DANGER — I have to contact Typepad again to see what I have to do at my end vs. what I thought they were doing, which seems to be very little. Between snow and freezing weather I have been enjoying curling up with books by the fire. I just sent off two books to Blurb to get published, so I have been having fun playing with garden pix and book concepts. I am really trying to make sure I have images of the garden for when we aren't at this house. Very satisfying. Now I'd like to get back to drawing before it's time to get outside again. I'm signed up for 3 webinars at Olbrich Botanical Gardens here in town, 2 at the UW-Madison Arboretum and 2 with Hardy Fern Foundation. So plenty to keep me busy. I've been blogging since 2008 and I will be 77 in April. I have to admit that this latest round of blog problems was good in the sense that I was okay being offline and I pretty much didn't do much reading or commenting elsewhere either. Whether I continue to post or not, I want to leave the blog up and have all the photos in place. Hopefully that will get fixed soon. Thanks for checking in.

Jerry — I definitely think our plantings are always a helpful improvement — for the garden and for us.

LOREE — I've joined the overwintering indoors crowd with two huge Begonias. Too big and gorgeous to start from scratch again. I want to have a big foliage plant by the front door fast and this is the best way to do it.

KRISTIN — Mark and I got married at age 41 and decided it was too late to have children; a decision we were happy with. As a result our nieces and nephews have gotten advice, loans, and all kinds of support that we were able to give since we didn't have kids of our own.

hb —Thanks for your lovely remarks.

CHAVLI — I'm sure I didn't hurt anything either but when the pros in our Hardy Plant Society send out warnings I tend to pay attention.

KRISTIN — The advantage of having snow for a chunk of the year is that it made us put in evergreens early on. Took a while to realize what a good idea that was.

LOREE — We have had a number of frosts and lots of up and down temps since then. So I am not really worried; but it did surprise me to hear the comments from those in the know. Maybe the continued warm temps are a problem that is keeping things from true dormancy. Who knows?

DANGER — Ha! I can totally imagine that. I think it was a cult book in general. I remember seeing some houses that used some of the concepts which were actually rather Arts and Craftsy with nooks and crannies, a mix of high and low ceilings etc. Very inviting.

CHAVLI — Thanks. I love NYT recipes and am always trying them. This one looks better than it tasted; good but not great. As for ornaments, I am lucky enough that I still have a few from my maternal grandparents. My dad was born on Christmas Eve and one of my sisters on Christmas Day, so it is a big holiday in our family.

KRISTIN — It's actually scallops. It was good but I thought it overwhelmed the scallops a bit. I bet it would not do that as much if one used shrimp. NYT Melissa Clark recipe from August.

JERRY — Seems like the perfect way to get out of the garden blame game, as you say.

ELIZABETH — I have to say that I am thrilled I decided to try growing Amaryllis again. I am already looking at other varieties for next year. They really take your mind off any problems and complaints. As for the view out the window, we spent a lot of time at the beginning trying to figure out how to create pleasant views for the long Wisconsin winter. Thanks for the compliment.

JERRY — Well said.

JERRY — I had planned to move the pot of Amaryllis to a different spot once the flowers began to open. But it is between the two spots where my husband and I sit every day. Too much fun to watch the flowers to move it.

ELIZABETH — There is a book called "Defiant Gardens" about people, inc. soldiers, creating gardens in war zones etc. Certainly shows how critical they are to mental health.

JERRY — You are so right about loving books and beautiful things. And the best decluttering method is no basement or attic. We bought this property to garden and it is really more house and basement than we needed. And now it is too filled up.

ELIZABETH — You are so right about loving books and beautiful things. And the best decluttering method is no basement or attic. We bought this property to garden and it is really more house and basement than we needed. And now it is too filled up.

TRACY — It felt so nice making room on my bookshelves that I am going to try to keep at it. I love shopping second hand bookstores and the holidays are a great time to give them my overflow. And hope I don't buy too many new titles.

ELIZABETH — I think your garage and south-ish window sound like a perfect combination.

DANGER — I've actually managed to get roof moss attached to some rocks where it is now growing outward.

JERRY — Still very dry here and no rain in the 10 day forecast. Instead we are having highs in the 50s and 60s and my Alliums are up a foot. Poor garden doesn't know what's happening. Not that any of us do either!

CHAVLI — I'm sure I have at least as many Hellebores as you. But only H. niger blooms now. I found one of that variety on PDN's website and planted it two years ago but hasn't bloomed at all as of yet. That variety doesn't seem to be offered very much.

ELIZABETH — It's hard to enjoy as much as I'd like because the temps are way too warm for this time of year and there is no rain in the forecast. If my garden up and died overnight, I would be pretty depressed but it's not my livelihood. When you live in the richest (soil wise) growing area in the state, you are too aware of the weather-related farm crisis this year from the drought. Very disturbing weather. I realized that the Larch was hidden by the Dawn Redwood. Once it lost its needles, the Larch came into view from far away.

OHG and KRISTIN — I just looked at our ten day weather forecast and the highs are in the 50°s and 60°s with overnight lows in the 40s. Nice weather if you are able to ignore that it's climate change staring you in the face.