Hi - guess I've been holding out - but inspite of 5 days of almost constant rain and flooding, the veggies are thriving in my back yard. We are still on the established every-other-day water rationing schedule, but guess that is one chore I won't have to worry about - maybe for at least a month or more. The ground is saturated, but cutting lots of lettuces, Chinese cabbage, bok choy, bibb and romaine types. Earlier - the end of summer - we had so much cold weather, that I thought the peppers would surely die before they turned red - but with patience - they survived and managed to get enough warmth in Oct/Nov to do so - and are still hanging on for daily picks. The mandarin orange tree is loaded - as usual, with many harvest for the freezer, and a Christmas dish of mandarin, pineapple, fruit cocktail and whipped cream is planned. The banana tree looks a bit forlorn, but holding up strong against the south facing concrete block wall, and maybe I will enjoy some fruit this year. It has sprouted 2 or 3 pups and maybe I can find room to start a plantation (perish the thought), although have very little gardening space left. According to the locals - the beach was only habitable for 2 days this summer - although our usual influx of "zonies" (Arizona summer birds) were only too happy to visit and find respite from their unbearable summers. They bought lots of warm weather jackets to withstand the beach chill tho. Some seedlings of cabbage and broccoli are still in their cups, being hardened off, waiting for the floods to recede, and hopefully some warmer weather. The fruit trees are sadly in need of dormant spraying, but just like last year, the rains kept coming and they didn't get it. Funny thing, we had a bumper crop of apricots, peach, almonds, plums, etc., last year. Stay dry and if you come to Ca., bring your water wings! Bejay

Greetings again, phoggie/Mary. In my earlier post I appeared to be unaware of some info that you appeared to have posted a couple of hours earlier, so much of what I said was not useful. If you want to take a good portion of the things from your current home to furnish the one where you will live in future, I have a suggestion that might be relevant. Son's sister/my daughter moved from near Toronto, on the north side of Lake Ontario, to Phoenix a few years ago, and son and I were discussing yesterday the cost of moving her goods: I'd thought that it was something over a dollar a pound, and he said he thought closer to a dollar and a half ... ... so I suggested that we should have bought her an old school bus, then we could have packed it for her, she could have driven it down there, and sold it after getting her things moved into her new place. Or, if the rules governing licensing required really different criteria, buying one there and driving it up, loading it and driving it back. Perhaps you might be interested in buying an old school bus, packing your goods into it and driving it to Burlington. Then check with (former)/friends to try to find some farm or rural person nearby who'd rent you some space at nominal fee to park it for a time, until you have found a place to live on a permanent basis. When one considers the monthly/quarterly cost of renting a storage space (or annual - and which period does one choose, up-front?), using the school bus idea might not be such a bad idea. There'd be an additional benefit of handling all of the stuff twice instead of four times: saved effort (says a guy with a streak of laziness) and less possibility of damage/breakage. I'd thought of suggesting that, should the contract for sale of your current house fall through, that it might be a good idea to do some checking as to whether that arrangement had been satisfactory. But when I heard that your former husband's son was in a related business, I was fairly sure that he'd have been aware enough of the local housing market to have ensured that you weren't being taken. With regard to the lady who has the house that she's talking of sharing ... how about finding a reason, whether real or imagined/manufactured, to visit there for a few days, or, probably better, a week or so, so that you could stay at her place and get an idea of her lfestyle, including an idea, even if vague, of the financial end, and whether you might feel comfortable with it. ole joyfuelled ... who doesn't have to buy gas for a school bus P.s. I've been saying for some time that it makes sense for several singles, especially senior ones, to live together. Advantages: -intellectual stimulation helps keep Alzheimer's at bay, -shared chores would enable one to continue to live independently longer, -each person would eat better than tea and toast for some meals if living alone, -increased safety: if someone has immediate trauma, as long as one can call, there's someone there to help, plus -they could triage: decide whether we can handle this situation in-house; or we call this person's caregiver to handle the situation; or call 9-1-1- ... right now!, -there's be a major cost saving over buying a smaller home/condo, renting one's own apt., etc. ... and a major one over entering a residential home and certainly over a nursing home. That cost saving would enable them to afford to have someone come in to take care of much of the cleaning and housekeeping. o j ... who lives alone

Jamie and family, you are in my special thoughts and prayers.Just to share with you,my Mom and I shared a special love for birds.The day after she died, I was sitting on my back porch and a beautiful Ospry came and sat on the fence right in front of me.I had never seen that bird before and never saw it again.I knew that was message from my Mom.When I see an Ospry now, I think of Mom.

Phoggie, given what I hear on the HGTV HOUSE HUNTERS show, the first thing the prospective buyers say when they hit the kitchen is, "I'll have to deduct from the asking price to replace these countertops." Maybe granite will go out one day, but I think the use of an easy-to-live-with pattern in it is the secret to longevity. Now that said, we do not have granite in the house up in MA that will SOON (so DH tells me) be ready to call the realtor. Instead, he chose a Silestone pattern, STELLAR SNOW. It is sort of white and gray with sparkly flakes in it, and honestly, you have to touch it to find anything needs wiping up, be it water or crumbs from the toaster. And it has never stained regardless of how many pomegranates I cut on it, or how many blueberries. Plus, it is naturally antibacterial. It also is durable and comes in a variety of grades and thicknesses and colors/patterns. I liked it so well that is the same pattern and material I plan to put into this kitchen on the sink side. On the range side, which is a stainless steel stove, I plan on stainless counter tops on that side with maybe a stainless backsplash too. You'll have to take a look at the way I plan to set it up sort of a cooking alcove with the end towards the dining room having a 4' long higher bar and that counter will also have the Silestone STELLAR SNOW on it. Don't want to hijack your thread, so come back again and look for a new kitchen thread pretty soon. :) Yes, it is a BRIBE.