Hi Idylls! I have been working on 1&1/2 weeks of laundry, taking mom to the doctors, etc. The weather was beautiful in Florida...70s and 80s...my kind of temps. Took some nice pics which I will have to share another time. I really love Florida in winter. The "shock" of coming home to snow and realizing that it really *isnt* early summer here was a little hard to take though...LOL! Oh well, at least I had a nice preview. Your right Eden...its a good thing to be busy in January...does make the time go faster and February is a short month and by March we will really be getting peeks of spring....it really is just around the corner.... "Yes, Eileen, keep sending those positive thoughts to yourself"...LOL! Anyway, Chelone I too was a Captain Kangaroo fan and also a big fan of Garfield Goose with Frasier Thomas. Did that one play by you? I have all the songs from the Garfield Goose show stored in my memory...what would you like to hear? The Funny Company? Susie Snowflake? Hardrock, Coco & Joe? LOL! Re the Captain...I *loved* the bunny rabbit. I think I liked Mr. Bunny Rabbit so because the Captain was always so patient, tolerant and accepting of him. It was a comfort to know that even if we act badly and need to be corrected (like Mr. Bunny Rabbit) we would still be loved and appreciated. You are so right about Captain Kangaroo being the kind of show that every young child would enjoy and should have in their life. The Captain felt like a member of my family, a gentle & kind grandpa or uncle. When he looked directly into the camera...it *did* seem like he was talking just to me! Such a reassuring and calming influence. :-) Its what I always loved about Mr. Rogers too! I have a confession to make...I found Mr. Rogers so comforting and relaxing that he often played on my television long after my son stopped watching him...LOL! If anyone wants to travel down memory lane...I've attached a link to a sweet little web page that also plays the theme song (titled Puffin Billy) from Captain Kangaroo! :-) Norma...I loved all your pics. What a wonderful little family! I too enjoyed the pic of Wyatt with Grampa and Grandma...you all look so happy! You have a lovely smile Norma, so warm and friendly! The kind of smile that I bet just puts everyone at ease when they are around you. So sorry to hear about your GD's loss and sorry to hear about all the ice damage and the power outages! I hope things are finally settling down. Marian your Cyclamen is gorgeous. I've only once had a cyclamen that did well for me...it lasted about 5 years before it up and died....my longest flowering houseplant. I think that bromeliad is very handsome! And your African Violets are *so* pretty...what yummy colors! I lol'ed about the old foggies! :-) You are no old foggie! :-) Taryn loved all the beautiful pics of your new surroundings...what a lovely place! I especially *loved* the "catching the rays" picture. All your wonderful pics made me think of Three Dog Night's Song "Out in the Country". Yes, I miss talking with dad too, but you are right...we have been very blessed. How wonderful that you found the keepsake box! Yes, I miss EP too...miss her wisdom, serenity and calming influence...actually I miss everything about her. Good to hear you were so successful with moving your plants. I may be looking for some tips later. You know, I can't remember...do you have a greenhouse at your new place? I thought you did, but maybe I imagined it? I just can't imagine the Seed Sprouting Queen without a greenhouse! :-) Or, did you dismantle the one from your last house and bring it with you? Honey that Autumn Fairy is a love...I can see why you are enchanted! :-) You are quite the decorator too. Besides wishing I had seen all of your gardens back at IU2 (?)...I think it was 2 anyway, I would really have loved to see your home too. Did you do that drawing for your headboard and if so, how did you come up with the design? Not only do you have beautiful gardens and make beautiful container combinations, it appears you have another calling as a decorator as well. I'm so sorry about mom. It was really hard for me to hear what your mother said, I can only imagine how hard it was for you. Glad you don't buy into it and don't let it get the best of you. It breaks my heart to think about any kid being made to feel that way. I really do know how lucky I have been to have loving parents and wish it could be the same for everyone....it *should* be! You and Deanne are testament to the wonder and strength of the human spirit! You both turned out to be such kind, gifted, generous souls and loving parents to your own children. You both have much to be proud of. Bug I've enjoyed *all* your knitting. Who can resist all those charming, tiny little baby things in such lovely colors too! :-) What a wonderful skill. I imagine it is a very relaxing thing to do...well, maybe the Entrelac (?) is not terribly relaxing...LOL! And "no", you are wrong I *do* care! :-) It's wonderful to hear such cheery things going on in your life! BTW, DD sure made a beautiful bride and you a beautiful MOTB! :-) DD's bouquet is just gorgeous! Did your friend make that for her? Sorry, I feel awful because I forgot her name...was it Laura? I feel *terrible* that I've forgotten, but I am bad with names, unfortunately.. Anyway I really enjoyed her company so much at the IU3...she's a very lovely lady! Woody...so glad to hear that the MRI's seem to be stable. Your strength and proactive attitude about your health is *truly* an inspiration to me. Enjoyed reading about dog behavior. How smart of you to have the dogs walk together. Scout loves other dogs (much more than people) so that's not a problem, but is useful information