Vera, I hear you on "the jungle" look - - I thought this year my "jungle" would not be as dense, but for some reason, again - with all the rain this spring or what I planted - I STILL can't walk in and around the areas to deadhead. Plus, here in NC I am petrified of snakes. Next year, I am determined to make the borders less dense but I myself don't have any ideas what I will plant. I do like the Paniculata Hydrangeas that bloom gorgeous white blooms (they take full sun) with no work involved. The only thing you have to do is to trim them down in the spring. No winter interest, but blooms all summer into fall. I have a couple of those and will add more. Will try and come up with some ideas. Carrie

Hi Javachik! Nice to hear more about your life. Very interesting. So, you worked at Langley...wow! Are you retired now? My brother in law just retired from working at NASA for over 30 years! He commuted all those years from Portsmouth! Are you going to settle down in Carrollton, or do you think another move is in your future? DC/NOVA is SO fabulous, but SO expensive too! I know what you mean about not being in "acquisition mode" anymore. My sis bought a house recently, so she's open to possibilities, but really, she's pretty much furnished and accessorized the house. I'm pretty much "done," too, but am open to finding some old, unusual, inexpensive piece of art, so I like to look at those items. Frankly, I think we just like to LOOK, period! The only thing I bought that day from an antique place was a necklace! I love it and have already worn it several times. On our outing we also hit Belks in Suffolk (we're SO exciting) and I got two summer dresses & two shrugs there on sale! Whoo hoo! Will definitely tell sis about Smithfield Station! That's going to be on our "must-do" list now! We always like finding a good place to eat! Thanks for the suggestion.

I am also considering Softlite for 4 double- hung no grid windows and 2 small double hung kitchen windows, no grids. This will be replacing 25 year old replacement windows that have seal failure. These windows are in an addition that was done 25 years ago by the original owner. When doing our upgrading to this house, we replaced 7 upstairs 6 over 6 original windows(from the 40's) because they were in bad shape. The rest of the house has 6 over 6 double hung originals. To keep with the integrity of the original windows, we chose Marvins because they came the closest to matching. The only reason I am not getting Marvins again is price, and the fact that I don't need the 6 over 6 divided lites on the back of the house, because they never had them to begin with. I do prefer windows that don't look like they belong in a playhouse or something. I have to admit there are some windows that mess with the integrity of a house, and I have to wonder how long they will hold up. I am glad to hear some good things said about Softlite. I don't want to see seal failure, when our old windows with storms can at least be cleaned if a person was so disposed. Windows with seal failure look dirty no matter what! Any advice appreciated-sorry I have rambled so, must be age!

Egg and I by Betty MacDonald (let's put this series out of its misery & start a new one for May!)