To The Surbiton Manor Born

Muffin in her customary asking for treats position So this is it. We've turned the corner. Kiki and I swore that we were going to embrace winter this year. It has not been too bad, and the forecast looks like more of the same: That's not the usual forecast for Christmas. I've been through years when it was 70 degrees colder than that, with a wind.  The biggest worry for the garden is that the crocus and the garlic will start to come up again.  Muffin, pictured above, was diagnosed with diabetes today. She had a rotten day at the vet, getting probed, having her colon manually emptied, getting IV hydration. We've brought her home with a series of expensive medications. You love your pet, though, eh? Circle of life and all that. The state of the woodpile is strong. Our Xcel Energy bill showed almost no natural gas usage. This time last year, I looked out in horror at the dwindling pile and realized that we didn't have nearly enough wood. Not so this year, even though w

  Muffin Contemplates Life in a World in Crisis As we approach the very darkest time of year, it is always a pleasant exercise to contemplate the various ways the world might end. Last night, Kiki and I watched one of the most terrifying end-of-the-world movies that we've seen in a long, long time: Leave the World Behind .  It's described as a "psychological thriller." It describes the plight of two families thrown together into one country house, trying to figure out what has happened to cut off all communications with the outside world, and what is going on. There's no phone service, no internet, an oil tanker crashes ashore, planes are plummeting from the sky, Teslas are driving themselves into a pile of rubble on an expressway outside of the usual day to day horror-scape that is New York City. Meanwhile, these folks are relatively untouched, but horrible things are starting to happen. A huge herd of deer stare at them. Flamingos land in their New York pool. A

The Winter Kingdom of Steepmeadow, as seen from the new perch The snow that fell overnight was a surprise - not forecast in any of the applications. Still, we are in December, so as Mark Knopfler put it, "It gets cold in winter. Don't be surprised if it snows."  It is a good thing that two lingering tasks were taken care of. I had to replant our garlic after the bulbs I put in the ground in October sprouted in our warmer than normal November. A real nuisance. And I cut back the strawberries and buried them in straw. Hopefully I was able to bury them deep enough with last year's straw. It is possible that I should have purchased more. I guess we will know in the spring. That is all.