to know anyway. Glad you both you and Barb had positive feelings about the new helper....that's a good sign. Cant wait to see your shed pics in spring, I imagine? You guys with all your beautiful sheds make me feel pretty badly about my sorry shed...LOL! Oh well all the inspirational pics I've seen of sheds here at the Idylls will be stored in my memory for future shed projects of my own. I still remember Michelle's pretty shed transformation....which reminds me, Michelle please don't forget to post pics of the progress in McKenzie's new garden....oh, I can't wait for spring! BTW, who are the roses you posted? I don't think you said. I love them both. The combination of the lupines with the roses just sings! I think I may have lost all my lupines to last summer's drought! :-( But I will be watching this spring to see if any seedling show up. Deanne....23 pictures and counting! :-) I really am serious about you exhibiting your photography. Have you thought about approaching some art shops? Do you have an Art League in your area? Does your area have art shows in the summer? We have a few really nice art shows here every year and I think your photographs are as nice as any I've seen. I know you have many interests and talents that take up your time and you can't do it all...but I really hope you consider sharing your photographic talents as well! BTW, thank you for the robin...he's such a cutey. :-) You are right, it is a surprise to see Robins in January. Robins are another reason I always look forward to spring! :-) That Tree Sparrow is a very handsome little fellow too. I didn't realize sparrows could have such interesting colors and patterns. I too love your Junco on the Cimicifuga. How cool is that?...the way the ice encapsulated each of the seed heads...what an eye! So when will you get Doug to take a picture of you in your blind? I really would love to see that...what fun! Every time I see an interesting bird here I always think of you. I don't even try to take pics most of the time...I'm just not very good at it and if it's a moving object...forget about it! BTW, I saw an interesting bird here the other day that I assume was some sort of woodpecker. Not the really big one, I don't think. But he was much bigger than the little downy woodpeckers we have here...about the size of a morning dove (maybe a little bigger and definitely more robust). His whole head was red and he had black and white speckled feathers. Any ideas? I have never seen him here before, but he sure was striking and was enjoying himself at the suet feeder. What a lovely picture of Deanne, Sue & Monique. Not only do you guys do a great job of co-ordinating...I love your smiling faces and can tell you've really developed a special friendship...You three look like you've been friends *forever*! :-) Mary...I bet you will be glad to have DH home next week. I imagine it *was* a bit too quite this past weekend? Hugs to you! Dont worry...you have quite a while to go before you'll be an empty nester! :-) Fun to hear about David's skiing lessons. Are you a big skier? That's something I always intended to learn, but never did. Now I'm a little afraid to...the bones break a lot easier when you get to be my age. :-) Sue! How can you say your dogs are not photogenic? I bet Chloe had a serious case of the vapors when she saw Nick's close up...LOL...there is no way she could resist! :-) And oh that house....I always enjoy seeing pictures of your gardens *and* your home...they are always "picture perfect!" Bab's I thought you were a natural redhead!!! Well, you sure *looked* natural. That's funny, one of the garden gals from the younger group has been a blonde as long as I have known her and I would have sworn that it was her natural color. When she told me she was dying her hair brown I said..."Why would you do that?" "I would love to be a blonde or a redhead...anything but this dull brown." Then she told me her natural color *is* brown! :-O How lucky for you two brunettes to have that nice skin coloring that looks pretty and natural no matter what color you hair. With my coloring I would just look fake, as anything but the brunette that I am. Don't even go there with the gray hair business....it's a touchy subject with me...LOL! Mine are coming in fast and furious now and unfortunately, not that pretty shade like Bug's, but a coppery dirty gray color...yuck! I *have* started coloring my hair back to the color I had as a child (a somewhat warmer brown than when you were all here at IU3) and also added a few red and gold highlights to it. I like it. Now if I could only do *something* with all these da**#d crazy curls! I would really like to look nice just *once* in a picture especially for the DS's wedding. I would love to have a pic of all of us at the wedding...one that I wouldn't be embarrassed to put up on the "family wall" upstairs. I always feel like I ruin the family pictures...LOL! Sorry, I know that's silly and vain, but I truly do hate myself in pictures. I am totally *un-photogenic*! Me again Babs! Just read your latest post about Chris! Congratulations to Chris....that is fantastic news! How neat that you got the cloche for Christmas...I love the way they look in the garden! Gorgeous roses everyone....what a treat! They are all so beautiful; each and everyone. I really loved seeing your Ballerina, Cynthia. That is a rose I have always wanted to get...but I think is just under being hardy by me? Of course (sadly) with the way our zones are changing I may have luck now. Your Brugmansia is gorgeous too...I love the little vignette of pots and the black wicker chair. Do you mind telling me which grass you have in the one pot all by itself? I'm thinking this year