It rained again on Saturday, a steady all day rain. According to TV weather people, that is 25 Saturdays in a row with rain. So, of course, it has been the worst garage sale season yet. No flea markets open.

I will wait until Little Christmas on January 6 to take down outdoor decorations. Might be easier if I did it tomorrow since weather is nice now and won't be on January 6, but who am I to break with tradition after all these years?

Our gas prices have finally dropped below $3.00, well not everywhere but at least at the station in our town.

Bobby's death was likely a relief for JoAnne. I know she wondered what would happen to him after she was gone. Not likely son in Florida would fly up to see him in a nursing home.

Jane, I am so sorry to hear about your mother passing. I know she lived a long life and it was not unexpected, but still an emotional blow when one loses their mother.

Vermont, New York and many other States have done away with Columbus Day and replaced it with Indigenous People's Day. State and Federal offices and banks all closed, but most schools are open and dedicate the day's lessons to learning about the Native Americans in their area. I know many Abenaki tribe meembers visti schools in Vermont and tell the kids about their history and traditions.

Sorry it ahs been so long since I visited here, but just really busy. Now that the weather is getting colder, I will spend more time indoors and on the computer.

Saw the discussion about daily papers. I have read the Rutland Daily Herald for over 60 years. About 5 years ago, they got rid of the Sunday edition, 2 years ago, they got rid of the Monday edition. Now there is a physical paper Tuesday through Saturday. I used to subscribe, but then I got a carrier who threw my paper in snow banks, was late 3 times a week and I would have to buy a paper on my way to work even though I had one coming at home. Now the Tuesday thru Friday paper is $1.50 but they want $3.25 for the Saturday edition, just because it has the grocery flyers, so I stopped buying Saturday. I may go back to subscribing since I moved and it will be different carrier. Costs less than half of what I pay for 4 papers a week if I subscribe.

6 tomato plants Dianne? I plant 2 each year and have 10X as many tomatoes as we can use. My husband keeps telling me to plant just one, can't make him understand that I can't plant just one. If it fails, I have no backup.

Patsy, I saw you were back on Facebook, but have not yet accepted the friend request because I wanted to be sure it was you. I will accept it now.

I am also keeping the Christmas stuff with sentimental value, but not much of that. My Grandmother's and Mother's stuff all went to my older sisters who passed it down to their kids. I have about 16 bins of Christmas. I am trying to get what I save into just 2 of them.

It is so hard to give away my books. I spent a lifetime collecting them and most have special meaning to me. But with no room, it makes no sense to store them where no one, including myself, will ever see them again.

I have not gotten to the books yet, but I have 8 full bookcases and 3 boxes of cookbooks. I have decided to only keep 2 bookcases and to give away all the rest of the books. It is breaking my heart to do it, but it must happen. I do have someone who will take the books. He will come pick them up as soon as I have them boxed.

The hardest is going to be my Christmas items. I have at least 10-12 bins full of vintage Christmas. I will keep a couple but must get rid of most of it. I had considered a storage unit, but if I am never going to use them, why pay to store them. Let someone else enjoy it.

Dianne, I read about your Cussler book. I wonder if it was the hardcover version of "Iceberg"? That is a very hard to get book and still sells for $200 on Ebay, A few years ago, it was going quite a bit higher. I think I sold one in just acceptable condition for $160.

Very disappointed in my physical therapy. I have been going 2 days a week for 3 months and really no improvement in my ability to walk. I have seen some improvement in stamina, but I really need to walk better. So, this week, they have switched me to the therapy pool. They say it works wonders for some people. I am willing to try. I went yesterday for first session. It is intense. They put me through a lot in 45 minutes. Hope it helps. I go back again next Monday, then twice a week after that if I decide to keep with it.

I do think the physical therapy is helping. We went to an estate sale today and had to park half a block from the place. I was able to walk to and from with no problem and even shopped on my feet with no shopping cart for almost 20 minutes. I may try walking outdoors next week. I will start by walking to the end of our street and back and if I can do that, I will try walking to the church (about 2 blocks away) next. I'd really like to get back to walking a mile a day 3 times a week, but don't know if that is a realistic goal or not.

Nice to see you back, Karen.

I started physical therapy 2 weeks ago for the sciatica in my right leg and my lack of stamina generally. They are sure they can help with both, but so far it has been a lot of work with little noticeable result. I will give it a few more weeks. I am working with 2 different people, the hands on one is a female, very friendly. The second just works with me on exercises, his name is Dan and he is the same one I worked with 4 years ago after my hip replacement. I really really like him. He is very encouraging without being pushy.

