Dear Goddess: Thank you for this 70-degree January weather. The extended streak of bright, sunny days has been wonderful, especially since we received so much rain earlier in the year that we're still above normal in our reservoirs.But, could please tell me if I should now start watering the roses and flower beds as if it were really spring? Other years we have held off until late April. But, this year there are buds and shoots all over the plants. Should we encourage this premature-puberty-like behavior by watering and fertilizing? Or, should we withhold extra encouragement to keep the plant [...]

This morning we finished our Christmas celebration by opening the holiday cards that we've received since the beginning of December. It's our tradition. Rather than ripping open and hurriedly reading the messages each evening in the hectic pre-Christmas days, we save up the cards and holiday letters. At 12th Night (or, this year, 14th Brunch) we sit down together and leisurely savor the photos, news, and good wishes of our family and friends. We pass around the pictures of friends BBQing last summer, the envelopes closed with sealing wax whose stamps have the same image as the enclosed card, and the [...]