Thanks for sharing those photos, Pam. It's always nice to have a reminder that spring will come when it's the depths of winter. I found myself noticing the varied foliage color and texture in the garden - quite nice. The Japanese Maple & the blue spruce - truly striking. Your MIL must have put much thought into the nonfloral characteristics as well as the flowers, or maybe that's what your eye & therefore camera sees. The lovely gray of the magnolia trunks really shines also. Jane is correct that photos 17 & 18 include a dogwood, but the leaves are opposite, while the pagoda dogwood is the only dogwood with alternate leaves - it's called Cornus alternifolia. I'd say it's one of the variegated shrubby dogwoods, but I don't know which one. If you can't find someone closer to help ID plants, I'd be happy to help you out next spring. I wouldn't necessarily be able to tell you exact cultivars, but I could tell you what most of the plants were generally. I'm just north of Concord.

How about this small set-up from Gardner's Supply in either Burlington or Williston, VT? http://www.gardeners.com/Plant-Stand-Trio/IndoorLiving_GardenersLiving,38-384,default,cp.html Bebe

Hello Ladies, Happy B-day Jen, I hope you had a lovely day and got some time to relax and enjoy it. Maddie- sounds like you are busy but having a great time, I have a friend that goes nuts over led trinkets based around St Patricks day, he looks like a goofball to start out but after a few beers he appears almost normal ;) I used to enjoy corn dogs when I was able to eat them, little mustard and ketchup mixed togeter to dip them in and I was in heaven, yummay! NHSuz- Sounds like you are enjoying whats left of summer, my GF's family has a cabin we use in VT near Barton, it is nice up there. The interesting thing about VT though is you will see a wide variety of wealth in the same towns. We would drive past run down mobile homes right next to 1/2 million dollar homes/camps. They say land is selling for 3 or 4 times its worth to people moving up from Mass and NY. Im with you on not fearing wild life, there was a black bear warning where we went camping, animals used to people make me nervous but out in the wild they will leave you alone unless they are cornered. Im back to work after our camping trip, it was fun but wore us out. We did 43 miles in the kayaks and camped along the sandy beaches. The first day of the trip was filled with drunk college students in canoes, they kept on asking us where we fit the beer cooler in our kayaks :) The second day was a lot quieter and we logged a lot of miles so that we only had about 3 left for the last day. On the third day as soon as we got off the river for our pickup it started to pour, we jury rigged up the tent fly and called the pick up service to come get us early. They showed up, but about 5 mins down the road the guys truck died, so we had to wait on the side of the road for help.. after that we decided to take a break and get a hotel for a good nights rest and hot showers :) We stayed in North Conway and had a fantastic meal at a place called Coyote Rose. We had all kinds of interesting and delish items, ostrich, boar sausage, and New Zeland lamb chops were divine. They also served a prickly pear sorbet that was very spicy and yummy! I ate the whole thing though I probably shouldnt have. I also had a peach margarita that tasted like fresh peaches, it was a nice change from all the camp food we had for 3 days. We then spent 2 days camping and hiking in Franconia Notch. We did a 6 mile hike up one side of the mountain and back down the other. There is a lake at the top of the mountain and a couple water falls along the way down, it was a tough hike but lovely. Of course on the way back to camp I was worn out and winded and my GF got mad at me because I wasnt chatting with her. Bah women :P it wasnt because I just hiked 6 miles and over 1500 feet of elevation that I wasnt talking, it was because I didnt care about what she had to say, you know! ;) All and all we had a nice trip and learned a lot. We know what gear we can do without and what we need to get for next time, and have a better idea of how much food and water to bring. My compact air mat has certainly got to go and I will make the room next time for my real air mattress, my back paid for it and sleeping on the hard ground doesnt cut it anymore, im no longer a boy scout. Other than that not a whole lot is new, this weekend its the boys time to play. We are golfing on Sat and Sunday going to a Red Soxs game. Its rare the 4 of us can all get time to spend together. With wives, kids and work keeping everyone busy this will be a treat. I hope everyone is having a good week, come out and say hello if you are lurking! John

Hi, There is also a lovely quilt shop in North Conway, very close to a nice seafood restaurant called Jonathan's. Here is her website: www.quiltshopnh.com. She recently relocated to her own building from a nearby strip mall and has a very enticing selection of fabrics. If you get to Sanford, ME. from Saco, there is a quilt shop: www.kathiesquiltshoppe.com and also a discount place called Marden's that sells end lots of fabric at unbelievable prices...about $2.99 a yard. I have found fabric there that I paid full price for at Keepsake before. Keepsake has a new sales corner. They do have lovely fabric but the last time I was in, I saw some priced at about $9.25 a yard. There is also the Barking Rose in Cornish, ME. - a bit off the beaten path from N. Conway but you might end up in that neck of the woods. She may have a website, I'm not sure. Enjoy your trip! lots2do from NH (grew up in Maine)