Connie, you can buy pink insulation in rolls that are about 10" wide and just unwind it as you roll it around the pipes. This method takes longer then... Also there is insulation that comes in a long black tube with a slit up one side. Just open the tube and slip it over your heat tape and water pipe. Cut the tube in the lengths you need. You do have to make sure that all the water pipe is totally closed in or the slightest wind at an exposed area will freeze your pipe. Canadian Tire heat tapes can last as little as a few days to 10 years. Some people put two tapes on at the beginning and then when one goes they just plug the other one in. Some trailer courts used to require this to be done when the trailer moved in. Brenda

Scott, I check it often, too, while longing for some real rainfall that will put some significant moisture back into the ground. This morning, the QPF is looking better than ever. I cannot get Tim to buy into the idea that we will get as much rain as the QPF shows. Too many times we have gotten our hopes up based on the QPF and then gotten little to no rain. It is disappointing when it predicts several inches and then all we get is a few hundredths of an inch. I have a good feeling about the rainfall for the next 7 days. I really feel like the rain will fall heavily like they are saying it will. It must fall. We need it so desperately. As much as we need rain, I would willingly go without rain the next 7 days if it would mean that the rain forecasted for our county would fall on Woodward and Logan counties and put a firm end to those wildfires. There was an old saying where I grew up in Texas that said "It takes a flood to end a drought ". Well, in that sense , I am hoping for a flood. No one is likely to get enough rain from one rainy week to end the current drought (like Love County did on April 29, 2009), but that won't stop me from hoping and believing we just might get enough rain during the next week to at least keep the drought conditions from worsening. I'm going to drag my rain boots out of the closet and put them by the back door just in case. I cannot even remember the last time I wore rain boots in the garden. Dawn

Hey, Rustipup: That danged old groundhog was right! it has been snowing all day here today! Supposed to get 5-6 inches, most of the schools cancelled classes, and i'm sitting here in the house with a bad cold and cough! RATS!! I can't go out to use my snow-blowers! Oh, it will pass--just have to wait for it to run its course! On the other hand, i sure wish i lived out near you, so i could go up in the back country to see some of the sights! On our trip out west many moons ago, we only got a passing glimpse of the great sights! Then marriage to a nice girl who didn't want to see or drive in the Rocky mountains, or go out in the red rock country (Heck, she closed her eyes when we crossed the Miss. river!, or any other long or high bridge!) Gas was cheap then! So were motels, and restaurants, and car repairs! (The cretins hadn't refined their ways to rip ya off when ya needed help) Now, ya almost have to fly out there, rent a camper, or a truck, and go see the sights! but, thats too expensive for me, since we're subsisting on my Gov't. disability and 2 Social Securities! And, our house taxes are always going up, too. So, enjoy yer trips up into the canyons, etc! Wish i could go too! Rustyj

Aw, mobuddy, thank you! I feel pretty happy these days, my life has never been better. I've got my share of neurotic anxiety, but far less of the latter than in years past. I do love my little house, I always have, and now it's sooooo much better than it ever was before! blfenton - good idea. Thank you. I just put a gray and a brown Sharpie on my Amazon wish list. They were really small scratches, but still. When my counter arrived, I noticed a very small scratch/chip near the sink. The install guy used a Sharpie on it, and the flaw pretty much disappeared. Let me know if you have Living Room advice over on Home Decorating.