Looks like you will be busy with your new stuff! I like your swing too! Are you going to put different pic in each "pane" or 1 thing flowing from pane to pane? country scene-walking down road or stream & background etc. Guess would be lot harder doing 1 scene. Someone on mosaics did a river on her stair risers & it was beautiful! Keep us posted on your progress! Jan

It was a family affair for us. My daughter, granddaughter and I went. If any of you saw the little girl being pulled in a coaster wagon , holding the umbrella for shade, that was us. We followed the east trail. I went down into the valley by the water and dug some ferns for my daughter. She came down to carry them up. The granddaughter supervised and told us not to fall or hurt ourselves. While down by the water, I found a native azalea. I believe it is the Alabamense white because it was by the water. I was raised not too far away and I tramped those hills and fields all my life. I hunted the area from Carson Road (before it was built in the late 1960s) to Turkey Creek and camped at the old Indian Valley Boy Scout Camp. The Alabamense is very common along the streams. I went up the hill on the northwest side and found a bunch of medium sized oak leaf hydrangeas. You must know what you are looking for and know where to look. The only thing I really missed was that when I was a kid, after going to Turkey Creek, we always went to Price's Drug Store (old downtown (Mount) Pinson for a root beer.

I don't think it's virginia creeper, the leaves on that one get about 1 foot across...that's too big for that isnt' it? it's also not very climbing, just kinda floats on top of the vinca but doens't go up trees and doesn't stick to rock wall or anything and it didn't get any fall color as I recall. The previous owner, at least one of them may have been into plants, we have a lot of wonderful shrubs and a gorgeous umbrella pine that I have been told is rather rare. I'm thinking the trillium were planted and are not naturally occuring, because they are in the garden part of yard and I dont' see any on the other side of the wall in the woods. We are 2 miles from UConn campus and they have a strong horticulture dpt and I think a few Professors have lived here (it's 160 yr old house) I weeded out the Chelidonium tonight... at least the ones that were ready to open in the garden areas... it's eveyrwhere already so may as well not encourage it in my plant beds. I agree about the Trillium erectum, was a lovely find! I found tons more of the Jack in the Pulpits today too. Now I'll just cross my fingers for some lady slippers ; ) I went to go look at our wet area today but I was in flip flops and saw too much poison ivy starting to leaf out and turned around.

Babka used redwood sticks for pot risers. She cut them a little smaller than the pot, so they really didn't show. She just put 2 under each pot. She's in California, so redwood is probably easily available. They appeared to be about 1" by 1" and cut to fit each pot.. I used whatever scrap wood I had in the garage when I had so many pots that I ran out of the terra cotta risers. They work well. bkay