I may have found a little bit of hope in getting all of these planted before anymore start to push. I went digging in the yard yesterday and the top 1' of the soil is still unworkable. It no longer holds water like in my other soil post, but the soil is still very sticky/moist.... it doesn't crumble. I have a small hill/slope that water runs off in my wooded area. I dug past the first 1' of soil in this section and found some dry/almost workable stuff. Since I'm surface planting, I may just take my tractor cart back their, discard the first foot of soil and start loading up the dryer stuff. Hopefully by next weekend I'll start to get these guys into the ground... pending no more snow or rain. Do you guys think surface planting will be OK? Any Pros/Cons? My only concern is that maybe later if the plant doesn't root into the native soil. I plan to dig up the grass/soil in a 4' diameter and flip it over so the roots can work their way down. Then just set the plant on the surface and pile dirt around. Ultimately creating a 4' diameter x 1' high mound for each plant. It's a little more work doing it this way, but it may keep the plant holes from filling up with water next winter. This post was edited by ricksample on Thu, Mar 27, 14 at 8:09

My brother was watching TV one day and happened upon a program where they were describing different types of skin cancer and one looked like a blue ink pen dot. He thought that looks like the spot on the bottom of my big toe. He had noticed this before and tried to wash it off but it stayed. He made an appointment and found out it was a melanoma! It was just a speck of a thing but they ended up having to go back a second time to get a clear margin. It wasn't so much the diameter as the depth they had to go. He was on crutches for several months as it took forever for it to heal. He is now over 5 years out and no other problems. Literally the TV show saved his life as he would never have gone to the doctor. Turns out it is not as unusual as you might think. Sometimes they are found between the toes or even under the nail.

Good (and cold!) afternoon! I've been missing in action while putting into motion plans for my immediate future. I turned in my resignation on Monday. Director refused to accept it. She's telling me that I'll be back. But, I had already decided to take time off from working, period, to finally have my knee replacement surgery. That is now scheduled for March 7th. Only one knee needs it. The other one has a kneecap problem which will be dealt with at another time. I need to drop a few pounds between now and the 7th to make recovery easier for myself. So, I've hit the SS way hard and heavy. I've been invited to a Girls' night out with some of the other teachers tonight at Gloria's, a Salvadoran and Tex-Mex restaurant. Wish me luck SS'ing there! lol Zig, it's so nice to see you here again. Jen, I'm glad your girls are on the mend. Winter is always a rough time on little ones. BJ, I admire you for being able to work in the funeral industry. It takes a very special person. Dee, sounds like you and your dh may have a very special evening coming up! Suzanne, I know the job is still hectic, but isn't it nice to have one you like? Maddie, sorry your dh is under the weather. Hope you manage to enjoy your enforced weekend at home. Raeanne, Marci, Donna, and Besh, it's always a pleasure to read your posts. Oh, Patti, where are you? Well, heading for a quick nap before my big night out on the town. I'll be up past my usual bedtime. LOL Take care and stay warm. It's supposed to drop to the 20's during the night here. Brrrr!

Hi flyleft, I am just catching up with this now. My incision was about an inch, maybe a bit more. I had the stitches out last week (16 days after surgery). It was a relief to be rid of them. Also, having my hand bandaged all that time was very bothersome. I unwrapped the ace bandage to let my hand kind of cool off. I was constantly sticking my fingers under the bandages to let my hand breathe and to give it a mini-massage. I fished out a revolting piece of gauze that was bothering me (sorry, hope that's not tmi).I was so glad when he cut off the bandages. After that, he covered the incision with tape, and said it was okay to get it wet. Of course, after three days of showering, it came off. After that, I covered it with big bandaids. Now I don't cover it at all. I was also told not to put any pressure on the incision. It was all scabby, but that is gone now, too. It's been healing well, but I am impatient to have a normal functioning hand again. The incision still hurts and certain movements are painful. The only way to tell what that might be is when I feel that zing of pain. Nothing unbearable at all. It seems to mainly involve anything that requires the use of muscles in my palm. Yesterday I got out in the garden and kind of overdid it, so today my hand feels stiff and sore. Most of the painful tingling is gone from my thumb and pointer, but the middle finger still tingles. I no longer have the painful numbness or freezing cold sensation. No, I didn't have the pain you describe going up to my elbow. I did have horrible pain, tingling and numbness in my arm, but wearing the brace at night helped that even before the surgery. The worst pain was in my hand and wrist. It's been 3.5 weeks from my surgery, so I would allow 4 - 5 weeks to feel close to recovery. I am doing pretty well now as long as I don't overdo it. I was led to believe that this procedure was "nothing" -- a small inconvenience and it is more than that, but certainly not major surgery or recovery. Here's a picture of my hand that I just took. I hope no one is offended by looking at my incision, but I don't think it looks too gross. I apologize to anyone who might think this is inappropriate. Hope this gives you an idea of what to expect. There is dry skin on either side of the cut. If you look closely, you can see that my palm is still bruised-looking. Please ask me any questions at all. I was very glad for the info I got here. Maybe I will live longer since the scar is on the life line of my palm, which makes the line longer!!