2024

Ugh, it's 34° when I leave the house, brr! But there's no wind, for once, so it's not too terrible.

Henrietta! So nice to see you!

At the garden, I'm taking it easy today because it's Sunday!

I just need to clear a path on the left side of the plot so I can get the wheel barrow thru. There was some Borage, the Giant Marigolds, and a couple of stunted Sunflower stalks. And I just pulled it all up and threw it in the Tofu Patch.

I had planted the Tofu Patch with some Fava on Nov7, but nothing has come up... Mostly likely it's just been too chilly, but maybe also whatever is wrong with the dirt here has contributed too. This is the place where most all the plants were stunted.

Here's the After picture...

I really need to get rid of those huge clumps of grass there at the front, as well. Ugh. I feel like that's going to be really hard, and I've been avoiding those stupid clumps all summer!

Maybe tomorrow.

As I leave, I see three Flickers checking out the Community Garden!

hmm. Not great photography today with the dreariness.

Oh well.

Cold and dry... I guess the droplets on the pine tree above are dew from the high humidity.

It's 32° when I leave the house, but no wind! Walking warms me up nicely, under all my layers!

A Sweet Gum caught my eye with interesting shapes.

I get to the Garden, and the squirrels are still having a hay day with the leaf pile!

Found something yummy!

I start hauling leaves. I'm working on the left side of the plot today... but getting the wheel barrow over these stupid clumps of grass is difficult...

So I got the heavy fork and I jammed it in... huh! The clumps just popped right out! Ha!

That was a surprise! The work is going much smoother now! And I'm able to enjoy the day.

It's just me and the squirrels, here at the Community Garden. And one Crow.

I so enjoy the squirrels company!! This one in my plot wasn't even worried about me. Let me walk right up and watch what he's doing!

I hauled six wheel barrow loads today, and this is the view from the back corner with the stunted Leeks... I did go a good bit over the border with the leaves.

And I am just so pleased that getting those stupid clumps of grass out was so easy!!

There is a bit of a hole there, tho. So I covered it with sticks from the back Sunchoke. It's not perfect, but should alert anyone walking by to the tripping hazard. I'll add more sticks when I chop down the front Sunchoke.

An Oregon Junco on some Red Amaranth in the diagonal plot behind ours...

His Amaranths were unusually short... maybe stunted in the same way that my Tofu Patch plants were? I guess I'm lucky that only a bit of the dirt in my plot is like that!

I'm heading out, but my friend the squirrel is still hard at work in my plot!

Heavy fog this morning but it has warmed up from freezing to 34°. The wind is light, so it's bearable.

The dew on this spider web is still frozen, tho!

Okay! Here I am at the garden plot!

Today I'm going to dig up the Sunchoke roots that are on the left side border. I've already broken off all the stalks, and it's mostly just the roots left.

The Sunchoke here was a volunteer, but it's really not kosher to have such a tall plant near the border. I want to be a good neighbor, so I'm going to try to remove this thing. Hopefully, it won't be like the Comfrey and take years to kill!

The roots are the food part of Sunchoke... but I don't like them. I'll be hauling them to the Community Garden compost heap! Here's the first bucket...

... The second bucket...

... The third bucket... I'm having to dig a bit deeper for the roots now. And I'm shaking thru the soil with the fork.

... And the fourth bucket! a bit over half full!

That bucket took a while, sifting and digging further out to find new roots.

And dang, that was some work! This area is probably 6x4 ish.

And those buckets were difficult to carry. Guessing a good 20pounds each... well over 75 pounds total. And that's just so much food! You know, if you could eat it.

I now understand what neighbor Kevin meant when he said You'll never go hungry! when he saw the Sunchoke growing. *laughs*

Meantime, my little friend has been digging at my plot as well.

The same one as yesterday? I'm not sure, but we are just as companionable, both of us with our digging projects!

Nom nom!

I consider my next projects as I head out... Continue hauling leaves in, of course.

But I need to think about the other Sunchoke that was in the front garden square, as well... I had pushed over the tall stalks the other day. I guess I will leave those roots tho...

It is a beautiful native plant after all and it makes the bees and birds so happy!

Hmmm... I also need to clear out that Borage in the front, that's mixed in with the Fava cover crop. For the new 1 foot rule... They've decided we can keep our Borage, but it cannot be within 1foot of any borders.

Another dreary and foggy day, just below freezing but little wind again and I'm good under all my clothing layers.

There's a bunch of ducks gathered along the bike path... and the Mallard with his tail ripped out is still alive!

And it's always nice to see some Non-Mallards at the creek! These are Green Wing Teals.

As I approach the Community Garden, there are three cars in the parking lot, ARG!

But the van was pulling away. Good. And the one guy was just finishing up and left as I got my first wheel barrow loaded up with leaves. Good!

The last guy was just covering his raised beds with leaves. He hauled another couple of wheel barrow loads and was done and out pretty quickly as well.

Great! It's so much nicer to be at the garden alone!

And THEN the squirrels came back! All the ones who like to dig thru the leaf piles. And even the one hanging with me in my plot! And a couple crows as well. And the chirping happy birds in the tree and shrubs on the east side!

so I'm not the only one who prefers the garden without men.

So anyway. The neighbor on the right side has covered their plot with leaves... barely. There's hardly a single layer and there are holes all along the damn border, jerks!

So I haul a couple extra loads to reinforce that border. Ticks me off, doing extra work for these useless Pot People. I wonder if I'll have to put up with them again next year.

Well. I have hauled 7 wheel barrow loads of leaves to my plot today. But I've been annoyed almost the entire time. So I try to get my happy vibe back on the walk back home.

Some cute little birds.

Some Snowberries.

And an attempt to capture the beautiful colours of the native Nootka Roses along the creek.

Good Morning My Dear!

Again with the freezing fog, and again little wind. There's no frost on the ground but the trees were dripping as I started my walk... the frost above the ground starting to melt.

Okay! I'm going to plant the strawberries that I picked up the other day! The strawberry patch is not doing great and some borage took over.

So I'm going to clear that...

There are probably half a dozen strawberry plants, each with a couple green leaves coming out of their root balls. But this one, near the Fava, is the only plant that is still really living... It even has two little green fruits on it!

Hopefully All the plants will come back alive in the spring! I get the new ones planted...

And then I cover them with leaves. The big strawberry poking out so it can catch what little sunshine there is!

I hauled six wheel barrow loads of leaves, and got the rest of the back of the plot covered!

