We're still waiting for a good rain. I live near a lake that is 14 feet below normal. Due to safety concerns, all the boat ramps ( but one) have been closed for months and the one remaining open is scheduled to be closed in a week. I'd love to have a week of nothing but a slow, soaking rain. Send some our way. :-) Marilyn

David, I paged thru their whole catalog again last nite, and I was reading the sweet potato descriptions, and very much tempted! They explain how your zone doesn't matter, it's the "heat units" that count! Digit should like that! Even with enough heat, tho, I wouldn't possibly have enough room for them! Oh, for a big old plantation like some of you guys have!!! Chickens and turkeys and geese! Oh, my! Based on my seed order, I'm not at all surprised to hear that people are happy with their poultry! They have an incredible selection, and even if I could raise chickens, I don't have a CLUE how I'd pick out just one or two kinds! When I was a kid we had just plain old white chickens that laid plain old white eggs! (Back then, brown eggs were cheaper! My, how times have changed!) I don't know what they were! They were CHICKENS! Maybe leghorns! I was always scared of the roosters, and hated when I had to try to get the eggs out from under a "cluck," which is what my parents/grandparents called a hen that decided she was gonna sit on and PROTECT and try to hatch her eggs! SCAT little kid! You can't have my eggs! Peck, peck, peck! Their tomato selection is almost unbelievable, and the main reason why I decided to order from them---they had three of the yellow/orange varieties I was considering. There are pages and pages and pages of tomatoes. Very brief descriptions, so you need to go to Tatiana's or somewhere for more info, but, boy, do they ever have a lot of varieties. They list them by color/type, and check this out! 257 Red 107 Pink 62 Yellow/gold 13 White/cream (didn't even know there was such a thing!) 10 Green 6 "Keeping" 33 Black - Gray - Bronze 5 Stuffing 44 Paste 69 Cherry/salad They have over 600 varieties! Where are you, Plantation, when I really need you! For those that aren't familiar with the company and like OP and OG seed, all of their seed is open pollinated, and much of it is certified organic now and all will be in the future, and none of their seeds are chemically treated. Sounds crazy, but I can hardly wait to order from them next year---and, yes, I will be ordering earlier next year! This year I finally got the order done and sent in on the 7th, and I got it on the 28th, so 21 days---which I guess really isn't that bad for a small company and snail mail both ways! Bonnie, I only got 18 of the watermelon seeds, and I want to keep a few of them--I don't know for what!--but I was considering giving 4 or 5 away to a couple people on the swap thread! If you'd like enough for one "hill," I'll put you down for dibs on my keepin'-track list! Wish I was coming by your way this September so I could get a taste of one of them! If I give you a few of the Harris Model parsnip seeds, will you plant them somewhere? If you and the kids like sweet potatoes, you'll like them. They're great with pot roast! The seeds are only viable for a couple years, and I have way more than I can...

Most good plasmas,such as the new Pioneer Kuro models can be engaged with a slight movement of the picture that is impossible to detect when watching, so even when playing games burn-in is quite unlikely. With a Pioneer or a Panasonic plasma a good rule of thumb is don't use it for gaming during the first 100 hours of watching or for static scroll lines on the picture bottom, such as on ESPN and some news channels. After that, good plasmas have a white-out feature in case of the slight chance of residual burn-in--it basically erases it. Since I am a videophile that loves watching good movies and shows, I watch in a dim to dark room. Without a doubt a Pioneer Kuro and even the latest Panasonics have a much superior contrast than any LCD model and this makes thepicture more natural and richer, or if youn want, the colors POP with exactitude. In a bright room and if you have gamester kids and grandkids that frequent the HDTV, I would get a Sony XBR or Samsung, or even one or two of the JVC models. But the 52" Sony's, Samsungs, Sharps,and JVC's aren't quite as good as their 46" and 40" models. The Sony 46" XBR4 or 5 and 40" XBR 4 or 5(and even a 32" XBR 4 or 5 for the bedroom) are about as good as LCD's get at this point. I have a 40" Sony XBR 4 in my bedroom and love it, but compared to my Pioneer Kuro 50" (5080) and in my media room my Pioneer Elite PRO-150FD 60", the Sony isn't in the same ballpark. If your room is dim enough and a 50" plasma is large enough I would save money and the new Pioneer Kuro PDP-5080. While it isn't a 1080p screen, as long as you sit at least 7 feet away it will look as good as any 1080p screen and it is available online between $2,375-$3,000 delivered. Just don't buy the way overpriced warranties. Panasonic sells a 1080p 50" plasma a little cheaper, but I find the Pioneer better. If you want to get an even bigger screen either get the Panasonic 58" 1080p which can be gotten online delivered between $3,200-$3,900. The 60" Pioneer Kuro PDP-6010FD will cost delivered online between $4,050-$5,000--with some dealers asking for full price--up to $6,500. I would get the 60" Pioneer over the 58" Panny, unless budget is a huge issue. Greg

Anyanka, I know Cardiff & Penarth, of course - not far from here. We're all a bit temperamental, so your ex is not a-typical. And you weren't indelicate at all - thanks for anwering. Cindy, We can eat leeks, of course (in Henry V, Fluellen makes the Englishman eat one raw!). Then, having a lot of the west coast all to ourselves (and lovely it is), we have a lot of fish - particularly shellfish, like cockles. Then, there's a seaweed called 'laverbread' which those of us brought up on tend to love, fried with bacon and eggs (and others tell me they would like to use as a substitute for tarring roads.....). Our lamb is delectable: 'The mountain sheep are sweeter 'But the valley sheep are fatter, 'We therefore deemed it meeter 'To carry off the latter' (War song of the Dinas Fawr) (Peacock, I think) Welsh 'black' beef is sold in the best restaurants. Welshcakes (griddlecakes) like what Gran (Mamgu) made are always lying around, waiting to be picked at, likewise Bara Brith - literally 'sweet bread' Chips are sold everywhere - there's quite a lot of overweightness (I just coined that word) around. But we are very cosmopolitan and like to try new things all the time. Fairly recently, we have started distilling a tasty whisky called 'Penderyn', but it's very expensive. Vee has mentioned 'Brains' beer.... Pam, We are going to Llandudno next weekend for a conference with the Welsh Acadamy (Yr Academi). For the last two years, the conferences have been held there. It's a lovely place, on the north Wales coast. Most of the buildings on the sea front are Regency: walk out on to the pier and look back at the town - it shines white and very beautiful. A bit like Brighton (the best bits) but on a smaller scale. Not much Welsh spoken there (except at the conference) because it's quite near Liverpool and a favourite with our English friends. And we love poetry. Swansea Borough Council refuse-collection vehicles are the only ones I have ever seen anywhere with lines of poetry on them - mainly Dylan Thomas, of course. "Here come the 'Boys of summer' ", I say, when I see them jumping out of their vans and emptying the wayside bins along the seashore...... I'm looking forward to the St. David's Day thrash. With luck, we might have won another rugby match before then (we beat Scotland last week, but, alas, were beaten by the dreaded English (Sais) the week before) I'm training up Grendal (who is half dragon, by the way, and half something unmentionable) to behave in a courtly fashion to you all when you arrive. My word for you will be: 'Croeso!' - 'Welcome!' Dido