Thanks again, especially for the candytuft ID, they are the stars of the spiral right now but they're starting to go to seed. I have a fountain in the front yard, and although I agree it would look great I wouldn't want to deal with the hassle in that particular spot. Birds love fountains, consequently they need to be cleaned frequently and it always involves splashing a lot of water on the ground and walking around the fountain a bit. Maybe I could get a birdbath and hook it to the irrigation system, but a statue would be easier and require less maintenance. I think I'm a one fountain person, a second is not something I relish taking care of but I wouldn't dream of getting rid of the one I have. Most recently a bench has been added to the garden, I realized that the place where the path brushes the raised bed is the coolest and most comfortable spot to hang out so I mentioned it to the DH and next thing I knew we had a new bench. I love it, it's perfect for sitting and enjoying my new area.

On the local TV news the other night, they were reporting that many farmers in southern Oklahoma and northern Texas have lost 100% of their crops to excessive moisture in the form of rainfall/constantly wet soil/floodwaters. So, I was thinking to myself that a lot of us may be getting less of a veggie harvest, but at least we haven't lost 100%, right? Ilene, I have talked to lots of 'old farmers/old ranchers' who live in our area (many of them, sadly, have passed away in recent years ) and many of them have told me over and over that all they had to eat in their early years in Oklahoma were whatever crops they could raise or find via foraging/hunting/gathering and whatever game they could shoot. They said that it was a constant struggle to survive, and of course, none of them had any problems with weight gain or obesity. They also said that if one family or another suffered a crop failure, the other local families tried to share what they had so the family would survive. How very spoiled we are by comparison! My dad was one of 11 children. His family was, by his own description, 'poor, white sharecroppers' in the Spanish Fort (Montague County, Texas) area in the 1920s/30s. He said they pretty much lived on whatever crops survived. They usually had a good crop of pinto beans and corn, which they dried and stored for winter. He said they often ate corn meal mush for breakfast, cornbread and whatever else was available for lunch, and cornbread and pinto beans for dinner, day after day after day. How many of us would do that and be glad to have even that food? He did say that they often had good veggies from their own gardens all summer and fall, plus whatever they could put up for winter, and meat was more of a 'treat' or a 'condiment' with veggies and bread being the main portion of the meal, and only small portions of meat available. During the good years that they made a good crop, they would have enough cash to buy salt, flour, baking powder, etc. During bad times they had beans and corn. They usually had their own milk and butter from their own cow, but usually the babies and youngest children got all the milk. Once a year they each got one orange to eat--at Christmas--and that plus a couple of nuts and one or two pieces of Christmas candy was their Christmas gift. Local folks here who are slightly younger than my dad remember a similar lifestyle up to World War II, which gave many young men a chance to get off the farm and earn some badly needed money to send home to 'the folks'. They say that growing a big garden that produced a lot of food for the family was considered a HUGE mark of achievement, and that the local families were quite competitive with one another to see who could feed their family best with what they raised. Frankly, I don't know how they did it. I raise a lot of fruit and veggies, and have great success most years, but if we had to live ONLY off what I could grow or find by foraging (wild berries, fruit, etc.), my family would all be stick-thin! Thankfully we don't have to raise all our own food nowadays! PURPLE CHEROKEE--now that is a great tomato and one of my all time favorites. We just love them. This year they have been HUGE, about twice the size I usually get, and fairly tasty--their flavor isn't quite as good as it is most years, but it is still not as watered-down as many other tomatoes are this year. Black Krim is still our favorite. Brandywine would be our favorite based on flavor alone, but their low productivity keeps them from being our #1 tomato. I am going to (hopefully--and if the weather works with me and not against me) yank out a lot of the spring-planted tomatoes this week, and replace them with new plants for fall tomatoes. I don't usually take out the cherry, grape or currant types as they produce well all summer anyway. The tomatoes that are removed are sort of removed in the order in which they began fruiting--so those that produced ripe fruit beginning in very late April are already gone, those that produced ripe fruit in May/June will soon be gone, and those late ones that are just now producing ripe fruit will get to live until they stop producing, or until the July-planted tomatoes start producing. Sagenscotties, My paste tomatoes have only been so-so this year too. In general, paste tomatoes are more prone to both blossom-end rot and foliar disease when it is excessively wet. However, I am getting tons of big 'uns so I have been using a mixture of big 'uns to make spaghetti sauce and other tomato-based meals like chicken-tortilla soup or taco soup. The larger tomatoes take longer to boil down, of course, since they have a higher water content--especially this year--but they make tasty cooked tomatoes. I'm probably not even going to plant the paste tomatoes I have raised from seed for fall unless we have a sudden drying trend here. I don't see any point in expending the energy to plant them if they aren't going to do any better than the spring-planted paste tomatoes did. There are a couple of exceptions--Orange Banana has produced quite well, and so has Bisignano #2. Dawn

Brody is adorable and obviously has no problem smiling now days! He definitely looks like his daddy! I had 4 kids and never child proofed anything. Of course that was in the 60's and I guess we didn't know what "child proofing" meant.LOL They also all knew what "no" meant.They played in the commode,ate the cat and dog food,had the usual bumps,scratches bangs,even drank out of the dogs water bowl,climbed on the kitchen counter and top of dressers! They all have also swallowed their share of coins of different denominations (and other things),but that's a whole other story.LOL They also played in the pots and pans cabinet and with plastic bowls and wooden spoons.I did put dangerous liquids that normally one would keep under the sink in a high place but that's about it.They all survived! As someone else mentioned,they should never be left alone long enough for those kinds of things to be a danger.The only thing I would do would be to anchor anything that might fall over on top of them to the wall.

WHOA, igloo, what progress and what beauty!! So sorry to have missed all of this - haven't been on in ages as it's summer travel time here. When we're home, I'm up early (4:30) and out to the river to row, then it's home for laundry and repacking to head out on some trip again. As always, I'm thrilled to hear that you are doing better and that things in the house are moving along. Keep up the rehab - I spent 6 mos, 3x week last year in PT for my knees and now I'm better than I've ever been :-) I firmly believe that "babysitting" job sites is the ONLY way to go - after all of our builds and remodels, I am certain the best progress happens when they know I'm going to be "visiting" them a few times a day. I'm sure that with a wink and a smile from you, things are just clipping along! As everyone has stated, the rug is fab and the granite is gorgeous - for some reason, I just keep looking at the edges...I love it when the "pattern" of the stone gives such a beautiful edge-face to the counters. You've got me very intrigued w/ the mstr bath and closet - that is what's left in our abode to "update" and I'm holding off until I can do it right. I'm going to be following yours closely! I second the suggestions that you CRATE Killer. Our little boy is now 8 mos and over 80lbs and he LOVES his crate - potty training was a snap (at all costs, they will avoid messing their den) and when he was younger and I needed "me" time, it was the safest place for him to hang out. Even now, he hears my keys jingle and comes barreling in with a "mom, can I come too?"-look and if I shake my head, he just turns and happily heads into his crate. Any updates on the possible moving? Did the DUH-Lute house ever get on the market (at a *realistic* price)? Sending you many good thoughts and continued prayers... - Kristin