Well its like this, I hybridize daylilys, but have a very small yard, but I have this friend of about 30 years that bought a house "right around the corner". He has 3 or 4 acres, well I got him interested in Daylilys, and soon I had a couple of beds over there in the front yard which is as big as my back yard. Well we used up all that space between my plants, and his plants and a bunch of Irises, so we went out back and put in a couple more beds. All was well for quite awhile, but my friend starts work early so I would go over there every morning after I pollinated here and continue my work there. He would often leave me a list of crosses he would like done and I would do them for him. We had a realy nice arrangement until his neighbors moved. The old neighbors used to just shake their heads at us plant nuts and not pay us much attnetion. Well a nice young couple purchased the home, and weren't really used to the way things are. Well I had been going over there for about a week armed with pollen, string tags, pen, pencil, clipboard and pollen but no one noticed me. Well one day about 11:00 I went over, and pollinated some flowers in the front yard, and had just moved to the back yard. Now it was about 85 degrees, I was wearing cut off jeans, and a pocket t shirt, no shoes, I have pollen all over me and I'm sweating to beat the band when I hear, "put your hands up, and lay down on the ground". Well I was more than surprised, but I managed to comply. The next thing I knew I was cuffed, searched, and asked just exactly what and the hell I was doing. Now the city I live in is small, and I know 75% of the police force by name, but not these two. I had left my wallet at home, so I had no ID. It took me almost 15 minutes to explain what I was doing while I was answering their questions along the way, fortuntely a Sargent showed up. I was instantly relieved, he took one look at me and told them to take the cuffs off, laughing the whole time. After the other two settled down he looks at me and says, "OK John I know this is going to be good what is going on", he never stopped laughing..... I met the new neighbors that evening.

I see spring fever has struck. Once some of our water has run off we'll be able to see the signs here, too. In fact I was surprised a couple of days ago to find a bud each on 'Mme. Alfred Carri�re' and another rose (which?). It was winter such a short time ago, and then the rain came, but hiding behind fog and flood spring has been preparing for its appearance on stage. I am so looking forward to sun, and--but this will require more patience--ground that doesn't go squish under my feet. Melissa

Tree Oracle...nice to see you posting again. :-) Amazing photos! Clouds can be so fascinating. I have not seen anything like that myself. I didn't know the name of it, thanks. Thought you might enjoy this photo... A rare, mother ship cloud formation hovers over Childress, Texas. Tornado-chasers there covered seven hours and 150 miles (241 kilometers) tracking the supercell thunderstorm that produced this cloud formation. Supercell thunderstorms are known to spawn tornadoes with winds exceeding 200 mph (322 kph). Photograph by Carsten Peter I'm sorry to hear of all the damage from the weather in NH and ME. That's when it stops being any fun at all. Dawiff...I hope you brought your watery garden to the attention of the neighbor. Brother...lol. I just checked the rain gauge again this morning terrene..2 more inches of rain. So 3 inches yesterday emptied out, 3 the day before and another 2 today. 8" altogether. I wonder, when you get this much rain all at once, does it penetrate deep enough so that even if we go a couple of weeks without any more rain, that there will still be a reservoir for the plants to go to? Or do the plants just suck it all up? What I find disturbing is seeing so much water running into the streets and into the storm drains. There has been a lot being said recently about the contribution to water pollution this makes. I keep eyeing my property to see if I could funnel the overrun so that it would not run off the property, but I have such a level lot, I would have to create a depression somewhere not too close to the foundation. I suppose it would be a great place for Hydrangeas and such and I am always complaining about my dry soil. Raingardens are a big thing in the Chicago area to clean up the Lakes. I am thinking about whether this would be a nice idea instead of collecting rainwater. Actually, it is amazing to me that every summer can be so individual. This year is nothing like last year, and although the year before, I barely had to bring out the sprinkler because of the frequent rain days, the storms were nothing like the downpours we've had this year. pm2 Here is a link that might be useful: [Rain Gardens of West Michigan](http://raingardens.org/Index.php)

Theres nothing like company coming to inspire the completion of projects! (or at least the attempt, lol) I'm glad you are excited about your pink and grey tiles. I hope that they are in good shape. I just saw on hgtv lisa laporta cover up some that were in perfect condition on a bathroom floor and it was a real shame. I think that she should have chosen a paint color to make the bathroom seem more modern and updated instead of putting junk over perfectly good a thousand time more interesting tiles. I ususally enjoy that show, but I had to turn it off that time! And of course on another program they are installing the exact same tile for an edgy retro look. Go figure. kathy