Good Morning TM, our internet just came back on. Someone hit a pole a couple of blocks down the road so internet, telephone service and cable has not been available for a few hours. Good thing we have a cell phone in case there was an emergency. Todays trivia question, I'm stumped, haven't the foggiest. It looks like a decent day to work in the garden, so much to do and the weather has been very uncooperative lately, we're still waiting for spring never mind summer so I better have at it. Have a great day everyone. Annette

The answer is about 80%. This will probably strike some of you as being too low, because the phrase 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity seems to be a pretty common thing to say about a nasty muggy summer day. The fact is, 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity doesn't happen in this country. The oceans around us are not hot enough to evaporate that much water into the air. But wait, you say, I know for a fact that I've heard the weather report mention humidities in the nineties. You're right, but only when it's cooler than 90°F. For example, at 8:00 this morning, the humidity was 91% in Corpus Christi, but the temp was 76°. In Seattle, as I type, it is 93% humidity, but at a coolish 53°. Once those two places warm up for the day, those percentages will drop down to lower numbers. Confusing? It's all because the percentages tell you how much moisture is in the air compared to the maximum that could be there at that temp. Hot air can have a lot more moisture in it than cool air, so it would take a lot more moisture to give 90% humidity at 90° than to have 90% humidity at 60°. This makes the whole thing seem very confusing. In fact, the air in Seattle this morning is actually much drier than the air in Corpus Christi, even though its humidity is a couple of percent higher. My explanation isn't very complete yet, and I'd love to say more, but I'm getting a little tired of typing and I'm sure that most of you are getting way more than you bargained for this morning. No one got this right, but Stagerat was definitely thinking along the right lines, going with lower humidities, so for Stagerat. Just for the record, our troops in Iraq definitely do suffer ninety degrees and ninety percent humidity, and worse. The oceans around that region are hot enough to spew truly awful humidities into the air. ThinMan

I read on their sign they have Calylophus, which I highly recommend for caliche soils. The plant doesn't say much the first year, but it turns into a focal point by the second year because it bushes up and bears hundreds of flowers from spring to fall. It is also a native evergreen, drought tolerant and it reseeds freely. To me, it's a must have. Omar Here is a link that might be useful: Calylophus

I've spent parts of 3 days haunting an estate sale on estate in area that was once well outside the Mpls-St. Paul boundaries but is now embedded in a second tier suburb. Ad said "prominent St. Paul family" and rumors said they were related to a RR baron and were Ivy League educated, etc. Tried to pick up as much of the sociology of the place as I could. 1930s was the rumored provinance, but I think it was the colonial revival of 1920s. White Cape Cod shake siding house with dormers, now with double garage. Overlooked a large wetland and probably was a former farm or hobby farm. Owner sold land surrounding it to subdivisions of 1980s-90s wealthy buyers. Former "barn" is now modified into Dutch Colonial house. May have had servants quarters? The thing reeks of Williamsburg & Wallace Nutting pretenses. Wood paneling, curved staircase, 18th and 19th century antiques, wide plank repro floor, large formal dining room with multiplane windows. But the sale crowd also revealed what moderns would consider flaws of the house. Everything moved through a series of narrow necks: long nasty driveway that provoked many troubles during multiple snowfalls during sale, long slim paved walkway to front door, small front hall, one person at a time on stair, little bedrooms, narrow butler pantry passage into kitchen, narrow faux-Palladian porch-walkway under extended roof. Kitchen was probably updated in 1960s or 70s or 80s but was always restrained--Kenmore range with metal hood mounted onto ceiling above, off white painted old cabs, modest refrig., synthetic floor tile that resembles cork. One replacement light fixture over table and one old ceiling fixture and one light over sink. There was a sink in the passage from dining room, embedded in a 5-foot run of metal countertop, very likely original to the house, with frumpy cabs above and below and on opposite side of passage. An eating area with view could hold a family of kids--this may have been an add-on when double garage was attached. A "library" with lots of windows and knotty pine walls and beaverboard ceiling was the casual room. Probably had hunting & sporting prints on walls and akin items lying around. Imagine the owner smoking a pipe and surveying his grounds from there. We didn't see part of upstairs--closed off, including bathroom(s?). This was a high-end estate of the pre-WWI period. There were obviously dinner parties and cocktail parties and garden parties and pool parties. Metal lawn furniture and a modest 2-burner Weber grill. Lots of panoramic views of the wetland in distance below. Servants very likely. All the images of Hollywood scenarios from the B movies about New England made just before my 1950s childhood came screaming back to me, esp. the ones about worldly writers working on a manuscript for a Broadway producer. This place is 15-25 minutes from downtown St. Paul by freeway. Comments by sale attendees used words like "horrible kitchen" and "screwy floor plan." DH said "I can't imagine anyone wanting to buy this place" after digging me out of the ditch for the 3rd time. Charm just doesn't cut it much any more. But I think it's been sold anyway. Postscript: I couldn't afford the $25,000 Pennsylvania highboy, the $12,000 Early Republic self-storing dining table, or much else, although I coveted it all. Oh, except an 1810 eliptical-front mahogany chest which is now blocking the walkpath in our in-progress new addition. DH is barely speaking to me.