You just dry your hair in the barn because that is where the hair dryer is (used for unmolding tufa), and when your DH asks why, you say 'it's just easier to leave the hairdryer out here..." Yes, this happened this morning. DH gave me a look and quickly departed for work. Mabel

1. Feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash. 2. Use the statement "sun break" and know what it means. 3. Know more than 10 ways to order coffee. 4. Know more people who own boats than air conditioners. 5. Feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant. 6. Stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal. 7. Consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it's not a real mountain. 8. Can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, and Veneto's (and you're never more than 2 blocks from one when in town.) 9. Know the difference between Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon. 10. Know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon, and Willamette. 11. Consider swimming an indoor sport, or is not a sport but a survival skill to prevent boating deaths. 12. Can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai food. 13. In winter, go to work in the dark and come home in the dark-while only working eight-hour days. 14. Never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho. 15. Are not fazed by "Today's forecast: showers followed by rain," and "Tomorrow's forecast: rain followed by showers." 16. You can't wait for a day with "showers and sun breaks." 17. Have no concept of humidity without precipitation. 18. Know that Boring is a town in Oregon and not just a state of mind. 19. Can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you can't see through the cloud cover. 20. Say "the mountain is out" when it's a pretty day and you can actually see it. 21. Put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 50, but still wear your hiking boots and parka. 22. Switch to your sandals when it gets above 60, but keep the socks on. 23. Have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain. 24. Think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists. 25. Knew immediately that the view out Frasier's window was fake. 26. Buy new sunglasses every year, because you can't find the old ones after such a long time. 27. Your idea of a traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway. 28. "Vacation" means going to Portland for the weekend. 29. You measure distance in hours. 30. Know at least eight people who work for companies that manufacture computer parts, airplanes, or athletic shoes. 31. Return from a California vacation depressed because "all the grass was dead." 32. Take a half day every July 1 to find your sunglasses and sunscreen. 33. Remember the date, severity, time of day, where you were, and how long you were out of power and phone service for every winter-weather event in the last five years. 34. Have ever called your insurance agent to ask if your homeowners policy covers falling trees, flooding, or mud slides or if the number of your favorite roofing company is on your phoneÂs "speed-dial" list. 35. Find a wallet with $500 in it, return it all to the owner and refuse a reward. 36. Used to live somewhere else. 37. Own more than 10 articles of clothing that have the names of microbrewries/brewpubs printed on them. Bonus for embroidery. 38. Wave at people who drive Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles like yours. Basically, you just drive down the road waving. 39. Think downtown is "scary" because you were panhandled there once. 40. You are sitting at a downtown red light. The light turns green and the car in front of you does not move. You do not honk. After two more light changes, you approach the driver to ask if they need any assistance. 41. You look in your closet to get dressed and you are stumped on whether to put on your fleece vest, fleece pants, or just go for the fleece jacket. Then youÂre stuck when you decide for the jacket and are confused on which of your six colors you should choose. 42. You use a down comforter in the summer. 43. Your grandparents drive 65 mph through 2 feet of water during a raging rainstorm without flinching. 44. You see people wearing camouflage at social events. 45. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked. 46. You think of the major food groups as elk meat, deer, fish, and berries. 47. You carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them. 48. There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at the BiMart store at any given time. 49. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat. 50. Driving is better in the winter because almost everybody stays home. 51. You know all the important seasons: Almost winter, Winter, Still raining, Road construction, Deer season, and Elk season.

Thanks duluthinbloomz4. I was a little worried about the Ostrich fern when I purchased it. It did appear to be yellowing/browning a little: But for $2, I figured I'd give it a shot. The Japanese beech fern still has a nice green color to it. Here's a pic of it: I have had several online gardeners tell me that buying plants from the clearance racks after their growing/blooming season is over is one of the best/cheapest ways to get your gardens established. But when you're a newbie gardener standing there in front of a bunch of plants that look like their dying, you get a little intimidated. Other than checking for root-rot, I'm not real sure what is/isn't normal.

Invest in a large jar of Sluggo :-) It may not eliminate the problem but will certainly help. Will need to be reapplied freqently, especially if we continue to receive a lot of rain. Always thought slugs were the big issue around here until I moved to a semirural and pretty wooded location and determined it was really snails that were the serious pests. They get places no slugs can get to easily and they can eat everything, including more heavily textured evergreen foliage that most slugs leave alone. Very rewarding to squash them, however, if a bit messy :-)