My really tall ones were laid down for the winter (low ceilings). I only made a million trips with the little ones & left the big stuff for DH & oldest son. I have a hernia & am not supposed to lift over 10 lbs (like I can live like that). The fun ones were the Rubbermaid containers, the really huge ones you could put a body in. LOL I can't get in the basement, front or back porch or dining room. Hope it warms up tomorrow night. I won't be able to sleep tonight & will be checking the temps & panicking if they get too low. I should have covered the tomatoes & peppers & now I can't see to do them. Linda

Yesterday was my father's 83rd bday. One year ago on his bday, our ice storm hit and by this time of the day, hundreds of limbs were down,(One through the thin tin of our mobile into the living room), the electricity was out and a huge limb bigger than my waist fell into the field where we had parked the cars, just brushing the rear bumper of our son's van. This year it can't possibly be as bad for us as we had a metal roof built over the trailer and a carport built, and there just aren't that many limbs left to fall. We also bought a generator and a couple battery operated lanterns to go with the candles and oil lamp. We survived 9 days in our home because we have a wood stove and propane cookstove, but no electricity because the small generator that we borrowed was only big enough to keep the freezers cold, although DH did disconnect the freezers each evening long enough to pump hot water into the house for showers. I've prepared though. Filled several gallon jugs full of drinking water and brought in 2 five gallon buckets of rainwater to flush toilets if need be. Done laundry, charged cell phone, filled woodboxes. Now need to take a shower and I'll be prepared. Right now here in extreme eastern Ok, it is either 27, 30 or 33 depending on which of the outdoor thermometers is right. There is a thin coating of ice on the porch railing and 3" icicles hanging from the roof, although the sidewalk is still just wet. So far we have only had light rain and right now it has stopped. I pray it stays stopped until DH gets home this evening. George, we also cook on our woodstove a lot in the winter, soups, stews and beans mostly. Thanks for the idea of making bread. I ground the last of my wheat yesterday and will make 18 hr no-knead bread for tomorrow. The recipe is simplicity itself. 4 cups flour (I use a mix of whole wheat, 7 grain, and unbleached white) 1 & 1/2 cups warm water 2 tsp salt 1/3 tsp yeast Mix everything briskly in a glass or crockery bowl, cover with a towel and set on the counter overnight. The next morning beat it down and let it rise again--twice. Then oil your hands good and form it into a loaf and allow to rise for the final time. Cook at 375 til done. Great stuff. Develops a bit of a sourdough taste. The 18 hours is an estimate. How soon it will be ready will depend on the room temp. Everybody stay safe.

Do y'all really think it will happen? I'm certainly not convinced we'll get much snow or that it will stick around. It it snows, that's fine--I'll be inside starting seeds. If it doesn't snow, that's fine too--I'll still be inside starting seeds. So, it is likely it won't affect me much either way. I've been watching the models for this storm for 8-10 days now and they'll been all over the place. The storm models that are fairly reliable this far out show the storm trying to take a more southerly path than they were showing a few days ago. Currently, there are snow-related watches and advisories across several southern states that don't see much snow, including some parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and even a bit of Georgia. The Thursday-Friday snow will be nothing compared to today's Nor'easter that has had low enough pressure that it is essentially the equivalent of a Cat. 1 hurricane if not worse. (After last night's and today's snowfall, several major Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern cities have set all-time high annual snowfall records for the winter of 2009-2010, although the records generally only go back to about 1880.) But, for southern areas that rarely see snow, the Thurs.-Fri. storm could be a big deal. I don't particularly want snow. I was sort of hoping it would miss us since we are still so wet and muddy that the ground 'squishes' when you walk. Well, it doesn't squish early in the morning when I go out to feed/water the animals because it is frozen, but it squishes as it thaws. It is time for some sunlight, heat and warmth so that the ground will dry out enough for planting. It's planting time! Y'all do know there's a slight chance of more precipitation early next week don't you? If you want, click on the watch/warning map linked below to see the warnings that go across several southern states for Thursday or Friday. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: NOAA's Watch/Warning Map for the USa

The NWS has issued a Red Flag Fire Warning for many counties in western Oklahoma. It is in effect from noon through 9 p.m. today. Forecasted conditions that are expected to contribute to the elevated fire risk include: High temperatures from 98-108 Relative humidities as low as 7-15% Wind from 15 to 30 mph gusting to near 40 mph You can see the affected countied highlighted in hot pink on the county map at the bottom of the linked page. In addition, some counties have a wind advisory that is in effect through 11 a.m. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Webpage of Norman Office of NWS