I can still have steak! I'm actually cooking one right now! :~) Like I said, I'm thankful for potato vodka!! I might go back to gin and tonics, too. I used to really like them. It was the gin hangovers that made me stop. ;~) On the bright side, at least there is one, I've lost just over 30lbs and it's still dropping. My cheekbones are back! Apparently, you have to eat food to gain weight. Who knew? I guess that I do best on a caveman/hunter/gatherer style of diet.I thought that I was a few more generations into walkin' upright. No "So easy a caveman..." jokes, either!! I always told my mom that there was a reason why I liked my room dark and messy!! ;~) Glad to here that things are goin' much better. It's all sort of relative, isn't it, and gettin' some perspective isn't fun either. I've been posting sheep and cow photos at Flickr, by the way! I haven't had put up recent ones, yet. Things are actually going rather well. There are some websites that I just don't miss anymore! ;~) Now, where's my club? I have dino's to thunk! Scott 'Flintstone' ;~) Funny thing is, my Dad's name is Fred! ;~)

Beck_wi, I had all of mine sitting in an area outside my living room to the back of my house. It is an area that gets morning sun, and indirect sun in the afternoon. So they didnt dry out too bad. I have had to water mine about three times since initial wetting when I sowed. I just took a water hose and tried to spray into jugs gently. I know some bottom water. I know one lady who uses a child size swimming pool to bottom water. As for the baggy method, i dont know if you mean to germinate seeds or using baggies as a container for winter sow. I uses bags to germinate sometimes. I dampen a paper towel, place seeds on it, fold up loosly and seal in a ziplock bag. heck regularly for germination. This is good to check old seeds or check percentage of germination. I have not used bags for W/S but with a search you can find lots of info. Just have fun. Tammy

Scott, I just just logged on and saw your post. We have been so crazy busy with clean-up, the kids, and just daily life that I haven't checked back in. This story has a HAPPY ending! Or, at least, not a bad one. :) Our insurance deductible is $2,000. The claim was just over $4,000 in damages per the adjuster. He gave us a couple of hundred for debris removal, $2,000 for the fence repair, a little bit for the attic leak which just requires some water seal, and around $2000 for the depreciated value of the play set and grill. Nothing for the large tree or fruit trees, as they did not hit any structures. So we have $2,000 for repairs. The city of Jenks hauled away all of our small limbs free of charge. I listed the play set for parts on CL (swings, slide, rock climbing wall, ladder. etc) for $80. A very nice man came and bought the parts, then insisted he haul away the scrap wood too. He has 20 acres somewhere and said he would rather burn it, so we didn't have to pay to get it hauled off! He is a carpenter, and said that now he can build his grandchildren a play set for minimal cost. Win-win for both of us. I helped him load it, and I thought I was gonna die. Some of the items were huge and heavy (the roof, the tunnel)...He brought a pickup truck and a 16 foot trailer, and they were both piled high when he drove off. My neighbors' landscapers asked if they could have the grill for scrap metal, so I gave it to them. Dave fixed most of the damaged fence with a few new rails, some leftover stain, and some quickcrete. That cost under $50. So now, we actually have around $2,000 to replace the play set and grill (which is about what they will cost). We pretty much broke even :) The big tree is mostly gone, and many of my small fruit trees were undamaged. One was on its side, and we replanted and staked it. A couple are snapped off. They may regrow. I do still have a large stump and a few feet of the base of my tree laying in the garden, Dave has been hacking away at it. But Scott, if you are ever in the area and the offer still stands, I'd love to take you up on it. Don't make a special trip, and I'd insist on paying you something for your time and effort. I'm not sure how long you are going away for, but I don't think Dave is going to get this thing chopped up any time soon. :) Jo

Chinacat, you are so sweet to still be thinking of this. Believe it or not, part of the problem I think is that she CANT feel it. She had a severe facial nerve pain problem earlier in her life and back then the only way to get relief was to severe the facial nerve on one side.....so she has no feeling on one side of her face. So, it is an open wound that she keeps picking at and it bleeds and looks so sore to everyone else, but she feels no pain, so continues to pick. The dr. started her on a very mild dose of zyprexa. It caused problems during the day...and it actually caused a fall and trip to the emergency room so they only give it at night. I read up and the side effects are scary and I don't like more and more drugs.......but they say she is a little more mellow and doesn't fight the bandaids etc. She seems to be picking a little less so we will see how it goes. One thing she can do is roll up a ball of yarn so she does that here at my house...but they don't give her the yarn where she lives I dont' think. They have a tendancy to sit them in front of the TV if there are no activities...which in my opinion is the worst. But, this home is way nicer than any other around so I try to be agreeable and appreciative.