Linnea, sounds like you have not an idle moment. Welding must be lots of fun. "reclining ladies' plural!? Are they welded, sculpted, cloth, tufa? Do you have a site other than Moresca where your other talents can be seen, or maybe I am missing something at that site? Looking forward to seeing what you are doing. If it is other than the dry edging I am hoping you will make a separate post so it is not jumbled or lost in this post. How much property do you have. Looks like a lot of work! Dena

Hi Linda and Kathy, just finished uploading my entire dry-mix saga on Photobucket. Hope the link works. Try the slide show option if it does. I'm still using this technique all over my gardens. I drive tractors over the edging, no sign of breaking after four winters except an occasional edge stone coming loose, not having enough mix under it, it's an easy fix (if you want to bother). I've made a total of about 400 feet of edging, a path-steps going up a hillside, many details, like the plinths for the tire pots I store hoses in, bases for various sculptures, a lot of stuff! All dry-mix. And I still have a big stone pile! Never ends. STAY UPWIND! Your lungs will not be happy breathing this. Here is a link that might be useful: Dry mix saga

Its funny I was thinking if any of you know some aging hippie packrats they probably have a bottle cutter. When I was young making glasses out of bottles was popular and there was a cheap cutter that scored the bottle and then you dangled this thing in and hit it on the inside I think. I have a crafty friend a bit older than I who keeps everything and I was going to ask her if she has one! Its nice to know that they still can be gotten - tho the one in the picture is more elaborate than what I remember. It looks like a beautiful project. Good luck and post pics.

Lyra, Yesterday I was given (under the counter at a cafe where I know the staff well) an espresso cup full of homemade "hooch." 90 proof I was told. It was delicious and tasted perhaps of herbs but I have no idea what was in it, only that it was made by a Greek friend named Gus. This got me thinking. As you know I have a son and friend on a boat in the South Pacific. They are on a pretty tight budget and food and libations are astonishingly expensive. They occasionally splurge for some boxed wine and they are sometimes fed by locals in exchange for capable help but often they live on beans, rice, and any fish they catch. So alcohol is an infrequent treat. I was online with the Captain last night and I suggested they try making some homemade wine. They have access to an abundant supply of fresh mangoes and other fruit. I looked up directions for making homemade mango wine and they were fussy, purist, a bit arcane and required a year of aging and ingredients available in a wine store. Well, that won't do! So I looked up "jail house wine." That produced this: "Find any kind of cheap juice. I like cranberry. The way I do it is boil a few cups of sugar mixed with water until it becomes a syrup. I add this to about two gallons of cranberry juice. It sounds too sweet, but it evens out the sour taste from the cranberry. Then I'll take a cup of the juice, warm it up slightly in the mircowave, throw in a packet of yeast and let it sit until it gets a nice head on it. Then I throw that into the rest of the juice, mix it up real good and let set for about a month in a tight container with a small airhole so gas can vent. When the yeast activates, it eats the sugar as food, and the byproduct is alcohol. Its far from a fine wine, but its pretty simple. Its a loose recipe, so it may take some tinkering to get it the way you like it. And remember, the more yeast, the more alcohol. If you can get ahold of some bread yeast over there, that'll do the job, but leaves a slight "bready" flavor if you use too much. Juice+sugar+yeast+time=hooch" Crude but probably effective. There must be some middle ground. I doubt they can find wine yeast or other wine store specific ingredients but can surely find bread yeast and sugar and juice and other things in a grocery store on Bora Bora. Got any recipes or guidance? What do you suggest to Here is a link that might be useful: Will this be useful to send to them?