My redbud is getting ready to bloom. Something is eating the grape hyacinths--so my task over the weekend will be to sink a few old margarine tubs in the garden and put in a couple of inches of beer in each. We do this to clear out snails and slugs.

Bobert, I lived for a while on 10 acres out at a lake in the countryside in Whatcom County, Washington. I went to school in Bellingham, and I think it was about 15 miles to get to school from the lake. One night we had a silver thaw (ice coating everything in sight, beautiful to behold, but tons of tree damage) that tore lots of branches out of the cottonwood at the mouth of the driveway. Before we could drive out that next day, we had to clear out a six-foot deep pile of branches. Had we realized the damage, we'd have gotten up several hours earlier. I don't think I made it to school that day--I spent the rest of the day with my camera taking the most amazing photos of the ice on everything.

SRS