To be specific... today I am doing as little as possible due to the heat and my now premature old age, thanks to gardening. After ambitiously creating all new big flower beds around our house and yards, moving MANY tons of compost and mulch into these beautiful sweeping mounded beds, I realize too late that I was a short-sighted fool, since each summer my wife goes away for a month to visit her So California family. I realize too late that NOW I won't be able to go to my lake and drink beer with my brother, because all this beautiful new flora needs watering every day in this oppressive summer heat. Good bye Old Milwaukee and fishing. Hello hostas and coneflowers, plus hundreds of other perennials. I can ostensibly hide soaker hoses under the mulch and use those watering timers I bought last year... but it seems a bit risky to rush into another project when it's 95 degrees. Now when I go to our little neighborhood grocery store, all the nice ladies working there gather to make fun of me, and (baiting me) ask how my wife has been treating me through all my insanely ambitious garden and home projects that I have underway? I tell them that I pretend to be working but that I'm doing nothing more than softly singing negro spirituals and avoiding her. Now don't get me wrong about my wife of 37 years. We started dating when 16 years old, and I love her in a way that's sound as any forever bond or steely weld. I just wish she'd retire before 60 like me. She's a too organized 2nd grade teacher, and I'm a very bad boy it seems. As a result, she keeps putting my name on the refrigerator. Women... I swear they are fussier than an orchid at times, and meaner than a weed. Our yards now look fantastic and have commercial landscape lights... but Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen. jim Palmer

Plantmaven- Your garden pictures are so beautiful...but that little bird is just charming :) Gardenweed- Your peonies are lovely. We have some that came with the place that look very similar...and they have a nice fragrance. Thyme- Your garden is so pretty! I'm looking forward to seeing all your new veggies, next summer. Freezengirl- I do have Walker's Low catmint. It's in the kitchen garden. For some reason, the barn kitties leave it alone out there, but when I try to plant it closer to the house...disaster! LOL That's one reason I have so much lavender. Wren-garden, I have my blueberries mixed in with everything else, but I don't put acid on my soil, either. If you decide you need to add acid, then they'll look great with azaleas, rhodedendrons and hydrangeas (if you like the blue ones). I don't grow any of these (the first two are poisonous to horses) but I'm pretty sure they all like acid soil. Think about what else would grow under/with pine trees. As for deer...they can be a challenge, but ours are so darn cute, we try to make the garden work with them, rather than trying to get rid of them. I've read all deer are different, depending on where you live, how many they are (how hungry they are) and if there are so many...they just devastate everything. That being said, we've had good luck with butterfly bushes, lavender, catmint, bee balm, daisies, coneflowers, cosmos, marigolds, zinnias, peonies, daffodils, lilacs, plum trees, clematis, columbine, pansies, and mints. Hope that helps your sister, a bit :)

you are welcome, the frist wreath I made was in a heart shape, cant find that photo, I followed all the instructions for cutting and tieing, on the second one I said to heck with all the cutting, left the fold part out and just tied them on, looked the same as the frist one to me, was still just as full, but eather way they are very pretty! yes a very old craft, made with baggies, dry cleaner bags, or grocery bags, you can do the same with strips of ribbon, lots of ways to make them, kudzu's here is the post on the button pin, wish I had taken a photo of the frist one I made, was much nicer, my dad saw it and wanted to give it to one of his honeys at the retirement center!the button pin wasnt my idea I saved a photo from somewhere then did my own thing, just shareing a cute idea. Happy Crafting oddie Here is a link that might be useful: button pin post

momj47, THANKS for the recipe...that cake looks amazing! I keep wondering though, who has 10 cake pans?!! virginia, it sounds like you made special plans to me. Working in the yard is a plan (which is mine this weekend); about whether or not it's special I guess depends on how you feel about it when it's done! gibby, your cooking plans and lake weekend sound fun. Enjoy all that good food! I had a dream yesterday morning we bought a lake place (without a boat), and it was across the street from the lake. I remember thinking I liked the view until a car drove past to obscure it for me. I guess that tells me if I ever get the opportunity, what NOT to do! eileen, Yumm! I may just have to add potato salad to my menu for the weekend. It sounds delicious, especially with my ribs. terri, I'm not finding any good strawberries yet since ours are mostly shipped in, so I'll bet it will be Father's Day for us too. Have a wonderful and tasty holiday! (I love the idea of London Broil.) My closest TJ's is in St. Louis which is a four hour drive for me. Obviously I haven't made that in an while! I'm headed to the meat market for some lean bacon, then off to find my ribs...