Greene - I always find things in the "last place" too - I stop looking after I find it

Katie - have a good trip!

Still working to catch up on everything else - weather stinks so no gardening today yet.

Safe travels, Katie, and I hope the car is ready.

What I did not do in the garden today is day dream about what I want to do. I have 14 planted pots of the bare root plants (all green and growing) awaiting planting, 2 Goats Beard bare root in the fridge and a Candle Flower in the garage....all just awaiting the weather! I found a local website for our area that reports the soil temp daily, but I know it will be a wait still for that ground to be the right temp, which I think is about 50-55. Also I have the 6 jugs or so from my winter sowing of seeds that will need to get planted...maybe, have to see what sprouts, so far just Lupine. We also have Morning Glory and Poppy seeds to plant. The weather is keeping me from having fun!

The weather is keeping a lot of us from having fun in our gardens.

What I DID not do in the garden today was painting on my pallet flags. Then DH and I went to the fire departments fund raiser. They had a wild game feed plus silent auction, raffles, and live action. We didn't stay too long cause our weather was not good. We had rain, snow, wind, and icy conditions so we went and got home before it got too bad. I donated one of my pallet flags for the live auction so I am anxious to hear how much it brought.

I also potted up some plants that I had in the garage waiting for nice weather to go into the veggie beds. I am afraid that is doing to be a while.

Legalily said:...I always find things in the "last place" too - I stop looking after I find it

Yep, we joke about that at home all the time. But this time it really was the last and only place left to look. If I did not find it there in the footwell I would have assumed it got tossed out with the trash by accident.

No gardening today

Ginny, sorry to see all your fresh snow. You have gotten a lot more snow than we have but it isn't over yet. We could get 2-5 today. I just hope it's closer to 2 than 5.

Patched another rotted 2 boards on the deck. New boards to old boards look bad! One I can cover up. The other is obvious and on a pathway. Just a temporary fix to get rid of the danger. Later I will replace the 3-16ft boards entirely plus sister the rotting joists beneath. Oh! That won't look bad at all! Eyeroll. I guess I shouldn't care that much. It's only aesthetics. Like new fence pockets on an old fence.

And since the weather was so cool, I cleaned the panels off the gh. They weren't bad all. They are just starting to get dingy.

We ate 15 bean soup and garlic bread for dinner outside in front of the new-to-us Weber fire pit I picked up for $20.

Came back from Walmart crazy with too many customers getting prepared for the worst. We all hope there will be no tornado but it pays to be ready. Gonna load the dogs into the car and go check on daughter's mobile home and tie the trash and recycle bins to a tree so they won't blow away.

This morning I used an all-purpose cleaner with bleach to clean the floor that will be part of the chicken coop. Nice and clean. After the storm passes and the floor dries, I will either paint it or add some kind of vinyl flooring. Still checking my options on that.

Yummmmmmmm Cheryl! Do you use the mixed dried beans for the soup? Nice fire pit too

Greene - we'll need finished pictures of the coop

I've been snapping step-by-step photos each day. When/if it ever gets finished I will put all the images into a blog entry. I am so tired of having chickens as house guests.

Mostly I've been playing poker. I did water some plants. It's starting to warm up here which is nice except for the flies.

I'm in medium physical pain. Not bad if I stay seated but when combined with the stress going on right now I'm working on indulging myself. When I am back home safely with my car and my packages and my meds, I will worry about pushing myself.

Several of my little blackberry plants are showing new growth, not a lot but they are alive. Five out of ten died and they are sending replacements - another reason I really need to go north. The company was very nice to deal with and I am very grateful for that.

Big poker game coming up in about an hour.

Mostly, I'm just vegging.

Good luck with the poker game, Katie!

@Legalily Bought a bag of Hambeens brand 15 bean soup mix. A lot easier than buying 15 types of beans. Only use half a package/pound and season it myself with chili powder, garlic, a bit of cumin, onion, etc. and a can of diced tomatoes. There is plenty for us. I still soak beans overnight, the old fashioned way. I swear there is less gas that way. Tried out Pork Neck Bones. It gave a less ham flavor than a ham hock and I liked it better We take a break with soups, stews chili, gumbo, and beans during the hot months for the most part. This sudden chill gave us our last simmering type of meals. Had gumbo tonight. Gonna be cold again. Hate it.

I soak my beans overnight too. I do my winter soups too. Sounds yummy.

Most of the snow melted from yesterday.
38/25 sunny and windy today. Linda from Arizona said she stole our spring. I told her to give it back
Have a great day all- more caffeine required

Today I took all the buckets off the plants, put the potted Pansies back out. Will need to cover them again, Wednesday a wintry mix, really getting cheated! Maybe in a few weeks? Every time it snows (got 3" this weekend) I always think it has to be the last! Saturday we are going to a wedding, ain is forecast, at least not snow!

What I did NOT do in my garden today was to NOT go outside any more than absolutely necessary. Brrrrrr!! If I did not have dogs I'd have stayed inside all day. The wind is wicked, the air is very cold.

My dog Jack stayed in bed...and stayed in bed. I kept checking on him. He is either cold or uncomfortable or in pain. He lifts his head, wags his tail, gives me a kiss, but he won't get up. I turned on the heat to give him a bit of warmth. Since he was still in bed at 5 pm I called and made an appointment with his favorite veterinarian. We will head over there in the morning. Gonna get the heat pack warmed up and see if that helps.

Keep us posted on Jack. Hope he's ok.

Jack finally moved from the bed to the living room. He found a spot on top of a bag of QuikCrete, (What? Doesn't everyone have one of those in the living room? ), so I grabbed some of the unfinished wool blankets that I'm making for the Humane Society and managed to get one blanket under him and the other blanket on top. He's been like that for almost 3 hours. He's alert. Tail wags. Kisses on request but won't move much.

The other dog, George must be worried 'coz he keeps bringing the stinkiest, nastiest to get Jack's attention. Cute, but eeeew.

Tomorrow will be a better day either in the garden or NOT in the garden.

Today was a very busy day and none of it happened in the garden. I took Jack to the vet; he will be okay in a few days. Lots of medication; looks hopeful.

Back at home I took the foster dog across the street to visit with his family. I needed to know if they came to a decision about whether or not to surrender the dog. Wow!! Did not see this coming. They decided to keep the dog. They will be moving a small storage building complete with air conditioning, lights, screened windows...the works...close to the kitchen door and will be keeping the dog!! He will be treated for heartworm and so will their other dog. After the second dog is spayed, both dogs will reside in the new little house.They will also be getting better food...grain-free, high-quality food and no more crappy treats. My hope was that the dogs would find a better home, and it looks like they have! Same address, but a better home.

On the way across the street to my house, I saw someone pushing a car down the street. The car had run out of gas. Knowing that it's a mile and a half to the closest gas station, I told them in my best Spanish that I have gas in the little house out back and they were able to add enough gas to get back on the road again.

Did not get any gardening accomplished but I think it was a pretty good day.