I have been getting it for five years or so. I would say its probably best for most of us home growers to just skim the website every couple of months, the online version is only one month out of date. About 80% of the content is industry stuff I don't really care about. Well, its still interesting to read about the new automated harvesters etc, just not particularly relevant. Scott

QUEEN ELIZABETH was so HAPPY because her ARTISTRY dance revived THE KNIGHT. He joined FIREFIGHTER and GENERAL SCHABLIKINE in scaling the tower, but they all fell down in a heap. THE FAIRY appeared, gave a SWEET PROMISE that she would send CLIMBING PINKIE to reach the tower. But only if VIOLET gives up her true love, WILLIAM R. SMITH, for THE FAIRY to use as her PLAYBOY. VIOLET had to decide between giving up her LOVE versus invoking the help of her patron saints, ST. SWITHUN and ST. CECILIA. Her best friend, GABRIELLA, came to the rescue. She wanted to use her gift of gab to rescue VIOLET's sister, CHANTILLY LACE. Putting on her GRANDMOTHER'S HAT, GABRIELLA, started lecturing toothless THE PRINCE, about brushing his teeth before bedtime. THE PRINCE, in SHOCKING BLUE mood, wailed out in desperation, "I can't take this anymore, here's the key to WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL." He tossed the key out of the window, and THE KNIGHT caught it, unlocked the tower, and raced up to rescue his beloved. It was a DOUBLE DELIGHT for CHANTILLY LACE to be rescued by THE KNIGHT, whom she had a crush on since kindergarten.

I thought the chapters about the cow and weeds were amusing. I intend to read more. Thanks.

Friedag, thank you for fascinating anecdote about Allingham and du Maurier. I had no idea about their rivalry. I think the two remind me of each other in that Allingham (in my opinion) is trying to write mysteries which can be taken seriously as novels in their own right. In this aspect I think she struggled as a writer, but she did succeed in adding a deeper level to the standard murder mystery. I'm still not sure whether I admire Margery Allingham as a writer, though I loved The Case of the Late Pig. Professionally, she was so eclipsed by Christie and Sayers, that I feel a bit sorry for her. In Dancers in Mourning, for example, her detective Albert Campion finds himself falling in love with the unhappy wife of a man who is a suspect in several murders. Campion agonizes about how to proceed with his investigation, and the reader is meant to sympathize with his personal unhappiness, and his professional scruples. I was reminded of My Cousin Rachel, in that the narrator's shifting perceptions of Rachel shape whether the reader perceives Rachel as a murdering fortune-hunter, or merely as a victim of jealous paranoia. With the exception of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (published at the beginning of her phenomenal career) Christie would not have added such a complex layer of characterization to an already successful formula. What amazes me about Christie is how she was able to churn out 3-4 novels a year for decades without going bonkers at the sameness of what she was writing. (To be fair, Christie was very pressured by her publishers not to stray from her set formula.) I hope to start Sayers in the fall. I have never read Georgette Heyer, but she is on my list of writers to try. Heyer's reputation has improved considerably in the last few years. She is an interesting example of the ebb and flow of a writer's respect among critics and readers. I know someone who helps choose the titles for a local book club made up mostly of career women in their 40s and early 50s. I suggested My Cousin Rachel as a possible title. She crinkled her nose in polite disdain, and made some dismissive comment about Daphne du Maurier's books. It was this incident that made me think she had become "old hat" to contemporary readers. Heyer suffered this same fate for years.