On this muggy day it is much nicer to be in your gardens instead of mine! Love all the photos. My planters are looking ratty but I know it's because I haven't kept up with fertilizing. There are annuals planted every year by Blackwater Nursery folks at the junction of Rt 3/4 in Boscawen and it all looks gorgeous. 603, the yellow squash and red kuri look beautiful! nhbabs, that field must be well fertilized. I think that's the tallest corn I've ever seen. I have noticed the small birds seem to be flocking in our yard and going after seeds. I want to cut off the pink tall phlox in the circle bed because it's not supposed to be there, only white, so I don't want any pink seedlings. Of course, now that I'm thinking about it ... maybe the white phlox will have pink seedlings because the pink pollinated it. Rats, didn't think of that before. The pink phlox I planted is about 50 yards away. Usually I have some red peppers by now, at least the Italian kind but nada so far although pepper production has been great. I think cool nights have been a problem. The ones doing best are in the high tunnel with the sides rolled up. With just the plastic roof and back wall (front has a double door that is left open all season) it gets over 100 on a sunny day. Never got any green beans planted except for the ones that didn't germinated (seed too old or maybe not enough water) but the yellow wax were great. Plenty of beets and carrots to pull. Yanked out a cluster of shallots. Planted Moose's Tubers storage potato sampler this year and had a very nice meal of Peter Wilcox/Blue Gold. I did fingerlings last year but only grew one variety this year. A red skinned variety did very well in the high tunnel for some extra early potatoes but I just did two 3' rows. Need more veggie space next year so have added length to a couple of beds, just another three feet using the lasagna method of piling up grass cuttings, old pea vines, kitchen scraps, etc. We don't use a rototiller. Put three mums in planters this week. Alas, fall is coming.

I understand yer trepidation, vegangirl. I have another list, Planet Ohio, which I started back in 1998. It eventually fell prey to spam so I now approve or deny all new memberships, and anyone you sneaks through and tries to spam us, I kick 'em off. I can also make it so that I have final approval of all messages before they are posted. We're still small at the wildflower list; the spammers haven't found us yet, but take my word for it, once one shows his or her ugly face, I'll nip it in the bud... In other words, spamming may happen once, but then never again... I'd really like to have ya join; you clearly have a love and knowledge of wildflowers to share with others, and I think the most important thing of all is that ol' sense o' kindred spirit... If too many daily emails concerns ya ... in addition to that spam ... you can choose to receive a daily digest of the day's messages, or to not receive email, but read all the messages at the web site. no spam'll get at ya that way! I'd love to hear more of your life story. It sounds fascinating ... book material. My wife and I have been to Maine/New England a few times, and up to Grand Marais, MN and Superior National Forest, all beautiful, beautiful places... I have a friend who has PhD in entomolgy who lives up in Maine, he works with the apple growers... Last time we drove up to Maine, in late Sept 1999, the Monarchs were migrating ... we were driving into Vermont, I think it was, and they were flying by at a rate of one every minute or so. It was great... And I do hope ya consider joinin' in ... you'll have so many spring widflowers to share with us. I'm postin' a few of my wildflower articles on the list to stir things up a little, and tryin' to find some wildflower news from out west to pass on as well... Happy spring!!!!

These are the places our fabricator gave us to go to pick out slabs. I don't know if any have soapstone, but might be worth a call if you can't find what you're looking for. Midwest Tile, Marble and Granite, Inc: 3181 Dodd Road, Eagan, MN 55121 PH 651-405-0707 *Prefer Appointments www.midwesttile.com Cold Spring Granite: 915 Blue Gentian Road, Ste 12, Eagan, MN 55121 PH 651-686-9192 www.coldspringgranite.com Stoneholding: 633 Prosper Drive, Waite Park, MN 56387 PH 800-341-1540 www.stoneholding.com I picked out our slabs at Midwest Tile, but I've always questioned whether the slabs I chose were the ones I actually got. This is a picture of the one I chose: And this is our installed slab. I've always felt that the backsplash and the slabs they installed never quite looked right together, but they were perfect with the slab I picked out. I had taken a dear friend with me when I picked out the slabs, and when she saw the installed slabs, she commented that they weren't what I had picked out. Both Midwest Tile and our fabricator assured me they were my slabs, but I've always felt unsure.

Lena, your post made me laugh. I know exactly what you mean about needing someone to boost your car in the winter. I have found in this neck of the woods, it's more difficult to get to know the neighbours. I don't know if it's the culture here, but it really surprised me. I grew up on a street where the neighbours frequently would come out to help if you needed a boost or your walk shovelled. I can also relate to the civic pride. I think it's similar to a Canadian making sure they are not mistaken for an American because we are Canadian, a different country. kec - thanks for all that info. I am getting into gardening, but I haven't had much luck here in Tucson. I just don't have a solid grasp of what grows here and doesn't. I want all the colourful flowers we have at home, but they just don't grow here. I went to the local Basha's grocery shopping one day in the early fall and I nearly jumped out of my pants when I saw rhubarb in the produce dept. When I went to check out, the young man said, "m'aam, I don't think your celery looks too good!" I explained to him what it was and he had never heard of it before. Just one of the differences in climate. I can understand why gardening is so popular up there. the growing season must be short and people take advantage of it. In Calgary, restaurant patios are very popular because you can't sit outside in the winter. The season is so short there, that people are outside in the summer as much as they can to take advantage of the short warm season. I have already started to do alot of research. I just started looking at MLS listings to compare what we can get there compared to here. We can definitely get more house for less money. That's a good thing! deeje - thank you so much for those links! They are all very helpful. You're about the 10th person who told me that como is much desired. Do homes go up for sale often in that neighbourhood? I ask because my parent's area is very desirable and homes rarely go up for sale because once people move there, they stay. On the rare occasion a house is listed, it's gone before the sign can be put up and there are few contingencies because people just want to be in the area. My parents house is older, they are elderly, they updated years ago, but now those updates are out of date. They won't have to do anything to their home whatsoever and people will pay top dollar for it. kudzu - I don't believe I implied older was rundown or that SP was a 2nd rate city. I'm just trying to get info about a new place that I've never been, but will be making my home. I don't know the size or what ammenities are available and I have lived in other places that seemed to be large enough to have everything, but didn't. What is Yak Butter?