That botanical garden sounds like an interesting place to visit. Sea urchin-like... yes just the look! I envision my spiney sculpture(s) as much smaller and low to the ground, like some small garden creature(s). At present it is just an idea floating about in my mind. I'm toying with embedding spines into the mold, perhaps cementing them in with plaster or clay, something that could be removed after the concrete is added and set. Or perhaps drilling all the way through a completed cement form with a masonry bit and extending the spines all the way into the ground beneath it to anchor the sculpture down. I imagine there may be a number of failed attempts along the way! If a successful version does become reality I'll post pictures. Thanks for asking.

I look out the window at my daylilies as soon as I get out of bed. Then I get on my walking clothes and do my back stretches before I walk through the garden on my way to do my morning walk. I walk back through the garden on my way back in for breakfast. After breakfast I usually go into the garden with my cup of tea and digital tape recorder and note what is opening for the first time and what is blooming for the last time. Then I grab my camera and start taking pictures and deadheading. I've been doing some liveheading in the evening, but I never finish when it's near peak. I do find it easier to kill the earwigs in the evening. Has anyone found that they seem to prefer certain daylilies? Chance Encounter seems to be an earwig motel! Fortunately it's located near the driveway so as I pluck off the blooms I can dump the little monsters on the driveway and stomp them! Val

i noticed i joined this wonderful group 12 years ago this month. i had found a nest in my gas grill and needed to id the eggs. what followed was many hours of being on here learning about the wonderful Blues,but also a cyber coffee shop to meet every day and check in with each other. i was a semi regular back in the day and we had some real irregulars too. we shared our good times and not so good. heard about grandkids and kids graduating. some of the girls even got together for fun and sun at the beach (what was the nickname of that group? gettin old ain't for the faint of heart) i even mistook a particular southern fella for a girl and i think a lot of others did too cause we secretly e mailed how rough and tumble lil Reb was. turns out it was short for Rebel not Rebecca. my first set of Blues was called the Gas Grill Gang since they fledged from that grill i found 'em in and held up cookouts for a few weeks. i've been through a divorce since then, a few deaths of ones dear to me,but my kids are healthy 24,16 and 13 believe it or not and i think i'm healthy,at least i feel good. just realized how important this place was to me at that point in my life and miss those days, i see it's not near as busy as it once was and that's ok,guess all the topics got covered,but hope all is well in your world and hope to stop in from time to time. Hoss (Tony)

Too much of a chance for a popularity contest. A member should obtain as much information in total as possible and then make their own decision based on that information. Why do posters have to approve of a suggestion? Just because someone disagrees with the suggestion, or the suggestion is one of several possibilities how is it automatically "thumbs down". There is already a declining number of problem solving contributors in case anyone hasn't noticed so why do anything that might drive more away. DA