Thanks, everyone for your kind thoughts. I wish I could tell you we had lots of rain, but in the end it only amounted to .02". Nevertheless, it was wonderful to have most of the day cloudy with those little on -and- off showers. It has been a long time since we could enjoy being outside nearly all day. We are supposed to have a system come in this weekend to give us more chances for rain, so hopefully this will happen. I had better get busy and dance some more to keep the rain coming. LOL. Avedon

I LOVE air conditioning. I adore it. I would MARRY it if it were legal!! I never want to spend another day or night of my life without it at my immediate disposal. I plan to bring my unit little presents, and read poems & sonnets to it, and decorate it with tole painted roses. I'm soooooooooooooooo happy! Having said all of that (and meaning it fervently), I'm always glad when the weather cools down so that I can open my windows for a few weeks. It is lovely to hear the birds and feel the fresh breezes. But sadly, I can only do that for a short time before it's too hot and muggy again. And then...I pay homage to my air conditioning unit once more, and set plates of delicious food before it, and dance around it, singing and chanting, and otherwise making sure it knows how much I treasure it. Sometimes I ask THIS guy over to dance for it: I think it likes that! *sigh* Heading off to bed in a blissfully cool bedroom now. See you all tomorow! Marcia the Cooooool

I mentioned this challenge to a young indian woman who works for me. She is going through a match organization to find an indian bf/husband.. she just giggled. She said she was going to tell her intended that she wanted a small dinosaur. "Not a big one-- a small one so I could hold on!" I couldn't stop laughing. I reread your post this morning and note that you said the preference was western style. I have to agree that to do some faux version of traditional indian dress isn't very appropriate. Given the cost of the elephant parade, I'd think if they WANTED you in traditional indian dress, they'd have provided an outfit.. or given some direction. Going ahead with that assumption, I would look for something comfortable, colorful and that will drape and flow nicely as you dance. I like dressier linen wide-legged pants or a dress with a sheer shawl or shoulder scarf. Given that you liked the color of the shirt above, I thought I'd share this top from talbots.. I have it in the sun kissed coral (pictured) but it also comes in a gorgeous turquoise and an emerald green. I could see these paired with either pants or a skirt and a light scarf draped around your arms. Jjill also has a number of sleeveless tops that are colorful and simple and would look great with jewelry and scarves.. they also have light linen ponchos that could work with the right pants. Orange and coral seem to be very big this year. I wear mine with a suit jacket but it is a style that can go dressy or casual.

2019: I will probably add more shrubs & trees. And add hydrangeas everywhere I can. I planted a lot of new perennials this Spring, some of them did not bloom this year, so I'm looking forward to their first blooms next year. I'll have to finish up a really large garden border started this Spring. I mostly added unusual conifers, and next year I'll add large rocks for structure, and ground covers for color. I ran out of mulch, and just did not feel like making another trip to get some more. Also, I have three wooden raised garden beds that I've really let go this year. I did not weed out once. I was still able to harvest asparagus & strawberries, but I need to make a decision, as it looks really unkempt. Should they stay or should they go...I would so love to have a veggie & berry garden that is ornemental as well (aka no rows). I'm spending a lot of time googling images & searching pinterest trying to find ideas, but I have not made up my mind yet. I like that we have plenty of space (27,000 square feet), but even though I've planted a LOT of trees, shrubs & perennials, it still looks unfinished. Maybe because everything is still so small. Also, one of my struggles is making design choices. This Spring, I planted a perennials-only garden in our front yard, only to realize that it lacked structure. So I moved a lot of plants, and added spireas. I find that it now looks ok when you're up close, but lacks that "wow" factor when you're looking at it from a distance. I recently won a one-hour consultation with a local landscape designer. I'm looking forward to his visit, in order to get a professional opinion on what should be changed.