The summer temps seemed to be about normal here, from what I remember. I'm guessing I ran the AC about a normal amount of days. A wet spring...good for digging out the Star of Bethlehem bulbs until the foliage went dormant in early May. A wet summer. The grass stayed nice and green, never browning out and going into summer dormancy as it usually does. The Con side of it though was there was no reprieve from mowing all summer. No watering was necessary for anything that was planted in the ground, at least not after things being initially planted out. The Con is that I have 2 big pot ghettos, one of sun plants, and one of shade plants that had to be watered a good bit in spite of all the precipitation. With so much rain, there was a lot of times that weeding was so easy, with weeds coming out so easily as opposed to breaking off due to hard dry clay. The Con was that if I didn't immediately Preen and/or mulch immediately after weeding, weed seeds sprouted almost immediately. Normal (or a bit above) temps are predicted for today and Wed with no precipitation, just perfect for weeding, Preening, mulching, spraying, edging, mowing, pruning things back and cleaning up some beds and the veggie garden. I'll just keep chugging away, trying to get everything done that I have been behind on all season. I also have hundreds of new daffodils to be planted. I haven't counted them just yet, but think I have probably acquired over 200 new (to me) named cultivars this summer and fall. Whoo-Hoo...looking forward to Winter Sowing and then spring blooms, especially Daffodils! Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast Here is a link that might be useful: Get your weather sticker here. I save the code to a word document for convenience

Gee, an organic lawn care book telling you synthetic fertilizers are bad, go figure. That being said, misuse of synthetics is bad. The important thing to remember is fertilize at the right times with the right amounts. Don't get me wrong, organic programs are great, and if you can provide enough nutrients via organics, you will have better soil and healthier turf, but it requires a lot more product over synthetics, so there is a cost issue, and if your soil is depleted it will take years to bring it up to acceptable levels with purely organic. I find a hybrid approach is a good balance, giving you enough nutrients and the benefits of organic fertilizers at a reasonable cost. Synthetics over time can cause a lowering of pH, but so does organic matter, and rainfall, especially in the east. Lime will correct low pH, but a yearly soil test is good practice to determine the amount and type of lime you should be applying. Salinity issues mainly come about using ammonium chloride and potassium chloride when ammonium sulfate or urea and potassium sulfate would not lead to salinity problems. Luckily chlorides are very soluble and tend to leach out of most soils readily, so occassional use of those fertilizers aren't a big issue. The problems that they mention are generally the result of improper fertilizer usage, especially applying them in the summer months.

divamum, it was crazy fast, once it finally got rolling! I sat with a big empty box of a room for about three weeks waiting for the cabinet guy. But once he started installing, that meant Joshua could come put in my soapstone, and everything else just fell into place very quickly. I went from NOTHING to almost everything in literally 48 hours. I think that, by the end of this week, I'll be done with everything in the kitchen, except of course the backsplash! :) malhgold, the range is an Aga Legacy--and the gas is finally turned on!! Woohooo!! Wouldn't you know it, though, I have to teach tonight and then I'm going out of town for two days, so I won't be able to actually cook on it until Friday. Ugh!! fern4, the wood is cherry in a natural finish. Thanks so much for the McIntyre link. There are some beautiful options there. I will have to spend some time perusing! plllog, one of my first choices was a pale green glass tile with a little cobalt glass thrown in for accent pieces. I may have to revisit that. If I can find the pics again, I'll post them. I'm loving these suggestions. Sometimes my head gets stuck on one thing and, even though I know it's not what I want, I can't move past it. This is really helping me think outside my self-imposed box.

Go to weather.com - type in your zip code. On left side of page, you can click on monthly and get the data. Sorry about your a/c - this is not a good time for it to be giving you trouble. Hope you can get it fixed real soon.