Susan, I started doing square foot gardening in the mid-1990s and it works really well for some things and not as well for others that get really large in our climate. My spacing that I use now is sort of a hybrid of spacing from Square Foot Gardening and from John Jeavons' "How to Grow More Vegetables....." book, which has a complete title about as long as the distance between Marietta and OKC. I've just experimented with the spacing until I find out which one gives me the best yields. I think Square Foot Gardening would be great for you, but encourage you to think of it as Cubed Foot Gardening and grow as many plants upright on trellises, cages or arbors as you can and you'll get even higher yields per square foot. With smaller plants like lettuce, onions, carrots, etc., the standard Square Foot Gardening spacing works fine. With larger plants that turn into monsters in our climate, like Indeterminate tomatoes, squash, etc., I go more with John Jeavons' spacing or space my plants even further apart. With peppers, it generally varies, depending on whether a given variety gets 2' tall or 4' tall or taller. I have found most peppers give a really high yield even with close spacing, and so do many determinate tomatoes. I see Lunas most years in April, but not every single year. I usually don't see them in a bad fire year, but I'm not sure if that's because they aren't "here" or if I am just gone so much during a bad fire season that I miss seeing them when they are here. At our house, I almost always see them either on the ground in the area under the big security light that lights up the garage/parking area or hanging around outside the plant shelf window. When I see them at the fire station, it usually is early in the day and they're normally lying on the ground near the security light that illuminates the front of the station. I've never seen the larvae, but we have acres and acres of woods so they could be anywhere. We have tons of native pecans and hickories scattered all over our property (and on the surrounding acreage as well) so I guess that explains why we see them pretty regularly here. When I was a kid, they'd hang out on the front porch, usually on the screen door, when we were playing in the yard in the evening. It seems like we saw them a lot more often back then than we see them now. We have every kind of wildlife you can imagine here (as you well know) and most of it is a pleasure to have around. Seeing the lunas, because of their relative rarity, is a real thrill. Dawn

I voted in my office pool while on the way to meet with the realtor and I voted for Kris to win. The fellow running it texted me back and asked if I was sure because everyone else was voting for Adam so I told him Kris yes Kris. I ended up placing 5th out of 26 so I am pleased although I did not win any cash LOL!! I missed the first hour but made it home for the Queen and Kiss performance....OMG!!! Adam would be perfect in either band!! I think Brian May (the guitarist from Queen) saw that Adam would be perfect too!! In regard to the voting...I thing that a lot of folks just assumed Adam would win and so they did not vote-or maybe they tried to vote but got a busy signal and figured he was going to win....shame because he really was fantastic. Yes Adam did get America to watch Idol again and he deserves praise for that!! The part of the show I saw was really good! Amy taped the whole thing so after my chores I will sit and watch. So no more Idol, Survivor or DwtS....no worries!!! Looks like Jon and Kate are back on with their show (I bet it'll be tough to watch) and it only a few short weeks till Big Brother-my personal fave reaity show starts!! Hopefully with Julie Chen preggers they'll get someone with a personality to host it this time!! LOL!! Cheers! Susie PS....way to go Kara!! You my dear stole the show!!

I'm not a fan of Hailey, she may have a good voice but it seems weak to me. I'm not a fan of Phia either because I haven't seen anything different about her to make her stand out. I find her boring to watch. Paul's voice reminds me of the munchkins and reminds me of when we'd breath in helium. LOL I just can't get past that. I don't think doing a Rod Stewart sort of sound can carry him either, Rod is one of a kind. I like Lauren, I think she tries different things and is usually successful with it. I love that Casey tries new things too but at times he may be just a little too confident. Scottie to me is an old soul. Smooth and confident, grounded and mature for his age. The music he represents will keep him from getting the prize because it's not the most popular, but I have no doubt he's got a future. I don't remember his name but the rocker guy has a decent voice. However after the rocker contestants of previous years like Adam Lambert and David Cook he comes off more as a wanna be to me. I think this year the show has given a lot more creative leverage to the singers than in years past. I love Steven Tyler and JoLo being on the show which is a big surprise to me, I didn't think I would. I also am so happy to see that the judges are much more sensitive in the way they treat the contestants. Good performance or bad, it has to be so hard to go up there and do what they are doing, but then to have someone who has so much more experience publicly humiliate them afterward was huge turn off. It seems like Randy and Ryan have softened their edges now too. They both seem a lot happier as well. Stephano, Hailey and Paul are who I see as the next 3 to go.

One thing to consider: if you work with the right contractor, they will guide you through a lot of this too. Maybe I've just been insanely lucky, but my GC seems to think of EVERYTHING. Since I've never done this before (first house I've ever owned), and have done all the design work myself (budget, budget, budget...) this has been a godsend. I don't know how we got this lucky to find this guy on our budget, but we have and I can't imagine working any other way. He's told me what will and won't work (structurally and in reality) with my designs, he's tweaked the stuff that I drew in exactly the right way (helps that our tastes and understanding of "necessities" meshes very well), and he's been a constant adviser on the whole process. Helps that he doesn't use subs - he and his partner do just about everything, so there's no chain of command to deal with either. Specifically, he's done all the electrical work. Could there have been alternatives with a formal electrical "design"? Probably. But so far, my GC has made great choices and we're absolutely happy with what he's suggested (and done). In any case, I suspect my situation is perhaps not "typical", but I think it's a tribute to the fact that good communication and understanding between GC and client makes ALL the difference. Also, trust your gut - there are lots of things with this guy that do NOT fit the typical "how to choose a contractor" rules. However, I felt very strongly he was the right way to go and so far I've been absolutely right. I'm sure we'll hit some glitches before we're through but, not unlike ANY good relationship, the communication is so good that I'm sure we'll find ways of resolving them, too. FWIW. (I find it hilarious I'm now OFFERING advice - less than a month ago I was the n00b and in total freakout! OP, take it with a pinch of salt - just my own experience so far, ymmv etc etc etc. Best of luck with your project!)