I want to try grasses at the feet of my rose standards and I wanted something smaller, that was upright and stayed neat. Your grass has just the effect I was looking for. I enjoyed reading the adventures into the purchase of your new dehydrator. I have a very similar story. I tried dehydrating sweet potatoes (for Scout) in the oven at a very low temp....it took *all* day. Then when I got impatient, I decided to try to broil them just for a few seconds, thinking to speed up the process a little bit. Well, I turned my back and ended up with all char broiled sweet potatoes. All that time, energy and electricity for nothing! Decided that a dehydrator would be money well spent (those Sam's Yams are pretty pricey here). Last week I made my first batch of sweet potatoes with the dehydrator. They came out nicer than I expected and a beautiful bright orange color too! I think I made them a little too thin though and next time I will try thicker slices. I was debating getting the Excalibur dehydrator, but couldn't bring myself to spend the money. I ended up with the Nesco American Harvest Food Dehydrator and Jerky Maker from Target for $40.00 and I'm actually pretty happy with my purchase. How nice that Rippie's parents remembered! :-) Kathy your roses are *amazing*! I can't help but think of Jain every time I see your posts though.... I think California must be *the place* to grow roses, since both you and Jain have such beautiful, large and healthy specimens. Cindy...thanks for helping me dream too; and what lovely dreams they are! :-) I love your Carefree wonder with the Betty Corning Clematis....great combo! Your Niobe is beautiful too...I'm going to have to try that one. I love all those jewel toned colors. Beautiful plantings Eden! Who is that lovely colored soft yellow rose? Is that Graham Thomas? What a pretty picture! I love the way that clematis is climbing into your tree in your 2nd pic too. And the vareigated plant (is that Alexander Lysmachia?) really sets off the pretty pink roses in your first pic! Bug love all your roses too...you have such unusual ones (at least not ones I have seen). I'm in love with that Felicia and the color of that Morden Sunrise is swoonable! :-) Well, here is my contribution to the Roses of June.... PM2....I think it was you who asked what roses I grow? I love roses, but only grow 2 hybrid teas (Dainty Bess & Angle Face). Most of the roses I grow are the disease resistant winter hardy types. Here are a few of my faves: William Baffin Carefree Delight with William Baffin on the arbor and Knockout in the distance: New Dawn And a close up of New Dawn's flowers: I do have a weak spot for David Austin's too and grow a few varieties. I have been pleasantly surprised at the winter hardiness of my DA's. The first few years I would cover them, but now I don't cover any of my DA's. The Prince is my sentimental favorite. But I also have and love Sweet Juliet, Graham Thomas, Heritage, William Shakespere 2000, Pat Austin, Golden Celebration and now I think I'm going to have to add Kathy's Propero to the list...WOW what a beauty Kathy! Anyway, here's a pic of my Molineux from last year. Not any way near as spectacular as Kathys (mine's only a year old) but after seeing Kathy's pics I'll be expecting great things from mine in the future... You can't see it so much in this picture, but Molineux (at least mine anyway) takes on these subtle but striking little red/orange hints (especially around the petal edges and in cooler weather) and makes a nice contrast with the color of my Achillea and lily. I can't take all the credit, as it was happenstance that I planted the lily next to Molineux. But once I saw how they looked together, I did add the Achillea to the combo and it has turned out to be one of my favorite combinations. Well, this is a long one...what a surprise! Thanks Taryn for making me feel less guilty about my rambling ways! :-) Thinking of T... Need to get ready to take mom for a follow up doctor's visit, so I must be going. TTYAL! Ei Life is like a rose...More exquisite and precious,when shared with others. - Jane Oechsle Lauer- God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December. - James Matthew Barrie - P.S. Here's a poem I thought was very appropriate for the Idylls! :-) Garden Meditation by Rev. Max Coots Let us give thanks for a bounty of people. For children who are our second planting, and though they grow like weeds and the wind too soon blows them away, may they forgive us our cultivation and fondly remember where their roots are. Let us give thanks; For generous friends with hearts and smiles as bright as their blossoms; For feisty friends, as tart as apples; For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers, keep reminding us that we've had them; For crotchety friends, sour as rhubarb and as indestructible; For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and as elegant as a row of corn, and the others, as plain as potatoes and so good for you; For funny friends, who are as silly as Brussels sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes; And serious friends as unpretentious as cabbages, as subtle as summer squash, as persistent as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini and who, like parsnips, can be counted on to see you through the winter; For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time, and young friends coming on as fast as radishes; For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold us, despite our blights, wilts and witherings; And finally, for those friends now gone, like gardens past that have been harvested, but who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter. For all these we give thanks!

