Rogue is my favorite of this group. I love that bloom form, and I'm a sucker for white midribs. I have tiny ants in some of my flowers, too. As long as they stay in the garden and not in my house, that's O.K. with me. I have never heard of Hummingbird Mint before. The closest thing I have (in the same Genus) is Anis Hyssop. I love the licorice smell of the leaves. But I will have to move it soon, to a sunnier location, because it's slowly dying near the woods where there's too much shade. I'll have to do some research on Hummingbird Mint, and maybe add it somewhere. I love those late season bloomers. Did you ever count how many flowering plants you have? My DH keeps asking me that, and I wouldn't have a clue, unless I got out all my lists and counted. Beautiful garden shot w/your roses! Julie

I was driving home from college and had to pass under a railroad trestle that diagnolled the street. As I was coming up to the bridge, an 18 wheeler lost a tire and rim, that rolled across 3 lanes of traffic, hit the concrete pillar of the trestle, bounced back across 4 lanes of traffic, across a parking lot and landed in the back of a pickup truck parked in front of a car repair shop. Everyone in all 4 lanes of traffic, slowed down and watched it all happen, no one was hit. The guys in the shop came out and just stared. I don't think the driver even knew he had lost his wheel. Back in the late 70's when I-15 finally was finished and didn't go through Las Vegas, DH and I were heading for California. It was late afternoon and had been raining off and on. I looked over at the skyline of Vegas and there was a huge rainbow over the entire city. A Kodak moment and I didn't have a camers. Swear!!!

I'm making a pine countertop for my island. It will have a cooktop in it and I'm only using mineral oil on it. That way if something particularly ugly happens I can sand out that spot. I'd love to have that scrubbed look, but I think that's an age + multiple cleaning process. The sides have a chamfer so I'm planing the sides that will be glued & pocket-hole screwed together, then sanding for a smooth finish. $18 for the 2x wood in 8' lengths, which is the exact size of the ugly laminate that's there. I'm going for a rustic vibe and figure an $18 investment, plus the planer I'll use on other projects, is worth the experiment. The other laminate tops are painted and sealed. Unfortunately I have some areas that need to be retouched, after using Lysol Kitchen cleaner. I should have stuck with vinegar and water! Now, I have to figure out a top for my vanity. I'd love to have Water-loxed walnut, but DH is messy and leaves puddles on the current cultured marble. I might have to spend some dough for that one!

I was invited to the wedding of friend's sister, along with another friend of ours. The bride was a pretty obnoxious, spoiled brat but we were very good friends with her brother and kind of felt sorry for her because she didn't really have any friends and wanted the biggest wedding she could have. The ceremony itself was fine but when we got to the reception, the MOB set my friend and me to work bartending. We were horribly embarassed (and had no idea how to bartend) but we muddled through it. What made it even more embarassing was when the MOB insisted on paying us at the end of the night. I have no idea where she got the idea that we were there to tend bar but suspect the bride had something to do with it. As an example of how the bride's brain worked (or not) we visited her home a while later. I was helping her with something in the kitchen and noticed a bunch of tiny labels sticking off of a windowsill. When I asked her what they were doing there, she said that her parents had given her some Waterford glassware they had gotten on a trip to Ireland. When she served guests she wanted everyone to know they were Waterford so she would leave the labels on the glasses, then take them off before washing them and then put them back on.