Michelle and Denise, this is New England and the sight of a Speedo is relatively rare and usually means wearer either, A.) really knows how to swim properly and well (I remind you, this is NE and Ian Crocker is not the norm in northern New England), B.) dives (this is NE), or C.) is from Quebec or Europe. ;) On that fateful first date I was charmed by his witty and droll sense of humor and thrilled to find his legs long, athletic, and shapely enough to have fared well in a 16th. century doublet. I was definitely hooked and have remained so for pushin' 25 yrs. now. One does not "discipline cats", PM. You don't have have since they're already the most perfect creatures on the face of the earth. Peacocks are the most fascinating birds, but they certainly have a disconcerting cry. We have a Kirby vacuum and I hate it. It's heavy and louder than I think it ought to be, it's like dragging around a compact car. But it works very, very well. My brother inherited a Mehle (sp?) when my aunt died and he really likes it. My recommendation for animal hair is a good, "beater bar" on the rug attachment and a smaller version of same for upholstery. Those are definitely two happy canines, V.. But I've never seen a wet Lab. that wasn't happy, lol! I am not particularly impressed by all the "new and improved" introductions from plant breeders. It seems to me that the more they try the more they fail and they really seems to have focussed on Echinacea recently. That sensibility, coupled with the color (not my favorites) leaves me ambivilent about the Echinacea in question. It will be interesting to see what is decided and how the introduction fares. Sounds like the chow at Deanne's was pretty good! did the kitties get any filet mignon? Cement for your birthday sounds good to me. I want to see the new additions EMPTY, so I may assess the lines... ;). But no doubt you've already crammed something into them. Not sure what the weather will bring today, humid again and foggy with a threat of a shower. Yesterday it burned off and left us with a lovely day. I weeded diligently for several hours and dug two holes to receive shrubs. Hole digging on the Compound is frequently an exercise in frustration, requiring the proper mindset to address the many buried rocks and a willingness to shift the hole to one side or the other if you can't dislodge the rock in question. I did get another Vaccinium corymbosum into the ground and took the (Cindy)loppers to the taller of the two we transplanted in the spring. I was gratified to note the extent of new growth from the bases of them and that encouraged me to trim the tops back more aggressively than I otherwise might've. I should probably get moving and eat something because we're going to try to finish off the remainder of the wood this morning. After that? maybe more weeding or maybe a cruise to the nursery to pick up the Viburnums and MAYBE we'll get them in the ground. A longshot, for sure, but it would really do my heart glad to see something like that happen. Jerri, I am routinely shocked by how little people consider the emotion well-being for animals. For the first time in years I actually saw a TV ad. to spay/neuter your pets. Evidently, New England has a pretty good record about that stuff (good enough that the shelter import puppies from other regions because they're relatively scarce), but the shelters are awash in cats. I had a surprising encounter with a rather unpleasant woman yesterday. Rex and I were returning from our walk and we walked down the field/parking lot for the church across the street. I was informed it was "church property" and asked if I walked my dog in the new garden/cemetary for cremated remains?? Of course not. I asked if there had been problems with that sort of thing and was icily told I "was the one with the problem". OK. We have a key to the church and the rectory (have for years), and in the nearly 20 yrs. we've lived here no one has ever told us we may not walk the dog over there. Yesterday, in fact, there were two famiilies picnicing with 3 happy dogs between them. Many people enjoy fishing from the rocks and bring their dogs with them. I was stunned and pointedly asked her why she was clearly so angry with me when I had done nothing wrong. She blustered some more and I've decided to discreetly inquire about this with my neighbors and good friends who are members of the congregation. We had lunch out yesterday and noted with surprise that this was probably the last shot of summer as so many kids go back to school in August now. It will be quieter this week and busy on the weekend and then it will begin to wind down for the season. I'm not ready; i always wish summer would go on longer than it does. It makes me a little bit sad, actually. I make the bed and I tuck in the sheets. Mum preferred the "cocoon wrap" and I would frequently find her contentedly swaddled in the down comforter when I'd go down in the morning. Hi Marian. TTYL.

Hi, folks! My opinion on a typical pack of seeds would be 20-25, and fewer for large, rare or expensive seeds. Many times tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds are more like 12-15 seeds. Counting out poppy or foxglove seeds is a pain, but a tiny pinch is about 40-50, so I do that. Some people measure out 1/8 teaspoons or 1/4 teaspoons of tiny seeds. I don't have a 1/8t spoon, and 1/4t is a large proportion of my seeds. If you're agonizing over whether or not to send in just a few of a seed, you can always ask the recipient, or you can use the gardenweb list search. Search for people who also have that seed, and read the list for people in this swap. If a couple of us have it, you don't need to worry about dividing up your small supply. You find the Search Lists function by clicking at the bottom of the page on Member Pages, and then choose Search Members' Exchange Lists. That is also a way to figure out who to send to, by searching for people looking for a seed you have. However, sometimes someone will type "No datura, please" but the computer just sees that "datura" is in the wants area. So this search can get you started, but you should still personally check. :) GARLIC: I'd love to try some different hardnecks! Cloves or even bulbils. Cloves are big--should we plan to send somewhat roomy envelopes and extra postage money to pay for getting the cloves to us? I grow two hardneck types and can offer bulbils, unfortunately I don't know the names. On seems to be a porcelain, one a rocambole. (One has a ton of tiny bulbils, one has larger bulbils, so please correct me if you think I'm wrong). You plant the bulbils at the same time as big garlic, and then dig it up the next year when it yellows the right amount. Then you replant it in fall, unless you want to eat the baby garlic. In my reading, it seems pretty definite that if you leave garlic in the ground without digging and replanting, it just splits into smaller bulbs and is less and less what you intended when you planted it. That happened to my mom. Dorisl, it's nice to see you here! I'll try to find good pink stuff to send your way. :)

Hi, everyone! Mmmm, apple cider doghnuts. I've only had those once, and we ate the whole bag within 15 minutes of leaving the orchard. They're scrumptious! Ollierose, I try to know the botanical names for the plants I grow, (or at least list them with it) so I only look up botanical names that seem really familiar, because those may be seeds I can send in and I'm just not making the right mental connection. If I don't recognize it at all, it's not something I can send in. If you want to look things up, the fastest way I've found is 1. have the google toolbar 2. type the Latin and the word plantfiles 3. read all about it. That's also my first step in deciding if I want a plant, but I always look them up on a few sites, because they all have inaccuracies sometimes. I like to increase my chances for trades by making it easy for the trader to know that I have what they want, or they have what I want, by using both common names and latin. Except I'm sure I've neglected to do that completely :) It's another cold, grey day, and I have so much garden cleanup to do, still perennials to get in the ground, plus a couple hundred bulbs--but all I want to do is sit in front of the woodstove with my tiny kitten!

lol I have a little room upstairs where I keep all my seed stuff. After I mailed out the last package last year, I just closed the door and did not go back in there to deal with the mess for weeks! Downstairs there are too many cats, and it takes only one to make a complete disaster of a seed box. This year I am going to take photos of the seed sorting and result mess! Mary, I'll update your list right now!