By Sherry Hopkins

Community Columnist

February is still being kinder than usual to us thankful folks in North Mississippi. Before you can blink an eye we will be bringing out our mowers and other yard equipment and complaining about the humidity.

I told you a couple of weeks ago about the Rose bush tip from Felder Rushing. I am excited to say it worked! I cut two pencil sized branches from one of my Knockout bushes, planted them in a pot with good soil and drainage and today I have signs of leaf buds.

In a few weeks if the weather stays moderate I may be able to transplant these somewhere in my yard. I hope you tried this and had good results too.

I am experimenting with different powders and granules to rid my garden troughs of pesky Fire ant beds. This is a common problem in above ground gardening. The good fellas at Batesville Feed and Seed better known locally as Brown’s have been more than helpful with suggestions.

I am looking forward to another bumper crop of Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes and Better Boys, too. Good Friday is not until April 19 this year which seems late. But it will be here soon enough.

While on the weather subject, this week was the 25^th anniversary of the Ice Storm of 1994.

We were trapped at the Point for several days before a crew from our church armed with chainsaws cut a swath through the tree strewn roads. Our power went out about 9 p.m. on the tenth  I believe, and the ice continued to fall until morning.

Although we were without power for 19 very long days it was an absolutely breathtaking scene. Every inch of everything outside was covered in ice. It looked like a scene from a movie. We had a gas cook stove that operated manually and we would heat water in big pots at night to add to the bathtub and bathe in. Our bed was so loaded with quilts and covers that you could scarcely move once you got in.

My memory of that time is still sweet to me. The kerosene lamplight in the evenings and Dear Don playing his guitar as we wiled away the hours brought us closer together. We talked more and we laughed more. Sometimes now we will remember those times and try a bit to relive them by turning off the TV and dimming the lamp lights and just talking or singing old songs we grew up with. Looking up and into someones eyes and seeing their facial expressions as they talk is something you cannot find in a device…of any kind.

Dear Don has a twin bed in his office that he uses during the day to nap. He loses momentum each day in the early afternoon and retreats to his office to rest.

Today as I helped him straighten his bed and fussed about getting it just right he thanked me and said, “You know I’ve been making my bed my whole life. “

“That’s not right,” I replied.

“Well how long have I been doing it, Miss Smarty Pants?

“About two minutes, give or take,” I answered.

All he mumbled was something about never winning around here. Oh well. Try again, Dear Don,  just keep trying.  I am thankful for the laughter and smart retorts that have come back to our home.

Stay tuned.