Sally, Welcome back to the forum. I remember when you posted a while back while y'all were looking for land, I think....unless that was a different Sally from North Texas planning on moveing to northeastern Oklahoma. We moved here from Fort Worth in 1999, and had black gumbo clay there. Here in southern OK we have red clay. George, who posts as MacMex, is a long-time seed saver who also gardens in Talequah and he can tell you everything you need to know about rock removal because he has rocky soil himself. In addition to the OSU Fact Sheets that Seedmama mentioned above, the website of the Tulsa Master Gardeners is a great resource. I've linked it below. For current and historical weather information, you can visit the Oklahoma Mesonet at Okmesonet.org. For climate data specific to your county you can visit the Oklahoma Climatological Society via the mesonet too. We have a lot of gardeners on this forum from northeastern OK and I am sure they will be happy to share with you their knowledge of what grows well in northeastern OK. You will have to get used to having more rainfall in Tahlequah than you had in Texas--but that's not a bad thing! : ) I do not know of an organic equivalent in Oklahoma to the Texas Plant and Soil Lab in Edinburg, Texas, if that is the lab you've been using. Most people here just get their soil tested through the Oklahoma State University Soil Water and Forage Analytical Lab. Scott is one of our blueberry experts and I am sure he can advise you on growing blueberries, as can several others who grow them in NE OK. I can't since I'm in southern OK with a neutral to slightly alkaline soil and water pH. When you select your fruit tree varieties for your orchard, choose your varieties carefully and go for perhaps slightly higher chilling hours than you had in Dallas. The winter weather can be a bit more erratic here and often leads to early blooming followed by later freezes. We experienced similar conditions in Fort Worth, but they're a little worse here. For example, we had prolonged warm spells in January and especially in February that kicked the trees into early bloom and then we had more freezing weather. In one week here in southern OK, we were 91 degrees one day and then a couple of nights later went down to 19. I like to choose fruit trees with no less than 850 chilling hours if possible, and 950 or more is even better. I am sure you're going to love it in Oklahoma. As a native Texas who grew up in a friendly state, I was thrilled to discover that Okies are just as nice as Texans, and perhaps even nicer. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Tulsa Master Gardener's Website

Quote, "actually only two DSLRs have the ability to use EVF: Olympus E330 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1" Actually that is not true..The Pentax K-7, K200d and K-x all feature live view. I have been shooting a Pentax *ist DL (6.1mp) and have just ordered a Pentax K200d to get the "shake reduction", "Live View" and 14.6mp resolution while still allowing me to use all the Pentax lenses that I currently own, going back to the old Pentax screw mount lenses from the late 60's. Now for the original question regarding battery life: Now in regards to the original question regarding battery life: First off, you cannot judge battery life by how many SD cards you have recorded because the number of images you can put on an SD card is dependent upon both the size of the card and what format you are shooting. My Pentax *ist DL will allow me to use a maximum 2gb SD card. With a 2gb card I can record 165 images in RAW format (6mp), 760 in JPEG "Best" mode (4mp), and nearly 2400 images in JPEG "good" mode (1.5mp). Now in regards to the original question about battery life. There are a number of factors that effect battery life. First off, per the table in my Pentax 8ist user manual battery life varies greatly depending upon what type of batteries you are using. Obviously the best battery life is with the special batteries that are made specific to this camera, but the Pentax 8ist will also allow me to use 4 AA batteries so I will only show the comparison of AA batteries. Approximate image storage and playback capacity: AA LITHIUM ION- batteries: (Note that operating temp has a big effect) 23 DegC normal mode 750 images, 50% flash 650, 100% flash 550-Playback 700minutes 0 degC normal mode 670, 50% flash 570, 100% flash 470-playback 470min. AA Rechargeable NiMH 2500mAh @ 23degC 560, with 50% flash 500, 100% flash 440, Playback 470 0 degC 500, with 50% flash 440 and 100% flash 380, playback 400 AA Alkaline batteries: 23 degC 90, with 50% flash 70, with 100% flash 50, playback 140 Not recommended at 0DegC. ................................................. I primarily shoot nature and wildlife photography and I am looking forward to the live view feature because I often shoot macro and very low angles, often requiring the camera to sit right on the ground. Currently I am using a right angle view finder but the live view will make it much easier. On average I shoot about 500 pictures a day and have shot as many as 1500 in one day. When I go in the field I carry 10 2gb SD cards and 5 sets of AA NiMh (2900mAh) rechargeable batteries. While the above table for NiMh rechargeables was for 2500mAh batteries from my experience I find that the 2900mAh batteries perform as well as the Lithium Ion batteries. You can expect to pay about $20 for a set of four AA Energyzer or Duracell 2900mAh batteries and another $20 for wall charger but after having recharged them perhaps as many as a hundred times I find they are a bargain at twice that price. I also bought some generic rechargeable NiMh batteries on Ebay. The ones listed as 2900mAh work fine, but the ones listed as 2500mAh do not perform nearly as well, although they do work well in my external flash equipment and flashlights. When buying rechargeable NiMh batteries be very careful to check the amp/hour rating. They make some AA NiMh batteries that are listed as rechargeable garden light batteries. They are only 1800mAh and while they work fine in those little solar powered garden & walkway lights, they are useless for photo applications.

