We are waiting on our last load. Still need about 400 bales. It will be 3rd cutting grass. The farmer ran out of the second cutting, husband did not want any grass and alfalfa. Gives a couple of the horse the runs when you feed them alfalfa. We have about 800 bales in the barn that we got in early August. My son and his friends helped with one load, while another friend helped with the other load. We load from the wagons to the flatbed, then into the barn. We have a couple elevators, sure makes it easier. Husband usually does the hard part up in the rafters but had arm surgery last winter. Not allowed to throw bales, empty water buckets, shovel manure!! We DID let him drive the semi to haul the trailer though. I finally told him to go away after we got home, he couldn't bear to just watch and leave the bales alone. Critiquing our work was making the rest of us crabby! We have some pasture, good for summer but nothing left by winter. I feed between 8-9 larger but not draft, horses from Oct to May, so we need a fair amount of hay. Always want some extra in case of severe cold weather. We feed more then to keep them warm. Last winter was not really that cold here except in Dec and a couple odd days here and there. I had a fair amount left over that we used because spring came so late into May. We are usually grazing pretty well by then, but cold weather didn't let grass get started early. I can't imagine only buying 60+ bales for a whole winter per horse. Even with good grazing the quantity is so small! When I only had 2 horses I would get 150 bales for each horse. They were little and quite economical to feed, stayed well fleshed on smaller amounts. However the weather was always terrible, deep snow and temps in the -10 to -25 range for much of winter. Rented a ratty old barn which really just broke the wind force with the open slats. They went thru about a bale and a half a day, with a couple handfuls of oats and corn. Sure had the long hair! I will agree that looking up at the stacked, new, fresh-smelling hay is one of the nicest feelings. You feel you are READY for winter now! Daughter and I can probably manage the last 400 bales. That goes into the smaller barn, not much stacking high. The small elevator will get it up enough for us. The bigger barn has higher rafters, must be thrown up. There doesn't seem to be anyone willing to come work, even for good money. Our hay price is way higher this year with gas and diesel fuel having such a huge jump in prices. We get a bit of a price break, loading off the wagons. The farmers help load onto our trailer which is a big help. Still have to handle bales twice. Ours are about 60 pounds. Lots lighter than alfalfa or acid cured hay we used to get. Previous hay man used acid if weather was iffy, or could not get cut hay dried in sun. Acid cured is good stuff, really stays nutritional if you get offered any. Horses really liked it. Just...

Hi Chris, Yes, those cold winds are no fun. We're on a hilltop, mile high elevation, so do get buffeted by them quite often this time of year. We had them this weekend and now again today, although today doesn't seem that cold. Maybe I'm getting used to it after 18 years. : ) I don't winter protect my roses but sometimes I don't get out to rake the last batch of fall leaves so they often accumulate under the roses, probably giving a bit of protection. I mainly concentrate on growing roses that I know will do well in my temps - winter night temps in the 20s-30s and quite often in the teens, days in the 40-60 range with some 20s-30s thrown in to keep my favorite swear words up to date. ; ) Summers are mild with mostly 80s, some 90s but never triple digits. Snow is common in the winter months but doesn't last long. The roses don't seem to mind it. My native soil is decomposed granite so it drains well. Are you on the southern slopes of the SBs, Arrowhead area? If so you get more snow usually but are often warmer in the summer. If you haven't been there, try Newell's in Yucaipa for roses and other plants, as well. It's a very nice nursery. Another place I like that has good prices is Sunshine Growers in Ontario. They both have websites and Newell's has a newsletter you can subscribe to. Diana A winter pic. This isn't that often but this year was the exception, especially Feb. Way more snow and cold than usual. I have Day Breaker, Lady Elsie May, Easy Going, Livin' Easy, Otta the Blue, Lillian Austin, Fair Bianca, Rhapsody in Blue, Top Notch, Honey Perfume, Elle, Graham Thomas in the front beds and BP Iceberg outside the fence. All come through the cold and snow just fine. So do th hollyhocks - they're about 3 feet already. : )

One of my goals when designing my bottom-heating fixture was to keep operating costs low. For that reason, and to even out the heat, I decided to wire two incandescent light sockets in series. The waterbed heater sounds like a good idea, but I wonder how much electrical power it uses. I also wonder how much it costs to run the heating cable. I disagree with joezkool about the shock hazard of series-connected bulbs. First of all, you should unplug the cord when changing light bulbs. Second, if you happened to get shocked as he stated, the socketed light bulb may act as a resistance, limiting the current flow through your body. Regarding the dimmer: When you operate a dimmer at the low end of it's settings, it can be triggered off by a power surge or sag. You may wake up one cold morning and find that your plants froze from lack of heat at night. I prefer a more reliable system. With the series-connected lights there is the danger that one of the lights would burn out, and therefore the other light would not burn. However, by operating the bulbs at half-power (because they're wired in series), they will last longer than their rated life. Still, you can replace the bulbs after a given number of hours if you wish. Joezkool's suggestion of using two smaller-wattage bulbs wired normally (in parallel), is a good one. If one bulb burns out, at least the other will still provide some heat to protect your plants. All things considered, the series connected bulbs may be the cheapest to build, and more importantly, the cheapest to operate. John

Nicole, I checked out the link and read some reviews by satisfied customers. The active ingredient is Bifenthrin. A few years ago the CDC did a study in which a large number of residential properties were sprayed--some with Bifenthrin and some with a placebo. The chemical significantly reduced the number of ticks. However, the Bifenthrin group and the placebo group reported the same number of tick bites and the same incidence of Lyme disease. I can see how this happened. In my doctor's words, I am a tick magnet. Ticks find me. They don't seek out my son and his family (knock wood), but they go after me. If I reduced the number of ticks by half, the remaining half would find me for sure. The CDC concluded that given Bifenthrin's toxicity to wildlife and the lack of any demonstrated reduction of infection, they don't recommend using it. I would also be concerned about seepage into my well. I appreciate your concern though. You're in Colorado, yes? Be glad deer ticks haven't made their way there yet!