This chapter marks the first new entry for my new website. I'm almost ready to phase out the old site, http://www.geocities.com/ellenksite/. I still have to move the big graphics library and I'd like to rewrite the HTML puzzles section, but the basic site features are available on this new site.

I'm still kicking myself for not emailing for help before trying to set up that new site for my ABWA chapter. I thought I understood what to do from reading the help pages, but I didn't know that Yahoo would put more than one site under a single sign-in.

I got the site set up just fine except that both sites were accessed by the same sign-in. That's why this site had to move. The ABWA site has its own domain name under one of the paid plans, and now that domain name is registered under my original membername and that can't be changed to a new membername. Hence, my personal site has had to be restarted under a new membername to separate them with individual sign-ins. That way I can turn the ABWA website over to another chapter webmaster if necessary without giving them my personal website as well.

As you might guess, this has taken a lot of time out of my schedule and set my organizer efforts back considerably. The schedule listings are trailing behind the current date in a muddled mess. The only thing that saved this from total disaster is that the garden is coasting so there wasn't much to do outside, especially with lots of rain this week.

As I clicked through the entries, I noted that the earliest cabbage starting date is only about two weeks away. Another gardening season starting already, I muttered to myself in amazement. My outdoor cabbages are doing well and folding their middle leaves into little cabbages, but I haven't yet harvested the first head. It looks like I've got a good chance to get some, though.

I noticed earlier this week that the daylilies had collapsed, their sheltering horseshoe of leaves dying back as the plants enter their winter rest. The tomato season is over for this year. We had a killing frost the last two nights and the plants perished. I pulled them this afternoon and dug the sweet potatoes. I got only four sweet potatoes, grown by the lucky plants that were next to a hole filled with potting soil from an earlier garden's pepper plants. The rest lost the fight against the clay soil. It's going to take a lot more compost before root crops are going to grow well.

Another sign of the times was that a gardening catalog joined the flood of Christmas mail-order catalogs two days ago. I dawdled over it a bit, admiring the flowers and wondering how many flower seeds I had left over from last year. It had a few rare items that I hadn't seen in other catalogs. It's yet more temptation to buy more things than I can grow. The big Park Seed catalog arrived today, but I'm saving it for tonight after I collapse into bed. The new gardening season is tumbling into the holiday rush of crafting and shopping with a vengeance.

I still need to cut the grass one more time and take care of more fallen leaves. The neighbors are already starting to put up their Christmas decorations and our yard looks like Fall is still battling to hold on for a few more weeks. We have a few modest lights to put up a small show of outdoor Christmas cheer, but nothing like the herds of lighted reindeer and snowmen (snowpeople?) sprouting around the city. My brother grimly reminds Mom of $400 monthly electric bills whenever she starts drooling over a particularly busy yard full of lighted figures.

The crafting department did have some action, though. I have almost finished that large child's sweater. I just have to finish the final rows for the neckline and join the shoulders, and that will be ready to join the others in the pile waiting to be mailed. I also sewed a new flannel shirt and cut out another one to sew next. The chill in the air nudged me about getting those new warm shirts done before I really need them.

Another nudge is that Mom has been crafting some beaded cross ornaments. She kept asking me for stuff and I had to dig around in my crafting supplies to find it. I've uncovered lots of unsewn quilting fabrics and yarn waiting to be knitted, just when fabric.com is having a holiday sale and further discounting lots of goodies. I haven't given up on getting at least one box of Christmas presents from fabric.com yet.