Carly, on this post you had not listed me (see below). So I hope you did not forget me. I sent you 88 packets. And I have not gotten anything in the mail as of today. I know you may have just mailed. PLMK. Thank you, mkruby7 RE: UPDATE: 2nd annual Named/Rare/Unusual Seed swap!! Posted by: jcpyburn z7b (My Page) on Wed, Nov 2, 05 at 15:38 Hello everyone, Sorry for the delay in posting! I had every intention of posting an update yesterday and I just didn't get around to it! I have been away from my computer over the weekend and monday due to some personal situations so I haven't really been able to post. I have received packages from these people: Julie\_MN Scouttiegirl Michelle S in wisconsin(not sure of GW name haven't looked it up yet!) eln2002meyer Tonysarver esiuol garden\_witch Raney10 Patricia W. in california (See above note!) Karen B from indiana barbamaman Margaret6a Patty b in ohio (see above) Romando Fgilles Toni E in california (SA) UncleWindy Whew ok so far that is 17 so far not counting the mail today which has not come yet. I may have listed your GW name as being received before and may only have your name and state listed above but I am going through and visually checking envelopes and some don't have their GW name in them and I don't have my list to match it up handy. I will post if I can't figure out someone's Gw name. I will be starting to work on these on Friday and I hope to get them out by the middle of next week. I will continue to update on whose seeds I have recieved daily so that everyone knows. If your seeds are on the way and are going to be cutting it close please let me know at least that they are on the way. ALL SEEDS SHOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN MAILED OUT TO GET HERE ON TIME!! Unless of course you want to send them priority but that is up to you! Thanks again for all the participation! There are some great seeds in here and I think everyone will be happy! Thanks Carly

I am reading all these posts with interest as I have now received my first electric bill for a FULL month with my new system. I put in a Carrier standard blower 13 SEER 2 1/2 ton heat pump/AC system with Puron. It replaced a 20-year-old Trane heat pump/AC. It is certainly not an awful electric bill but I was hoping to see a little bit of savings: Oct 07 with 31 days, I used 612 KwH, and avg. temp was 71. In Oct. 06, also 31 days, I used 703 kwh but the average temperature was much cooler: 64. Since I probably used some heat a year ago and I have been using AC this month , I figure these are probably pretty comparable months. My bill is: $88.42. For the year-ago period: $83.37. The price per kwh now is: 10.86 cents per kwh; a year ago, it was 11.03 cents (this was back when we were getting that "reduction" from the enormously high bills, as those of you in Md. will recall). I work from home and so tho I have a programmable thermostat, I never use that function, just adjust. I keep the house as 76 (75 if it is truly awful out) in the summer and in the winter, 72 (again, the truly bitter cold will get me to aim for 73 or 74). I turn the AC off at night most nights and just use a ceiling fan; it is often off during the day as well since I work in the (almost always cool) basement. Nothing else has changed "electrically" here; my hot water, refrigerator, and other power uses are unchanged, nothing is broken, etc. Obviously, I did not purchase "high efficiency" system but I assumed all NEW systems are more efficient and hopefully a little less expensive to run. I guess this was a wrong assumption.

blondelle: I want to thank you so much for all your hard work on these mockups! I do like the warmer mock up and I do think that the warmer travertine gives a French country feel. I actually did pick up some 3 x 6 tumbled marble from Turkey, which is beautiful. It blends in with the paint color that I currently have on the backsplash area. I'm going to have to be careful, though, because things can get too busy, but I agree that too much white in the backsplash can have a washed out appearance. palimpsest: I am going to investigate a quieter option for the countertop, too. Very early on, our local IKEA had a Corian that looked like sand on the beach. Also, I'm attracted to some of the engineered stones, even those stones that have a little sparkle in them. Part of me likes bling! jeanteach: I'm sort of going back and forth between a porcelain tile and natural stone. The beveled brick with the crackle is beautiful. I like the low maintenance of the porcelain tile because we do a lot of cooking in this household. I don't want it to be too washed out, though. gracesantacruz: Who did you use for your countertop fabrication? Would you recommend them? southernstitcher: thanks for chiming in, too :-) OMG will someone shoot me to put me out of my misery? I guess it is good to have options, though. Good news: Lowes refunded all my money for the granite countertop since I was so unhappy with Duracite, so at least I'm off the hook with them now, which is a relief. I went out with a girlfriend today for a short lunch break and we looked at some more options. I came up with an idea of going with a sand-like engineered stone it is called astro pearl by zodiac and then I saw some mini black pebbles that might be nice in a diamond shape, or perhaps some black glass? I'm still torn, I'm afraid and I think it's best for me to step back and take a break for a short while cuz it's a little too hot in the kitchen right now! I guess this how the design process goes and there are so many sides to me, so I'm conflicted arrgh...

I am so excited--looks like clear sailing for planting now. Our onions were protected perfectly with that snow blanket on top of the mulch. And the garlic looks great. Now I'm wishing I'd planted more of both. I only have 7 dozen garlic, and about that many onions. I gave some of the onions to a young lady in town so only had that many left. Blackberry bushes are in, carrots and beets planted. I'll plant greens, lettuce and spinach in the mineral tubs tomorrow in a couple of days. And get flowers going. I fell off the wagon and ordered six plants from Missouri Wildflowers: 2 each of rudbeckia laciniata (it's a smashing plant, gets up to 4 feet tall, bushes out--and flowers everywhere--I planted a couple at the school last year); goldenrod; and Drummond's aster. But since I vowed to work on Bermuda in the yards in ground, the only other flowers this year will be cosmos, zinnias, and tithonia.