We got our rain! Looks like a pretty good amount. Everything is thoroughly soaked. Amazing how much good the rain can do for plants. Glenda, You have had much cooler night temps then we have had. It has been in the high 90s during the day and high 80s at night. At 1 o'clock in the morning the temps would still be in the mid to upper 80s. Awful. Cameron, I am so sorry about your weather. I know the last time I flew to SC to see my daughter, I couldn't believe how brown everything was from Atlanta to SC. It was an olive green. I have never seen the South like that. The lakes were down really far and some almost dried up! I could see columns of smoke rising from the fires burning here and there all over. This must be the fourth or fifth year for you guys to be in drought conditions, huh? Man! We had a ten year drought and it was devastating. Nearly broke the banks because the farmers had no crops and the ranchers were having to sell off their livestock because there there was no hay to feed them. All the cattle ponds had dried up. This year, all the rain and precip. we got in winter and this spring really made the difference. The trees were able to get moisture further down in the ground, so the plants closer to the surface are not having to compete with them for whatever there is near the surface. I have had to water every day through this Heat Wave, but everything is doing pretty good, considering this early hot weather. The only exception being the veggie garden - insects ruined my cool weather crops. But even the areas further out where I never water look good. The garden phlox are the first to indicate drought. When they shrivel up, I know we are in drought. It's still very overcast and gray out, so we might get more rain. Hope this heat wave and drought ends for everyone... and moves on up to Washington where they could use a little heat and drying out. BTW, has anyone heard from MeMo lately. She blew out her knee(s?) trying to move plants and do things she shouldn't be doing by herself. She doesn't have one person to help her when or how she needs it the most. Wondering if she is in the hospital. Oh dear! I am just heartsick for her over her beautiful cottage garden plans. She worked so hard at designing it and digging those beds and her veggie garden. Then digging up her plants out on the ranch and transplanting them, mulching them, babying them along, only to be told it would all have to be dug out. And to make matters worse, this all happened right when the heat wave hit. Good grief! I would have been devastated. I worry about her. ~Annie

Thank you again ladies... Jeanne...A Norman Rockwell for sure and it IS something to see when the lights are on at night. I also mentioned it's nice to listen to as well. There's music and special sounds that make it come to life! Luvs..DH & my DGson seem to share the same 'attention to detail' attitude! They both enjoy detailed projects that I know I don't have the patience for. As far as the hutch on the porch, this is the first Winter I'm leaving it there. So far it seems to be sheltered from wind and rain and even the snow we had in Oct. If I see the weather effecting it, I'm going to cover it up. I know Jeanne's is protected with an inside porch..and can keep so many more great things on it during the Winter. PM...thank you - DH's village all started as a gift of two buildings from someone years ago - Knowing he loves detailed hobbies...that's all he needed to get him going. As it is now, not all the buildings and accessories our out because of space issues. I did mention in my other post that it's all put away now - he's very organized, and it went very quickly! I know I couldn't do it as fast or as organized! jane

When mc was having the sudsing problems with the Whirlpool Duet I had suspected it may have been the detergent. I went out and purchased some Tide HE liquid. Upon using it I had the same trouble as mc with oversudsing and the suds not rinsing out. Out of curiosity, I sent Tide an email explaining my problem in detail. I explained that I had purchased Tide HE liquid for my Frigidaire Affinity. Specifically told them the type of machine too. I informed them about the excessive suds, the poor rinsibility, the stiffness and the fact I can not use fabric softener due to having small children and the effects it would have on the flame retardent on their clothes. I explained that due to the liquid formulas concentration, I was unable to cut the amount of liquid used back to a safe level. I even informed them that I had seen others mention similiar problems on the net. I was very nice in my email and this was the response I got. Mon, 9 Jun 2008 09:29:26 -0400 (EDT) "P&G Consumer Relations" cleanclothes@custhelp.com Thanks for contacting P&G. [Incident: 080608-001294] I'm sorry you experienced oversudsing while using our detergent. There are a few situations that can cause this. They include: -- Using too much detergent for the amount of soil in each load. -- Water hardness level. Less detergent can be used in soft water. -- Do you use cold water for most wash loads? You might be experiencing buildup of detergent and mineral deposits in the outside tub of your washer. This can happen when cold water is consistently used for washing. Here's how you can fix that: add 1/2 gallon of white vinegar to a full tub of hot water. Run the washer through a complete cycle without clothing. If this resolves the problem you may want to repeat the process every 6 months. -- Overloading the washer can be a cause. Suds can become trapped in clothing if there's not enough room for them to circulate freely. -- Using regular detergent in a high efficiency washer. If you have one of the new HE washers, make sure you're using HE detergent, like Tide HE. A final word, it isn't unusual to see suds in the sink when the rinse water drains. The force of the water coming from your washer can generate suds as the tub empties. Since I'm not able to help the way I'd like via email, I'm following up via postal mail. You should hear from me in 7-10 days. Thanks for taking the time to write. Debi Tide Team [---001:001084:47166---] As you can see per the response they did not read my email to them in it's entirety as I had told them I was using the Tide HE liquid. They also totally neglected the fact that the suds were not rinsing out completely aka still seeing suds in the washer, not the rinse water. I also as of yet have not gotten this secondary contact she refered to. To be honest, I really didn't care one way or the other. I just wanted to see what they would say.

Hey, he wrecked the treasured tissue paper! Ah, kittens. They are so much fun. He's about a year old now, right, Lyd? What a handsome boy. I'm glad you like your little goodies. Jen and I had fun shopping for you. We both really liked the dangling thing, you're lucky it ended up in the box and not in my suitcase! lol Naughty drunks? Us? Oh, come ON! We're so not naughty. rofl The bath scrubbies are so cool- just the right size for a guest to use and then take home with them, I bought myself some because I liked the idea. I wonder if Jen is looking for the one she had in my bathroom? ;) You're a lucky little weiner, Lydia, I'm glad you liked your loot. We enjoyed making it up and going to the PO and everything. It's fun to do fun things for your friends, WITH your friends!