PKguy was discussing a rainbarrel watering system elsewhere and said that he has found barrels for free at CocaCola bottling plants. Living in Georgia, that should be a resource you can locate! He says he asks for the barrels from phosphoric acid. He lives in Canada, so there may be different customs/laws/liabilities about being able to get these. He asks the guard at the gate for them. Someone else on the thread said they see them advertised in the want ads. gutter water distribution thread from the Renewable Energy Forum I have rainbarrels from the Garener's Supply catalogue. 75 gal rainbarrel They were very expensive, and I am certain you can do better. I just needed something that held a lot of water, and was very handy. I have limited do-it-yourself potential at my house! Check out the thread from Renewable Energy, I linked in my response there to a barrel tap that you might find usefull. I like my rainbarrels. The only problems I have had are 1)the one in the back yard was not elevated and I could not get fast enough flow to fill a watering can, and 2)the darned drain hose was always getting loose (dogs hitting it?) and draining the water out of the barrel. So this year I have purchased a platform to put it on to elevate it and get some flow, and will rig something better to hold the hose. The rainbarrel in the front garden is at the top of a slope, so does drain easily. I get the mosquito-control rings that have bt to inhibit the hatching of mosquitos in the standing water in the barrels. I also toss a piece of one in the bottom of all of my gardening containers that have water reservoirs in them. We don't need West Nile or more pesky skeeters! mosquito rings You may find these cheaper elsewhere, I only linked here because I was already on their site. I find that they last more than a month, too.

Hi Tom - I talked to my brothers yesterday and they told me they were prepared, I will call back tonight to see how they are doing and if they have power in their houses. I can only pray for them, it is really not fair after the bad winter that they had. And talking about the garden, I am keeping very busy most of the time using and giving away crops, yesterday was the day for the collards, the eggplant and the avocados. I am really surprised that people who were born and raised in Florida are new to the best crops that we home gardeners can produce, like everyone is saying praises about the Brogdon avocados, and the question that I get when I give the green glaze collards, "are these collards? but they are so pretty! no sign of bugs or ugly like in the stores, the neighbor that I gave even smelled them,lol And the friend that I gave the eggplants said, I cook the whole bunch and they were not bitter or anything, they were great! In the fall I don't grow as many squash or cucumber plants because of the nematodes being active and number of bugs when is hot. I grow only the compact summer squash and a couple of winter squash, they are doing well in the containers. Tomatoes are getting big and struggling with the heat, you are probably hotter than me, I can see the tomatoes not liking the high temperatures, some do better than others for me when is so hot. Started seedlings for collards, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, some herbs And some views from the garden, eggplants and butterbeans Bush green beans The mini orchard Hi Luther Nice pictures like always! Sorry that you did not get a lot of sweet potatoes, maybe the soil was too rich. I have mine all around the garden where I only amended with used container soil. And Luther I have to tell you that yesterday I was working in the garden and Willy said the same thing "I don't know how you doing, but you never sit down" lol Your set up for the tomatoes is really high class like in the growers systems.:) I just learned a new thing from the community gardens, they bought some cheap wood sticks 2x1 for under a dollar and cut in half, they are 10 foot long but they are sturdier, so I got some this morning for the tomatoes that I have all over the garden now, like this one. Silvia

Well, my house has been overrun with guests...sorry I let this slip to page two. Emmatux, my DH has mentioned Muir Woods. We may have gone there together on the last trip, almost two decades ago. (It's strange how little I remember of that trip.) I will look for Stinson Beach and a cheese factory. We live in New England, so variable weather is something we're used to. And cold is a relative thing... :-) Another Linda, I just discovered Yelp. It's pretty amazing. I have to dig a bit deeper and will do that with SF. Thanks for the tip on Capitola. That's just the kind of info I need And I will put your resto suggestions in my notes. Ann, that trip sounds just divine. Lucky women, both of you! I am embarrassed to say I didn't know Alcatraz was an NPS site. That changes everything. We are Passholders and have never been anything but thrilled with our NPS experiences. I am glad your DD enjoyed it. We will try to watch Birdman before we go. All your other suggestions are right up our alley, including the Beat Museum. DH was in Berkeley from 1959-64 and was inspired by that scene. DD read Kerouac this year. Perfect! So sorry you missed the Avedon show. I was a big fan as a teenager and have not yet introduced him to my budding photographer/fashionista. We won't get to see the show, but I think I will get her a big coffee table book for her next b'day. bestyears, jason, terriks...thanks for the additional tidbits. Renting bikes is a great idea, though the hills might be intimidating. We'll look for Sears (ring boloney and mac and cheese?!). Terri, we live to layer here! No problem. Thanks again everyone! This will all go into my SF file.

DS graduated from the University of Vermont in Burlington and one of his favorite sights was to watch the sunset over the Adirondack Mountains - either from a bench on Battery Park or up on the hill where the school is located. Add Ben and Jerry's ice cream and it's even better. We made many trips to Vermont while he was in school and our favorite time to visit was in the fall when the foliage is spectacular. However it's a beautiful state any time of year and we loved driving through all the scenic little towns and stopping at roadside farm stands. We contemplated buying a second home there and letting DS live in it while in school but it's an 8 hour drive from our home and we realized that we just wouldn't be able to spend that much time there. You're going to have a wonderful vacation. I think DH and I will have to make a trip back there - its been too long. Maire https://newengland.com/today/travel/vermont/most-beautiful-places-in-vermont/