I had extra time, so I pulled up the Borage that had grown up between the path and the front Fava patch. I just laid it down where it was, to return the nutrients to the soil, and I'll cover it with leaves tomorrow.

And I'll probably be done tomorrow! Yipee!

I don't like to eat peppers, but I do like how bright and cheerful they are right now!

Henrietta... I never noticed before...

It looks almost like he has a bald spot since his blue feathers are so long!

*laughs* It's kind of cute, actually!!

I'm at the garden and I am jamming thru the last bit of winterizing that is required by the Community Garden rules.

I've hauled four wheel barrow loads of leaves today to cover the front...

A light sprinkling of leaves in the Fava!

And a tidy layer of leaves in the front to cover the Borage I pulled up yesterday.

I've also moved the trellis and tomato cages...

Usually I leave them lying down in the plot, but they are so hard to see, I worry that someone would accidentally walk on them and hurt themselves! But now that I have the big trellis, I've set it up with all the tomato cages inside it. This seems more visible and less dangerous!

I've also tidied up the little junk pile...

I had some wood stakes, and I put them under the bucket. And the rest is all neat as well, with the bricks and grids approximately at the border with Kevin's plot.

I'm proud of all the work I've done!

And I'm really happy the new rules let us keep the Borage in our plots! It's crazy that they still have blooms!

Pretty, pretty!

And I still have some time when I leave the garden, so I'm going to walk an extra mile!

Stumpy still has its leaves!

Steller Jay... no cooperation!

And a Scrub Jay... I love all our blue coloured Jays!!

And then I get home. In the afternoon, we get an email from the powers that be at the Community Garden.

Your plot is currently out of compliance.

*SCREAMING*

*Screaming*

*And cussing*

Borage not managed, weeds not managed.

... ummmm? What?

I thought they decided the borage was fine? And Weeds? What weeds? Do they think the Fava, Leeks and Garlics are weeds? Or what?

I am so confused and so blasted annoyed!

*more cussing*

Dang it, I was so proud of all the work I've done.

And here they are again, telling me that I suck.

bastards.

*breathes*

I'm heading out to the Community Garden to see what I can do to bring the plot into compliance with the rules.

If I don't, I will get a mark against me. The old rules said if you get three marks in a row (for the three compliance checks in a year) they would kick you out. The new 2025 rules say there are now four compliance checks in a year and if you get two marks, you're out... and it is not clear if that's 2 marks in a row or in a year or if it's 2 marks ever.

So it's bullshit all around, and if I want to stay in the Comm Garden I should probably do something.

Yep. I did seriously consider just letting it go and making them kick me out next year.

But visiting the Community Garden makes me so happy. All the birds and bugs and flowers and all the thousands of photos I take! Thousands? Maybe millions!

I don't care about the veggies so much, altho I do love the Lemon Cucumbers and the SunGolds. But the work gives me pleasure... I feel good when I put things in the ground and they start growing. I feel strong when I haul wheel barrows of leaves to the plot.

So yes. I would desperately miss all of these things if I was forced give up our Community Garden plot.

So I'm going to the garden today to satisfy the stupid powers that be, who seem to have it out for me. Or who hate the beautiful chaos which I cultivate in the plot.

Sighs.

And, of course, it's raining today.

But Rudra is here, and it's nice to see her!

Here I am at my plot.

Borage not managed, weeds not managed.

Okay. They said we could keep the Borage, but you couldn't have any within a foot of the border. I only just pulled up all that borage along the front, next to the path. So possibly that's what they are referencing.

But I can't take the chance. So I'm going to pull up all the borage today. I feel so bad and sad for the Honey Bees who think this is a place to get nectar from the Borage blooms.

And then the weeds not managed. Looking at the plot, ahh! Okay, they don't like the couple of Amaranth stalks I've left standing in the front with the Fava.

The Amaranth seed heads are full, and I wanted the birds to come and have a snack. Again, it makes me so sad that I have to take food away from the wildlife. :(

Here's the After pic... Just the winter cover crop of Fava is left, with some Garlics growing behind. The Leeks are out of frame, on the left.

The Borage has been managed to death. And what they call weeds have been pulled up.

But I've been having some subversive thoughts along the way!

What I've done here today, will keep me in the Community Garden for another year.

But what they've done... Changing the rules arbitrarily, making us comply with the new 2025 rules when that's not what we signed up for (we literally sign a contract!), and trying to classify Borage as an invasive when no one has ever called it as invasive and it is the best Summer companion and cover crop.

All of this. And I'm going to fight them from the inside!

You can't plant new Borage? hmm. That'll be an easy rule to bend. Seed bombs are fun.

I'll have to study the new manual to see what else I can do to help nature and thwart idiot humans who have too much time on their hands and who have too much propensity for rule making.

heh, heh, heh. *Mine is an evil laugh*

*laughs* Yep, it's one of those days when I just can't get a good picture.

Hermit Thrush? Dang it.

Lots of Bewick Wrens all over the place. But they are too bouncy, even on the best of days!

I stop by the Community Garden to make sure the plot is as Borage-free as I can make it. My little friend is still hanging out!

Yet another Bewick Wren is bouncing around the Comm Garden compost pile!

And IN the compost pile!

I guess that's as good as the photography is going to get, today. eh. That's okay... I will keep trying! :)

I'll be heading out for my December travels later this week, and thought I would get in one last adventure up the hill today.

Ha! A Squirrel munched a Persimmon!

Actually, the squirrels must LOVE Persimmons! *laughs*

There are a few houses in the neighborhood with christmas decorations up.

I like the penguins on the left with the US Mail Box!! :D

Other than the Steller Jay, there don't seem to be many birds around today. I resign myself to looking at foliage instead!

Thimble Berry.

Red Flowering Currants.

... and more attempts to capture the beauty of the little waterfall.

I get to the Acorn Woodpeckers territory... aw, I don't see or hear ANY birds up here. Not the woodpeckers and no little birds in the brush...

But I do hear construction further up the hill. sighs.

Back to the foliage, I guess!

Oh Hey!

well foo. Little Nuthatch was too fast for me! I also missed quite a few Bewick Wrens on the way down.

eh, that's how it goes sometimes!

Back in the neighborhoods and I've found some more cute christmas decorations.

A Robin in an Elderberry tree.

Wow, all the berries! crazy!

Raw Elderberries are poisonous to us humans, but once you cook them they are good!

Good Morning My Dear.

A grey day, 36° when I left the house. But no wind.

Oh, nice! It's been ages since Suspish has been out here!

