Dear Sweet MsJeannespines: You are ALWAYS such a sweet,Kind & Lovely Inspiration to me.... I feel like I have known you All of my life.... I am , sad and touched by the sad story of the BIG TORNADO ... We had one like that back in OKLAHOMA and I believe it was almost called the #5..... we also had peoples photographs and school papers and check etc... on our property... We ended up taking the things that we could to the local school and later as many things as possible were returned to the owners.... Jeanne.... Of course My prayers & I'm sure those of many others..... will be going up your way... & For your son.... It is very very difficult to deal with these kind of situations...and losses... I know you will be trusting God to get you through these times... AS I KNOW HE WILL BE Walking with you all and HE WILL GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH and COURAGE and the GRACE to get through ALL OF THIS>!!! Jeanne .... Remember to Eat and get rest... as your body will need it with the Extra STRESS that you are going through. God will show you and your son and family and friends and neighbors... how to stick together... during this difficult time.... My Brother, Steve is a minister in Arkansas and he and his church family Lost their WHOLE church in those tornados... a couple of weeks ago... But No One was injured... and they are going to rebuild the church... He also said... it is bringing them ALL Closer to GOD & to each other as they had to deal with no cell phones for days.. and NO ELECTRICITY for a week... and Lots of trials.. to bear... Jeanne Let us hear from you how things are going... WE WILL KEEP YOU ALL IN OUR PRAYERS ! ! ! God BLess ! Your GJ Friend & Christian Sister Susiesunshine

Hi Y'all, Siam, I'm happy to meet you buddy...I too love Cannas, and am starting to collect a few for my tropical landscape. Ryan, ever go up to Cloudcroft? I just love it up there. My farm is very small, just over three acres, one of which I plant in different types of gourds for my glass work. I do have a large veggie garden every year though. Honeybunny2, My older sister was Miss Ft. Sam Houston in the 60's...I might of seen you in one of the Fiesta parades! T.J. I make elderberry, rhubarb, and mulberry wines. Mostly because that's what I have growing around the farm! hahahaha... Knotz, My brother Alex was at Ft. Hood for awhile. Yes, we must share photos of our work...I love your Mac work very much! Kristy, I grow a lot of gourds just to look for that special one that lends itself to my glass work. I try to grow large gourds like African Bushel, and Giant Bird House gourds, but I love all kinds of gourds and grow many different varieties. I bet the one you have is the Italian gourd...yummy when small..large...(not so much)!hahaha... Did you know you can eat Luffa gourds when small? You should E-mail me sometime, I may have seeds I can share if you wish. I have a younger sister who works for the Boerne School district. I love the Hill Country, and I spend a lot of time there when I go home to visit. Comfort, Boerne, Kerrville, Fredericksburg. In fact Sue and I plan on coming down in June so we can go to the Hanging Tree Saloon to hear the "Who'it's" play in Bracken. Maybe we can stop in and visit some of ya? Okay, so remember...The only thing better than Texas BBQ is...MY BBQ!!!!:)hahahaha... Hug's & Brug's, Bruce

I e-mailed excessfroufrou & this morn she answered with the following: Thanks for remembering me. Our storms started Monday and a tornado that killed four passed about 10 miles from our house. Our round of tornados Monday and Tuesday were nothing compared to this last round in Al, TN, and GA. We are fairly used to them here, we are in a path that they seem to follow quite often. I feel so sad for the latest victims. Thanks for the prayers. Thank you, PM, for starting this post...so much loss of lives...it is so horrideous ... keep the good thoughts & prayers coming in the days ahead as so many good people will reach out to help in the destruction. Jeanne S. (thank God you know your GD is safe)

Basements are not rare in my area of the south (TN). Many, I would even venture to say most, homes here have a garage, but many houses have basements. This is our third home and we have had a basement in each house. On this and the last house we had a basement with a garage on the main (living) level. First house was combo garage/basement. Jane - there was some damage in Knoxville, but I'm about 30 minutes from there. That's where I work and where my dad and my sister and her husband live. We had about 40 windows out of the building where I work (college campus) and lots of downed trees, limbs, etc. My sister had a couple of storm windows broken as well as hail damage to one vehicle. My dad did FINALLY get power back on Friday evening (was without for 5 days), only after a neighbor called and complained that she had felt sick after breathing fumes from the ruptured transformer on their property. Within 30 minutes there were 6 trucks and just a bit later from another area, a special truck and crew that removed the transformer and dug up soil around it. Scary. My dad and others on his end of the road have wells - so water has been tested. This is a small county road - only 8 houses - all with acreage. Those further back from the main road have wells. Thanks for asking. My brother is in Ft. Oglethorpe, GA which is close to Cleveland and Chattanooga and he and his wife were quite upset at the amount of damage. She did her graduate work at Lee University in Cleveland and they lived there before moving to Ft. Oglethorpe. tina