From: songbird@anthive.com   
      
   derald@invalid.com wrote:   
   ...   
   > Here, not so much.  The cold weather, that is.  I don't expect any   
   > sure-enough freezing temperatures until Febrary but sometimes they   
   > surprise us by showing up in December, which is really hard on the   
   > tomatoes and the peas.  AFAIK, the kids and their progeny are alive,   
   > well and staying warm in various locales throughout the southeastern US,   
   > mostly.  Lately, days have been topping out at or near 90° while nights   
   > get down to middle to low 60's.  Typical for the season down here.  A   
   > bit warm during days and a bit "airish" overnight, especially during the   
   > very small hours. Dry. No rain since August.  Autumns typically are dry   
   > unless a passing tropical storm/hurricane brings more rain than we want,   
   > which happens from time to time....  However, we've had one rainy day   
   > this week with more predicted.  I'm grateful for it even though the rain   
   > is interfering with my firewood and weeding activities.   
      
     :)   
      
      
   > 	I was unable to garden or do any significant outside maintenance   
   > this past year but am determined to rectify that this year.  No heat   
   > needed since February, or thereabouts.  Again, typical for these parts.   
   > Had no firewood last winter and was dependent on the local electricity   
   > reseller to keep the hovel relatively warm (those are _not_ generous   
   > people) but this year we've what appears to be plenty of hardwood on   
   > hand and I've decided to abandon the axe and poney up for a powered   
   > splitting machine, although, I'm basically a non-believer in such   
   > foolishness and am certain to miss the exercise provided by   
   > hand-splitting with the axe.   
      
     can you rent one instead?   
      
      
   > 	Due to my inattention, the "weeds" (mostly Spanish needles, common   
   > ragweed and indigenous grapevine) are head-high, although, I've been   
   > able to keep a path to the clothesline cleared and now one can at least   
   > _see_ a couple of garden beds.  The Spanish needles and ragweed, unless   
   > they've been mowed in the past, are easy enough to remove but the grape   
   > vine sometimes seems to fight back.   
      
     yeah, wild grapes can take over here if i don't keep after   
   them at least every other year or so.  cutting the vines off   
   at the ground a few times a season before they can make more   
   seeds to spread around does help a lot.  i'll have to be doing   
   a little poison ivy scouting and removal this fall too.   
      
     i see one wild grape vine which is up 20ft in a dead tree   
   i'll have to find the root of that one and cut it off.  i   
   don't remove them because they are ok and hold the dead   
   trees together.  :)  if i cut the vines down and put them   
   someplace they might have a chance to reroot if not careful   
   so i just leave them.   
      
     long day, tired, bed-time for bonzo here...   
      
      
     songbird   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)