It was very cold here and we had a very hard frost....the kind that looks like white snow on the grass. It was 34 degrees here at 2:00 a.m., and I didn't check the temperatures any more after that because I knew it was going to be worse than expected.....and, at that point, the only issue was how much worse than expected. (G.M., When I saw our temps. at 2 a.m., I checked Carter County's on the internet and y'all were showing 38 degrees at that point, so I'm betting y'all ultimately went down to at least 34 to 36.) Pretty much everything in the garden survived and most were not damaged. I have two tomato plants that probably won't make it, but that's not bad considering I had 58 in the ground. There's about another 10 that show some damage. I probably could leave them alone and they'd bounce back, but I might replace them anyway. I have back-up plants to replace them with, so it isn't a big deal. The damage to the tomatoes was hit or miss, and might have been worse on those whose flower pot/bucket was smaller or more lightweight than those on the other plants. Everything else tender was in the house, the garage or the screened-in back porch so they all are fine. All the perennials are fine. The roses that were blooming look fine. The iris flowers look kind of pitiful. The water lilies are unharmed. Depending on how cold it actually got, and how long it stayed there, the fruit on the fruit trees may not survive. We have one more cold night tonight here in southern OK, with "patchy frost" expected. If you believe the data from the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, the "average" last frost in Love County occurs in the March 22 thru March 31st timeframe. However, we ALWAYS have at least one freezing night significantly later than that, and usually more than one. Here's the last frost date for the years we've lived here: 2007: 32 degrees on 4-15-07 2006: 23 degrees on 4-23-06 2005: 32 degrees on 4-24-05 2004: 32 degrees on 3-31-04 2003: 28 degrees on 4-10-03 2002: 27 degrees on 4-05-02 2001: 32 degrees on 4-24-01 2000: 31 degrees on 4-17-00 1999: 31 degrees on 4-18-99 So, the OCS data doesn't seem reliable for us, but it is based on 30-year averages, and we've only been here and watching the weather here for 9 years. One frustrating thing about the "late" freezes is that, even though they predictably occur in mid- to late-April, they often follow anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks where we've had really nice warm weather and only a couple of cold nights. Randy, I think your wind will be worse than ours. We're only expecting winds of 15 to 25, which seems mild compared to the last few days. It is relatively wind-free here today, and that is nice. Kirts, I hope your ground dries up soon so you can rototill and prepare to plant. We have another round of rain forecast beginning around Thursday. I hope to get the rest of the veggie garden planted this week, except for the real heat lovers like okra and melons. My soil is still pretty wet just a couple of inches below the soil surface, but it is getting better every day. Dawn

My all time favorites are kai (ONLY the lotion or oil, the EdP loses a GREAT deal of the charm) for summer and Jalaine's Patchouli for winter. I qualify for perfumista, as I could also give you my top thirty, and own about 150. I will SO be trying Spring Fever today. Any perfume that inspires such loyality is a big gap in my sniffing hobby! A quick search on my perfume forum Note- Artemesia, mandarin, apple, watermelon, marigold, linden blossom, cypress The quick thing I find you might like also, is a travel exclusive from Estee Lauder called Emerald Dream. Top Notes * Tangerine, Apricot, Honeysuckle, Blue Basil. Middle Notes * Mediterranean Mimosa, Violet, Blue Florentine Iris, Emerald Orchid, Plum, Marigold, Cyclamen. Base Notes * Beach Skin Accord, Blue Cypresswood, Sandalwood, Hawaiian Kamani Wood. I've never smelled either one of them, but I know blue basil won't give you quite the aromatic bite of artemsia, and the apricot/cyclamen won't give quite the wet fruit appeal of apple and watermelon. The violet/iris is going to give some powder but who knows to what extent. Notes like "Beach skin accord" probably means a clean, salty musk. The mimosa is what might get you--similiar in feel to linden, a green floral note of spring. And of course the wood heavy base. Overall, I'd guess a bit more of an attempt at 'Early Summer Fever'? If you ever get a chance, try Mimosa pour Moi by L'Artisan. It's spring in a bottle to me--but not wet or woody. The base is vanilla musk.

So what if you go through the list, and are still having problems? Because our 3 year old cat was so playful, and we thought it would be nice for him to have a buddy, we adopted a 2 year old neutered, declawed male cat from an animal shelter. After their initial adjustment, they seemed to get along well. The new cat was never very affectionate with us (our first cat is), but I don't think that's all that unusual. All was well for a few months, then the new cat started pooping outside the litterbox. My vet said he had colitis, and gave him some prescription food to try, which worked well - I kept him on the prescription food, and he always pooped in the litterbox from then on. A few months later, though, he started occasionally peeing on our beds. Thinking it was another medical issue, I took him to the vet a couple more times. He didn't find any medical issues - said it was most likely behaviorial, and gave us some Feliaway and advice similar to the above article. We had two litterboxes, and both were in the laundry room (upstairs). I could imagine that the location and/or noise might be an issue, or maybe privacy (our bedrooms are all upstairs), so I bought two additional litterboxes - one for the main floor (covered), and one for the basement (uncovered). I scooped all litterboxes daily, changed litter, tried different brands, etc. He continued to pee on the beds, and then later started peeing on our leather furniture, and carpet. I ended up returning him to the animal shelter, but have always felt terrible about it. I know that being a good pet owner means that you are willing to spent a certain amount of time and money when necessary, but after paying for several trips to the vet, Feliaway, replacing mattress pads, carpet pad, sections of subfloor, pillows, and buying gallons and gallons of Nature's Miracle and Urine-Off, I just reached my limit. Thank goodness for our first cat, or my confidence as a cat owner would be completely gone. Still, I don't think I will ever get another cat - I feel horrible that our second cat's behavioral issues were just beyond my capacity. Every time I see an article like this, I read it and think, did I do all I could? One of the most frustrating experiences I have had.

Thank you. This thread has kept me from the gardening and a possible bee sting. I see many old favorites and more exciting, new authors to try. One of my favorites not listed is Robert Van Gulik, Dutch, world reknown expert on China, son of a diplomat I believe and wrote about Judge Dee in the Tang dynasty. Warning, one book has descriptive scene - 'drawn & quartered' for a mean malevolent being. Was Nevada Barr mentioned? Her lonely ranger, Anna Pigeon, works in the natl. parks. Rarely have physical locales' descriptions stayed with me as strongly. I can still go back to the depths of Lake Superior or the Anasazi cliff dwellings. Perhaps a bit on the dark side.