i wonder if the rain helped keep the temp just a little higher somehow? anyone know? i'm happy we got rain, regardless of its effect on the freeze. with this wind, the sheets will dry out today quickly. in fact, we'll have to recover some things the wind took off already. so far, a lot of it is staying on, though. haven't been out to see what, if anything is showing damage yet. don't worry about things being bowed over from covering; they recover pretty quickly from that unless the stems snap (or freeze). thanks to several posters for making me feel like i'm not the only one crazy enough to cover everything i can with all i got. i laugh, but i do feel silly. at the same time i really don't want to lose this year's fruit crop! the flowers i'd be sad, but the fruit, i'm really bummed about. last night got to 30 here, so that forecast was right on. the range i'm seeing forecast on reliable sources is 24- 27 for tonight. i sure hope it's on the 27 end.

Suzie, I was wondering where you were! It sounds like a lovely visit to Beavers Bend. I have uneven damage on some of our surviving planta similar to what you described, but with mine in almost every case, the surviving and undamaged (or mostly undamaged) plant or plant portion was somewhat sheltered by a nearby plant that was taller, or a nearby tree or wall or something. Since we stayed below freezing for 7 hours, I'm surprised anything remained undamaged. We have a forest of beautyberry bushes here, scattered around the approximately 10 acres of our land that are wooded, where the beautyberries and black cherries are the main understory plants. I would guess there's probably a couple hundred of them, and I love them. Mine are growing in clay soil, with a few inches of nice forest soil on top of the clay and are mostly in full shade or heavily dappled shade and they reach a decent size and spread. Of course they have to survive on whatever rainfall they get, and some years that isn't much, but I think it limits their growth a bit. We spent two days down on the Red River Labor Day weekend on a fire call, and I saw beautyberry bushes there in very light shade and sugar sand that were twice the size of mine and twice as lovely. I had no idea they'd get that tall or spread that wide since mine don't. Beautyberries are one of my favorite native shrubs. The berries are so unique and you don't see berries of that color on anything else that I can think of. Dawn

Hello my friends! This week has been positive in many ways. Thank you for thinking about me! I've been 'offline' for forums and surfing alot for quilt ideas, christmas crafts and just mentally 'colouring with my crayons'. My dear great aunt told me I look fat (she does everytime I see her and it's funny actually - she's 96 so I give her lots of allowances for quirkieness). A young doctor came and was very unsuccessful trying to make a mold - geez at her age her jaw continues to shrink down, skin grows over. Now I have to call and arrange to have the senior doctor come and try again to make a mold. She has her lower teeth - I thought they were lost - but they are loose. It has literally been 5 months since I have seen her. I don't know where time flies to but it flies some times. Seeing her makes me feel closer to my Mom, in bloodline only. Mary is a sweet old gal. I should see her more often and I think I have been afraid to get close because over the years, as a great aunt, I've not really been a major part of her life. I would normally see her once or twice a year while growing up. She has another nephew - my uncle - he is extremely unwell and has never bothered with her at all. At any rate, I should pop in to see her a little more often. One day she will be gone and then it will be too late. Mary has made us family quilts, baked for us and carried on old family traditions because that is the life she knew. We talked about canning preserves on my last visit and gardening. Most of her 'marbles' are still with her at 96 - I should be blessed to do so well at that age. Yesterday I had 2 bank appointments for my Mom's estate with my sister that I don't get on with. I have been learning and working on 4 things: don't take it personally don't assume be impeccable with your word do your best By learning not to assume I did not toss and turn all night worrying about what my sister might have to say during our bank appointments. She is not speaking to me and is in her own world. Too bad. I keep trying to be polite but I get short, rude answers. Her body language still exudes anger, superiority (I think) and negativity. I feel sorry for her. When we left the bank she did not thank the person nor shake their hand - just left. I was embarrassed by her behaviour given she is now a 'director' in our federal government. My parents never taught her manners such as this. The banking officer appeared nervous - maybe because my sister was so short with her answers, seldom smiling and just needing a slap up the head at 46! I shook their hand, thanked them and smiled - I also rolled my eyes at one point. Couldn't help that. Unreal. So I continue to try to be a better person. I don't have to worry about letting go of her in my life because she is shutting out the communication unless necessary. Ah well, that is her journey. I hope she finds happiness somewhere. Today I'm sitting in bed - clothing all over the bedroom. Pulling out summer clothing for laundry and packing and restoring my fall/winter wardrobe. Fall cleansing and watching my dvd set of The Pallisers (Masterpiece Theatre). I love the period costumes and saga. One day I hope to purchase the north american