Ginny, the main water mine got came from the hose...we had a very drought-ridden summer. Time after time it rained all around us and we were dry. I did water, though. Jean, I fertilized in the springtime before they bloomed, mostly with organic type enrichments like alfalfa and fish emulsion. I gave them some fish emulsion in August, I think it was...they were at the end of blooms then, I thought, and I wanted to give a little back to the soil more than the plants...they have had no actual fertilizer since early spring. Just a fluke of nature. Debra, I have never had re-blooms in October before...I am enjoying it. SC Behavior Patterns had one spent bloom on it when I noticed the one in the picture blooming. Nancy, I have been spoiled by all the rebloom...it will probably never happen again, but I have enjoyed it. Post some pictures. We are all desperate for bloom pics. kay

Rosa, The original yellow & blue is called Striped Stars and is from the book 101 made-to-fit quilts for your home. I kept all of the left over parts in a ziplock back and knew I needed to use them. I had to supplement the yellow with other from my stash to finish it. Kiendu, yes, I am doing the FMQ on my machine. I have a Pfaff 7570. I can't do a large pattern, but to meander is okay. It does take practice and I have take one class. I usually manage to tug all of my quilts - up to queen size - through this machine. I have only sent one quilt out to a long arm quilter. I am working on another one from a "baggie" full of triangles left over but it will probably need to go to a nursing home - the colors don't really look like kids. Sue

FataMorgana is probably right with the buckwheat. It's a better match. The last one is maybe Thunbergia laurifolia, but that's only native to SE Asia and not Japan. The question is, is this tryptic depicting a series of related items (like classic Japanese food crops, eg buckwheat) or is it just three pretty plants? Given the fruit in the second panel, I'd put my money on food plants, but I don't know them apparently... With that in mind, second one might be Prunus mume depending on how accurate the drawing is.

Thank you all! I loved reading about your precious kitties, stillanntn. You are so kind and loving. Cath, for some reason I don't have that episode, but I'm watching lots of them through the DVR. Big mistake watching Dr. Pol put down his own dog, Freya. So sad:( Millie is starting on supplements this week for her joints, so you are spot on Sonic and stillanntn. One of the vets will be looking at her soon, as she needs further deforming,( just to be sure, for the 3rd time, as she arrived loaded). She will also be getting some sort of allergy shot to help with her runny nose. Thank you all for your good wishes and kind words. She is a delightful little girl and so filled with joy ALL of the time! Yesterday, she caught(and ate!) a fly in midair. You should have seen the mighty little hunter. It's very hard to keep her calm sometimes. I wish you all could see her! She loves everyone, people, cats, dogs, you name it. They are all treated like dearly loved friends. The vets speculated that she might be a bit "slow" mentally at first, when she was deathly ill. Not so. After just three trips into the garden in three days, she made a quick realization. If momma puts those green Sloggers on, she's going into the garden, and I'm going to do my best to make sure I go along! I wish I could bring her out all the time, but she's so excitable. I don't want her to over do it. Here is a cute picture of Millie in the veggie box right after taking a bite out of an onion stem. Lisa