Funny this just came up. DH just bought a 2009 Miata with only 42k miles last week. He's been looking for one for a while and managed to find out about this one thru a friend. The guy was downsizing vehicles and decided to sell it. It's just to have for quick errands into town and fun day trips with some friends in the local Miata club. It didn't replace either of our current vehicles. I've only had family cars to drive and driven boyfriend's sports cars or muscle cars. Have owned everything from VW beetles to big Buick 425s. More recently I've bought German (BMW) and DH keeps us provided with a truck of some sort. He had a Shelby Camaro at one point years ago, BK (before kids). He wishes he still had it.

i have a real hate for maples ... because i grow hosta under them.. but this might be a perfect spot for a seedless maple ... anything in the freeman or norway families ... key word: seedless ... much faith in the z6.. but it might make a small difference ... anything sold by the extension office will be tiny ... under a foot or two .. probably not the way to go ... ginko in my local experience.. is extremely slow in MI ... i think its the long cold season ... as compared to further south where they might have an extra month on each side of winter ... i would skip that ... im wondering.. what you budget is ... you really probably should be looking at 4 to 6 footers at a min ... so you can get them above peeps on the sidewalk and the street faster ... the first few years after transplant usually are very slo motion i have a real hate for maples ... because i grow hosta under them.. but this might be a perfect spot for a seedless maple ... anything in the freeman or norway families ... key word: seedless ... some maples.. like silver maple.. night cause the root issues you speak of.. in 50 to 80 years ... but i dont think they all do ... when we talk of wet feet ... in the tree world ... we are talking fen... or near year long bog type issues ... i frankly dont see that being an issue in the pic provided above ... lets not go too far on this topic .. imo ... have you ever dug a hole there.. any idea what the soil structure is ... all of detroit was a flood palin after the glaciers.... i would suspect... if there is anywhere near native soil.. drainage should not be a year round issue.. and a week or two of lots of water in late winter is not a big deal.. if it otherwise drain ... any issue would be when all the pavement was made.. and what they did to the soil ... even if you have the stumps ground out.. plant on planting at least a few feet away from the precise locations of the prior trees .. and 3 thumbs up.. for getting rid of the invasive pears ... they should be planted starting around 4/1 ... when the soil thaws ... thru about mid may.. in a perfect world.. dormant.. leafless but when they could grow some roots before they actually have leaves ... here is a decent primer on such .. note timing https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub if you cant get them in on that schedule .... you might want to wait until next fall ... unless you use some of those tree irrigators.. to provide some proper moisture during the near 100 degree heat of july and august in detroit ,... not to mention all that pavement is going to be a nightmare as far as retaining sun deep into the night .. and reflecting sun onto the leaves... which loosely translated means.. watering issues ... with trees.. we talk in tree time... which is counted in decades .... so dont get tied up in instant gratification.. unless you are going to spend a thousand dollars a tree ... but that said ... for the most part ... you are responsible for all water the first year or two .... but the 2nd or 3 rd year.. only in drought ... depending on what ma nature provides ... and then should be more or less free range after that ... except for pruning... due to the height issues mentioned above ... to properly water.. you will probably be using a hand trowel.. and digging a few 3 to 6 inch holes around each tree... TO FIND OUT about moisture in the soil .we cant tell you about that.. and it really isnt a schedule thing ... and this is why the tree gators might be well worth the investment ... ok.. coffee buzz just set in ... i will have to review this later.. when i quit sweating ... and the screen quits jumping around.. lol .. oh... there is a spectacular tree farm a few miles north of jackson off I94 .. gee tree farm ... it would be worth contacting them .. maybe they have a church discount.. who knows... but its worth a shot ... they might even beat out the local nurseries on price .. since.. as noted above.. you really do need some size to start with ... ken ps: if done in early april... there is no reason this couldnt all be done bare root ... rather than trying to move huge potted plants ...