I have been trying to remember some of the more unusual containers I have seen on this forum and the first one that comes to mind is an old claw tub. It was in the middle of a wildflower garden and was quite interesting. It brought to mind old victorian houses for some reason. Wooden horse troughs show up nicely if you have access, otherwise I suspect they might be rather expensive. Galvanized wash tubs and wooden half barrels with liners and very large urns that have an overflow into a gravel filled bed (sometimes this is called a pondless waterfall, no fishies in this one), a bucket tipped and pouring water into another larger bucket or tub for a start. I gave a talk to a group of older people living in a group of condos with only a small patch of concrete in the back, and showed them a small water garden in a 15 gallon plastic ice tub. I put in three plants including a small black magic taro and a small pump and fountain from Harbour Freight. The filter came from Lowes although I showed them how to make a filter out of Tupperware. I got a letter from them two weeks later and they had all put in a water garden. None of them was like the other and they were all very pleased to sit on their concrete slab and talk to their neighbors about their water gardens. A friend has a monster flower pot that she sealed on the bottom and it attracts lovely little frogs. I thought it was terracotta but it is plastic foam. She changes the way it is set up every year. She sometimes puts a fishie or two in it but doesn't want to let them get too big. She uses an aquarium bubbler and does a complete water change from her well every week. OK, that's all I can think of right now. What do the rest of our ponders remember? Oh, yes. Look up Adam's Filter. It is the same principle as my tupperware filter only a bit larger. Don't use clear tubing. It clogs up with algae really fast. Sandy

This just happened on Saturday... DH and I were invited to a bar-b-que at a friends house in Saugerties, which is about 45 miles north-west of us. They gave my DH directions, which he wrote down and stuffed in his wallet. The instructions specifically stated that "once you cross the 9W and Route 32 intersection, go approximately 500 feet and make a right turn on to St. John's Road...". So off we go to Saugerties and we're driving up Route 9W towards Kingston. (Hint: Saugerties is above Kingston, about another 15 minutes north). We drive and drive and drive and come to a split in the road right before Kingston. Route 32 forks to the right, so DH veered to the right. We go a bit further and get to the point where 9W and Route 32 intersects. We go through the intersection and drive 500 feet. No St. Joseph's Road to the right. We go a bit further up the road but still no St. Joseph's Road. At this point I suggest to DH that he turn around and go back to the intersection, and then take a right because when we veered right at the split, maybe Route 32 also had a section further up the road. At this point DH gets a tad pi$$y because he's admittedly directionally challenged. He starts getting a bit hoppy and hot under the collar, telling me that he's "been there before and he knows where he's going. This street looks familiar so it has to around here somewhere". After driving around for another 10 minutes I start chuckling because I just can't help it. My DH asks me, "what's so funny?", and now I'm really laughing to the point that I can't stop. He's getting angrier by the minute and proceeds to pull over to the side of the road. When I finally couldn't contain myself any longer I ask him, "Are you sure you know where you are, because we're in Kingston and they live in Saugerties". Needless to say we were both laughing so hard the tears were streaming down our cheeks. We swore that we wouldn't tell anyone what dummies we were.

Heather, does this make you feel better? I watched it and laughed my butt off, then watched it 2 more times and still kept laughing! I am awful about laughing when somebody falls, I just can't help myself. When dd was little she was such a klutz! She was always tripping and running into walls, and I would try so hard not to laugh until I knew she was ok, and as she got older she would look at me trying not to laugh, and she would give me a mean look and say "don't laugh! it's not funny!" Bsd mommy....

hahahaha dotz!!!! I got that word from my mother. My housedresses are old sundresses, (some of them over 15 years old) so they're a little short or holey or inappropriate in some other way. When I get home from work, I'll throw one on to do housework. I ended up missing the exit off the freeway for the butcher so went to Costco anyway. And it wasn't busy. And it wasn't hot. And I forgot DD had an after school activity at school, so I had an extra 45 minutes and just hit the store like a fiend - with a list! Managed to get out of there only spending $150, which is a record for me. And, I must admit, $45 of that was for a bottle of Shalimar. I figured, you send me to Costco.... LOL. I've always wanted a bottle, and it's quickly becoming my favorite scent. I keep smelling my wrists. :) Oh, and DH doesn't even know I went to Costco, so he doesn't know I folded... So, the menu is: Red wine Cheese plate with crackers and meats and grapes Herb crusted lamb chops with pomegranate sauce on a bed of fresh cut corn and parsley Parmesan sprinkled Asparagus Quinoa with tiny bits of carrot and onion Blueberry tarts and vanilla ice cream I cleaned the house yesterday, got the asparagus trimmed and washed and in a glass tupperware. Sliced the cheese, washed the grapes. All I have to do today is prepare the meat, throw the quinoa and carrots and onions in the rice maker, steam the asparagus and toss it and make the blueberry tarts. And I cheated with the tarts. I bought some of those little mini crusts, pre-made. DH was grumbling that three lamb chops apiece were not enough. I laughed, I can only eat one. I know Gpa will probably only eat two. I can't believe I thought DH hated lamb all this time. He insists he loves it. Who knew??? I've cooked it and (in my memory) he always complains. And DD flat out does not like it (which I can understand, it's gamey). So..... I have to think of something to cook her, or something to go with the lamb that will match. I'll probably just do some herb crusted tofu with the pom sauce. I do a tofu side with a lot of meals I do, like teriyaki chicken... And she loves tofu. I just want to avoid the whole separate meal thing...