Berndoodle, The deer don't seem too spooked because they will walk right by us just 100 feet or so away and act like we aren't even there. Our dogs will chase them and they stare them down and make our dogs run the other direction. Its really funny to watch. I think they have learned no one in our area is going to hurt them so they stayed huddled in about a twenty five acre area. I just hope the fence works. Hi Lavender lass. I think if I don't spray the Liquid Fence at least every 2-3 weeks they start to munch away. They can really eat up a bunch of my roses in no time flat. They do seem to come around at any time day or night. Not sure if they do attack them at night or if I just don't get outside in the morning until after they have already eaten them. They also eat my phlox and my lilies. I really don't think they should be starving because there is plenty of other green vegetation for them to munch on. I tell you what, they LOOOOOVE Disneyland. I moved it and they walked right past about 15 other roses and munched away on my Disneyland. I have alot of roses planted on the side of my house where the most sun is and its also where a patch of woods are so they have a daily routine and walk through there each morning and head back each evening. I somehow need to distract them from their routine. I have found when they munch after spraying with Liquid Fence they seem to spit it out. So I know the stuff works but I get lazy and don't spray it all the time. I guess I will try some of the fence techniques and see how it does. Thanks a bunch, Judy

Coreopsis is a great cut flower--very summery and wildflowery looking. All flowers should have all foliage below the water line and most above removed for long vase life. Cut the stems on a diagonal, as mentioned above, and put them in water up to their necks for a couple of hours or overnight. Then arrange in clean water. I keep cheap old vases from the florist for the conditioning phase. You can keep most flowers for a week this way and I have gotten over two weeks from many. Just change the water and recut the stems a bit. And clean all your vases with bleach, soap and hot water. Bacteria kills flowers fast.

I have a CC but I'm sure they're all very similar. It takes about a minute for it to light and come up to broiling temps. Basically as long as it takes for the glow plug to get hot. I usually fire up mine as I'm preparing the food for the broiler so it's ready when I'm ready. I think one time I fired it up as an afterthought, and I waited a couple of minutes anyways to let it get good and hot. I didn't actively monitor it. I just turned away to do something else and came back to it. But it was ready so it was a non-issue for me. My range vents out the back, so smoke from broiling has not been issue. I'm sure the Wolf and Viking are similar in this regard. One thing an IR broiler does not do well is blackening. For that, you'll still have to use cast iron and deal with the smoke.

I freeze things in ziplocks. I also reuse. Their last stand is when they've held something like spaghetti sauce or soup, then after that thaw, things that would be stinky or attract bugs goes into them and into the garbage. Stuff like fat off meat (that I won't give to the dogs) or chicken bones & skin. I use mostly glass or plastic to freeze, but plastic eventually becomes brittle and breaks, or I've lost the top. In which case, the topless container goes in a zip lock baggie! I also cook in huge vats and marathons, so I often don't have enough containers. That's where I got the idea to just freeze stuff in a bag! But don't try boil-in-a-bag with baggies. They just melt and you got a bunch of seriously wet, hot, disintegrated food. Ask me how I know....