I admire the colours of the foliage of the native rose bushes along the creek.

There's a huge flock of Cackling Geese at the back of the Events Center again! Hundreds!

I'm looking for that one goose with Leucism on her neck.

But I don't see her today.

I move on, but a guy and a dog disturbs the flock!

Wow! They circle and some of them come back down.

Aw, look! Some Nutria kids are out of their burrow!

Oh my gosh, they are so adorable!

Does your Mom know you are out and about??

Too Cute!

I go into the Community Garden one last time to double check my plot. But I am easily distracted by the birds hanging out here!

*laughs*

Oh, hey! We've got a new Solar Baby?!

*laughs* Nah, here's the original Solar Baby!

Lots of awesome experiences today!

We got up at o'dark thirty for a plane ride to Colorado!

Let me tell you something. I hate airports. The only thing I hate MORE than airports... is airplanes!

I hate the stress and I really hate motion sickness.

But I deal with these things to see my family!

We arrived at a decent morning hour and I am so happy!

We got some breakfast at a little local diner... I was mildly amused when our server didn't know what a vegan is. I'm trying to figure out what I can eat and she's all We do have eggs! *laughs* and *sighs* (and *yuck*) heh.

And then we drove to my parents house.

Partner went to bed, since he hadn't slept. And I was thrilled to settle in and just relax at the kitchen table with Mom and Dad and Brother.

Eventually we got some games going!

Fun City is very old board game, but new to me! It's a bit complicated but fun! Dad won.

Phase 10. Also fun, but Dad won.

And a card game called 65. Dad won. hmm.

For dinner, Mom had pre-made Pizza Soup and Rosemary Scones. YUM!

And then we all shut down pretty early... I took a blissful shower and was in bed at 9:15pm!

Ahhh!

I slept in! I relaxed at the kitchen table with Mom and Dad and Brother. We did puzzles... Dad collects and prints up crosswords, and there's the odd sudoku as well.

Out the porch door...

Aw, how cool is that? She's a female Kestrel, the males have blue on their wings.

I fiddled online for a bit and then wrote a couple of my goodreads postcards. When I take them out to the mailbox, oh my gosh, it is lovely outside, warm and no wind. We should go for a walk!

At 10:50am the furnace guy arrives... Dad and Mom have been having ongoing issues with the gas furnace for months! It just shuts off, every week or so!

With Winter in Colorado, this is terrible! But it's happened so often, Dad has the temporary fix down... with the fire place and the stove running with fans they can keep the house warm! But since we are traveling to Iowa soon, the furnace needs to be actually and permanently fixed before we go!!

After lunch, Brother and I go for a walk around to the end of the street.

I am crazy for the Rock Doves here, too!

A Robin in an unknown tree

We were back to hanging out at the kitchen table again, later in the afternoon. And Brother just declares, Sister wants a fire! Everyone agreed, and we all got up immediately to make it happen!

*laughs* Dad went to haul wood, Mom gathered some mulling spices for drinks, and Brother and I got the patio chairs out of the barn!

The mulling spices were for the apple cider, and there was some Fireball too. mmmm!

Stir fry for dinner and then we got going with the games again.

Dad won the first round of Qwixx. But then Mom won the second round, and broke Dad's winning streak!

Natalia's Four Square is a card game. Dad won.

And then Dad suggested Hand And Foot, a partner card game. Since Dad has been winning so much, I suggested he be my partner!

*laughs* We lost spectacularly!!

Another blissful and relaxing day!

Just hanging out at the kitchen table. Chatting and doing crosswords and playing on the laptops and phones. It's just so wonderful!

I got a bunch of GR postcards written, and that made me feel accomplished!

In the afternoon, I convinced Brother to walk. But it's so crazy windy, he didn't want to go out on the road like yesterday. He just wants to stay in the yard.

So I will walk the same route as we did yesterday, and he will walk around the yard. And then we will see how many laps it takes when I get back.

I set out, and I'm trying to capture the little clouds at the horizon, just above the foothills. But the camera exposure says oh hell no. And eventually I just give up. *laughs* Damnit.

But here's the land underneath the little clouds.

And the wind is just so insane. It's nice and warm, the high is 52°, and I don't need a jacket. Dad says when the wind is out of the west, it's always warmer!

But the wind makes walking unpleasant... It makes me glad I don't live here!!

And when I get back, there's no sign of Brother in the yard... he had given up after just a couple laps, because of the wind! Haha!

We get a game of Monopoly Deals going... It's a card game and I really like it. Not that I win, or anything! *laughs* Dad won, of course.

And then we played the Crazy Camel game. It's fun as well, but there's some set up at the beginning, and end, and each leg of the race. At the end, Brother was a couple of dollars above Dad. And at the poor end of the spectrum, Mom had a couple dollars more than I.

heh. It's normal for me to lose all the games.

We started a game of Trivial Pursuit. This is a game that I like in theory, but the questions are so old, and so random... It's just not as fun in reality.

Dinner was chic patty sandwiches with tater tots and a really yummy Canned Veggie Salad. I loved that, I should get the recipe!

Mom gets a dizzy spell, which is distressing. She says it's a mild one. After we get dinner cleaned up, we join her in the living room.

I connect the Emily Laptop to the tv and we play some GeoCities. Monuments is a bit too easy, except the ones we have no clue about. We do some America and some Europe.

There's a bunch of walks in a big park in the UK... those are really absolutely lovely. You could set those to play and just watch them for some meditation time!!

Another wonderful morning of hanging out in the kitchen and being relaxed! We goofed off online, did crossword puzzles and Mom made more cookies.

In the early afternoon, Mom has Another mild dizzy spell. She's sitting again when this one comes on, so it's not a huge deal. But it's concerning that she's getting a couple, so close together! I think usually they are several weeks apart!

But when it's time to leave, Mom's up for it. So that's good.

We are going to Fossil Creek Reservoir southeast of Fort Collins.

It's a place where Bald Eagles hang out during the winter. On Saturdays there are naturalist from Audubon who set up spotting scopes and are there to tell stories and answer questions.

We've been out to visit several times in past years, and I really enjoy it!

We chat with the Audubon people who have a table at the head of the trail. And then we head on down to the lake!

There's a large viewing platform, and the Audubon people have set up four spotting scopes!

One of the spotting scopes has a phone attached, to see better!

There are only five Bald Eagles here today and the Audubon people are so disappointed. They explain that there have been up to 45 Eagles hanging out around the lake in the past!

Almost straight across the lake are two juvenile Bald Eagles standing close to each other.

