lkbum, the actual attachment is a large metal hoop around large logs ( 3 ft. accross) as the breakwater. The lake goes up and down by as much as 6ft from summer to winter. We're lucky, we have about 18' clear water off the end of our dock. Thanks for the compliment. We have views that can't be beat. The lake has an interesting history. During the 30's it was a mecca for hollywood types. Bing crosby, Bob Hope, The Ink Spots, etc. all played and stayed at the lodge on South Lake. They had a haute cuisine chef and a restaurant built on pilons out on the water. WWII came along, there was a fire and it all was forgotten. Before that there were dairy farms up the valleys that the arms of the lake go up and farmers brought in their milk by boat to a creamery in Lakeside. Kids still go to school via boat and our mail is delivered by boat. It is really funny when you get someone to deliver something. Our satellite TV had a special "anywhere in the continental U.S." The guy that called couldn't understand, our address is __ North Tenmile Lake. "But what road are you on?" No there is no road. We ended up having to pick him up at the dock with his stuff! It's also good for crime 'cause the sheriff is pretty vigilant and there are only a few places to access the lake. He can just wait for them to show up at the dock while getting a play by play from the residents who are full timers! Needless to say most thieves find easier pickings.

Thanks user name 5, I'll try that site. I'll let you know what happens.. Hey Green fingers, I appreciate the sympathy and I probably should ban my son if he's carrying any sharp object. Except sometimes he comes over to barbecue and has a steak knife. I may make an exception there! By the way, I love your country's scenery. I loved the movie,"Whale rider" What a cute actress also. Keep in touch, I would like to compare your gardening with what we do around here. I live in the Ozark mountains near the Missouri border in NW Arkansas. Take care and have a good week-end, Jim

Inspired by the obit seen in RP a couple months ago, I requested Appaloosa by Robert Parker from the library. So far it is a very quick read, which is a good thing due to some of the content. I really hate it when the bad guys are 'winning' and am really thin-skinned at times with respect to certain kinds of violence (and I am sure this is nothing compared with Larry McMurtry's novels!). It's funny, sometimes I can read any novel, no problem and other times I have a hard time reminding myself 'it's just a story!' So far, the dialogue is snappy and seems appropriate for the time period, the action is fast-paced, and it doesn't get bogged down in too much description (mind, how much description does the old west need? Mention a tumbleweed and you're there!)

Vee, I've bookmarked the Slightly Foxed site. I've read several of those memoirs, including: 84 Charing Cross Road - Hanff (a favorite) My Family and Other Animals - Durrell Period Piece - Raverat (another of my favorites, as you know) The Real Mrs Miniver - Maxtone Graham The Flame Trees of Thika - Huxley Look Back with Love - Smith A Sort of Life - Greene Blue Remembered Hills - Sutcliff I just recently acquired Bell's Corduroy because you had mentioned it previously, but I haven't read it yet. Hand-grenade Practice in Peking by Frances Wood looks interesting. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Somewhere I have a Virago edition of Comyns' Our Spoons Came from Woolworths. I'm not sure that I've read it, although it sounds familiar. I reread Blythe's Akenfield a few weeks ago. At any rate, I think you are right that misery is more interesting to a lot of readers than old boring happiness. That seems especially true when readers feel insecure, unhappy or miserable themselves, and the world seems to have gone mad. Counterintuitive, perhaps? Apparently not. I suppose the attraction might be: Well, other people have lived through horrible times and events; maybe my childhood wasn't as awful as theirs and things aren't so bad now, for me, after all. However, some of the memoirs listed above don't dwell on the bad stuff -- hardly mentioning it all, in fact. I don't like cloyingly sweet memoirs -- those I usually throw on the floor and kick under the furniture. The readable ones, in my opinion, strike a happy medium.