Hi everyone, I am new to canning this year and having a blast!!! I hope everyone is welcome to join here? I started canning as a way to take the preservatives from my sons diet. ( He has ADHD) This year I have put up 23 pints salsa 7 quarts salsa 17 pints sweet relish 5 half pints sweet relish 8 pints cinnamon pickles 4 quarts tomato sauce 3 pints tomato sauce 12 pints peach butter 5 half pints peach butter 11 pints peach sauce 11 half pints papple butter (not misspelled, don't ask you wouldn't believe me. lol) 3 quarts papple sauce 2 pints papple sauce 11 pints triple berry jam 7 half pints triple berry jam 11 quarts apple sauce 9 pints apple sauce 5 pints strawberry preserves 7 half pints strawberry preserves Thank you for such a great forum to find information on. The lady at the extension office knows my voice already! lol

Great garden tour/childbirth analogy, Mel. So true, and what memories it brings back! Our garden has been on tours several years, and this year I get to recruit tour hosts. I will be honest with them and give them the good with the bad. There is much more good. One issue is a closing time for the garden. Gardeners love to talk, and some will hang around until midnight if you let them, even with posted hours. At all times, you need at least 2 adults hosting. Be prepared for children who must use your bathroom. Very frail or overweight people sometimes insist they can move a barrier and walk across a pond gangplank. Overly helpful gardeners will insist on deadheading your daylilies that you are hybridyzing. People will argue that coins in water never hurt a fish (aaarg!) Guests will bring children who will feel free to cross over to your neighbors' play equipment. Last year, we built a waterfall from a tree into our pond, and people not only stuck their heads under it, but some drank it! I had to point out that it was recirculated pond water--ewwww! You'll endure comments like "wow, you must have lots of time on your hands or a full time gardener" No...I just don't park in front of the tv every night...then I do some quick lessons on composting and soaker hoses versus mowing and weeding. In addition to labeling unusual plants, you might want to print up a list of plants and sources. I used to do quite a bit of trading on the gardenweb exchange forum, so my yard is full of plants not available (and not hardy) in this area. I potted up seedlings and divisions ahead of time to give away, and had a trade list available to selectively hand out. some of the big hits were heirloom plants and the very new. We had a photo album showing the progress of the yard in the 4 years we've been here, because it looks very established. A complaint many tourists had was some yards looked like they were planted last week. Had to laugh...some were! The homeowners got insecure about what they had and tried to "buy" an instant garden, and it showed. I would suggest you don't put in anything new in the month before the tour. Have potted plants ready to move in empty spaces. Neighborhood boys searching for a baseball flattened some of my perennials the day before tour started last year, and I had to fill in with large planters set into the flower bed, and no one knew the difference there. Our tourists appreciated the igloo full of iced tea. One igloo was enough for the 250+ people we had each day. Every year, I get a few thank you cards in the mail in the weeks afterwards, and once, a lady brought me a new plant I didn't have as a thank you gift. All in all, it is tremendous fun if you are prepared for it. Make a plan to finish last minute work 2 days before so you can go into it well-rested. I still run into people at various places who remember me and my garden, because I took the time to talk to them. It really gives you a boost! Cindi

Lauren, Thanks for posting again. I understand since I get so busy myself and I am glad we all helped you giving you insight and finding out that the furniture you like at least is made in the USA and is very beautiful. When you have time, please update up and if you buy the set, pictures please. Remember to measure your room and areas that have vents and windows and see how each peace of furniture will fit in your room. I wish my room was bigger since I really wanted a wooden bed with a headboard and foot board and a triple dresser but these pieces would not fit into my bedroom space. When I have time, I also will take updated pictures of my beautiful bedroom since the accessories of the right lamps (went with crystal), blind and curtains really changed the look of my room making me love my bedroom's peaceful retreat space.

Hi Carol, You can do this! The first time I made cushions I was scared, but my DD (in college 12 years ago) bought 2 chairs and wanted cushions for them, and she was sure I could do it. I did!!!! I bought the 4" green foam for the chair backs and the 5" green foam for the seats. I bought both from JoAnns and had no probelm with it. In fact I have a small mattress I made with the green foam (NOT Nu Foam) and it has held up very well. Grandson likes to sleep on it. We have a place here in MIchigan called THE FOAM FACTORY, that is all they sell. If you bring in your slip covers they will cut the foam to fit and stuff it for you. YOu should do a search for something like that in your area. Probably would be cheaper than an upholstery shop. I believe they ship too. Here is a trick for stuffing foam into slipcovers. Place the foam in a dry cleaners plastic bag (or cheap garbage bag), pull slipcover over the cushion, then tear out the bag from inside! Makes it so much easier. Kathy G in MI Here is a link that might be useful: The Foam Factory