Glad to hear, Bakemom. I planted out only 7 seedlings of Yvonne's Salvia, and they were pretty small. None of the others in jugs are big enough to plant yet- no true leaves yet. My volunteers (some) are bigger than the ones in the jugs. We do need some warmth and sunshine. I did plant out some other things too- gaillardia (thanks to your tip), quite a few zinnias. I still have only one profusion zin seedling germinated, while all the other zinnias are growing like crazy. My friend was going to the garden center today so I had her buy me 3 profusions. I just want some color for the front of my house. Planted some cosmos out, too. I also flipped my compost and added a huge load of grass clippings and leaves after my husband mowed the grass. All in all, a pretty productive day. I'm exhausted, probably be in bed before long. Karen

Oh! And I thought it was just me being overly ambitious when I winter sow! Yes, I do this--hence the cottage garden theme! And no matter how hard I try to be organized and 'plan' my garden....well, you know. I usually have such a high rate of success that I have no idea where to put everything! My friends aren't nearly as interested in gardening as I am...(thought about trading 'them' in...lol) And I am not one of those who can 'thin my seedlings'. Feel like I'm killing my babies! ;0 Sometimes, I don't get to containers quick enough, or they get forgotten and a few of the seedlings don't make it. Later, long after I've dumped the container into a bed (can't waste anything!) more of the seeds germinate. Then I find my increasingly senile self--wondering where they came from! (Sigh) I balance it all out in the fall by moving everything that needs it. (Okay, mostly...) Just another excuse to have my hands in the dirt...therefore extending MY season!

Good advice here, neighbor. I already have a dozen plants that have folded over and they are doing great. The primary concern is that as they fold over, they can put some sideways force on the staking system. Make sure you monitor which way they droop to ensure the stakes are holding. Be especially watchful when the heavy rain is coming - LIKE THIS AFTERNOON!!! If the stem bends/folds, don't worry. Just secure it and keep on truckin'. If it BREAKS, and there is still at least 40% of the outer layer of the stem attached(sort of like the "bark" of the stem). secure both sides of the break enough to prevent further movement/breakage and let it have a few days to adjust. It'll be okay as well. Got one like that, too, after a hawk chased a dove into my Dolly tomato plant. Harvested one of the two fruit that were above the break already. So, let'em droop, but CAREFULLY!! Ted

Time for an update. 5 months (to the day) after receiving the NXR, it is finally installed. I ran into issues with cabinets and after exploring all options I could think of, finally gave up and installed the NXR as is. No range hood at this time until a kitchen remodel can be done and that is simply not in the budget anytime soon. The space I had to fit the NXR in is 30 1/8 inches wide. So I was a bit nervous about that. The main problem we ran into was the rear legs digging into the linoleum and stopping rearward progress. The guy helping me had a great idea and we dry soaped a couple of yardsticks, put them under the feet, and slid the range into that tight space. The adjustable feet were not very cooperative. We removed the toe kick and sorta had access to the front feet and no access to the rear feet. We could get one side to adjust, but not the other. The feet would not budge. The mistake we made was sliding the range in place before testing the foot adjustment. So we ended up shimming the left side feet. And finding a level reference was challenging too. I ended up using the oven racks as they seemed to be different from the front lip. I see no signs of any damage to the porcelain. The range was well packed and arrived without incident. I ran the burn in process. That is definitely stinky! And I am amazed at the burner control. From high, there are 3 steps ending in a simmer that looks barely enough to warm your hand. I had to turn off the kitchen lights just to see the flame at simmer. I bought a ChefAlarm and rack clip from Thermoworks to calibrate the oven. I hope to have time to do that soon. Testing oven accuracy Here are some pics of the burners. In the 4 burner shot, the lower left is high, then 1 click down going clockwise until the bottom right is at simmer. So far, I'm quite pleased with the NXR. I just need a new kitchen to go along with it! Edit: one thing I noticed (and it may be entirely normal) is that 30 minutes or so after doing the burn in process for the oven, the top of the oven door and the lip remained too hot to touch. Is that normal?