Well, both look absolutely lovely. Shady - Is that a real dog?? If so, he looks very, very content. Well, it looks like the electric fence may be working. No damage last night. Hope it lasts. Count yourself lucky if you've never had to deal with racoons. The first time this season I realized I had a problem was the evening I left the pump running all night. I should have know better because these critters love moving water. The pump is just a small recirculating pump with an intake valve on the side and an outflow valve on the top where the water shoots out. I attached a small piece of tubing to the outflow valve so the water would bubble up closer to the surface and cause that nice sound of moving water. Well, one morning when I woke up, I opened my bedroom blinds to take a look at the garden as I always do. The pond was empty of water. The 'coons had managed to move the pump so the outflow valve shot the water out of the pond and drained it. Luckily, there was still about 6 inches of water in the bottom so the fish survived at least. After refilling it, the next night the critters ate all the water hyacinth. These were the water hyacinths I'd over wintered inside the house for the last 6 months. It's funny, but they don't bother anything else in the yard or garden. Just the pond. Once the water lily starts blooming, they eat the flowers and buds. For now, at least this summer, I'll keep the pond, but I have a feeling it's going to go at some point. Kevin

Well what a great report from you, pitimpinai!! The last I heard you were still very low in energy and still on a ton of medication and little appetite, and listen to you, helping the neighbor till up a lawn! LOL What a nice neighbor you were to plant tomatoes and Dahlias. :-) I am happy to hear that you've also benefited from a shorter work day. Great that you had all that time off saved up. I bet you really needed it to get your energy back. We have gotten pretty much back to what is normal for us here. The weather has been stupendous in the past month! I have never seen the cover crop in the veggie beds so high. We've also gotten all the leaves mowed and collected in bins, ours and three neighbors. [g] We have gotten somewhat cleaned up for the year in the garden, but I keep adding to my list of what I want to get done before the weather turns. Still have a small amount of bulbs to plant and three shrubs to get in the ground, some pots to clean and put away and that will just about do it. I am actually looking forward to a break from the garden. Not that we don't get outside and enjoy it, but it's nice this time of year, to focus on other things. During the gardening season, the garden seems to push out other priorities. [g] I enjoy the winter garden and by the time spring comes, I am just itching to get back to a new growing season. Glad you are able to enjoy gardening again and hope you stay well this winter! :-)

Well, I talked to the rep. She said they don't use as much equipment as they used to but they do still take apart your TV and all that. For us it would be for 2 years, if we do it, and our viewing choices would represent 28,000 households. Hmmm, no reality shows in this house, LOL. We still haven't decided yet. Oh, and they pay 68.00 up front with periodic checks. She didn't say how much the checks are for, but that's better than 12.00 a year. Especially if it turned into one big hassle regarding the TV equipment and all that. Radio! They'd be disappointed with us too, Deanna. We only listen to it in the car. Did they hook up your car radio? Annie, they'd be fine with what you watch. They want all different kinds of watchers, which is good. I asked her if I could turn the thing on and off because I often leave the TV on for the dog. Now I'll have to be careful about what I leave on for her - if we do it.

When I was in my 20's, single and working in an office, a co-worker picked up the book (Oscar Lewis' La Vida)I was currently reading, looked at the price, and asked in a loud voice "You paid $-- for THAT?) She had announced earlier that she and her husband had just purchased an expensive new car with all the bells and whistles. Differenct strokes. . . When my boys were young I would read aloud to them during dinner. Great for the diet! I would stop in the middle of a exciting passage, and leave the book on the table while I cleaned up the kitchen. It was fun to see which boy got to the book first to take up to his room and finish that chapter. I've never worried that my boys, now 38 and 40, would not be readers. They're both still single and have very active lives, and I was pleased that on one weekend day each called me from the city they happened to be visiting, one to tell me he had met an author of a book we both loved, and the other to announce he had found an old book I had been looking for. Reading aloud has so many benefits. Years ago my late brother, who was 15 years older than I enjoyed reading each other passages from Robert Paul Smith's Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing. For those that may not remember this lovely little book there are passages about how a child spends his idle time, including the wonders of the empty lot nextdoor. This book sparked conversations about how my brother and I each looked at our childhood experiences from different angles, and without a doubt, brought us much closer together. I certainly will treasure those times. I see I've strayed from the original topic of being insulted about reading, to more speaking in defense of reading. Sorry about that, but I guess defense of an action naturally comes after an insult.