Hi Laura! Yeah, me too! We were planning on coming back out to Va Beach proper at some point this trip, probably today, but once it started snowing yesterday when we were out on the James River we pretty much figured that we would not be making it. We have a 4WD jeep that goes just fine, even in 2 feet of snow, but a longer trip like that became out of the question today with a foot already on the ground and still coming down extremely heavy. This is almost as bad as our 2nd worst storm last winter (we had 3 huge ones) in terms of depth, and conditions/ visibility/ winds. We were expecting some snow here, but not a BLIZZARD!!!! This kind of snow in Southeast VA is almost unheard of. Of course we are leaving to go back to DC / NoVA tomorrow, where they are getting just light snow/ flurries. Last night they were calling for 6-8" up there but it looks like they may only get an inch, if that. Ill try and get over to the palm tree "farm" about 1/2 mile away to take some pics of the hundreds of windmills in the snow. Be safe, enjoy the scenery, and I hope your palms make it just fine. I have faith they will. =o)

Hi Harry, SO that Jean Ellen grew at least 4ft+ in one year! That is amazing. I wish I could get that kind of growth on my Maha but then agai, I got it so late in the year, it reall didn't have much time to adjust to its new surroundings before it could start growing. I still don't have much growth on it. The claws are starting to grow more conical now but that's it. I am thinking it may still take a few weeks before they really get going. That was one thing that blew my mind last year with my mang trees that I lost. It may take some time for the inflos to start growing upward but once they do, it seems like you could measure the growth every few days!! I am going to move it into a larger pot but I think I will wait till the inlfos are done growing. I have not decided yet if I will remove the fruits. I am thinking of leaving just one for me to enjoy, IF it decides to hold on to maturity. Right now, I am finding that it needs to be watered every 4 days or so. When I brought it in, I watered once a week and that ws plenty. This tree took a while to adjust to the HPS but now it is really happy. I have been feeding it a liquid fertilizer at helf strength at every other watering, sometimes even every 3 weeks along with a peletized fertilizer that I apply to the top. I all ready told you about that and once summer gets here, I think I will just swith to the Osmocote. I have definetly learned a lot from you guys and also from my own experiences. So far, this mango has done the best for me out of all the mango trees I have had. How are your cherimoya seedlings doing? Did you protect them during the cold nights? They may not have even needed it. I accidently left some of them out when we had 30 degree nights and I didn't realize my mistake until the next day. When I checked on them, they were fine. No damage but then again, I had them up close to the foundation of the house. My grafted 'Fino de Jete' is actually starting to grow and bloom now. I counted 6 flower buds on it. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can pollinate them and at least get one fruit to hold. Good luck with the rest of your winter temps. I really hope that you don't lose your mang ocrop like last year! WOW! I cannot believe how large your Carrie mango is! I can't believe they consider it a condo type! Is it just a slow grower? Andrew

Fabulous light display! I so enjoyed seeing all of it. I love that you decorated so much and shared it here. You have so many cool decorations. Your neighbors must love coming home and seeing your beautiful display every night. Do they just drive around and around?lol Hope no one misses coming by and seeing your display. Wonderful home and love your garage floor and drive out there. Is it stamped concrete? It all goes so well together. I wish I could get the fortitude to get out there and get what I do have up on timers. We have so much snow and it's just to COLD here. Don't be such a stranger and come visit here more often.lol Punk

Hope that this link works! :) Here is a link that might be useful: Irish Rovers -- Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake