Jan, What a gorgeous set for mostly a second time around. I would like to say that I had a different favorite, but I'm right with everyone else in liking Mountain Almond. I was not familiar with Condilla until I saw the posts on the forum this year, but I think that that is one I will have to look into. I can imagine that a clump of it would look like you have the sun traped in the corner of your yard. Thanks for sharing you pretties! Julie

Hi Ilene, I'm kind of amazed y'all didn't have a frost because it looked pretty cold up there on the weather map. The green tomatoes I left on the vines are just sitting there and sitting there and sitting there. I don't think they are going to change colors and ripen until the sun shines. Supposedly we will have sunshine here on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I'll believe it when I actually see it since that also was our forecast last weekend and we had no sunshine and lots of cold instead. I think in the last two weeks, we've had a couple of times where the sun came out for 3 or 4 minutes, and last Thursday we had a hour or so of sun early in the day. It got our hopes up for a sunny day, but then that tiny bit of sun vanished. I saw an article on the website of either the Fort Worth or Dallas newspaper that said as of yesterday they were on their 11th straight day of clouds/no sunlight, so even that far south they are having about the same weather as most of us. The good news is that most of Texas has had a lot of rain and their drought conditions are receding. When the new Drought Monitor map is released tomorrow, we'll see a lot of changes.....I know that, not because I'm psychic, but because I have already looked at their KBDI map this week on another website and it shows great changes. Don't those Crocs have holes in them? I can't wear anything like that, including any sandals or open-toed or open-heeled shoes, that let the scorpions or fire ants have access to my skin or they'll take advantage of it. I learned that the hard way and have tried pretty hard not to slip up......if there is one fire ant in the yard and I go outside the house in sandals (I do wear them indoors), that one fire ant will find me the instance I step off the porch and onto the ground. We do have fire ant mounds popping up in a few places, and I still have some organic fire ant killer, so if we get a couple of dry days, I'll treat those mounds. Our puddles even have puddles, Ilene. The dog yard is a muddy mess but we've spread a couple of bales of straw there and that is helping. I think we need to get a couple more bales of straw and put out even more. When I walk in the garden, it squishes. I suspect this long, cloudy spell is a taste of the kind of fall/winter weather we're going to have this year. Usually October is one of my favorite months with its bright blue, clear, sunny skies and moderate temperatures. This year is a whole different story though. Dawn

Similar temp. in this area, I imagine, Marilyn Sue. Sounds like the makings of a fine meal tomorrow ... including being bedevilled by deveilled eggs (dang those keyboards!) ... and on a Sunday, yet! The head of what has been our third party, who was a councillor in Toronto for several years, then got into federal politics, was chosen leader of that third party a few years ago and achieved a major increase in their number of seats in parliament in an election last month, to give them the second largest number of seats, thus the official ooppposition, has just died and they're having his state funeral in a large hall in Toronto this afternoon. I'm going to a hall in London after this where a number of his supporters are gathering to watch it. He was respected as one who'd fought for increased services for the homeless, of whom there have been quite a few in Toronto for years, women's rights, gay rights and better services for aboriginals, and has campaigned for years for conservation issues. After his death last Monday, some Canadians came on here to bid him farewell - including some who said that they'd never voted for his party: the New Democratic Party. I was to run an errand for a more or less arm's length friend, but lost his phone number, so won't be able to meet him. I tried a different way, supposedly easier, in erecting poles for my pole beans, and a wind came and knocked one of the poles over, which allowed others to slip sideways and I've got most of that fixed, but there's more to do ... and I need to extend the poles above their current five feet or so, then add more strings, as the vines are high - and waving. Beans to pick, cherry tomatoes (drat - it takes a lot of picking to fill a bucket ... and about half of them split) and I think some regular-sized ones will be ready by morning. Just saw a sign on friends' mailbox this morning - "Moving Sale", as they, formerly deeply rooted in their farm and having sold it recently and having deteriorated health lately, are moving to a seniors' apartment complex shortly. Bright blue sky ... nice day ... good health ... roof over my head ... three squares a day ... and figure that I can manage such through the remaining days of my life ... ... so life is good. ole joyfuelled

#20. Ha. When I used to commute home there was a spot in the highway where one lane ended. Some people would fly past all the rest, on the right, and then try to merge. We all banded together to make them wait until some sucker came along and let them merge in.