Bought a whole chicken on Monday with big plans for it, then lost interest but had to do something, so I threw it in the crockpot this morning. Smells so good in the house now. Not sure how I will use the chicken, but I will figure it out.

Ann - Keene NH used to have a tremendous Halloween festival the Saturday before Halloween each year. They built stands along 1/4 mile of both sides of Main Street and displayed over 25,000 lit, carved pumpkins. There was music, games, a parade. It got bigger every year until 2018 when a riot broke out. They cancelled it for 2019 and have never held it again. It did not become a problem until large numbers of college kids from out of the area started attending.

Making corned beef hash for supper tonight. I can't remember last time we had it. Looking forward to it.

I may have mentioned that my niece and her husband opened a restaurant last fall. They have seating for about 35, but 90% of their business is take-out. They are only 3 miles from us, straight drive, one right hand turn, no lights or stops on the way. Very convenient and the food is just wonderful. Portions are huge, I get 2 meals out of most meals I order. Last Saturday I had the smoked prime rib, queen cut, end cut with baked potato, mixed vegetables and roll. I ate about 1/3 of the meat Saturday. I had 1/3 of it on Monday with mashed potato and the last 1/3 I sliced thin, heated and stacked on a brioche bun for supper on Wednesday. 3 meals for $22!

We eat from there too often. 3 times last week, twice so far this week.

Our second vehicle is a 2008 Honda Ridgeline that we bought new in April 2008. It has been "my" car and since I stopped working, it hardly ever gets driven. Has just under 100,000 miles on it. Gets driven about 3500 miles a year. And I just learned is is under recall and likely will be a buy-back from Honda as the frames rust under the gas tank and can't be repaired. Now I am looking for a replacement truck. And I hate it. I expected that truck to last me another 10 years. Honda will pay me about $7000 for it and I can't find anything comparable for under $20,000. I hate the thought of spending $13,000 I didn't expect to for something driven so little. But we do need a second vehicle and having a truck really is helpful.

Traded our old2011 Honda CRV for a 2012 CRV I much better condition with way lower mileage. We got a real good deal and an amazingly caring seller. When we got home, Jerome noticed a strange fob on the key ring and took it off. I was curious so looked up “compuserve”,the only markings on it, on Google. It was a remote starter. Curious if the car actually had one, I held the button for 3 seconds per instructions and car started. Went out to tell Jerome, only to find the starter had locked the doors and Jerome had left both sets of keys in the car. The dealer came over when I called him and opened the doors, saving us a locksmith fee. Next morning, go to start car, no luck, dead battery. Dealer came again and put in new battery, no charge. He had no obligation to do that. Now car is running perfectly and we are very happy with it.

Jerome is taking me to Saratoga Casino for Valentine's Day. First time we have been since they closed for Covid in 2020. It will be interesting. I know they made big changes, including eliminating the buffet. We used to go twice a year, my birthday and our anniversary.

I say truck started fine, but that does not mean there were no problems. The tires had frozen into ice on the driveway and it just spun and spun, even with 4 wheel drive. Jerome put ice melt under the tires and eventually moved it. then Jerome put the driver's window down and it would not go back up. Too cold to even consider driving with open window, so I got a large clear plastic bag and taped it over the opening, thinking we would have to drive to Honda dealer for help. But by the time we go to the post office (2 miles away) the truck had warmed enough so the window went back up.

Sure am glad to see 35 degrees today. A whole lot better than -20.

Jim, one of my favorite quick lunches is eggs poached in spaghetti sauce and served with crusty Italian bread.

I am having so much trouble with my computer, it is ungodly slow and at least 3 or 4 times a day it just stops responding at all for about 10 minutes. I had Jerome buy me a new computer for Christmas and it is sitting in the box in the living room. Every time I swear at the computer, he tells me to just hook up the new one, but if I do that, I have nothing to look forward to for Christmas. I will limp along a for a couple more weeks.

A couple weeks ago I paid $2.50 for a box of 700 Magic the Gathering Cards. I don't know much about them, but I expected I could probably sell the box, even if all commons, for at least $20. What an education I have been getting! So far I have sold 9 cards individually for a total of just over $1500, one for $365, another for $307, $220, etc. And I have one card that is supposedly worth close to $4000. I have sent that to Beckett's to be authenticated and graded. It will take 45 days and cost me $50, but should increase the sale price by $500 or more.