We had the "perfect" solstice this year, and I had been particularly anxious for it to arrive. Most people think of it as the first day of winter, but to me it's the first day of our journey to spring. I work out in the natural daylight twelve months of the year, and I notice the almost imperceptible graduations of light from day to day and it's so very welcome inside the greenhouses as it spells warmth and good growth on the plants. I was taking my dog a walk the night of the solstice and it was a large moon and clouds scutting along the sky. The moon last night was also awesome and the winds after midnight were very dramatic. We are also getting all the rain this month we didn't get through spring and summer and for that I am very thankful. I am so ready this year to see the calendar flip over to January and get started on the growing season. There are already trays of seeds in the greenhouse. The link to Ireland was lovely and I sat drinking tea and watching the sun rise. Thank you for the link to this site. As for Stonehenge, it has a particular draw to me. My surname ancestors are from Wiltshire and the Salisbury plains and they can be traced back there as a family as far as written records allow. Even though one cannot enter the circle anymore because of the damage caused by souvenir hunters and traffic, it is still much more accessible and uncommercial than it would be had it been located in the U.S. If it were here, there'd be themeparks, and stonehenge burgers, and five square miles around it would be a parking lot and condos.

Good morning Idylls, Its a pretty dreary, gray day here but its just SOP for this time of the year. I think we are supposed to get a few inches of snow sometime today and Doug is anxiously waiting for his new snow blower to come in. We finally broke down and ordered a new machine as the old one was beyond its last legs. Wed bought it shortly after we bought this house so it doesnt owe us anything. Doug ordered an 11.5 horsepower Ariens so it should be able to throw the snow into the next county. Of course now that weve taken the plunge it probably wont snow for the rest of the winter. LOL Yesterday Wendy, Chelone, Saucy, Sue and I met in Chelmsford for lunch and had a terrific visit. Lots of laughs and good wishes were shared by all. What a treat to see so many smiling gardener faces. We are talking about having a get-together at Tower Hill sometime in the next couple months and Im going to be planning our annual Thumb our Noses at Winter party, probably for the last week in Feb or beginning of March. The Idyll social calendar is getting off to a good start for 08. Speaking of which, where are we going to IU5????? Anybody have any great ideas out there???? Personally, Id love to go back to Michigan and see Davids new gardens and visit Edens and Honeys gardens again. That was a marvelous trip and pretty central. Jump in anyone please with ideas and suggestions. Im loving all the birthday and Christmas photographs. What fun. Michelle, I just love that Chickadee on the sundial photo. Wonderful! And Norma, what is that columbine? What a beauty! Your DH is so cute. He looks pretty happy with his Christmas present. Michelle, Oh yes, I almost forgot to answer your question, I DID buy that ribbon at Sams. They have some lovely ribbon this year too and I want to pick up a couple rolls when it goes on sale. Mary, I ROTFLOL when I saw the lime green panties gingerbread woman. You are just too clever. Monique, glad to hear you had a great birthday. OK Ive got to get off this computer and get to the gym and begin to work some of this excess baggage I picked up over the holidays off my bum. Have a great day everyone. Deanne

Just got around to this thread again and saw Chandra's comment on the blood type book. Since I was the one who first mentioned it when someone asked if it was possible to eat too many tomatoes, thought I would throw in my two cents. I am from a cattle raising family. My 84 year old father still raises cattle and so my family eats grass-fed beef and has for over 40 years. I married a man from a hunting family and tried for a brief time to at least limit his consumption of red meat. "Three days a week is enough," I said. "No, we need it every day." he answered and meant "sometimes twice a day." So when friends loaned us the book 15 years ago, I knew I'd been beat. "See," he said, "We're supposed to eat a lot of red meat." I still insist on one chicken day a week--homegrown chickens--and one or two fish meals a week--being Norwegian, he loves Kippers and Sardines and I love Salmon having been raised near Seattle. I also make sure to fix a lot of salads and of course we do raise a BIG garden and he eats a lot more veggies now than he was raised on. I went through a period where I blood tested "allergic" to wheat so dropped it from my diet completely for 2 years--along with eggs and milk. (Hardest thing I ever did.) At the end of the two years my Dr gave me the go ahead to replace those foods carefully and I now eat all three but in much less quantity than before. Being an okie, I don't think I could give up cornbread, and especially now that George has introduced me to homegrown meal corn. (DH prefers wheat bread, both yeast raised and biscuits.) And like Chandra DH and I are blood type O so all four children are too. I have read after two or three DRs who follow the blood type system and for a while thought I would too, but just couldn't keep it up. One thing I did notice for what it is worth though. He says lentils are very bad for Os. Whether that is why I can't eat them I'm not sure. But every time I have tried, they make me feel really bad, very sluggish and sleepy and headachy. Green/raw onions do the same thing but I can't remember if they're supposed to be bad. For my family, I find it hard enough to just put a healthy diet on the table, limiting sugar, processed foods, additives etc without worrying too much about the blood type diet.

I bought some seeds from them this year and they were fabulous. I purchased some Daikon Radish seeds and Napa Cabbage seeds. They sell in various quantities and have great prices, with free shipping and no minimum quantity.