Dear duchesse...I plan to grow Reve as a big big freestanding thing. I will give it a little support if needed, but I am not putting it on a structure or a fence. Thing is...mine are very small and not growing much except for the one down over the grotto. The other two, in the bed by the dining hall are not growing, and are about 6" tall. A picture of that, with a "little monster" geranium next to, dwarfing it, would be too ridiculous. Just hope that they grow and I'll post pictures later. Cass, I would love to come in May, but I have the choir concert (for which I need to practice some Brahms and Rachmaninoff accompaniments that I am not ready for) and graduation to worry about. It would have to be after the 28th, unless I can get out of that. I like northern California very much. I'll keep in touch by e-mail. Jerome

I can't put pots in the bed... that's where the dog sleeps! There would be no room! I wish I had more window space... but I do still have plenty of room to set up more of the little mini-greenhouses and add grow lights... I just prefer natural light for plants, and I'm sure they prefer it, too... Luckily, I bought four of the mini-greenhouses... I intend to use most of them for seed starting in spring, but I may need to commandeer at least one of them for my bulb collection until it's warm enough to bring them outside for the season. The only bulbs that won't be going out to the garden are the young ones and my Minerva. All the others will summer outdoors. I think they will need the time in the sun... a few of them look like blooming might be taking a lot of their energy, and they will require more than just a spot by a window to fully recover their strength and size...

I'm a beekeeper and a soap maker. If you plan on keeping bees you won't be able to take honey and beeswax from them until the 2nd year. If someone is giving you the honey and beeswax you can use it after filtering and processing. Note: Too much honey will cause your soap to overheat and sometimes it oozes out of the soap, ruining the batch so it is best to use very little. Beeswax lip balms, creams and candles are great! There is a book on the market called "The Backyard Beekeeper" that has a few basic recipes for cream, lip balm, skin toner, and soap. Cost will depend on the cost of materials and your time. If you determine how much to charge based on someone elses calculations you may be losing money.

cool, I can't wait to see what you do to it! I've been on the look out for a copper tea pot ever since I saw Hazie's coffee pot with BBs - copper BBs would be so neat on a copper pot! love that blue glass btw!