Bald Eagles start out life with mostly brown feathers, with varying amounts of white as they get older.

When they are five years old, they will look like the iconic Bald Eagle, with the white head.

The Eagles are here for the fish, and they might get to eat a duck or a goose.

It's a beautiful place.

We listen to the naturalists talk for a while. There are over 300 breeding pairs in Colorado now... much more than in the bad old, DDT days!

They also said how many Bald Eagles are in the area, locally. I've forgotten the number, however many dozen, but Mom asked if that included an active nest that she watches every year, near a road they drive along often. She gives the location and our naturalist knows it and says, Oh Yes!

And Mom asks questions about when they lay their eggs. So she knows what to look for when they drive by the Eagles' nest in January and February! I think he said the babies will hatch in mid-February.

The sun is starting to get low, and there's another family arriving at the viewing platform. We decide to walk down to one of the blinds... they've said that there might be some shore birds running around on the beach there.

We've walked down Sandpiper Trail, to the closer blind... Nope, no shore birds. But the number of ducks and geese here, all across the lake, really is incredible.

There's a few that are closer to the blind. Looks like Canada Geese and a lot of Mallards.

And who is that over on the right?

Ah, he's a Wigeon.

The Audubon people had told us that these are Great Blue Heron nests. They nest in colonies... they get the tops of the trees, and Egrets might have nests under them!

Stay tuned for Part 2!

And then I noticed the moon coming up...

As we walked back up the path, Mom was looking down instead of up!

But I can't get enough of the colours in the sky!

We get back to the head of the trail and see that the blackboard has been filled out since we arrived! Darn it, I missed the Magpie!

We head out, and I try to take a picture of the mountains and sunset from the car.

The tallest mountains on the right are Mount Meeker and Longs Peak.

We were going to a whiskey tasting room... but it was closed. Bummer. We picked a bar randomly that was near Brother's house, and it was pretty good.

There was a wide variety of cocktails, Dad and Bro got beers, I got a hard lemonade with raspberry vodka (meh) but Mom's Caramel Express something was excellent!

It was very not vegan, so I did not try it, but everyone else agreed that it was amazing. Mom took a photo of the ingredients so they could try to re-create it at home! *laughs*

Back at home, dinner was spaghetti and lots o' veggies in the sauce! oh yeah!

We played 65 and of course Dad won, with five stars. Brother had low score, but had four stars. Partner had three stars, but he was the one who went out on the last hand, and that's the hardest one!

After church we came home and got back to relaxing!

I wrote some letters. Mom made more cookies... and Brother and I frosted and candied some Peppermint Melts. Mmmm! I think those are my favorite!

I found a good free trivia web site and I called out questions for a while and then we got down to some real games.

Can't Stop is a pretty fun board game. Brother usually wins this... but this time I Won!! woohoo!

Haha! I'm green, of course! The first person to get to the top of three columns, wins... I've got 2, 3 and 8!!

And that might be the first time I've ever won that game! *laughs*

Scattergories is another game I love in theory, but I really really suck at, in reality! ... I think it's the timer. My brain just goes blank!

Brother had 19, Mom was right behind him with 17 and then surprisingly Dad and I tied with 12. It's a surprise that I got that many points! ha!

Aggravation is definitely Mom's game... but everyone kind of ganged up on her for this round! haha, Brother won and Mom came in last. It just seems wrong!

Dinner was left over wipe out, except more spaghetti had to be made.

And then we sat and played GeoCities at the tv again.

The walks in the UK started out in cities, which is usually easier to figure out because eventually they will go past a sign. But then we started getting more of people walking thru that big park in England.

It's beautiful, but getting it over and over got to be boring!

Everyone shut down early, but I needed to take care of some Swap-Bot stuff. I glanced over the GR stuff as well. Keepin' things organized!

I was happily surprised to see Partner at the kitchen table when I got up this morning. They were talking about football and cars, and you know what? I'm glad I mostly missed that! haha!

I wrote letters like crazy and with the two I started yesterday, there were four to drop in the outgoing mail today!! Yay!

After lunch, Dad, Bro and I went to the liquor store to find some gifts for Uncle. We also stopped at the grocery because Mom was running out of cookie ingredients! Can't have that!!

Along the way I tried to take another photo out the car window of the mountains... and my goodness! It doesn't even look real!!

And the wind coming off Mount Meeker and Longs Peak, really cool!

We are continuing to play the free trivia website, and I decide to sign us up for an account. Here we are:

∞ M-Fam at Fun Trivia *laughs!*

At 5pm we headed out to Pour House in Loveland for an early Happy Hour and dinner.

We picked out Pour House because they had a few vegan things on their menu. I went for a veganized Namaste, an avocado sandwich with red pepper hummus. Yum, so good! And happy to say they use Dave's Killer Bread for this sandwich, which is vegan too.

(so often restaurants have zero knowledge of bread ingredients... very frustrating!)

I also got a Pink Lemonade Martini, again with the raspberry flavoring, and it was so much better than the cocktail I'd gotten the other day...

Okay. It was probably just the sugar that made it so good!

But Mom was not impressed with her gin and tonic. The house gin was not up to her standards! *laughs*

I enjoyed the art.

The labels say the price of each painting... over 2,000$! Wow!

And then we went on to the Christmas Walk in the Woods.

I loved this! All the pretty lights!

And look! That's the moon again!!

The temperature was a few degrees below freezing... but there wasn't even a breath of wind, so it was actually pretty nice for all the cold!

We admired the projected lights up in the trees and debated about whether Dad and Mom should get some for the spruce in their yard that is getting too big to string with christmas lights!

We arrived at the end.

I would have walked thru again, but it was cold and I thought I'd gotten good photos.

Back at home and gathered around the kitchen table again.

Mom, Bro and I were just fiddling with our devices. and I suggested a game of Monopoly Deals...

And MOM won! Yay! ... Altho it does not make up for her terrible loss at Aggravation yesterday! *laughs*

Last night, the night light in the bathroom that's attached to my bedroom went out. I had to sleep in the dark! *laughs* So that was the thing on my mind when I got up this morning.

Got a new bulb in the night light. And I'm happy to see Partner is up as well. And it's another relaxing morning!

Mom left for errands and Dad brought up the Rack-O game. Brother won with 250, Dad 225, Partner 215, and me with... a lot less. heh.

I started a load of laundry, and after lunch I moved the load to the dryer and announced a walk for anyone who wanted to get some exercises.

