Of my first post for the new year!!~~~

Hello My Darklings,

The new year is starting off very wet, so far we've had seven rain storms in our area, with numbers 8 and 9 still to come,  it's improving the snowpack, the ski resorts and the reservoirs but we are not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot as they say.

Everything in the back yard is soaked, soaked, soaked, and the fence in the back started to fall down, Doyle and my brother have braced it but it's going to have to be replaced.  My gardener has recommend an excellent fencing company, family owned and with good references. 

My cisterns are full of water, so there will not be an extreme need to worry about watering in the summer, but because of so much rain and the extreme cold and we had some very bad frost conditions, I've lost some of my more tender plants, even with protection. 

It had gotten so cold there was like a heavy snow like frost on the roofs of houses and cars and even the Christmas decorations, and I burned a fire in the fire places.  

I had to, something went wrong with the central heating system and I had to call in the repair man, some sort of "doohicky" or thingamabob which was a little hard to get to but was repaired.

On the more Gothic side of life, a severed foot was found on the BART tracks a week or so ago, and in several different places human remains have been found. 

I think I'll be making some adjustments on the garden to see what to plant,  the pet cemetery is doing fine in the back, and so are the orchids in the hothouse, as well as the koi in the indoor pond, poor Belladonna and Weiner Dog are feeling the cold, they have thick sweaters on but still insist on snuggling under the throw blankets on the couch, not that I blame them.

Sis has gone to visit her children in Sacramento she finally was able to line up a colleague to take care of her clients while she's gone,  Doyle is planning to visit his down in San Diego but wants to wait until Sis gets back before he goes.

The children are back in school much to their groaning unhappiness,  sorry my dears, life is not all Holidays.

And I am slowly getting better, the cough has improved, and Betty is just wonderful helping me, and freeing me up for other things.  Like lining up a house painter, yes, the house is going to need to be painted outside, and a few decorative wood pieces look like they have to be replaced, so finding a craftsman for that will be my first priority and then painting the 2nd.   One of my artist friends has also given me the name of a woman who can restore some of the lead framing on some of the stain glass windows so I think this year will be a year that the house will need a "face lift".

But first----- TAXES!   Yes I got my forms from my tax preparer and I am in the process of putting the paperwork together---so thank goodness for Betty to take the other duties off of my shoulders.

And now she is telling me that lunch is ready and she won't take "no" for an answer, well it's a good thing.

I hope to have more interesting and Gothic things for you later on,  I need to see what is out there.

Later Darklings