Oh boy, Jo! When is your average first frost date in your present town? Didn't they say an early fall? Ha? well, let's hope one is predicted for your purposes. Not for everyone else, of course. :) I did not have as many as you have to move, when we brought my original hosta garden with us in 2011 coming from zone 5b to 9a (used to be 8b). So I dug them up soon as I decided they had to come with me, and had about 20 in pots waiting for frost. They sat outdoors in an open porch from the end of Sept to Dec 12 when we sat them in the PODS. They reached Mobile the day after Christmas, still asleep and relocated south by 1500 miles. It was a perfect plan well executed by all parties. The hosta went to sleep in MA around October leading a normal hosta life......and in early March, about 2 months earlier than their FORMER NORMAL emergence, well, there they were! Poking up noses in a strange new world. "Toto, we're not in Kansas any more!" The king of hosta movers has to be Ken....I don't have the discussions to hand about how that went, because frankly I hope I never have to move again. It is excrutiating from start to finish, and I wish you good fortune.

pixiestix wrote: It's doubly-medicinal: the vodka improves my mood, the cranberry juice prevents UTI's :) ROFL! I most often tend to drink my distilled spirits neat or with a little ice, I don't generally do mixed cocktails. However, once in a great while (especially during hot, hot weather) a vodka & grapefruit (must be fresh squeezed) with a splash of cranberry is both pretty and refreshing. Sort of a backwards Seabreeze, which is a vodka & cranberry with a splash of grapefruit (also very good). lynnalexandra, from my Boston's guide, Ramos Fizz Juice of 1/2 lemon one egg white 1 t powdered sugar 2 oz gin 1 T light cream 1/2 t triple sec Shake with ice and strain into highball glass oer two ice cubes. Fill with carbonated water and stir. At the restaurant where I worked for many years, we used orange flower water as a float on top. A nice, refreshing martini-glass cocktail is an old fashioned Gimlet. One oz of fresh lime juice, 1/12 oz gin and one t powdered sugar, shaken with ice and strained. I actually prefer to use a simple syrup instead of the powdered sugar to keep the drink crystal clear or, if I have no lime juice on hand, use Roses Lime and leave out the sugar.

Cindylou--how perfectly story-book. I think you had the very best "new house party" I've heard of. Hope the 2 Dec. kids enjoy this Dec. gift. I'm sure it's their best one yet. Don't know how you're handling the holiday season in the midst of the move, but hope it will include some downtime here and there to remember to make it a home, as well as a new house. Enjoy, and thanks for encouraging us lagger-behinds.

Thank you all for your comments. We've been busy with packing and all the stuff you have to do when you move--turn on/turn off, change of address, insurance. That part's over now, so now it's on to cleaning out and packing. Not a lot since our moving company doesn't require you to take everything out of dressers. Whew! I think everyone needs a screened porch. The one we built on to our 940 sq.ft. house was 14x24. It really became another room for us. +