Indoors

andrewm@herald-mail.com The Middletown boys have a stud high jumper. Big surprise, huh? The Knights always seem to have a star there. Boris Roslov, however, has startled the local scene this season. The Knights junior, who leaped to an area-leading 6 feet, 6 inches to easily top the Dwight Scott Invitational field last weekend, has seemingly come out of nowhere. Six-6 was the winning jump at the Maryland 2A state meet last year. Yet, you won't find Roslov's name in any state or regional results from last season or the season before.

"Great bouncing icebergs!" Fans of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" might recognize the exclamation. Santa Claus utters it when he first spots Rudolph's "nose so bright. " For some reason, it never struck me until I watched the classic this year. Then it tickled me and I've been using it–OK, maybe overusing it–every chance I get. This week, with frigid outdoor temperatures, it seemed the perfect utterance. It was 4 degrees when I took my kids out for school one morning.

My younger kids started their traditional summer swimming lessons this week. Usually, the five-day session at a family friend's pool offers a cool reprieve from the scorching sun. Such was not the case on opening day this year. Given lesson-time temps around 65 degrees with occasional spitting showers, kids were teary-eyed and turning blue in the pool. "I'm trying extremely hard," my 5-year-old shivered, "but I just can't get warm. " Spurred on by promises of hot chocolate, the group toughed out the hour-long lesson.

megp@herald-mail.com While the snow-covered ground may make spring seem like a distant dream, gardening enthusiasts can start digging in the dirt now - mostly indoors - to push the season along. To get in the spirit, growers can start planning their gardens, says Jeff Semler, a Washington County-based extension educator for 4-H youth development, agriculture and natural resources for the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension. Determine what types of plants you think you want to grow, then read books or seed catalogs to determine their height and spread at maturity, Semler says.

Hagerstown City Park, Outreach Ministries will present a program this Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. Good Shepherd Ministries, 19763 Longmeadow Road, Hagerstown, the annual church picnic will be this Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Martin L. "Marty" Snook Park. A family talent show will be held. Greencastle (Pa.) Church of God, 4480 Buchanan Trail West, Jan Aldridge will be sharing the Word of God and her own testimony this Sunday at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Rocky Spring Presbyterian Church, Rocky Spring Road, Chambersburg, Pa., this Sunday at 2 p.m., the annual memorial service of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Franklin County Chapter will be held.

Indoor racing The Soap Box Derby can't stop because of winter weather. Hancock has a great indoor venue for racing these small vehicles. Jan. 22 and 23 is the next race in Hancock to be held in the Stanley Fulton Business Complex west of downtown. Race time is 9 a.m. each day. For more information, call Scott Fox at 301-678-6613. Winterfest is Feb. 12 Winterfest, 2011, is coming up Saturday, Feb. 12, in Widmeyer Park. As in other years, there will be snow sculpture contests, food, ice carving, music and other entertainment.

St. John's United Church of Christ in Clear Spring will host an indoor yard sale and bake sale during National Pike Days Saturday, May 18, from 7 a.m. to noon.  All proceeds will support the middle school youth group's fall fellowship conference. Car wash Also on Saturday, May 18, the Clear Spring High School girls soccer team will hold a car wash at the Clear Spring Creamery from noon to 4 p.m.  Vacation Bible school The Clear Spring Community Vacation Bible School will be held at St. John's United Church of Christ from June 10 to 14 for those ages 3 through eighth grade.  It will run from 9 to 11:45 a.m. each day with a picnic lunch on the final day.  To register, call the church at 301-842-2500.  Garden Club The Clear Spring Garden Club is sponsoring a backyard, self-guided garden tour of five homes Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  The homes are on Cumberland Street.

Q: A local store is selling strawberry pots already filled with strawberry plants, and I was wondering how to take care of them and if this is a good way to grow plants. How long will I get strawberries? A: Strawberry pots can be a great way to grow strawberries, herbs and small annual flowering plants. A strawberry pot is a flower pot, usually less than 2 feet tall, that has a series of holes around the sides where additional plants are planted. They can be made from clay or ceramic pottery, plastic and even wood.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Mother Nature could have been more cooperative, but there was still much to be learned indoors about the great outdoors at Sunday's Earth Celebration Day. The calendar said late April, but the weather felt more like early March with gray skies and temperatures refusing to rise above the 40s, so the annual event hosted by Renfrew Institute was moved from the park to the cozier confines of...

Growing herbs inside is just as easy as outdoor gardening and requires the same conditions: plenty of sunlight and well-drained soil. When growing indoor herbs: · Mix two parts sterilized potting soil and one part coarse sand or perlite. Add 1 teaspoon of lime per 5-inch pot or a cut of ground limestone per bushel of soil to ensure soil sweetness. Place an inch of gravel at the bottom of each pot to ensure good drainage. · Select a south- or west-facing window that gets lots of sun. "Grow lamps" or florescent lamps are good supplements.