Hi Gypsichic! The forum always gets fairly quiet in mid-summer, so it is good to see you back! All is well here. We made it through the rains and floods and most of the garden survived. We have been getting tons of tomatoes, peppers and herbs. We had a huge harvest of onions and leeks. The deer and raccoons got the corn. The rains and wet soils killed the sweet potatoes and green beans. The okra is fine, although is has been slow to grow and produce--it doesn't like the excessively wet soil. We are getting pumpkins, winter squash and squash. It was a great year for peaches, plums, apricots and blackberries. The lawn, shrubs, vines, trees, groundcovers, perennials and annuals have mostly benefitted from the heavy rains and cooler temps. We did lose 1 young oak tree and one sweet autumn clematis vine--both apparently drowned. The wildflowers have been blooming like crazy, and it has been hard to keep up with all the mowing. Weeds, of course, have loved the excess moisture and coolness as well. The roses have struggled with black spot, but still have provided lovely blooms. I still have a lot of plants that I never got into the ground in the spring because the ground was waterlogged. They include shrubs, perennials, annuals, peppers and tomatoes. Some of them are slowly going into the ground on cooler, cloudier days. Others remain in their containers, anxious to have a real home. The fire dept. has kept us busy, but not as busy as the wildfire season of 2005-2006. Mostly we have worked a lot of auto accidents and lots of flooding-related calls, including preventatively pumping water away from houses before it could get inside and flood them. We have had a few structure fires and a few farm equipment fires, but it has been a quieter year than we expected--only 109 calls so far (although, I admit, that is a high number of calls for a volunteer dept.). I have been on a homemade ice-cream making binge, and that has been fun, though fattening! We have made 8 or 10 different flavors this summer, and Vanilla with Oreo Cookies has been the big fave. I have just about finished all the chores on the July Garden Chore list thread that I posted next week, and am ready to dive into the August chore list. While driving through Thackerville today, I noticed that school enrollment is going on this week and the kids there start school next week. It makes you wonder where summer went. We have a new dog, rescued from a Gainesville shelter following the June floods, and a new kitten who was found in our pasture following rains and flooding. We think the kitten may have washed down from higher ground somewhere. He was skin and bones, covered in fleas and had a mouth infection. We have had him 3 weeks now, he is fat and sassy, his mouth infection has been treated and has cleared up, and the fleas are mostly gone (he is too little and has been too sick to dip, so we're still working on that). We didn't need another dog or cat....but they needed a home. I need to mow and weedeat about 4 acres...desperately, but it rained yesterday so the grass is still too wet to cut today. The flowers have been gorgeous--both the native wildflowers in our pastures and the perennials/annuals that we plant and maintain in the 'civilized' zone around our house. It has been a wonderful year for birds, butterflies, moths, frogs, turtles, dragonflies and bunnies. We have seen fewer than usual bobcats, foxes, coyotes and other predators. Lots of non-venomous snakes have been hanging around, but very few venomous ones, so that has been nice. What's new with you????? Dawn

I have the Miele Diamante' dishwasher (3 years now) and LOVE it! Best one I've ever owner. Sister-in-law has had a Miele dishwasher 8 years no problems. Our last "Maytag" lasted 4 years. Miele makes fantastic appliances even though they are more expensive. Saves money in the long run when you don't have to replace it. Make sure Miele certified guy puts it in if you get one. I am having a Miele single oven installed next week. Good luck! ps- my repairman told me to STAY AWAY FROM LG AND SAMSUNG. He said the parts they use look like toys and they are pieces of junk. He said if you American go GE or Whirlpool and get the longest service plan you can get because American made appliances are built these days to last 5 years. If you go Foreign expect to have more difficulty finding certified tecs and longer waiting time for parts.

Got an email back from Ikea today. They do not consider Knodd to be food safe. It's so cute, though! Oh well.... For the time being I just placed the entire bag inside it, bag and all. I'm going to check out vacuum packaging. Really, we don't need this much rice, but dh's favorite (Kokohu Rose) is only available here in huge bags - which lasts us about 3 months. I'm going to check out vacuum packaging. It would be better to break the quantity down into smaller, more manageable amounts for storage. Thanks SO much for your ideas - you guys are great! I don't post often but do love to read this forum. Linda

Hi Liz - I don't post much as I too have way too much going on - just like you! Just wanted to chime in on the septic issue. We had our tank pumped just fine 2 years ago - and then last year (one year after the pumping) we had "overflow" showing up in our yard - mid-August. Hot weather - can you say YUK!!! Turns out the distribution box "broke" - the previous owner somehow got away with installing a box that was not = to the size of the tank, or something like that. Plus we had no idea where the distribution box was and neither did the previous owner, or the company that put it in, or the local health department. We had backhoes & all other such stuff digging up our yard for most of August. We did some repair work last year and will finish this year. Thank GOD I can FLUSH!