A Gift Idea

As of this morning, I am asking Santa for a pair of strap-on ice skates! It now seems that it will be the perfect gift for me this year.

I had to go to the store very early this morning. The main roads were pretty decent despite yesterday's snow, snain, sleet and subsequent rain. But beware of sidewalks and parking lots. Most are water covered ice.

I am very fortunate that I did not fall on my rump. I slid gracefully down our front walk and out our gate to the public sidewalk beyond this morning and marveled at my good fortune. Good luck to all in the mucky midwest!

Exciting Garden News

Exciting for me, that is. You ask "what could be so exciting in December in a garden"? I'll tell you...the children's garden design/plan I was working on for the past month got the green light!!! This a plan for a 'permanent' children's garden at the Tippecanoe County/Purdue Extension office. It will be right in there with the All-American Seed Selections garden, the community garden plots and more. Free for the public to come, relax, enjoy, learn and take away ideas for themselves.

So now even more work begins (after Christmas). Final design, sketches, supply and wish lists, begging for help in the spring...I better start making a list to keep all the lists straight.

Happy Holidays!

Draining

Last week my spouse took time off from his job to help me repair a broken kitchen drain line. That's true love baby!

I had been dreading this particular job more than a root canal. We had to spend a lot of time in a dark and dusty crawlspace and then still more time on the "surface" reconnecting the drain pipes under the cabinet. It was grueling. All totaled one or both of us had to make no less than five trips to the hardware store. *sigh*

The first trip we bought what we thought we would need to replace the broken line. The second trip we bought a reciprocating saw to rip out the last old stubborn pipe in under five minutes--it always pays to have the right tool for any job! The third trip was for more PVC cement since ours was glued shut and not even a serious wrench was getting that baby open. The fourth trip was for the correct PVC cement that would dry in two hours and not two to four days--oops. The fifth trip was to get the last connector needed to fix the drain under the sink, so we could finally have free running water in the kitchen.

It's a dirty job well done. And the amazing part is that no one was neglected and permanently injured in the process. Wow.