Thank you all for the nice comments. aftermidnight, this week I'm going to start ripping out my side flowerbed, it has 40 years of putting in a 4" pot of mint and some oregano (I think), then planting various plants that I had dug out of other beds and didn't know what to do with them. What a mess, and I will do the same as you, get it out, then wait to plant. Don't imagine I will ever be successful with getting all the mint out... As far as the raised bed goes, had to have 60 yards of landscape soil put down in a slight berm; that part of the yard was low, and I would have a lake every time it rained hard in the winter. sandi, your description of "peaceful and serene" means so much to me. Many of you know my husband has terminal cancer and I retired over a year ago to be home with him. When he's resting I go out and work in the yard, it's my salvation! Thank you all!

I don't know if this tidbit of info will help any, but your Mesonet station is listed as being 4 miles north of Jay. Carol, I was thinking that the lake probably gives you some lake effect heating.....with that very large body of water absorbing sunlight and heat all day and then releasing it at night as the lake cools. I think it very well could keep your nights a couple of degrees warmer. I only scattered a little hay over the onion bed, which probably wasn't even necessary, but I wanted them covered if the snow reached us, which it didn't. Even though our temps went down to 26, the cannas, which are up 6"-8", didn't even show any damage. It will be a while before I'll know if the fruit it going to abort--sometimes it can take a week or two for it to happen. I had the tomatoes out in the sun and wind for an hour yesterday, and will increase that to two today. After being inside for several days, I'm starting all over with the hardening off process, which is a drag, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. The peppers can go out when nights are staying above 50 degrees. Technically, it is exposure to cold in the lower 40s that stunts them and causes them to be unproductive, but I play it safe and keep them inside until we're completely out of the 40s. For planting purposes, the pepper roots may be damaged if plants are set out in soil temperatures lower than 55 degrees. I usually transplant peppers a week or two after tomatoes so I can be sure the ground and the air are warm to stay. I usually have tomato plants in the ground by now, but then I have to cover them up a lot at night and uncover them in the morning, so I am trying and trying to hold off and wait. Easter weather always makes me nervous because it seems like we always have a late cold spell the week before or after Easter. I hope the weather allows the plants to stay out too, so you don't have to carry them in and out every day while your son is in town. How nice that he'll be in town to visit! I always start way too many seeds too and then I have to figure out what to do with all the plants. I am ready to play in the dirt, but the wind is brutal outside today. I hope March gets her act together and "goes out like a lamb" and that April weather acts like April weather and not like March weather. The coyotes are up and running like mad and there are lots of them this year. They are so loud, and so close to the house, that their howling wakes me up in the middle of the night. The three does who have been bringing the 4 fawns to the yard to eat all winter have only come once in the last 4 days and their absence is because of the coyotes, so we probably won't see them much any more. I miss seeing the fawns--it is fun to watch them "grow up". Despite the rain and higher humidity that we had for a few days, would you believe we still had grassfires every day? I will be glad when we get a more significant greenup so we won't have so many fires here in this county. As long as there is dry, dormant vegetation still standing (and there's tons of it in the unmowed and ungrazed pastures here), though, there is fire danger. Our humidity dropped to 23% yesterday which is pretty low for spring, but it was much lower in southwestern OK. Wind, wind, go away! I don't know if it is blowing hard everywhere, but here at our house it is very high today. Dawn

Hahahaha, oh, Boxo, that is HILARIOUS! About the 30 cackling Women Hens!!!! Oooo, July 14th! I start my new job July 9th, and I don't want to forget that date and will have to highlight by my Blackberry, because babies are indeed milestones, and I at least want to send some good wishes your way! If I'm lucky I might be able to save up one good rose for your niece. I have one Purple Beauty Bud in the works, so I'm hoping the Magic Gardenville Sea Tea will protect that bud from our blasting Kansas heat. I'm sure you will have an ohhhh, so splendid recap of everyone celebrating in the Fabulous Garden. In fact, I suspect the Garden will be vying for everyone's attention, so unfotunately everyone will drag you kickin' and hollerin' as Tripod Man! You WON'T BE ABLE TO ESCAPE that easy.... If you do Escape with Your Sanity intact, hee-hee, be sure to do the Pre-Bouquets and Sneak Away while you have the chance. Sitting through women's shindigs is about as agonizing as accompanying a woman shopping! I am not the typical female so I can really identify what you poor Menfolk have to endure. I shop like a Shark, in for the kill in 5 minutes, then out just as fast!! Can spot out a beautiful on-sale outfit, know in a split-second just looking at it on the rack, whether or not it will fit, and go for the immediate KILL, hehe. Just like with Your Gorgeous Absolute Magnificent Roses, bwahaha! Just as fast and just as deadly, hee-hee! James is very, very lucky that I'm not a Girly-Girl. He and I love the action-blasting movies with blood, guts, and Computer CG exploding across the screen. Who knows, there could have been Kill Bill playing in the backdrop with my Baby Shower had I been lucky enough to have babies! :P

Just beautiful, sochi! I know you hate to leave the place. I love that chair. I don't think it struck me until yesterday how much it reminded me of a pair of chairs I had in the late 60's-early 70's, early in my first marriage. They were red and I had a yellow sofa. We bought them from a German couple who had Swedish modern furniture. I can't recall why they were selling, but it was immaculate and we needed furniture for our new house. Wish I still had them. But the cushions weren't near that thick IIRC.