Our resident woodchucks (we call them groundhogs here) happily consumed every petunia blossom in our garden one year! They seem to just like the petunia blossoms, not the foliage as much. We caught one in the act of breakfasting on the petunias, so I know it was not the resident bunnies. The petunias sort of regenerated afterward, but the plants were never quite the same after that. I find that the woodchucks/groundhogs generally won't eat snapdragons, so if you want a colorful flowering annual, I would try those instead. We have some lovely white snapdragons this year that I'm liking a lot, and the groundhogs haven't touched them. Snapdragons are one of the few non-natives we plant, but we plant them every year because of their reliable groundhog resistance. We don't grow Dahlia so don't know about groundhogs and those.

This whole year has been weird so nothing that the weather does from this point forward will surprise me. We got an inch of rain over the weekend and about an inch last week. On top of the June-July rainfall that fell, we are about as green in August as I ever can remember. Unfortunately, our really wet August of 2005 was followed by massive wildfires beginning in October 2005 and running through most of 2006, so the important thing is that the rain needs to keep falling this fall and winter. Otherwise, all this lovely green vegetation we have right now will just become fuel for wildfires. It has been hot lately---98 at our house today, but sometimes at this time of the year we are at 105-110, so 98 doesn't feel nearly as bad as it sounds if you compare it to those other years that had a significantly hotter August. We have had rain-cooled air or clouds some days that were from rain that was somewhat close to us and missed us, and even though we didn't get the rain, having even an extra hour or two a day of cooler temperatures has been wonderful.

Thanks Party for giving us some hope that all this will pass!lol Looks like a beautiful day on the lake. I've never been in a kayak but now that you've enlightened me they are so smooth, I'll try it if I get another chance. We always water ski and tube out on the lake. Come to think of it I haven't water skied since I pulled my groin bad getting up the last time. All I do is ride the waves in the tube and try to stay on. Serendipity, I've never tried snowshoeing. I always wanted to but didn't pursue it. I can remember when I didn't miss many weekends snow skiing. Now I have no desire to drive up the mountain to get there. I do still love to hike. I haven't taken DGD sledding this year but hope to do this once it warms up. Stay warm and safe. Punk

This weekend I made one of those neat ruffled looking burlap wreaths. It turned out great and was so easy! I have pumpkins, gourds, etc. on the porch and also in our area out back. I used a pumpkin and straw in an urn (small) on one of the front steps. I have my big old copper boiler that I use as a planter and changes out my plants, etc. It's still warm here and my summer flowers are still going strong. I have pulled up a few things. I decorate in October (fall only, not halloween) and that holds me through Thanksgiving. Christmas stuff goes up that weekend or shortly after. I don't have a picture yet and I'm not at home, but I'm linking to a picture of the burlap wreath. tina Here is a link that might be useful: