Well, it's even a more creative use for a zucchini than the candied zucchini recipe posted last year on the harvest forum. I guess it just proves the obvious -- by the end of summer, everyone is sick of zucchini, even the bears.

What a wonderful, varied, group we are! It's been fun reading everyone else's post, but I've been dragging my feet with my own. Mostly because I'd like to write a lot but am too lazy to do so :-) I grew up on a farm in Nebraska, and like so many of the folks here, loved and owned horses for much (actually most) of my life. I literally grew up on horseback, taking my mom and dad's cattle back and forth to pasture, riding for fun, and training a couple horses of my own. By the time I got out of high school I had several horses of my own and continued owning, riding, and loving them until my move to Minnesota almost 13 years ago. At that time, we couldn't find a place we could afford that had room for horses, so I gave my last two to my sister in Missouri and that's where they have been ever since. They are old now, one is fully blind (has been since he was young) and the other is nearly blind (old age) but they are loved and well cared for. I loved drawing and painting and might have made a career in art, but got married right out of high school instead. I did a little of this and a little of that, a few years later had two children (a daughter and a son, now adults), then went to work as..... a meat wrapper at a locker plant, then a part time cook at a hospital, then into the hospital's business office, then started taking part time computer classes and got an associate degree in computer programming. I eventually ended up as MIS director at that same hospital where I started as a part time weekend cook. Management changed, I wasn't happy any more and I went job hunting. That's when I came to Minnesota. My ex-husband and kids followed once school was out for the year. I currently work for IBM on the iSeries Support line (techincal support) where I provide usage and defect support for the iSeries computer and (mostly) certain IBM products that connect to the iSeries to access data. I've been doing my current job for almost 13 years, and like it better then I've ever liked any of my past jobs. I spend a great part of my day talking with customers all across the US. Most of the people I work with are very nice, even when under a lot of pressure due to the very problem they called me about. I love my current work schedule, which is 4 10-hour days a week. Although I drive 42 miles each way to work, I get to work at home on Fridays and that is great too. MONDAY, is my very own personal day and when I spend a lot of time in the garden and doing whatever I like. I love gardening, photograph, backyard bird watching, doing things on my (personal not work related) computer. I love and have done many kinds of crafts and other creative things, but photography is the lifelong creative love. I had to restrain myself a little bit with that, for much of my life, but then along came digital and I went nuts! I own two good digital Canon SLR's and take photos literally by the thousands. I've photographed a few weddings, but don't really want to make a career of it. When I retire (in 12-15 years), I'd like to have a part time (at least in the spring and summer) at a garden center or nursery. I'd also love to spend part of my time traveling and taking photographs of beautiful and interesting places and people. My daughter is married and she and my son-in-law live in Tulsa, OK. My son is married (as of last December) and he and my daughter-in-law are here in Minnesota. I can hardly wait until one of them makes me a grandmother :-) My daughter is in no hurry to do that, if ever, but I think chances are pretty good with my son. Cross your fingers for me!

Another surgery victim here, too! I've been dead in the water since July, believe it or not. I see the snow melting and underneath is the fall clean up that never got done. I actually contemplated going out into the muck today to start getting it cleaned. I hope we get a big storm this weekend so I don't have to fret about it until I can get out there! Lots of gardening plans/interests for the up-and-coming year. My planner is all filled up as IÂve just been sitting here dreaming for the past 6 months. If I can get half of whatÂs on the agenda accomplished IÂll be a happy camper. I still have to get last yearÂs garden in order! I'm also planning two brand new gardens this year - a veggie and a shade bed. Both places need quite a bit of prepping. I also have a nice compost site on the horizon. That said, IÂve spent quite a bit of time lurking on the Compost forum and am really getting into it! IÂm not over the edge yet but itÂs becoming a nice winter project. ItÂs really astonishing how much garbage I donÂt toss into the weekly trash now. On the nice days I take out my collection and set it in a pile for when IÂm ready to start my new area. As soon as I get my compost site together in the spring IÂm crossing over to a compost freak! Right now, IÂm just saving up my food scraps and coffee grounds for greens and all the junk mail/cardboard stuff for my browns. Keep those credit card applications coming :) It used to bug me getting two in the mail every day I just started reading about the square-foot-gardening for veggies. It seems a little bit technical for a plunk-and-go type of gardener but I think the veggie garden is really something that needs to be planned out on paper??? ThereÂs got to be an easier way to go but IÂm giving it a read anyway. I have a seed box filled to the brim and havenÂt gotten one pot winter sowed! I have a feeling itÂs going to be a lean year. I got some awesome shade seeds in a swap so IÂm going to get them going first for my shade garden. One pot at a time, IÂve just got to get myself started after the holidays. Hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

jaymielo- I don't know if I did things 'backwards' by most standards, but it worked for me! I picked out my tile before anything else in the bathrooms. I did a lot of magazine clipping for inspiration. I found my cache of clippings the other day and was surprised to see how closely I ended up following their general themes after all. Although I didn't have specific colors picked out for each bathroom, I did have a general FEEL of what I wanted. For instance, in my boys bath, I knew the design needed to be more masculine, what an adult would feel comfortable with (since they won't be little for long!), and also something that would work if a girl ever entered the family picture and used one of the bedrooms sharing that bath. Honestly, I didn't even think about the countertop at this point, since I knew that it would be easier to pick that out after figuring out the tile. We ended up doing the copper slate bath up there: For our master bath, I had found a pic of one that had a creamy yellow with darker wood in it. Then we went on a trip to Santa Fe and stayed in a B&B that had the most awesome travertine shower in it. DH and I knew immediately that we wanted to find a similar tile for our master bath. We also had known for a few years that we wanted to do a pebble floor in there. Adding all those ideas together, we came up with this: I guess my best suggestions would be to 1)Get your magazine/photo clips out and decide what it is you like about them in particular. 2)Decide of the main function of a particular bath--kids, light or heavy traffic, guests, etc. 3)If you want individuality, do each bath one at a time so that you don't overwhelm yourself. Keep in mind that even though they will all be different, if they fit the general color schemes of your house, there will still be a 'flow' throughout. 4)If you want even more cohesiveness, pick a general tile and mix the accent pieces/countertops to individualize each bath. 5) Remember that you can always change the paint color, but it's MUCH harder and more costly to change tile! I'm sure whatever you do will turn out great. It's just the process that can sometimes be overwhelming!