Yes, I'd also like to know which catalogue has those cabana boys! I'm exhausted, especially with all the watering, and the summer is not over yet. However more has worked than hasn't so I can't complain. My new roses are a joy! After months of indecision whether to buy roses I had decided they would be too much trouble to do this year when we are renovating the old beds. However on a trip to the city at the end of June one of the 'good' nurseries had them on sale so I bot 5 in large pots. Of course that necessitated making a new bed for them which was an enormous job. They have looked good from the start and I left a few blooms on them initially but then deadheaded seriously. They are now reblooming despite the hot dry weather we have been having. Of course I'm watering frequently and they seem to like frequent drinks of diluted alfalfa tea. I'm still concerned the deer might find them but we made the bed next to the house in the dog's large grassy yard so perhaps that will deter them. I'm soon going to move some of my lavender plants there as extra insurance. I know they are not necessarily easy plants and I'll have to mulch heavily in the fall but they are very pretty. The lilies I planted last year are blooming profusely, multiplying, and looking fantastic. I'm pleased with my new shade garden altho it's only had superficial weeding and needs a thorough one. Coming up on the to-do list - I've just been grabbing weeds that are blooming or threatening to take over as I hand water. I thot it might be too dry with the large trees taking all the moisture but with amending and occasional watering it's doing fine. Love all the heuchera and will buy more. I love my potted annuals, they've been a real pleasure when some parts of my garden have looked so 'destroyed' during this renovation process. Even in this heat they are still looking great with daily watering and frequent deadheading and fertilizing. I'm quite disappointed in the nursery that planted the azalea I bot. I thot the roots looked fine when I planted it but it didn't do well so I dug it up and there were a lot of wood chips in the center of the root ball! So I hosed the roots clean, planted it in good soil, and after frequent watering it's coming back. All of the other new plants have done really well. I'm not very happy with one of the new beds further out as I haven't spent enough time on it. Probably shouldn't have made it this year but it will survive. It has all deer resistant establish perennials I moved from my main garden so I didn't think I needed to baby it too much. The spirea looked as if it had died but is finally coming back. It really needed more water than I gave it. I've had a problem with too much direct sun in parts of my garden since we had some large trees removed and some of the Lady's Mantle have not done as well as usual. So I'm moving the young ones to semi-shaded areas and discarding the others. Just part of the evolution of a garden one has to adjust to. I'm disappointed I may have few sunflowers this year. We usually have lots as the birds are messy eaters and seed them all over. We usually transplant some to better locations. However there were very few coming up so I planted some and the chipmunks dug them up and ate the seed! I planted more and kept them indoors til they were a few inches tall. Put them out and those little !@#$% ate all except for the red flowering ones. So I have them in larger pots but not sure whether they will flower as were planted late with all the tomfoolery! The thistles the birds seeded around the feeder did extremely well!!! LOL This morning I thoroughly weeded and mulched so that bed looks nice again! Wonder how long it will last. I don't usually get thistles in my garden but there must be some type of bird that eats them in the wild and deposits them here.

I totally relate to the nervous part. I take a long time to do things because of nerves. My DH says, "well of course it is taking time, you've never done this before". Very supportive. Here are the steps of my floor in pictures. I know this is beyond the scope of this post but here is a summary of my floor job. I have the tiled walls to do yet, and the sink (i'm making out of soapstone), and the cabinet man to install the cabinets. Getting the deflection corrected to accomodate stone tile. If interested in using a calculator for this go to the John Bridge forum. We added joist between existing joist. We screwed them to the subfloor on the top side every 6 inches or so. DH doing this awful job: 3/8" exterior grade filled AC (I think) plywood over 3/4" old subfloor and 3/4" fir tongue and grove. Screwed down 4"oc, though was supposed to be 6"oc, but I forgot those instructions :) so more work than needed: One of the many steps taken to waterproof my floor in prep for SLC, it is like water and will run out of your room into the basement or where ever: My heating wire installed. I calculated this layout almost to the last inch. That is because I drew out the layout several times to get it worked out on "paper" first (computer). I primed for SLC before I laid this out and again after the layout, being careful not to pool the primer (read that somewhere?) I also laid a plastic lath over everything and stapled it down every 4" or so, to provide strength to the SLC: Pour SLC, have help! Ditra down, before my patch repairs, I know you can do better than this :) Tiling: Finished floor. I used slate and Laticrete epoxy grout. Still need to caulk the threshold: If you haven't done so search for stacyneil's bathroom and the process she documents when she did her bathroom floor and the SLC job. Very helpful.

I'm one that will come in toward the end. I saw an Oprah interview with Steven Tyler and he is very honest about himself and his past life. He is a very good conversationalist. I like his funky self and they all are solid judges who will probably be more detailed in their criticism this year. I also like when they agree with me. That tells me I am learning from them just like Dancing With the Stars judges gives me a more critical eye.

I don't have cable, but I watched it when I was house sitting for a friend. I enjoy it, but, I like old junk. I have four outbuildings here, full of junk...and, I have vowed, that once my house is finished, I am getting rid of anything that I can't use. That because, my daughter is already dreading the day she has to go through all of it. One of the buildings I am going to turn into a chicken house. Give me a trash pile, and about three minutes, and nine times out of ten...unless it is thoroughly modern trash...I can find an interesting piece of junk. I take care of an old man who is practically an invalid. He hasn't stepped out of his house in over four years. I keep his yard mowed, clean his house, do his shopping, bring him lunch every day, etc. The other day I went to his house and someone had dumped two old worn out tires with rusted rims in his yard, right by his driveway, about 10 ft. in front of his garage. I couldn't believe the nerve of some people. Anyway, I loaded them in my truck, and stopped by my friend's shop, and when she saw one of the old tires...it has spokes...she wanted it. I told her she was even a worse junk hustler than I am. ;) Well, at least that only gave me one that I had to dispose of.