Haha, no one wanted to walk with me! But Dad came out with me and rode his electric bike along side as I walked.

And this turned out to be exactly what I needed!

Dad took me around a couple loops. But I kept wanting to go farther!

And I walked FAST! I started out huffing and puffing, but eventually I caught my breath and started breathing like a normal person... I guess the red blood cells have finally caught up to keep me supplied with oxygen in the higher elevation. Yay!

In Eugene Oregon, our home is 420 feet above sea level. Out here in Colorado, Parents home is at 5,180 feet above sea level... This is a helpful website!

∞ What is My Elevation?

At the end of this road, you could see out to the base of the foothills. Parents house is so close to the foothills, you can't actually see the mountains!

Out in the distance, there was a Prairie Dog here and there! Too far away for any kind of photography, that was a bummer. But fun to see them keeping watch at their burrows!

And then, with my extra oxygen being supplied, I was able to walk fast AND look around. There are quite a few neighbors here who have big pets!

And who have amusing christmas decorations!

Haha, looks pretty real, doesn't it!!

But, back to the big pets!

Alpacas! Aren't they cute!

The walk made me feel SOOO good! So glad I went out!

When we got back, I folded up my dry clothes and Partner, Dad, Bro and I played a game of 65. I guess Bro was tired of keeping score, so I did it this time...

And I was winning several hands at the beginning! Then Bro won a couple hands. Mom finally came home (it was like 5pm and I was starting to wonder what had happened to her!)

Dad won the last hand... but when I added up the scores Bro and I were tied with Stars but I got 2 extra stars for the low score!!

I WON!!! WooHoo!

*laughs* I should keep score more often!!

We got drinks and I tried to create a raspberry thing with real raspberries... four raspberries, muddled + two fingers vodka, a splash of 43, 4 drops of Lemon Ginger Bitters, a bit of lemonade, ½ spoonful of sugar. It was on the okay side of good, definitely not great.

Dinner was taco salad, very excellent! And then we got out Kimbo.

This is a game that requires a bit more strategy and planning ahead than I actually possess. Brother won with Dad close behind and Mom and I still only had three guys in the center.

Fun, but not a game I'll ever win!

We tried out some photo trivia on the free site I found. Until Aunt and Uncle phoned to talk to Mom about our upcoming trip out to see them!

Everyone else goes to bed early, and Mom and I hang out in the living room. She's reading her library book, and I'm comfortable on the rocking recliner with the laptop!

Last night, I finally looked at the bottom of my foot which had been kind of annoying me... haha, the fast walk yesterday in the brand new shoes had given me a big ol' blister! Odd spot, too, on the ball of my foot. There is a smaller blister in the same place on the left foot as well. huh. And those shoes felt so comfortable! Oh well, I'll get used to them!

Just relaxing at the kitchen table again this morning! Oh how I love it!

I notice another bird at the barn... a female Flicker. They have the same Red Shaft race that we have in Oregon. I guess the dividing line for the Yellow Shafts in the east is not the Rocky Mountains! Maybe it's the Mississippi River that divides them?

Hm. Drinking water from the gutter?

In my part of the world, the rain gutters would be full of leaves and there would be bugs to eat there. But there aren't any trees to shed leaves into these gutters, so she's just drinking from a puddle there.

At the kitchen table I read the newspaper and goof off online. Work on the daily entry for the Highs and Lows swap I'm participating in. And write another letter!

After lunch I've got presents to wrap. I've got most of them done, when I hear Partner has gotten up. I can hear his voice in the kitchen. I go get him and we finish the rest of the presents together!

I'm checking my list and see I've got two presents that haven't arrived yet. I double check the amz deliveries, and the box that is supposed to arrive this afternoon has two items in it. Great!

The neighbors will be looking after the house while we're gone, and Dad takes him around and explains what to do if the furnace dies again. So nice to have awesome neighbors!

When they were done, Mom and I went home with neighbor... I had been invited to meet their new dog Zoe!

What a cutie. Zoe is a Maltese + Shih Tzu mix. She wasn't sure about me! She barked at me, and then licked me and then barked at me again. *laughs*

I don't have any experience with dog photography, so it's just as well I didn't take the camera with me. But do wish I could show how adorable Zoe is.

Back at Parents house, we got another fire going in the pit!

The sun is going down and soon this...

... turns into this!

Back inside we play a card game that's new to me... Up and Down the River. Ha! I won!

And after dinner we got a game of Qwixx going. Mom won with 112, but I was right there with her with 110!!

We will have a long day of travel tomorrow, so every one headed for bed pretty early.

We are driving from Colorado to Iowa today.

Dad loaded up the truck with all our stuff and we were on the road at 8:10am.

My car motion sickness has been getting better over the years (while my airplane motion sickness seems to be getting worse). I was actually able to read about 50pages of That Librarian!

We arrived at Uncle and Aunt's house at 7:22pm. With the time change, that's a bit over ten hours.

Long day. Aunt fed us soup, Uncle gave out Fireball shots. We chatted, figured out the bed situations, and went to sleep!

I stayed in bed for a little while this morning, but I can hear people chatting at the kitchen table upstairs.

Eventually I get moving, and join everyone one at the table. The house has picture windows looking down into the back yard, and Uncle maintains a bunch of bird feeders! It's always fun watching the birds!!

And of course, it's exciting for me to see different birds! No Cardinals in Oregon!! ... or in Colorado, for that matter!

Wow!

At the feeders there are Goldfinches, House Finches. There are Juncos on the ground, picking up seeds. And there are some Nuthatches there for the suet.

I tell everyone about the little Lesser Goldfinches we have in Oregon. And Dad and Uncle were talking about the Eastern Goldfinches... haha! That's what they always called them, but they are actually talking about American Goldfinches!

I wonder if they had a name change somewhere along the line, or if Eastern Goldfinch is just a local name!

Our House Finches are the same tho... Technically they are invasive on the eastern side of the US!

I remember that I always wish I take more photos of everyone at the feeders... but I figure I've got some time, and it's not long before I put the camera away.

We start the games with Qwixx, the dice game... and Dad and Aunt win with a tie of 44! But I was actually doing good as well, with 41 points!

Dad's Sister arrives and we happily greet her.

And now we are set up for a partner game, so we play Hand And Foot. Yikes... the men thrashed us so badly that we didn't even have to count the third hand, let alone play the fourth. Sheesh!

I insist that we take a moment to re-group before playing the next game! So what shall we talk about? *laughs* I have a topic!

