Here are the tuberous begonias, they're still doing well... We seem to have less squirrels this year. For some reason they like to dig in these pots. we have four tuberous begonias, two large indoor ferns, and two small indoor birds nest ferns hanging from the front of the pergola. Everything is doing great.

THANKS everyone.. most of these seedlings are three years old.. second bloom season so I am happy with how they settled in. First year on the last one which is a WILD IRISH baby... will be interested to see later blooms and next year too. Now I am checking to see if they are pod and pollen fertile.. a dab of pollen here.. a dab there.. oohh what fun! Shelly

Thanks Penny. You can do it, and I welcome any correspondence "off line" should you ever need to ask. The best advice I can give you is the investment of a rototiller, or if that's not financially feasible, having a friend who has and can be borrowed (my case). Creating the beds, tilling the soil is the first point of order, even if you don't have the plants to put in at first. The 2nd comment is to allow nature to take it's course. You have everything you need upstairs (the canopy). That's going to be your mulch. That's also going to be the goodies that you till into your new beds if you still have leaves on your property. Plant material has become extremely expensive, especially if you're attempting to begin a new garden with all that space to fill. I don't play the lottery, gamble, etc. so this is where my $$$'s go. And there's a "right" time to purchase plants (now is when they're most expensive; the best time is end of summer sales, or in the fall, when either they move the stock or lose it). And as you become more involved in the process, you'd be surprised how fellow gardners around you will "gift" you plants. For what it's worth, you can revisit my photosite album again, and see about a dozen more rhododendron species that I've postedd last nite & which I took over the last week. There's a bit of WHITE OUT (via flash) as I took them in the early evening with this week's cloud cover and rain. Mountain laurels (about a dozen different cultivars) are budded and ready to go. They will be part of the next batch of photos. As for the sailing, I do love it and wish that I could do more. I have a dear friend who is a Mgr up at Pilot's Point Marina in Westbrook. A boat builder and their main master carpenter for any of the custom work they do up there. All the best and don't hesitate to reach out to me with any inquiries you may have.

I too have lived with hand-tufted wool rugs for many years and never considered them "throw away" (I think that's a silly and tacky term). In fact, the only reason I got rid of them was because we had no place to use them in our new home. I did have issues with Pottery Barn rugs that smelled to high heaven, but that was a known problem with their rugs and I would be very surprised if they have not remedied that. Unless one has small, spilling children and/or incontinent pets, I can't imagine what people are doing on their rugs that would require more than spot cleaning anyway. Cooks, don't let the naysayers get you down. I trust you're going to love your beautiful new rug!