Hubby and I are heading out to buy cement and some fillers to make some big trough style planters. I want to put them under my freestanding arch trellis. I live in rented house so I am mainly gardening in containers this year. since we owned our own places for years I have always had a garden and I just can't give that up! Anyhow we're going to make a wood 'mold' and pour the mix into it and I'm going to use my new troughs to plant flowering vines that will climb my trellis and be portable so that when we finally buy our own house I can take it all with and never have to dig into the landlord's lovely red clay. (awww) I got directions and recipes from a really cool library book-- "Creative Concrete Ornaments for the Garden" by Sherri W. Hunter Check it out (after I return it) it has directions for making pots, planters, birdbaths and sculptures. cool book! mary

Received my box from Vina yesterday and it was packed with a rainbow of flower seeds. Vina grouped them each in a color grouping to make a rainbow. Seeds to numerous to list but fantastic selections. She also included a mini shovel which will work great with transplanting seedlings and a frog that hangs on a planter. She also included a very nice rainbow poem. Thank you Vina for the great package. Was busy in the garden today. It was not an expected project because I didn't think the weather was going to be good for it. I started weeding and mulching the garden next to our garage. I usually start in the front of the house and this garden is the last one I get to so I decided to start there this year. I have a rough time with it because the soil isn't very good. After five years, it is finally starting to flourish so after weeding and mulching, it looks pretty good. I still have the roughest part to do. I let it go last year and a weed took over. It could be an invasive flower for all I know since I am always planting new things. I like the little white flower but hate the plant so have to pull it all out. It really hangs on when pulled. Will start back on it tomorrow. Margo

Most of that makes a good start. Not sure about the rationale of some of it though but you pick and choose what's appropriate for your needs and area. Couple other thoughts, some of which were on the other thread: A seatbelt cutter. Some now will attach right onto the seatbelt so if the seatbelt jams you can cut and exit quickly. Medications, extra eyeglasses, and other special needs A charger for that cell phone I always keep some money but use change. Keep $10-$15 or so in quarters for parking and other incidental needs. Some basic hand tools & a set of folding wheel chocks are nice Tow strap/rope/chain, shovel & a come-along are good ideas too And in the northland you don't want white rags for a signal - you want red, lime green, fluorescent orange or something that can be SEEN in the snow! I don't want to surrender, I want to be FOUND! Current proof of insurance A disposeable camera is a good idea but a digital camera with batteries is a far better idea. They're not as susceptible to the temperature extremes as are film cameras. If you're in a southern climate and leave a film camera in an enclosed vehicle it's ruined in a short time. In freezing weather the film emulsion can crack and spiderweb as you advance the film unless you warm it up adequately so the film is soft. I carry a tarp. Multi use. For when you have to crawl underneath the vehicle, cover something or whatever. Takes next to no space. I guess you could use it for privacy, but if you're in trouble around people, isn't that a good thing? And if you're stuck in the middle of nowhere I think there's enough privacy isn't there? Pen, paper & Purell Sunglasses, spotlight and digital recorder Aspirin, IB, etc 12v air compressor, extra oil, antifreeze and washer fluid Tire pressure gauge, Ice scraper & snowbrush Sometimes some softener salt and the spray deicer is great Battery charger and extension cords are occasionally priceless If you have a pet, and are going far, keep copies of immunization records in case of a bite or if the animal gets sick Item #c could be very bad advice. Be sure to check with the law enforcemnt agencies in your area before you do this. Around here if you call the station phone number requiring a reasponse, you will have to hang up and call 911 to get it handled through dispatch. THE CLERK ANSWERING THE NON EMERGENCY NUMBER CANNOT DISPATCH. If it's an emergency, it could make a big difference. So I'd be careful before advising this. If you just need to know what hours they're collecting for something, that's a different story, but I don't know of many people who would worry about that when they're broken down! I use my cell phone as my address book, but as said I still print out one and keep in there. I have people's numbers I can call and even have some mechanics numbers. With a cell phone, ASSUMING YOU HAVE COVERAGE, you can call someone and get a number. A friend broke down about 100 miles from home about 2 weeks ago. The timing belt broke in his car. He called a number of people before he finally got his daughter who looked up numbers for a tow truck. Why he didn't call 911, I have no idea, but that's the way he is! LOL One other number that I never see mentioned that is an excellent resource is a good library's reference desk. They will look up phone numbers for you, resources for you, and can provide a wealth of other information. This is one you shouldn't overlook.

