Well, I grew up on a farm so had all the experiences of helping out around the farm as a kid. We still live near my parents and I have a very hard time living in town. When my husband was in the military (16 years ago), I looked at the map before we even moved near the base. I looked for the most rural small towns I could find that were close enough to the base and that is where we rented! I still was so homesick for the country though! Of course, it didn't help that we movd all the way across the country and I didn't see my family much for 3 years! We have 20 acres now and love it. We just moved here not long ago, so I don't even have chicks yet. I had them where we lived before but when they got old they went to my folks to 'live out' their days scratching in the dirt, as I knew we were moving and I couldn't take my coop. Husband is building me one this Spring so I can get more. We have 2 dogs, 5 cats and 1 very old horse at the moment. We hope to get some piglets to raise over the summer for meat. I guess you could say farming is in my blood, although with 20 acres we would probably be considered hobby farmers now. But I do have a life long background in farming. Karen

Mehitabel & Brooke, Your descriptions of dogwood and redbud make me homesick for Little Rock and the nearby lake where people had rustic cabins. There were wild dogwoods in the woods there - even some with pink flowers - and cornflowers & honeysuckle all around. In town, there were redbuds (also in the woods), mimosa trees, and cultivated azaleas that stayed in the ground all year and got huge. Japonica, forsythia (sp?), wisteria, magnolia trees, hydrangeas, honeysuckle. And yes, the beautiful Japanese maple. Other places in Arkansas, there were fields of wild azaleas. Both my grandmothers and one grandfather had green thumbs and grew plants in the house and outside. Growing up, I was more into fish, birds, hamsters, frogs, lizards, snakes, and dogs than plants but in my early 20s, became fascinated with bonsai. In Mississippi, where I lived for several years, the squirrels got my treasures. Moved back to Arkansas and raised lots of interesting houseplants, using bonsai methods to keep them from taking over the place. No outside plants interested me much except pansies. In Minnesota, more houseplants. Always, orchids were the magical and the impossible - I'd never have the greenhouse it took to grow them, although I pored over greenhouse plans a lot. When DH and I moved into the house in the 'burbs about 4 years ago, somehow I picked up the book "Orchids Simplified: An indoor gardening guide," by Henry Jaworski. My mom, an excellent cook, always said if you could read, you could cook. I believed her and became a gourmet cook. Jaworski said if you can grow houseplants, you can grow orchids. I believed him and bought a Phal from a garden/craft chain. Sure enough, the Phal thrived and rebloomed as I followed Jaworski's instructions. One day, I was ga-ga over the orchids at a local garden center. One of the staff and I started talking. She said if I could grow Phals, there were lots of other orchids I could grow in the house, and she told me about Orchids Limited and AOS. I got chills and raced home. It was winter and pitch dark, but I checked MapQuest and headed straight to Orchids Limited, knowing they wouldn't be open that late. Have you ever seen a commercial orchid grower's greenhouses at night during a cold winter? A fairyland. In the middle of frozen Minnesota, there was a glowing oasis of light and life. The insides of the greenhouse windows were dripping with humidity, so the plants inside were out of focus, just like a dream. The next day, I left work early to get there before closing. Walking into that tropical paradise was indescribable - the warm, humid air, the fragrance of blossoms, the brilliant colors, all those lush green plants, the burble of a fountain. Outside, the air was so dry it hurt my nostrils. Inside, my eyes and lungs and nose and heart gave a big sigh of thanks. I went home and started reading about cultural conditions possible in the house. That was about 2.5 years ago. Over time, the houseplants went to other homes. The other day, I ran across 2 brand new books on houseplants that had never been taken out of the bag. Orchids must have taken over right about then. Every year, I think - gotta get some native plant gardens going outside, esp. because we have ducks, geese, herons, etc. in the pond just beyond the fence. So far, it hasn't happened. Maybe now that the lathe house for the orchids is finished... Calvin, thanks for asking. This brought back lovely memories. Whitecat8

Well, here it is March 25 and I have "bragged" (excitedly) about this project all the while we have been travelling the I 5 corridor here in Oregon. Think I may have recruited a couple of friends to look us up. Did Alisande decide to give up because of so few participating? (We left home March 9 and have not always had a WiFI connection or many down days) I have really found that writing (also journaling which I have done sporatically) just takes me to places and memories I have not expeced. That must be the Catharism" that folks talk about....facinating details of long forgotten events. Mind blowing at times. When we were in Alaska two years ago, the community of Palmer just " spoke" to me, I wanted to stay or return or delve into the background of the place. It was one of President FDR's programs to "grow and populate" the wilderness and I was completly hooked. So, in my writing I was so very surprised to find that I too was part of one of his "programs" to better the lives of such ordinary people who were right off the farms of the mid=west, willing to work and educate their children. I knew where I had been....but I didn't KNOW what it had been. Quite astonishing, really. So Thank you, Susan! And, I haven't even begun to explore those events in history that I have been so very close to and thought that I would just write those down so my kids would remember them thru my eyes. We will see, as I do plan to continue writing. Thank you again Nanny PS forgive the typos...love my mac, but the keyboard is just not compatible to me and my long fingernails, I think.

Harmar, here is ANOTHER opinion for you. As if parenting isn't hard enough when it's just the two of you, right? To then add a third voice chiming in without being present.... yes, these are the joys of step-families! I know what it's like. I am a big advocate of claiming OUR territory here at home if that makes any sense. We keep on having issues of the children's mother wanting to meddle in our home affairs. Sometimes, it does feel as if she tells my husband to jump and his reply will inevitably be, "how high?". I can't tell you the things we've had to do because of HER fears and all of her tears (which always seem to work on my husband; she cries? He gives in... you wonder where children learn that from). But back to the situation at hand; if it's a small thing, try not to sweat it, but if you have a third-party parenting in your house without being present, then forget about it, YOUR house is YOUR HOUSE. The children can trust you and their father enough to make judgment calls without living in fear of what their mother will say, right? They are probably old enough to get the fact that, if you guys really didn't have a clue to what is right and what is wrong, their mother wouldn't let them come over at all. It sounds like you are really operating in good faith and with the best of intentions. And if I can get that from just one post, your step-kids can trust that too, don't you think? I generally tend to agree with sweebyâÂÂs advice, but I stray a little bit from her opinion this time. Just like two parents have different parenting styles and one may allow certain things while the other doesnâÂÂt, same goes with two households. ItâÂÂs as if the children are bi-cultural and in actuality thatâÂÂs what theyâÂÂre learning. I think itâÂÂs impossible to have the same set of rules in two separate houses, especially when one of the parties will never be present. The big stuff certainly, but the rest, I am sure both households can âÂÂlet it rollâÂÂ. If I can offer you any advice, I think you and your husband should turn your energy away from the children's mother and keep it on the children (I am sure you are doing this already, I mean no offense; I just know that in my case, I had a woman living in my head whether she or I liked it or not!). We made a family statute (I remember reading about one somewhere and it worked wonders for us!) where we came up with rules together. One of the rules however was that Dad and I (or any adult in charge at home) have final say, not ANYBODY else. So if there are certain things like movies for example, where they donâÂÂt feel comfortable, they can put that down as their rule. But that way, it becomes THEIR rule and not that of the parent that isnâÂÂt there. Keep us posted (literally, ha ha)