region of The Duchess of Duke Street. I have the UK and can watch it on my laptop but it's not the same as TV. Also I have homework from my shrink - complete a quiz on depression (I'm feeling more and more positive about life again) and think about what I would like to get out of my future visits together. I've lucked in meeting a doctor who finally makes me feel comfortable. So, if I can sort a few things out in my head - one day, one step at a time, I am hoping to return in the right frame of mind for my fall/winter dietary clean-up. I've gained about 8 pounds but that's fine. It will come off when I'm ready to take more care. Anyhow, I should get going - I can't see my bed right now for clothing and I should get laundry going. Sunday is our cheapest rate day for electricity - laundry. Will catch up on the posts later! LOL to all my pals, Peggy

"what do you say to those folks who are born with a disability or end up getting cancer, etc?" That is what and who "health insurance" should be for. It should not be, not at neither my nor any other taxpayers expense, for those who are the primary cause of their own decline. If you want to have your bills paid for that which you are the primary cause of, then it should be your responsibility to pay the premiums. My apologies to all for upsetting most everyone off on this subject, but the truth is the truth, deal with it. I was once a rather rotund 262 pounds. My cholesterol ratio was terrible, my blood pressure was bouncing all over the place. Then in a moment of fantastically good fortune, an internist who specializes in diabetics found out just why I could gain and lose (if I didn't mind being sick half the time) large quantities of weight on a repetitive basis....And it turned out that other than diet and exercise, there wasn't and still isn't anything other that can be shown to have any long term effectiveness at all. This it turns out was one of the best things that could have ever happened to me. 16 months later I was down to 175 pounds , a weight I have been at SINCE 1998! No pills, no TV medical miracles, no magic anything. Just a daily 3.5 to 5.1 mile fairly fast walk and a 55% complex carbs/25% quality proteins/20% quality fats diet. You know, the kind of stuff that actually works but that family and friends don't want to hear about. If it is your "health" you are looking to "insure", do you watch what you eat, get plenty of exercise, read/study/and-stay mentally-active.? Do you turn off that TV and take the spouse the kids and the dogs for a 35-45 minute walk every evening? Do you eat lots of whole grain foods and see to it that your diet consists of mostly complex carbohydrates, a moderate amount of quality proteins, and certainly no more than 25% of all your calories are from fats of any kind? Or do you prefer to moan and groan and whine about how it ain't your fault because of genetics or some other "medical issue" or how they can't make you do this that or the other because after all, yer an American and they ain't gonna tell you how to live your life. This is ESPECIALLY for those "conservatives" who insist that all us Americans need to be held responsible for all of our own actions whatever those actions might be... "Personal responsibility", what a great concept that is! Unless and except for...Oh yeah... except for the sorry shape folks have managed to put themselves into and that they now want, nay, demand that I pay for...... The almost 2/3 of us, yes that would be all those folks we all know, mama/daddy/aunt/uncle/son/daughter/spouse/boy/girl-friend... they are NOT pleasingly plump, not a BB-Anything, not large nor husky not anything except fat lazy and health ignorant by choice... Too many Americans are just plain fat, lazy, physically revolting pitifully inept whiners deserving of NO special consideration at all. Folks who are plain what is called FAT, and expecting everyone else to pay for the results of such lifestyle choices. Health insurance, what is insurance anyway? Insurance is a shared risk based system whereby the greater risk of damage/whatever the higher the premiums. Let's see.. A) How about if you drive a 10 year old 4 door family sedan have no tickets and no accidents charged to your record. How about if I drive a late model big block Corvette, had a couple of DUI's 4 speeding tickets and another moving violation or two and have had 3 accidents that I was charged with causing. How about if we both get to pay exactly the very same exact auto insurance premium? Sounds fair to me..... B) How about if you live on a paved road 1/2 mile from the nearest publicly supported fire station, 100 yards from the nearest fire hydrant and nobody smokes. How about if I live 1 mile off the road, 10 miles from the nearest fire department, and a volunteer one at that, no fire hydrants or fill ponds anywhere, 4 of us smoke like fiends and we have only wood heat. How about if we both get to pay the same exact fire insurance premium? Sounds fair to me.... C) How about if you live on top of a hill, 1 mile from the nearest body or stream of water, 200 miles inland, in a county with storm water run-off planning and no building in anything even remotely resembling a flood prone zone.. How about if I live right next to a river, 2 miles from the coast and there is no storm/run-off planning at all. How about if we both get to pay the same exact flood insurance premium? Sounds fair to me.... D) How about if you are height/weight proportionate, don't smoke, don't drink, get lots of exercise, stay mentally active and watch what you eat. How about if I smoke 2 packs a day, drink 8 beers a day, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides watch 4 hours of TV a day,and my exercise consists of pushing the remote, lighting a cigarette, and walking to and fro the fridge. How about we both get to pay the same exact health insurance premium? Sounds fair to me. In example "A","B","C", I venture I couldn't buy a policy anywhere. Which is a very reasonable thing. Also very very reasonable is that if I could find an insurer, my rates would be far far higher than yours. Not only is that reasonable it is also FAIR AND JUST!!!! And yet for some reason the majority of Americans, a majority is overweight, under-exercised, with the poorest of diets, TV addicted, mentally lazy and "suffering" from a spectrum of 100% preventable ailments, seem to think that when it comes to health "insurance" that it's only fair and right that they get coverage at the same exact premium rate as you. Most unreasonable and unfair and not only that, unjust as well. Is that socialism or what? That is not what many would consider "socialism", no, it is not! That is "communism" >from each according to his ability, and to each according to his needNo more kidney transplants for 68 y.o diabetics, no more endless years of dialysis for 45 y.o. fat folks who got themselves into their condition all by themselves. No more chemo/radiation/drug "therapies" for those with cancer/cirrhosis who insist it is their "right" to continue smoking/drinking. No more triple bypasses for 83 y.o.'s. No more endless prescription regimens for chronic medical issues known to be caused and contributed to by ones personal lack of concern for proper diet, exercise, and effort. No more years of amphetamine and other stimulant based "therapies" for your kids while you continue pouring vast quantities of artificial colors and flavorings and refined sugars down their throats. If you want to continue eating massive quantities of grain fed beef pork and fish, consuming vast quantities of agricultural goods grown and treated with all sorts of agri-chemicals, demanding and taking various pharmaceutical products for every "ailment" and issue imaginable.... If you want to do little other than eat and watch TV and type at your computer. If you want to continue eating modified fats and refined sugars... Those who due to circumstances beyond all human control find themselves in need of medical treatment are exactly who and what health insurance should cover and be for, not those who are merely lazy and ill intended. There are those here on this board who have major issues through none of their own doing....And that by the way would include me....I was once forced to choose between head-oning a school bus, head-oning the moron in a big hurry to pass that school bus , or a bunch of schoolgirls who just got off the bus, or a culvert and a tree. I made what I think was the right decision regardless, but I doubt diet and exercise were doing me much good under those circumstances... It took me over 7 months to where I could walk one mile without falling or having to take a break, and I have never looked back. I >worked Oh my, how do I manage to get on with life while refusing the "advice" and recommendations of massive quantities of all sorts of uppers/downers/stabilizers/modifiers and lots of other pharmaceuticals that nearly all of the modern medical establishment, save the research neuro's I see, seem to think I cannot survive without...... Maybe it's because I was raised to realize that life has its ups and downs and that one needs to just shut up, quit whining, and deal with it all... Yes, just get on with the business of making oneself a better person today than one was yesterday. Something which quite apparently is no longer neither an expectation nor teaching here in 21st century America.... It would seem that when it comes to "health care", personal responsibility has come to mean taking your meds "on time" Amazing isn't it that I pretty much just eat well, stay mentally active and involved, do stuff daily, and walk a giant dog somewhere around 3.5 to 5.1 miles each day 6 days a week Last Thursday 07/01: age : 57 Ht. : 72" wt. : 173 B.P.: 110/68 ARP : 49 BPM Glucose Level was 89 two hours after eating Cholesterol is what would be considered rather high at 228 total were it not for a 3.7:1 HDL:LDL ratio and those rather moderate pulse and blood pressure numbers. And I do eat quite well too....And I do consume what is considered by all except the neurology folks I see to be way too much coffee. And I eat quite a bit of what I do eat too..... I even have every week a big bowl of Bryer's and some Pecan Sandies, and even an occasional Hershey Bay, the occasional bar-b-que sandwich or chili-cheeseburger, and even a chili-cheese dog (with mayonnaise-slaw. and onions) on a somewhat irregular basis too. Life is good and should be enjoyed in all its many pleasures, otherwise life would be all too tedious and boring. No need to overdo anything though. And besides, making things occasional tends to make them special too Now let us just assume for one little bitty minute that 25% of the adult American population could match my numbers and that another 50% could meet existing "targets" and the other 25% showed an overall 25% improvement....Just how much do you think the monetary savings would add up to??? And it wouldn't just be a money thing either folks...there is nothing like being able to live a normal and healthy life. People tend not to realize that until one day they find that they for-what-ever-reason cannot. I hope this make my feelings on the subject somewhat more digestible, but in truth, I doubt it.