my cool sister-in-law

My sister-in-law drew my name for Christmas: she got me an Oxfam seed bank donation and a collection of baby herbs (I killed most of my garden this year through drought overreaction and neglect).


This makes me very happy. The present, not the killing the garden part.

Also, the nice fellow got me a date book that is entirely different from any I have used before. It's small enough to fit in any pocket, but since it has only one day on each page I can write a lot on it. So I can take notes and stuff as well as write down appointments.

I tried to call Frank but I think I called his flat number instead of his cell number. He still can't cash the money order or access his US account and he thinks he can't cash his pay check, but we succeeded in getting him some money, and he talked to someone who succeeded in getting a Sallie Mae loan, so all is not too gloomy.

And now the dog seems to be anemic.