I am wearing my Rocky Mountain Raptor Center shirt. It's in Fort Collins, Colorado and I had gotten it when we went there, last year. So that was a fun story as we talked about the raptors we got to meet that day!

And back to the games... The Women's Team won a game of Farkle, which is another dice game! Yeah!

We started a card game of 10 card Flipper Golf... but haha it took a while to remember all the rules! We had forgotten about the individual discard piles!! Oops! Not sure who won this.

Dinner for me was rice and beans and a lettuce salad.

We got out the dominoes, and played a game of Chicken Foot. I started out the first few rounds in low, but fell apart and of course, lost. heh, oh well.

Dad's Sis left around 9pm and everyone started shutting down after that.

The Adults had a Breakfast to go to this morning, and when I got up, eventually, I took a couple photos and goofed off online.

I took this blurry photo and I wondered who the heck that is on the left with the striped face!!

I didn't worry about it too much because I was enchanted by the black Fox Squirrel!

The Eastern Fox Squirrels at home in Oregon are invasive, and their DNA is limited and they all look the same. The black ones are fairly common here, tho!

The adults came back and I talked about Wisdom the Albatross, since I was reading about her in the BWD Magazine email.

And then I showed the blurry pic of the little bird that I couldn't identify. We looked at the guide books for a while and went back and forth. But my photo was just too blurry to work with!

Then Dad saw that another bird had shown up at the feeders, with the same stripy face and I was able to get a better pic...

Ah Ha! Purple Finch!!

Aunt and Uncle were excited because they weren't sure if Purple Finches ever visited the feeders! And now they have proof!

After lunch we went over to Other Uncle and Aunt's house.

Cousin and I won a couple games of billiards until Aunt and Brother beat us.

Brother and Dad beat Cousin and Uncle at foosball... Brother is actually an expert player so no one is going to beat him!

And then back upstairs to open Christmas presents with cousin's family.

Dinner was a taco bar, Aunt made me plain rice and crumbles, to accommodate my vegen-ness and that was good!

We played Wits and Wagers, on Partner's suggestion. It was a good idea, because I won! Haha! The first game at least. I think Brother won the second game maybe?

And then Aunt had some party games prepared!

Two players got blindfolds and you are to pick up marshmallows with a spatula and put them into your big bowl. Ha.

Cousin was the big winner here... he managed to get 20 marshmallows in his bowl!!

Later we got out a game that Cousin's Kid enjoys... Happy Salmon. *Laughs* It's pretty obnoxious with the shouting, but Brother really liked it! And this is the kind of game where it doesn't really matter who won since everyone is having obnoxious fun anyway.

We settled down and got Natalia's Four Square going. It ended up being a long game, but I won this one too! My luck with games is turning around!

About 11:30 when we left, to go back to our sleep areas at other Uncles house.

Church this morning. The pastor there is new and we had an amusing chat about communion before we all went to sit down.

Well. I was amused! The pastor, on the other hand... I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm going to hell! Bahaha!!

After that, I got a load of laundry done. And then we packed up to go stay at Other Uncle and Aunt's house.

Cousin's family was still there and we played some pool. I just watched the first games... Brother won a game, and then Cousin won a game, and then, dangit, I don't remember who won the tie breaker! *laughs*

Uncle came in and we decided to be partners. I got to break and I actually put a ball down! And then I got another ball in! And then Aunt called us back for dinner. Ha. So much for that winning streak!

Dinner was sloppy joe, and mine made with crumbles was excellent. I should remember that, so I can eat it at home since it's relatively easy to make!

Aunt got the party games going again. I happened to win one of them, but only because Cousin's Wife set me up for it. heh. The prize I won was a Christmas Light necklace. Just what I always wanted! *laughs*

Cousin's family left to go do Christmas with other families. And Dad and Partner bowed out to get some extra sleep.

The rest of us, Aunt, Uncle, Mom, Brother and I played a 5 handed game of Hand And Foot. I Killed it!! Ha! I don't even understand all this winning, but it's kind of fun!

The grownups have errands to run, and Mom and Dad have to go in to town, to do insurance things. The rest of us sat at the table and played with our devices and chatted.

Everybody gets back and we have some oh so nice quiet time, reading in the living room.

After lunch, we play a game: Up and Down River, the new-to-me card game. After 9 rounds Uncle won with 69 and I was in second with 62. Mom 51, Dad and Bro tied again with 43, Aunt with 42... she usually has good luck with card games, so it's surprising at how badly she lost this one!

Uncle had a party to go to, and I convinced Mom and Brother to go with me on a walk. We just walked down to my Great Aunt's house, which is now a rental. It's just over a mile away. It's chilly and we didn't walk fast enough to get warm. And there was no wildlife to take photos of... the birds and the black squirrels were not out.

We played a bit of trivia from the free site that I had signed up for.

Dinner was fried potatoes and their yummy Home Grown and Home Canned green beans in a flavored vinegar. Oh my gosh, I don't do canning but eating these green beans made me wish I would. So Good!

And then a game of Phase 10 that went on forever!

I was losing bad, and Uncle was winning bad. But it went on long enough that both our fates changed and Brother caught up and Mom caught up, zooming thru the phases!

And they are sitting at the 10th phase and Brother laid down and Uncle laid down but Brother won with least points. And Mom was at the 10th phase as well, but took over the Losing, with the most points!

So, I've lost my winning streak but at least I haven't started a losing streak!

Our family celebrates on Christmas Eve... it's tradition to go see the Childrens play at the church in the evening and then home for dinner and then opening presents.

But the morning is relatively quiet.

There's a couple games of Qwixx, but I'm played out and don't join. I just need some time, and sit in the living room with my kindle, reading That Librarian.

After lunch, everyone else sets up for Blank Slate, a game I'm not familiar with. I stick with reading my book, tho I glance up now and then at the exciting moments! :)

We head out at 5:30pm for the Christmas Program at the church. and oh my goodness... this is the absolute Worse program I have ever attended. Apparently the new pastor is terrible all over the place!

It opened with the same Stupid Song we sang in church a couple day ago. Oh Come Emanuel. ALL seven verses. Seven. Again! That we JUST sang on Sunday. GAH... How many christmas songs are in your damn hymnal? Apparently just three, here. *Shakes Head* at the ridiculousness.

And then the program itself. Kids would read a short bible passage, there was a song. Rinse, Repeat. Seriously. It was Awful. and Boring. Just completely lame!

And the end, we got to sing Silent Night with candles as the kids filed out. Which, that's nice. However, that made it so there would be no clapping or applause for the kids. (Because, really, the boring program isn't their fault! They did what they could with what they were given!)

