Practice by shopping for ripe melons at the market. Get good at it. A ripe watermelon will be heavy for its size. The "ground spot" will be cream colored, and won't be ripe if still green or white. Put the melon to your ear and tap the melon with your finger. The tap is performed by touching the tip of your first finger to the tip of your thumb, as if giving the "ok" sign, and then give a little flick of your finger. Hit the melon with the flat surface of your fingernail. The sound will be a dull "punk" when tapping with your finger. If you hear "pink", the melon is not yet ripe. On the vine, check for the closest tendril to be dried up. There can sometimes be a little "spoon" leave that dries up as well. Splits in the vine leading up to the melon is a good sign as well. From there, followup with checking the ground spot and finger tap as you would at the market.

Nice sign roselee. I don't know about stress free. There is so much to get done in my garden at this time of year. I am looking to start my years stint of chainsawing the woods. 1.5 acres and I am still working on planting everything that I got at the swap. I spent all day out in the garden which means that I did not get any work on the building of my interior walls and doors (guilt and stress). I do feel good at the end of the day but..... bugs give me stress too. Deer stress me out and if that is not enough, wild pigs send me into a tizzy. Mountain lions stress me out just a tad. It is a wild wild world out there. I guess I am in a different garden. I should have a sign that says " when you go out this door , you enter the food chain"

Peggy and Lisa, I just re-sent the information to you by e-mail and through GardenWeb. I have no idea why the first mailing didn't reach you. Please let me know when you receive it. If you can mail Tuesday or Wednesday it will be fine. I have surprised myself by working with so many of the arrivals up to this point that I'm hoping I am a little of ahead of where I supposed my schedule might be now. I'm sorry people are having trouble getting the message. Please check your spam folder in case it might be there. I have not gotten the e-mail or GardenWeb information from either of you that you hadn't received my address and the rest of the information so it's not being kind to us. Meanwhile, what great seeds everyone is sending! Many of you have made it very easy for me to distribute the seeds by sending a list or otherwise labeling themes. Thanks so much. All of you are the best! Jeanne

The 3rd group is now complete with the inclusion of Nancy (stitches). This group is to be called "Ribbons and Bows". I have written out all the details for each person in the group and am now just waiting on Nancy (stitches) to send me her information. As soon as I have that, I will email the completed group information to you all. We now have 3 people on our emergency list, willing to fill in if someone has to withdraw. If anyone else would like to be on this list, then let me know. From emails I've received, we have some very keen quilters indeed. Some people have completed half or more of next year's blocks already! This will save a lot of time next year and ensure they send their blocks out early for each person's birthday. Well done! Kristene