I also like the downtime that winter provides. Not needing to water or weed, check all the beds to see who is doing what today, so you don't miss something. The change of seasons is one of the big plus features of living in MI. There is a DIFFERENCE in each of the seasons, which makes you appreciate them better. Spring and Summer are always high speed to get all done that needs doing THEN. Fertilizing the fields, cleaning brush off the fences, waiting for the fields to dry to let the horses out on them. Starting the horse work, training and conditioning, and having longer days, all add up to a lot of work each day. Usually I have the spring garden to just enjoy, already having cleaned things fairly well in Fall. Summer starts garden work. Winter chores take longer in the cold and snow. Nice to just enjoy the scenery walking by, funny views of snow, frost, pretty birds. I have some winter interest shrubs and plantings, working to get more bushes and trees that show well in snow. I do enjoy other folks grasses. I have feeders out, so I can enjoy watching birds thru the French doors. The Hawks fly the fields, too tight in my backyard. Hope they catch MANY rabbits and varmints! Owls will come and talk at night if we get really cold weather. Maybe they will get the night rabbits that clean up under the feeders. They ate too many bushes last winter when the dog was inside. Some indoor plants, Hibiscus, several Geraniums that bloom often and allow the cat to chew on them. Amaryllis that spread out blooming, provide flowers for the table. Lets me feel dirt and plants, not much work. I also enjoy doing house things between outside jobs. Got a large amount of art framed, learning how to do matting. Some sewing projects and painting of objects to use in the house and garden. Young dog to get MORE training done with to civilize her. So ENTHUSIATIC! We are signed up for a puppy training class in March. I don't feel like I MUST be outside doing things all day, like in summer. This makes all the Crafts stuff more fun. Baking is fun too, house doesn't get hot like in summer. Sure enjoyed the heat blast today, outside in T-Shirts doing chores in the barn. Fog raising in clouds off the snow piles during the rain was really pretty. I love all the seasons, they each offer so much to enjoy.

Carolyn your eyes look a little bloodshot are you OK? Ha ha LOL :) I think that if we did not have each other to talk to and to share our plants with we would probably not have so many plants. Being able to share info and make connections has really added to the enjoyment of growing Hoyas. I think as a group we are enablers at times but more often I think we just decide for ourselves that we need this or that plant after seeing a photo or hearing about someoneÂs successes. I know that some of us really have very little space left for more plants but we can't seem to stop making Hoya wish lists and then slowly working our way through them. I made a list last night and it was around 109 species if I remember correctly, a friend sent me their list and it dwarfed mine with a total of almost 400 Hoyas including several duplicates of some hard to find species. Mike

Well, the last two years, particularly late in the year, around August-November, there have been more butterflies than ever in our neighborhood. My neighbors have even commented on the number of butterflies they've seen! I just kind of chuckle to myself (tee hee hee). But, it is harder to attract them in an urban setting, when their habitat is usually prairie, either tall or short grass, woodsy areas, and wet areas, and not an urban garden. Slowly but surely, they are stopping in more often. My neighbors around me usually let their backyards go wild, too, so maybe that helps as well. My friend Linda, in Kingfisher, though, just gets tons and tons and tons of butterflies in her garden that she grows specifically for butterflies. In fact, she got pipevine swallowtails this week for the first time ever! Hers have been planted about 3 years now. It takes awhile for the vines and/or plants to grow, and then to populate them with the butterflies you're trying to attract. But, she lives in a smaller, rural town. Here in the city, it's a different story. Last year, she helped me get started with Monarchs, Gulf Fritillaries and Silvery Checkerspots. Once I had a few eggs, it was Katie Bar the Door. I had Monarchs everywhere, and raised 100+ myself. I've had Black Swallowtails for several years, as well as Giant Swallowtails - but in small numbers. I don't get the HUGE numbers like you guys in more rural areas. But, if I had more, I wouldn't have the food supply for them either. One thing for sure. Once they find your garden, they WILL be back next year. It's like they have some kind of built-in radar that brings them back year after year. I had to do a lot of things, though, like I had to quit using even the most innocuous pesticide - like Safer soap for instance. I cannot believe that 6 years ago I was using BT on my cleome to get rid of the Cabbage White caterpillars! Oh, my - I was a butterfly exterminator! I had to plant host plants. You'll get a few butterflies with just nectar plants, but with host plants you get so many more butterflies. It has been a work in progress (still is), a lesson in patience (still is), and the best experience of my life! I would not want a garden without butterflies and moths - ever! Or, the other critters that come along here and there, too. I appreciate so much more in life by undertaking this personal journey with God's creatures. I feel a connection with the earth, the air, the sky, the water, the wind that I never felt before. Do you know what I mean? My spirit was never fed at all by working in an office. But, gardening and especially butterfly gardening, fills my spirit with such love and a realization that there must be something more out there beyond this physical existence with which I connect at a deeper level. Oh, I am getting gooey, huh? Where else are the butterflies going to go but the city, along with many other of God's creatures? We have driven them into the city by taking away their resources, their food, their water, their homes. If I can provide just a small, tiny area to help them along, then I am doing my part. What would it be like if we all did that? Susan

High critical items need to be completed in one day or one weekend. Otherwise prep as much as possible before work begins. My basement has been mostly unusable as I finish it, it is done now but I am working on the stairs now. Keeping the laundry room down there available was a treat. That includes replacing all of my houses drain waste lines, and the main line runs through the laundry room under the floor. I had the floor cut up and fully exposed, and started with a full weekend and a chain pipe breaker (for cast iron). Finished demo and installing most of the drain lines in one day (used a 5 gallon bucket during that day, toilet was available at end of day). Also replaced all water lines in one day, that was more stressful since it is under pressure and fear of leaks... At the main valve the compression ferrule didnt tighten straight so there was a small leak. Put a bucket underneath and fixed it the next day after running to the store. It all turned out fine just stressful. Cleaned up dust a lot, learned my lesson there. Barriers work and it helps to use an air purifier where you are working to filter the air. I used the air compressor to blow out the filters when im done and reuse the filters. I did that while I was sanding drywall. Still use that for various dust making activities. Make sure you vaccum up the drywall dust after every day, it spreads easy. Dust deputy works well. Another option is an inline 5 gallon pail with water in the pail (similar to sand and kleen brand) will collect dust and keep your shop vac filter clean too. I tried sand and kleen, it made a horrid noise due to the small hose so I returned that and reverse engineered one out of one of those tight seal 5 gallon buckets for pet food, a larger hose, and some various fittings. Probably would have got the dust deputy had I known about it though. As far breathing the dust, I cant because my lungs are not great. I wear a respirator during dusty projects. Its easier to breath in it rather than using masks.