Hello all, just got this update from them: WOW! It seems I am deluged with emails and phone calls. Let me first thank all of you who have sent good wishes our way. It is truly appreciated and totally unsuspected. Both Linda and I thank you. There have been many common questions so let me try to answer them for the benefit of all. If you have sent a previous email and this does not answer your questions, please send me a new on and I will try to answer. 1) The Foxfire line of hostas will live on through the wonderful initiative and cooperation of Bill Silvers in Conyers, Georgia. He has many in tc as we speak and more in the pipeline so the plants will become available in the future. Palm Sunday is looking good in TC as is Night Skye. There are a few more that will be new to you also. Foxfire Green Lantern, Foxfire Irish Moon, Foxfire Night Skye, Foxfire Off Limits, Foxfire Sidewinder, Foxfire Shadow Dancer will be available as liners in June 2010 with more to follow. Palm Sunday may be a little later. 2) I cannot mail order at this time and do not think I will be able to in the near future, but I will keep all of your addresses available and notify you in the future as plants you may be interested in become available. Who knows exactly what will happen in the future so we will just have to find out together. 3) Concerning availability of hostas for sale prior to Saturday: I extended an offer the past week to hosta groups and wholesalers of buying any ten or more hostas for $10 per plant. It has been well received and I extend that now to any of you who might want to come before Saturday due to scheduling problems. I feel in fairness to all there not be early sales at the $5 price. That way everyone has the same opportunity come Saturday at the lower price. You may certainly come earlier in the week and look things over, but the gate will open Saturday at 8:00am sharp. We will have additional help so check out will not be long or complicated (we hope). It should be rather fast and easy math and we will designate an area beyond checkout where you can bag your plants at your leisure for transport home. 4) For the big plants in the grower area, breeder area, and display area it is a bit more complicated. I think a minimum price of $3 per plant for the first 1-3 eyes and then $1 per additional eye up to a maximum of $25 would be fair. You will have to dig and cut off leaves (I will have some extra knives) but I will assist with pricing for easy checkout. 5) Hostas will not be sold that are in the Garden proper--only the ones down in the retail area. I will 'rope' off any 'no dig' zones (Wally's Garden) with yellow caution tape. There! I hope that answers most of your questions. My emails keep coming in as I write. Thank you my friends for your kind words. Sincerely, Steve

Hi Annie, I made a fresh pineapple upside down cake about 3 weeks ago. I don't have a pineapple corer, just used a knife. Not quite as pretty, but the taste is the same. I really like the flavor. The only disappointing thing to me is that the caramel cooked all the way into the cake instead of forming even a small layer for me to pick at. Salted-Caramel Pineapple Upside-Down Cake 8 servings 1 cup dark-brown sugar 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature 3 Tablespoons dark rum 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 cup granulated sugar 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1/2 cup whole milk 1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into rings; 1 ring cut into chunks Coat a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat brown sugar and 1 stick butter, whisking occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook until caramel thickens and turns a deep brown, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in rum and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Pour caramel into prepared cake pan and swirl around to coat. Set aside and let cool completely, at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, remaining salt, and cinnamon. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium, beat together granulated sugar and remaining butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla; beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in half the dry-ingredient mixture and 1/4 cup milk. Repeat with remaining dry-ingredient mixture and milk. Arrange pineapple rings atop caramel in cake pan. Fill in spaces between rings with pineapple chunks. Carefully pour batter over pineapple and smooth, using a rubber spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake; invert onto a large serving plate. NOTE: I donâÂÂt keep dark rum, so went to the liquor store & bought an airline-sized bottle, which turned out to be exactly 3 Tbsp. Source: Country Living Magazine Here is a link that might be useful: Pineapple cake recipe

Hey....I didn't know anyone was even thinking about my dresser. I'm so slow with projects these days since I work full time, (back in the day when I had a day off each week, it was so cool!) and I actually painted and waxed it a couple weeks ago, but just put it in the closet where I needed a dresser, like 25 minutes ago! Will take a picture later, I'm late now for dinner with friends. I find the chalk paint to be fast. It goes on easy, dries fast, just like the videos and the blogs say. I've been using MinWax (that I already had) for waxing, but think since I really like the chalk paint that I may need to buy either the Hannitys, or something called Fiddes, available online. I need to go out to the lady's house that is the local Annie Sloan supplier to buy Hannity's. She's a good 20 min away and I don't have time during the week when her shop is open. I will NOT order online something I can buy local, so I've been stuck in a situation of my own making. I think you should check out the blogs like PerfectlyImperfect, get a feel for if you want to do it. Bite the bullet and order a quart. It does go a long way. I did this dresser and one little nightstand. (Here's a link to the nightstand. It took like 2 hours total to be done. I bought it for $5, painted it, and resold on Craigslist for $45.) I still have half a can of paint. Pix later? Will do. Red Here is a link that might be useful: A nightstand I did in Duck Egg Blue and Old White

This is a great example of someone who probably shouldn't be doing FSBO. If the simple stuff upsets you, you're going to be a mess when you start working on an offer. I always FSBO, but I am NEVER rude to agents, even those who call just to offer to list my homes. I am currently in the process of closing a home I was going to FSBO but an agent sent out a letter asking if any units were for sale. I let him sell to his waiting client because he was comfortable meeting my financial needs (I have a bottom line cash out amount I want) and we just upped the price to include his fees and closing costs. If I were you I'd consider calling back and making a totally BS excuse about the fact that you were having a bad day. Share the template information and close your call with a simple "If you know anyone suitable for the house I'd love to show it to them". This isn't the best market to peeve off the professionals. Even in a FSBO there's room for negotiations with pros. I have paid fees to several agents for bringing me a buyer..negotiated fees, less than the normal 6% but still...a sale is a sale and if they have a buyer...I'm never rude!