Denise, Fig trees are pretty late to come out. Just be patient with them. It is not unusual for them to die back completely to the ground and then to be late to show new growth. It is just one of the frustrating things about growing figs here. The good thing is that once they start regrowing from the ground, they grow quickly. Two of the latest blooming peaches (they have chilling hour requirements of 1000 hrs or more) are Contender and Reliance. I don't see Contender in stores here often, but do see Reliance from time to time. Both are available from Stark Bros. Those are lovely cabinets! Nancy, The sleet part doesn't sound good, nor can it ever be good when Wyoming is warmer than we are in the month of April. Oh well, I just keep thinking "Lee warned us....". Because. he. did. (grin) We only dyed two dozen eggs---a dozen with a blue/purple Galaxy kit that had rub-on transfers of the stars, the Milky Way galaxy, etc. and a dozen in pastels that have a pearlized/marbelized finish you apply after the dye dries. I didn't think that dye ever would dry. We also had 60 (says Tim and Lillie, and I say 61) plastic eggs to hide. Tim says he hid 60. He counted. Lillie says she found 60. She counted. Yet, when I went out to the garden to throw row cover over the two beds that include tomato and bean plants, I found a plastic egg at my garden gate. So, I say 61 eggs. Regardless, the Easter festivities are over, our temperatures now are dropping (we were 64 at midnight, and still 55 until about 4 p.m., but no longer....) and it is sort of misty/foggy but maybe with not quite enough rain to call it light drizzle. Our prank was to fill Lillie's magical, mystical golden egg with brussels sprouts. Let me explain. She has gone on and on about how we have to hide the golden egg (my reply: what golden egg? why? we never had a golden egg when Chris was a kid) for a couple of months and it has to have a spectacular surprise in it. Oh, and how she must be the one to find it, and with no help. Hearing about it daily about drove me out of my mind, until I finally started teasing her on being fixated on a golden egg that we didn't have, weren't interested in and weren't going to have. She still went on and on and on about it endlessly. So, a couple of weeks ago I told her that I was so tired of hearing about it and that if she didn't stop talking about it, I'd buy a golden egg and fill it with brussels sprouts. She kept emphasizing it had to have a great surprise in it. I told her that brussels sprouts would be a great surprise. It all was a long running joke that she wasn't taking seriously until we bought a bag of brussels sprouts at the store yesterday. The look on her face when I put those brussels sprouts in the grocery cart was priceless. At home, she took a new approach, begging Tim to hide the golden egg so well that she'd never find it. Apparently she decided I am a woman of my word and that there really was going to be brussels sprouts in the golden egg. Guess what? She was right. I am not cruel. When she sat down her basket and started taking out the plastic eggs to open them up, I suggested she first take the golden egg (only a bright yellow egg) and put all those brussels sprouts in the fridge before they started smelling up her Easter basket. She promptly complied and, when she opened the fridge, sitting next to the brussels sprouts bag, there were two "LOL Surprises" toys on the shelf. So, she got the spectacular toy she loves and had hoped would be in the golden egg, and we got the fun of seeing her react to brussels sprouts in her actual golden egg. It was hysterical. She promised solemnly that there would be no talk ever again of a golden egg at future Easters. We'll see. Our forecast low for tonight has dropped to 38 and for Tuesday night to 35. Tim and I covered up the two raised beds that have some tomato plants and some green bean plants in them. We might not have needed to, but with a 38 in the forecast, I figured better safe than sorry. Tim is sicker and sicker. I told him I think he has the flu and not a cold. He won't admit it. He thinks that because he had the flu shot last fall, he couldn't possibly have the flu. I think he is wrong. He is just too stubborn to admit it. He is not planning on going in to work tomorrow morning. This is going to be the longest and most boring first week of April we've had in a long time. rere's not much that one can do out in the garden in this sort of weather. I brought in all the flats of plants from the front porch, even though lately they've been staying out 24/7. I'll probably put them outside tomorrow and bring them in again the next couple of nights. We will be cold, but not nearly as cold as places further north. We have had small numbers of hummingbirds recently, about a week or two earlier than usual. Suddenly we have a lot more. I suspect a bunch were arriving here on their way, just passing through on their way to points further north, and the cold front hit. So, here they are, feeding like crazy at the feeders. I'll refill the feeders with fresh nectar tomorrow. I am tired (apparently I am no match for a 9 year old's energy) and am planning to go to bed early. I'm trying to stay awake long enough that at least it will be dark when I go upstairs to go to sleep. Really, I don't care if it is light or dark, but even when tired find it hard to fall asleep before it is dark outdoors. I looked at the garden while covering up warm season plants and there's hundreds of warm-season volunteers uncovered. Either they'll sink or swim on their own, and it doesn't really matter. If they die, more will sprout. More always do. Dawn