Some great comments on here, and some of the nicest "ugly" combos I've ever seen! And some of the neighborhood stories.... where do you start!? LoL I'm a color disaster. My wife frequently points it out in my clothing choices and even I can pick it out in the garden. But it doesn't bother me and having such a lousy track record makes it look like I walked on water when I get it halfway right! Here's a bad one. It's got variegation, chartreuse, pastels and a bold red... and a couple weeds for good measure.

sealitsealitsealit When we bought our house 3 years ago it had been done up with a new bathroom tile floor and new tile counters. N00b dufus that I was, I didn't know anything about sealers. When we ripped that %$*(_!#&&!@# counter out, the grout was DISGUSTING. There was absolutely no way to keep it clean. The bathroom floor is almost as bad. A few months back when I read of sealers I tried to scrub it in preparation, and I STILL don't know what to do with it because I could.not.get.it.clean.. (Slightly OT, is there a way to darken it in situ, or do I have to rip it out and start again?) Anyway, just my 2c. When we installed our kitchen, I was ADAMANT that it would be dark grout with the tile. I don't care if it's not fashionable, I am NOT going with light grout again. EVER.

Over the last few years, I have developed extremely dry skin as well. Mostly on my feet. And not like most people, who get callouses mainly on their heels. I actually get very dry skin along the outside edge of my sole. It just cracks open and bleeds. No lotion helped, and believe me, I tried MANY lotions. The only thing that gave me some relief was to wear Band-Aids over the cracked portion and to always wear socks. Of course, many times when I removed the bandage I would also remove some skin, causing more bleeding. And then I turned to the article in the Reader's Digest that changed my life. No kidding. You know they always have those articles - 13 Things Your Waiter Won't Tell You, 13 Things Your Mechanic Won't Tell You, etc. A few months ago the article was 13 Things Your Podiatrist Won't Tell You. I read it with interest and the recommendation for dry and cracked feet was to use AMLACTIN. The doctor who recommended it said it was "pretty much magic in a tube". There is a body lotion and one specifically for feet (a little thicker). The only caution is that if you use it you should limit your exposure to sunlight. I felt that if my feet never saw the light of day again but stopped cracking and bleeding, I would be happy. It promised to also exfoliate. And guess what? After using it just twice a day for less than a week, my feet were 100% better. No cracks or bleeding. I continued to use it for about a month and the skin on the bottom of my feet became soft and supple. I know I sound just like a commercial, but I truly felt that I had found my miracle. I now use it just a couple of times a week and I can't recommend it highly enough. It is expensive IMO (about $12 for the foot cream), but SO worth the cost.

I never gardened at all, until I married and became a homeowner. Once I started gardening, it became a life long passion. Growing up, I didn't know anyone who had a garden, then within a year of moving into our own home, I made a new friend who had an organic vegetable garden and that got me started. Is growing food all that difficult? If you really want to be as self sufficient as you can and grow most of your food, I don't think it's all that easy but it can be done. There is a family in California that is a wonderful example of how it can be done even in an urban setting. I'll come back and post his name and some links when I remember his name. Reasons why I grow food? The main motivation, was because I loved doing it. I find it fulfilling. I love the connection with the natural world, being outdoors, watching things grow, observing the amazing coordination of all the elements, soil, water, soil microbes, insects, birds, that allow us to exist. Of course there are other reasons too, that now eclipse my original motivation. The lack of trust in the safety and quality of the food supply used to be my secondary reason, but now I have added to those two reasons, other reasons. I now feel our food supply could be in jeopardy. The state of the environment, climate change, drought, flooding, are having a major effect on crop production. The fact that one particular corporation is trying to gain control of all the open pollinated seeds in the world and replacing them with their own genetically modified seeds that they would own the patent to. Then there are the practical reasons, the food tastes better and fresh organic produce costs a fortune. Is it economically advantageous? Well, I believe it can be, but you have to learn how to do it economically and that takes time and effort and access to raw materials that help in that regard. You have to have a clean site for a garden, with enough sun exposure and clean water, clean soil. If you donâÂÂt have those, trying to make up for that could be expensive. In that case, maybe you have a friend with access to those things that you could help in their garden and share the produce. Is it psychologically healing? For me personally, as I walk out the door to the garden, it feels like IâÂÂm starting the best part of my day. Absolutely, it can be healing and sustaining mentally, physically and emotionally. We were meant to have that connection to the natural world. On the other hand, not everyone loves gardening, but we all have to eat and trying to escape the job of feeding yourself upsets the natural order of things and here we are with all the multitude of problems that developed as a result. What are people scared of? I donâÂÂt believe they are, I think they are distracted by too many other things, and they donâÂÂt always make the time to stay informed and are unaware that there are problems with the food supply. And they probably donâÂÂt have...