Wow! If anyone says we are having a greenhouse affect, I will, blank my pants! lol Those temps are just ridiculous! Whhat gives? I can't beleive the snow you had Mike and for that area. Good golly! looks like you are just about to engulf your greenhouse into an igloo very soon as I did..lol Now, what's next, tornados? I is such a good feeling to ee the temps in there that warm right, those lucky trees. I lost my heat last night, ran out of oil. It was 55 in my home this am and it was 68 in the greenhouse. I almost slept in there this am.. Mike: The one thing that ALWAYS scares me, especially this time of the year is loosing the electricty while asleep or not home! Luckily, that is the one thing I can be grateful for. Pgde!!!! Now that is a bad dream you had! Oh wait, is that the real Macoy? Ice hanging from the fountain way down there in Tuscon? Your kidding, right?... What about your trees? How are they doing? Wow, and yet beautiful.. Unbeleivable... I will come back and show a few shots of my snow too, since it hasn't stopped for over a month. A snow storm about every two days! Mike

Brad I have tried to grow Epiphyllum oxypetalum for years and I always fail with that darn plant. There are some huge specimens here in several of the local nurseries and I am always impressed when I see them. Have you ever tried reading Steven King's series called the Dark Tower? I am told that this was his masterpiece and that the other books were written to pay the bills. I have read the first three books and it is a great story. Several friends that were very into this series since the beginning got me to start reading it even though I rarely read fiction anymore. Lori we have an older post where many of us posted photos but I can't remember what it was called. Mike

OPh my. I go away for a couple of days, and Raeanne and Suzanne start the French Lick party without me! LOL! For everyone's infomation, all 3 of mine are the truths! (JK!!!LMAO!) I guess Suzanne is # 3 Raeanne is # 2 Well, it is a quiet Saturday night here. Rog went to bed early, and I'm watching Flashdance, and thinking OMG--did I ever really wear torn sweatshirts?? (yep.) I think that's why I love to watch old(er) movies--for just a second, I am back to an age where there wasn't any major problems, and I still believed all people were good, and the whole world was open for the taking. :):) OK--advice needed--mom keeps wanting me to come over and watch some 2+ hours, B&W, 1940 movie with who-knows in it (I've never heard of them). At the risk of sounding like a cold-hearted @#!^%, I have NO (none, el zilcho, nada) desire to do this--heck, I don't even have the time to watch what I actually want to watch, much less this thing. Now, I know how important spending time with her and dad is, and I enjoy just sitting around yapping, but our choices of movies are a complete 180. The last time I got coerced into this, I pr@yed to die of boredom, and then fell asleep. It was a truly aweful movie, and part of me resents being guilted into this. We're fixing Christmas dinner for Christmas Eve to take over, before we go to Midnight services, and mom brought up this d@mned movie again. Gawd, I'll watch it, but I'd rather be sh0t--any suggestions? (I really am not being cold, I would just rather sit around and talk--and she knows this.) Anyhoo--hope this finds everone well! When are we going to reveal the truths? Hugs, Maddie PS--Suzanne, I got your package yesterday, but I couldn't get my x-ray glasses to work! Darn piece of cr@p!! LMAO!!

get out your atlases for this one. Or just dial up google maps-that's what I do. Friday night the newlyweds spent in Mitchell, OR. Saturday, they rode to Redmond. We decided that on Sunday, DH and I would drive down from Portland to Sisters and meet them there, because they were planning on climbing the McKenzie Pass-5325 feet-and a lot of tight switchbacks on the way up and even tighter on the way down. The trailer would not only be a weight, but a safety hazard on the tight, steep climb and descent. Portland to Sisters is about 2.5 hours, the second part mostly through the Willamette State Forest. As DH said, it was a 70 mile calendar shot. Absolutely stunning scenery. Sisters is an arty little town-reminds me of Cape May, NJ-lots of cute little shops in a cute little town with cute buildings in a pretty setting. (Cynical R Us-but I'd move there in a heartbeat.) We met the kids right outside of town, driving past them one way, then the other, then finally seeing them on the opposite side of the road waving and yelling. (I hadn't had any tea.) We loaded the trailer into the rental SUV, fed them a quick breakfast from the cute little bakery, and off they rode. Although the Appalachians had steeper slopes, and the Rockies were longer sustained climbs resulting in much higher altitudes, this would probably be their most challenging individual climb due to the switchbacks and the lack of shoulder--cyclists (and there are lots of them) ride in the car lane because the roadside edges end in nothingness and a straight shot down. The plan was we would follow in a couple hours and find them on the way up, give them water and food, then continue up and over and wait for them at the bottom. DH and I perused the cute little town for a while, hit the used book shop (two Elizabethan-era mysteries from a new-to-me author) had lunch, bought the water, gator ade and sandwiches as requested, succumbed to the cute little ice cream shoppe, then set off on our climb up the pass. It was tough to drive, much less pedal. DH complained that he wasn't seeing any of the scenery because he daren't take his eyes off the road for a second. I was busy watching the road ahead for the kids, with the occasional glance down over the cliffs........ We got to the summit without having seen them. As we pulled into the parking area, I heard "what kept you, you with 4 wheels and a motor?" They had made amazing time without the 70 pounds dragging them down and achieved their goal of beating us to the summit. There is an observatory at the top which looks out over the scenery, including the lava fields, many mountains with famous names, and a lake. Breathtaking. After visual appreciation time and a tailgate for the kids, DH and I took off down the mountain ahead of them. it was harder than going up-a route drawn by Zorro. Speed limits of 20 mph that drivers actually respected. No passing. We got to the pull-over at the bottom and pulled over (natch) to...