We'd take a couple feet. I sure sympathize with that snow blower not starting. Darn thing! After too many years of fighting with ours and poor Christy having to resort to shoveling I finally broke down and bought her an electric snow thrower this year. Haven't had to use it yet. Bought her a new 100' cold weather extension cord, so with others we have at least a couple hundred feet of cord, so we're good to go... I hope. Generally buying a new snow thrower means you won't need it for at least that year. We'll see.

I would look seriously at the larger single-stage machines - they are lighter and easier to handle than the 2-stage blowers. They will handle up to a six-inch snow pretty easily. The Toro 421Q has been getting some pretty good reviews. Depending on if you want to spend the $$, a Honda can't be beat. Ariens makes good 2-stage machines, but their single-stage machines seem to take a backseat to Toro. When selecting a snowblower, stick to HATS: Honda Ariens Toro Simplicity/Snapper You do NOT want to walk on the snow prior to blowing it, if at all possible. Just the pressure of your footsteps can compact the snow enough to turn it to ice, which is difficult for any snowblower to pick up. Tough snowpack or ice can be nearly impossible to clear with your average snowblower, although the tracked machines can have a real advantage here if you know how to adjust their cutting depths. Tracked machines are more difficult to handle and cost more $$. If you get many snows over six inches, then you might consider a small 2-stage, like an Ariens 624. If the smaller snows are much more prevalent, go with a 5-7hp single-stage. Leave the big 9-13hp snowblowers to the folks who regularly blow out twelve inches or more. If you make a mistake and buy a cheap snowblower like I did (Craftsman aka MTD), you can recoup some performance by installing an impeller kit (search the 'net for Clarence Impeller Kit). You might more good info at the opeonthenet forum. Here is a link that might be useful: OPEonTHEnet

In my experience moss will not grow well indoors. It can grow in a greenhouse, but not in a house or apartment. Moss requires moisture, but it also requires a great deal of moving air and good ventilation at the same time, otherwise all that moisture it likes will turn into an environment in which fungus, algae, and bacteria can thrive and kill the moss. This is only my opinion, and my experience, but I think if you grow moss indoors, you might have a good long while with it to watch it grow before it starts to die off, but eventually it will succumb to the conditions of the indoors. Pehaps there are other folks on GW who have had a different experience growing moss indoors.

Wow, GG, great work! And that garden is marvelous....I love the way they used so many different perennials and annuals mixed into their beds. The sunflowers were so pretty and the shot of the bed with the cleomes (spider flowers) was pretty too. They're one of my favorite old fashioned pass along plant. :) Thanks so much for inviting us along for the tour...can't wait for the next one! Jan