Wasn't yesterday an amazing day? I was pretty darned crabby to be invoicing in the morning while doing loads of laundry, had to go out for ingredients for a dessert for a Husky TV party last night - got my flu shot while at Safeway :) But I had the afternoon to scrub algae off my north facing deck, deadhead rain-ruined rose blossoms, cut back some raggedly Joe Pye, day lilies, euphorbia, raked compost over some of the lawn. I dissolved beneficial nematodes and watered those in over some areas where I was finding cutworms and weevils this year - no idea if the timing was right but the expiration date on the package was 10-17 so now or never. Found a few seeds on dicentra scandens to try sowing. I was filling a plate during first quarter instead of pre-game. Little tip - when friends are doing a driveway tailgate in October and have set up televisions in their open garage....take time to put on socks. Evenings are chilly even when the day has been nice :) Today the whole day is mine. My birdhouses still need emptying, but I don't have a list for what I'll try to do, I just know I'll be doing it outdoors.

My dad hasn't been able to log in and post for over a week, and he's getting pretty frustrated! He emailed gardenweb but they didn't respond yet. Anyways, he sent me this message because he wanted to thank everyone for all of the cards he received so far, which is a lot! ***THANK YOU FROM GARDENDAD_2K10*** Wow wow WOW - I am just overwhelmed with happiness with all of the cards and seeds I have been receiving! Everyone has been very generous and I am very grateful to you all for this. I have a whole pile of cards that I will be thanking people for, so stay with me. BUSTANI - Christmas tree card with a present inside. I opened the present and out came never-ending seeds. Wow wow WOW! I think they were all hand-drawn on and colored with Christmas sayings. I could see that a lot of work went into packaging these up and I am very grateful. She sent Cherry Bomb Pepper, Catnip and Catgrass (Kitty is very grateful), Sugar Snap Peas, Basil Mix, Blue Lake Bush Bean, Nature Sweet Tomato (LOVE TOMATOES!), and Habenero red & orange mix seeds. Thank you very much. You are more than generous and thoughtful. Merry Christmas! DEBBY_1 - Cat with a Santa hat on sticker was sealing the envelope. Very cute. I got a reindeer card and inside was Pepper long red cayenne and rutgers tomato seeds. Thank you very much! Peppers and tomatoes are my specialty and I can't wait to try these out. Happy Holidays! MOLLY_AND_ME - Candy sticker sealing envelope. I think the card was handmade - very professionally done. You have a great talent! I got seed paper that has Mammoth Sweet Basil embedded in it and some catnip for the kitty. How do you make seed paper? It looks great, I am interested in making some of my own sometime. Very creative person - a lot of time has obviously gone into this card and the seed presentation. Thank you and Merry Christmas! JULIE2112 - 3-D mitten card looks very cool. She sent me tons of seeds, how generous! I got onion 'white sweet spanish', pineapple tomato (wow sounds interesting!), amish paste (Have to look that one up), cauliflower 'snowball' (never grown that before but looking forward to it!), cauliflower 'self blanch', beefsteak tomato (one of my favorites), and Rutgers tomato seeds. Thank you very much - I love them all and will plant them with care. Happy holidays! DIRTDADDY - Very cool Elvis Card along with lots and lots of seeds. I got Parsley Extra Triple Curled, Fish Hot Pepper (his favorite, looks interesting!), Louisiana Red Cayenne, Thai Basil, Mavi Purple Hot Pepper, Tepin Pepper, Wenks Hot Pepper, Dr. Wyche's Tomato, and Lemon Drop Hot Chile Pepper seeds. Wow - I can't thank you enough. It must have taken forever to harvest those seeds - I am very grateful and can't wait to grow these. So many varieties that I have never tried before. Thanks so much and Merry Christmas! RUTHZ - Cool snowman card that says 'let it snow' with some great seeds inside. I got yellow eye bush bean, japone pepper, and...

Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story - Sue Monk Kidd

Hot Blood: The Money, the Brach Heiress, the Horse Murders - Ken Englade