They sell an add-on wireless keypad opener with intercom; you can "buzz" someone in when they ring you on the intercom or if they posses the pass code can let themselves in. Relatives who come frequently have all purchased an opener at my direction and so the gate is in no way an inconvenience; except for solicitors, missionaries, and other unwelcome parties. I have a motion sensor with a bell in the house that rings as people approach the gate and I am putting up a wireless color/infared camera to see who. My opener will open the gate if I walk into the front yard 50 or so feet and from there I can see if I recognize the vehicle. The motion sensor assembly can be wired to switch most anything that runs on 110v, for instance you could have it turn on your driveway lights, turn on a recording device of some sort; whatever. As for the "man gate" I have a row of large boulders from tree line to gate-post on both sides of the drive and I have provided sufficient space between them for a pedestrian or mountain bike. Had I not had an abundance of nice, large, weathered rocks to use I would have strung fence of some sort and installed a proper "man gate".

I hate complaining about the cold when I know that what we have down here is nothing compared to what the others of you are feeling. It's like two different worlds. We had about 10 - 12 hours of below freezing temps last night and this morning. I think the low was in the low 20s. That's enough to freeze the buds on our spring flowers. I love our entire city in the late winter and Spring. The camilleas and the azaleas are wonderful, and of course the flowering trees get their buds nipped too. I am hoping that the bushes that are under the heavy tree canopy will do well as the trees do trap a little heat from the ground. But it won't be lovely this year. The plants can stand a couple of hours of below freezing, but not this long. It will do some things good. The amaryllis bulbs will get a rest. I have them well mulched, the bulbs will probablly not freeze. Plants like the Hydrangias had already started spring growth. I suspect they will have some die back. The big tropical Hibiscus is right next to the house and looks OK. So, I guess our Spring won't be as pretty as usual. At least, this much cold should have finally killed all the pollen bearing weeds and mold and mildew. The allergy season was already getting started in fine fashion.

Patty, That is probably true, but I know that some of them come in the gate because they will even do it when I am in the garden! LOL In fact, one will come in through the gate and look anxiously around, and then another and then another, like the first one is the lookout for the others. I walk a really fine line between trying to feed them enough that they survive the winters (and also VERY harsh drought conditions like we had here in 2005) and, yet, keeping them out of the garden, which they obviously believe is theirs as much as it is ours. We live in an area with abundant wildlife and have had every critter you can imagine from coyotes and bobcats to ring-tailed cats, tons of venomous and non-venomous snakes, possums, armadillos, gazillions of raccoons, etc. If my garden wasn't fenced, we'd have no garden! This year's deer problems have been the worst, which is why we expanded the fence to 7' tall a couple of weeks ago. It IS basically working, but if I do stupid things like leaving it open, the critters will find the open gate and come in. Sometimes, early in the morning, the turtles are standing AT the gate, waiting for me to come and open it. (Around here, every day is like being either at the circus or the zoo, but it is never dull.) I let the turtles roam around the garden because they can't do much damage other than maybe chewing on a tomato or two that is low to the ground. The turtles "reward" me by digging shallow depressions in my flower beds and laying their eggs there. Thus, we get to enjoy seeing their babies hatch and make their way to the pond. (They never lay eggs in the veggie garden though.) What I really want to know is WHY the deer come up to the house and look into the windows! Are they looking to see if we are home? If they see we are gone, do they say "the coast is clear!" and start eating the shrubs? Are they thinking of breaking in and raiding the kitchen pantry? Living surrounded by wildlife is very interesting to say the least. Oh, and there ARE easy explanations for why the deer population is worse. To our west, Lattimore Sand and Materials has been clearing several hundred acres they bought alongside the Red River to mine sand. That clearing has sent tons of wildlife onto the properties of those of us who live here close to the river. And, several miles to our south, to the south of Thackerville, the WinStar Casino and surrounding development are driving wildlife out of that area and towards us. So, the wild things have to go "somewhere", don't they? Since we have food and abundant water (3 ponds, a creek, a swamp, and several springs), they like it here. I wouldn't mind having them here if I could train them to eat the ragweed and Johnson Grass! Dawn

"the installer said we should call the manufacturer." Without an offer of a "service call"? And the MFG. said?