Always fun to see how other people are using my inspiration, Phyl! They do work perfectly for an untended roadside stand if you get ready to try that. Just make a board with holes they will fit 2/3 of the way down in so the wind doesn't tip them over.

You are welcome and glad to have you here ! We stick around all year long, so if you want to visit, please do ! We can dried beans, chili, soups, make jams, etc. all year long.

wbonesteel, lol loll lol. Trust me. You're obsessed with your garden. We all are. Jay, I am glad to see you posting here. I miss you when we don't hear from you. Hope all is well up there in your area. Krista, I am sorry to hear about your tree. Did you lose the entire tree or just major limbs? I have a woodland full of oaks and other trees and can mail you some tree saplings in the fall if you need a replacement tree or trees. I do think that crying is a great stress release and the weather has stressed out so many of our forum members the last few weeks. Sharon, I know hail is often bad in Dallas-Fort Worth and don't miss that part of living there. Looking back, I am amazed we only had to replace the roof once because of hail damage in all the years we lived there. However, the hail in central Oklahoma seems even more frequent and damaging than the hail in the D-FW metro area. I do remember that stretch of years in either the late 1980s or earliest 1990s when one part of Arlington had baseball-sized hail hit the same exact neighborhoods 3 consecutive years. Your garden always is AMAZING and you know it, so go ahead and say it! : ) Jen, Your rainfall amount may have been higher or lower that what was recorded at your county's Oklahoma Mesonet site, but I am going to link the rainfall map for the last 4 days and that should give you an idea how much rain fell there. The number on your county represents what was recorded officially at your Mesonet station but the colors on the map indicate radar measurements of rainfall and that can help you see if your area had more rain or less rain than the Mesonet station for your county. I've had 4" less than my mesonet station for the month of May, but I know that some people here have had significantly higher rainfall totals at their homes in May than what was recorded at their mesonet stations. The 4-day map shows some astonishing rain totals in some areas. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: 4-Day Rainfall Map

Trin, God works in strange ways and always makes some good come from bad. I don't believe that he causes bad things to happen, but allows them, and only He knows the reasons. Maybe you putting your feelings out on a limb, and now realizing that there are many others in life who you can lean on and depend on, is the message for you to learn. Blessings, Lu