Thanks for all the compliments on the home, everyone! And thanks for all the great suggestions too. It won't be me putting them up... It'll be my SO. LOL He just doesn't know it yet. Mwoods, we live in Oklahoma City. We actually live just down the street from my parents and our house is one that I've always loved. And I agree with you about the people in Oklahoma... I can't imagine living anywhere else. Firstkim, I thought about your suggestion yesterday, actually. I will be starting out with all new lights and am now kicking myself that we discarded a bunch of old ones during our last move (not to this house, but the one before it). It's a brilliant idea though and I might ask around to see if anyone has any old burnt out bulbs. Someone also suggested electrical tape over the ones that I don't want to show. BTW, the house picture that I've posted is actually one from before we purchased the house. Everything's the same, but we did take the ivy off the front by the porch. It was already growing into the window and getting up under the siding under the porch!!! I was sad to see it go, but it was just too much potential for too much damage.

Jstropic, my DH used 1/2" conduit(sp?)Pipe and PVC for sprinklers that we bought at H.Depot, and cut it with a hacksaw. I cleared all the mulch off during the day to catch as much sun on the soil, I wrapped the lights on the highest part of the trunk, and laid the rest of the Xmas lights on the ground, covered it up around 5-6 pm and turned the lights on around 7 pm and didn't turn it off till the outside temps got above 40 degrees. I was also lucky enough to get some of these plastic Xmas light stakes that were clearanced at Wmart, that I used to tack down the frost cloth, since it was windy that night. Main thing was to keep the heat from the lights inside. Make sure the cover goes all the way to the ground to retain the heat. I ordered my frost cloth online, since the stores here only carried the very light weight ones. I bought the medium grade, I think it is 1.5 Oz. It came in 12'x50', you can cut to size. I'm sure there are others out there that are just as good, and come in different sizes. You are lucky though since you are in zone 10, you should be a little warmer than me. I live 2 hours south of Orlando. It is a lot of work, but for me I love Mangos and lychees, so I really wanted these trees to survive so it was well worth the extra work...

Mdgardengurl, your recipe sounds a lot like one my aunt ussed to make. Thanks. When cranberries are on sale around Thanksgiving, I always make a few batches of this and freeze in freezer bags. Kids like the pink color. HOLIDAY APPLESAUCE 4 lb. sweet apples (Red or Golden Delicious, Empire, Winesap, etc.), cut into chunks (donÂt peel or core) 3 cups cranberries (12 oz.) 1 cup unsweetened apple cider Two 3-inch strips lemon zest 1/ 2 cup sugar 3/ 4 tsp. ground cinnamon In covered pot, simmer apples, cranberries, cider and lemon peel, stirring occasionally, for 1/ 2 hour or more, until apples are very tender. Add sugar and cinnamon. Simmer, covered 10 minutes. Discard zest. Pass mixture through a food mill. Add honey, sugar, or brown sugar to taste. Makes about 2 quarts. Can be frozen.

We only got 1/2 inch from this week's drizzle and expect the well drained clay areas will be dry enough to till to 3 or 4 inches after 2 days of sun; though with more rain in forecast, who knows when the shady spots will be ready. You'll probably have to wait longer if you already have your amendments on top of the clay. Key point is that "damp" is different than "wet". We've been tilling parts of our blacklands prairie clay lot for the past several years. I use klem1's observation: if clay sticks badly to the tiller, it's "wet", otherwise it's just "damp". Another rule of thumb I've heard and seems right to me is that glazing when clay is turned with a shovel indicates it's still "wet". I defer to experts, but my impression is that the concerns about soil compaction from tilling wet clay largely come out of the repetitive tilling done in agriculture; so more a concern for someone who tills a vegetable garden or annual border once or twice a year, but less so for a one time pre-planting till. It's cumulative as a function of the soil exposed to the pressures on the working edges of the tines and under the wheels and feet. The more common issue we've had with single tills has been the crusting that can occur when disturbing the soil structure while wet. One countermeasure for both compaction and crusting is to add organics, which you are fortunately already doing anyway.