WOW, I"m impressed just with the fact that you typed all that!!! not to mention that it's a very nice offer, I know there will be many who will really appreciate that. America is surely a better place with folks like you in it :)

What fun to see all your vegetable gardens. Vegetables can be really quite beautiful. I really like the idea of growing our own and the whole organic thing. My story begins with a vegetable garden that my son grew and tended until he graduated from high school. I really was much more interested in flowers, but I took it over. I hated it. The weeds were hard to control and the edge hard to keep neat. After a few years I finally decided to embrace it. I analyzed why I didn't like veggie gardening and decided that if it was pretty and less labor intensive that it might appeal to me more. So I created a Potager. Just the name sounded interesting to me. I lined the whole garden with old bricks and made it symmetrical with a large urn for a centerpiece. I later added the arbor. I began to look for unusual vegetables and now like to try new things each year. I have also added flowers and herbs. In fact one of the quadrants is a small cutting garden. Since its just hubby and I, we don't really need such a large one. Here are a few pictures of my Potager. This first one is early spring and showes the bones of the garden. Basically a rectangle with a semi-circle on each end. The back end holds the asparagus patch.

I missed the fact that it was my turn, possibly because I've been working on my glögg recipe for several days, trying to duplicate the one I remember from my Swedish grandmother's house at Christmas. There are so many completely different recipes that it's taking quite a toll on us to try them all. Burgundy or sherry? Port or brandy? Whiskey or vodka? I'd like to have it right by Christmas, but that means starting the testing earlier and earlier each day. What space do we have left? I'm wondering if we can try hardy kiwi in this locale; although they are hardy to -25, the buds can be blasted by late cold snaps. They might succeed with some shade to the east, which would potentially delay the formation of buds. They could be grown along the fence, with the grapes, but I'll defer to northern gardeners who know if this is unrealistic. Alternatively, if our virtual homeowners are really into fruit, they should probably have some "real" strawberries. They could be grown in a long narrow bed inside the fence (we still have a fence, even though George has banished the deer, don't we? Or, maybe we have enough fruit for this garden. Do we also need to talk about the materials we're going to use, like paving and mulch, and about how this area will relate to the rest of the yard? Is it going to evoke an old New England farm yard and orchard, or be a more formal space? Will we include flowers and grasses, or will it be strictly devoted to fruit? Can we have a table and some chairs out here, where we (um, I mean they) can sit and enjoy this garden?

Barb...both happy and sad....Happy he is moving forward with his life. Knowing he will go far as long as he stays focused on his studies, and learns to quit being so wasteful. Sad because he is moving on and we will be seeing very little of him in the next 4 years or so. We havent made any new life adventures yet. House needs some TLC. I suppose first we will get used to having a home with just us and the critters and go from there. Chell I used to be a dog and cat groomer. I loved it too. But my employer was a deedeedee. Never had the money to pay me each week and always "owed" me. And she never gave me my tips either.Then at the end of the year she reported more earnings for me than what I had really made.Fortunitly I kept records and proved my case and won, so make sure you don't let the same happen to you. I have kept my clippers, blades and accessories and still will do a neighbors dog or two once in awhile to keep my skills up.....but don't miss the hair stuck in places I did'nt know existed....lol. Love all the pictures the everyone post. Always enjoy seeing ya'lls babies. Regina