Just the other day I was reading an old thread on GW, and a poster was saying he scarified some Black Mondo grass seeds by mixing them with sand and grinding them between two boards. He said it simulated what happens to the seeds when they are swallowed by birds, get ground up in their gizzards, and are then pooped out. I was thinking it might be easier to just rub them between 2 pieces of coarse sand paper. But whatever works right? LOL Gizzard: Also called ventriculus. a thick-walled, muscular pouch in the lower stomach of many birds and reptiles that grinds food, often with the aid of ingested stones or grit.

Our house, built in 1989, was the site of an 1800's farmhouse. It burned down in the 40's and the land was sold to developers in the 70's and 80's. The man who owned all the land that consists of our neighborhood and one across the street lives behind me. We constantly find nails, horseshoes, and old farm parts, marbles, a metal container of toothpaste, perfume bottles, an old hubcap and really ugly pieces of fabric. My 10 yo dd has a metal detector and loves to dig holes searching for treasure. I seem to have accumulated a bunch of rusty metal I'm not allowed to throw away. The foundation to the old house is in our backyard so I'm always hitting huge foundation blocks. They are pretty neat b/c they're not machine made but most are too big to get out of the ground. Once I hit a barbed wire fence about 1 1/2' underground when I was digging a new bed. It just keeps on going, though all the posts are blackened from the fire. Some of the farm critters were kept in the backyard so I have great loamy soil where it should be red clay. I'm not arguing though, I love it! I found an arrowhead as a child but have long since lost it. Heather

The answer is *yes*, it's over 10 degrees cooler on average than last year. There have been days that it's been 20 degrees colder. DH wants me to post that he did think of the temperature as a possibility, but told himself "I don't know anything about gardening, that can't be it" -- reverse self-denigration! I've heard girls/women do it about, say, math, and talk themselves out of right answers to problems, but this is a first in this direction...

I wish to sincerely apologize to my swap mate for the odd,oddest swap. Life has been upside down at my house and still in a sideways position but I am back to having a little time for myself. My husband had what appeared to be a stroke but it turned out that sections of his brain are beginning to die off from a bleed he suffered from approximately 15 years ago. I brought him home from rehab on Monday and Monday evening he was admitted to the regular hospital with pneumonia. He is recovering but I do not know if he will be coming home or placed temporily back into rehab for intensive breathing treatments or permanently into a skilled nursing facility. I wish to thank you guys for your patience and understanding and I will be getting my late packages into the mail this coming week. They will be special due to the lateness. I once again offer my apologies. Linda