Yup.....big difference between a heavy snow and an ice storm. In an ice storm, it's a given we will lose power. I think it two years ago, a mammoth one come from the north-east. We hunkered down, awaiting. It stopped just as it entered our county.........stopped where the flatland glaciated terrain ends up against the hills. That area just happened to be in a state park/wildlife area, and when we drove a county over to see our accountant, it was like we were eyewitnesses to the glacier of thousands of years ago. Trees were just keeled over and snapped up to that magic line where the ice storm stopped. In our section of the county, it came down like rain. Just the difference of a few degrees. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a linesman, one in a crew who must work night and day for a week or two to bring folks back on the grid. How dangerous it must be to be up into the poles and trees where they're nothing but icicles, and the wind chill is in the negative numbers.

I want a birds eye view. Could you do a helicopter shoot? I want to see how the whole place is laid out. It looks like this is one enormous circle, right? With many trees in the center and hostas on the outside? I wish I could get there!!! I know you moved 1,500 from your former residence - how many have you added since then? Amazing.... Westy PS But I see two holes in one of them. Makes me feel better.

I actually enjoy waiting - it increases the suspense! One swap I waited three months for a package from Japan, and it was sooo worth it! These packages are very much like Christmas, and I guess they bring out the child in us at times! Normally, I would try to figure out which senders have had their packages received so that I could narrow my choices of which person is sending to me, but I've been a bit swamped with work lately (which is good, for a change). Lars

Bon, Really, it isn't even time to put any warm-season edible plants in the ground yet except for corn in far southern OK, but I wanted to start some zinnias and basil and a few other warm-season things indoors. I don't even remember the OSU-recommended dates to start putting warm-season plants and seeds in the ground---probably April 10th for most things. Since I plant by the combination of soil temp, air temp and forecast, I don't remember the OSU dates as well as I should. I've got everything in the ground that I can plant at the present time except for a few flats of flowers I'm raising from seed, so I'll play around with starting a few herbs and flowers that I can put in the ground 4 to 6 weeks from now. Having had high temperatures this week in the mid- to upper-80s, I am worried we'll get too hot too early so went ahead and planted beans and corn this week. It is early for the beans, but we are unseasonably warm and so is our soil, so I think I'll get away with planting them early. It still is too cool for peppers, melons, okra, squash, cucumbers, southern peas and the like. Some years it gets so hot so early down here that plants that are heat-sensitive, like beans, start dropping their blossoms almost as soon as they start making blooms, so if there is anything I'll push in the ground a tiny bit early, it is bush beans. I don't rush pole beans or Lima beans quite as much as they don't seem to tolerate being planting a touch early as well as the bush beans do. Most of the veggie gardens we drive by on a routine basis on our way to town are either plowed or rototilled and bare, some with big puddles of water standing in them, so not many folks here have planted anything yet. A couple of them aren't even plowed or rototilled yet. I wouldn't have planted anything if I didn't have raised beds that dry out more quickly. I wouldn't dare put anything in the grade level soil yet because it likely would just rot. Even folks near us who usually get their onions in the ground here no later than the OSU recommended dates (and often much earlier) don't have onions in the ground yet. As far as Fred and I know, I'm the only person who's planted onions already, and it is getting terribly late in southern OK to plant short-day types. This may be the first year I've ever had my onions in the ground before everyone else. I just keep an eye on my soil temperatures, my air temperatures and our 8-10 day forecast when making planting decisions. I won't plant if the soil is too cold for whatever it is I want to plant because seeds won't germinate and transplants won't grow while the soil is too cold. Our soil has been shockingly warm this week in the raised beds, which made planting beans and corn possible. I need to tackle the weeds growing in the mulch in the grade level areas because those areas are too wet to work so they haven't been touched since autumn and are growing a healthy crop of cool-season weeds. It is warm enough that 4 o'clocks, daturas and the dreaded bind weed are sprouting. Ugh. I hate bind weed. Today is so windy and cold that I may not go out to the garden at all except to harvest asparagus. I might spend tomorrow catching up on the weeding in the grade level soil if it is dry enough. It it is too wet and big clumps of soil come up with the weeds, I'll just have to wait another day or two for it to dry out more. I will tackle the clean-up of the back garden next week. It is all grade-level soil with no raised beds, so has been too muddy for me to venture into it at all. The perennials back there are up and growing well, though, so apparently the constant moisture hasn't bothered them. So, what's a gardener to do when they can't garden? Starting seeds indoors is about all that's left to do on a day like this.