Barbcoleus, sheep are not easy. I had a small flock that I planned for, that would crop the grass. Instead they ate my fruit trees, shrubs and grape vines. They ignored the lush lawn totally. They "would" eat expensive T&A hay, grains, and Peanut hay. They had to be clipped, dipped, wormed, and have regular hoof trimming. They hate any kind of touching, so any treatments were a battle. They were extremely noisy. My husband couldn't take the constant "baaahing." I loaned them out at X-Mas for live Nativity Scenes at a local church. They were a big pain in the neck. I placed them all in pet homes. I won't own them again. Cute, but very dull-witted, and high-maintainance. Turkeys are much better "farm" pets. Sweet and gentle. I've never had pigs, but I get to listen to, and smell the neighbor's pigs. Ugh! Lisa

This is a most interesting thread.... I'll go off topic here briefly, if only to lighten the mood a little.... As a testimony of New Yorkers NOT being rude, I share the following experience: While in Connecticut on a business trip (for DH), I went to NYC to see a play with a friend. Of course, I wore all my "cute" going out clothes to be out on the town that night with her and some friends. Went shopping, got mistaken for Anne Heche several times,(I wonder if that's a compliment or not!!) saw the play, had a blast. Next morning, DH was to bring the himself and the kids into the city to go sight seeing. It was November, and VERY cold in the city, so I told him to dress the kids very warmly and to bring me a warm hat and my tennis shoes. (MY "cute" boots had left me blisters....ouch!) Dressing "cute" was no longer important. I was cold, tired and just didn't care...) While waiting for DH and kids to come to my hotel room, I decided that I didn't want to lug all of my new purchases around with me while sight seeing with 3 kids. Plus, I thought, it was freezing, so it just made sense to "layer" all of my clothes. Perfect solution. No carrying heavy bags, and I was warm. All that was left were some of the dirty clothes from the night before. Socks, uncomfortable shoes, etc. Very light and easy to carry. Finally met DH in the lobby when I saw that he'd dressed the kids in their (albeit) warmest down coats, that were normally reserved for playing in the (few and far between) snowy days in our home state. They were very dirty from playing outside, but warm. DH also (as per my request) brought me a warm knit stocking cap and my tennis shoes. Not the most attractive thing, I admit. But I didn't care. Off we went to go sight seeing. But first, a pit stop at McDonald's. Wanted to take a pre-emptive strike against the inevitable "We're hungry" when we're RIGHT in the middle of something good. I decided to go against our norm of ordering each kid a separate happy meal. They weren't that hungry to begin with, and the dumb toys would just be a distraction on this particular trip, so I opted to just get them a snack of a supersize fries and large drink to share. Just something to tide them over for a few NYC sights. DH goes to counter to wait on his delayed order, and the three kids and I are sitting at the table eating when the nicest lady came up and gave my youngest a toy from a Happy Meal. Oh my gosh! Thank you so much! How nice. We continue eating. Then a few minutes later, a very nice gentleman comes up and gives us one of those peel-n-win game pieces worth 1 free apple pie. Oh my gosh AGAIN! How NICE New Yorkers are! DH comes back, surveys the new found items, and looks at me kinda crooked...."Why are people giving us stuff?" "Well, I don't know, but I gotta tell ya, New Yorkers just must be SO much nicer than we've heard!" We leave, with me thinking that the whole "rude New Yorker" thing is just not so....And then it happened. I looked to my left and saw a huge plate glass window. I saw the reflection of my family in it. And I immediately knew why people were giving us stuff. Let me paint the picture for you. All of the clothes I was wearing were showing in some way. 4 or 5 different collars were poking up out of my big, black coat. 2 pairs of the pants I bought the night before were velour-like material, and were consequently riding up on each other, showing that I was wearing 3 pairs of pants altogether. My hair was a mess, sticking out of the stocking cap. I had my dirty clothes and shoes from the night before in a large shopping bag....complete with paper towels hanging out the top. My children, of course, had their dirty old coats on....and while they were in McDonalds were all huddled around ONE order of fries and ONE drink!!!! It hit me. PEOPLE THOUGHT WE WERE HOMELESS!! Oh my gosh. We laughed so hard. We still laugh to this day! But those New Yorkers WERE some of the nicest people we ever met!! Just had to share. Sorry I went off topic!

Stacey, I loved The Stand. Originally as published. I think professional editors are professional for reason. That being said, I think my most favorite Stephen King book was a little known one he co-authored with Peter Straub (who wrote Ghost Story). This has been one of my all time favorite books - both for it's fantasy and it's horror. Several studios have tried to make it into a movie/mini series. I think Ron Howard is the latest to attempt it. I would recommend it as equal, but different, to The Stand. Both in my Stephen King Hall of Fame. 4 1/2 stars on Amazon from 623 reviewers: Here is a link that might be useful: The Talisman

I have always preferred the GW format over facebook, so I agree... Pretty cool to get that Glory days feel back on the board. Dennis actually posted several pictures of 'The Blues' on fb, and it got something like 160 likes and tons of comments. I have to believe that is the best single specimen I have ever seen. Ditto on 'Glauca Pendula', unreal! Some of the other real stand out's for me are 'Stanley Mountain' , 'Buffy', and 'Mittenwalt'... It would be great if they allowed Buffy to be shared, that's too nice to only be in 2 gardens!! It needs to be in mine as well : ) Much appreciated for taking the time to post these photos. Really one of the premier gardens in the country/world.