idabean - I have several pairs of the Lee Valley gardener's pants and they are invaluable - not only for gardening but any hands-and-knees type work where knee pads come in handy. I do prefer the original knee pads they had rather than the new, thicker ones though. Fortunately I bought spare knee pads years ago so have lots. If you have roses, Lee Valley's rose gauntlets are great. The Bionic rose gloves you can get are equally as effective - but not nearly as nice looking! A valuable Lee Valley tool is the long-arm pruners - essential for pruning the wisteria trees or tall vines. Do you have a gardener's journal, and a rain gauge? I prefer a simple rain gauge to the fancy weather station things. Each day I record general weather conditions, rainfall and high/low temperature. I get the temperature reading on-line from the Environment Canada weather station closest to me. I'm sure there must be somewhere similar that you could get that info from. It's not as precise, obviously, as a reading from your own garden but it's good enough to track general trends. As temperature would fluctuate even in your own garden, depending on whether you are measuring in an exposed or sheltered location, I figure the EC weather station data is close enough. Garden books are always a welcome gift and DH has a knack for finding interesting ones in used book stores! He also gets the Timber Press catalog. I love William Robinson's The Wild Garden and also like Rick Darke's books so I have requested the new edition of the Wild Garden that has been expanded by Rick Darke. Here is a link that might be useful: The Wild Garden - new edition

A few weeks ago, like right after Thanksgiving, I convinced my hubby to make a 2 hour drive to Knoxville, TN. I told him I was going to do some early X'mas shopping for the kids. Of course I had to pass by Lowes, HD, Target and Walmart. There was practically no Amaryllis bulbs. I don't know if they got sold out or if there was just not much stock this year. I went home very dissapointed that day. Today I have very good news though. I went to Food City, a local grocery store, and was so surprised to see blooming and about to bloom amaryllises. They were all Hadeco bulbs grown in Canada with 2 to 3 scapes per pot and got leaves too. Very nice and healthy ones. The varieties were Wedding Dance, Candy Floss, Razzmatazz and Blushing Bride. I asked the florist when they arrived and she said like 3 days ago and that most probably they won't have anymore of them. They were selling them for $10.99 and I got all 5 of them(that was all that was left). I was thinking, if I'm going to give amaryllises as gifts, this was a better buy than the $5-$8 boxed ones that you don't even know if they would bloom or bloom true to its name if ever. The florist called their other branch, 30 mins away, and was told that they still have 10 pots of those amaryllises. I will definitely be there tomorrow morning right after I drop off the little ones in school. By the way, I'm keeping the Wedding Dance and Blushing Bride...hehehe!

Lynn~Glad that you made it back it one piece & that DH was able to recover his wallet. There are still some good people in the world today. Besh~My toes are defrosted for now. LOL I don't think that I have very good blood flow in my broken foot yet. Dave said that it was cold last night but the knee that is giving me trouble was hot according to him. I'm reading the "Chronicles of Narnia" & it is so long that it is taking me a while but I'm really enjoying it. I don't know about Carrabelle, FL. I don't know much about the panhandle. Marci~I need to get with you so that we can figure out how to post some of the pictures of my little one. Let me know when you are coming to Tampa. Jen~It sounds like you got some really good gifts. I am supposed to be working on a scrapbook for Dave's parents' 50th wedding anniversary in July. I haven't been able to find the book. I may have to get it off the 'Net. QOD~My 16-y.o. niece is in Orlando playing soccer & we will probably go watch her or at least go & take her out to do something fun. She is a doll. She stays so busy that she doesn't have time to get in trouble. She is in the band, the school's soccer team & band & she has several of the honor's classes & she runs track, then she is in one of the soccer teams that is exclusive & you have to be picked & like this weekend, they go places for competition. Then Dave & I plan to watch movies & have some of the pomegranate martinis then we will have some Asti Spumanti while watching Dick Clark's show & toast in the New Year. This is pretty much a tradition for us. We were pretty sad the year that Dick Clark was too sick to do the show himself. I have to say that I am so thankful for good friends like each of you. With your help, I will get healthier this year. I'm having an MRI done on my knee on Tuesday. They will probably say that nothing is wrong but it has still been hurting along with my foot. I can tell that they are healing though. Love you each. Happy New Year. Patti :)

Framing would be a great idea except that it is a letter written on both sides of the paper. My mom is getting him a clear sleeve to slide it into. That way he can pull it out easily whenever he wants to hold it, and yet it will still be protected. It is in really good shape for being 33 years old, we figure probably because it was stored in an envelope in the attic and away from any direct light which kept it from fading or getting damaged. My brother was really happy, I guess that's the only way I can describe it. He just kept holding it and reading it over and over saying "This is really neat". And he kept smiling. I told him "It's like Dad gave us a present this year" and he smiled and said "Yep!"