Hi again pm2! Those cinderblock beds were an absolute bear to build for me! The ground there is solid ledge, with maybe up to 3 inches of soil in spots. I had no help at all, and built the things with a shovel and a five gallon bucket to move the load of compost from the pile to the beds. It was a lot of work to make them level. Sooooo, once the bottom level was done, that was pretty much the hard part. The second layer was cake (although of course it meant filling with more soil/compost, bucket by stinking bucket!) I staggered them like bricks, and they are fairly stable. I also filled the holes with compost for added stability. It is great to be able to sit on the edge while working, and I also grow things in the holes. I think in the photos you can see what remains of alyssum and parsley. I love that deutzia too. My first and so far only deutzia, from Bluestone. Quite a beauty and if I recall correctly, rather long-lasting. The siberian iris were from a swap, and I want to say that they were from Sue (vtskiers). The lily - isn't it beautiful?! I'm a sucker for apricot-colored lilies and roses! I went outside and couldn't find a tag, and then came in to check my invoices. It may - MAY - be Fairest. I say that only because that seems to be the only lily I have that I can't find a picture of, lol! The pictures of other lilies on my invoice(s) don't match this lily, so I'm guessing it's Fairest - although the description says its a cross of an asiatic, and I thought this particular lily was a type of Oriental. Anyway, I will try to discover what it is. The caterpillar was some nasty thing that either stuck me or bit me, several times, before I even saw it, and made my hand swell. They were everywhere that day! I don't recall the name of it. (Gee, I'm beginning to realize that I'm pretty forgetful!) Where was I? Oh yeah, lol! I posted about it here and someone gave me an answer. But when I first saw it hanging off my hand, I didn't even think it was a living thing. I thought it was a piece of paper or something! And lastly, my camera is a Canon EOS Rebel XT. My DH plays with it more than I do, and it really takes some nice photos. Hope Santa brings a camera for you! :) Dee

I grew up in New Jersey....we called it spaghetti sauce, b ut knew that Italians called it gravy. sometimes we ate "deli" if unexpected company arrived....and sometimes as a treat. Eating deli meant going down to the German deli and getting 1/2 pound of boiled ham, 1/4 pound of hard salami, 1/4 pound of head cheese and half a pound of balogna...Oh yes and some hard rolls and half a pound of sliced Swiss cheese....and a pint of potato salad and one of slaw. Packing a lunch for school you packed a salami sandwich or a balogna sandwich or maybe some olive loaf and Swiss or braunschweiger....not lunch meat. Then I moved to Iowa and was served "lunch meat?...WTF? I opened the sandwich and it was baloney. I discovered that lunch meat always is balogna...if Mid westerners want salami they ask for it...or braunschweiger. A stove is a stove, not a range...a cook top is not an appliance with an oven beneath...it's just a cook top. I used to carry a pocket book but that seems to have turned into a purse. Tennies are little white things with rubber soles. Sneaks are a little more...like Reebocks with serious soles and cushioning. I eat dinner, unless it's a "light supper" like before a show or even after an early show. A light noon meal on sunday is Sunday Brunch....while a heavier one is sunday Dinner. It used to be that the kid who works at the grocery is a bagger or a bag boy....while in the mid-west he's a sacker and he puts your stuff into a sack not a bag. Iced tea is never served sweetened and it used to be that unless you specified "black" your coffee came with cream. And "Rye" when asked for in a bar means a blended whisky like Seagrams 7. And why can't anyone outside of New jersey, New York and eastern Pa make a real honest to God hard roll? Soft inside, hard outside crumby and delicious? Anyone got a recipe? Linda C

Linda your fast dinner looks good and I'd love some of your sweet potatoes! Teresa I haven't had a BLT for ages but I do love them as well as tomato sandwiches. One anecdote...some years ago we met a German baker online when Wolf ordered a Christmas stollen from his online bakery in east Germany. He came to visit us when he came for a holiday in Tenerife. After he'd heard how beautiful it was on Vancouver Island, he made his first trip there at the same time as we were having our Canadian holiday. He travelled all around the island by car and when he discovered BLT's he thought they were the best thing since the invention of bread. I think he ate them every day while he was there. He went back to Germany and now sells them successfully in his little cafeteria adjoining his bakery. He also took a recipe for bagels and made them but they didn't go over well and so he had to discontinue the production. Ann that looks like one beautiful tomato and I would also have one for breakfast just the way you've prepared it. Yesterday I made baked salmon and asparagus but didn't bother making another baked salmon photo, (since it looked just like the last one) lol. We dined outside on the patio although it's very humid still. Today our favourite little Austrian restaurant reopened after 2 months holiday. So we went over there and Wolf had breaded fish fillet with German potato salad and I had a small fillet steak with a green salad, which I forgot to photograph. Water instead of wine while Wolf had a beer and two little espressos afterwards. The scales continue to go down every day without my feeling hungry. Glad it's working so well and worth the sacrifice. I do miss pasta though. SharonCb

Plllog, I think your comment about grits being served at any meal in the South is absolutely accurate, at least in my experience. I commented that we served Gruyere Grits to our Chinese guests as a side dish for filet mignon. I also listed Shrimp and Grits as a dish that I would serve as representative of my region. Just this morning, I was thinking that I needed to make up a batch of Gruyere Grits to freeze in meal size portions. P, your comment about salad on a burger reminded me of our trip to Australia. On a couple of occasions DH or DD ordered a burger. It was listed as coming with salad. We expected a small side salad. We finally learned that “salad” meant lettuce on the burger. I regret that we never chose to have a slice of beet on our burger. When we returned, a woman who worked for me who was married to an Aussie told me that it was pretty classic. I also agree with Outside Playing, that grits are not served every day at breakfast in the South. My momma never served them, but my daddy would eat them every chance he got. Nevertheless, I would say that grits are often served at breakfast in the south, see pic below of instant grits in individual packets. Just for fun, I googled “Southern Living grits.” Boy, are there lots of ways to cook grits! I’m not sure, but I think grits became less regional when Jimmy Carter went into the White House. I have a vague recollection of people trying to figure out the singular of grits. Annie, my mom must have been kin to your grandpa. She thought the finest breakfast was a piece of chocolate pie! I just looked up “peameal bacon.” I found it is what the North American Meat Institute calls “Canadian bacon.” I’ve had plenty of Canadian bacon, except I’ve never seen Canadian bacon rolled in cornmeal. Interesting. Thanks for sending me on the quest to figure it out! Elmer, bless you little trollish heart, you’re just not happy until you’ve insulted someone, are you?