Thanks Savona. We're sure looking forward to it...hard to believe that we'll likely be there in a little over two months. I've been lurking around on here, but I feel so out of the loop, because I'm not starting seeds or buying plants even though I have spring fever...it seems really strange. Next year! There have been some big developments though. Our house is now officially conditionally sold...We should hopefully know in the next two weeks if the two conditions have been met. And they're going to do all the finishing work, so we don't have to do anything but pack. (Which we've been doing :o) Mom and Dad had to go out there anyway so they took our 5th wheel and boat loaded with stuff this weekend. Verena

RachelEllen, I know you didn't ask me, and Maria's description is wholly accurate, but there is an easier way to pluck chickens if one is plucking several at a time: Put a steel drum full of water on a brick platform and arrange a torch burner beneath it so the water comes to a rapid boil. Grab a (freshly killed) chicken by the feet with some loooong tongs and dip it in the boiling water for a few seconds, then fire up your plucking machine! There are different configurations for plucking machines, but ours was a motorized horizontal cylinder with soft rubber fingers protrubing from the drum. One holds one's scalded chicken by the feet above the spinning cylinder and it ever-so-gently pulls all the feathers off as it rotates quickly. It's the only really fun part of the process to be honest. More than ten chickens can be plucked this way in the time it takes to hand pluck one. As for slaughtering your own chickens, it can be done quickly and with dignity by just about anyone. Your best bet is to ask someone who has several (get a referral from the place that sells you your chicks) that need dispatching and ask to come help/learn.

I tended to some roses today, but that was the extent of my yard work. May squeeze some more in, but it's doubtful. Electrician looks to have another full day of work Monday. He found some interesting things in my walls that made it take more time. Plumber moved the gas line from previous gas dryer to new gas range (I've got to check the specs...looks high and looks like it sticks out quite a bit) and moved the one supply line for the washer over as needed. But...I think it's too tall. But that should be easy enough to cut down if needed. I emailed GC, plumber didn't fix sink plumbing yet. Supposed to get new angle stops etc. GC's wife called and said that's no biggie, it'll get done before cabinet install, or even after. I said since they're leaking, I'd prefer it was before. She didn't know they were leaking, so it will now be before. My big accomplishments for the day were nailing down almost all lighting issues, I think. I bought the recessed lighting things (I don't know what they are each called...the attach them in the ceiling part and the plug them into that part...but don't call it a bulb), a few dimmers, one receptacle with usb holes. I ordered a few more lighting/switches related things on Amazon and should be here Sunday. And I emailed and talked on the phone with Environmental Lighting and got a plan for my UCL. I'm sure I could have pieced together something less expensive, but I understand this and can install it myself, so that'll be a savings in itself. Also, I confirmed that I need one less outlet for the UCL installed, so that will save. I 'adjusted' a few things re: the electrician's work. The GC had drawn the outlets smack-dab in the middle of the backsplash. I had him move them down and over on either side of the range. I didn't ask the one in the middle of another wall to be moved, though it probably could be. I may end up asking about that if it wears on me this weekend. And I also asked him to install an outlet in the utility cabinet so I can charge my hand vac, Braava, etc. Tacos just arrived. :)

Bon, Really, it isn't even time to put any warm-season edible plants in the ground yet except for corn in far southern OK, but I wanted to start some zinnias and basil and a few other warm-season things indoors. I don't even remember the OSU-recommended dates to start putting warm-season plants and seeds in the ground---probably April 10th for most things. Since I plant by the combination of soil temp, air temp and forecast, I don't remember the OSU dates as well as I should. I've got everything in the ground that I can plant at the present time except for a few flats of flowers I'm raising from seed, so I'll play around with starting a few herbs and flowers that I can put in the ground 4 to 6 weeks from now. Having had high temperatures this week in the mid- to upper-80s, I am worried we'll get too hot too early so went ahead and planted beans and corn this week. It is early for the beans, but we are unseasonably warm and so is our soil, so I think I'll get away with planting them early. It still is too cool for peppers, melons, okra, squash, cucumbers, southern peas and the like. Some years it gets so hot so early down here that plants that are heat-sensitive, like beans, start dropping their blossoms almost as soon as they start making blooms, so if there is anything I'll push in the ground a tiny bit early, it is bush beans. I don't rush pole beans or Lima beans quite as much as they don't seem to tolerate being planting a touch early as well as the bush beans do. Most of the veggie gardens we drive by on a routine basis on our way to town are either plowed or rototilled and bare, some with big puddles of water standing in them, so not many folks here have planted anything yet. A couple of them aren't even plowed or rototilled yet. I wouldn't have planted anything if I didn't have raised beds that dry out more quickly. I wouldn't dare put anything in the grade level soil yet because it likely would just rot. Even folks near us who usually get their onions in the ground here no later than the OSU recommended dates (and often much earlier) don't have onions in the ground yet. As far as Fred and I know, I'm the only person who's planted onions already, and it is getting terribly late in southern OK to plant short-day types. This may be the first year I've ever had my onions in the ground before everyone else. I just keep an eye on my soil temperatures, my air temperatures and our 8-10 day forecast when making planting decisions. I won't plant if the soil is too cold for whatever it is I want to plant because seeds won't germinate and transplants won't grow while the soil is too cold. Our soil has been shockingly warm this week in the raised beds, which made planting beans and corn possible. I need to tackle the weeds growing in the mulch in the grade level areas because those areas are too wet to work so they haven't been touched since autumn and are growing a healthy crop of cool-season weeds. It is warm enough that 4 o'clocks, daturas and the dreaded bind weed are sprouting. Ugh. I hate bind weed. Today is so windy and cold that I may not go out to the garden at all except to harvest asparagus. I might spend tomorrow catching up on the weeding in the grade level soil if it is dry enough. It it is too wet and big clumps of soil come up with the weeds, I'll just have to wait another day or two for it to dry out more. I will tackle the clean-up of the back garden next week. It is all grade-level soil with no raised beds, so has been too muddy for me to venture into it at all. The perennials back there are up and growing well, though, so apparently the constant moisture hasn't bothered them. So, what's a gardener to do when they can't garden? Starting seeds indoors is about all that's left to do on a day like this.