Thanks guys, yeah, I will go with sea... we have some perfect days at the moment, as you can see by the background, rarely wind, 23 C daytime, the succulents do ok, just be a little more careful with watering/humidity.

Although I've used the microwave method in the past, and there is a book written based entirely on this method so you can speed the rising of the dough, I have to caution using it. 1. You can get the temperature inside the microwave too hot if you aren't careful. Most people don't take the temperature inside the microwave before popping their dough into it. Yeast will begin to die at 115-degrees F. Yeast grows best around 75-85-degrees F. When temperatures exceed 85-degrees F, the dough can develop an "off" flavor. 2. The next potential problem is you can't always maintain a constant temperature. The temperature is highest when you add the dough, and will continue to fall. A constant temperature is optimal for dough. The goal isn't speed, and there is nothing wrong with a long cool rise, which develops flavor. If you want speed, find a recipe using a fast-acting yeast which eliminates the first rise. You cover the dough for a 10-minute resting period after kneading to allow the gluten strands to relax before you form the dough for the final proof and eliminate the first rise entirely. This is one of the reasons fast-acting yeast products were developed - that and you could add them directly to the dry ingredients and skip proofing the yeast in water/sweetener. This is also a problem when the "pre-heat the oven method" is used. In this method the oven is turned on for a few minutes to warm the oven, the oven is turned off, add the dough. Potential problems: 1. The oven temperature may be too hot if the oven temperature wasn't checked, and some of the yeast killed. 2. The oven hasn't been heated long enough to penetrate the entire oven in order to maintain/hold a good proofing temperature for a long period of time, so the temperature may be too hot when the dough is add, and then falls quickly during the proofing. Once again, a uniform temperature is best, not a falling temperature. A better method is to leave the light on in your oven for a constant low temperature. Turn it on when you start making your dough so it has time to warm the entire oven. Be sure to test the temperature in different areas of the oven. In my oven it is best as far away from the oven light as I can get it, and the temperature is too hot close to the light. If you want to add humidity, place a shallow baking pan or dish on the bottom rack and add hot (not boiling) water TO the pan as a safety measure. Don't fill the shallow pan at the sink and walk it to the oven. You could slosh the hot water all over yourself. -If you use a dough-rising bucket for proofing dough, it's a perfect little environment which maintains the moisture from the dough, so adding humidity isn't necessary, and keeps drafts off the dough. You are also able to quickly tell when it's "doubled" in bulk. If you pat 1-quart of dough into a dough-rising bucket, when it reaches the 2-quart line, you know it has doubled in bulk. -Cold dough is actually easier to handle when forming for the final proofing. -Cover the dough with a sheet of plastic wrap. If you handle your dough with oiled hands the dough won't stick to them and the dough won't stick to the plastic wrap. You can also give the plastic wrap a shot of vegetable cooking spray to keep it from sticking. -Avoid using damp towels over dough. The skin of the dough can get too hydrated from the excess moisture in the cloth and it can affect the flavor and texture of the dough. -Punching dough down after the first rise is an important, and often ignored, function. How to: Oil your hand/fist. Plunge it slowly down the center of the dough. Now pull the dough on the outside of the container to the center. Do this all around the ball of dough. You are essentially turning the dough inside out. The cooler outside dough has been moved to the center and the warmer inside dough to the outside. This breaks up the gasses and redistributes the yeast. -At this point you need to scale (weigh) the dough and divide it, if necessary. If you are making two loaves you can now have equal amounts by scaling the dough, and they will bake evenly. Scaling dough balls for dinner rolls, hamburger or hot dog buns, sandwich rolls, etc. will make them all the same size and they will bake evenly. -Rounding the dough after the dough has been punched down is the next step. This is done by laying the dough on a flat surface (I use a silpat so I don't need bench flour). With both hands, pull the top of the dough down to the bottom, shifting the dough a quarter turn with each movement until the dough is a nice smooth ball. This gets the gluten strands running all the same way and the tight ball helps hold gasses inside the dough ball. Cover (a sheet of plastic wrap or turn the mixing bowl over it) and let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes so the gluten strands have a chance to relax before you form the dough. It's the techniques that make all the difference between good bread and wonderful bread. Unfortunately, they are rarely noted in recipes ;-). -Grainlady

Thanks everyone! You are all too kind. Kay, I don't think of Exquisitely Subversive as short here in my garden, I know it is taller than some around it (like Light of the World, which is to the right of it). The picture of it was taken by me standing on the deck, so ES may look lower than it is really is.

Irisgal OUR ANNIVERSARY is a Brad Jalbert rose I got from Palatine this yr. Not sure why it's not on HMF. Reds are not my favorite color class... but gotta have a few... Haha. This one is really gorgeous. I am so glad I ordered it. It's very difficult to photograph accurately. Very velvety purpley-red blooms. They actually were bigger and prettier in the pot early in the season. I think the plant is just getting accustomed to it's spot in the ground. Plus it's been HOT. Hey Ingrida, that's ok. Takes awhile to get all these photos uploaded. I wish we could do more than 10 at a time.