If a plant needs deadheading or cutting back, I just do it all at once, I have neither the time nor the desire to be out there fiddling with plants constantly. They'll be fine - they're plants, they want to grow. Now, that doesn't mean I hack back unjudiciously - different plants are handled in different ways. For example, I know that G. magnificum will not re-bloom yet I want a tight mound of foliage, so right after blooming I just hack them all back right down to the ground, I just have at it, quick and to the point - I know from experience they will quickly sprout new foliage. Something that won't rebloom but needs to be cut carefully for shape, such as a tree peony, needs to have each cut thought about carefully, just as one would hand-prune any shrub - how it is cut determines the shape for the rest of the reason. Plants that offer re-bloom, something like a salvia, a veronica, a rose, etc. I trace back to an appropriate point to cut to encourage new stem growth and bloom - again, takes more time because the cuts are made on an individual basis as opposed to a whack-down. So, really, the in-season pruning/deadheading is determined by what the plant is - but when I go out there to do it, it gets done, none of that a little bit now, a little bit later. But hey, if you want to experiment and have the time - it can be a good learning experience. :0)

Compumom, I'm sure you could grow the same plants in your neighborhood, but they are a bit labor intense to maintain, especially when we do not have rain. I'm glad you like what we've done to the yard, especially since you actually been in my pergola! Here's a picture of a piece of grape wood that we bought and glued tillandsias on. If you are growing grapes, this is something you can do with leftover grape vines. Dcarch, you can see the other hummingbird feeder in this photo. I hesitated to post this photo because I did hear about the East Coast weather this morning and had not realized that it was that cold there. Colleen, the teak furniture that we bought at The Teak Warehouse was made in Thailand or Indonesia, and so I'm not surprised that you SIL has the same table in Australia. Cathy, I have had to maximize use of the yard because it is fairly small, I think. We still have enough yard to make it seem spacious, however, and we would like to do more entertaining. I spend a lot of time in the pergola, mostly just relaxing, and so began to focus on what I liked and didn't like, and I also noticed that the grapevine was taking up valuable shade space, which would be better used by bromeliads and orchid cactus. Most of the yard is too sunny for those plants. When we first moved in, there were quite a few sore spots that I had to addres right away, just to make it tolerable - the first being the white concrete patio. Once we stained that, the space was really transformed and much more inviting. There used to be a stepping stone path from the patio to the pergola on the other side, but it has been covered with grass. We're considering whether to excavate that. Improving the yard makes me want to cook outside more, and Kevin always helps me with that. Lars

Annie, sorry to hear about your Aunt. I'll raise a glass and clink to her right now. My sympathy to you and all of the family. Sounds like she was a great and fun lady that did it her way. You know, dynamite comes in small packages. Congrats on the new bull soon to be a steer. A small town just northeast of me host the largest calf fry festival in the country. The Will Rogers Memorial Rodeo takes place at the the same time. Yes, I've tried them but they are not at the top of my favorite list. : ) My life in general has been one wild ride since last fall. So yes, it comes in spurts but this last ride has been more like a main water line break. Lots of cooking, traveling, and company. I'm ready for normal... whatever that might be. : ) David

On the road home, after a great week. On the food front, and especially on the drink front, our group seemed to be a bit ''lite'' this year. Not as Bacchannalian as in some prior years. That was okay, I actually stuck to my diet. How? More in a sec. For dinners, there were a couple of curries, one evening of Zachary's deep dish pizza, and one night out at a Basque restaurant in Nevada. Grill night was some perfectly grilled kabobs (W____). There were various pastas, including a lemon linguine and a spaghetti carbonara (SWMBO). T_____ won the ''simplest tasty'' award with an entire salmon fillet poached in salt, pepper, onion and vermouth. We had chicken thighs stuffed and trussed, different variations: gorgonzola & walnut, brie & apple, roast veg & salami, jalapeno & jack cheese (one of the N____'s). There was chicken in a cream, corn, and capers sauce, and a boeuf bourguignon. We had a risotto, lots of salads and salsa, roast veg, gallons of Peet's coffee, quinoa salad, fried chicken skins, tiramisu, crumbles, ice cream, lots of peaches and plums, cheese, bread, etc. And only 12 bottles of wine for the week, part of a fifth of scotch, two cigars, and some tequila. Weird - normally we go through a couple cases of wine at least. Like I said, everyone was watching their health, at least a little. I guess that's part of getting older. As is long talks about raising teen girls (how do you decide which parties they may go to?) and the aging and passing of our parents. Much of each has been going on in our group this year (my parents are fine, thanks). So, I know the mystery is, how do you stick to a diet on a vacation week centered around friends and food? Partly by cooking a lot, since the more I cook, the less I eat. Also partly by cheating with exercise. I didn't really stick to 1200 cal/day. Instead, if I did X cal of activity that day, I ate 1200 + X. Turns out that if one hikes 4 hours, or kayaks 3 hours, well, that is a significant ''X''. Now, that's exercise I enjoy. Paddling on a glass lake at dawn, walking through a high mountain meadow filled with wildflowers - lots better than a treadmill in a smelly gym. Alas, I don't live in the High Sierra.