I used to be in the camp of people who said "I'm sure my soil is fine, my grass looks OK" Then I renovated my lawn and it just wasn't performing very well. So I gave in and did two soil tests, total cost 40 bucks. Well it turns out my front yard had a pH of 5.5 and the back was at 4.4! In addition it was depleted of all macronutrients and some micronutrients as low pH soils often are. Well since then I have been working on the soil and the grass has responded (pic of it this summer in this thread http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lawns/msg0621330425292.html). You cannot grow great grass in poor soil, and you will wasting money by trying to do so. You have moss problems, well guess what, moss generally grows in low pH soils with poor drainage (shade also helps moss thrive). Do yourself a favor, get a soil test. I recommend Logan Labs' basic soil test ($20). In terms of cost for a renovation, it's not much more, and you don't have to bring in new topsoil. I won't go into specifics here, but the extra expense is only that you will need double the seed of an overseed, and maybe some topdressing, and that's about it.

Pink Jewelweed is probably Impatiens balfourii - or Balfours impatiens. REALLY pretty. Like other impatiens they have exploding seed capsules. These and regular Jewelweed are my favorite seeds to collect for the sqirming-between-your-fingers effect! I have a few seeds I could send you if you want to email me. Debra

I could never be in Arizona in summer..I don't know how they do it. They say they stay indoors all the time in air conditioning. I like it just for the winter. It's so delightful there, and with enough winter rain, the desert is covered with poppies. I had some scorpions in the place where we stayed and that scared me but I squished them. I'm sick of this horrible cabin fever, sunless sky, and icy slush. I love the seasons, too, especially spring and fall, but you can keep December through February around here! I'm getting to the age where I understand snowbirds heading south. (Also the age where I can see moving to a condo with maintenance workers on staff. lol)

I've found a few pennies and a dime or two on the ground in parking lots in recnt months, and a nickel (that I was hoping to have been a quarter). Will you accept finding an equivalent? My friend saves beer and liquor bottles, then lets me haul them away in my car ... funny, lacking a vehicle, he seems to have no trouble being able to get the rather heavy, filled bottles and cans home from the store, but seems much less enthusiastic about returning the (much lighter) empties for the refund of the 10 cent deposit for each. I pick up empties along the street/roadside, as well. I got about $20.00 a couple of months ago, and over $7.00 last week. Actually, I bought a case for him a couple of months ago ... and thus far have given him four. Am keeping quite a few of them to give to him after Christmas, which is a rather thin season for him, income-wise. Pop cans used to be about 55 cents for 32 or so, then were up near 70 cents for a while, but down around 55 vcents now, I think. The problem is that the scrap dealers are not near my ordinary roads of travel and I'm reluctant to make a special trip. Maybe it'd be a good idea to put found money away as an investment - make it produce more like itself. A few years ago when a security guard colleague, who'd been slightly injured while on duty at a hospital, received a cheque from the Victims of Violence Compensation Fund, I suggested that he hang on to it, investing it, letting it develop a fund over the years to help finance his retirement, as security guards had no pension plan (are you kidding??). He needed to use part of it for car repairs ... don't know whether he hung on to any of it. Several months ago a fellow whom I met while he was working in my friend's auto body repair shop, and who sprayed the underbody of my car to reduce salt damage, sent a number of wine jugs with me for refund. I gave him $2.00, kept something over $1.00 for my trouble. When he expressed surprise, as he'd told me to keep the refund, I told him that he was the owner of the goods - I was just the trucker! Good wishes for making good use of every dollar/franc/mark/dinar/rupee/hwan/yen/renminbee, etc. ole joyful ole joyful