Thanks Merri... I just signed up :)

I keep all my passies including the hardy ones inside over the winter. I used to cut them way back and keep them in the greenhouse. This past winter I decided to keep them in the house under 1000 watt metal halide lights and they did surprisingly well, better than they did in the GH. I didn't cut them back prior to bringing them in either and they bloomed all winter for me. The flower color wasn't as vibrant as it is when they are growing outside but they were still pretty. The only problem I had was trying to get them back outside. The vines had grown into each other and many of my other plants so I ended up having to prune them just to get them out the door. Karyn

'While my state will give food aid and medical to those fitting the income guideline without much push and shove, when it comes to actual cash assistance there is an endless stream of requirements and programs and timelines that comes with it." You would think but I can tell you that BM has been collecting CASH BENEFITS (in our state it is called TANF, temporary assitance to needy families) for probably 4 years, if not longer. Honestly--I have NO idea how she gets away with it! I know she lies and uses her parents' address and says she lives at home and she is supporting her DD2 on her own. She used to get beneifts for SS, and said the same thing about him, that she had full custody and didn't know where dad (my DH)was! Which is a bunch of hooey b/c they had an unofficial 50-50 custody arrangement from the start! The benefits on SS came to a screeching halt when DH took her to court and everything came out in the open....what sucks is that my DH now has to pay a portion of her benefits back...BUT it comes out of her child support money. So in reality, she is paying it back....if that makes sense? I don't know how she's gotten around the rules for so long; all I can think is she must have one stupid caseworker or one VERY overloaded caseworker. Plus, it helps that she has been pregnant or had an infant for the last 3 years straight. That opens up the doors to WIC and a whole bunch of other programs. OP--I wouldn't bother, but that's JMO. Someone who is on state assistance like your SK's mom is KNOWS the programs and resources avaialble to her. Don't bother. That dreaded night when BM was drunk at our house, I let her sit in my kitchen and cry about how awful her life was. I encouraged her to go back to school, and she said there was an LPN program she was interested in, and that her caseworker had said she could qualify for daycare for her daughter, and that the state would even pay for her to do the nursing program. I said that sounded GREAT and that DH & I would be so willing to take extra nights with SS, pick him up from school if need be, whatever she needed help with to complete the program... Well, we all know how that night turned out....and here she is, 10 months later, preggo w/her 3rd kid, and she's still doing the same old, same old. Again---people don't change!!!

I don't see anything dead in my garden or on the property. Those that froze back are putting out new growth. Even the Impatiens and geraniums came through the 26F night. A little frost nipped but quite alive. The cannas and bananas look really bad but new sprouts are coming up around the main stalks.