Apparently being joyful and happy (that this stupid boring thing is over) is not allowed in this church.

Well. We came home, got dinner and then opened our Christmas gifts.

Brother had found a new dice game for Uncle and Aunt, Liars Dice. And we set about trying to play, right away!

Bahaha! The instructions... were contradictory! They seemed to say one thing, and in the next paragraph it said something else!

It was hilarious. And I lost right away, of course. and Brother professed that he loved the game, of course!

*laughs*

Traditionally Christmas Day is a day of complete relaxation. We are usually up pretty late for Christmas Eve, and it's nice to play with our new toys! :)

But today, Aunt's kids will arrive. We will have a Christmas with them and then we will move back to other Uncle and Aunt's house.

So people are moving around quite a bit when I get up in the morning. We are all packing up, and running the sheets and towels thru the laundry. And being generally unsettled and not relaxed.

At noon, there's a stupid football game. All the TVs in the house are on and blasting loud. *laughs* Certain people are very excited about the game. But it's so loud, I have trouble reading.

Mom and Dad will be staying in a hotel for a couple nights, since Aunt and Uncle from Texas will also be staying at other Uncle's and there's just not enough room for everyone.

I go with them to checkin and drop off their luggage. The quality of a hotel in tiny town, Iowa ... is not great. Dad checks for bed bugs, and then he finds leftover takeout food in the fridge. Haha, lordy!

There's free coffee all day in the sitting room downstairs, and no coffee maker in the room. Which is probably for the best, considering the fridge!

Cousins' families start arriving in the afternoon, and when the children arrive we jump right into opening presents.

It's crazy chaos, of course! *laughs*

Mom and Dad get an awesome gift from Cousins: a hiking backpack with wine, glasses and utensils for a snack! That's really cool!

In the evening, we get back over to Uncle and Aunt's house. Our Texas Aunt and Uncle are there and everyone is happy to see each other!

After dinner, we all play a game of Attack Uno! Haha, that is wacky fun! I was trying to pet the little machine to make it like me and not shoot out a million cards when I had to draw a card! It didn't work!

People went to bed, and then those of us staying up got a game of All Wilds Uno.

*laughs* All these different Uno games that I've not heard of before!

I slept in a little bit and when I finally got up, Mom and Dad had just arrived from their hotel room. Everyone was sitting around the table... Uncle and Aunt, Aunt and Uncle from Texas, Mom and Dad and Brother.

Uncle is going to take us to a neighbor's museum. But as we are trying to get out the door, other Aunt and Cousin and his little girl are just arriving! *laughs* We greet each other and then maneuver around each other, and the few of us who are leaving, get on the road.

The museum is a guy's private collection of... toy tractors...

There were also a bunch of these engines...

They are hit and miss engines with a fly wheel. And I don't know what they were used for! Like, running the pump on your water well, maybe? IDK.

Lots of other random stuff in here...

But it's just stuff, with no explanation and no stories.

Back at Uncle's house, Aunt feeds us some lunch and then the games begin.

I needed to take a step back from the crazy Uno games! *laughs* but then they decided to play a new game called Junk. That was pretty fun.

We were going to go out for dinner, to give Aunt a break from all the food prep! But then we realized that other Aunt and Cousin and child would be driving home from the restaurant... so we needed to do the gift exchange before we left!

Mom's birthday is in a couple days, and also all the women exchange fun presents. And, of course, the child gets some new toys as well!

Aunt from Texas makes quilts and those are always amazing!

We all went out to eat, and the restaurant was so non-vegan that I had to bring my own salad along to eat. Sighs.

Back at Uncle and Aunts house for a game of Natalia's Four Square. Mom won!

And then Mom and Dad leave for their hotel room, and I stay up for a little while organizing the luggage. We'll be leaving for Colorado in the morning!

Mom and Dad got in early from the hotel this morning, and Dad loaded up the truck and we were on the road at 9:05am!

It's cloudy and dreary and well above freezing: perfect weather for driving. There's some sprinkles in the morning but the clouds broke up in the afternoon, unfortunately... a bummer when you're driving west, into the setting sun!

Brother had loaded his phone up with a couple albums he had gotten from the library... the soundtracks to Princess Bride and Lady Hawke!!! Oh my gosh, that was awesome. Those are my favorite movies!

While we were still on the road, but getting close, we put in an online order for pizza. We got there on time, but they were running late... Friday night, after all! A 15 or 20 minute wait and then we were heading to Mom and Dad's house!

After dinner, we just continued to sit at the table. Everyone pulled out their devices and we just goofed off, in our separate worlds online!

I was reading the news from home and saw that we had gotten enough rain that the creek was high... They had to rescue some people and a dog who got trapped in their tent, under the bridge on our street! Yikes!

And then I saw this, beautiful photography!

∞ On a wing and a prayer: the hidden beauty of insect's flight - in pictures Barcelona-based visual artist Xavi Bou

Wow, just amazing!

And everyone turned in early! A long day, tho good to be back at Mom and Dad's home!!

Back to our relaxing mornings, spent around the kitchen table!

I look at the newspaper, but then I have some Swap-Bot chores to catch up with. That takes a while and then I'm catching up with NPR, The Guardian, Daily Kos and the couple of Substacks that I'm subscribed to. Yeah, I'm crazy about the news!

It's 11:30 and I'm starting to feel lazy! *Laughs* Brother seems to be restless as well, he's wandering thru the house and looking out the front window notices a Bunny sitting out in the yard!

Cute!

And that gets me in motion! I've got a load of laundry going and then I get some lunch.

In the afternoon and evening, we have our own personal celebration.

It took a while but eventually we reduced that, down to this:

*laughs*

Mom defrosted some soup that she had pre-made and also had some cornbread to go with it. It was all so yummy, and that's another thing I need to think about making at home: cornbread is pretty easy, you just mix and put it in the oven, right? :)

We played the new card game Junk, and hey! I won! We also get a game of 65 going, and Brother won that one.

We start dispersing for bed. But I stay up for a minute. I grab Dad's camera and steal all his photos! Haha!

I'm looking thru them, and Mom is explaining. They went to a graduation and had good family time with Dad's side. A camping trip shows their trailer camper in a beautiful spot. And Mom tells me what a Bear Box is! huh.

Eventually Mom and I get to bed as well!

Church this morning. And tho it's boring, I can appreciate the fact that this church is more welcoming -- dare I say more progressive, ha -- than the church we went to in Iowa!

