Hi Joe, Hope you and the Admirable had a great two months cruising in your land M15. If you have been away for two months let me clue you in as to what has been going on - at least here on the Eastern side of the Continent. Fall was late this year, and the leaves didn't start falling until last month. Since then I have been playing nursemaid to piles of oak, and beech leaves. You rake them up into neat piles, and then the wind comes and redistributes them all over the place and you can start from Square 1 again. The boat has been covered and put away for the winter. Boat equipment has been inspected, repaired or modified, and put away till next season. The squirrel flock has to be fed their sunflower seeds every day or they get cranky. The bird bath heater housing had a crack and didn't work properly last year. So that had to be checked and then fixed, using the Admirable's magic "fixer" - gutter sealer. As of yesterday, with an outside temperature of 23 degrees F, I can report that gutter sealer did the job and the bird bath heater is working properly again. Not a speck of ice on the surface of the water, and thankful birds and squirrels enjoying their drink. The juncos, titmice, and cardinals demand similar attention. The hairy and downy woodpeckers as well as the flickers and the red bellied woodpeckers want suet - and want it now! Then I have to start worrying about our flock of 6 wild turkeys that stroll through the garden. ........what do turkeys eat? .......and how do they taste? My Admirable makes noises about - when are you going to write the Christmas letter? ..........and when do we going to put up the outside and inside house decorations? On top of all that, my son is remodeling a house in Germany and wants to build a new kitchen. "Dad, what should I do and how do I do it?" So, it's been off to the library going through kitchen design books learning about the fine points of kitchen design and equipment selection. So, Joe, these are just a few of the reasons why the site has been quite, - at least from my end - not to mention that Bill Rieker is off the air celebrating his 60th birthday. Otherwise everything is OK. Have a happy holiday. Connie