After Agathe the Aardvark sipped her apple cider, she ascended the Alpine foothills, aka the Prealps. "Adieu, Antone," Agathe said to the apple cider bar attendant as she aimlessly walked away in her red boots and red pillbox hat. Adorable is she, Agathe the Aardvark. So begins the first week of Round 22 of ABC Wednesday . Check it out here . Thank you much, ABCW team! Update:  Agathe and I are also participating in the Weekend Journal Page , hosted by Jesh at Artworks from Jesh StG . Check it out here .

"Why can't I go outside?" asked Molly the Cat. We've had two days of steady rain, the most since the beginning of last year. The weather reports say that it'll stop raining tonight, but there may be more on the way in a few days. Hurrah! I'm linking up with Our World Tuesday . Click here to check out the meme. Thank you, Our World Tuesday team.

"We have a new home," said Bubba, the tiny bear with one ear. "Yee-hawwww!" "I love the fresh air," Shirley the Swan said. "No more being cooped up in a box labeled Christmas 48 weeks out of the year. Delightful!"

Now I understand the Mama's impatience about planting her vegetable garden. During her last several years, she was sowing seeds into the ground earlier each year. April, March, even February. Some years, the Husband and I didn't even get the chance to turn over the ground and work in compost and bags of top soil, which meant she got less yield. On one hand that was okay because how much bittermelon can I eat, as no one else would. On the other hand, we had less squash, tomatoes, beans, and her Filipino vegetables to eat, requiring us to head over to the Marina farmer's market every so Sunday. Except for the traffic that was a fun outing for the three of us. Supposedly I must wait until after the last frost to sow the flower seeds I gathered last year, along with that big packet of wildflower seeds I bought last Spring. Part of me says to put some in the ground now so that they can benefit from the rain the Farmer's Almanac says we'll be getting this month.

"Yikes, a flamingo!" exclaimed the fish. " I need to get back into the sea. Blub, blub." "Yummmm!" smacked the flamingo. "More leaves on the left."

It's winter but the ornamental pear tree on the front yard doesn't think so. For the past few weeks, it has been slowly shedding its colorful autumn leaves. I love the warm yellow and red colors on the ground. I've already raked twice. Maybe I'll rake once more just so they won't be flying over to the neighbors' yards or into the gutter and clog up the storm drain. Not thoroughly though. I think the leaves make a warm cover for the bulbs, tubers, and seeds that are in the soil beneath them. Not to say, the dried leaves will turn into lovely mulch and soil come Spring.

I got my first piece of advertisement for a Medicare advantage plan in the mail yesterday. It wished me Happy Birthday! That was last month. It stated that it is time for me to think about Medicare, even though I won't be eligible until the end of the year. The mailer did give one two piece of valuable information. Namely, I can enroll for Medicare three months before I turn 65, nine months from now. Unless things change between now and then, the only reasonable and, thankfully, affordable option for me is the Medicare advantage plan that the Husband is already on. Five Facts about Medicare Medicare, established under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, was signed into law by President Johnson in 1965. President Truman and Mrs. Truman were the first Medicare beneficiaries, receiving the first Medicare cards. In 1972, President Nixon signed a bill to expand coverage to persons under 65 who have long-term disabilities. In 1982, hospice services was added as a Medicare