Thanks for the reply Bestlawn. I had been meaning to reply for a recommendation on the best time to order seed for a spring plant. Yes, I am currently fighting a battle with POA Annua. I apologize if I have made it out to be more severe than it really is. I do have several small areas where it was in full bloom this year. My POA Annua/Crabgrass strategy for this year has been & is going to be as follows: Past: Step 1 (Early April 2007 Â Late due to weather) - I aerated & overseeded earlier this spring with Heat Tolerant Blue and achieved what I felt are good results Step 1a (Same time) I applied Starter fertilizer with Siduron to provide initial crabgrass pre-emergent protection. Step 2 (May 2007) - Discovery of POA Annua bloom Step 3 (July 1, 07) - Application of Dimension to provide pre-emergent protection for crabgrass for remainder of this season Future: Step 4 (Sept 1st & again in early November) - Additional applications of Dimension or equivalent for POA Annua germination prevention next year. I have heard from numerous sources that this will provide adequate pre-emergent protection against POA Annua for next year. Obviously, I cannot seed at the same time as the Dimension application(s) this year. Are you recommending another Dimension or equivalent application early next spring for POA & C/G thus putting off seeding until next fall? As for killing the lawn; I do have a healthy weed-free lawn (other than this POA issue). I am not going to have the ability to kill the lawn prior to overseeding with new species. I do realize that it is going to ultimately take longer to transform the lawn to where I want it to be, but my wife has put her foot down. I have a lot of latitude in most areas but there is no room for negotiation on this one. I hope you and everyone else can understand it's simply out of the question. I am eager to hear of any other POA Annua strategic tactics from you as well as the board members here. Thanks again, Chris

Self-cleaning works very well, with absolutely no problems on the Wolf DF 30-inch range. I've used it many, many times in the 4+ years I've had my range. As a result, my oven looks new. I can't imagine having a self-cleaning function in the range, and not using it. The range comes with full extension rack on the bottom, which tracks along the oven door for additional support. This rack is very nice when removing heavy roasts from the oven. Sounds as if you've not seen the Wolf range in person, so you can fully observe and assess what they have. I recommend you do that, because I think that will make up your mind for you. Another feature of the Wolf, aside from its great performance in cooking/roasting/baking is the superb quality of construction, and the attention paid to finishing detail. You should physically examine every range you're considering so you can sort out what is important to you, and what's not. With a Wolf, you will never have to worry about unfinished edges, or sharp edges, etc. I also recommend you take the time/make the effort to make an appointment to visit your area SubZero/Wolf regional distributor so you can see all of the products in person, AND so you can attend the cooking demonstrations on the Wolf, so you can see for yourself how the range works, how the cook top works, etc. These are free sessions, and are very helpful in giving practical info on the range to help you decide whether this is the range for you.

Wow, some nice stuff. Photography is art and art is subjective ("eye of the beholder")so what's "best" is dependant upon the judge. Top ones photographically in my mind are, in numerical order, #2, 3, 6, 8 & 9 and I have some comments on them if you don't mind. I should say I was attracted to these since I have a thing for lighthouses and for farm scenes so it impacted a bit but those are good shots. Are you allowed to crop or manipulate? Mind if I make some comments? If I were judging these I'd feel this way: (Photo #) 1) This is a cute vacation snapshot of someone taking a picture of someone taking a picture. However photographically, you have about 4-5 different major subjects jumping at you so the eye jumps around and doesn't give the overall impact until you stop and concentrate. I'd crop the top half and drop a ship in there! :) 2) This one GRABBED me! Look at the clarity of the lens in the lighthouse! Again, as a lighthouse fan it had increased impact to me but the lens really made a statement. The problem photographically is the water cutting the picture in half. I'd crop this to about the top of the bottom window and it'll move the waterline down and still have the impact I mentioned. Then I'd hang it on my wall! 3) Probably the best of the bunch as they sit. The fence leads your eye to the water which brings you back in. Photographically, this is textbook. The fogline essentially ends on the rule of thirds, the major set of "bushes" is pretty much on thirds, the fog gives mystery and a peacefulness. I'd put this on my wall as it is. 4) Nice, but again, the water cuts the shot in half. Photographically that's bad. If you crop about the bottom third off you set the berg at thirds, it's slightly framed on the bottom right and it seems like the clouds lend more impact. With the cropping, I'd hang this on my wall too. 5) I loved the potential of this, but went ARGH when I first looked at it. So many great elements but the killer (in a bad way) is cutting off the building. It's like a portrait where the top of a person's head or an arm is cut off. What felt like a knife in my guts was the building "spoke" of a history, but it's only part. Look at the weathering of the paint, how those hinges on the door stand out and talk about history! No offense but this one is not your best work. BTW, what this a lean-to on a barn or a free-standing building? Just curious 6) When I first looked at this I literally said to myself this is STRANGE....ly interesting. It has almost a shock value and this is a fantastic use of black and white for impact. Rule of thirds vertically and horizontally and a leading line too. This would go on my wall or in a gallery. It really probably ties with #3 for me as your best... at least so far! 7) First off, I like this but it's difficult on which to comment. It grabs you a bit and it stands out in several ways. The table is a nice addition. Problems for me: A) The waterline merging with the roofline. B) A little too "flat" a shot. The building is only two dimentional. Shooting from a bit more of an angle and maybe a little lower down - from ground level maybe, and show two sides of the building might have added impact and eliminated the cut. Again, this is difficult because I like it. I like the colors and it does say something (I mean something good) but in a way it almost looks like a real estate listing photo too. And I also like the cloud pattern. Leads your eye in nicely. This has eye-appeal, but it also violates standards so it would depend on how it's being judged. 8) When I saw the thumbnail I went HERE WE GO!!! Sigh. But there's been good and it almost minimizes it! LOL I like this a lot and I'd put it on my wall. This shows how shooting from different levels adds dramatically. You're shooting upward, the foreground leads to it, it almost has a halo around the top. If only the lens were so clear in this shot. (See what an impact that had on me? LOL) Also this shows one of the exceptions to the rule on centering or non-centering. But it's still off just enough to add. Not sure if that was intentional or not but it's great. 9) OK I like lighthouses but I'm a bit of a snob. I like "traditional" looking lighthouses. But this is truly spectacular. I'd hang this on the wall definitely. To me the clouds give almost a stormy look and that goes with the function of a lighthouse. So out of them, if *I* judged these 9 pictures, uncropped or manipulated and by judging photographically, 1st prize would go, to #6, a close 2nd is #3 and 3rd place would be #9 (by a sliver of a whisker over #8, and in an hour it might be reversed!). But as you see from other posters, people judge things differently. That said, one caution, some will judge with bias on whether they like B&W or don't like B&W so it could be a risk. You might know your judges better. These are comments from me and hope there's no offense taken. I did say more than requested! Just thought you could take it or skip over. Good luck to you. Let us know which you submit and how things turn out. Again, GOOD LUCK!

I think I will just give them to the children I know. Yes joyful i would put my name and address on them I'm really glad that you mentioned that, I will put one of my address stickers on them right on top where you open them. They are not the kind that have meat or anything like that in them. They have a cola, a bag of nacho's, sealed plastic containters with pull off lids containing cheese and salsa (the kind you find in Kraft mac and cheese in the foil bags that sit on the shelf at the store or in your cabinet)and a small individual size bag of candy. All of these are sealed in a box. I thought they expired next week but I was wrong it is the week after next. I wouldn't even consider giving the ones with any kind of meat or something that I think would make them sick or sweat in their halloween bags and mess up their candy. I should have explained these better in the beginning.