I have not been directly involved, but there's a big group of volunteers who work on streetscape plantings in my town, Falmouth. We also have a local designer, Paul Mikovsky, who's well known for his xeriscapes and regionally appropriate "local flora" designs; he's done some large rotaries and public areas, like the front of our town hall. His gardens really do evoke a sense of place, and although not everyone likes them, I think they're exceptional. Many of the gardens that have been built by volunteers look very nice. On the other hand, we have doughnut rings of annuals around the bases of the trees in what would otherwise be an elegant, expansive lawn in front of the library, or the rectangle of dying azaleas baking on a hot windy corner in poor soil (with a badly-installed and superfluous plastic edging strip completing the picture). If I were working on a project like this, I'd really analyze each site and treat them differently based on accessibility. For median strips, my primary considerations would be finding truly low maintenance plants that will look good most of the year, without needing watering and weeding, and would not block the view of oncoming traffic from either side. I hate to admit it, but grass may be a really good choice in places like that. We've had planters on some median strips, and they look pretty horrendous after they're hit by a car. Getting people to weed and water in traffic islands is tough, as you can imagine. Grass doesn't block the view around the bend, can take an occasional drive-over, and looks reasonably decent most of the time, without being watered or weeded. I can't think of many other plants that fit the bill as well. Please keep us posted on this project! Landscaping public spaces has got to be awfully challenging, but when it's done well it can really have a big impact on a community.

ECO Tuesday cities; Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Southeast Michigan and Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley Any one here live in any of these cities??? Can you look them up? What do you think???

Canadian banks are fairly heavily regulated and are more used to carrying their own mortgages, so we are told that our mortggage situation isn't nearly as troublesome as in the U.S. There seems to have been a pause in house prices, even a slight drop in some areas, but not a serious issue at present. There is a sagging in the economy, though ... and will be more so, as our economy is very closely linked to the U.S. one: we say that when the U.S. economy gets a sniffle ... ours gets pneumonia. I've lived in about 22 locations during my 79 years ... have never owned a home. Current 2 br. farmhouse costs under $500.00/mo., includes water, o.k. for washing, not for drinking or most cooking, but I pay for power to run the pump. Rent not including oil furnace heat and power. Income from my three pensions has increased slightly, quarterly. I expect it to continue so. I have some income from a small personal tax-deferred retirement plan: my enthusiasm for that system has decreased substantially in recent years. That income has increased annually, but the required percentage withdrawal increases annually, so soon it will begin to decline, annually. I'm not worried about that. I live within my pension income, thus far can save some for other purposes. My investment income has taken a hit - one substantial situation, our largest telco, known as a "widows' and orphans' stock", was to be sold, to be bought at a premium price by a large pension plan and taken private ... the deal set up just before the U.S. financial debacle ... and completion has been postponed several times. During that time ... they stopped paying dividends! Then last month their auditors told them that the deal isn't viable ... would put them too deep into debt. Share price dropped from $38.35 close the day before the announcement to $25.25 next day. I fully expect them to reinstate dividend, and soon, maybe even paying the omitted ones. But it'll be a long time till I recover the price that I paid for some of the stock. GGrr-rr-r-r-u-u-m-m-ppp! Another company, a base metal miner and processor that I bought early this year had share price go up over 1/3 by May ... then slid back to purchase price by about Sept. They'd bought a major coal co. for possibly a high price, with short-term bridge financing, are worried that recession may cut metallurgical coal shipments, they may have trouble financing. They've stopped paying dividends, as well. Stock price closed last week at slightly over 1-10th the amount that I paid in Jan. I'd bought more a month ago for nearly double the current price per share. GGrr-rr-r-r-u-u-m-m-ppp, again! Thinking of buying more, now, though. Ed - are you crazy? I don't think that the company will die, but will recover. A Canadian bank stock whose price at $107.00 was high in May '07 raised dividend from $3.08 in fall '07 to $3.48 ... and have maintained it, thus far. But they had substantial exposure to the U.S. financial problems ... the share price dropped to a low of $42.36 or so, last month ... now $50.00 ... a long way down from that $107. a year and a half ago: but they continue to pay the dividend, at the rate established last fall. A slight ray of satisfaction can be gained from the realization that at a share price of about $90.00 a year ago, the rate of return was 3.87% (tax-advantaged) ... ... and now, at share price of $50.00, is 6.96% (tax-advantaged) ... rather unusually high, for a bank! ole joyful P.S. I'm digging up some more stock and mutual fund certificates, these days, to take to my lender to increase the limit on my Line of Credit. I'd thought that I'd have had some funds available from the forced sale of the telco, several months ago. Then deferred ... was to complete on Thursday, this week. Now, those funds are not available. But stocks are on sale. So I want to buy some. That's what that currently unused Line of Credit is for! o j

Linda, I used to quilt all my quilts by hand, but now I machine quilt almost exclusively. This quilt I sent out to be longarm quilted by a member of my quilt guild. She did a wonderful job! I was thrilled with her work and I love my quilt. The fabrics used were 1930's reproduction prints, some authentic vintage 30's fabrics, and some plaids, checks and polka dots thrown in for a good mix. The 30's prints are what I call brighter pastels - very happy fabrics. I'm glad you like the quilt. It gives me such pleasure twice a day - when I make the bed in the morning and when I pull back the covers to go to bed at night. Teresa