In Tacoma there's Pt Defiance Park, a must - see. Very large municipal park, with a small zoo and aquarium (with beluga whales!), a large rose garden, a ferry terminal (I like to watch the ferries come and go) and lots of stuff to see and walk around in. In Olympia there's Priest Point Park, nice, but a wooded waterside park more than a garden. The Capitol Campus is very nice but it's geared towards the late winter/early spring legislative season so not much to see in summer. There are lots of memorials if you're into that kind of thing - WW1, WWII, Korean War and the Vietnam War. The new Law Enforcement Memorial has a great view of the area including the Black Hills, Olympic Mtns and Puget Sound. The neighborhood around the Capitol Campus has some very nice gardens but none open to the public. I do like to walk around and look at people's front yards though. But I live here so it's not a journey for me. There's also a small but nice Japanese garden next to City Hall on Plum St. Percival Landing, on the waterfront, is nice with small plantings in boxes and you should walk it if you're in town. Olympia isn't much of a gardener's destination. A bit farther north from Tacoma is the Rhododendron Species Foundation Garden in Federal Way. None of the rhodies will be in bloom of course but they have all the stuff that grows with rhodies in their native habitat as well, and just plain a very nice garden, and the Pacific Rim Bonsai Display as well.

I also think that Mr. B has a cool idea there. Or you might want to try kind of a reverse hang-on overflow. Saltwater tanks often use this system of filtration when they use a sump but the tank isn't pre-drilled with an overflow box inside. Do you know what I'm talking about? If not, talk to the people at your local saltwater fish store. Normally the water is flowing INTO the overflow from the tank and then going down into the sump, but you could just reverse the flow, without needing a sump, so that the water is coming up from the false bottom (would require the right plumbing, which would probably also involve drilling the tank) and then flowing into the tank, so that it appears the water is flowing out of the aquarium and down the waterfall. Another animal suggestion I forgot about is a Fire-Belly Toad. They are really a frog, and have very attractive colours. You do need to keep them in small groups (just like PDFs), but they are better swimmers, and are semi-aquatic, so they actually require a larger water area than PDFs. I don't think they're excellent swimmers, so 12" might be a bit deep, but it might be okay if you have some emergent aquatics, like a large Amazon Sword. Actually, I just realized that if you make the pool 12" deep, it will visually divide the height of your tank exactly in half, and that is generally considered to be UNaesthetic. Thirds are more attractive, so you should actually make the pool only 8-10" deep. I think that large schools of neons are absolutely stunning! They seem to be the perfect fish for planted aquariums. If you want things to look larger than they are though (the 'bonsai' fish idea), then cat sharks are a good choice. They will eventually grow huge, and I don't know if they're plant safe, but they really do look like mini sharks! They even have the smooth skin, unlike those so called 'Bala sharks'. Their scales are so big they look like normal fish, not sharks. Cat sharks are brackish when very young though, so that might not work. Perhaps a figure-eight puffer, which would also eat any snails that appear? I don't know, but cory cats are also great. Aren't they cute? =) Oh yeah, if your entire false bottom is 12" high, then you are taking away lots of your wonderful height for the land part! You have the option for some nice taller plants if you keep the land level lower. Also, you will need to hide that false bottom, so then the terrarium tank will appear much smaller than the aquarium tank, and I don't know if you want that with them right beside each other. I have seen water dished for cats and dogs that have a small jug of water attached to the bowl. The jug can be full of water but it doesn't overflow into the dish. Perhaps you could do something like that, with the same principle? (whatever it is, I'm sure Nathan knows). =) Nathan: I have a Mac. I would use Safari, which is better, but I don't like the way the bookmarks work, so I use Internet Explorer. I'll deal with it. =)

The AOL news page said Texas would have more rain than usual this winter. I had heard that, but they said it was going to be 40% colder. I'm trying to figure out what "40% colder" equates to. Anybody know? Something very strange is going on if squirrels are chasing deer. They are protecting the meager food sources no doubt. Off topic, but the strangest chase I ever saw was a deer chasing a dog (who was running for his life) through the streets of downtown Bandera!

Thanks for the opinions ... Yes, the turtle wall hanging, or it could be a bowl or platter (but with the flaw, it's not food safe). I do really like turtles, but it's more of their a happy association with the trips I've taken to Hawai, not like a decorating obession or anything. My house is small, so I only have a limited amount of space, so no place for the turtle except this one place in my bathroom. The whale triptych (actually 4 pieces, not sure what that is called) behind it is absolutely gorgeous, and what originally caught my eye. But too big for the space, and way out of the range I'm willing to spend (and overpriced, to be honest) 1 hr until the craft fair closes down ....hmmm ....