John,

I’ve seen a low of 12 degrees for Monday night! “The coldest weather since 2004” said OPB and more storm warning’s than ever on the National Weather Service site http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/ I’d say anything left hanging through this will be mush! I like to pick a few buckets of whatever’s left to throw out for the birds and deer during the severe cold... to continue my love-hate relationship with both.

I picked all (around a thousand) my fuzzy kiwis a day ago, with this cold stretch in mind. I’d neglected to thin them this year so that’s why the ‘high number,’ if small fruit…

It’s pouring rain mixed with snow right now so I’m reluctant to get out to do any last minute picking… maybe tomorrow, in the snow..? Yesterday was sure nice, got a multitude of trees pruned during the lull before the storm! …And I’m hoping the severe cold doesn’t mess up my ‘directional heading cuts’ due to die-back … live and learn?

I’ll take some snow but the cold sounds brutal! Get those outside water pipes shut off and drained - then hunker down!