Vicky, Boy, we are much alike. Funny you should ask about sleeping schedule! I wrote my post right before going to bed a couple of nights ago. Went to bed -- then got up 2.5 hours later! I did get some more sleep later yesterday, and did some more catching up last night, so I think I'm back on schedule. I had a bout of insomnia for most of this year that was fairly resolved when we went on vacation. Anymore, I don't even consider one bad night of sleep per week as insomnia, compared to those long bouts. I've really been taken with alternative containers, especially since I can get them free while trash picking or keeping up with our local Freecycle Network. (People ask for or offer items that would otherwise simply be trashed, but still have some life in them. To find your area's site check out this link -- http://www.freecycle.org ) Granted, some times I do pay for the containers, but, if you know where to go (we just hit our local Goodwill Stores for the first time last week, looking for containers and found two -- a beatiful ceramic one for our small bay leaf and a cheapo plastic wagon that will only last a year or two), you can get the 5-6 gallon containers, for free or for $.50-$4 each. Below is the link to one page of one of my websites that gives a long list of unusual containers, and where you can find those 5-6 gallon containers, although I forgot to mention that my Dad gets his by buying kits to make wine, and gives many of them to me, afterwards. (I may not have kids, but I still enjoy playing and thinking young. LOL) Of course, once you get into containers, soil can get expensive. I've been buying much of my soil in the fall, when the leftover potting soil is on sale. I also supplement it with last year's dead annuals and the stuff that just blows into the yard -- leaves, buttonwood fuzz, and soil that leaches out of the bottom of containers, each time I water. (Last one is only doable if you have concrete for a yard, so you can tell the soil from the ground. LOL) My compost is left in five gallon containers with a multitude of holes on the bottom and lower sides, so the pill bugs can find it and enjoy making it into true compost during the winter. Add to that, I buy sandbox sand, which is more sterilized then builder's sand, a big bag of peat moss, and a couple of bags of perilite, to stretch out the bought potting soil more and mix it in with used soil and new compost. "Don't plant more then you can do," is my biggest problem! Eight years later, and I still can't figure out how much I can do. LOL Fortunately, I must be one of the world's worse seed sower, since only about a quarter of the seeds I start actually sprout AND grow to maturity. LOL (Yes, I use seed starte soil and containers, so it's not a problem with Damp Off.) This year, I'm even having trouble growing lettuce from seed! Last year, it grew quickly and easily. Well, good thing I read some good advice given to an advice columnist, when she brought home a whole pick-up truck full of annuals, and then realized how much time would be required to plant them all. She just sat in the midst of them, feeling overwhelmed, when her next door neighbor found her. The neighbor picked up a single container, handed it to her, and simply said, "plant one at a time!" Duh, now! LOL I guess that is part of the secret, realizing that we'll never get any of it done, unless we just set our minds to dealing with just one at a time! But, you are right. I do feel badly that hubby became disabled, but I'm sure glad I get to see more of him then I used to. I generally don't have to worry about dinner. He's a great cook and does most of it with great enjoyment and great results (as demonstrated by our great girths now, too. LOL) One thing I have learned in the last 8 years, that only other people in our situation truly understand -- the house will not fall down, if all the housework cannot be completed. LOL Sounds like something else we have in common -- a reduced sense of what absolutely has to be done for daily chores. ;) I sure hope your daughter can visit occasionally, so the two of you can sit in the garden and simply enjoy what you have so far! That's part of why I love gardening -- the amount of time hubby and I sit back there in the summer through September and just watch the tomatos fruit, the birds enjoying the bath and seeds, and the variety of herbs and flowers, as we just take it all in silently together. Lynn Here is a link that might be useful: Young Buds in the Garden

I'm happy to report that a replacement batch arrived today. Sadly they spent a week in transit, likely due to the holidays, but other than a few dried worms they were all very happy to be home!! Placed them in my bin and within half an hour they have all migrated down. Since the first 27 are still alive and kicking and I would say the bin is in great condition for these new worms... I'll officially call myself a vermicomposter :) Gosh, I hope I didn't just jinx myself, lol. On another note.... my father in law gave us an old smoker, one of the tall ones like an Old Smokey. I'm thinking of converting it into a flow through project after the first of the year. Already has a grate and lid, so I'm thinking why not..... Thoughts anyone? My main concern is rust, but I could line it with pond lining or a tarp like I've seen some do. It's metal, so definitely no direct sun if I should keep it outside. Plenty of time to play around with the idea :)

It does look a LOT like Avacado! Hmmmm.....mine is new this year so I don't have much to compare it to....but it may be.... Mama lives in a big neighborhood with Leading Lady, Tom Schmidt, Sum Cup a Joe, Liberty, Wolverine, Crusader, Lacy Belle, Korean Snow....Hmmmm. that may be a possibility....I have grown many seedlings from it but they are all green or blue....one yellow/ lime green. Also Unforgettable, Diamond Tiara, Old Glory, Lady Isabel Barnett and several blues and golds....would it need to have varigation? Anything jump out that could be daddy? I'm about to be on the road for a few hrs so will check back later. Thx

I am here, too! I remember the glass "flowers" being a hot item when I checked in more often. There were many, many discussion on the best adhesive to use. I still have plates, cups, pieces of rebar,etc., "ready" to be made into a flower or two. This is hopefully this Spring will see the final stage of turning an early 1950s concrete birdbath into a colorful Fairy Garden. I got it sandblasted this winter but am waiting for warmer weather to take it outside for painting. I have all the basic furnishings - including a pair of tiny Napcoware rabbits, a teeny-tiny ceramic frog, a ceramic bird house that resembles an English cottage, a twig fence, a terracotta flower fairy, a pair of ceramic butterflies to attach to the painted base, and a "found" piece of old rusty barbed wire that resembles a seahorse - or dragon! I am going to be so excited to send "it's completed" photos to my young niece that requested this project be done."