I utilize potted ivy/hanging geraniums elsewhere with great success. With a little deadheading & fertilizer, they thrive. It's the middle of Dec and they're throwing out blooms like crazy. So yes, geraniums were at the top of my list although I was thinking about branching out. I love lantana although my experience with them is that they get quite large. And in my part of the world, they don't bloom well w/ winter shadows. Do you think a mish-mash of different flowers would be aesthetically better or worse than a consistent mix of 1-2 plant types (i.e. geraniums & petunias)? Also, do you keep your planter box flowers in their pots so you can trade them out twice a year? Or do you plant them in soil and treat them like perennials? Remember: I'm within 5 miles from the ocean and don't have to worry about frost. Southern CA has its issues, but weather is not one of them. I've lived in Seattle & Dallas and learned that many of the traditional rules don't apply to our gardens. Thanks...

kec01-"dreamgarden, Where has Martin Weiss actually worked so that he could gather what you call "any real experience in the finance industry)"? Are you a salesperson for his work? " No. I am not a salesperson for his work and I don't paid to spread news about him, I do it as a public service. I receive his free newsletter but do not invest with his brokerage. I like him because he is one of the few experts in the business who is willing to tell it like it is. Here is his background so you can determine what 'real experience' he has had in the financial industry. Far more than those writers for financial publications that keep telling us that now is the time to buy..... ;) MARTIN D. WEISS is one of the nation's leading providers of a wide range of investment information. He is chairman of The Weiss Group, Inc. which consists of four separate corporations, including Weiss Research, Inc., the publisher of the Safe Money Report. The Weiss companies companies have helped thousands of individuals make informed investment decisions and objectively discriminate between strong and weak stocks, insurance companies, HMOs, banks and S&Ls. Dr. Weiss began his career in 1971 when he founded Weiss Research, dedicated to evaluating the safety of financial institutions and investments for consulting clients. After spending two years in Japan as a Fulbright Scholar studying management techniques at Japanese financial institutions, Dr. Weiss returned to the United States in 1980 to begin issuing formal safety ratings on banks and savings institutions. His firm issued the first independent insurance ratings in 1989, the first ratings of brokerage firms in 1992, and the first HMO ratings in 1994. Acclaimed for his accurate, objective evaluations, Dr. Weiss has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNBC, and network news programs, including The Today Show. He has been quoted in hundreds of newspapers and magazines, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Esquire Magazine, Money, Business Week, Fortune, and The Institutional Investor. Plus, books by Weiss have been published in Japanese and serialized in major Japanese business magazines and newspapers such as Economisto and the Japan Economic Journal. Articles have also appeared in the London Spectator and other European economic journals. His Weiss Ratings, based largely on the Weiss proprietary computer model, has won acclaim by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) for having beaten the competition by three to one in accuracy. Dr. Weiss has testified before Congress and the National Conference of Insurance Legislators regarding insurance company stability, where he has proposed legislation requiring full financial disclosure to the consumer. He testified before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations when it considered the financial difficulties befalling Blue Cross/Blue Shield member companies. He is...

For the wire idea (which is what I've seen at my framer's and which I used once): Is there a removable backing board in the frame? Take it out, place it flat on a surface and place the spoons down on it to determine your placement. You might find it easier to mount them perfectly vertically, instead of angled (I know that'd probably look boring, but you'll get an easier mounting and they are less likely to slip over time). Then of course somehow mark the mounting board to figure out the placement of the holes for the wire. Use a very finepoint marker (I'd try to find a silver one so you don't get any tell-tale marks when the project's all done). Here's how I got the holes in the backing board for the wire: I placed the backing board over a piece of wood, then gently hammered a skinny nail where I'd made the marks. (I used this technique to do a display of fountain pens in a black shadow box. Sorry, no pictures -- after a couple years I took them out because I found an acrylic stand for them that I thought was much cooler for my space.) One other thing: As an alternative to the fine-gauge silver, or silvertone wire, which might turn color over time, you could experiment with using clear fishing line or the clear beading line that's sold with the jewelry making supplies in ACMoore and Michaels and such.

Hazie...look at you go!!!! That is so pretty. It is nice to see you doing some GOG. It is up to your usual standards EXCELLENT!!! Is it out of any special pattern book?? Are you going to grout it? Your Dad will love it!!! You are so far ahead for the Christmas gifts..Im still in the planning stage...looking for supplies for what I want to do!!!