Thanks Chelone,most of my color is from my container plants. I will appreciate your peony pics. Out of 12 plants 7 had no blooms, 2 had only one each. I am sure it was because of the hard freeze after they were up. I made woven wire rings to set around my plants. They 'disappear' when the plant grows back up. My 'full sun' is becoming more and more scarce...:-( I really like the shade in our hot summers, and our place is several degrees cooler since the trees have grown, but I do miss having sunny spots for sun lovers. This morning I was awakened around 5, and detected the faint essence of skunk coming through my open bedroom window. So far there has been no damage to my potted plants, but this morning there was a tiny bit of digging in 2 pots. I think I'll get some cayenne pepper to sprinkle on the soil in susceptible containers. I sure do not want to have to 'cage' everything as I did last year after the damage. Wildlife certainly abounds in our woods. Nolon heard a turkey gobbler this morning, and reported it to me, but I didn't hear it when I went out. I'm sure at least one doe has a fawn in our woods, but we haven't seen it yet. The rabbits are multiplying rapidly, but the cats are keeping the population down to more managable levels. Lots of squirrels are both seen and heard. A rather crippled, very light gray, small opposum was on the deck drinking from the cat's water bucket the other night when I flipped on the light. It looked like it had had a broken back.... I am not too fond of them, but don't like to see such injuries. Raccoons of all sizes are common. Chipmunks are frequently seen. We may not have many human visiters, but plenty of four-legged ones. :-) And of course there are all the birds. A tuffed titmouse is voicing it's disapointment at the fact that the cat dish is not on the front porch. I keep bringing it back in as soon as Miss Calliecat leaves the porch ( it is her dish). I am getting tired of feeding all the birds cat food ! I put out mixed bird feed, sunflower seed, and cracked corn for them...besides the left over biscuits, but some of them prefer the cat food ! I am thinking of buying the really cheap cat or dog food just for them. Our phone rang around 10 last night. It was a rather distant 'neighbor' wondering if her 81 year old brother had come by our place. He had decided to go visiting,( he lives about 60 miles from here...the sister lives much closer).He took clothing and other necessities, and mentioned visiting Nolon. I imagine she had called everyone she could think of before calling us. I hope he has shown up, and is safe.He has several relatives in this area.

It is a myth or "old wive's tale" that peonies "need" ants in order to bloom. Before the blooms begin to open, they "sweat" a sweet, nectar-like substance and that is what the ants are attracted to. If ants don't come to the blooms, they still open up just fine, though. Research has shown that the presence of ants does benefit the peony in one way, though. Peonies that have ants on the plants are less prone to damage from other insects. The ants can be a problem if you want to cut your peony blossoms and bring them inside. Some people try to wash the ants off the blooms. It is easier to cut the blooms, place them in a vase, and let the vase sit outside somewhere for a few hours. The ants will gradually depart and you can bring your vase of blossoms inside without their ant buddies. I had a neighbor in Fort Worth, Texas, when I was a child who grew quite a few peonies. When we moved from Fort Worth to here in the late 90s, her peonies were over 35 years old and still gorgeous. Dawn

Stinky-gardener mentioned the Sanyo 3-cup rice cooker as one of her favorite things. Same here, I use mine every week, it's such a time saver. I love the small size, used to have a 10 cup Zojirushi which made no sense when all I ever cooked was a couple cups of rice at a time. You will eat more rice if you own one of these handy little counter appliances. Another vote for Netflix, especially streaming. I also love the DVR, it remembers everything I want to record so I don't have to think about it. cooper, if you're reading this have you tried using baking soad instead of barkeeper's friend? It works the same and is much cheaper. I fill a cheap salt shaker (needs to have large holes) with baking soda I buy by the pound at Walmart and leave it out with the dish soap. One of my new favorite things is 100% Argan Oil. Not the stuff Adienne sells on HSN but the pure form that comes in a bottle. It goes on like a serum and disappears into your skin after a couple minutes, after that you can put on face cream if you need it.

I have the same granite, called Thunder wave (garnets and all) I believe. I just love it, but I didn't take it up the wall on the BS. I have to say....it's REALLY cool like that! Now the back of that island...it's industrial and stuff :oP But I'd do something else heh hehh (so what is going there?)