Toni, it sounds like yellow jackets that got you. They look similar to honeybees, with their black & yellow stripes & small size. They can sting multiple times & are extremely aggressive. Also, IME, honey bees are pretty laidback like bumble bees. They aren't real fast & kind of just buzz slowly from flower to flower. I can swat them away & they just buzz off contently to the next flower, not paying me a bit of mind. They only time I've seen honey bees get aggressive is when their hive is threatened. (We have a lot of wild hives up here in old trees here) Honey bees can only sting you once & it breaks off their stinger in your skin, they die shortly after. If it was truly honeybee stings, you'd have had to scrape the stingers out of your skin & you can see the stingers. Not yellowjackets or hornets, though. Those little devils can sting & sting & sting. And they will chase you! My hubby & his crazy siblings & cousins have this summertime "game" (I'd say it's kinda like roulette, LOL!) where they spray the yellowjacket nest & knock it down & then run like hell. Crazy, right? I do not participate! Love my crazy in-laws, but that's one thing I consider a little too crazy ;-) I know that dragonflies lay eggs, that's how they reproduce. I have no idea if you could order dragonfly eggs or larvae, but that's something worth looking into. I strongly disagree with the government's spraying for West Nile because it does affect the healthy bug population. And ignorant humans don't realize just how important bugs are to our planet. That spray was also linked to adverse reactions by people with compromised immune systems, elderly & young people, & people with any type of breathing conditions (COPD, ashtma, etc). Simple fact is that it's poison & there are many more environmentally friendly ways to deal with such a problem. Just one of many reasons I converted from a city girl to a country girl when I grew up...I much prefer living up here in the boonies of southern Oklahoma, with its wild natural beauty & undisturbed, well-balanced ecosystem, than in DFW with its smog & concrete & just general yuckness that they subject the population to.

The cost to refinish marble countertops will be based on size,condition of stone(how severe is the scracthing, etching and or staining,cracks,chips,etc)type of stone(darker stones and some limestones can be tricky to refinish)time and materials. Special pricing if we change the finish from polished to honed(easier and reasonably priced) or honed to polished(which is impossible to do to granite on site- very-difficult to do on marble(can be pricey). Our pricing on an average kitchen(60-80sqft) with normal wear and etching will start at around $650.00 and up. Larger kitchens with multiple islands and multiple countertops and other areas over 100 sq ft can that can be done in a day will start $900.00 and up. Pricing will vary region to region. Stone refinishing is one of those trades where experience is very important. I have been doing this since 2003 and still learn something everyday. While some stones are easier to work on others can be a serious undertaking. Not to mention the possibility of damaging fixtures back splashes,cabinets etc. Other issues could be dust or water containment and proper masking techniques so appliances,wallpaper,furniture and fabrics are protected . So While I am sure that a very handy person could do or try to refinish the stone there is the question of purchasing and using the proper equipment. I think in the long run it is cheaper to hire a bona -fide refinisher with references. Stu Rosen www.mbstonecare.com www.stoneshine.com

LOL Joanna! My family is a gang of their own! I have 2 tattoo's. A hummingbird and flower on my left ankle. (done in 2 visits) and a flaming heart on my right hip area with DH's initals in the center of the heart. DH has the most beautiful tattoo I've ever seen. A tigers head and paw. Its bigger than he thought it would be when they started. He's gotten SO many comments on it that its a great work of art! Very detailed. DD's each have an ankle tat (one has a vine twining around the entire ankle and the other has a small blue heart) alao youngest DD has Chinese symbol on her right shoulder. DS has a Star on the inside of his bicep. (dunno why? LOL) and has on his left arm Madison (written vertical) with Paige on the right arm. Maddie loves it and she knows it is so she will ALWAYS be with her Daddy. Ooops, just remembered DS also has a Chevy emblem on his chest....that was done when he was 18 and he is still a motorhead at 27!

