Before I joined my garden club ordered bulbs in bulk for sharing. I hope we can do it again and also share seeds. We visit local ecological vegetable farms, public gardens and parks with special features, our own gardens and local private gardens of some fame. We organize a country walk in spring to a beauty spot where one of us has made a fire for a barbecue in advance. Last year we had a talk by a remarkable woman farmer who grows several old varieties of grains like spelt and visited her farm in summer to buy flour and taste and buy her bread. We arrange plant fairs on a small scale twice a year and sell our surplus plants and produce. This fall we will have a pelargonium competition. Each contestant starts with a cutting of the same size and the same variety (Wilhelm Langguth) supplied by a member who is a collector. Next week we will visit a local nursery after hours where we get reduced prices when we come as group. The owner gives a short talk about novelties and any plants of distinction. This post was edited by mariannese on Fri, May 16, 14 at 6:09

Just want to pass on my experience with my owner/builder Hardie Plank installation. I prepainted approx. 600 sticks of primed HP in a heated shop with a Cloverdale covercoat flat acrylic latex. (If you don't prepaint then the primed overlap never gets sealed correct?) I had heard of the chalking problem with HP, and so restacked the prepainted plank with heavy plastic wrap between each piece. The rumour at the time (2008) was that contact with the raw back of the hardie plank caused the chalking on the front. I gave the installed siding a 2ND coat of the Cloverdale,,, all for naught, I got chalking and fading within five years!!!!! I suspect the paint quality, even though we asked for the longest lasting paint they had. At seven years commenced repainting this 2 story house and its five, 12 in 12, 33ft. peaks, with BM Aura, rrrrrrr. The real reason I am posting is a discovery I made when siding my garden shed with the Hardie. I took to sealing the cut ends, front and back, plus the lower drip edges and the upper overlap with some oil primer I had kicking around. Then painting the finished job with the remaining Cloverdale. A few years later the chalking appears where primed hardie got only the latex paint, just like the main house. BUT NO CHALKING WHERE THE OIL PRIMER WAS APPLIED!!! See attached photographic proof. So don't be so fast to discount using an oil primer on your Hardie Plank! I have now primed shed with the oil primer from Home Hardware as a test, and will update how it pans out. Sorry for rambling long, Quadlock owner/builder, Norm

Try and stay in the light to slightly darker colors if you wish to make the house seem larger. The darker the color, the more the house will look smaller.

Walnut Creek, here it is. The notes are Sharon's and I haven't tried it with tuna, although she said that was an acceptable substitution. SALMON QUICHE WITH WALNUT CRUMB CRUST posted by SharonCb Preheat oven to 375 degrees F Pastry: Easy - doesn't require rolling, just press down with fingers and back of a spoon into a 24 cm (9.5 inch) pyrex flan dish or pie plate. 1 - 1/2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup cheddar cheese (grated) 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup walnuts finely chopped Mix these ingredients in a bowl, cutting in butter with two knives until crumbly then press into a pie dish, including up the sides. Bake in pre-heated oven for five minutes. Then remove from oven. Meanwhile mix the following ingredients in a bowl: Filling: 3 eggs beat till frothy 3/4 cup sour cream 1 cup mozzarella cheese (grated) 1/2 onion, chopped 1 can salmon (7 3/4 ounces) - I prefer fresh piece salmon that has been baked - 'smoked salmon' is really good too. 1/4 cup mayonnaise Pour these ingredients into the pie crust - bake in oven approximately 45 minutes or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean. The top is usually a nice golden brown colour. If you don't have salmon on hand, tinned tuna works well too in this recipe. Annie