Back at home, we are relaxing at the kitchen table.

After lunch, I've convinced Brother to join Mom and me for a walk!

I already loved this neighbors blowup christmas decorations, but when I got closer, I noticed the little unicorn in there as well!! ♥!

Partner is working on some paperwork that must be done in 2024. He's having trouble with it and I look at it as well. The PDF they've sent him can't be digitally signed. ARG!

We will have to take care of it back at home, where I can print up the page and partner can physically sign it, and then scan that back in. Annoying. And since the contact for this paperwork lives in Florida, we will have to do this the instant we get home, in order to have it sent by the deadline. Sighs. Wishing people would catch up with technology! ha.

In the evening, we had signed up for a Christmas Light display! At dusk, we head out and as we approached the place, oh wow, all the pretty lights!

When we get to the check in, they are happy that Dad printed up the receipt on paper. Ha, apparently the QR code is a lot easier to scan on paper rather than people's phones!

I have LOADS of fun with the photography, as we drive around the park!!

After all, even the blurry photos are interesting and cool!

As we are approaching this wall of green and red lights, which blink and show fireworks, Dad says, They should've put an American flag there! I'm all, What? Why?

To be patriotic! Uh huh. His idea of Christmas happened 2,000 years ago in the Middle East. There is NO reason to insert the USA into that except that my Dad is Maga. Most of my family is Maga.

I wonder if he knows that the USA flag is now a symbol for Proud Boys and other violent hate groups of that ilk... used against progressive people with lefty politics. People like me.

He must. And it surprises me (... and yet, doesn't) that he would want to be divisive at a time when his religion is trying to bring people together.

But if there's one thing that Magas love, it's being a hypocrite. So there you go.

Most of the lit scenes blink to show movement...

It's fun trying to capture it all... but I need more practice! *laughs*

Turns out the wall is actually a tunnel!

That was a lot of fun!

Goodbye, Wonderfully Colourful Place!

We go to the Pour House for dinner again... and I got the same thing I did last time because it was SO Good: Pink Lemonade Martini and Namaste (avocado) Sandwich. YUM!

Back at home, I pull up the free trivia website and we play a bit of that.

And then I tell them about an online word game that I found a few months ago, Blossom. We give it a go, Mom and I looking at the letters, and Brother calling out words from across the table... Every once in a while, I get a reminder about how smart he is, and this is one of those times. He didn't even look at the site, I just verbally told him the letters to use and he is calling out complicated words just on that!

We get 180 points with Brother's help. I think the first time I played by myself I got like 70 points! *Laughs*

Partner has come down and we sit at the table with our devices for a while before bed. Tomorrow is the last day in Colorado and I'm a little sad already.

One last regular morning of relaxing at the kitchen table with puzzles and our devices.

Yesterday Mom had done the trick on my jeans: I had gotten a drip of wax from the candle at church. She uses a paper towel to soak up the wax, and her iron to melt it. She had thrown it in the laundry to get the rest, and worked like a charm! Thanks Mom!

There's a wind advisory, and I ask if wind ever shuts down the airport. Yes it does.

Oh great. I pull up a web page that shows plane departures at DIA, and sure enough, there's a few delays... and then there's suddenly a lot more delays! Mostly between 15mins and half an hour. Arg. Nothing cancelled yet, and my plane in the evening is still on time, but if delays start cascading? bleh!

I go look at Dad's weather station thingee. It clocks the wind at 24mph. Brother goes to look at it too, and says there are gusts up over 30mph. Crazy wind.

But by lunch time the wind has slowed down. There's fewer delays at the airport, and most of them are just a few minutes or 15min at most! Yay!

We head to the airport in the afternoon. We usually get a bite to eat and have a last chat before going down to TSA. But as we approach Subway they announce Salads Only! We're out of bread! oh foo. We wander around a bit, but there aren't many choices on this side of TSA, especially for vegan food.

Humph! But I need to give my stomach something to keep it occupied and at the Starbucks I get some over priced fruit and a Kind bar.

Last hugs and the Partner and I are going thru the TSA line. And then we get out to our gate with about 20mins to spare before boarding.

But we are missing our fourth flight attendant. We have to wait for them, and it sets us 40mins behind. I'm glad we've got a direct flight, the delay is just annoying instead of stressful.

Once on the plane and in the air, there's a guy in front of me watching Frozen. I kind of watch with him, tho I can't hear the audio of course. And I cry, anyway, when Anna saves Elsa. :)

Unfortunately the plane ride lasts a lot longer than the movie, and I am bored and miserable for the rest. But there's hardly any turbulence so at least the motion sickness isn't bad!

We eventually get all the way home, and my goal is to take care of Partner's paperwork and be in bed by midnight!

Accomplished!

So happy to be home. But I didn't sleep well, arg. Tossed and turned and why can't I just be comfortable in my own stupid bed?!

The morning came eventually, and... now then! How am I going to run this day?

I start by double checking the mail box. It's empty, thank goodness! I had put a hold on the mail. The hold will end today and all the December mail will be delivered as a packet.

Okay. Plants!

Nobody died!

I had set up an irrigation system for the water loving plants. There was still a little bit of water in the reservoirs I had set up! So that worked out great, and the Peace Lily has loved the extra water and it has unfurled some shiny new leaves!

The tougher plants got a big water before I left and nothing since. They are dry but fine, and I give them all a good watering. Maybe that will make the African Violet bloom again... They love dry periods!

Up next, is computer stuff! I've got to move all the files from the Emily Laptop that I was using for the trip, back onto my desktop computer. My file manager system is powerful, but I always forget how to move new and modified files only... haha! Edit/Copy To... is the command I need that pulls up all the extra options to get that done!

Okay! I need a walk! Brr. It's 34° (1°C). And foggy and 100% humidity! *laughs* It's good to be home! Well, except for the barely above freezing part.

Oh my gosh, I am so happy to walk along my home paths again!

Not having much luck with the photography, tho...

*laughs*

Oh well. I'll be back tomorrow to try again! Of course!

Back at home, I have to fiddle with the file transfer some more. All the photos... there are 1,162 of them. It will take some serious time to sort all those, but it could have been worse!

In the evening, I pick up the mail packet. It's a hefty pile. I get it separated: Happy Mail, official mail, Partner's mail and junk to toss.

I goof off online for a while, but I am just so tired... from not sleeping last night, and so worn out from all the tasks of the day. I'm shutting down early, and hope I'll get a better night's sleep!