Hi Ingevald, very nice reading, I read in great depth. I particularly enjoyed masseriaficazzana. It was very familiar to me, not only the figs, but the wonderful other fruits I haven't had in a while. Thanks again, I enjoyed it greatly. Ciao

This may seem like an overwhelming task to you right now but it can be quite fun and will give you a great deal of satisfaction once it's done. I think one of the better ways to get some ideas is to drive around and look at the landscaping that other people have done especially around home styles similar to yours. There are a lot of factors that go into plant choices for landscaping such as: - the type of soil that you have (sand, clay, or something in between) - sun exposure (full sun, part sun or shade, or full shade) - size of the area (keep in mind the mature size of the plant; some plants do not tolerate pruning) - style of home (eg. an island of wildflowers would not look good next to a formal colonial like it would next to a cottage-style cape) - contrast (my neighbor planted several yellow roses next to his yellow house; it looks terrible; red roses would look so much better because of contrast; green tends to be more neutral and looks good as foundation plants such as hollies, boxwoods, etc.) Some advice that I would give is to make sure that whatever amount of lawn that you have is in good shape. It cost relatively little to add seed and fertilizer to your lawn. A lush green lawn looks great and adds the perfect backdrop for a lot of landscaping. Also, don't overdo it with certain types of plants. Trees or shrubs with blue, red, or yellow foliage are meant to be used in moderation. Put too many red-leaved plants in your yard and you might as well hang a "Welcome to Hell" sign on your house. Post a picture of your house here and in the Landscape Design forum and I'm sure you can get quite a few suggestions to get you started.

Read the review at Steve's Digicams (link below). This is a very nice camera with a "super" 12x zoom. The biggest complaint you're going to hear about this camera is that it's noisy in the mid and upper ISO range. Noise is a fact of life for digital cameras just like grain was a fact of life for film. Shoot ISO 800 speed film and get grainy pictures. The noise problem worsens as the camera sensors get smaller and ramp up the number of megapixels. Smaller sensors make for less expensive cameras in a couple ways so the marketplace dictates that we get noisy cameras. If you're making 4x6, 5x7 and occasional 8x10 prints you're not going to see the noise. Just like with film: a 4x6 print from an ISO 800 color negative looks pretty good. There are sample photos taken with the FZ7 on Steve's review page -- look at a couple of them and ask yourself if you're seeing a lot of disturbing noise. The 12x zoom is extreme and you're going to have to expect some compromise to get that feature. This could show up as some loss of quality, maybe a little soft in the corners or less that stelar MACRO performance. Again look at the samples on Steve's website. Because of the 12X zoom this camera is equipped with image satbilization. Panasonic's reputation for image stabilization is good and it's a real advantage in this camera. I've worked with a couple of this camera's predecessors and found them to be better than the average camera in their class. I've made 16x20 inch prints from Lumix images that rivaled results from low end DSLRs. For the money it's a very good buy. Joe Here is a link that might be useful: review

I can't believe no one has mentioned "Doggie"!!He wasn't around long I think Spike banned him over something...I just remember when his wife came in and posted that he had passed away suddenly...He wrote the most incredible poem...I'll share it with ya... "Doctor Time" When we lose a loved one and we're in despair Doctor Time is already there He's treating us all, we're unaware When our loved one is gone and on their way Doctor Time helps us move on day to day He treats the anger, grief and sorrow with a medicine he calls "Tomorrow" As the days, weeks and months go by we just look back and wonder why Such a beautiful person had to die But deep inside we feel okay We have lived to see another day He's calmed the anger, grief and sorrow, we took the medicine he calls "Tomorrow" Doctor Time has one thing to say Time heals all wounds day by day I remember he posted this poem to someone's post who had lost a loved one and he died shortly thereafter...