Outsmarting the tree rats (squirrels) around my house is a full time job. This past spring I hit on a new idea. When I plant a container I invert an empty wire hanging basket over the container and the plant gets sun and can be watered but the squirrels can't dig in it. Another idea: I bring in a lot of plants to "over winter" under lights in my garage. I have so many that it is hard to reach my hand under the lights (4 shop lights) to the middle for watering. So I bought a pump sprayer with a long wand and it works great! In late winter I add a little liquid Dawn detergent, few drops, to each gallon of water and not only does the soil get wet easier but the worms that are waiting to hatch into distructive pets just don't hatch. Don't know what it costs me to run those four shop lights all winter but I don't care. It is a small price to pay to be able to "garden" every weekend in the garage. Many people have mentioned that they mark their outdoor plants with a "permanent Sharpie". In my experience there isn't a "permanent Sharpie", they all fade and quickly too. A grease pencil/china marker or expensive "no fade" garden center marker are the only markers I have found that won't disappoint you by fading. Eight years ago I decided to learn about gardening so I tapped into my local library. I checked out nearly every book they had on gardening and learned so much. The Gardenweb forums are also a wealth of information and entertainment. There is always something new to learn and I appreciate all of you who take the time to write in your ideas. One last idea from me...I keep a small notebook on my computer table and jot down any idea I find that's new and I will want to try. Little pieces of paper get lost but I always know where my notebook is and also use it when I order "on line" so I will remember the name of the company and the order date. Tina or Trowelgal

How I remember the frustrations of my appliance research! My favourite was when I wanted to see a particular Electrolux fridge and freezer. I had seen Electrolux ICON appliances at a well-known Canadian retailerÂs flagship store in Toronto so I went there to see if they had the models I was interested in. Not finding them, I asked a salesman for help. Oh, he tells me, Electrolux doesnÂt make appliances. Odd, I say, since you have some Electrolux cooktops right over there. Oh no, he says, those are ICON. Yes, I say, Electrolux ICON Â it says so right on them. So he proceeds to scour his Electrolux materials for information about the fridge and freezer, with no success. Finally I tell him I will email him the model numbers and perhaps he can then give me his price. So I email him the model numbers for the units IÂm interested in and I send him the direct link to the fridge and freezer on the Electrolux website. And he sends me a reply email telling me that Electrolux doesnÂt make refrigerators or freezers!!

My experience with HD and Stonemark has been excellent. We had originally decided to do a quick kitchen facelift after my kids bought me a kitchenaid mixer for my birthday, lol. I really wanted an undermount sink, and so our journey began. We initially wanted to go with Wilsonart HD laminate but I wasn't too fussy for the sink choices and I felt their colors were more designed to go with SS appliances, which I didn't have and wasn't interested in. At the kitchen design store we then saw Granite Tiles. Hmm, I was intrigued and I must admit they looked gorgeous in the display. When we rec'd the final quotes for install (no DIY) we were a tad taken back. So things stalled. My husband happened in HD one snowy day in January and called me about a sale there. So just to placate him I jumped in the car and met him at the local HD to look at Granite. , knowing I would be disappointed, we never considered Granite at all due to the budget. So I started browsing, the great price was on the 2cm granite, not the 3cm. The selection of 5 choices, well none of them wowed me. So I start looking at the 3cm samples and found a few that intriged me. Well that made the price jump from about 47 dollars a SF to about 79 a SF. However it was on sale as well, 10% off, additional $300, and free upgrade on the edging. And of course the sale was over in 3 days. The rough estimate including the installation of an undermount sink in a B sample actually was only 300 more than my quotes on HD laminate and the Granite Tiles!! I left with my head spinning, and the next day went to another HD. Again looked at samples talked to him regarding 2cm vs 3cm. Went through the sample box from Stonemark and found one they did not have on display, Vecchio Oro. Really really liked it. My main concern was dealing with HD. Is the quality there? Will they be there if something goes wrong? Will they still be in business in a few weeks, lol? During this time is when I happened upon GW site. Drank a lot of coffee and read, read, and reread all the great posts on Granite. We went back to our original HD, and I asked about viewing the slabs. We live in Western NY, the fabricator for HD was Innovative Stone out of Syracuse. We were told we could go view the slabs. Wednesday afternoons only. Since Syracuse is 2 1/2 hours away and it was the middle of winter, We decided not to, I held my breath as I wrote the check. Then I went home and started to second guess myself. True to what I was told at HD the fabricator called me 3 days later to come and template, I had to stall as I hadn't even picked out a sink and faucet, they were gracious and just told me to call them when I was ready. So 3 weeks later I called them and they were here 48 hours later to template. The guy was very nice, I asked him every question in the granite install post by buehl, he explained everything as he templated, and measured. What they would do at the install, what was my responsibility. First he measured and templated by hand, and then used the laser template afterward. There are more positive points in this templating that I won't go into as its already a novel, for my first post, lol. 2 weeks later my install, of granite I never really saw. I was nervous when they pulled up and had to keep myself from running out to the truck to look as soon as they pulled up. Let me tell you the 2 guys from Innovative Stone were absolutely wonderful. The color of my granite was a surprise to me. Yes I could see it was what I had picked, but there was more gold in it then the 3 inch sample. But the good news is that I absolutely love it. They had a few obstacles to overcome in my 20 year old kitchen, but they worked quietly, explaining everything to me as they did. I think the install took them a couple hours more than planned, but didn't leave till everything was perfect. Its been about 5 weeks now, and everytime I walk in my kitchen I am just so thrilled my kids bought me a kitchen aid mixer and led me to this. So totally an impulse buy with great results! Now if I could only decide what color to paint the rest of the kitchen, but that's another novel, lol.

OGRose, our backyard neighborlady turned 80 last month. She lives by herself and every Monday cuts her really big yard with a push (gas) lawnmower. She has a wonderful garden, goes for a walk each morning with another neighborlady, and is the best neighbor I've ever had. She doesn't want to leave her home, built by herself and her departed hubby back in 1950. I think gardening is a great way to keep active and having a reason to get up every morning. I would not want to give that up either. Currently I am adding hosta to my garden, and they take about 5 or 6 years to mature. I hope I am able to remember what it was I planted if I'm still around in 6 or so years, because I dearly love these plants. I'm assuming the retirement community will allow a little genteel gardening in personal space? Balcony or patio?