like everyone is saying, fill gas tank in as many cars as you have. If you have a grill make sure you have gas for that too. Make sure to get extra food for animals and for yourself. none parishable(sp) if possible. Get extra water. any patio furniture bring into you garage. any plants you have that you want to keep bring inside. Make sure that all items that are unable to be brought indoors is secured somehow. Make sure that you have plenty of cash in hand. No power means no ATMs. If you have a generator, make sure it is outside before starting it. Have a safe place to go in case there is a tornado. Have all important documents in a water tight bag or container. If you can take pictures or video of your items in your home, so that you know what you have incase you need to provide info to the insurance companies. For example all electronics, furniture, collectables etc... If you like I will post a link to the guide that they give us here in florida. It has info for before and after a storm. Here is a link that might be useful: hurricane get prepared

I do chicken quite often in the crockpot and it usually turns out good. But dark meat is definately recommended, although I do chicken pieces, including breasts, successfully. Thighs are the most highly recommended. But chicken is not a "leave it in all day while you're at work" kind of meat to make in a crockpot, it cooks too quickly. Leave it in all afternoon on a weekend and have for dinner--yes. You need to brown it first for best results. And yes, bone in for the crockpot. 5-6 hours on low TOPS. Six is really too many. There have been some posts about doing boneless chicken breasts and other boneless cuts in the crockpot, but I don't know much about that, since I cannot afford those cuts. Really not necessary to do those kinds of cuts in a crockpot, seems to me, since the chief advantage they have is their easy, quick prep. time. You don't want too much liquid in your chicken or it just stews, (unless it is actually chicken STEW you are making, lol). I do a sweet and sour moroccan chicken in the crockpot and it turns out yummy. I drain the fat from the remaining juices/sauce in the crockpot and thicken it with a little cornstarch for a smooth thick flavorful sauce.

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I figured I would post a progress update for the pears in this thread. I think, with the help of many in this forum, I've advanced past the stage of being dumbfounded when it comes to pruning. I'd now consider myself apprehensive, which is an improvement. The Ayers pear has grown substantially since I planted it in April of 2015. You can see the trunk diameter in the pics below. Despite its size, it has only flowered once, in 2016, and I got only 1 fruit that year. I think the reason it flowered then was a stress response to planting the year before. It didn't flower this year either. Really hoping to see some blooms in 2019. I'm seriously considering hitting it with a 2x4 this summer to stimulate flowering. Bad idea? Ayers Pear Ayers Pear Trunk I'm trying to keep the water sprouts pruned out and pruning this tree to a central leader. I've removed a couple scaffolds this spring. Opinions on whether more need to go? The 20th century has been growing very well and, like the Ayers, shows good fire blight resistance. though I do keep up on copper sprays. It has a very upright growth habit and I've been using spreaders to keep the limbs out. It bloomed well this spring. Hoping the fruit doesn't all drop off in early summer. 20th Century The chojuro doesn't seem to be as well suited for my hot and humid climate. It gets fireblight more readily and has fissures in the bark along the main stem. Not sure if these fissures are from fireblight or if they are due to overheating in the direct sunlight. This tree has had fireblight in the past, which I prune out as soon as I see it. No signs of weeping from those fissures this spring, though it may be too early? Chojuro Bark Damage on Chojuro (FB or sun scald?)