Well, I typed out a whole message, pushed submit, then my internet went off and I lost it all. GRRR.... ANYway, lol... Diane, I received your package today. She sent me a really big and gorgeous garden statue!! I absolutely love it, thank you so much. It is beautiful, Diane. Here is a photo of it out in my yard: Diane, you have been such a great pal these past few months, despite how crazy busy you have been. And I cannot thank you enough for that. I wish we could've been pals longer, but I am enjoying the time that we have been pals. E-mail me sometime if you ever get a spare minute, and I will do my best to respond. I am still way behind on e-mails to others, specifically Susan, who I want to apologize to for not writing in so long. Seems like there is always so much to do, and so little time. I hope to sit myself down and write a good e-mail to you sometime. By the way Diane, here's a photo of the king frog statue you sent me last month, out on my back patio for now: Thanks again Diane, for such a great housewarming gift! ~Summer

Yes, Dido--I am familiar with that poem and have taught it many times in the past--but strangely enough, had forgotten it. Thank you for reminding me. Impressive imagery. It chokes me up--the old lie! Since we are on anti-war poems, here are a couple more that I used to teach along with Owen. The Jarrell poem--WWII-- leaves us gasping because it is pure horrifying image with no commentary. The shortest and maybe most realistic war poem I know--and a fitting postscript to Owen: "The old Lie: dulce et decorum est/ Pro patria more." The second one--WWI poem--, with its repetitions and wandering, circling thoughts that take us no where but leave us caught in an endlessly pointless repeating maze, also leaves us gasping with its final pointed question--what are "patterns" for? The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner By Randall Jarrell From my mother's sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. Patterns By Amy Lowell I walk down the garden paths, And all the daffodils Are blowing, and the bright blue squills. I walk down the patterned garden-paths In my stiff, brocaded gown. With my powdered hair and jewelled fan, I too am a rare Pattern. As I wander down The garden paths. My dress is richly figured, And the train Makes a pink and silver stain On the gravel, and the thrift Of the borders. Just a plate of current fashion, Tripping by in high-heeled, ribboned shoes. Not a softness anywhere about me, Only whalebone and brocade. And I sink on a seat in the shade Of a lime tree. For my passion Wars against the stiff brocade. The daffodils and squills Flutter in the breeze As they please. And I weep; For the lime-tree is in blossom And one small flower has dropped upon my bosom. And the plashing of waterdrops In the marble fountain Comes down the garden-paths. The dripping never stops. Underneath my stiffened gown Is the softness of a woman bathing in a marble basin, A basin in the midst of hedges grown So thick, she cannot see her lover hiding, But she guesses he is near, And the sliding of the water Seems the stroking of a dear Hand upon her. What is Summer in a fine brocaded gown! I should like to see it lying in a heap upon the ground. All the pink and silver crumpled up on the ground. I would be the pink and silver as I ran along the paths, And he would stumble after, Bewildered by my laughter. I should see the sun flashing from his sword-hilt and the buckles on his shoes. I would choose To lead him in a maze along the patterned paths, A bright and laughing maze for my heavy-booted lover, Till he caught me in the shade, And the buttons of his waistcoat bruised my body as he clasped me, Aching, melting, unafraid. ...

Maybe it is an optical illusion I'm seeing. Is the concrete higher or lower than the surface of the sand/soil? If the concrete is lower then I would suggest removing some of your sand to bring it down. The soil surface level should be about the same as the surrounding concrete. If it is too high the sand will wash out into the concrete and water retention won't be as good. Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering (yes, even for NE FL). This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall. You're about 10 degrees cooler than Central to South Texas, so I'm going to give you much sympathy. I agree I'd much rather be outdoors here in TX than in FL, but the plants don't care that much about humidity. You should never bag your grass clippings. Your sandy soil needs all the organic material it can get. If you have weeds, that's a different issue from bagging or not. Weeds only get started in thin turf which gets water too frequently. In addition to mulch mowing, I would strongly suggest using an organic fertilizer at least once a year if not 3x per year. Can you please take a picture on a cloudy day or in the shade (no flash) at a spot where the grass seems to go from nice green to brownish? Preferably get in about 3 inches away from the grass blades. I'm interested in the possibility of disease.

Yes, tsjmjh, some people do paint their downspouts to contrast with the house and, as evidenced by the photo you posted, it looks awful, don't you agree? I'm a little biased since that was my custom built house, lol. It was designed by a prominent architect and his firm and since I let him have free rein with the exterior, we always laughed and said we had a house with "gutter art." I couldn't find a better photo; it made sense when you saw the FLW lines and rest of the house. (FLW did contrasting gutters/fascia/eaves but didn't like to use downspouts, which is why most of his houses leaked.) And our gutters/downspouts weren't "painted"; the color was picked by the architect(s) and gutters were custom made with baked enamel finish that never chipped or faded.