Folks, it's Zone 5-6. Get used to it. And check out the Old Farmer's Almanac; they did predict a cool spring for our area. They even got the dates of the snow in March on the nose. The great thing about NJ's climate & weather is that it's not the same same same thing all the time. You can have plants that N Englanders can't, if you put them in facing S-SW & in lee of a wall or the side of the house. You also can have bulbs that need a winter chilling, and birch trees, unlike the folks down south. We have the best climate in the East, here, because we have a little of everything. The extreme swings are due to the climate change we are creating ourselves; write your congressperson & yell about signing the Kyoto accords, wanting more fuel efficient cars, etc. Dump the SUV. My glads always survive winter; at least the ones I plant facing south next to the stucco foundation. Some of the ones I plant out in the open also have overwintered for several years. I view them as gifts.

I did some research on them and what I found isn't good. For one thing, they are virtually impossible to eliminate as adults so getting them in the nymphal development stage is what is recommended. This means finding where they are hatching. Also, fall cleanup is very important. They hate cilantro and this is recommended as a deterrent. They also hate peas and sweet clover. A biological control is nosema lucustae, which is a naturally occurring protozoan that causes disease and death in grasshoppers (and crickets). You spread wheat bran flakes, into which spores of the parasite are impregnated, around the garden. When the grasshopper ingests it, the spore ruptures and activates the disease. This makes the grasshopper slow and thus easy prey for the birds. This spore is not toxic to birds, animals or other insects. Like many organic techniques, this is not an "instant" cure; it takes time and is looked at as an overall long term practice that will control the pest. What I can't figure out is why grasshoppers this year? They are known to love dry climates. I never in a million years thought I'd be battling grasshoppers in NJ (Nebraska or Oklahoma, maybe) but not in the wettest year in NJ history. Tomorrow I'm going through my garden leaf by leaf. I hope I find where they're hatching. If anyone wants this file, email me at NJCher@yahoo.com. It's a pdf file and is full of information and resources. Cher

Bosch does not stand behind it’s parts or technical assistance. My dishwasher (Ihave two of them in my kitchen) is about 3 years old when the programming panel on the door stopped working. i ordered and installed a new one from Bosch and the panel continued to say ”add salt” even though my dishwasher (800 series) doesn’t have a salt dispenser. I then had to hire a professional to come to my home and fix the unit. After a long struggle, he couldn’t fix it either, so he called Bosch and was told to replace the harness. I ordered the harness, arranged for the repair guy to come back. He installed the new harness and it still didn’t work. So he called Bosch again and this time was told to replace the control unit on the right side of the dishwasher. I again ordered the new part, the process was repeated and the dishwasher still didn’t work. Now I’m $600+ into repairs and the unit has been unusuable for 2 months. I subsequently found out that the right side control unit has nothing to do with programming, even though we were trying to fix a programming issue. Finally the repair man determined that the replacement control door unit that I had ordered from Bosch and replaced was defective. So I called Bosch told them the above and asked for a free replacement of their defective part. They made me send them all my bills, including the one for their bad part. Then they made we wait only to be told there is a one month guarantee on their electrical parts, and since the part was purchased some 2 months earlier, they would NOT send me a free replacement. They knew the one month guaranty was exceeded because of their technical people telling us to replace multiple other parts that didn’t solve the problem and they knew I had purchased two of their dishwashers at the same time, yet they refused to replace the defective replacement for the door control unit. I replaced that part a second time using another vender and my didhwasher now worksOtis. How greedy is this company given the circumstances just outlined? Your dishwasher will eventually break and you will find yourself in my situation. Can you trust this company to treat you properly? I don’t think so, and neither should you. I’ve written this to protect you, so I hope you act accordingly.

Sweetie--fell in love with Canterbury the minute I laid eyes on it. Totally had blinders on. I looked no further. It looked great with the island (maple sorrel with a dark glaze) but after I saw the cupboards installed I knew it just wasn't right for me. All I saw was that sea of white cupboards and knew I had to put the brakes on the Canterbury. If you saw a previous post, the Canterbury was already templated and a week had passed.....All week I agonized and knew it was the wrong decision for me. I called the KD and the quartz was not cut yet so she was able to put a hold on it. Took another week and brought several more samples of quartz with white backgrounds home. I really took my time on this and knew that New Quay was what I was going to get when I laid it on top of the cupboards.. Of all the decisions in the kitchen, this is my favorite. New Quay has a lot of grey and white with just a bit of khaki. There are some tiny "diamond" chips in it too. You don't see that from far, just close up. For me, the Canterbury just wasn't right with the white cupboards. If they were more creamy in color, it would have been fine, but they are definitely white. I still need to pick out the subway and have been thinking white all along, but now am leaning towards a very pale grey. Oh, my floor also is a kind of light and darkish coffee color...it's an Asian Walnut from Casabella called Champagne (definitely not light). I have all stainless appliances so I like the blend of the quartz with them. To me, it's all very calming and I don't find it cold at all. I hope all you Cambria countertoppers get a cheese tray...it's a nice piece of stone! I know they didn't send it to me for a flawless transaction! They're probably still talking about me :(