Steve, The weather has been completely against us gardeners all year long, so I am not surprised your garden's productivity has suffered. At least there is the fall to look forward to. It's been in the upper 90s here this week so no new tomatoes are setting even though there are some blooms. Tomorrow and Sunday are supposed to be cooler (mid-80s here, I think), so some fruit might set. Keep your fingers crossed. My beans have not been very productive either, and the tomatoes are a mixed bag--some are productive and some aren't. Ilene, I HAD a food processor until about 4 o'clock this afternoon, when it broke. Maybe it is time for a new food processor since we've had this one about 22 or 23 years. I DID wear googles ($1.98 at Wal-Mart and a GREAT investment) for the first time today, and hardly teared up at all. It was wonderful. After the food processor broke, I finished that batch by hand. Did about 25 pounds, but have gobs and gobs left to go. I'll probably do a big batch on Sunday afternoon or on Monday. NO work in the garden or kitchen for me tomorrow because Kristine and I are going shopping. Since she is working at a job several counties away this summer, we've hardly spent any time together, so I am looking forward to our girls' day out. I think we are going to go to Dallas and make a day out of it. The stores down there have a LOT of summer clearance sales going on.....gotta make room for all those fall clothes, even though it stays hot here until October or November! She needs to get some new stuff before she goes back to college in mid-August. Before I started on the onions, I cut 300 cherry, grape, and currant tomatoes in half and put them in the new oven, set on dehydrator mode. It is so much quieter than using my old dehydrator. I also made a pot of garden-fresh green beans and new potatoes, and even had some fresh-from-the-garden onion in the main dish of chicken and rice. So, it's been a "garden day", but in the kitchen, dealing with the produce. It was too hot to spend much time in the garden. I might try to pick tomatoes early tomorrow--about 6 or 7 a.m.--before it gets too hot. Oh, and y'all, for lunch I ate a tomato. One tomato. It was a BIG tomato though--12 oz. of wonderful, sweet, juicy goodness. It was a Valena Pink and was so big that just one slice was as large as a slice of bread. That big tomato was six slices. Just me, the tomato, a glass of tea, and a salt shaker. Yum yum. In size and texture (thick and beefy, very meaty, not too many seeds) it reminded of Radiator Charlier's Mortgage Lifter or Brandywine. The flavor was not as good as Brandywine, but it was very, very good. The corn is silking this week, but since I started it late (after the last of the late freezes), I am not expecting much. Most of the deer-nibbled okra and peppers have regrown and are blooming, so maybe they'll start producing soon. (The pepper plants had lots of peppers before he ate them all.) Dawn

thanks guys! This is day 1 of us being here, and so far it's ok. The kids think having a makeshift kitchen in the basement is a riot! Wonder how soon until that gets old! abfabamy---I can't wait to see my granite either, I miss it! End of january with any luck!! Joanie-thanks for the wallpaper tip! I have removed some in other rooms of this house, some with no problems, others (like the upstairs bath) with 3 layers, with paint in between.....I got so frustrated with that one, I hired a drywall guy to do a skim coat of paster over top instead...worked like a charm! There doesn't seem to be pain between the layers, so it might be ok. fingers crossed!!

I know all about that OLD dust! Isn't it awful? I started tearing apart the first weekend in Feb. Now we're into sheet rock. The dust never goes away. I did find the coolest old linoleum pieces and some horendously ugly wall paper. The newspapers under the lino were dated Dec. 28, 1950 and it was all about the blizzard in Chicago. Not at all what I was expecting. I saved a handful of square nails; some will go in the time capsul and some to save. It would be good if the weather would cooperate. Have you found anything of interest in the walls?

Forgot one thing...surprise#3: Under the (very cheap) tile, a whole second floor in vinyl "linoleum." Reminds me of what was in our bathroom, growing up... With this many layers, its no wonder our kitchen floor was a full inch taller than the adjoining hardwood floors in the hall and dining room....