31 degrees
All done as far as gifts and such , thought is that anyway ,

be back I am being called at .

25/32/35, mostly overcast
Baking the Bundt cake, than starting to rearrange the house to fit 16-20 people in for dinner tomorrow! 3 of the 4 kids will be here and their wives, girl/boy friends, 2 grands, neighbors and long time friends.

I slept in late but caffeinating now. Currently 32° with a high of 49° then 29° overnight. Sunny now but turning partly cloudy in a while.

I can see now why Mac is moving.

Supposedly it was suppose to be partly sunny here today , , cloudy , gray so far , 38 the high later?

Cat , coffee and people were calling me before .

Anxious brain , sort of a pseudo anxiety ,, ? lots of things get my sleep,

I'm not doing much for now ,

Healthy states. Guess it is not about climate, though I might have thought so. Hawaii first , Louisiana last. Or about altitude, rainfall, water quality. I will bet it is about politics. State policies toward health care.

Draw your own conclusion.
Healthiest and least healthy states ranked for 2018: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/h...

I'll have to check on the Tranquil. Anything that would improve my sleep is worth a try.

Beautiful staircase!

I have a Christmas Cactus rooting in water. Gotta find some potting soil, they're getting pretty big! Then find a home for it. I already have two.

I'm up to about 7 coleus. So cute and tiny. Here's hoping I don't drown/dehydrate them before they're big enough to plant.

Off to start the cooking.

Yesterday my daughter asked me what I wanted to do on my birthday (tomorrow) and told me she had put away $1 every day and I get to choose what we do with the loot! I am richer than I ever thought possible.

Oh, I forgot....McCannon. Is that goat wire in your garden? How's that working? I want to put some in my raised beds this spring.

@skits We use cattle panel as trellises to grow our large or climbing/vining vegetables on. Mainly pole beans, cucumbers, mellons, squash, sugar snaps, and as tie-points for tomatoes. We usually put up 8 of the 5' by 16' panels.

Some humor for this Christmas weekend.

http://www.cmt.com/news/180180...

The kids got here around 5 and the grandkids play ball almost non-stop with the dog. Holly loves kids. She tosses the ball to them and they toss it and she catches it. Just like with is. They all finally went to bed a couple minutes ago. It's going to be a crazy week

Entertaining family keeps you young....and tired .

no, we're not angels - Doug is a dear friend, and it's frustrating, and sad that he's come to this impass. We love & worry about him. We are very fortunate that we can help Doug.

Sally - I guess the last 2 years I went on & on & on about my pipes - no wonder no one will forget them Also we're not only more insulated, but that it's a warmer winter this year so no frozen pipes. Last year we were having minus 35c / minus 31F and this year we're in the pluses on both ends. Yes, we're fortunate

Over Yonder, IL
28°/43°/27° Partly cloudy, winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. 10% rain chance.

Up Yonder, ME
30°/32°/19° Sunny, winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.

Woke up under the weight of two cat anchors, one across my chest and the other sitting on my abdomen. I guess I'll go charge up the percolator and refresh everyone's food dishes. Then maybe go back to sleep. Or maybe not .

Good morning. A little colder the next few days. Only mid-30s today but at least we have a little sun. Interesting article this morning about the Kankakee "river", originally created in a straight line as a ditch to drain the vast Kankakee marsh and create farmland. Always flooding problems and damage in the spring which cost hundreds of thousands to "repair". Due to soil structure (clay) and high water table, the consensus is that the best remedy is to allow the land to revert to a marsh. Thousands of acres. Once called the Everglades of the North. Downfall - mosquitoes. Baking today - scones, muffins, pecan pies. DD's family arrives tomorrow for three days.
Ginny - sounds like you're going to have a fun week!
Rj - a full house for dinner. Fun!

50s for high today and company coming today and Christmas day. Last minute grocery shopping to do so getting ready to head out and hopefully beat the crush.

On the subject of sleep aids. I have found Valerian to help.

One of today's cryptograms.

"To better understand why you need a personal computer, let's take a look at the pathetic mess you call your life."

— Dave Barry

32 degrees , stayed near there all day .
only snoozing through , All quiet on the western home front

Hello all ,,