Thank you, GG, Mike and Poseidon! No worries about the late birthday greetings! GG, thank you SO much for your kind words :) It is a pleasure knowing everyone here on GW. I have made lots of awesome new friends since I joined here. Mike, it was fun :). I am double digits now (22), like you! Funny, I don't feel any older LOL. Poseidon, my outside garden has been getting more attention than my Hoyas and other house plants, so you're not alone! Brad AKA Moonwolf P.S. How I wish I could give you guys a slice of my Dairy Queen ice cream cake ;).

OK, I just have to say this, just in case anybody reads this thread anymore. I know I'm the only one who LOVES winter, and that's why everybody is moving south. Just had to say that my mom lives in the tropics, but higher on a mountain so she has the temperate tropical weather without any humidity. It's about 70-80 ish all year at her place. Really lovely. There is no winter and summer, but winter is her rainy season and summer is her dry season. In the rainy season it rains about once a day, no big deal, no muddy stuff like we have here. We are planning a very extended trip to see her. My plans made sure we didn't miss any of the New England excitement, including winter. We'll leave after leaf season and come back before ski season. Should be a good 6 week visit, and we'll be back just in time for winter. YEA!!! I know it sounds crazy, but I don't think I'll ever visit her in January or February. Just too much fun to miss up here. Bring on the snow! Our next trip to her will probably be a spring trip. I'll be glad to miss mud season! If you'd like, I'll take note of plants. Orchids are a big thing there, and many of our house plants grow in the wild on the banks of her stream.

Hi, I make most of my vegetable trellises using 5 foot landscaper stakes and junk I have around the house. They're cheap and made out of really tough stuff. For the squash I drove the stakes in the ground where I wanted them and screwed u-shaped organizer hooks into the top (sold at most hardware stores, usually covered with red rubbery stuff), then I took a long bamboo pole and rested the ends in the u hooks and wove a net using string - I got the basic idea from the tire recycling book. Last year I made a tall bean trellis using stakes and scrap 1 x 3's, drive the stakes into the ground, screw 8' 1x3's to the stakes, with the u hook screwed into the end and you can lay another 1x3 on top. Tie strings to the top 1x3 and another string at the base horizontally and tie the verticle strings to it to anchor them. I also made simple trellises for cukes using the stakes as side rails, scrap lumber across the top and 3 or so feet down to make a frame and stapled chicken wire to it. Drive the stakes into the ground where you want the trellis. I think last year my neighbors were totally freaked when these structures started sprouting in my yard but when everything was growing they were pretty impressed. At the end of the season it all comes apart real easy too. Good luck!

Here are two fairly close cousins of the green diamond chevron pillow: http://www.lampsplus.com/products/sage-green-diamond-print-18-inch-square-throw-pillow__6j921.html http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Satchel-18-inch-Feather-and-Down-Filled-Geometric-New-Leaf-Throw-Pillow/9548617/product.html?refccid=CTP6SIYEWYWICUKBUR4D2LFM6A&searchidx=463