Thank you all for your compliments. In answer, and Rita could tell you this, I went daylily crazy in 2008, so the beds are only a couple years old. That is when I tore the meniscus in my knee, had to have surgery, and couldn't be on my feet much, so I discovered the Garden forum with all your wonderful photographs. I had no idea daylilies could look like that and I wanted some of them. I Freaked at spending $50 for a daylily. (That was a while back) but I got over the "sticker shock" pretty quickly. The beds in the photograph on this morning's post were started then. I added two rows to the front of the beds last year (year two) for the Emmerich plants I had ordered. They were not allowed to bloom much last year, but have made up for it this year. I also reworked a couple of other beds to plant daylilies. So, I have added a few beds and some smaller planting areas since the beginning...the latest this week to plant seven plants from the Maryott order. All of the beds were dug by hand (drives DH crazy to see me sitting with my little Cobra hook.) But that way I can actually get the grass roots out. I also use Preen in my beds and I mulch with wood mulch, since I discovered Mini nuggets are prone to wash with heavy rains. There are paths in the beds, but I can see why you would ask since the paths are not super wide. There are never more than 2 daylilies deep from my reach on the path (but I do have to stretch more since the plants have increased in size). I will be dividing some of the earliest plants purchased this year. that will allow me to get a few of the shorter ones that are hidden and get them more forward. And I work to support my addiction to gardening...otherwise, I would retire. There have to be some special rewards for getting old, and I have decided this is one of mine. Thanks for your interest and I hope I answered any questions. kay

Y'all, I really toughed it out today and worked outside until the heat index hit 100 degrees, then scampered inside to shower, put on clean, DRY clothes, etc. Then, Tim and I went out and ran a few errands. By the time we were on our way home, the HX had topped out at 103, so today still felt a lot better than several days last week! Jay, I think it is the two previous drought summers that made me forget how horrible the heat indexes can be when it is more humid. For the 20 or so months that we had serious drought, our humidity in the afternoon often bottomed out at around 15, but even went as low as 7 or 8 or 10% a few times. You know, 100 degrees with 15, 20 or 30% humidity feels pretty good compared to 100 degrees with 50 or 70 or 80% humidity. Since our rain has stopped here, I expect our humidity levels to fall progressively lower and think our heat index numbers will fall, too, over time. Right now, though, they are awful. One good thing about the recent lack of rainfall is that our mosquito levels are finally falling, although the skeeters certainly haven't completely disappeared. Patti, Please tell your son how much our family appreciates his service to our nation and we appreciate the sacrifices he and the other troops are making to keep us free and safe. Also, I hope you know we will be thinking of him (and also of how much y'all are missing him while he's away) and praying for his safe return in August. I cannot imagine 130 degrees, and 150 degrees doesn't even sound possible. How our troops manage to do their jobs and accomplish their tasks in those temperatures is just beyond me. When it hits 107, 108 or 110 here, I can barely walk from the air conditioned house to the air conditioned car without thinking I am going to die. How they can live and function in substantially hotter conditions is just beyond me! Diane, It was only 95 or 96 here officially, but it sure felt awful, and you probably have worse humidity than we do. I don't think I'll ever get that Bio-Dome over the garden that I've been lobbying for. Today, Tim put up one tarp to give the dog yard a bit more shade. They already have quite a bit of shade....one area with a 10' x 10' metal canopy, another with a 4' x 8' metal roof, another small covered back porch, a few trees, and a "wall" of sunflowers, but they always whine and carry on like they are roasting in an oven. So, he put up a tarp, and I strategically placed a row of container-grown tomatoes to create another wall of shade, and now the doggies have more shade. Yet (play sad song on violin here), I am expected to work in the garden in full sun. Clearly, the dogs are more pampered than me. LOL You can come stay with us any time. I have a lot of bermuda grass to dig up and convert to mixed beds and your assistance would be just wonderful. I am wondering if your DH and wonderful children would stay "on task" on their various projects without you and the baby there to tell them what to do. LOL It actually has been slightly cooler than I expected the last two days based on last week's heat index numbers. Of course, once you've worked outside in a heat index of 109 (the hottest I think I ever remember here in the past is 110 or 111),then 102 or 103 feels "pretty good". I heard a rumor that a "cold front" is headed for OK by the weekend. Yippee! Dawn

Any of you who live in the SF Bay Area, I'm up in the North Bay and I'd love to share some of the leftovers. I swear, my pants fit better before I started cooking for this party! :) Yes, I made a lot of different things, and I still have a folder full of recipes I WANTED to make too. But my freezer is only so big... Thanks for all the kind words, everybody, both your condolences and the kudos on the food. The latter coming from this group feels like high praise indeed. So many of you inspire me.... I really have fun getting ready for parties like this. Trying lots of new recipes, using old favorites, and getting to graze to eat. johnliu - I honestly don't know how many hours I spent on all this. LOTS! :) I started about a month ahead, making and freezing things (quiches, desserts, etc) as I felt like it. I don't work and it's something I truly enjoy doing. dedtired - yes, I hate no shows. A few people let me know they couldn't make it cuz they were sick, but the rest... GRRR! But the way I see it - they missed out and I have all the leftovers! Other than a few more raw veggies than I could finish before they started getting gross, everything left over was eaten quickly or either still in the freezer or freezable. betty - I'll dig out the ham ball recipe and post. It wasn't in my original thread which I've linked below. annie - (assuming you're the same Annie on the Harvest Forum) the apple pie filling was using the NCHFP website recipe. If you didn't help me with that, I know you helped me with other canning things. And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your salsa! I would be more than happy to send you some of the little apple pies if I thought they would get there in an edible state. Kathy Here is a link that might be useful: Original thread asking for input

Lisa_a- that is a nice fabric, but I don't think it's the one I'm looking for since it has no yellow. The reason I'm so hung up on this particular fabric is because it has the aqua, citron, yellow, khaki, and cream that I love. I was really depending on this fabric to tie my accessories together. I guess I'm just going to have to try to find something different with the same colors in it. I love Amy Butler fabrics but I haven't seen them in person and I'm not 100% sure the ones I like contain the right colors. However, Waverly does have a fabric similar to the other fabric (it comes in mineral and mist I think). Instead of brown the lattice pattern is cream. That could work and it's on sale right now. Thanks again and I'm open to substitute fabrics with the same color scheme that is not necessarily a stripe. I love kitchens with relatively neutral choices and bold fabrics.