New projects

We escaped the last wave of severe cold (18 degrees was the low we recorded here) with all our pipes in tact, and my little vegetable seedlings have quite a few miles logged, as they've been hauled from window to window, or to the back porch if the weather was above 40 even briefly. Steve used some timbers we had around to make a raised bed at the back and after filling with some good compost we're ready to put in some plants. . .  as soon as we can be sure the cold isn't coming back. The peas that were already up when the cold hit survived quite well, covering them every night helped I think, though peas are known for being pretty cold resistant. I also covered the little trees I had planted about two weeks before the cold wave. The magnolia still looks good, and it's all leafed out, but we can't tell about the red bud or crepe myrtle until later as they are completely dormant.

I did make a nice discovery while digging the holes for the trees.
This seemingly normal rock, when turned over, revealed a nice scallop shell fossil. It's about 4 inches across, and considering the edges are missing, it must have been a really large scallop!

Hill Country is layer upon layer of limestone, so fossils are to be expected, but this is the first one we've found in the yard.

Now that we can come out of hibernation we are starting on the bigger outdoor projects. Removing the deck and replacing the skirting are high on the list. We got started on the deck yesterday, lifting the boards with the tractor and then finishing the removal of each with crowbars. Another couple of days and we should be finished with the destruction, then the construction of the skirting and new deck can begin.

Another project is a new cabinet for the RV. We had installed a bookcase cabinet a couple of years ago and really like the way that worked out, so we decided to do a bit more customizing and are adding a cabinet to hold the computer printer and a few other items that we had been storing on a table. This should be a lot more efficient and convenient. 
When the projects are finished we'll post before and after photos.