I haven't forsaken the Cottage Garden. My daughter-in-law kept bugging me to join FB so I could connect with my kids and grandkids and get lots of pictures of everyone. I don't play any of the games. I have found a great bunch of friends through political and gardening searches, and also reconnected with cousins, siblings, nieces and nephews, and old girlfriends of my boys who still call me "Mom", and their families. Also, my other interests, such as the Sierra Club, National Wildlife, Arbor Day Foundation, and others. I have found old band friends and have contact with DH's band members and the wives. It keeps me hopping, I tell you. But, the Garden Web is my home and as soon as it is Springtime, I will be back on here bugging the heck out of all of you again. DH's band will be going down to Austin this summer sometime for some music festival (?), so I want to hook up with all my friends in that area while there, even if just for a coffee break or lunch. I definitely plan on going to the Rose nurseries while down that way. :) I come on at least once a week and read your posts. I have posted off and on since September. Hey! I saw lots of new people on here. Cool beans! Saw that my friend Lorna had posted. I have been worried about her for months. Glad she is okay. We went down to SC to see my new grandson, as you know, and when we got home, I came down with Bronchial Pneumonia. Swell! (I think I am allergic to something down there - that's the second time that has happened) Took a long time to totally get well. My parents haven't been well, and Papa is failing, so have been busy with them too. My chickens are still laying big fine eggs in several shades of tan, brown and pure white. My girls and good little hens. We are still in drought. No significant rain for months - back to July. Fires around us. That is keeping me busy trying to irrigate in winter - fun, fun, fun! Crocheted some things. Always a busy bee. Other than getting fatter, nothing else is new! Oh, and those of you whom I promised plants and roses to...I haven't forgotten you wanted them. I decided it would be best to wait until spring to send them. With our drought, they weren't looking to spry this summer, and by fall they were down-right ugly. I don't want to send you plants that look like that! This spring, they will be pretty again. We're getting a good soaker misty rain today - it started yesterday evening. Yippee! That will certainly help. Hope this is enough news to last awhile. :) Right now I am cooking and baking up a storm, getting ready for our family Christmas gathering tomorrow. I need to go check the giblets I have simmering on the stove, so best get off here and do it. Sure smells good! Love you all. ~Annie

Linda, Your box arrived! I LOVED everything! ;) Linda sent~ Cute scarecrow on a stick (for a potted plant) 4 placemats "Fall" theme, leaves, wheat, pumpkins Pilgrim (with a pumpkin scene) Bunch of seeds! Paper, plant marker sticks (orange) Adorable crow shelf sitter, with a pumpkin/gourd body! Very pretty orange glass votive- with pumpkin garland around the top rim. Japanese cedarwood candle (votive) LOVE the smell, so clean, almost spicy! Flowering herb candle (votive), another nice scent! Orange pumpkin votive English Hyacinth candle (votive) smells really nice too, very fresh! Thanks Linda, for such a nice box! I love Fall things! All the colors are so bright, rich, my Favorite season! Hugs, Deb

Today I received another card! According to the note written on the envelope, it was delayed due to the zip code being incorrect, but at least it made it! Thank you Kathy (katkni) for the very pretty cardinal card and seeds. I received lemon basil (I've been looking forward to trying this!), calendula, black cumin (sounds interesting), and cosmos. Thank you so much! P.S. Although a bit late, I finished my rate and reviews for everyone I received from today. Thank you all! Mandy This post was edited by l1oness on Thu, Jan 2, 14 at 19:41

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.