Ya know they got doctors that can help with obsessions - fortunately this one is a healthy one. Nah - it ain't too awful bad freezing cold up here right now. About 35 or so at night and we have seen a couple of 70 degree days already. Spinach is looking good. Cabbage too. No carrots up yet - but since I just finished up last season's crop, I ain't too anxious about them - yet. Kind of hard to try and keep track of everything at this time of the year. Got the mulch pulled back so the ground will warm up. Steadily planting the cool weather crops and killing off the cool weather weeds. Tomato stakes are driven and ready to go. Cucumber trellis is ready. Blackberries are all pruned, tied up, and ready for the demon child from next door to raid. Already have two dump-truck loads of horse manure/straw ready to compost and go into my last bed (as soon as I double dig it that is). I should have had it ready last fall - but since I already grow more than I can possibly eat, I am in no rush. Might have to join one of those dating sites to find me a nice hungry female so I don't have to wander up and down the streets trying to give away free vegetables. And I STILL have to get all the canning equipment ready to go! Unfortunately it is in the shed. And the shed is buried under the elm tree that I STILL haven't cleaned up from the ice storm. *Chuckles to self* It just occurred to me - I am a real hellion full of all kinds of interesting qualities that ANY female in the world would be proud to snatch up. I can just see how it would go on THAT dating site: Q) What are your hobbies? A) Digging big rocks out of my garden. Q) What do you do in your spare time? A) Think about ways to get that big rock out of the garden, and look for sources of compost and mulch. Q) What qualities do you look for in a woman. A) She has to be strong - cuz she's gonna help me dig that big rock out of the garden. Oh yeah, I'm a real catch.

johnt, just curious those 5 1/2 tomatoes are in dirt right? i was actually surprised how well my tomatoes did this year (my extras) that got very root bound. they seemed to eat plenty and drink everyday but other than that they seemed ahappy. and we will see if i got this right or not. thanks for expaining how to italicize. i was thinking it was these [ brackets. live and learn. i have peppers i had that were a bit root bound when i put them in the ground. this was about 4-5 weeks ago i planted them and they are just now taking off in size. takes a little while to get into the grove after transplanting but you can really tell when they are happy again. i also have noticed some posts about larger leaves falling off. ppl seem to be worried about this. i have noticed that the leaves get big. then get bigger. then very big, then start to look bad, then yellow and finally drop. then you end up with new small leaves and more growth. more leaves than the one you start with. just seems natural to me. many seemed worried when the big ones drop. should i be? i say no. some might know i bought ladybugs this year. they looked a bit different than the ones i have normally seen around here but i really dont know to much about them or their life cycle but anyway... i have been noticing many more this year and it has been almost a month since i let them go. i had also had larva and put them into the garden. (they were found on a potted tomato) i am pretty happy about that and i say an aphid or 2 so the lady bugs should stay around. one last thing. SQUIRRELS!!!!! frig! what can you do about them. i have heard a few gripes about them. and it seems someone is feeding the little buggers and i have peanuts sprouting everywhere. not such a heart breaker in the garden just routine weeding. peanuts sure grow fast too. but my grip is the digging is awesome in the potted plants with the soft potting soil which makes an appealing place for a squirrel to farm his peanuts. maybe i need a dog? michael

Moonshadow, you are amazing. What a through contribution! I know when I used to rent, I would make a list of any little issues the house had. I'd send a copy to the landlord and invite him/her to inspect the house before I moved in. I did this because I didn't want to be blamed when I moved out. Never lost a deposit because of that well filed list. Dated photos are helpful too. I've had some great landlords in the past but there have been a few doozies too. I lived in a rental for 5 years. The oven didn't work and it was on my list, along with dates and times I phoned him about this situation. Finally I gave up and purchased my own range. I called him to tell him I was putting his range on my back porch and he should come pick it up. I noted all communication on that list regarding that stupid non-working range oven and thank goodness. He never picked up the range so I took it to the dump after a year on my back porch. When I moved he tried to keep my deposit. I mailed him another (updated) copy of my list that included my "journal" of our communication regarding his range. I offered to go to small claims court and let the judge decide if I should get my deposit back. He quickly returned my deposit. Fact was, he never did anything he said he was going to do. The only time he returned a phone call was when my hot water heater went out. I responding to his voice message informing callers that he was out of town, explaining I had no hot water and I was going to call in a repairman to fix or replace the hot water heater. He called me when he returned, just to get mad at me for being unwilling to go without hot water for a week and a half. I told him he should have contacted me before he left town to let me know who was going to be in charge of his rental while he was gone, but since he didn't, I acted on his behalf. He paid for the repairs, I guess. I never heard from the plumber either way.

Chispa -please post photos when your paper is up! Holly-kay - I love my koi paper too, but for the back of bookshelves (which will really be display shelves) I have had my eye open for something more subtle, but textural, and that could stand up to the rest of the house ;) Mtn - I am fickle, too, so I have used the wallpaper sparingly with the exception of the koi in the powder room which does define the entire room. Now that I see how "easy" it is to use paper, I feel less nervous about using it more, if that makes any sense. Maybe I should learn how to hang paper myself? Jeannie - it's great to hear from a fellow wallpaper lover! Powder rooms and laundry rooms are so much fun! Here is the paper I used in my laundry room (which is a converted 2nd floor bathroom):