We are still busy on the job sites doing fall clean-ups and pruning. It is hard to believe in mid-January. Remarkably, there is still quite a bit of weeding. Good thing I do not mind a chilly start. I have plenty of woolen undergarments.

Usually by now I have settled in for some neglected projects. I would like to give the greenhouse a once-over and start my onion and leek seeds, which arrived less than 24 hours after I ordered them from Pinetree Garden. A real human being answers the phone on the first ring. I love that. No pesky menu to navigate, and you know me well enough to know I do not order on a computer.

At any rate, I ordered several kinds of both onions and leeks. I had excellent luck with them this past summer. I started them inside in January — transplanted when they were the size of a human hair at the end of February into larger containers. I set them out on a sunny day in March and hoped for the best. I still am harvesting leeks on a daily basis. They are giant and wonderful.

Sadly, I ate the last of the July harvest of yellow onions this past week. I had tons, however, to eat daily, give away and freeze with tomato, eggplant and zucchini. Life is grand.

I’m crazy about the winterberries in the up-Island Cronig’s parking lot. A few years ago, I was waiting for a friend in that parking lot and watched cedar waxwings devour every single berry on one of them. Perhaps they are not hungry enough yet since the weather is nice.

I finally dispatched my last two Cornish game hens. They weighed in at 10 pounds. They were less than four months old. Obviously, they spent their entire short lives eating. I meant to do them sooner. The others were respectable at five and six pounds. I must say they are beautiful and delicious. Good thing I’m tough and self sufficient.

My favorite thing to prune is Rose of Sharon. The wood is so soft that it cuts like butter with a sharp pair of clippers. Don’t be shy. Take them below last year’s. They bloom on new cut growth and will put on two or three feet of new branching. I cut some of the old wood right to the ground if it is misbehaving and growing all wonky. By the way, they reseed like crazy and often there is a carpet of seedlings all around them in the spring.

There was a road kill raccoon on the side of State Road just past West Spring street. It had to be at least 40 pounds. I confess I am the queen of superlatives but honestly its body was the size of a German shepherd. It prompted road kill conversation at work.

I remember my dad hit a deer once which totaled his car and the deer ran off. In Pennsylvania the road sides are littered with possums, deer, wild cats and who knows what all. Nobody picks them up.

I went to college in Texas. Armadillos never got out of the way of oncoming traffic. I’ve been known to stop traffic to rescue turtles. How I do go on. I’ve really got nothing this week. But soon enough spring will come again and the garden world will come alive.

I’m disgusted with politics. It’s all Trump all the time. In fact, why do we have to do the election for a solid year anyway? The reality is we still have a president and a decent one at that. He actually thinks America is great and doesn’t spend all his time and energy trying to scare the daylights out of us.

That said, after writing this I am hitting the sofa to watch the State of the Union address. Hope I make it. It’s past my bedtime.