhausted elves... And now, let the detox begin. Too much food, too much sugar, too much butter, too much wine and egg nog, and too much love and good will. No, wait, you can't have too much of that. But I always know the reveling is done when all I want in the world is a big bowl of steamed broccoli and a cup of tea... Today, it is raining and gray here in central Virginia, there is nothing on the calendar and no one in the guest room, the coffee is in the thermos, the leftovers are waiting in the fridge, the kitchen is relatively clean, and DH and the kitties are snoozing under and on the comforter. Bliss.

Belated Merry Christmas to all. Especially to Triciae, who was on my mind a lot this holiday and will be during future holidays. Dear Wonder Woman, I hope you are doing well, where ever you are. Thank you for showing me what courage and strength and kindness are. We drove down to the Bay Area for the holidays. Christmas Eve we had dinner with our good friends in Berkeley, raw oysters with mignonette, cracked crab, and the traditional Buche de Noel. Last night we had dinner with other good friends in Richmond, tenderloin, mashed potatoes and a warm cauliflower-brussel sprout salad. I made half of the tenderloin, cut pieces 1" thick and tied them into rounds, pan cooked, with a sauce of reduced white balsamic vinegar, Muscat wine, shallots and garlic, butter, sauteed mushroom stems, blended smooth, then simmered over whole mushroom caps. No recipe, just made it up. Our hostess roasted the rest of the tenderloin with a red wine and shallot reduction. We were supervised by a friend who is a head chef at a large hotel and, for the first time in many years, didn't have to work on Christmas day, but was nonetheless pressed into service which he did with good humour. I've been negotiating a stressful matter at work for the past few weeks. As of Dec 24, we were uncertain whether our little business unit would be shut down and I had prepared myself to be jobless come Jan 1st. That all got resolved satisfactorily at noon on Christmas Eve, final document review pending, so for the first time in a month, I was able to relax and unclench. It was nice.

Thanks, Kay. This is our second year putting up the train so this year it only took him one day. See the little track under the train? It's on wheels. He assembles it in the garage and then just wheels it out. What takes more time is setting up the bells, train sounds and the railroad crossing sounds.