No Rain here

Just a quick note to say the sun still shines and sets somewhere in the world and here is the view from my patio. The sun disappeared behind the mountain on Nov 5th and won't be back to setting in the ocean until Feb 3rd. I still, however , get great skies to watch.
I'm adding this bit, too, though some have seen/heard it before:
If I ever complained about the afternoon winds up on this hillside, I take back every grumble. There is hardly any wind to speak of most days and, boy, that means it's hot and steamy. Cool showers are the order of the day and I don't have to worry about the umbrella blowing off the patio.
The casa was in very good condition upon my return. The usual measuring stick for that is how musty, moldy and mildewed everything smells. Well, lucky me, the clothes hanging in the closet smelled like ... clothes!. The clothes left in the drawers smelled like... cloves (cause that's what I threw in with the duds) - that and bay leaves - I guess it worked. The sheets smelled fresh and so did the towels. It was easy to get the bedroom enough back to normal for my first night's sleep. Drop cloths are a good answer.
Had a bit of a prob with lighting the stove and the HWtank but after 2 or 3 days the gas finally filled the lines and the stove is on the go. The hwt was not so compliant but thankfully it is so hot a cool shower works just fine! I thought it needed a new thermocouple(?) but today I gave it one more chance to stay lit and low and behold...I have hot water! and a pilot light still on the go.
No putty coloured doughball frogs 'chilling out' in the bathroom sink drain this year but I did have a bit of a scare while brushing my teeth the first morning when there was this rush of red ants galloping out of the sink vent lugging eggs behind them. I sent them down the drain then got out the Raid!
Mago, my gardener, has the gardens and the potted plants looking just wonderful. It's like I never left. Well, except that the cutter ants came through a week or so ago and demolished several tasty flowering shrubs - like every single leaf is gone. Good thing they don't like every plant They'll take some time to recover but I can see wee green buds. Basil is growing like crazy and great big Cosmos with rose-red and white flowers are volunteering everywhere, ditto marigolds and zinnias. Sadly not a single lime on my lime tree this year.