Charmion, I'm sorry about that hiccough with the investment firm. In each state in the US you can do your own simple probate and all I needed to do was send the court document that I was the administrator of the estate and the death certificate to get my father's investment account to release the money. (I later had to hire a lawyer and run all of my work through a lawyer-managed probate because one sibling was proving to be very difficult, but that was long after I'd distributed the investment account dollars. I was doing it right, his percentage didn't change, except we all got less because of the attorney's fees.) It might be time to visit Google and name that company in the search and see if a better answer presents itself. The simple fact is they're trying to force you to leave the money where it is.

Jon, you may potter around slowly but you get a lot of very interesting things accomplished around your house! I have some pots ready to put seeds for Swiss chard and squash, and also some okra from a different seed pod than the one I started with in the garden (my backup plants). In case the one I used is a bit old, I'll use one that isn't last year's but it has a date on it. (The good thing about okra seeds, pick the dried pod and use a Sharpie to write the year on the side of it.) The part of the garden where the garlic is growing will be able to be used for cucumbers once the garlic is harvested, probably in late May, and I start those from seed planted directly in the ground.

This morning I stepped outside long enough to lop up the pine branches from yesterday's pruning. The ones that will fit through my chipper are piled beside the garage and the rest of the limbs went into the trash truck a few minutes ago.

My physical to approve going ahead with the cataract surgery is today. It kind of breaks up my day, but for a good cause. I'm hearing from friends who are so glad they did the surgery that I can hardly wait to have this over with.

Dorothy, how many potting setups do you have around the countryside now? Dupont, Beaver, and the Mill?