Donna, you simply have a gardener's "faith"...and a good heart! A lady at my father's church came up with the idea to raise money by taking donations for Tulips to be planted all over church property. I pointed out to my father he might want to remind her that I have to spray the Tulips at his house DAILY so critters don't eat them to the ground from the nanosecond the foliage breaks ground. So much for that idea...LOL. Instead they took donations for lights on a large tree in memory of special people in their lives who've passed. Deer/rabbits haven't eaten any of the lights to date! Garden lights, huh? Whenever I see them online I think they'd just help the critters find plants to eat as if they needed my help. Longer working hours for me outside sounds pretty darn good, though. Can't wait for the holidays to be over (sacrilege, I know) because I have more mulching, tender bulb storage and anything else I can find with growing things to get done. I keep checking my overwintering pots to make sure they're not suffering ill effects although I buried them in soil and have leaf bags around them. Each morning I feed the birds and then walk around my father's house surveying the plants and checking for deer tracks in the beds or to see who nibbled what overnight. Birds don't like me intruding in their space while they're having breakfast...LOL. Since this is first year I have plants of any kind to see through the winter I keep running to my computer to make sure which perennials are supposed to die back for winter and that it's fine...they just need to be pruned back come spring...as opposed to they're toast. It's like having kids to watch all the time! I just keep dreaming about how things will look in bloom next year no matter what survives winter. Once I chill out from holiday madness I've got to focus on winter sowing and trying to grow some things under lights for annuals and perennials with first year bloom. Oh yeah...and I still have to buy the light set up and anything electrical I need that goes along with it so I don't burn my father's house down. This should be interesting, to say the least, but I'm determined. Happy blooms and dreams of same!

Last year, there was Ecoli episode in CA and the culprit were wild pigs which has visited the spinach patch. The interesting thing was that the ecoli was not on the spinach it was inside the spinach. The pigs contaminated the soil and the water was as absorbed by the spinach roots and the bacteria was inside the leaves.. So no amount of surface rinsing would have removed or killed the Ecoli. Thankfully, it was a small episode that was quickly contained. The triple washed baby spinach salad bags were quickly pulled from the shelves. Since I first posted, we just finished the countertop and sink install. I have hole for 1 soap dispenser at the sink and plan to keep a spray bottle of alcohol or bleach solution for disinfecting. I have the same sink as cottonpenny and plan to use the sink bowl as the rinse bowl after a cleaning disinfecting routine.

Can't tell you how many people have ask me how to disinfect/sanitize laundry. I always ask why they feel the need to sanitize. Usually it's just because they want things the cleanest and whitest possible but once in awhile it's to eliminate the flu virus that a family member has. Ok fair enough. I know how kids can sneeze their body fluids all over the bedding....but truth is that a good hot wash in detergent is going to reduce the germs enough that there's no worries. Unless someone is dealing with a serious infection or going thru chemo ect..or using kitchen linens around raw poultry there shouldn't be a need to sanitize. My boys love to play in the rock garden chasing the toads. At the end of a summer day they are filthy. Covered in dirt, grass, popsicle, and unidentifiable soils. I don't see where this will hurt them. They do wash their hands before eating unless I take out popsicles. At the end of the day a good shower restores them to sweet smelling boys. Ever notice kids that go to school in the winter with no coat, boot, hat are never sick while mine catch everything within a 20 mile radius. I've eased up on some winter gear. Boots are only worn in snow, rain or mud. Hats only if it's below 40 or windy...and shame on me but my 11 yo is now just this year wearing sports shorts twice a week for sports activities at school....course once our temp hit windchill of zero and below he WILL be wearing sweats. ....this morning he was about to walk out the door in sport shorts and a tee...I ask where he thought he was going with no coat or hoodie..lol. it was 58 here than so I agreed he could wear a hoodie. I figure nothing I've done to date has kept him from the viruses so I'm taking a different approach this year. ... I agree that exposure to germs, normal everyday germs help kids to build a good immunity system. That being said if we're at the er for something I use sanitizing wipes on the bottoms of our shoes before coming into the house even though it's a remove your shoes household..except for guests. Common sense...it all comes down to common sense. No problem giving a baby a pacifier that fell on the floor at home but wouldn't if it fell out in public.

We use the front door as an entry, it has a couple planets on it, I rant to decorate it a little bit more with a little bistro set maybe! I am looking for more budget friendly fixes currently since we are hoping for an addition on the back at some point and my husband does not want to put too much into the front, so if i can think of a good fix that's affordable then it's manageable! He is also amazing at diy and reno projects and my brother is a contractor so that helps!