Hi Ginny, thanks for asking. When it happened I called out to my husband and asked what the heck was that? He said it felt like an earthquake. We lived in San Diego for 17 years and experienced many, many earthquakes but this one was different. The chandelier was not swinging, the first thing I would notice in CA. It was more a noise - like a car had hit the house. The most interesting part to me was the reaction of our two cats. Both of them were wide eyed and spooked. We live in Stockton Springs. Laurie

Hi Sue, did you get a note I sent about having a couple of big clumps of Happy Returns? Do you want them? Also, I have to vent. What is with this Bill RI6 and his complaining about the NE Forum? He seems to feel left out but does he see how alienating his comments are. I was so annoyed I actually called him on it on the thread "this forum" I hate to fan flames but it was more than I could manage to ignore. Or I didn't want to ignore it. How's your son doing now? School starts very soon. Hope you and he are weathering pre school jitters well. What did he do all summer? I just had a crew plant about 6 hydrangeas and a viburnum and miscellaneous stuff. And do a beautiful job edging; it will look like an pseudo english garden until Irine comes stomping in. Someone else had the idea of taking photos before the storm. Great idea. But I don't take photos, do I? I have an idea....if you need help putting things away Saturday, I'll give you a hand if you'll come take some photos before Sunday. What say you? Whatever you say, stay safe on Sunday and be well all the time! Marie

Melissa, I've only lived here since 1999, and I'm not sure I have seen a "normal" spring yet. I am starting to believe (and fear) that what is normal for us is to have wildly erratic weather. I do think that at our house, the weather from 2006 to now has been more erratic than the weather the first few years we lived here, with freezes coming later and later and later into the spring. I've also noticed Love County gets hail about once a year, and it is almost always the day AFTER I set out my tomatoes. It drives me nuts. Last year was a very hard year for most people's tomatoes, so don't feel too discouraged by it. The weather simply did all the wrong things at all the wrong times in the spring and it got too hot too early and that affected fruitset. Then the high humidity brought a lot of diseases. A lot of folks did have a good fall crop though, which helped make up for the spring/summer difficulties. Hopefully in 2011 the spring and summer weather will be a bit more cooperative. With your gourds, you can dry them inside or out. Outside on the vine is fine if they already were pretty mature when frost hit. Outside is fine if you aren't getting tons of rain. In the years when I grow gourds, I let them dry on the vine as much as possible but if it is raining a lot, I move them inside. I think letting them dry outside as much as possible is good because there's normally better airflow outside. Because your gourds already have been exposed to freezing temps, it isn't going to hurt them if you want to move them inside to dry. It seems like freezing temps hasten the maturing/drying process a bit and also makes them easier to peel, which is another reason to consider leaving them outside a little bit longer if you want to do that. I imagine they'll dry and cure just fine either way, indoors or out, so do what feels right to you. Or, take some inside, leave some outside, and see which ones dry/cure faster and better. We miss you when you're not here but, you know, sometimes life is just too busy to spend much time on the computer. The seed swap is going to be fun. I like that it is coming after Christmas this year as it will give us something to look forward to in the normally dismal, cold, gray month of January. Dawn

Oh God it scared the you know what out of me! We had one the night before that many here in my town felt (90 mi. away from the epicenter) but we slept through it. I had just gone to bed, dh in the LR, then I thought I heard some Apache Helicopters fly over, then the whole house started shaking like crazy and it was LOUD. It kept going for about 45 seconds, and once the shaking stopped we could still hear the earthquake! First I called my DS who experienced the same thing 25 min. away, then I called my friend in CA. and said, "WTF?" LOL. She kept telling me to "calm down, stand in the doorway." I told her heck no, I was going outside! I don't drink but there was a beer in the fridge and I gulped the whole thing in a matter of seconds! Now I'm afraid to go to bed tonight since both happened two nights in a row. One at 10, the other at 2am.