Was gonna post this last night,...-sigh-...but,...once again I fell asleep at the keyboard. Sometimes this dang chair really is just way too comfortable. LOL! - Anywayyyyy,...sorry. Ahem,...now, to continue. Okay, so two days ago I received two more fantastic seed laden Christmas cards,... From tbbgardens (Trudy): A really nice, snowy card with a pair of Cardinal birds (my MIL's feathery fave), and YEAH,...Back Pearl Pepper seeds (another Wishlist BIGGIE!!), also Scarlet Creeper Vine (We have lots of chainlink fence here at our new place just begging for vines of all kinds, plus we also have an arbor out back), Hoya (Pretty! Flower stars!) and Anise Hyssop (From what I've read, this is one heckuva perennial herb! Great looks, great scent, and leaves for tea)! Never tried any of these, but now I'm sure gonna!! Thank you so very much Trudy, for the beautiful card and seeds, and for all the helpful information! :) From ruthz (Ruth, of course): A cool "Let it snow" card with a plastic window featuring simulated snow and a view of a jolly snowman, and no less than three more selections from my Wishlist!! Lemon Drop Pepper (Yessss!), more Black Pearl Pepper (Lovin' it!) and Eupatorium rugosum ‘Chocolate’ (Tallish, with purple-bronze leaves and white flower clusters - Niiice!! Thank you soooooo much, Ruth!! :) Cards and seeds received yesterday... From wishdesign (Jean): A cute "Share the joy of the season" card with a plush-toyish-looking reindeer offering symbols of the season as gifts. Now,...for the seeds (O Boy, O Boy, O Boy!!), first off, more Lemon Drop Pepper (Genetic diversity rocks,...who wants inbred peppers?! The more the merrier!!), Goji Berry (Majorly doing the Happy Dance!! Yeah baby!! Definitely a SUPER BIG TIME want from my Wishlist!!) and Indian Ginseng (Aswagandha - A medicinal herb for folks with insomnia, and the berries can be used as a substitute for Rennet in cheese making...totally rippin' cool!!). Thanks bunches, Jean!! Oh,...and the little red zippies, uber nice touch!! :) From missmojo (Lisa): A cool, handmade Christmas card, stamped with an image of holly and "Happy Holidays!", with purple Balloon Flower seeds (Yip-yip YES! My SIL only has blue,...guess who's gonna be wanting whose seeds now!! He-he!) Thanks a bunch, Lisa! :) Today's card... From dirtdaddy (David): How totally cool! An Elvis card! Could easily be the cover-art for The King's Blue Christmas single (if there ever was such)! - Ahhhh, now for the seeds! Man-O-man! More Black Pearl Pepper (Enough is never enough!!), more Lemon Drop Pepper (Like I said for Black Pearl), Thai Red Hot Pepper (Yeah! It's cold outside, stoke the fire!), Dr. Wyche's Yellow tomato (From the late Dr. John Wyche - Oooo, a real good one, to be sure!!), Jimmy Nardello Pepper (Sweet and light when eaten raw, classic Italian frying pepper, a favorite non-hot. - Hmmm, methinks a bit o' culinary experimentation is definitely in order), Bush Moon Flower (White Datura? We have Moon Flower vine, Morning Glory type.) Thanks loads, David!! :)

Oh my ... santa's garden elves have been very busy !! My mailbox was overflowing today when I got home from work ! Many thanks go to : GraanieB - sent confederate rose double pink hibiscus , coral nymph salvia, night blooming jasmine, triple yellow datura , burgundy giant celosia Naturegirl236 sent blue bedder sage salvia farinacea , summerlong basil , downy aster and pineapple sage Karendee sent a Seeds n Greetings (cute) card with french marigold seeds Pumkingal sent a really cute homemade card with sweet yellow and red pepper seeds, cherokee sunset rudbeckia ,columbine mix , purple coneflower , crazy daisy , blue moon lilliput aster , hollyhocks and joe pye weed and an ornament craft ! Daffodillady sent giant zinnia , candy cane zinnia, lilliput zinnia,snapdragons, gloriosa daisy, sweet williams, forget me nots, 2 packs of NOID tomato seeds, red gomphrena, sams club peppers, 4 o'clocks, ornamental cabbage , JL's yellow rose, formosa lily, sweet banana peppers, mixed ornamental peppers, sweet dumpling squash and mixed hardy hibiscus and I think it was Daffodillady who sent ( all these wonderful envies got a little mixed up with this last " packet " - " peppermintious delectus cuttings " YUM ... can y'all guess what it is ?? hee hee !! Thank you all so very much for your generosity , I love all the seeds and can hardly wait for spring to grow them, my garden is going to be so beautiful thanks to you ! I feel very blessed to be a part of GW , I wish I could give everyone good health and happiness this holiday season and in the New Year ! ~Iris

Happy WEDNESDAY! My professional and personal life are still incredibly hectic, but I can't complain about very much. I feel very blessed. The actual wedding will take place in DR, and they are throwing themselves a 'reception' at the end of June in a typical NJ wedding factory with 190 or so in attendance. She was going to really be laid back about the reception, but it has turned into the usual around here that costs more than an average auto!! I guess it's a NYC thing, but it is such a stressful situation for the bride. I'm so grateful that she is coming to me with lots of her concerns; she has been incredibly generous in sharing her life with me. Got to run and catch up with work. I hosted a scholarship luncheon here at the office for our local high school recipients....I'm the Scholarship Chair on our community outreach team, but as you all know, it's not my 'day job'! It is the fun part, tho! Make this week count! Love to all Dee

I should try growing microgreens - I can grow them outdoors this time of year, and so they would not be taking up space inside. I cooked an ahi tuna steak yesterday (for Christmas Eve) that weighed almost a pound, and so I have about 1/3 of it left over. I might not have bought it if I had noticed that it was $36 a pound, but I think that fish costs a bit more here in the desert. Swordfish was better priced at $25 a pound. The tuna was from Fiji, like the tuna I buy in L.A., and it was sushi grade, which meant that I could cook it rare. I bought a half young turkey breast to smoke today, and that was not expensive, and it was small enough that we won't have too many leftovers, but if we do, I will freeze half of them. We're also going to smoke some sausage while we are at it. Kevin bought a new electric smoker a few months ago, and it has WiFi capability, so that he can monitor it on his phone from indoors, which is helpful. We're having a new kitchen table delivered tomorrow, and so we have to move the old table out of the way today, but we have a dining table in the dining room. However, the kitchen table is my main prep space, since I have very limited counter space, and so I won't be doing much prep work once the old table is out of the kitchen. We're going to have to move it into the garage so that Revivals Thrift Store can pick it up. We could possibly sell it for a decent price, but we're not going to be around for that and mainly just want it out of our way. We're donating our old bar and all of the barstools as well, since they are not our taste. We kept them for a couple of years because they came with the house, but now we're definitely ready to get rid of them. I hope to start painting the upper cabinets next week. We go back to L.A. on Jan 8.