Hi, I recently joined Garden Web, although years ago I joined in the gardening section. But, went back to work, long hours, long travel and just to many hours away from home to enjoy the beauty around us. I recently became unemployed due to General Motors (worked for a company associated with GM) and my husband has moved to MI to continue working for GM. Now I am back and forth between MI and TN since we are not giving up our home here that we plan on retiring at. So this year has been a struggle on knowing which direction to follow. I have extra time on my hands and I find recycling junk very interesting. I live in southwest TN and love it here. Although the weather has been far too hot to enjoy. I know it has been like this everywhere. So now that the weather is cooling off I should have more time outside to start and finish things I am in the middle of, due to getting involved with junk. :) I googled glass totems and found this site. My mother n law had made a couple and I fell in love. I have since made some and really got into making plate flowers. I also have copied many of the things posted here and hope to try them all in time. I plan on selling some garden junk items at the yearly OctoberFest in my local area next month. Just getting started and not really wanting to get rid of anything I have made yet. So not sure what all I will be selling. My birthday is coming up soon and I will be 57. Too young to retire and too old to look for another job. I want to be able to travel back and forth to MI to see my hubby so I need something flexible. So I am thinking of getting into re-purposing junk. Hubby will be home for the weekend and I might go to MI next week. I haven't been able to show him the mess I made of the barn with all of our junk we had and the stuff I have been buying at TS,GW and antique places. I have an area to work once it isn't 100 degrees and love it. I would love to go see Shabby Joes display at an art fair in Marshall, MI not far from my hubby. Well, this is it for me. I am excited and have things to finish before DH gets home late tonight. Thank you all for the ideas here and the support you give each other. Suzq

The Ring is an opera, I think, not wanting to speak for Carol. But my question was going to be, why see it several times in a row? Must be a great show. I don't know Opera at all. If it means shoes that hurt my feet, I'm not going. Earthly I love your dog from photos I've seen and hope it's just a passing minor malady. Pet her and love her up lots and be assured that she's in our thoughts. Same goes for your son and his arm- the Summer of Pain- for him in a cast. I broke my collarbone when I was about 8 and couldn't swim all summer, it was such a bummer. Hope it has healed well and he can cry FREEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM soon. Earthly, wouldja mind being reeeeeeeeeal careful cutting up all those delicious sounding vegetables from your garden. (You sound like Kay Scarpetta from the books by Patricia Cornewell, whipping up some wonderful adlib italian sauce in her kitchen.) You only get ten fingers to type with you know, and we'd miss you terribly if you couldn't post due to kitchen amputations. Enough of that talk.... So, to be clear, you would serve tomato gravy on pasta, or with meat and pasta? We'd call that marinara sauce. Stephanie, by all means dahlias come in shorter sizes 1-3 feet is easy. Here are a couple of my 'shorties' equally delightful as the taller ones. Aurwen's Violet, bright purple little pompon ( round) only 2.5- 3 ft tall A favorite from Lowes! Impression Fantastico- blooms its fool head off all season long, the more you cut, the more it sprouts: Pearson's Michelle- a prolific little medium orange pompon that would look absolutely marvelous with your posted orangish dahlia. Mine is slow this year and I sure miss its many blooms. Jack O Lantern 3 ft tall, variable orange/yellow collarette- so cute! And one of my current favorites: Kari Dancer- pink/yellow cactus on 3 ft bush Natal- a really dark red, almost black in the center: Karras 150 a lovely white cactus on 3 foot plant: Brookside J Cooley a real champ in the top Fabulous Fifty of dahlias of all time: I finally didn't kill it this year! Foxy Lady, Kind of maroon and yellow, fades to more medium pink- lots of blooms on 3 foot plant. Just one more, I swear! check out the coloration on these petals. It looks just like the deep pink is painted on a canvas of white. This one rotted in our cold wet spring, much to my dismay. Fascination: Are you sorry you asked yet? LOL! There are probably 5,000 more to choose from in the short height range; I just don't have them- yet. There are plenty of what are called "bedding dahlias" too: kind of like mums, many many blooms on a 18-24 inch bush; not so good for cutting, but great to line a path or sidewalk. Oh I can hardly wait til dawn to get out to the gardens! Everybody have a great weekend and think good thoughts for Earthly's poochy, Shirley's son's Kerry, and Dusty in absentia (come back and check in Dusty!), and all those healing from one ailment or another.

What wonderful happy pictures to look at. I was there is spirit with you...I could even hear your beautiful voices. Really! That phone call was the highlight of my week! Thank you for thinking of me. I am so glad that I was home to answer. You are all the greatest. Maybe next year a phone call won't be needed for me to hear all that laughter and fun.

I've lost the lttle copy utility I had on my computer If anyone wants o update t he list go ahead