Wow Joe! That was quite a posting! I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now...more than before. The slope itself is a whopping mess. There is decades of yard waste down there (complete with every critter imaginable), there are heavy vines choking the trees that are still standing, and there is obvious, serious erosion that has taken place over the years. The previous owner said than when his kids were little that there were stairs going down to the creek, but there's no evidence of the stairs now, nor is there an obvious place where one could put stairs. Plus, the previous owner installed his own horseshoe pits years ago (I know! Who does that?), and if you stood where you were supposed to to actually play a game, you'd fall right over. So that tells us a lot about how fast this spot is eroding. I actually wonder if the next door neighbor's house will still be there in a few years. The house is only about 10-15 feet away from the slope and their section is steeper than ours. Although they don't have a fraction of the yard waste on their side that we do. We've pulled tons of old metal and an old tire out of another part of the yard that's woodsier and way less eroded, so I don't even want to think about what's down there besides yard waste. There's one area, right at the edge of the yard that's basically bare dirt with a smattering of weeds. If I only put some native plants in that spot and did nothing else (I'm thinking about the slope), would that slow the erosion down any? And even in that spot, you wouldn't amend the soil or add compost or anything? Would you bring in any top soil? Thanks so much for the links you sent. That Riparian Area Management page is fascinating. I called the extension office and they gave me the number of the soil and water division. I've left a message at that office, but they haven't called back yet. I just this second googled "watershed cazenovia creek" and came back with this link: http://www.epa.gov/ecopage/rivers/cazcreek/index.html It looks like I have a few places to turn, at least to learn something - prior to today, I'd never even heard the word "riparian" before, so I'm already making progress! Forgive me for really hoping you're wrong about those sugar maples.... :)

Annie, I have seen some 10 minute stretches and mini workouts for runners but that isn't likely to be what you need. The ones I saw recently took 10-20 minutes and were meant to improve both running form and additional fitness. I'll have to find the link again if you are interested. I bookmarked it at work I know. BTW I ran a 5k Saturday morning and really had a great race. I won my age group (65-69)! Really got a good start and had an 11 minute first mile and a little over that for the second. The 3rd mile I slowed down a bit but the course was really rolling hills and there was a hill just before the end of mile 3. I finished in 35:40 so very happy with that.

lisa i did not know that! believe it or not we used to live down that back road that runs along the westside of the Y (just north of the dam where people fish) and around the back corner in a townhouse subdivision, from 1999-2001. until a couple of yrs ago we would drive back to jay blanchard on sat & sun to walk our dogs there. we go occassionally now. my dh was bite by an alligator there lol. we did our class at SCC sanford and that is where the tai chi course is starting late March. i am right by red sun(formerly red door) yoga in winter springs and if i knew i'd go alot i'd join there for $100 a month unlimited. they are famous for their classes in several types of yoga & meditation. i wore sweats, tee shirts and sweat jackets to yoga. i can not be cool at all, i like to be warm and we were in a large workout room that was cool. definitely bring your own matt or atleast a towel to throw on a used matt for the first class. definitely go, i was surprised at how relaxing it was lol ~ liz Here is a link that might be useful: red sun yoga

bonjour, je dois rliser un jardin avec des essences miterrannnes pour un centre de formation aux miers du patrimoine et je voulais vous demander, selon vous quelles sont les essences propres un jardin miterrann, les caractistiques d'un jardin miterrann... je voulais demander cet avis des amoureux des jardins miterranns car ils connaissent mieux les ambiances, les sensations qu'ils apprient dans ces types de jardins. Sinon, j'ai commencfaire des recherches. D'abord sur la dinition de jardin miterrann, qui est un jardin oles plantes sont adapts aux conditions climatiques et pologiques de la rion en question (ici les alpes maritimes). ensuite, j'ai lu le livre de Heidi Gildemeister "Jardiner sous un climat miterrann", qui est tr bien... et donc le conseil serait un choix de plantes indiges, cad des plantes qui aient ll'origine, qui n'ont pas introduites par la suite par l'homme. Et donc ces plantes sont totalement adapts aux secs... contrairement aux choix de plantes trop standardiss dans nos jardins tel que le plumbago, les lantanas et le bougainvilliers... quand pensez vous? votre avis m'intesse... voici des exemples de plantes indiges pour terrain rocheux : buxus sempervirens, cistus, lavandula, rosmarinus, thymus, acanthus, achillea... @+ jen