I'm sorry it has taken me so long to thank my Secret swap buddy. I loved my package! First off let me say I have no Hoya's at all, so the cuttings were a surprise. I will be potting them up for the patio. Hmmmm, I see another addiction brewing???? Then there was a wall vase, rooting pots(very interesting)beautiful soap(no one will ever be allowed to use) a flower candle (for hurricanes) a wind chime, note cards and the cutest bug to hang off a pot. Oh and the purple slippers I will have to hide from my daughter. But best of all was the Chicken soup for the Gardener's soul. Friday nite I was with my daughter in Emergency. She's in Color guard and was dizzy. By the time they called me it had morphed into "collapsed and fainted." They gave her fluids and did tests and she's fine, but we didn't leaved until 1am which is way past this old lady's bed time. Of course I had to go to work and by Sat nite I was a lump, so I curled up in bed with my new book and read,laughed, cried and fell asleep. It was just what I needed. So Life is like a secret swap box. You'll never know what you're going to get. But if you try sometimes...you just might find...you get what you need. THANK-YOU THANK-YOU XOXOXO Kristi (be thankful you can't hear me sing)

Hi Stephanie For a variety that produces reliable and does not get too big, you can try the determinate Florida 91. I am growing 2 plants of those for the community garden and will see how they do. I also like varieties that stay small and last year I tried the New Big Dwarf and it was good, produced decent tomatoes and is a small plant, this year I am also growing one and have to find a place to put it. And all my tomatoes are in their places, I have the smaller fruit varieties in one side And the larger in another side I grow all sort of tomatoes for different tastes but my very favorite are the bi-colors and hearts. Your hubby probably would enjoy a good Brandywine tomato, but those get big and not all are the same, some are not productive. The variety that I am growing for me and the community garden is a Brandywine from Monticello and I was very pleased with the flavor and production. Silvia Here is a link that might be useful: new big dwarf

Finally! So glad to see you two back on here! This place was starting to feel like a "ghost town" and it isn't even Halloween yet! LOL Both Bebe and Belle posted a couple of times, and I see we have a "newbie" this morning so that should be fun if Kay will come share pics and ideas with us. Punk are you all finished at the Fair? Ours runs for a month is why I asked. Did you have someone run the store while you were at the fair? I'm so glad you had lots of sales. Anj, that sounds like a wonderful time for the kids--so nice when there's lots of room and they can release all that energy and make all the noise they want as well. I agree, the unpacking and laundry are the least fun part of any trip! Ugh! I will never understand why there has to be so much homework! Seems to me that the classes should be long enough to do the required work, and when the kids leave school, they should be able to have the rest of the day free. Who wants to work all day, then get out and go home and have to do more????? And the parents can't do what they want either because they have to see that the homework gets done! Something is wrong with this picture IMHO! I went to a craft show yesterday. Just love the atmosphere of them. Everything was so pretty and so many darling things. Loved all the fall decor--not a bit of Christmas, think there will be another show for that. I bought a few things but not much--too expensive for my retirement budget! There were lots of painted metal items, one witch that was cut out of metal, painted face and arms, then had cloth strips tied on for her long skirt. Lots of cute details on her--I really wanted one, but didn't want to spend that much. Saw lots of painted signs, some with really "bold" writing that wasn't that "perfect" at all, yet they looked good for a Halloween sign. Some really cute things for the garden too--wish they allowed picture taking so I could share pics with you. And all the florals were so pretty, I noticed lots of acorns in them too--and you know I love acorns. Anyway, now I'm in the "mood" and "motivated" again. I cut out a couple things last night, and plan to cut a few more today so I can get busy painting again. I think I'm happiest when I have a project to work on. :o) Punk, I wasn't real happy with my roses on my cake tin, but overall I think it turned out okay. I keep wanting to do more shabby, fluffy roses, but the one stroke rose that I learned first keeps popping up! LOL You two rest up, and I'll hope that Belle and Bebe pop in here again soon. And yes, Anj, retirement is wonderful! I keep pinching myself to make sure I am not dreaming--no more deadlines, employee problems, computer conversions, customer complaints--don't miss any of those! Never thought I'd make it to this point--so I'm making sure I remember to enjoy it! ;o) (However, you do realize that dishes, laundry, and housecleaning never stop!) LOL Luvs

Guys, I thought I'd let you know my Labor Day weekend finally came to an end yesterday. My friend who is a plumber came and crawled under the house. 2 trips to Lowe's and 6 hours later, he cut out 7 unnecessary, leaking couplings, replacing them with three, and straight pipe runs, and fixed 4 different leaks. STBX hadn't drilled through the joists like you're supposed to, to keep the plumbing up next to the floor for warmth. He'd gone down, under, up, across. Down, under, up and across thru out most of the crawlspace. One piece that Plumber Friend cut out, where the largest running water (not drip, running water) was, had 2 pieces of copper pipe held together with electrical tape. Not your best choice of plumbing material, but the theme of my DH's work Good enough for now. Plumber Friend said it had probably leaked since day 1, but over the last 6 weeks or so the tape had finally just plain been washed loose. 166 gallons of water a day! And people think I make this stuff up. So my plumbing is fixed after 3 days with my water shut off, 3 days without TV, 2 days of lost work, a new timing belt on my truck, and today... I get to go to work to pay for all of this. But, that @@#$! holiday weekend is over. Did anyone have a better one? Other than Abfabamy!? Bless your decorative heart!