I'm so far behind I'll never catch up but I did read everything and I'm keeping my response minimal since it is time to start this week's new thread. Amy, Time off from a garden can be good. We all work too hard at this time of the year. Hazel, The best way to dig is with a special potato fork that has rounded edges on the prongs so they don't stab the potatoes, but I'm too cheap to spend money on a tool I'd only use a handful of days per year, so I used a transplanting spade with a rounded edge. Start further out than you have been and proceed slowly and with patience in order to avoid cutting into potatoes. Just use the cut ones first as sometimes they do not scar over and heal (though sometimes they do) and the ones that don't scar over will not store for long. A tomato knife is essential for someone who grows and processes as many as I do, and I did find one yesterday. I had to buy an entire cutlery set to get it, but it was an inexpensive set so I didn't mind. I wanted that tomato knife. I am going to go online one day and order a couple more. It is just I have tomatoes piling up everywhere now and need to be able to quickly cut them and use them and the tomato knife makes it easier. Melissa, Don't worry about being behind. Some years are just that way. We all have to work with whatever weather conditions we get. I am so sorry about your niece's injuries and will keep her in my thoughts and prayers. What a horrible way for her summer to start. I saw the story on the news and was horrified at the thought of those kids being in that bounce house when that happened. Jerry, That is an amazing corn story. Sometimes plants can be so resilient and I think often that many gardeners are too quick to write them off and either yank them out or plow them under instead of letting them recover on their own. Nancy, In your case, because of all the rain you have received, it is a good thing that the tomatoes are not closer to harvest. If they were, the excess moisture likely would ruin the flavor. Flavor is best if they are kept pretty dry as they approach harvest. So, for me, as much as I lament the lack of rainfall down here, it isn't really a bad thing for the tomatoes as it means their flavor compounds won't be watered down and they won't be suffering from cracking and splitting either. The first time I grew Mexican sunflowers, I wasn't prepared for how big they'd get. I space them much better nowadays so they don't crowd out everything else. Our dear, sweet Mary normally grows a ton of veggies and cans all summer long, both of which are a huge amount of work, of course. She is trying to take off this season in order to recover from what I'd describe as a major cardiac event so hasn't been posting here much. I was so happy to hear from her the other day and to know she is going to have a few plants. I think plants can be great therapy as someone recovers from a medical issue, as long as you have the self-discipline not to overwork yourself while tending those plants. Mary, if you read this, I keep you in my thoughts and prayers and hope you make a full recovery so that next summer you can be back to your usual growing and canning. Amy, It is odd that cabbage refuses to cooperate with you. It is about the easiest thing I grow. I just plant them and forget about them, which is easy to do if you grow your brassicas under netting to exclude the cabbage worms and such, which I do. When they're ready, I harvest. I do plant cabbages with short DTMS in the 60s-low 70s so that they finish up fairly early here. That's more because I want to put a sucession crop in their place before the weather gets too hot than anything else. When I've grown varieties with longer DTMs, they've done fine too and I've almost never had a head of cabbage try to bolt. Rebecca, I'd just cut off all the damaged leaves and let the Brandy Boy put out new growth. It likely would be fine. Nancy, Cucumbers planted late will do fine. I planted my pickling cukes late on purpose (just last week I think, or at the end of the week before), except for 2 early plants I planted in late March, so that I could spread out the canning load. The cucumber plants from the seeds I just sowed will not be producing a harvest until I'm through canning tomatoes, which was my goal. Having too many things that need to be canned all at once can be a real problem, so I try to control the canning workload by using planting dates to spread out the harvest. You even can get a good cucumber harvest from cucumbers planted in July down here, and I expect it is the same up there. My honest opinion is that if you want more sun, get your sweet husband to cut down that tree now. As time goes on, the shade situation just worsens. I speak from experience. Now that you two both are enjoying gardening so much, it will be important to maintain sunny areas for your veggies, fruits and sun-loving flowers. There is a place in each landscape for both sun and shade, and too much shade (though shade is highly desirable in our hot summers) is not a good thing. Okay, it is Monday moring and I'm headed off to start this workweek's new weekly garden talk thread. Dawn