Thank you so much for the guidance/leads! I think I'm going to miss out on the seed exchange, but I will most definitely look into the Master Gardener programs locally. Toffee-el...I'd love to connect with you! Let me see if I can figure out a way to send you a private message...

wow, that's a pretty cool costume! How'd he manage to hand out candy with those paws?!

Can't say that I saw one item there that intrigued me enough to want to get it. I like to go with multi-function whenever possible. I bought a lot of gadgets when I was starting out on my own but finding I use fewer and fewer as time goes on. People told me I "needed" an electric kettle. But I have a coffeemaker. That replaces an electric kettle and for that matter an instant hot water dispenser. I can wait a couple minutes to get a couple cups of hot water. I bought a ricer but the only time I use it is for making lefse and not always then either. I have a potato masher that does the same job, often better and cleans up much more easily. Don't need special jar openers (though an electric one is interesting...) since I keep a strap wrench on the refrigerator that works pretty much the same.

Great photos, Chris, and I hope your ladybird was joined by many others in destroying the aphids. I always think of the poem "Ladybird, lady bird, fly away; Your house is on fire and your children will burn (what a terrible thought; where did this poem come from, anyway? Probably some ancient political satire like "Humpty Dumpty"). Diane