You guys should have been there. It was not nearly as busy as it sounds , I was home in bed at a good hour almost every night but 2. I am not up for late night scenes without DH by my side. I had time to shower between ventures out and rest a bit. The doormen at my DB's building were so funny, they said where you off to now lady ? I always told them where I was going and carried ID and my cell. Manhattan is VERY safe all hours of the day and night. The NYPD is everywhere and people are so friendly. I also used common sense as to routes etc. As one police officer told me, folks expect Manhattan to be safe and it is a very big responsibility but they meet it very well. The only crime is pick pocket stuff on tourists by Times Sq etc. I have never gone anywhere and been on my own like this in my life...never. My first bike was a Schwinn 50 years ago when I was 7. I was so happy to have another one....life has a way of making circles that are joined with other circles. I met so many folks from Alabama....I was eating a NJ peach at the green market and commented on Chilton County peaches...yep there was a Chilton County boy right there next to me. The guy on the row behind me was a grad of Univ of Al and teaches in Conn. There were girls and their Mom from right by my home town in Ohio standing next to me at the fireworks....the guy leading the bike ride on Sunday bought a house on Chartres and Spain St. in N.O . just up the street from where I lived in 1971....life is a circle....c

MILLS COUNTY GARDEN WALK The fifth annual Mills County garden walk has been scheduled for the Mineola/Silver City area. Visit some extraordinary gardens and backyard ponds at the homes of some Mineola/Silver City area residents. In its fifth year, the popular tour will feature six unique gardens and/or backyard ponds. The self-guided tour is scheduled for the morning of Saturday, June 26, from 9 a.m. to Noon. The owners will be on hand at each site to answer your questions. All participants will receive a folder filled with information on garden topics that will be visible on the tour. The purpose of this tour is to provide pertinent information to gardeners and grow ideas one garden at a time! The cost for the Garden Walk is $5 per person. RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED. Please contact the Mills County Extension Office at 624-8616 to make your reservation or to learn more. The Garden Walk is sponsored by the Mills County Master Gardeners & Co-Horts and the Mills County Extension Office. The tour will feature the Malvern area in 2005 and the Glenwood area in 2006.

>> I think that there are CFPs out there who charge by the hour to do a plan and make recommendations, and who do not sell investments or insurance of any kind. That is what I would look for. Not to say that there aren't good, ethical brokers out there who will put your interests up there with theirs. I just haven't encountered one myself! There are certainly CFPs who charge by the hour. However, all CFPs have broker licenses. And there is nothing wrong with affiliating oneself with a brokerage, any more than you need be nervous about taking your car to a factory-authorized dealership rather than an independent garage. There are good and bad in both sectors. You need to remember there is a substantial legal difference between "investment advising" and "financial (estate) planning." It sounds like many of you folks posting have used "investment advisors". They have NO fiduciary responsibility to you. None. Nada. Zip. They are NOT legally obligated to put your personal interests FIRST. I cannot emphasize this enough. It is a critical, crucial, legal difference. A CFP must, by law, put your personal interests first. And yes, there is little profit for them in doing so unless you have a portfolio of assets to manage. Do you grudge them a living, any more than your doctor or carpenter or mechanic or gardener? When I worked at the independent CFP's office, there were many people who came for their first introductory no-cost meeting. Most of them were not suitable clients, for varying reasons. It might be something as simple as a personality clash (such as the couple who came in and spent two hours contradicting one another with every answer), or as basic as a differing risk assessment (clients who wanted options, offshore leases, or anything risky were politely declined). But surprisingly often, it was because people couldn't adequately define their goals, yet thought they could still somehow afford everything they wanted without saving sufficiently for it. They got offended when they were told they couldn't retire early, travel around the world, fund four children for college and graduate school, and pay off their mortgage in five years, on their current debt-to-assets ratio. Now, I am certainly not saying anybody involved with this current discussion is like that. What I am trying to explain is that any advisor, whether a CFP or not, cannot make you something out of nothing. What a CFP can do is help you define your goals, and determine if they are achievable. This involves MORE than diversifying your portfolio. A lot goes into your complete financial picture, and everyone's situation is a little bit different, because their goals and risk-taking factors are individual. Life being as changeable as it is, it can be handy to have someone there with the professional knowledge to help you and your family analyze and cope with changes to your financial/legal situation as the years progress. Many couples have differing views about money and any good CFP will tell you they spend a lot of time "counseling" couples so that everybody stays "on the same page" together. You don't have to have a CFP, and many of us can't afford one. But for those who can afford it, a CFP can be an invaluable resource. And I say that, even though I handle all the investments in our family and have done a very good job of it. There is a world of difference between an amateur and a professional - this is even more true of finance and investing than it is of most areas.

Wow, those worked out really nice, what a diff a little rain makes, huh? Looks like an actual real life prairie. I was wondering if you sowed liatris in that area? I'm curious to see how they do if you did. That plant I dug up to save from development was growing in stiff clay, the sticky red kind that glops up the shovel when you dig, or to be more accurate, breaks the handle of the cheapie spade you bought for the trunk of the car to have on hand just in case. Those liatris were nice & upright growing in the clay but they crawl like snakes in my yard but then so do some of the Kansas ones that were growing in that good loamy soil the ditch along that country road. You got both types of seed. Los Lunas bluestem from HCG came up real strong this year. I've got lots of seedlings which look really beefy compared to other types, its a seed variety rather than grown from clones. I was wondering yesterday how it would do down there? It was selected for dry hostile soils and desert conditions and its a nice light blue in summer with good fall coloring. Speaking of beefy, you ought to see the size of the stems on the Standing Ovation, the leaves are really wide for a bluestem too. One look in person rather than pictures online and you know exactly why those are touted to be flop proof. Its another thats supposed to be good for less than good soil in harsh conditions. Of course, the downside is the high cost and fact that I don't think they will come true from seed. Time will tell.... Los Lunas in mid August, baby plants. One was lodging but the others stood straight. We got a lot of rain in spring, hopefully they will be more upright without all the water. Thats a Gulf Muhly to the right. I dug it out yesterday and plugged in 6 more Los Lunas for a colony. I want that prairie look like you have.