You beat me to it, Alice! I was going to start a similar threadexcept I was gonna title it, "ItÂs too hot out!" I spent a couple hours in the backyard raking the leaves on the grass, and (hand) picking up leaves off of the mulch around the perennials. When I went out there it was 72 in the shadeÂand 82 on the sunny side (but in the shade) of the yard. Most of what I was doing was in the sun, and it was HOT! I had a WONDERFUL time! I am DEFINITELY not ready for it to be winter yet! I was cleaning up leaves around the Agastache and the Russian sage, and I was sniffing so much and so deeply that I was practically hyperventilating! There are so many good-smelling things out there! And it was fun to uncover things and see whatÂs going on under the fallen leaves. My Russian sage, and ÂHillside Pink SheffieldsÂ, and mums, and a few other things are starting to spread out like mad. I think IÂm gonna have lots of stuff for the Spring Swap! Most of the seedlings I started this spring, and plants I got at the swaps are doing really well and will still be small, but be nice looking plants next year. I can hardly wait to see these things blooming for the first time next year. And a couple months ago I dug up my little clump of grape hyacinths and replanted them in three different places, and then had the tiniest bulbs left that were too small to pick out of the loose soil they were in, so I removed the soil right up against the trunk of one of the upright junipers and "planted them" by simply dumping the remaining soil with the TINY bulbs in it against the tree and then refilling the holeÂand when I was picking up leaves I noticed "grass" coming up next to the trunk and started to wonder how it had gotten there, when it dawned on me that itÂs the grape hyacinths (mine are green year Âround), coming up. ItÂs SO cool! The left over bulbs were tiny, tiny! They wonÂt be big enough to bloom next year yet, but itÂs gonna be SO cool to have them blooming so close to the trunk of the juniper the next year. It wouldnÂt have been possible to plant full size bulbs that close to the trunk. And itÂs been down into the low 20's here at least a couple times, but I still have a bunch of stuff blooming. My alyssum is still unphased too, Alice. And I still have Callirhoe, lavender, a couple blackeyed susans, a couple misc. dianthus, and my gentian seems to be blooming even more than before. The I have ÂCrystal Palace lobelia that looks like it just wonÂt stopÂand the leaves have turned a beautiful dark purple. One of my annual candytufts has started blooming again, my ÂMesa Verde iceplant still has a few flowers, and the mums look pretty ratty close up, but from in the house, a couple of them still look pretty goodÂand my hardy cyclamen looks really good, and the two-tone leaves are going to be really big and dense and pretty this winter. Then, of course, thereÂs my perpetual little purple violas that are always bloomingÂsummer and winterÂsomewhere in my yard. So IÂm not ready for winter yetÂand it seems some of my plants arenÂt either! WeÂre supposed to have another HOT day tomorrowÂand I can hardly wait! Skybird

Sue is a genuine artist in fabric (she will be having her first book published in the near future) but I didn't know she would be able to actually get me to produce some results. II couldn't be happier. Yes, my local shop owner has had a great run. I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision for her (she wasn't there when I took the FMQ class and got the news). I'm sure I'm just one of scores of customers who will be in shock. But the biggest blow, I think, must be to the staff. One of the women has worked there for the 20 or so years I've been shopping there. Three more have been working there a long time. And they really are a family. Lots more people have been teaching there for years and years. It's a big loss. ::sniff:: It really was the right decision for the owner who is older and, no doubt, wants to spend more time with her husband. I mean, if she didn't want to do it anymore, it isn't an obligation. I wonder if she tried to sell it as a going business or if someone might consider replacing it with a new shop...

The lake here looks beautiful and the sun has been shining, but water aerobics in 61 degree weather, I don't think so. Maybe the pontoon boat will get in the water, not my body, yet.

Jasdip: That looks great. What a fun prize to win! Sleevendog: A wholesale produce distributor near us just started selling retail boxes. They post on Facebook when they are going to be available (it's not everyday) and show a photo and list of what will be included...no toilet paper in any of the pictures :) I signed up today for a box to pickup tomorrow. It includes 11 different fruits/veggies, multiples of some, for $20. You go to their drive-thru line and they load it into your vehicle. It's all done while wearing masks, hairnets, gloves, and doing contactless payments and order confirmation. It looked like they had 600 available and all were ordered in less than 5 hours. I'll see how it works tomorrow. The assortment shown included most all the produce items I was wishing I had. Some earlier ones had several items I have lots of so I did not get them. I'm surprised at how excited I am about tomorrow's pickup!