Hey Buck, nice to meet you. I used to get that show when I had Dish Network satelite tv. I highly recommend it. Very enjoyable show. I liked many of the RFDTV programs too. Cool idea to put garden junk/art in the U-Pick Orchard. Have you got anything in mind? When you say you'd like to put stuff in the orchard what do you see? No matter how busy they are, creative people have a need to create. You will find the time, you probably have a slow(er) season, and thinking ahead, you might be able to sell some things too. What kind of orchard is it, if I may ask? A farm stand up north had painted boards that you could stand behind and stick your head through for taking pictures. I think they had a mermaid and a scarecrow and an old fashioned muscleman with a barbell. Fun for the families that stopped there. I'm glad I came back to edit this post, I was trying to remember other things I've seen. In the fall for pumpkin time that place had a corn maze, too. Good luck. Donna

I think HGTV is in decline frankly. It's got too much designer shows on, designer contests, designer competitions, etc... Don't get me wrong. When it comes to design, I'm normally very keen to learn new styles but in the past few years, the styles have been simply repeats. No real imagination happening. Someone has tried to inject the 70s design into it but that is fleeting and highly trendy and gets boring fast... The shows are more 'designed' to showcase the designers and the agonies they go through. It seems the recipients of the newly designed homes are always the last or the least to have any control as to how things can turn out. However, I'm just finding overall the stuff HGTV has been showing really blahhh and boring. I would rather enjoy watching other shows on cable and grab magazines for inspiration. There used to be shows like Carol Duval, crafters coast to coast, good bbc gardening shows like that of Geoff Hamilton who was a gardener foremost before he was a designer. He discussed plants, how to propagate them, etc.. how to start a garden from scratch beginning with ground preparation.... There used to be another American show with a couple of farmers who ran an organic farm. They taught composting among others. They taught how to to preserve root vegetables for winter and other lost arts like these. That's what we need. A visit to past practices in gardening. That would be a refreshing story. Oh... I do like City Gardener despite that it does devote the period to design. I've always found UK designs to be ahead but the only troubling thing about the show is that it's about an instantaneous garden. How it would look in the long run is what I'm curious about. Many of the designs seems to be a bit difficult to maintain... Ianna

Thanks for all your hard work Karen! Can't wait to read it in its entirety. Jodi-

The best coffee cake ever. I can get my husband to do anything if I make him this cake :-). The best thing is it freezes extremely well. In fact, DH says it's even better after being frozen. Vanilla Steusel Coffee Cake 3 cups all purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups softened butter 1 1/2 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 1/2 cups sour cream 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar 3/4 cups chopped nuts (I prefer walnuts in this) 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 2 tablespoons vanilla mixed with 2 tablespoons water Preheat oven to 325. Butter 10 inch bundt cake pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and set aside. Combine butter and sugar in large bowl and beat until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in sour cream and vanilla. Gradually add sifted dry ingredients and beat well. Combine brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Turn 1/3 of batter into the bundt cake pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the nut mixture. Repeat Add remaining batter and spoon diluted vanilla over top. Bake 60-70 minutes. Cool completely before removing from pan. Sometimes some of the cake sticks to the pan. Use flexible spatula and put back on cake. It's not noticable, and once you taste it you won't care.