-Renee, yep! An heirloom columbine and Geranium macrorrhizum ;-) -Mary Lu, that is indeed rhubarb. I have already made a few crisps from it this spring. Yum! -Susan, correct! That is 'Fireball' Geum, one of the bigger cultivars. It is only one plant- looks like more since the stems on this fellow have a habit of leaning, lol. -serenae, would love to see pics of the arbor you built sometime!! -mandolls and Lynne, thank you! I was thinking the other day how much more personality this one has than the one at the store. Plus it seems to 'fit' better with the look of the garden. CMK

How cute!! I just realized I haven't seen those "Conversation Hearts" this year?? How strange? They used to be the only candy out there for VDay. Are you in MD? It's a quick drive to Northern VA-and you can't turn down a poor pregnant lady craving cake right??? Plus, I realized today is my half Birthday! lol

Sarchlos: Your buffet looks stunning! I discovered Restor-A-Finish for the first time this year and I'm hooked. I'm constantly recommending it to people. I didn't know they made Restor-A-Shine?!? I feel like I've been living in a cave (paint/hell cave) LOL. I'm going out tomorrow and asking my local Ace Hardware where is the Restor-A-Shine stuff. I thought I had to live with a dull finish. Thanks for enlightening me and once more your buffet is beautiful. I'm so glad to see you're making progress and you don't seem so despondent. Happy improvements!! Sincerely from your So. Cal (orange County) GW friend, Ann. BTW, I need to know your DH's secret to getting the Wii Fit. I've been trying to buy it for the last month and still nothing!!

Bjorn, it sounds great! What do you mean when you say "rendered stone"? Does that mean it is concrete molded to look like stone? Our barn was white wood, then in the 60s it got clad in white steel. It is still there. The paint has eroded alot, but the steel really has protected the old barn. My DH grandfather and grandmother were from Sweden. His name was Nels. He was sort of an SOB I think, but he died in the 40's. He didn't have my DH son until he was in his early 40s then my late father in law didn't have my DH until he was in his mid 30s. The generations are really stretched out. We are in our mid 60s and we have a daughter that is 26 and a son that just turned 25. Though I have a son in his mid 40s from a previous life, lol. In Iowa there were a lot of German and Swedish immigrants settling here in the mid to late 1800s I'm really off topic now hahaha