I guess we're mostly used to it. It snows & then it melts & snow some more. We shovel & go stand in long lines at the market for bread & milk the day before a storm is predicted. Winter treads go on the vehicles in Oct & come off in April. We keep kerosene heaters & lamps for when the elect goes off. I live next to a snow emergency route so my road gets plowed constantly & kept fairly clean. The plow always comes right after you shoveled & fills the driveway in again & you have to shovel again so it doesn't freeze into a solid chunk of ice. I think it was 77 when we had a good storm that closed down Frostburg (aptly named town a few miles further up the mountain from me) for 2 weeks. We were back to normal about a week before them. We don't get as much snow as we used to. but when you're shoveling, it seems like twice as much. LOL Linda

I am so sorry to hear about your little kitty, Merryheart. I know how much it hurts to lose a beloved pet. I worry a lot about urinary tract problems in my cat since my best friend lost her cat to it years ago. I think it's fairly prevalent in cats. I feed my cat Purina One 'Urinary Tract' formula. I don't know that it helps, but it makes me feel better, and she likes it. I've made stepping stones for my dogs that have died, and they are nice additions to my garden. I had a pet cemetery at my old house where I planted plants with the same names as my pets. I had grave markers, and stepping stones, and also had a bird bath set up there. For cats I have seen very precious little grave statues that are cat angels. They look very nice in your garden. If you know of a shop that has a laser engraver, they can make a marker with a picture of your cat with her name on a rock, a stepping stone, on granite, glass, or nearly anything. My brother's company has a laser engraver and they sometimes make pet grave markers. Another thing I like to do is plant trees in memory of my dogs that have died. I have a weeping willow that I planted for my all time favorite dog, Star. I hated to leave it when I moved, so I am taking cuttings of that tree to plant at my new house in memory of Star. That sounds crazy, I know, but I can't take the dogs' graves with me but I can take a cutting of "their" memorial tree. I have one tree still in a pot from when my dog Maggie died that I'm going to plant here. It's a corkscrew willow that I call "Maggie's tree". I also have a pine tree I brought here that belonged to my grandmother before she died, and it's "Grandma's tree". I realize you don't have an acreage like I have so maybe don't have enough room to plant a tree for your kitty. But it's my very favorite living memorial I do in memory of my pets. I also have a Southern Bottle Tree I made in memory of my friend Larry when he died. I found the cedar tree in his back yard with all the branches cut off fairly close to the trunk. I have no idea what Larry had planned for it, but I brought it home and "planted" it in my garden to remember him by. Eventually I covered all the limbs with cobalt blue bottles, and made it into a bottle tree. I think it's beautiful. :) But it's still "Larry's Tree" and reminds me of him in my garden. He was a gardener too and I think he would have liked it. I could send you a picture of it if you're interested. Here is a link for a kitty memorial stepping stone. If you'll see the seller's other items further down the page, she has some nice cat memorial items. Again, I'm so sorry for your loss. I know planting a memorial garden for you kitty will help you in your grief. Dawna Here is a link that might be useful: cat memorial stone

thanks, douglas! I went outside today, 24 hours after the damage, to assess what looks damaged. Out of 35 tomato plants, only two are wilty looking, my Fourth of July and Mr. Stripey, and then my Pink Brandywine has yellowed leaves but I'm not sure if that's from the frost or if it wasn't doing well ahead of time. I didn't notice it yesterday, so I'm guessing the frost. One of my six Romas is looking questionable, too, but it might need to be watered. Out of my 37 pepper plants and 2 tomatillo plants, everything looks completely green and healthy. Meanwhile, five of my eight cucumber hills are goners and the other three might soon follow. And one of my four basil plants is shriveled. So far, the cukes bore the worst of the frost damage, no question. And after reading posts here about Mr. Stripey's production and the bad taste of Fourth of July tomatoes, perhaps I'm no worse off with those gone. But I do love pink Brandywine tomatoes, so I have to replace that one. Thanks for all the advice. I'll keep you guys posted if more of them die, just so that my original thread becomes something of a reference in itself since I didn't see this topic addressed when I searched for it ahead of time.

We listed the car at $8995 and we sold it for $7900. It has 95K miles on it and we were the second owners. It was the somewhat less desirable color combination - white w/ tan interior. There were a few problems: leak in t-tops or windshield, don't know which, so we didn't take it out in the rain! The a/c didn't work, probably needed to recharged, but sold the car as is, just in case. Cosmetically, the paint was kind of bubbled on one 5" section of the hood and seemed to be peeling off on part of the rear spoiler. Of course, we could have sold it for too little, and I never thought my husband would go for the first "low ball" offer, but he did and the deed is done. It's just a bit ironic that I am feeling a bit disappointed when "I got what I wanted" and the car is gone. And yes, hubby has the 50th anniversary edition convertible, so he is not sad at all!