Thanks everyone for the kind words...and sorry the pics are so big. I realized afterwards that I need to resize them. I'll try to figure out that process! About the fuschia, tina...they don't do well here but my variety is unique as it was sent from Massachusetts! It gets low light now although during the winter it was in full sun. I don't expect it to last through the humid summer but I have rooted cuttings that will stay indoors until next fall and I hope that works. You do see lots of them now for sale and it irks me, because they just won't last long outdoors. I just love the delicate flowers. Carol (yes, me too sweltering in Sarasota) - I've had that orchid cactus for years and it doesn't always bloom but this year, I've had 6 blooms. It is really neat, I think. Thanks again all, Hester

Here in the south suburbs of Dayton we started out with several inches of snow, then several inches of sleet and freezing rain, then 6-8 inches of snow. Most folks got their drives cleaned out Wednesday afternoon and secondary streets around here were cleared Wednesday night. I haven't heard of any local power outages and that's a good thing. Outdoor plants seem to have survived with minor if any damage. Marshall

Jasper looks handsome, as always! Vaccumfreak, did you find real fleas anywhere on/around him? I found tiny black spots under Nikita's chin once, and freaked out thinking it was flea residue. It was acne I guess, and disappeared once she was bathed and scrubbed carefully under the chin. Our vet gave us an antibiotic cream to put on a boil she got on her lower lip once (that probably was flared up acne too). I use a lil dab of it on her chin sometimes and that seems to keep the acne at bay. I guess I'm really lucky that Nikita and Simba love bathtime. I bathe them once a month and they seem to like hot water rahter than lukewarm. Max is OK as long as water doesn't touch his face. Simba loves to sit on my shoulder when I'm in the shower; I don't relish that one bit LOL he's just such a big baby.

halds, scryn, sdello -- THANK YOU! I had to call four hardware stores before I found one that had two roof rakes left. I hurried over there and bought one; struggled to assemble the thing -- saved by arrival of our DS and his strong hands. (And our dear grandson, 9 mos. for some diversion.) The roof is raked! DH cleared more of the south-facing gutter too. We hit 35 degrees today, but now heading back to single digits. I can't express how grateful we are for the help. We will certainly rest better tonight because of your willingness to share solutions. Thanks to all who read and responded!