Vicky, your idea of stacking leaf bags around the bin is a standard practice shown to be very effective for insulating outdoor systems in cold regions. In the absence of leaf bags old straw bales work very well, too, as does tossing an old sleeping bag over the bin. Remember that the top of the unit needs to be covered as well, as heat rises. As long as you continue to bury feedstock in an insulated bin that has some mass to it (at least 2' x 3') bacterial heating will keep the system warmer than ambient temperatures. The mistake some make is to reduce feeding when it gets cold, thus reducing energy inputs that fuel biological heating. As ShenValleyJoe suggests, we tend to produce less feedstocks appropriate to worm bins in the winter, and we tend to eat more, producing less scrap, so keep an eye on the feeding rate to ensure you're keeping the system fueled. Outdoor bins are employed year round in most areas of the US. Of course the worms will slow down considerable during winter as compared to summer, and sometimes essentially stop processing scraps, but worm bins are not killed, even in New England, Nebraska, and Michigan when the season turns cold. Your worms will do just fine! Kelly S

I'm sorry for the stress your birds, and you, are going through. Were the dropped chicks grackle chicks? Grackles will raid other birds' nests and remove the eggs and/or chicks if they want that particular nesting area. Then again, if the chicks were other than their own, they would have probably eaten them. It's been very cold here, too, and raining nearly every day for two weeks. Most mornings have been down to 32 degrees and we've been lucky to hit 50-55 during the days. Then throw in the North Dakota winds and... Still, my Chickadees are sitting tight on their six teeny-tiny eggs. The Purple Martins are hanging in by their toenails, but they've not even thought of nest building yet. They've been feeding only about every third day in this terrible weather. The Tree Swallows haven't shown up, nor have the Wrens. They should already be nesting in this area. Last year the Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and Hummingbirds arrived around April 23. I've not seen even one of them yet and it's May 11. I've had the nectar feeders out for them since April 15. The house finches and woodpeckers are loving the sugar water. Usually I have Harris Sparrows, Cedar Waxwings, and Cape May Warblers stop by for a few days, or even weeks, during their migration. There has not been a one to be seen. I suppose Spring will arrive, but hopefully before July!

"Going down to 0 F. tonight (my Zone 7 minimum)." Well, not exactly, as people in a HUGE swath of northeastern NC and southern and central Virginia are finding out tonight. There are currently areas that are listed as 7b on the latest, greatest USDA map that have plummeted as low as -12F! And areas listed as zone 8a that have hit -5F! There are gonna be some dead or severely injured camellias tonight, believe me. Once you go south and east of Richmond the older cultivars become fairly common in gardens. They were often not selected for hardiness. I've driven from Raleigh to Norfolk along back roads and there are plenty planted there. Because the Bay and lower rivers are not frozen, areas like Norfolk, VA Beach, even Kent Island, etc. are doing fine. The worse possible locations seem to be areas along small regional rivers in the upper coastal plain, where the cold air is settling...no wind anymore to stir it up...and there's not enough water to provide counterbalancing warmth. The shocking -12F figure was along the Chowan River. Plant Delights is lucky, they are only about 20 miles away from the area with snow cover, where temps are going below 0F. Which would be the coldest they've been since 1985. As it is I think they will hit 5F. Another cold zone I've noticed before is along all but the southernmost parts of the Patuxent river valley in southern MD. And even along the lower parts, if you're away from the main body of water on a tiny frozen tributary, you're dropping below 0F tonight. All of New England is below zero except for areas right on the water. Of course, it's less of a surprise up there! Sub-0F readings are even popping up on Long Island. I'm surprised there aren't more widespread sub-0F temps in the NJ Pine Barrens. The stations that are showing below 0F are closer to the water, because that's where more snow fell. It's a dramatic illustration of the double-edged sword that is snow cover. Protects things under it, but allows temperatures to plummet during radiative freezes on clear, still nights. We saw this same pattern in the polar vortex winters, too. The coldest places on still nights are places where it's relative flat, but you're still in a depression...and away from large water. With heavy snow cover! One particular night, the center of the Delmarva Peninsula started going below 0F AT 11PM (!) before a lucky change of wind direction occurred. Still many stations hit -5F or so.