Hi My therm said 33 and weatherbug said 33.6 yet there were ICICLES on a shrub not a block from me . How can that be ?? Anyway see no immediate damage even the orchids, broms on the trees seem okay. Even the spikes on the orchids seem okay and a Catt opened right on up ?? Go figure. Was really surprised at the tropical fish .Was expecting a mass of dead bodies but a couple of them were up swimming around. Funny about the icicles.,when I first saw them, thought they were shattered glass pieces. Only ice I've seen in 25 years was in a margarita lol good luck with your plants gary

Thanks everyone. I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. The muffins were great. Brought them in to work with me to share so I wouldn't be tempted to eat the whole batch! Felix! Scones!!! That's what I should have made. sounds like a project for tonight. I have some blueberries to use up. Cindee, I don't know what passie this is. I got it a couple of years ago at HD but of course it was not marked. I'm thinking it is possibly alata caerulea. It has a very nice fragrance. Vigorous growth but manageable. I'm going to try to get some cuttings rooted. I haven't had the best luck with rooting things but I don't think I wait long enough before I give up. Going to try a little patience this time :) (Now I will have Guns and Roses playing in my head all day - lol! All we need is just a little patience ...... Patience... Ooh, oh, yeah) ~Betsy

Great video. You have a great variety of wild life in your yard. I do wish we had Cardinals out here.

Many of the birds you mention aren't cavity nesters, so a nest box wouldn't matter. Probably chickadees are the most likely. If you put up a box for chickadees, of course make sure it's protected from predators with a baffle on the post or pole, especially since you mention cats and racoons. The hole size is 1 1/8", small enough that house sparrows and starlings won't be able to enter. One thing I read is that chickadees might prefer a larger hole to start with, like 1 1/4", and then once they have established use of the box, you can put a 1 1/8" hole reducer on. Much depends on the habitat in your yard and in the surrounding area. Chickadees seem to like the nest box to be on the edge of a woody or shrubby area. A chickadee box might also attract house wrens, so I guess it depends on whether you want to potentially host them or not. You don't mention what state you live in, so I don't know if you have house wrens. Other suggestions for nest boxes could be wood ducks (since you live near water), or even screech owls, which could use the same box as wood ducks. Or, you could try putting up an Owl Shack in the fall. I've got two up, no luck so far with screech owls, but the woodpeckers sure like to drum on that nice resonant box! If you have many dogs and cats running around your neighborhood, then you might not get anything at all. If that is the case, then you might not want to try and attract wood ducks, because they have to jump out of the box to make their way to the water, and would be easy targets for cats.