Oh, wow...what are we going to do here in the party room if everyone is taking a break? Does that mean I'll have to take a couple of days off to do....to do.....(I can say it, I know I can say it...) h-h-h-housework? I did get another whole yard of cow poop today, and a yard of bark mulch, and I (we...Mr. H helped) got the final bed built. And I got 2x10s for it! Woo-Hoo!!! And the Mr. said "Too bad we didn't get them all like that." HAH! We might make a convert out of him yet! Anyway, I also found the boards to use for cross bars on the raspberry bed, so I must get those cut and screwed on. And then all the new stuff needs to be painted, because that's just the way I am :-) I am having an entire dinner from my garden tonight, except for the olive oil, salt & pepper! Mr. H had a couple of grilled brats with his, but all I ate were baby beets (my first of the year, sweet as sugar), beet greens and chopped onion sauteed in olive oil, steamed green beans and crookneck squash and cherry tomatoes. Oh, Mr. H also had sliced cukes...I just do not like them. Mr. Poopyhead and Angela, hurry back, OK? Granny Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

I'm reading all the posts, even when I'm not responding by typing, I am thinking about you all and praying for you when needed, like EG's daughter needs especially right now. As for worrying about the spirituality of others, well, all we can do is be an example and pray for them. I know in my home that it has made a world of difference when I get closer to the Lord... that's all we can do as it's their decision about their own walk... As for spirits, those that call on Jesus name can kick the BUTT out of anything that isn't off God... try that and see! We made a nasty spirit leave our current home... most people would have called it a ghost. It scared the crap out me for a long time, our tenants (before we moved in the home ourselves, we had rented it) gave us some really scary stories, too, but regardless they HAVE to flee, but ONLY IN JESUS NAME). (Okay, now that everyone thinks I'm crazier than before, I'll change the subject...) Hannah just finished her second week (2 days a week) of tennis. The scar on her leg is mostly healed except at the bottom, but it looks like it's going to turn into a callus... not sure if that's good or bad, but sounds good to me right now... I may still have to go to Dallas to get an adjustment on her prosthesis. I can't blame you, Granny, for wanting to be there for a little bit after the baby is born. You keep standing your ground, girl! Well, I gotta run for now, so I'll check back and try to finish reading the posts... Blessings, Angela

dcarch- You are the epitome of frugal, and much admired :-). I've never been competitive - it just doesn't make sense to me. I have a hard enough time keeping up with my own "craziness" at times..... tricia\- I wouldn't have thought there was that much difference between the Ninja and the Vitamix (especially compared to the blender I bought in 1970 at a garage sale when I was 17 and just out of high school and used for decades \- anything would have been better \- hahaha), but there sure is a difference. The pulp from making almond milk is much finer in the Vitamix. I had trouble getting the Ninja to make canary seed milk (it left more seed than milk and took much longer to blend), but the Vitamix did an excellent job of it in just a few minutes of blending. With fresh Colorado peaches available, we've been gobbling down a lot of Peach Soy Sherbet (except I use almond or coconut milk instead of soy) \- which takes about 40\-60 seconds to make. \-Grainlady

Eventually we might do just that willtv, but our entire lawn needs a lot of work ("fill" and grading and more grass vs. weeds....). No point in digging up a new section of lawn to "build" a garden until all that is addressed. I have pics of one of my KIA end of summer, tomato sauce-making marathons somewhere (prob on our old desktop computer). Your pics remind me of those. The first or second year without a garden, I broke down and purchased a big bag of luscious, ripe, farm-grown tomatoes at our local farmers market so I could make garden tomato sauce to freeze. KA-CHING!!! Made one batch of the most expensive tomato sauce ever! kellienoelle--what a wonderful looking wine and conversation set-up you put together! I'll bet your friends enjoyed themselves in your beautiful new space!