To my Chicago friends: the National Guard here in DC seems to be spending most of their time in places where there was little crime to begin with. Where I have seen them, they are staring at their phones like tourists. Remember, this is all for show; they’ll be on Michigan Ave not Washington Park.

Stumbled on a yellow jacket nest today. After observing it for a bit, spotted this crawling about in the grass. First time I’ve seen a yellow jacket queen. Wow!😬

Yukon Gold’s anyone? 👩‍🌾

Growing potatoes is rather magical; all the action takes place out of sight. The plants above aren’t indicative of what you’ll get. When you dig them up, it’s like opening presents on Xmas morning. You never know what you’ll find. All this came from 12 little sprouts. 😊

So HUD is apparently moving out of DC to Virginia.The FBI is headed to Maryland.Other departments soon to follow, apparently.

DC was formed as a federal district to house the government; if the government isn’t going to be here, I know a lot of people who would like their voting rights restored.

Made an appointment to renew my passport 4 weeks ago. Went to the office today for the appt to find it locked and no agent on duty. The handwritten sign said to reschedule on-line. Which makes me think that the budget cuts are going to make getting new passports harder and harder. Not happy.

After several months of free-loading, my backyard hens have started laying again. 2 dozen in the past two weeks. Such good girls! 😊🐓🐓🐓🐓

PS: with a small flock, it’s a false economy to think I’m saving money getting eggs this way. But at least I don’t have to throw elbows at the grocery store!

I’ve had the task of implementing an organizational restructuring several times in my professional life. Watching DOGE go about their “work”, I can say that reducing the headcount is quite easy. The hard part is determining how the work gets done by those who remain. 1/

Making Osso Buco tonite. This recipe calls for a mirepoix, which is currently making my kitchen smell otherworldly. 😋

Had to say farewell to this sweet kitty today. She was the somewhat rare ginger girl, made it to 17. She was the best lap cat. Gonna miss our special snuggle times. 😢

Resolution #1, take better care of my health, is off to a good start. Got good news from my cardiologist, my arrhythmias appear under control. Wearing a 14-day monitor to get a longer look, and going for an echo to look at a leaky valve in a few weeks. But I’ll take this as a win for today. 😊💓

Happy New Year to friends old and new. (And no, I didn’t make it to midnight last night.)

I love the week leading up to New Year’s Day. The office is closed, the mad scramble of Christmas is behind me, the relatives have been visited, and the most pressing decision seems to be whether I should throw another log on the fire.

The answer of course is “yes!”

Now, who’d like to cuddle up?😊

Rest in peace, Jimmy Carter.

I am hard-pressed to think of another person who touched the lives of so many in such profound ways. A truly humble servant who leveraged his position in life to do great things to help those in need. It’s amazing the impact one life can have.

Hey! Getting a head start on my 2025 resolutions and moving myself to bluer pastures. Hope to reconnect with friends from Twitter days of yore, meet some new ones, and get back to being a ray of sunshine and positivity. 🌞