"Laughter is the best medicine" - you are dispensing it big time here, god job, Don :)

It was very cold here and we had a very hard frost....the kind that looks like white snow on the grass. It was 34 degrees here at 2:00 a.m., and I didn't check the temperatures any more after that because I knew it was going to be worse than expected.....and, at that point, the only issue was how much worse than expected. (G.M., When I saw our temps. at 2 a.m., I checked Carter County's on the internet and y'all were showing 38 degrees at that point, so I'm betting y'all ultimately went down to at least 34 to 36.) Pretty much everything in the garden survived and most were not damaged. I have two tomato plants that probably won't make it, but that's not bad considering I had 58 in the ground. There's about another 10 that show some damage. I probably could leave them alone and they'd bounce back, but I might replace them anyway. I have back-up plants to replace them with, so it isn't a big deal. The damage to the tomatoes was hit or miss, and might have been worse on those whose flower pot/bucket was smaller or more lightweight than those on the other plants. Everything else tender was in the house, the garage or the screened-in back porch so they all are fine. All the perennials are fine. The roses that were blooming look fine. The iris flowers look kind of pitiful. The water lilies are unharmed. Depending on how cold it actually got, and how long it stayed there, the fruit on the fruit trees may not survive. We have one more cold night tonight here in southern OK, with "patchy frost" expected. If you believe the data from the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, the "average" last frost in Love County occurs in the March 22 thru March 31st timeframe. However, we ALWAYS have at least one freezing night significantly later than that, and usually more than one. Here's the last frost date for the years we've lived here: 2007: 32 degrees on 4-15-07 2006: 23 degrees on 4-23-06 2005: 32 degrees on 4-24-05 2004: 32 degrees on 3-31-04 2003: 28 degrees on 4-10-03 2002: 27 degrees on 4-05-02 2001: 32 degrees on 4-24-01 2000: 31 degrees on 4-17-00 1999: 31 degrees on 4-18-99 So, the OCS data doesn't seem reliable for us, but it is based on 30-year averages, and we've only been here and watching the weather here for 9 years. One frustrating thing about the "late" freezes is that, even though they predictably occur in mid- to late-April, they often follow anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks where we've had really nice warm weather and only a couple of cold nights. Randy, I think your wind will be worse than ours. We're only expecting winds of 15 to 25, which seems mild compared to the last few days. It is relatively wind-free here today, and that is nice. Kirts, I hope your ground dries up soon so you can rototill and prepare to plant. We have another round of rain forecast beginning around Thursday. I hope to get the rest of the veggie garden planted this week, except for the real heat lovers like okra and melons. My soil is still pretty wet just a couple of inches below the soil surface, but it is getting better every day. Dawn

Hi all, I have a Norman Rockwell cross stitch leaflet available for sale. It is #101, Dimensions, Tender Care, book one and features two of Norman Rockwell's famous Saturday Evening Post designs. The first is a man sitting in a chair with a stethoscope listending to a boy's teddy bear entitled DOCTOR AND THE DOLL, and the second features a boy giving his dog medicine entitled PUPPY LOVE. This leaflet is dated 1985, Curtis Plublishing Co. so is very likely out of print now. The original owner did do some markings on one of the designs, but everything is still visible & it does not interfere with the stitcher's ability to follow the chart. I can provide photos of the cover and of the markings of which I speak if desired. I have not been able to do any research yet as to the value of this leaflet, but feel free to email me with an offer if you are interested (you MUST email me if you are interested as I cannot guarantee I will see a response posted here in a timely fashion). LuvMyHolly@aol.com My ebay name is Berrykin_Bubbles if you wish to check my feedback. Thanks!

Natal - Oh, I know. IMO Photoshopping like that shouldn't even be allowed. I always say anyone can be beautiful with the help of a makeup artist, hair extensions, spray tan, fake eyelashes, airbrushing, etc. :) So far I haven't spent a bunch of money on any product in general. I know most have big price tags with empty promises. I am a sucker for infomercials though so I have to stay away. lol My last purchase years ago was the bun and thigh roller! Nuff said. The appealing thing to me was that brand isn't pricey and I've heard AHA is good for your skin and dermatolgists recommend it? Since I bought all that I'll finish using it but I guess I've always figured in my mind a little wrinkle cream or serum can't hurt. An example that comes to mind often..Poor DH doesn't have much hair left on top of his head. At one point, he was using Nioxin products. I found it interesting that they have different steps to their line. System 1 is for fine, natural, normal to thin looking hair. System 2 is for fine, natural, NOTICEABLY thinning hair. There's probably reasons but I can't wrap my head around why you wouldn't just jump to system 2 if you were having this issue. Same goes with face products. Olay has a bunch of different systems. When I considered trying some of theirs it recommended the total effects. My mind wondered why I couldn't just buy something for skin that was already wrinkled thinking it would help more. Again, that may not be the case and I haven't done any real digging around but that's how I look at it. Jen - My t zone gets pretty darn oily so I also couldn't figure out why I was always hearing moisturize. Even oil free doesn't make sense to me really. Cooper - I figured you'd get what I was saying since you're not far away. There's not that many in the state. Even the ones I was 1st hoping to get into were a good hour away. I'm honestly a little leary of putting chemicals on my face in general and I think part of me doesn't want to know what's in them. This includes sunblock even though I've been using that on my face. The food we eat, the air we breathe.. I know that was windy but I'm feeling blabbery tonight. I really should be wrapping presents!