Rob ~ Please ask LF to step farther away from the edge! Antics close to any pool's edge worry me because many years ago I lost a friend who was doing exactly as LF, only he was a bit closer (or maybe just arched a bit backward) and cracked his skull. Otherwise... wish I were there. Locally it's been in the 90s, both heat and humidity. Don't dare set up the wading pool because there are dry T'storms every afternoon. Well, wet t'storms elsewhere, just not over my garden. Lots of lightning and booms, no precip. Neighbor has rented his McMansion for the past several years to LawnGuy, who finally decided to buy his own lawn with an attached house. I think in a neighborhood of other lawnguys, so at least he will have companions. Neighbor finally found a new tenant, but tenant insisted that several of the dead/almost dead trees must be removed from around the house. DH has spent most of the week sawing and felling the deadwood, then logging into stove lengths. Not a pleasant job in these temperatures. Neighbor hired a Pro to log down one tree too close to the garage for DH to fool with. In less than 40 minutes, the pro took it down [in 4-foot sections] and left it laying in pieces. $750. I told DH that I hope neighbor appreciates DH's free work, lol. Local gasoline is $4.07 as of this morning. The radio cheerfully comments that we should expect another 10¢ per gallon raise this week. If my car gets 33 mpg, and I drive 15 miles to get gas 15¢ per gallons cheaper, how many gallons do I have to buy before it's a real savings instead of just another pretty price? This morning, a gas station ran a special for two hours: $2.50 per gallon. Local resident comments that same station had also changed its price immediately after Katrina: $5.99 per gallon. We have a tendency to blame companies for opportunistic behavior, as though the business were a soul with morals. But each company is actually run by people, and what we see as the company's behavior is really the expression of the human's morals. I just remembered that some folks use McMansion as a perjorative. I used it in the sense of being a house oversized and unsuitable for the area, and in the midst of houses which are not. The McM I referred to is a 12- (or maybe 14) room 3-story pseudo-Tudor house with attached garage (with apt) in a neighborhood of comparitively smaller 3or4-BR brick ranches. Sigh. Neighbors are very much like siblings: we don't choose them, we just live with them.

camp, I don't know if you ever saw it but I did wander over to the ARF in a weak moment last year & posted a tasteless ditty illustrated with some birds but it didn't last long, it was on a thread you started about posts disappearing. I am out of my area of interest with roses but I can just imagine the financial carnage. I've been ordering more grassy material to build this pocket prairie and wouldn't want to make those folks over there feel jealous & inferior over the big bucks I'm throwing around for 'Blonde Ambition' skeeter grasses, more bluestems and especially the very red Big Bluestem turkeyfoot named 'Red October' I can't wait to try out once I figure out a place to plant him. Maybe close to those new stiff blue Indian Grasses where they'll catch the late afternoon sun rays picking up that bright red? I'm already pining for next fall to see the results and bemoaning my lack of space. Greenhearted, my new fav name I ran across recently is Wanda Dudwash. Maybe she can be Fendler's girlfriend. The bladderpods are nice because they bloom so prolifically and early then dry up to almost nothing with the hard pods. You can easily snatch them up if you want to control next years crop. In their habitat, they will make the landscape a sea of yellow as early as February. Mine were in a seed pack I bought from Native Seeds of Sonoran Desert mix along with some other interesting off the beaten track wildflower mixes. I couldn't resist trying this very red Big Bluestem and I can't wait to see it color up next fall. This time of year I am always planning for next fall/winter interest. Come winter, I will be thinking of spring. Here is a link that might be useful: http://shop.nativeseeds.org/collections/amaranth

I've been able to trace back Bull Sac in the SSE YEarbooks to at least 1994, I didn't go back past that, when Craig LeHoullier listed it and his source was Alfrey's Seeds in 1990. Alfrey's did not call it Cow's Tit at all as several subsequent listings in Yearbooks show Bull Sac coming from Alfrey's, now out of business, and no mention of Cow's Tit at all. The first time Bull Sac was akaed as being Cow's Tit was in the 2008 Yearbook when a person from MD said that Bull Sac was also known as Cow's Tit and said his seeds were from Mark Scarzini whom I know is also in MD and used to help out Chuck Wyatt with his tomato growing. Cow's Tit was first listed in 2007 by Al Andersen, seeds from Gary Millwood. Since the history of Bull Sac is pretty straight forward as to originating with Alfrey's Seeds and predated any mention of Cow's Tit by many years, I don't think Bull Sac and Cow's Tit are the same. Gary, I did find the Love in Bloom site where Keith was credited with introducing Cow's Tit, but I have yet to find any reference at all to a variety called Goatbag except here in Sue's thread where she called it a local variety. The fact is that there have to be close to maybe 100 or more long red paste types, some with nipples, some without and sometimes the same variety shows fruits with and without nipples. And sizes given differ considerably as to length and width, and how much of that is variety specific and how much is a result of differing growth conditions and weather is impossible to determine. I hope the above helps a bit. Carolyn

Hey joanie. We have the Big Agnes insulated air mattresses. They are fantastic and very comfortable. They are the size of a qt bottle and are easy to blow up. They are very tough and as I said I have used mine almost every night in camping set ups for months and it has no leaks or problems. I will link below to the ones we have. I hadn't thought about the truck windows having screens to that would be great. A small fan would help to move the air. You would definitely need a canopy of some kind. We got one at Dick's Sporting Goods. It is easy to set up and very sturdy. Gives great protection if it is raining. We have even pulled it over so that it is 1/2 over our tent front and we can then get in and out without getting wet :) I haven't cooked on open fires for all meals. Just an occasional cookout. We have a 2 burner propane stove that I love. I can make pancakes and coffee and great dinners with it. We have a camp fire only for warmth and ambiance. We have a folding table and set everything up the minute we get to camp and then we are done for the time we are there. We have one cooler and restock often from the grocery. When I am on the road with my bike it is a whole different setup . I have a tiny campstove and we use a picnic table if there is one or the ground if there isn't :(. I have a one person tent that is very light. I still use my Big Anges though..it is never far from me ! If I can help with any other ideas let me know. I love to camp !! c Here is a link that might be useful: Big Agnes air mattress