What I did today

Yes, I get notifications.

Checked over all my settings here. Am getting notifications from other sites. It's nice to walk by the computer and see right there that there were postings and go right to them. Now I have to find my group email, log in and then look at each forum list to see what's been posted. Just another bit of time out of my day.

I think you should look into building a covered walkway between the house and the garage. Remember seeing one between the stables and the house at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Actually, he had hidden walkways from the servant's and slave's quarters and the house, so they could go up and back without being seen and so that they and the food and other items they carried would not be exposed to the weather. This was unusual, as most people back then placed the servants/slaves quarterssome distance from the main house. Anyway, a protected walkway might enable you to reach your equipment without crawling, which sounds very unpleasant.

It was more like swimming across the snow but I was equipped with a (slippery) snowsuit which made it a bit more tolerable. You did get me thinking, though, if I had the opportunity to design my place from scratch, what exactly would I do?

I hope you are all alright & at least managed to have a merry Christmas.
I hear America has been having some really bad weather.
I heard on Sky News the other day that a cold bomb or something like that was hitting in some parts of America with Montana reaching -45°C.
I've worked in 45°C before & that was bad enough trying to work with sweat dripping off of you & that was bad enough.
I think I would definitely battle to survive in negative high temperatures.

Back in the days when I was young, I used to be jealous of all the countries that had a white christmas & we never had one here in South Africa.
After seeing all this, now I'm actually glad we have never had a white christmass.

Here in South Africa the rains have been a blessing us this December & the weather has barely gone over 30°C.
I definitely planted way too many tomatoes though.
My partner is swearing at me as she doesn't know what to do with them all.
We've made tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomato herb ice cubes.
Birds have been peeing we off though with only taking a peck or two out of my tomatoes & then leaving it to gather Miggies (I thin the English word for Miggies is gnats but I'm not sure), so my compost heap is also full of tomatoes.
My Basil has also taken off with 15 plants around my garden.
I have also had some nice pumpkins this year but the pumpkin fly is getting a bit much now so I've pulled my pumpkin plant.
The only thin I haven't been able to grow is thyme.
I managed to get one plant growing but when I planted it out it died.
The electrical company Eskom have really messed up our grid & it seems to be off more than it is on with the diesel generators continiously breaking down & coal getting wet.
It feels like we have reverted back to the 13th centuary.
People who can afford it are breaking away from the grid & converting their house to solar power.
I've will be buying an inverter generator as soon as I can find one available.

Well I hope the weather warms up a bit by you all & you at least have a pleasant New Year.

warren, Yes, it has been the Storm of the Century, or Storm of a Generation, or Bomb Cyclone. Whatever, it was the worst I've ever seen! Still digging out.

This is what happens when they don't have ready access to water. They peck the tomato for a quick "drink". Try putting out a shallow pan of water (out of reach of cats) and see if that helps. 

You might want to dry some extra tomatoes. The smaller ones make good snacks. I also grind up dried tomatoes and use as an add in to stews, soups, eggs and other foods for nutrients and flavor.