Hi Jan, hope you made a complaint to the sheriffs office. They should have come out to make a report of damage. What a nasty thing to have happen. Do you have fencing around the areas where chicken tractors are parked? Perhaps you could just put up some T posts with several strings of electric to prevent dogs getting close again. Paint ball guns are also a good weapon to mark the dogs if you can't do the 3S's. Paint balls will sting pretty good too, could be evidence if you can locate dog homes for reparation. We had a lovely day, great presents, son was able to come home for a visit. He brought along one of his house buddies who had no place to go. Made for a lively day. Weather was terrible, raining in the AM, snow after noon. Made roads slushy and slippery, slowed driving down a lot. We passed 3 accidents on country roads as we went for the whole family dinner at 5pm. Slides into a ditch, spun into a tree. No people hurt, just shaken up, wrecked vehicles. Son, husband, buddy, all worked Saturday to get a new roof on the workshop. Did pretty well, laid the perlons, foam insulation. Sunday after church, they worked late AM till afternoon in the nasty weather, they laid the sheet metal. Handling the big pieces is hard, but fastening it down went pretty fast. They got one side all down, looks very nice in dark green. Hope to get the rest done this week ourselves. Son went back home today so it will have to be husband and me. I had tried to talk husband into sheet metal roofing before and he wouldn't. When shop needed new roof I tried again, time saver, metal will shed snow quickly, last a long time. He went for it this time. May even get metal on house when roof needs doing! I have always liked how metal roofs looked, probably because I saw so many on great barns! Never seem to need repair work. The dark green on white shop building is real sharp. With his woodstove going so well, the insulation and metal roof should help with keeping in the heat while he works out there on the really cold days. With the break in temps we have melted a lot of snow. Grass is showing!! I have to mulch some bushes now that I can see the ground again. Amazing how 35F can feel like 60F after all those below 20F days! Barnyards are clearing of snow, horses are racing around with firm grip on dirt. Only a couple had winter shoes and snowball pads on before husband got hurt. They had good traction but the rest were much more tenative on snow and ice. Husband is feeling much better, arm is coming along very well. Ribs are still a bit of trouble in damp air, hard to breathe deep. He is back to work full time. We all got good gifts, everyone was pretty happy. I think this is the best organized I have ever been. Ready to go to bed by midnight! Everything was done. I was sure I forgot something, to be done so early. They did morning chores, let me sleep in until 9A. Great present right there!

I like those quotes, too. New gardening catalogs are arriving with every postal delivery, and I ran across an envelope with several packets of seed while culling last year's garden mags...lol I've got to get better organized but feeling eager to plan this year's containers. Happy New Gardening Year! josh

Suggestion for you ladies who are trying not to eat btwn meals. You're likely to lose MORE weight & keep it off longer if you DO eat btwn meals. It's better for you (as long as its healthy stuff like fruits, or veggies or greens w/ a bit of lemon & olive oil & clean proteins in small amounts (2-3 oz) or a handful of nuts (like 10 or 12 almonds or that amount of walnut halves or a handful of peanuts). Eating with greater frequency not only keeps the body better sated, but keeps the appetite more in check 'cause the blood sugar levels are more even & less extreme. This also reduces cravings after a couple of days. The less extreme the fluctuation of the blood sugar & therefore one's insulin levels, the less stressful it is on the body. It may sound counter-intuitive, but I sucessfully lost 20 lbs. in abt 4 or 5 wks, by doing this a couple of yrs. ago I also kept them off (for 2 yrs.) by doing this: 3 meals a day w/ 2 or 3 snacks in btwn, result was that I ate every 3 or 4 hrs (not a lot, but balanced). My energy levels evened out as well as my mood. For more info., check out the book called: Lose a Dress Size in 6 Days by Michael Thurman I have no financial interest in this at all, simply found it to be amazing & revelatory in how well it works. Mind you, I'm not married & have no kids, so I was able to handle the large amount of food prep & advance planning this required. Also the author only wants folks to be on this regimen for 6-7 days; maximum 10 days at a time. This worked AMAZINGLY WELL for me, wish the same for you. PS: Not eating btwn meals is simply not realistic & therefore actually sets up the person trying this, to fail. Then one can beat oneself up for failing (yet again, right)? I urge you to try something different (like above program). (PG) Karen

This is from a gardening friend. Because she is always so right on regarding food dishes, we are going to prepare this for our New YearsâÂÂs Day Dinner. BROC & GARLIC CHEESE CASSEROLE This is a great addition to any festive meal. This broc casserole is hands down the best I've ever had. The soup and Velveeta just provide a creamy matrix for the broc and garlic flavors--and the crunchy topping is perfect. Last year we used Ritz roasted vegetable crackers, and we thought that took it up another notch. This year I'm going to use garlic mushroom soup. I suppose you could use another type of cheese that melts well. I dare you to try it! 2 pkg frozen broccoli florets (20 oz total), cooked and drained 1/2 stick butter 1 can cream of mushroom soup 5 oz Velveeta cheese 1.5 oz cream cheese 1/2 medium onion, grated or finely chopped 1 clove garlic, minced garlic powder or granules to taste (start with ü tsp), optional Topping Crushed Ritz Crackers 1/4 to 1/2 C slivered almonds (I use chopped pecans--pw) Cook broccoli according to package directions. Do not under cook. Drain well. Heat butter till beginning to brown. Add onions and sauté just till soft. Add minced garlic and sauté 1 minute more. Add soup and cheeses and stir well. Heat through. Taste and add garlic granules as desired for more intense garlic flavor. Place drained broccoli in a greased casserole dish. You might want to cut the florets into smaller pieces. Cover with cheese and soup mix. Top with crushed crackers and nuts. Bake in preheated 350ð oven 20-25 minutes or until heated through and bubbling. You can prepare (but not bake) ahead and refrigerate. Do not add cracker/nut topping until ready to bake. Add baking time if starting with a cold casserole. This post was edited by walnutcreek on Thu, Dec 19, 13 at 18:35