Honestly, what’s to be said about New England weather? A week ago it was 19 degrees in the morning and this past Sunday a balmy 62 degrees. Acceptance is the key word here.

Here it is the week of Thanksgiving and by the time this hits the newsstands folks will be thinking up creative ways to use leftovers. What an odd holiday if you break it down — two or three days to shop/pick/prepare, 20 minutes or so to actually eat and then days of cleanup. Good thing we love our families and friends.

I purchased a turkey from Jefferson Munroe at The Good Farm. I thoroughly enjoyed the front page of last week’s Gazette. I loved my turkey having a nice long stroll on its way to Thursday’s table. I may have mentioned before that The Larder on State Road has a great choice of local meats. Watch for the Open sign.

I had a nice phone chat with Susie Middleton. We both are writing about rosemary this week. She’ll give you cooks plenty of information. I’ve hauled my large plant in and out of my unheated greenhouse seasonally for years. It freezes but not enough to kill. Plants left outside in the ground sometimes make it. They need to be in a protected location with southern exposure.

In my greenhouse my plant is covered in beautiful blue flowers starting in February. Legend has it that when Mary and Joseph were fleeing into Egypt with Baby Jesus they stopped for a rest. She put her cloak on a rosemary plant and ever after it bloomed.

I digress. I do not use much rosemary in the kitchen — just a few sprigs in chicken stock. Maybe I’ll rethink it this winter. Perhaps some herbed bread?

I have a little rescue dog. She has a bit of separation anxiety so she goes everywhere with me. To prevent wandering off I tie her to a long piece of clothesline. Every day, I painstakingly roll it up neatly and every morning it is a jumble of knots. Why and how does this happen? Both hoses and electric cords have the same behavior. I guess it’s just another one of life’s mysteries.

I love how beech trees hang onto their leaves for most of the winter. Between them and winterberries the fall Vineyard landscape is breath taking. Sometimes I spray gold paint on the aformentioned beech branches and tuck them into a Christmas arrangement. Remarkably, it’s time to make a couple of wreaths for the doors. Seems like I just took last year’s down.

The only time I received a D grade was in a college economics class. We were required to read the Wall Street Journal. Ugh. I loathed the class and the subject in general. However, I still can look at DJT’s tax cut bill and see it for what it is — a giant reverse Robin Hood plan. I guess the ultra rich and the big corporations really need more money. There is no talk of the trillions more in national debt. You can bet as soon as it is passed the Republicans will start whining about the debt and the need to cut back spending on entitlements. I wonder if the diehard Trump supporters will mind losing Medicare and Social Security benefits.