Not as cold this morning as yesterday but since the sun isn't up yet the temps may drop a little more before the day really begins.

Ronni Bennett and Crabby Old Lady have a cute post on the "end of literacy." I have thought for some time that we are on a downward slope where literacy is concerned. It goes beyond emojis to writers who don't distinguish between words like "were" and "we're" or "their," "there," and "they're." More often nowadays I find items like a comment I read this morning where the writer used no punctuation at all and disentangling where one sentence ended and another began was difficult. And I find bloopers and really poor word choices in professional writing more frequently as well. Worse, my own writing has suffered over the years from many of the same defects. Often I catch the problem but I know I have missed just as many as I caught.

Fed my sourdough starter, swept the patio, cleaned out the bird feeder and refilled, and watered the downstairs plants. I still have the upstairs plants to do but I am glad to say that three of the four cuttings I tried to root from my hibiscus are still standing. The fourth looks like it is ready to give up the ghost but hasn't quite decided yet. I will let it go until it decides. Late this last summer I started using bamboo skewers to check the pots for watering--same principle as using one to test doneness of cakes etc. If the skewer comes out dry the cake is done or the plant needs water. I do have a high tech water probe but I haven't gotten good results with it. The results with the skewers have given me hope that I can try the citrus and blueberry again and, maybe, have more success.