Dorothy...I was out shopping tonight, but not for Christmas gifts!!! I needed potting soil for my brugs....the roots are wanting soil! It is hard to find soil this time of year. *************************WE HAVE A WINNER OF ALEINA & BRINDEI'S BIRTHDAYS!!! AMELIA!!! Congratulations!!!! The birthdays are March 9, 10. Aleina was born in 1992 and Brindei in 2004. My two heart dogs only born one day apart. Thank you all for playing! You did a great job learning about Afghan Hounds. Maybe next year when my brug cuttings flower and grow we can do a game with them. I hope I will know much more about them by then. I have enjoyed inviting you all in for a peek into my family, who are near and dear to my heart! Holiday blessings to all of you! Amelia please send me your address. Joyce

Plantknitter, with more wind, if it is an E, N or NE wind as we usually have in these events, that causes the humidity dew point to drop way off. This is why you don't see actual white frost on anything even if the temperature is well below freezing. Usually though, this is actually more destructive to plants than frost that occurs under calm conditions and high humidity (i.e. a usual white "frost"), because the very dry air causes plant leaves to become dessicated and frozen at the same time: moisture cannot reach the plant tissues and they die. It really depends on the plant though, and some other factors. Plants with tough fleshy leaves, including many succulents, can handle this better than a frost with high humidity. Plants with delicate leaves, especially those from the Southern Hemisphere, and some bamboos, would do better in a frost with high humidity because their leaves would not be so dessicated. This is a huge generalization but you get the idea. Even if it is below freezing, the very cold winds do keep the temeprature up compared to what it could be, because mixing of the air prevents radiational cooling. So while last night it was blowing all night and the temperature was 28-32F for many of us - if it just stopped at some point, with the arctic air in place, the temperature would drop right off, especially in sheltered valleys where radiational cooling typically brings very cold temperatures. Slopes with good air drainage and places very close to the water usually do not experience such severe lows when radiational cooling occurs. This is what may happen tonight, and certainly tomorrow night, if the wind ever dies off. Surprisingly, I'm not seeing the temperature fall like a rock anywhere just yet. It is still too windy in most places. The South Sound, which is often the coldest, is still experiencing strong winds that are keeping the temperature up around 30. bboy, point taken but #1 it makes more sense to ignore the tops of the mountains since no one lives or gardens there #2 really all you are doing is pointing out the inadequacies of the USDA zone system for our region, which I would agree with. But you could just as well say that Sunset, with only two zones for western Washington's lowlands, is oversimplified as well. #3 if we figured everywhere was in the same zone as the land all around it, we would only have one zone.

1) What is the first thing you'd do or buy for your home . . . or would you sell it and buy another? If so, where? DH and kids would never want to move. But if they were agreeable, I'd move to a house in our neighborhood that had larger bedrooms, a real guest room, a larger living room, a real home office, and a really nice finished basement with real windows and a door to the back yard. And a screen porch overlooking a not-too-big, but bigger-than-ours back yard. 2) What is the first thing you'd do or buy for your spouse or SO? I know that many of us have kids, but to keep this game reasonably short, let's not go there now . . . so just your spouse/SO: A new BMW. 3) What the FIRST foreign country you'd plan a trip to . . . and do NOT tell us "around the world!" (LOL) . . . let this be a more specific answer: Does St. Bart's count as a foreign country? 4) What first charity would you donate a significant amount of money to, or start one of your own for what cause? This is too hard! I'd have to split over several. 5) What is the FIRST big thing you'd do for YOU? Hire a housecleaner once a week and a chef to make dinner every night! 6) OK, are you still following the rules ;^D ?? I know there would be many other purchases and trips, and we'd all save a big chunk of the money, too, but what ONE other thing would you spend some that money on? My 3 kids' college tuitions. Just starting on DS #1 this fall! Can't imagine what it will cost when we get to DD, who is still only 9.

First things first: cork is a rigid structure. it is still wood...it's just the softest hardwood in the world. It will not squish. It will not visibly compress when you step on it. What it will do is absorb the energy of a foot step. That means when the foot hits the cork, the leg's energy (all of your weight on the heal of your foot = ?150? lbs/square inch???) will be absorbed. The jolt of hitting the floor will be deadened. That means the jolt of the ground hitting the foot (remember: for each action there is an equal and opposite reaction15) 0lbs/sq. inch coming down onto the floor is going to be the same energy going UP the leg. That's the type of jolt that damages feet, ankles, knees, hips, lower back, mid-back, upper back, shoulders and neck. Every step you take on cork is going to be the same (on the body) as stepping on plush carpet. You won't 'sink' like you do over carpet but the cork will do the same thing. That's why people purchase cork. It is a solid surface (just like hardwood, laminate or vinyl) that treats your body like carpet does. Cork underlayment will add to this energy absorption. The more the merrier in my books. Generally I like to stick to 6mm cork underlayment with 1/2" cork floating floor (11mm or 12mm). That gives you 3/4" floor height which works nicely with doors and trim. It works nicely with stone/porcelain tiles in entranceways (they often sit 3/4" high). Adding a 'squishy' underlayment is going to do one thing: cause the floor to bounce and buck (most people hate this feeling...but if you like walking on a trampoline then perhaps it is what you are looking for). A squishy underlay (like foam = almost useless compared to cork) will also cause the click edge to fail much faster than if you had a solid underlay like 6mm cork. Colorado is a cold location. I would not hesitate to use the 6mm cork underlayment in your situation. Remember: cork is an insulator. Like your thermos, it keeps 'warm things warm' and 'cold things cold'. There is no difference between your thermos and a cork floor. Insulation is insulation. Warm air lingers LONGER in the winter heating season. And in the summer cooling season the cold air in the basement will REMAIN cold for much longer.